We have just celled 15 years of marriage, apparently that is ones crystal anniversary. SWMBO spent a couple of days in London with Figs wife Marion. it was her birthday and their wedding anniversary close together so it gave Marion a bit of rest bite to allow her to go off and celebrate her birthday with her chums.
Figs cognitive skills are improving and he has more use in his left leg. His problem now is that he is more aware of his condition and therefore is getting frustrated by his lack of mobility. It is unclear what the treatment plan is going forward as he is recovering in a way the medical team did not expect. Hopefully he will get back to a level where they may be able to do something about his heart, only time will tell.
SWMBO deserved a good anniversary herself after her Florence Nightingale stint, so after a lazy morning we ventured to Port Sunlight and the Lady Lever Museum and Art Gallery which is based there. It had a visiting exhibition of Picasso lino cuts from the British Museum which I found disappointing. There were only three variations, and they were not typical Picasso as you could almost see what they were meant to be! Notwithstanding that though, the rest of the museum continues to be a wonder and delight.
I believe Lord Leverhulme was a bit of a pirate myself although a lot of what he plundered did come from various parts of the UK. His Wedgewood collection numbers some 3,000 items including a number of Stubbs paintings done on porcelain. His Chinese collection is also one of the best in Europe.
Port Sunlight has the only Hillsborough memorial which is not attached to a football group.The Unilever group wanted to show their support for the victims families and erected a small plaque in their rose garden. We visited that while we were there and I think there must have been a Pokémon Go! character or two there as well. The rose garden was mobbed with youths on iPhones searching them out.
We then popped into the Refreshment Rooms in Rock Ferry, one of our favourite eateries, and then ended up at home drinking a good bottle of Muja out of crystal glasses....very fitting we thought.
Friday 29 July 2016
Saturday 23 July 2016
Swedish chef
I was delighted that Henrik Stenson won is first major at Troon last weekend. He has been one of a number of top European golfers who have not quite stepped over the line to win one, so it was well deserved.
Henrik has had some bad luck off the course too, most notably losing a small fortune at the hands of the West Indian con man Allen Stanford. Some might say £10m was more than a small fortune, so the golfing world was delighted when Stenson won the FedEx cup and 'road to Dubai' in the same year some while later to claim a cool £20m in prize money. The Open championship claret jug will be as equally important to him as his financial rebuilding process.
The Open was, of course, at Troon in Scotland. It was ironic that on the Saturday of the tournament I visited my mate Figs after his recent stroke. He can get out of bed now, and is recovering some use in his left arm, but he is still not too good. The NHS physio sessions seem to have dried up as they clearly see no long term benefit in continuing them. It was to Troon that Figs, myself and others travelled in May 1989 for our Scotflog tour. We played Turnberry, Prestwick, Largs, Kilmarnock Barassie and Troon in a week, doing 36 holes each day!
Troon was the least memorable of the courses as it is a boring slog up and back down the side of the Clyde. It's a bit like Royal Liverpool in as much as it is memorable for it's lack of variety and apart from the Postage Stamp hole and the 11th it has no real stand-out holes. Quite why it is on the rosta I am not too sure.
I am also not sure who won on the day we played although I do know I hit the Postage Stamp in one and then four putted!
The trip to London to see Figs also allowed us to take senior scouse grandchild to tie up with senior London grandchild and they had a right old time together and managed to manufacture a sleepover at the hotel. It was the first time Sofia had spent the night away from her parents so that was a milestone she should now be able to capitalise on in the future.
We have also received good feedback from our Airbnb visitors so it would be good to get a few more bookings before the Summer is over and then build up a bit more next year. One of the local hotels has been brought recently so it will be interesting to see how that affects the area.
I feel like I have just played in the Open myself having played four rounds in four days this week. As a means of recovery I had a run ashore with some old work colleagues in Lytham yesterday. I really should have passed on the Limoncello, especially as it was the 100% vodka variety as favoured by James Martin, BBC chef and raconteur!
Henrik has had some bad luck off the course too, most notably losing a small fortune at the hands of the West Indian con man Allen Stanford. Some might say £10m was more than a small fortune, so the golfing world was delighted when Stenson won the FedEx cup and 'road to Dubai' in the same year some while later to claim a cool £20m in prize money. The Open championship claret jug will be as equally important to him as his financial rebuilding process.
The Open was, of course, at Troon in Scotland. It was ironic that on the Saturday of the tournament I visited my mate Figs after his recent stroke. He can get out of bed now, and is recovering some use in his left arm, but he is still not too good. The NHS physio sessions seem to have dried up as they clearly see no long term benefit in continuing them. It was to Troon that Figs, myself and others travelled in May 1989 for our Scotflog tour. We played Turnberry, Prestwick, Largs, Kilmarnock Barassie and Troon in a week, doing 36 holes each day!
Troon was the least memorable of the courses as it is a boring slog up and back down the side of the Clyde. It's a bit like Royal Liverpool in as much as it is memorable for it's lack of variety and apart from the Postage Stamp hole and the 11th it has no real stand-out holes. Quite why it is on the rosta I am not too sure.
I am also not sure who won on the day we played although I do know I hit the Postage Stamp in one and then four putted!
The trip to London to see Figs also allowed us to take senior scouse grandchild to tie up with senior London grandchild and they had a right old time together and managed to manufacture a sleepover at the hotel. It was the first time Sofia had spent the night away from her parents so that was a milestone she should now be able to capitalise on in the future.
We have also received good feedback from our Airbnb visitors so it would be good to get a few more bookings before the Summer is over and then build up a bit more next year. One of the local hotels has been brought recently so it will be interesting to see how that affects the area.
I feel like I have just played in the Open myself having played four rounds in four days this week. As a means of recovery I had a run ashore with some old work colleagues in Lytham yesterday. I really should have passed on the Limoncello, especially as it was the 100% vodka variety as favoured by James Martin, BBC chef and raconteur!
Sunday 10 July 2016
Air today, gone tomorrow
We have just said goodbye to our latest Airbnb'ers. They were visiting the Wirral to attend an evening wedding party at the local Riverhill Hotel. The hotel has been on the market for some while as the current owners look to move on, but its an odd shaped property with a dwindling reputation in the area. Hopefully they pulled the stops out for the wedding.
It was quite a flog from London for a few hours socialising and good for them to do it. SWMBO is quite happy to accept evening only invitations, but I am less keen. If I am not on the 'A' list then I am more than happy to give up my evening spot to somebody else.
This wedding was obviously very multicultural as the bride was from Op North and was marrying a Burmese groom, our guests were European and Oriental, and live in North London, I did not like to ask the specific points of origin as that's a bit sensitive after the Brexit vote!! They were worried they would not be able to understand either the bride or groom's accents!!
They were no trouble, and after a hearty breakfast I dropped them at the Mersey Ferry terminal so they could at least see some of Liverpool before they departed.
They are both graphic designers for computer games, and were very impressed when I showed them the games which the sons of Dick 'off the record' develop. I had not realised their big seller and cash cow, Bad Eggs, had made it into the I-phone app store, and with over 1million downloads it was certainly making an impact. Lets hope all the gamers buy lots of add-ons!
So now, like e-bay, we await their feedback with baited breath. A poor review is the sort of thing that can make or break a career in the b & b market.
It was quite a flog from London for a few hours socialising and good for them to do it. SWMBO is quite happy to accept evening only invitations, but I am less keen. If I am not on the 'A' list then I am more than happy to give up my evening spot to somebody else.
This wedding was obviously very multicultural as the bride was from Op North and was marrying a Burmese groom, our guests were European and Oriental, and live in North London, I did not like to ask the specific points of origin as that's a bit sensitive after the Brexit vote!! They were worried they would not be able to understand either the bride or groom's accents!!
They were no trouble, and after a hearty breakfast I dropped them at the Mersey Ferry terminal so they could at least see some of Liverpool before they departed.
They are both graphic designers for computer games, and were very impressed when I showed them the games which the sons of Dick 'off the record' develop. I had not realised their big seller and cash cow, Bad Eggs, had made it into the I-phone app store, and with over 1million downloads it was certainly making an impact. Lets hope all the gamers buy lots of add-ons!
So now, like e-bay, we await their feedback with baited breath. A poor review is the sort of thing that can make or break a career in the b & b market.
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