Get your own diary at DiaryLand.com! contact me older entries newest entry

Notes

Previous Next

About Me

Travels to the north
04 August 2014 13:03


I didn't know, until I saw it on the Commonwealth Games, that there was squash doubles. Being enclosed in a small room where someone is thrashing a racquet about strikes me as somewhat foolhardy. Being enclosed in a small room where three other people are thrashing racquet about seems to be downright dangerous. And not the sort of dang-a-rou that you see at the zoo.

Also saw a bit of badminton one evening. England vs. England in one match, which made it a little confusing to work out which score applied to which team. But it was a close game with never more than one point separating the teams until 16-16. Well, 18-16 if you are going to be pedantic about it. In another match, everyone (including the players) thought that Malaysia had scored the winning point, only for the umpire to award the point to the opposing team (Scotland, iirc). I think that everyone thought that the Scottish team had hit the shuttlecock twice but the umpire didn't see it (or maybe he was in a better position and could see that the apparent initial glancing blow was just an illusion). So a bit of a controversial decision there, but the players picked themselves up, abided by the umpire's decision and played the next point. Which Malaysia won, so it didn't make any difference to the outcome of the game.

CGF Sprog 3 was trying to play a piece of music this afternoon. "It's complicated; it's got six flats" she exclaimed. Without batting an eyelid, I replied, "Just play it with one sharp".
"Do what?" asked CGF (who has grade-8 piano-forte and grade-5 theory). I explained that you can subtract the number of flats from seven and play that number of sharps - or vice-versa. I have no idea where I learnt that. It's something that I've known for so long that I thought it was general knowledge. I suspect that CGF did know it, but in a more technical way.

We've been on our travels for the last few days. We've been to the place where it rains and there are sheep, and the place where it rains but there are no sheep.

We set off on Wednesday evening with a trip to The Aged's. I'd explained that, as we would be arriving late, we would have something to eat before setting off so would only need a snack when we arrived. So they laid on a huge banquet. As parents do.

Thursday we drove over to Chester to go to a wedding (this was the main purpose of the trip). The wedding was in the quire of the cathedral, which is a pretty impressive setting for a wedding. The bride came in to The Queen of Sheba and out to Widor's Toccata, which are good pieces. One of the hymns was "Shine, Jesus, shine" which isn't. I was chatting (as you do) to a young Baptist minister recently, and he agreed that it is an awful hymn. So if a young Baptist minister says it is awful, it must be.

The wedding reception was held just over the welsh border - so "just over the welsh border" that you could only tell that you were in Wales by the bilingual road signs. And the rain and sheep. We did some salsa dancing, which was fun. Organised a bit like a barn dance or ceilidh where a caller explained the moves, and partners swapped every so often.

We stayed overnight at a Travelodge. Staying at a Travelodge is a bit of a gamble, as some of them are a bit past their best. This one, however, was OK - it even had a TV and coffee-making facilities in the room. Travelodge rooms are also not generally known for their scenic views. Ours looked out over rubbish skips and the back of a petrol filling station, and we could hear the traffic on the main road. CGF's sprogs were in a room on the other side of the building and had a much more pleasant view of fields and they could hear the sound of sheep. Note for next time - compare the views from the rooms before deciding who has which room. But then I suppose you don't really choose a Travelodge for the view; you choose it because it is cheap. Well, I do, anyway. Incidentally, a notice on the window advised that "for your safety, this window is restricted" which didn't make a whole lot of sense.

Friday we went to Manchester to stay a couple of nights with CGF's uncle. He was very welcoming and hospitable and made sure that we ate loads of food. We visited the Lowry gallery in Salford (where there was also an exhibition of BBC Children's television) and the Museum of Science and Industry. Both of which are well worth a visit. Still amazes me that simple blobs of paint when looked close-up can show such detail from further away. Well, I suppose the answer is that they aren't simple blobs of paint.

And back home yesterday - but I've taken a day off work today as well just because I could (well, really to give us flexibility over travel arrangements). Slight impetus on the journey when the M56 was closed, but a combination of my Man's sense of navigation and CGF's smart phone and we soon found an alternative route.

previous - next

Recent Entries

What's changed - 21 May 2020
Locked down life - 17 May 2020
Travel Bookings - 15 February 2020
Does anyone know what's going on - 06 September 2019
Family stories - 17 August 2019

about me - read my profile! read other Diar
yLand diaries! recommend my diary to a friend! Get
 your own fun + free diary at DiaryLand.com!