Celebration!

Ben phoned on Wednesday morning to tell us that he had proposed to Madeline!! Wonderful news, they sound so happy and excited and are now puzzling over the date. Possibly August which would be beautiful and sunny in southern California.

Last Saturday I spent the morning helping with a promotion for the Southport Comedy Week – the tag line was ‘Laugh your socks off’ so we had a washing line covered in donated Primark socks and were giving out leaflets, some of which had free tickets for the various shows. They didn’t all go so I got some free tickets for Punt & Dennis which Mel and I went to last night – not bad and of course J had to watch the final last night so was unavailable!

On Wednesday I picked J from the train after his visit to Birmingham and we went to the Packet Steamer for a meal prior to tackling Asda. I had a chicken and pasta dish which should have chorizo sausage in it but didn’t. I mentioned it to the waitress and we got free deserts! J had venison sausages and chips which was very nice but would have benefited from peas or salad! I had cheese and biscuits and J a sundae of some sort.

On Friday we went to see Roger McGough and Brian Patten - two of the Mersey Sound poets of the 1960s. The third poet was Adrian Henri who is no longer with us but the stage had 3 chairs on it in his memory. Roger was also a member of the Scaffold along with John Gorman and Mike McCartney (brother of Paul, no less). In the following year The Scaffold's anthem, Lily the Pink, reached No. 1 in the charts. Both poets were very entertaining and I thought that the younger generation would appreciate the poem below! I have to say that poetry is so much better when read aloud, particularly by the person who wrote it.

PAY-BACK TIME
O Lord, let me be a burden on my children
For long they've been a burden upon me.
May they fetch and carry, clean and scrub
And do so cheerfully.

Let them take it in turns at putting me up
Nice sunny rooms at the top of the stairs
With a walk-in bath and lift installed
At great expense.....Theirs.

Insurance against the body-blows of time
Isn't that what having children's all about?
To bring them up knowing that they owe you
And can't contract out?

What is money for but to spend on their schooling?
Designer clothes, mindless hobbies, usual stuff.
Then as soon as they're earning, off they go
Well, enough's enough.

It's been a blessing watching them develop
The parental pride we felt as each one grew.
But Lord, let me be a burden on my children
And on my children's children too.
© Roger McGough Selected Poems Penguin, Feb'06

I have forgotten to mention that Mel and I went to see ‘The song of an emigrant’ on Tuesday. I have copied the extract form the website below

An economic migrant returns after many years spent in America, but the reality of the return does not resemble that of his dreams. His daughter does not recognise him, his wife avoids him, and former friends shun him. Though he has returned, he cannot really come back. He will always be an emigrant.
Winner of a Fringe First and a Herald Angel Award at last year’s Edinburgh Festival, The Song of an Emigrant is drawn from the old Ukrainian songs of eastern Slovakia, the letters of Slovak emigrants, and Josef Capel’s Horduba, this depiction of the ‘bare life’ of an emigrant is that of a life reduced to material needs. Created by a company of artists of Czech, Slovak, Polish, Ukrainian and Serbian nationality, it realizes the reality of Slavs in Europe today – a life soulless without friends, family and community.
‘Occupies a heartland that is universal and timeless… a deeply affecting whirligig of songs, dance and fleeting encounters’ Glasgow Herald

Mel and I had absolutely no ideas whatsoever what it was about!! It was all in Czech and a mixture of dance, music, and song. It started at 7.45 and we were walking back to the car by 8.45. Very strange but obviously from the accolades above we obviously missed something!!
Yesterday I went to the gym , the hairdressers then a quick wander around Liverpool but didn’t buy much. J & Mel had the Derby to watch –Liverpool won 2 -1 with Everton scoring an own goal! Today we have been strolling in the sunshine near Breatherton and Bank Hall Next week we have 3 plays to see and J & I are also going to see a Queen tribute band thanks to Mel’s birthday present to J in February!