Dear Diary... April 2025
Sunday 27th April - Wembley Win
It was off to Wembley today for the FA Cup semi final as Nottingham Forest took on Manchester City. I had managed to get a ticket for me and one of my relations, who was coming up from his home for the game. Due to train issues, he'd booked a coach and managed to get a flexible trip on the return leg, meaning that if the game didn't go to extra time and penalties, he could get back quicker - good move that. As it turned out, my train was delayed out of East Croydon due to power issues, and so got to Victoria train station just as his coach was pulling into the arrivals of Victoria Coach Station. It all worked fine as I met him as he was about to exit arrivals, so absolutely perfect timing!
We headed off to Victoria and decided it'd be sensible to get there early and if we had time maybe find a place for a pre-match drink. He had suggested The Green Man as it's often the pub that has the City fans in there when we do get to Wembley, and so once at Wembley Park we followed the road past all the sports bars that were charging the Forest fans £20 a throw to get in (mental) and once we got to a set of lights and turned left to head uphill, the crowd noise of the City fans was enough for us and we were at the Green Man, having been checked prior to entry.
Sensibly as well as the indoor main bar, they had a pop up bar outdoors, where I managed to get a Cityzens lager and this pretty nice fruity pale ale for me, so that was all good. It was £7.50 a pint though, probably around central London prices and all, but still, with the weather nice and the garden full of City fans singing, it was good to be amongst it and sample some of the pre-match atmosphere (and better than those sports bars I bet!). We followed the exit out of there and down the hill and along to the West end of Wembley, where we were. It didn't take us long for the ticket scan and entrance to the ground, following the escalators to Level 5.
We did get some food in there, these really surprisingly nice chicken tenders with some chips. Not cheap, but actually filling and that kept us going, along with the refillable water and cups too, so we sensibly kept hydrated and got to our seats to sample the atmosphere. Entertainment was being provided by Charlotte Stapleton (known by her DJ name of Char Stape) and was loving life mixing some tunes and having the city mascots Moonchester and Moonbeam for company too! Some classics in there including Depeche Mode's classic Just Can't Get Enough which has to be tune of the day for me.
Anyway, the game kicked off and not before long we were celebrating. City went forward well and after some good passing and movement, Mateo Kovacic surged forward, he laid the ball off for Rico Lewis, a surprise inclusion for some, and Rico slotted the ball into the bottom left corner with aplomb. Even where we were it was limbs a plenty and that was a good atmosphere. City in fact could have gone two up with decent turn and shot from Nico O'Reilly and a couple of crosses not finding the right target, but on the whole it was decent, and Mateo Kovacic was running the show in midfield, so Forest didn't get a look in.
They made a change at half time and brought on Anthony Elanga, and he should have scored from a cross from the left from Callum Hudson-Odoi, but shot wide. City went forward and after a Kovacic shot was blocked and then saved on the line by Matz Sels, City got a corner, Omar Marmoush crossed it in and Josko Gvaridol headed it in. We scored from a corner! And 2-0 to City did seem like that was the goal we needed especially as Forest had already shown signs of being a lot better in the second half to be honest. They did have their chances later on too.
Morgan Gibbs-White rattled the bar with a volley, and it would have been some goal had that gone in to be fair. He also then got between Gvardiol and Stefan Ortega, rounded the City keeper but hit the post from a narrow angle, he should have scored there though. Forest hit the post later an had a good Ortega save to follow, and it felt when that chance didn't go in, it was going to be our day. Marmoush tested the Forest defence with a rasping shot, and we did our best to get forward and make more chances, with Ilkay Gundogan on for Jack Grealish to see the game out.
And so it was, City won 2-0 and in three weeks time would be back at Wembley to face Crystal Palace. A lot was made about the empty seats in the City end, and that was true. I think for some, with this being the 28th visit to Wembley since 2011, and the fact that it's not that affordable for some, more so if some were holding out for the final, made them maybe decide not to go. With other recent protests on ticket pricing City are charging, fans aren't generally happy with the feeling of being ripped off and it may have been a game too far for some. But the Forest fans were loud and proud, and absolute full credit for them for making it a great atmosphere and playing their part - let's just hope they get top five and Champions League, because they deserve it after the season they've had.
We made our way to Wembley Park tube station and didn't have to wait too long to get on there, and so we were heading back to central London, stopping off at Victoria for a post match drink and that gave us time to spend before it was back to the coach station so he could get the coach back - and that meant a train back for me and a reflection on what had been an excellent day all round - if nothing else having the experience of going to Wembley again and being able to share those moments too.
Saturday 26th April - Back on the Vanguard Way
It was a relatively early rise for me this morning, as I was back at home this weekend, primarily as I am off to Wembley tomorrow to watch Manchester City in the FA Cup Semi Final against Nottingham Forest. A free Saturday does give me some extra time to get some fresh air and exercise, so thought it sensible to take on the next section of the Vanguard Way, in this case section six, from Poundgate to Blackboys, a total of seven miles or so. I had the route mapped out and the very useful Vanguard Way app has photo guides as well as directions - so as much as it is well waymarked, it is useful to have for reference and reassurance that you are going the right way.
So for me, it was a train from East Croydon to Uckfield, thereby also meaning I've stopped at all the stations on that branch line after Edenbridge Town (which I got on at the end of section three.) It was nice travelling on there and the heritage railway at Eridge on one side was quite pretty - and later I would see an older train on there taking on the line from there to Tunbridge Wells West. Once at Uckfield itself it was a short walk over to the bus station and quite a quick changeover for the 29 bus which would drop me off at the Crow and Gate in Poundgate, for the start of the walk - and that's another good thing about the Vanguard Way - there are sensible stopping points so you can start / end and get public transport.
From Poundgate it was over a stile by the bus stop and a gradual descent through some nice woodland with bluebells in full bloom too. It was alongside a field and then back into some more woodland, past a posh private house and also seeing some deer in the distance. It was down and skirting around another private house entrance, then along a nice little footpath with hedges each side. A bit further along that and you can see steps on the left - this was the old original route, but flooding and landslip have meant it is closed, so the route now takes you along the footpath with hedges, down to a little country lane and through two gorgeous fields with trees descending down to the footbridge over the River Uck, where the route gets back on track. To be fair, that part was lovely with those fields.
A climb on the other side of the river crossing leads you then to the village of High Hurstwood with its rather lovely church, and after passing more fields and down a track that leads past an equestrian centre and another row of lovely houses, there's another descent down to a river bridge crossing, and over to two fields full of sheep and the lambs - who were just so adorable and playful. Once past those, it was then along some green space at Greenhust, over the River Uck once more and under the railway line too - so that was quite interesting to see just how high up the bridge was!
Once under the railway, it was then up to Pound Green, following the lane out of there to a junction and doing a right left to some beautiful woodland with some more bluebells, and this took me to a gradual descent down past old buildings, over a stream and to Scantlings Farm, with handy directions for walkers of the way, and uphill towards a little lane. That took me to a bridleway which takes you all the way down towards Tickerage Mill - with the pond to the left and a small stream to the right as you head over the middle - the mill is closed off but you can see the impressive mill buildings from the fence nonethless.
It was then a final climb up and towards a country lane, and off another path and past the allotments for the village of Blackboys, past the village hall and ending up in the village cross, with a good pub just South from here and the bus stop having some good shelter from the sun but also a handy book club inside, with a metal cabinet full of books for the locals to borrow and swap. I love community resources like this and whilst waiting for the bus two local residents came to check out what books to borrow, which felt proper old school village quaint. I love that sort of thing.
I got the 29A bus back to Uckfield, and had time to get some lunch from the local Tesco before then heading back on the train to East Croydon, which was rather pretty to do once more. I'll need to update my spreadsheet of stations stopped at but pretty sure that's another good few added. I spent the afternoon sorting the pictures out before then watching the FA Cup semi final between Crystal Palace and Aston Villa. Palace were deserved winners and were very glad all over (cue Dave Clark Five classic, has to be tune of the day all round) and it was rocking near me in the evening as you might expect!
Sunday 20th April - Easter Sunday Roast
It was a relaxing morning for me, The Love In My Heart, and Brian the cat, who seemed to be doing what he wanted to try and wake up his Mummy, despite the fact he knew that she was having some more sleep. What is he like? I did try to distract him somewhat when I got up, put the telly on and caught up with the remainder of Match of the Day, having watched it last night up to the Manchester City win before calling it a night as it had got a little late. Still, it was good to have the proper snooker theme on as BBC Two went for the morning session of snooker, and I settled in to watch that for a bit.
Later on, The Love and I got ourselves showered and ready, as we were heading out for a Sunday Roast. The best of all was that we didn't have to cook any of it either as my Mum was doing it for the five of us, with my brother and his partner also coming along too. That did mean there would be plenty to go round as Mum had got some beef and some lamb too, and managed to get some good deals from the local supermarket on them both - and The Love had made her lovely lemon cheesecake to bring along and to have for dessert too, which was very nice of her to do to be honest.
We made our way over to Mum's and had a good chatter with her first on our own, then my brother and partner arrived and the five of us chatted about all sorts in the living room, with the telly on in the background. It was good to see them and how they were doing, with one of them recently doing a painting class (actually running it, not attending it!) which seemed to go down pretty well. I think they've both been busy with their work so I think they were glad to have a bit of rest and be able to have something nice cooked for them.
And oh yes, it was. It is always a good roast that Mum does, and both the beef and the lamb were really good. Add to that roast potatoes, mash, carrots, Yorkshire pudding and some nice consisently thick gravy, and that was me well sorted. There was more than enough dished out although my brother did decide that he wanted some more meat and sliced himself additonal, but I wanted to save myself for The Love's gorgeous cheesecake which was as good as ever, and Mum really liked it too which was an added bonus all round for me. It was a nice leisurely afternoon and that was really good to relax and be able to enjoy a good meal too, so a definite win.
After that The Love and I headed to Wallop in West Didsbury (still prefer its original name of Wine and Wallop, but there you go) and we got a seat upstairs as with the sun out a little bit all the outside prime spots were taken, as you could well imagine. It was good to relax there nonetheless and with a nice lovely pint of Korev, it did feel like that Summer was attempting to come out a little. The Love looked beautiful in her dress and that made the day even more lovely, with the cool relaxed vibes of the place really giving way to a leisurely remainder of the Sunday. Tune of the day has to be Twilight World by Swing Out Sister, as that would match that vibe somewhat perfectly.
Saturday 19th April - Walking in theSunshine
The Love In My Heart had a bit of a lie in this morning - and with good reason. I had not slept so well overnight and it did not help that for some reason I decided to be sick - not sure if it was something I ate yesterday that didn't agree with me, but it was not a nice feeling. So I thought it best to let her have some rest with Brian the cat and having a good little snuggle, whilst I would get myself up and in front of the television. And, this morning, for a very good reason, as the wonderful guitar tones of Doug Wood's Drag Racer (ie: the proper snooker theme, so tune of the day) set me off ready for the start of the World Snooker Championship.
It was so good to see the magnificent Hazel Irvine in her surroundings, and with the likes of Steve Davis offering his expert knowledge, the tournament got underway with defending champion Kyren Wilson looking to beat the Crucible Curse and get past the decent Lei Peifan, and after two frames being 2-0 down, Kyren stormed back to take the next six frames on the bounce before Lei Paifan managed to crucially get the last one of the openning session to be 6-3 behind. On such moments things may turn, but the scoreline was good and there were some good breaks there also, so definitely a positive to take.
We decided as the weather was reasonably nice today that it would be well worth a walk down the canal near The Love's place. This takes us around a mile and a half towards the city centre and has become one of our favourite little walks, as we normally end up in either Ancoats or New Islington and that is always good. We actually stopped on the way along to speak to a volunteer from the Canal and River Trust, and he told us that more wildlife was coming into the canal now it had been cleaned up more, including a couple of otters, so will definitely need to look out for them in future as we take the stroll along.
In fact, we got to New Islington Basin and noted that the new footbridge to take you over to New Islington tram stop was almost done - currently you have to go over a narrow lock bridge which isn't ideal and cetainly a newer crossing would be more accessible and be a good route to the tram stop for those living close by too. We did stop off at Flawd for a drink there, and they do a nice home made lemonade so had some of that - perfect to drink whilst watching the geese and swans in the basin all making themselves right at home, with one swan having a nest around the middle of the basin too.
We did then walk into Cutting Room Square and sat outside Seven Bro7ers Beerhouse for a drink too, before then heading into the Co-Op to get some food in for the rest of the weekend, heading back via Cask for a late afternoon drink in the remainder of the sunshine, which was good. I decided to have the grapefruit Schoffenhoffer for a change and that was pretty nice and refreshing too, so definitely one I'd have to have again without a doubt. Even better was news that Manchester City had taken the lead at Everton with a Nico O'Reilly goal and ended up winning 2-0 with a late Mateo Kovacic strike, so that was a good and important win, I felt.
We did spend the evening with some good telly including a rather good look into some of the history of Windsor castle, but over at the Crucible Theatre it was drama and tension in the snooker. Kyren Wilson had lost seven on the bounce so Lei Peifan was 9-6 up from 6-2 down, only for Kyren to dig in and get the next three to make a final frame decider. It was tense, but Lei Peifan held his nerve and won 10-9, so once again the Crucible Curse had struck - no first time winner here has ever gone on to defend their title, and bearing in mind the snooker has been there since 1977, that is a long time for the curse to still exist!
Friday 18th April - The Good Good Friday
It was up relatively early for me today as I had a train to catch - and it was one to head up to Manchester to spend the weekend with The Love In My Heart, always a good thing of course. I had all the new tunes transferred over to the trusty iPod and with the new Penfriend album in tow (and the book and CD would hopefully arrive over the weekend as it had been despatched with tracking) then all was well with the world. I got to Euston, and of course you could tell it was those who only travel at this time at Christmas, thinking their off peak return is going to bag them some magic seat out of thin air when nearly all is reserved apart from the single Coach C on a 9-car Pendolino. So sensible of Avanti to run 9 instead of 11 cars, but hey ho.
Thankfully for me all was good and bar a slight delay between Macclesfield and Stockport, all was on time (ish) and was well timed for The Love to come and collect me from the station, and off to one of her relations' places, and this did mean that we would get to see Little Miss E and Little Miss O for Easter too. They were super happy with their little Easter gift boxes with a bunny on the front and their names on, and had all sorts of nice little things in there was well as chocolate, so was such a nice thing for The Love to do. We were having them for the afternoon so their parents could have some time to sort the house out and get a little Easter Egg Hunt ready for the Sunday without them seeing it!
We got the two little ones in the car and headed up to a park near Bolton to meet up with The Love's sister. It was quite nice in the park and they had a children's play area with sand, swings, slides and some climbing to do as well, which of course Little Miss E wanted to have a go of it all - and not least the aerial slide which you go from one side to the other as it shoots a little downhill. That seemed fun and she did like it, and we went to the café inside for lunch where a nice cheese and ham toastie had my name on it, and sandwiches and soft drinks for the girls too (as well as jacket potatoes and coffee for The Love and her sister.) So all was well.
We went back to The Love's sister's place for a while so her husband could spend time fussing over the two girls too (with lots of playful hiding and peeking too, as well as having some cake!) and before we knew it, the earlier rain had subsided a little and The Love and I were getting Little Miss E and Little Miss O back in the car and heading back to their parents. We did though have some songs on in the car, and I managed to locate the version of Sky Full of Stars from Sing 2, which is tune of the day and which got an instant "It's Johnny!" reaction from Little Miss E which meant a happy face and a nice listen all round.
Naturally it was lovely to see them both and I think we both enjoyed the fact that they were both happy and giggly, and were just enjoying their time with us. Little Miss O was giggling in the car a lot and her now six teeth were on show, so she is a growing little girl. On the way back home, we stopped off at Track's tap room for the first time in a while, and they had some food stalls outside, which had it not been for the incessant rain would have been good to have some food outside and chatter with drinks too. We headed inside and it was just nice to be able to have a drink - I went for the lemon sour they have which was rather lovely all told.
Wednesday 16th April - In The Hoxton Light, Sometimes
After spending some time working from The Love In My Heart's place on Monday, heading home on the train in the evening and then being at home on Tuesday working (also handy because I had some packages to collect!) it was then onwards to the office in Hoxton, under the railway arches, on Wednesday. In fact, this was a good opportunity to be able to set the stall out for the remaining few weeks of this and next month with some sensible action planning for the time ahead. We soon had some temporary staff arriving who were assisting with some oif the entries for one event, and they all seemed lovely and easy to chat to as well, so that definitely was a bonus to be honest.
In fact the day went pretty well. I did spend a chunk of time with a member of staff remotely and was attempting to get to the bottom of why the development setup that he had failed when attempting to launch the Chrome driver to test out a site. Each time no matter what it had failed, and even with a reload of the whole repository to check that was valid, still an error as well. When the colleague said that his team member had not migrated yet but the config was working on his, that made me think "okay, so there is something different here."
And then it hit, proven by my colleague's check of a couple of things when we did a remote session. What I suspect happened is down to a change made last week which may not have been popular (in fact some of it has been reversed due to negative feedback) but I strongly suspect this was down to it. Ideally what we need to do is to effectively look at testing in isolation with those changes removed, add them back piece by piece, and see what breaks. That way we may be able to add as we need accordingly which might not be a bad shout all told.
Anyway with that all done, I got a nice email which told me that the new Penfriend album House of Stories is on its way to me. I remember pre-ordering it ages ago and went for the hardback book as well as the signed CD, and cannot wait to get that through the door. Not that I need to wait to listen to the album though as those who pre-ordered it were able to access a download in digital earlier - and so I've been spending the evening listening to it - and because the video to this song also launched tonight too, then it has to be In The Light Sometimes as tune of the day. I suspect this album is going to get a fair amount of play in the next few months. If that sounds like your sort of thing, order the CD, LP, books and t-shirts here - you know you want to!
I did also have the third of the Triptyque album series released last year by MC Solaar arrive too earlier in the week. I did wait to order that primarily as I wanted to also pre-order the album by Marie-Flore (who duetted with MC Solaar on Okay last year) and thought it better to order both. That'll come under separate cover and I know FNAC over in France use DPD when things get to the UK, so they don't get lost, thankfully - take note, you absolute bunch of wankers and thieves at Evri.
Sunday 13th April - Birthday Bonanza
It was a relatively nice relaxing sleep overnight with only Brian the cat interrupting The Love In My Heart and being after some Dreamies and a feed earlier in the morning, which is what he usually does anyway. We were heading out later for Little Miss O's birthday party which was going to be at a nice place in Worsley, and we had been asked to get there a little earlier to help the setup. We didn't mind as that meant more nice times ahead, and once we had had some breakfast, it was time to head off, and so took the East Lancashire Road and then followed the turn off for the road downhill towards Worsley and under the motorway roundabout to where the pub was.
It was nice enough inside and a section of the pub had been cordoned off for us - and a soft play area had already been left for the children to play on including a little slide, a ball pit, and all sorts, so that definitely was going to be rather nice for them too. There was a table in one of the two spaces set up ready for putting some food on, and lots of comfy chairs and tables to sit at too, so that was good. There were balloons to be blown up with a helium container to help, and some nice little garlands to put up. I then held Little Miss O for a while and so she could see out of the window outside, which seemed to be a happy giggly face in return.
Everything was ready and looked nice, and we got a drink, and gradually friends and family started to arrive and soon plenty of people to chat to - The Love's niece and boyfriend had come along with both of The Love's sister, and her other niece too, so that was all good, and lots of presents too for Little Miss O to open later at home when it was nice and quiet. It did feel rather cosy in there and the food that came up later was really nice, goujons of fish, some chips, and some sandwiches and savoury bites including sausages coated lightly in mustard. What wasn't there to like, really?
The little ones were entertained with the soft play, and took turns to sit in or dive into the ball pit, and at one point Little Miss O was sat in, giggly face on, and having a little throw of and play with the balls. Little Miss E had got her plate of food and as I got mine she said "Sit here please!" and wanted me to sit on the same table, and we chatted for a little while before she headed off to see her Nana, which was fair really. The day went by very quickly and in fact I tried something new in the no alcohol department - the Old Mout berries and cherries cider, which was refreshing and indeed rather nice to be fair!
Later on we said our fond farewells and ended up with hugs from lots of people, which was a nice surprise. We decided to stop off for a drink on the way back to chill out a bit, and although there was nowhere to park for Track's taproom, lots of spaces in Ancoats are free on the Sunday and so we got one close to Seven Bro7ers beer house. We took advantage of their happy hour with a glass of wine for the The Love, and a session pale for me. And why not? That was all lovely, and so we were just able to kick back and relax and have some more Fleetwood Mac in the background, this time the superb Dreams (so tune of the day as the original is ace, unlike that Corrs version..)
Saturday 12th April - Glad All Over (Eventually)
I had headed up to Manchester the night before and the weekend was mainly about three things: spending quality time with The Love In My Heart, watching Manchester City, and having a birthday party to go to. The Love and I got up and got ready so that her niece and boyfriend could do the same, and we all had a good munch of a bacon roll for breakfast with a coffee and was chatting about all sorts, including the football and the match to come later on. The niece and boyfriend headed off on a walk to Manchester city centre via the local canal, and for me it was time to head off with the Etihad calling me for the game with a 12.30pm kick off. Not sure I am a big fan of these, but there you go.
City were up against Crystal Palace, and a team who often do well at the Etihad Stadium too. Both sets of fans get on well and part of this stems back to the last day of the season 1990, when City and Palace celebrated surviving releagation with a 2-2 draw, and the City fans walking round the ground at half time with a banner wishing Palace all the best in the FA Cup final the week after (against Manchester United). That was nicely repaid in 2019 when Palace had a welcoming banner for City fans to wish us luck in the final (and also: thanks for beating Brighton in the semis) - and as Selhurst Park is surrounded by houses like Maine Road was, the fan bases are similar (same reason on the whole City and West Ham get on too.)
The game kicked off with the sun coming out and for the first twenty minutes or so, City looked lost even though we were going forward and creating chances. Palace were heading down the flanks at will, and one excellent ball found Eberechi Eze, who scored the opener with around ten minutes in. Later Palace got a corner and the ball was headed in without any challenge from Ederson and it was the easiest header for Chris Richards. 2-0 down could have been 3-0 if Eze was not ruled out correctly for offside, with the semi-automated offside working pretty well in getting that resolved quickly.
City needed a lift and strangely that disallowed goal allowed it. The shape changed with Ilkay Gundogan further forward and that allowed more pressing too, and after a reckless foul, City got a free kick. Although in the centre of the pitch, there was still an opportunity and it was down to Kevin de Bruyne to take it. He buried it off the post in the bottom corner with a superb effort. The City fans went mental and it was soon apparent that a comeback was on, and Kevin was getting the crowd hyped. Could we score another before half time and turn the game around or not?
We didn't have long to find out either. Three minutes to be exact. The ball came across from James McAtee on the left side, headed back into the box by de Bruyne, and although Gundogan miskicked it, the ball fell to Omar Marmoush who smashed it into the bottom corner. Bedlam ensued and it was 2-2, which reminded me of the Aston Villa comeback on the last day of the season a few years back, and indeed us coming back against Palace from 2-0 down to win 4-2 with an Erling Haaland hat trick too. It got to half time and I did feel that if we scored the next goal, we would win the game.
The second half started and within two minutes, City had turned it around. The ball was played down the left and Nico O'Reilly had beaten the offside trap and put the ball across to de Bruyne who saw the incoming Mateo Kovacic and rolled the ball to him so Kovacic could smash it in from eighteen yards. We celebrated but then saw VAR checking for offside. The semi-automated system kicked in again and very soon we could all celebrate properly, which showed just how it is going to work and make the game quicker, and fair enough on that side.
Ederson clears the ball right down the right hand side, and the ball gets to James McAtee, who takes it round Dean Henderson who had come out of his goal, and then slots it into an empty net for 4-2. Another wait for the semi automated offside check via VAR, and all good, so that stood too. City kept going and a nice cross from McAtee went to the foot of Nico O'Reilly who calmly sidefooted it in to the bottom corner. 5-2. I wonder how many of us thought that from 2-0 down? Naturally the Joy Division classic was being played (make that tune of the day) at the end with City singing "City, tearing Cockneys apart, again.." and that was rather joyous, although I did feel for the Palace fans too - that must have been a right sickener to watch!
Friday 4th April - Chester Calling
After a good night's sleep, we got ourselves up and ready and it was soon time for more ducks to come and visit us, who walked up the steps to the front door to say hello. It was cute and adorable and no doubt Little Miss E would have loved it. The Love In My Heart and I had a coffee and got ourselves all ready, and the time for check out (10am) was soon heading close, so we made sure we had everything, loaded up The Love's car, put the key back in the little combi lock where we had got it from, and all was very well with the world as we left. We'd had a lovely time and we both thought that if we had got up early enough, one final little hot tub soak may have been nice!
We did spot that close by in Afonwen there was a little craft and antiques village place, who also had a little restaurant where they served breakfast, and so went in there. In fact the full Welsh breakfast set us up for the day, with two sausges, bacon, choice of egg, black pudding, hash brown, grilled tomato and toast. In fact I always swap the black pudding for the tomato with The Love so I get two black pudding, she gets two tomatoes. That always works out well and we enjoyed a coffee to go with that too. It was all very lovely and more Fleetwood Mac playing in the background too - this time Don't Stop, so tune of the day here for that one too.
After a walk around the gift shop and seeing the dust collectors (as The Love calls them) on show, it was back through Caerwys and on to the A55, this time keeping on that road as it forked off, and headed on the A483 towards the centre of Chester. We passed the race course and then of course went on one of the city centre ring roads and to the car park we normally park at, which gives us a good exit out of the city later and also is reasonably priced - plus it's fully undercover so with the weather forecast to be hot, the car would be cooler later for the journey back home.
We did have a lovely walk around some of the shops and the famous rows of course, with shops on top of each other and an upper balcony with some nice views. In fact a visit to Harriet and Dee proved useful not just for a birthday card, but also a gift for a forthcoming present, and The Love managed to get something nice in Jojo Maman Bebe too, so definitely well worth it. We did have a good mooch in Sostrene Grenes (rude not to) as well as HMV, and we followed the road through one of the parks, spotted a temporary ferris wheel with no doubt some excellent river views, and we headed downhill to the iconic footbridge by the river.
We then went into Snugburys on the River, where I had some ice cream and we both had a cold drink, and the salted caramel and the cherry cake flavours were both very nice indeed, well up to Snugburys' usual standards. In fact we continued our river theme and went along to The Boathouse, getting a seat on their barge that sits in the river, and had a drink on there too which was very nice in the warm and lovely weather is had to be said, so definitely very nice to do, as was the walk along the river later on and seeing the cruise boats do their tours as well.
It was along the Chester Wall and back uphill, past the iconic clock in the centre, and along the road back towards the car park, stopping off at a pub for a late lunch / early tea with some outdoor seating and a nice selection of drinks, so we were both all good there and had a relaxing mid afternoon basking in the sunshine, and well why not? We did get stuck in some traffic heading along the A56 out of Chester to a degree, but that soon was fine as we got on to the M56, with traffic to North Wales seemingly busy and the M6 too, so we did well to arrive home when we did and fuss over Brian lots in the evening. A lovely couple of days all told.
Thursday 3rd April - Birthday Escape
Today is the birthday of The Love In My Heart, and after heading up yesterday for the football, it was nice for ourselves and Brian the cat to wake up together and be all happy, having had a good lie in. In fact we got up and a number of friends and relations had bought The Love some lovely presents, ranging from money to flowers, prosecco and wine to some nice bath sets, and lots of cards too. In fact I was really pleased to see so many of her work colleagues had taken time out to get her a card and in some cases a present too. I had got her a Biba cushion and also a charm for her Pandora bracelet, namely the April birthstone charm as that made sense. I know she appreciated those.
We were heading away today and that did mean that we made sure Brian the cat was fussed over and well fed, and one of the relations would check on him to make sure he was all good (because it's always nice to know that he is fine.) He had been snuggling on the bed and later on the pouffle, and doing all his usual stuff, so was a positive. We had already packed the cases ready to go and once we had spent some time sorting out some parcel returns for The Love as well as some petrol for the car, it was off on the road, heading towards the city centre and then Princess Parkway, heading for the M56 motorway.
We were heading to Herons Lake Retreat, which had been recommended to us by her son and partner (the parents of Little Miss E and Little Miss O) as they had been there and loved it (and were there last Sunday just gone too.) It was relatively easy to get to, following the M56 to the end which became the A494 and past the old RAF base, before then joining the A55 North Wales Expressway, getting off at junction 31 for the town of Caerwys,apparently the smallest town in the UK. We had booked somewhere for lunch before we could check in to the lodge, so it was a stop at the Piccadilly Inn in Caerwys itself first of all.
And that proved to be a very wise move. The atmosphere was nice and relaxed, the staff were lovely, a good selection of drinks were on, and indeed lots of Fleetwood Mac, not that I mind that of course, with the likes of Landslide and Go Your Own Way (make that tune of the day as we both love that.) We decided to go for the steak frites with the peppercorn sauce and had a side of some honey glazed carrots to go with it. And wow. Honestly, the best steak I've had in ages, and The Love agreed. Cooked to the right way we both asked for, and sliced up so easier to get into, and indeed a lovely sauce which was not too overly peppery, and nice in the jug t to dip some delicious chips into. The carrots were enough for us both to have with the meal and that just added a touch of class. Oh, and I had the tiramisu for dessert which was so nice, and all so well presented in a glass - and spot on, with plenty of coffee in there. Gorgeous!
It was time to check in so we made our way downhill to Herons Lake Retreat, checked in, and then were able to get all the info we needed to get into our lodge. We had Redwing Lodge at the far end, and after some driving uphill we found it, and it looked compact and lovely, with the main room area having a little dining table, sofa, functional kitchen with fridge, cooker and microwave, and a big double bed and wardrobe. A little separate bathroom to the back all worked well too, and we had brought some wine and beer, plus some nibbles for food later on. And best of all - all the lodges come with a hot tub, so we would definitely be going in there later on!
Once unpacked and settled in, we did notice we had company - ducks and white geese no less, who just wanted feeding and fussing, but they loved to just waddle around by all the lakes and explore all the places that they could do. I opened up the hot tub which felt nice and warm, and The Love got herself changed and in there, and I did too. We just chilled out for a bit in there and worked up the jets to go faster which felt like a nice massage too, especially on the back. We stayed in for a while before getting out and changed, and had our evening meal, which was some crackers, cheese, cold meats, some cooked chicken and all sorts with dips too, and just felt a nice way to relax and not eat too much after a lovely lunch earlier on.
We did also then get back in the hot tub again and with the light fading into the evening sky, the sunset was rather nice and indeed having the lights on and a drink together in there did feel rather relaxing and lovely all told. It certainly felt a lot cooler when you left that was for sure, but of course because the hot tubs were all close by and you did feel a sense of privacy when in there to a degree, it was all good. I felt invigorated and to finish the evening off we watched The Apprentice and saw how bad they all were at doing sportswear with recycled goods - I mean who really thought that men's skirts would work as a saleable item? We had had a lovely day all told and it just felt nice to be away together.
Wednesday 2nd April - Nine Minutes of Protest
I was heading up to Manchester this afternoon on the train to have the remainder of the week off work and also to spend some quality time with The Love In My Heart, especially as we had something nice planned together and I know that will be something special. I also had a midweek game to see Manchester City against Leicester City, and a game tinged with memories from the FA Cup Final between the two sides in 1969, which my Grandad went to and fondly remembered as a treasured day as a City fan. In recent times, Vincent Kompany's piledriver shot to win us a game 1-0 and go on to win the league was also a special memory for me too.
However, tonight's game also had an undercurrent of protest in, and one I'd be joining in with from kick off. Recently, Manchester City announced a ticket partnership deal with known scalpers that are Viagogo, who of course rip off fans for stupidly expensive tickets for all occasions, especially gigs, and who have been in trouble numerous times too. Although the club claims it is for spare hospitality for both men's and women's games, you only have to look at their site to see many of the league games up for sale too, which is of course at vastly inflated prices and a total mickey take.
They became the ninth ticket resale partner when there should only be one - the club. They've actually got the ticket resale thing working pretty well if you want to get one through official channels, but I would though suggest (as other fans have) of making the process of getting the membership a little longer with more checks involved, so that there are genuine fans only getting those. In addition, for certain Champions League games, make it so you would have had to attend a number of games first, so that it stops say Real Madrid and Feyenoord fans in pockets of the home end, as has happened this season.
A lot of City fans have said that this was the straw that broke the camel's back, and indeed before the match tonight the Colin Bell Stand saw a number of protestors, peacefully with their banner, make their point. I had got into the ground and on the concourse, and took my time with the pie and pint, because I was going to show solidarity with them and the City fans. As kick off approached, even where I was in Colin Bell Level 2, a fair number of fans decided not to take their seats and interestingly, the club was not showing any action on the big screens inside the ground (they usually do) and a couple of blokes in their early 20s and I were chatting City for those nine minutes - and respect to them for doing so like I did. Somehow Supra's version of Blue Moon felt more appropriate here to get the crowd going after that time, so tune of the day there for me.
Sod's law of course was that we missed the opening goal scored well by Jack Grealish, but as I entered to take my seat, most of the South Stand where the diehards were, was empty and it was the same albeit to a lesser degree all around the ground. The point had been very well made and I was proud to be part of it. City did of course score again when some bad Leicester City defending meant that Omar Marmoush could capitalise on their mistake and cannon one in off the bar for 2-0, and that was how the score stayed. But the point had been well made, and as the City fans sang "You can stick your Viagogo up your a***" - quite. Agree 100 per cent with that too.