h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

"Thank goodness, I thought it was ' (name of the Island's senior fireman)" -

I agree with your thoughts on the two-seater Spitfires - the photographers etc would be willing to pay for flights, but that would only help to cover the costs indeed.

Well done for getting a breakthrough with the washing machine - irritating that it was bad communication between the company and the engineer but at least this time the engineer didn't just go away thinking you were making the problem up... That's good that you can at least do a light wash of clothes while you're waiting for a motor replacement and I hope it is fully fixed soon

That is weird that people have been filling your bins instead of ordering their own I would suggest you could call the council to ask for advice, as it doesn't make sense for your house to seemingly have double bins just because one of the sets is for other people. However, I have called my council bin department twice now just for stickers for our bins so that people know what to put in each one, and I still haven't received anything... I might be lucky today, as the binpeople are due to visit later

Sorry your cycling gloves are not as good as they used to be... Sports Direct Effect indeed My favourite brand was discontinued, but I'm very fortunate to have discovered Halfords' value brand large size - although they don't have any adjustable parts, the gloves fit me like a proverbial glove, so they have been serving me well so far

Glad arrived and looks good to you so far

I hope you all have a good weekend. My plan is to make use of one of those tickets that lasts for a year, as it was about this time last year that I went to the National Waterways Museum to see Swallows - hopefully the weather is good and the swallows are out and about

Hope you had a great weekend and managed to see swallows and enjoy the National Waterways Museum and see all the water on display.
Our weekend went quite well – I spent it on the Island with my son, my work friend, her partner, daughter and her daughter's friend and on the Sunday we participated in the second half of Walk the Wight. (On the Saturday I caught up with family and also took a photo of a shop that I've sent to . I'm not the first to photograph that shop from that angle, but thought I'd recreate a picture I've seen while I had the chance – though to avoid parked cars my photo is portrait rather than landscape, which I think works better anyway).
The walk itself went well – we did the half walk from Carisbrooke to Alum Bay rather than the full length, but still 19 miles, which is a fair distance especially when hilly. At the end we got a larger medal this year than previous ones – and though a record number of people finished at Alum Bay, they still weren't open. You'd think that if you knew 8,000 people were turning up on your doorstep, in the mood to celebrate, you'd open up your gift shop and sell souvenirs and drinks and make a small fortune.
The weather this year was the most disappointing of the times I've done it. When it started the weather was fine, slightly cloudy but with the promise of a lovely day, but halfway along and the clouds descended, a thick fog/sea mist rolled in and from that point we could barely see in any distance. Which isn't great when there's a vertical drop not far from where you're walking. The strangest part was knowing that we were approaching the Tennyson Monument and not being able to see the landmark that's visible for miles around until we were right at it. That, and that no-one else we knew had any fog whatsoever, only out West Wight.

In good news my recycling bin's been emptied today, hurray! Hopefully we'll have emptied bins next week too. And at least we don't have to worry about stickers here – their system sounds very wasteful to me. I hope you've had your bins emptied too.

Glad to hear that your gloves fit like a glove (only double).

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(One bit I did enjoy is the free travel on the day for everyone with a medal - it was the closest I've ever got to living 'Wreck it Ralph's plot of wanting to be given a penthouse for winning a medal.)

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Congratulations on getting to go on the top deck of the with your medal - not quite a penthouse, but impressive nonetheless Strange indeed that the gift shop didn't take advantage of a record number of visitors... 19 miles is a fair distance - glad the walk went well although the weather wasn't ideal. Spooky that you couldn't see the monument in front of you while the people on the other side of the Island had clear views around them... The Isle of Man is known for the mist called Manannan's Cloak, but sea fog Vectis Veil or suchlike is not something that is usually associated with the Isle of Wight!

My weekend was mixed, but good overall. Fortunately I didn't have to pay at the Museum because of having an annual pass - otherwise, I would have had to ask for a refund, as the lift to the main exhibition room was out of order. Their new small exhibition room is not wheelchair accessible either, so that was a big disappointment However, there was plenty of water on display (not rain) and the swallows were superb so the main mission was accomplished

My virtual Eurovision Party was a bit of a damp squib, too, as only one other person turned up, and he only stayed for half an hour. I had fun on my own in h2g2 anyway, and then a couple of people watched the highlights on Sunday so I joined in with that. It was impressive to see the Liverpool Arena, and good to see Graham Norton presenting as well as commentating. We raised a glass to Sir Terry, too

Yay! Glad your recycling bins have been emptied today. Coincidentally ours were emptied today (they were emptied on Fridays for the past few months) but the stickers still haven't arrived. Complicated indeed. Building maintenance is due to start here this week - two workpeople turned up today just to have another look at the building, so hopefully they will be able to get started tomorrow and hopefully it won't be too noisy

The other challenge at the weekend was that I accidentally knocked over an ornament and it broke into four pieces However, I learned how to use my dad's epoxy resin superglue to put her back together again, so that was educational

I think you've seen that I've put pictures on of the Walk the Wight. Unsurprisingly there were far more photos of the first half of the walk when we could actually see where we were going! Funnily enough it did make the local news:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/uk-england-hampshire-65610954

Sorry your weekend wasn't as good as you'd hoped, though still good overall. Surprising that a new exhibition room wasn't made to be wheelchair accessible - is it in an older building? But great that you saw swallows. Which reminds me of the quotation that cars naturally move like geese, sticking behind each other in rigid formation, whereas cyclists move like swallows, weaving in and out of each other. (Technically the quote was for starlings, but I'm trying to get away with it).

The washing machine hasn't been fixed. An engineer came, installed a new motor and now the start button doesn't do anything on any setting.

I have a date for my operation, 31st May - which is surprisingly close. I thought I'd have a bit more notice, but at least it is in half term. So far all I've had is a general letter just saying time, date and all the usual stuff they say to everyone - no eating after 7:30am, you must have a shower, you must wear cotton underwear, you must have a responsible adult stay with you for 24 hours after the operation, do not cook, sign legal documents, lock the bathroom door, ride a bicycle, operate machinery or do anything requiring skill or judgment for at least 48 hours....

I'm a tad nervous to be honest.

Good job it is half term as that means that my wife will be off work to stay with me for 24 hours, but it has ruined half term plans a bit.

A few days ago I went to the charity shops as is my wont and I was torn - I saw on sale a CD by Tim Hart, who was a highly respected folk musician and founder of 'Steeleye Span', so normally you'd think anything associated with him would be a mark of quality. And then I saw the title - 'My Very Favourite Nursery Rhyme Record'. That's not a title that automatically inspires quality, far from it, and my children have outgrown nursery rhymes. Still, after a bit of hesitation I decided to purchase it, if for no reason other than to expand the 'Steeleye Span' related collection.

Sorry to hear you inadvertently broke an ornament but good to hear that it was fixed. Was it a form of figurine? I assume you managed to use the glue without gluing yourself more?

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Yes, great to see your photos That is a great article - very atmospheric seeing the piper in the mist with the cows gathering

Yes, the new exhibition room is in an old building. The rooms on the ground floor of the main building are accessible but have been turned into storage this year, which seems a bit of a waste to me... Sadly the powers that be at the museum are not the most thoughtful when it comes to wheelchair access - another new development was that they have made the exit door with a ramp into a door to a cafe, and it was only when my mum helped me out of the exit door with a step that I found the notice saying wheelchair users were allowed to go out through the cafe I couldn't be too upset at the member of staff for not telling me, though, as she was on her own taking money both at reception and in the cafe, so she was running backwards and forwards between the two all afternoon...

Yes, swallows are much more agile than geese so that is a good simile with bicycles and cars

That is about the washing machine... What a palaver that the 'fix' has made it worse than before... I hope it is soon sorted The maintenance that was due to take place here has been delayed for a couple of weeks, but hopefully will go well once it gets started

Wow, that is a surprise that you've received notification of your operation only a couple of weeks in advance, after you've been waiting for months Glad it fits in with half term so you can rest and recover well - difficult that it changes your plans, but good that you'll be feeling better once the problem is sorted out

Yes 'figurine' is what she is - I've sent a photo to and called her a 'statuette'. Yes, I was very impressed to use the glue to do a neatish fix without sticking my own fingers together Not bad at all for a first attempt.

That is an intriguing CD - I hope you enjoy listening to it even if it isn't the best quality, as it adds to the collection indeed I plan to do a bit of charity shopping this weekend, as I did some spring cleaning this week so have a few bits to donate I hope you all have a good weekend

Ah - doesn't sound the most organised at all. Have you provided feedback so that they can improve for the future?

We managed to go to the laundrette after parkrun yesterday so managed to get clothes cleaned, and having been hung to dry all day yesterday and today (but we don't have a washing line, just two clothes horses that I put outside) I've just now sorted them and will be ironing in 15 minutes. When I'm ironing I get to control the television!

Incidentally the dishwasher has decided to break too. Apparently this is progress...

I'll look forward to seeing the photo in .

I admit I misjudged the Nursery Rhyme CD, it actually isn't bad at all. I read the leaflet and in it Tim Hart said that his 3-year-old son was given a nursery rhyme cassette for Christmas that, when played, was appallingly low quality - and made by the same record company he had a contract with. So he complained to the head saying 'fobbing off seriously sub-standard music on those who were too young to complain was a decidedly underhand and rotten trick' and the head of the record company asked him to make something better. So Tim Hart contacted as many talented musicians he knew that had children with the aim of making the highest-quality nursery rhyme record that parents would be happy to hear again and again and appeal to children who enjoy listening to the same sort of music as their parents.
Not sure how often I'll listen to it, irrespective of it being the finest quality nursery rhyme album I've ever owned.

There may be a moral of the story there - or there would be if the above were a fable.

Incidentally, did you ever watch much 'Star Trek' growing up?

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I have sent feedback, yes - they acted on my feedback back in 2019, as they added highlight tape to the little step I fell down, and the tape is still there so hopefully they will find my feedback helpful again

I had another fairly challenging day yesterday, as I went to a garden that wasn't very wheelchair friendly - thick gravel paths in many places, but luckily in other places the paths were closely-mown grass that wasn't too difficult to traverse. It was a beautiful garden, though, so I was glad to be able to visit - plenty of focal points for photography, and very refreshing on a nice warm day

Glad you managed to get a clothes wash, but sorry the dishwasher is malfunctioning now as well... I hope it is all soon sorted out

Glad the nursery rhyme CD was better than anticipated! I didn't go charity shopping after all, as I went to a coffee morning instead - no book stall, but I did help on the cake table and met lots of people I know as well I won some bubble bath on the Bottle Tombola, too, so my earworm was Wet Leg for the rest of the day

I did watch quite a bit of 'Star Trek' in my youth, yes - I recall that a repeat of The Original Series was broadcast on Saturdays, so I watched with my dad, and then the Next Generation was broadcast on a weekday evening so my family all watched it after dinner. We never got into Deep Space Nine, for some reason, so stopped watching after that. Did you watch much yourself?

Good to hear they have a track record of listening to feedback, so hopefully they'll make appropriate improvements. Was the garden you went to a private garden open on an open day, rather than one normally open to the public?

I've been having fun trying to get a hospital appointment for a blood test. At first when they phoned they wanted me to go to Basingstoke – so I asked where the hospital in Basingstoke was and that, as I don't drive, I'd have to get a train there. They genuinely replied that I wouldn't be able to get a train there, as the hospital doesn't have a train station – but there is a stop. So I replied that I know there isn't a train station dedicated to the hospital, but as I don't live in Basingstoke I'd need to get to Basingstoke, which is a town with a train station, and asked where the hospital is in relation to that, as I've never been there before, and is it possible to have the blood test in Winchester instead, as I know where that is. They hung up.
15 minutes later I got a message on my phone saying I had an Anaesthetic appointment at 'The Brooks Centre' in Winchester. Winchester's Brooks Centre is the shopping centre where HMV is. There is a 'Brooks Diabetes Centre' next to the hospital, which I assume is where they do hospital blood tests, but it isn't where I have ever been before...? Though I'm not going for a diabetes appointment I dare say diabetes doctors do have vast experience in blood tests. Or is the blood test to check for diabetes? I don't know what they do with my blood to be honest.

When I was young like you I watched the original series, Next Generation and the animated series on BBC - and enjoyed the first few series of both 'Deep Space 9' and 'Voyager' too. But when I went to Uni I didn't have a telly for 3 years so missed out on how they ended until I got them on DVD, and didn't see the original broadcast of 'Enterprise' either.
Now as Paramount has its own streaming service in the US there seems to be millions of new series that I feel I wouldn't mind watching, but I do resent the encroachment on my spare time that excessive television series brings. I can cope with 'Doctor Who' which only is a handful of episodes every year or two, but everything else seems relentless and do we really need that? But I must admit that 'Star Trek' influenced the cartoons I did as a child, and so as I've been polishing those up a bit I'm rediscovering some of the fondness that I used to have and has been laid dormant.

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The garden was sort of private, but sort of not - it is primarily a wedding venue, but the gardens are open to the public on days when no weddings are taking place. I guess that does mean they are not as fully geared up for access as they could be if they were primarily a public garden, but I'm glad I got to see as much as possible

That is confusing about the appointments indeed... Disappointing that the staff had limited awareness of how public transport works, but they could at least have given you another phone number to try, or a website address, instead of hanging up on you... The nhs website seems quite good http://www.nhs.uk/service-search/hospital - 'get directions' includes a public transport option. Good luck with it all

The animated Star Trek series is one I didn't watch, strangely (I did watch many other animated series) - I've seen some clips from it, but that's all. Interesting that Star Trek influenced your cartoons I know what you mean about excessive television series - even things like Casualty that we used to watch on Saturday nights turned into more of a soap format when the series became 40+ episodes long, so the storylines got more and more stretched. Fewer episodes per series are better in my opinion, too - leave us keen for the next series, rather than being relentless, as you say.

I'll be disappearing shortly to my appointment, but hopefully I'll be in the right place and they'll do whatever it is they do with blood in blood tests. I'm sure I still have some there for them to test, though I've not seen it for a while. I've got an idea for a doodle, which would be good if I were doodling at the moment rather than polishing old cartoons from 30 years ago. I should remember it.

I did enjoy the animated series of 'Star Trek' even if they used limited animation and didn't have Chekov to keep the costs down. And the series was controversial for its use of colours, mainly because the main person was colour blind, so I must admit it doesn't look odd to me.

Hope you're having a good day, and I’ll catch you later. Staff quiz tonight so I'm in the office, but unfortunately having a wardrobe malfunction as a button is holding on by a thread and keeps undoing itself as it isn't tight enough to stay done up.

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All the best with the journey, and I hope the test goes smoothly A mystery what they do with blood in blood tests indeed - my first blood test was a few years ago, and they only needed one vial to test for all sorts of things, then a couple of years ago they needed 3 vials to test for 3 specific things! The person who did the bit was skilled, though, so it wasn't too bad. Doodle material indeed

"all the positives of the people he inspired belong solely to those he inspired" - wise words indeed.

I see from some stills of the Star Trek animated series that some of them have a greenish hue, while others look more 'natural' hue. Not bad for relatively cheap, though, indeed.

I'm having an interesting week so far - one of those chestnuts where last week I was given 3 weeks to do a task, and then this week I was asked to do the task in 3 hours instead, but luckily my prior experience A87935773 helped so it was fine

Good luck with the quiz, and I hope your button hangs in there Not sure there's any stationery that can help you, like maybe a paperclip or some sellotape...

I managed to find the right place – which was a little old building with numerous cracks across the ceiling and down the walls, plus furniture which I'm sure were at least from the 1960s – as long as all their money has been spent on the life-saving stuff. The took three vials' worth of blood and asked me to swab various places, and then asked me to stand behind a screen while I took my shirt off – and then once I had, put several small stickers that looked like those found on bunches of bananas all over my chest, plugged wires into them, and then said my oxygen levels were low. She then asked me to stand behind the screen again while I put my shirt back on – not entirely sure the point of modesty then when she'd already stuck stickers that may well have said 'Fyffes' all over my chest and ripped them off as soon as the glue had set (not very comfortable glue either).

I double checked to refresh my memory and yes, with the Animated Series, the director was colour blind and often favoured a strong pink palette, particularly for Klingons. When it was recently released on Blu-Ray sadly it had been colour-corrected. I can't remember whether it was colour-corrected for the DVD I have at home, though.

Hope you have a great evening too and don't have any more tasks to do in no time!

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Glad you managed to get there and back OK. The building sounds a bit like ye olde wheelchair centre I used to go to when I was a child, before it moved to a more modern place - the building was shabby but the key equipment was fine indeed. Interesting that you had to give 3 vials - 'very nearly an armful'! I know the screens are there to ensure there's no striptease going on, but that is interesting that the reverse striptease also needs the screens. Interesting also that the banana stickers and wires measured your oxygen - I'm familiar with the machines that can measure oxygen by shining a light through a finger, but didn't realise ECG type things could do that too. I wince in sympathy at the thought of the removal of the stickers... I hope your swabs are all clear When my mum was in hospital last year, she had to do a swab, and then sent me a text message saying, "What MRSA?" That made me learn about it quickly... The test just found she was a carrier so had to be sent home to avoid risk to others, but wasn't at particular risk herself - that was a relief.

Ah - yes I looked online and found a snippet of an episode of Star Trek Animated Series with enemies wearing bright pink spacesuits Limited animation makes the scenes very intense - eg super-closeups of Spock speaking, making the motion of his eyebrows extra vivid...

There were a few more tasks that needed doing in no time today, but I got there - I was given 3 things to do, and 10 minutes later, while I was still working on the first one, I received 3 messages asking if I'd done the second one yet... I managed to stay focused and work through everything at a reasonably steady pace, so it was fine, but it is definitely intense this week, being so close to the end of the month for various reports to be completed... I'm taking a day off work for D's birthday, and we have the bank holiday as well, so that will be good, albeit happysad

Pleasant bright weather this evening, too

Yes, the furniture I'm sure was all so old that it had never been new, but I guess that it worked. I may have inadvertently misled you as they did put the clip on my finger and puff up my arm shortly after I was stickered up. I do wonder how sensitive the oxygen measurement was, as iniatially she said it was low and that I should inhale more, and then she said it went up to 98% and that was fine. I admit that when she was putting stickers all over my chest I definitely slowed my breathing if not held my breath, which I think is a normal reaction, but is the equipment likely to pick that up so soon?
But it was strange that I was asked if I got out of breath frequently - I was tempted to respond that I can whistle the 'William Tell Overture' while sprinting, which to me indicates that I'm unlikely to have a problem in that regards, but I simply said 'no'. Perhaps I have good lung capacity but still low oxygen blood levels, who knows?

I hope your mum was able to get the appointment sorted another time.

The big thing at work this month is Data Futures, which we can't do as Quercus doesn't work, so we've already notified the OfS and HESA about that. We wonder how many institutions will be able to meet the deadline.

Just as I was typing the above the washing machine repairman came (again) and is downstairs as we speak (well, as I type) so hopefully we will finally have a working washing machine for the first time since April.

Good luck for D's birthday.

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Yes, does make one wonder about these equipment things when multitasking is taking place. Glad your oxygen quickly went up to 98% after being low so it was fine - being able to whistle and sprint does indicate that you're usually fine, indeed. When I saw a nurse about my asthma attack in January, she took my blood pressure and it was scarily high, but I did wonder if it was because the armband wasn't quite in the right place (too close to my elbow). Her second attempt was slightly better, so she accepted that. I tested again at home using my own machine and it was within my normal range, so I wasn't worried. She didn't do an oxygen test, strangely, but my Peak Flow (blowing into a tube) was definitely low (although she thought that was my normal at first). I have an oxygen monitor on my fitness tracker, but haven't noticed a particular pattern (it varies between 95 and 98% usually, although I did get 100% once, whatever that means).

Yes, it worked out well for my mum that she was a carrier of MRSA, as she only found out after she had been treated for her breathing problems - it speeded up the discharge process as they needed to eject her from the premises promptly

I hope the washing machine situation is going well We have workpeople here today, but it's not too bad so far - more noise from my neighbour's chainsaw than from them at the moment...

Wow, that is a tricky situation about Data Futures and Quercus... OfS must be busy managing notifications indeed...

Thank you I plan to do my usual journal, and I have also booked a lunch out as it is 10 years since D had a lunch party to celebrate her 50th birthday. I'm a bit sad that nobody who was there is able to join me, but I plan to share the lunch virtually instead

I would have thought that 100% blood oxygen would mean you could breath your blood (though oxygen levels in the atmosphere is only around 21% apparently, and breathing 100% oxygen isn't good for you, and particularly difficult when deep sea diving.) I think they have a different understanding of what 100% is. Although I do now have an image of someone deflating like a balloon if they have 100% oxygen when a tries to do a blood test.

Ah, glad that happened on your mum's way out of hospital rather than needing to go in and being prevented, and all was well and that it hadn't prevented her from receiving the necessary level of care needed.

The latest washing machine situation is that it still doesn't work. The repairman (the third different person after 4 visits) came by yesterday and found and fixed a problem that the start button hadn't been attached properly, which is why it hadn't been doing anything when we pressed it. But unlike the previous two, he actually decided to test it afterwards by putting a wash on to check it worked. The guy who came 1st and 3rd was the one who assumed he had fixed it all and just left, leaving it broken. The second person had acknowledged that it didn't work and gave us the workaround, which had been helpful.
Anyway, after checking the button worked and doing a wash, again the same issue persisted in that the rinse water would enter, but then the wash water wouldn't and it would switch off, despite the new wash motor being attached. So he investigated and discovered that reason why the wash motor wasn't working to let the water into the drum. As you know, washing machines vibrate, however ours when vibrating, the drum was rubbing against the wires going to the motor - which should have been protected but weren't. So after 4 months of rubbing the wires had been cut, so no power going to the motor (which is why it wasn't working when it should) but with exposed wires in a washing machine it isn't safe to use (even with the workaround) so until we get a replacement wire and motor housing thing installed, no washing machine. No idea when he's returning to fix that.
Still no working dishwasher, and the person we'd expected to fit the sun tunnel today has messaged to say that unfortunately he is unable to now.

I wish you all the best with your lunch.

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"I do now have an image of someone deflating like a balloon if they have 100% oxygen when a tries to do a blood test." - - yes indeed!

Sorry to hear the latest saga of your washing machine - that's awful At least the problem has now been identified, and I hope the fix can be applied very soon

Just typical that you've got dishwasher and sun tunnel problems at the same time, but I hope they are sorted out very soon as well

Thank you I wish you all the best for Wednesday as well

I don't have any particular plans for the bank holiday, but hope to do some birdwatching after a few weeks of garden visits. I might get to do charity shopping tomorrow as well as food shopping I hope you all have a good weekend

Hello! I was very touched to receive flowers in the post from 'h2g2' - which if I did a Venn diagram of the number of people on h2g2 who know both my address and that I'm having surgery this week, well I believe it really is quite a narrow field of one. It was also the very first flowers I've had delivered, so definitely a surprise.

I hope you've been having a good weekend with birdwatching and hopefully ideally accessible garden visits. We've been visiting a garden too - our own! It still is all patio and no grass, but this weekend we've purchased a garden furniture set so we'll be able to enjoy sitting outside and soaking up the sun. It finally feels like we're having good weather for the first time since we moved in.

Other news - Maxy is unwell - he hasn't been eating or drinking and on Friday spent a lot of time hiding under my bed. So we took him to the local vet about 4pm where he stayed until 7pm, when they closed and told us to take him to another vet in Southampton that is open overnight (but we would have to collect him at 7:30am), but that if he still needed to be in a vets he would then have to go to a vet hospital in Winchester due to Bank Holiday closures. He was on a drip overnight and now he still is very lethargic, but eating again and not hiding, so we think he's on the mend, if still ill, but keeping an eye on him.

Also yesterday I went with a work colleague to do Richmond parkrun in London, which is one she'd planned on doing for ages as she needs to do an R. It was quite easy to get to, though I wouldn't normally consider catching a train to London just to do one parkrun and then go home, but that's what I ended up doing. Got another one ticked off. It was quite a nice course - the first half was all on tarmac and quite straight and flat but the second half was more curvy and undulating, plus the park has 600 deer, some of which I spotted while running round.

Hope you have a great weekend and thanks again to 'h2g2' for flowers

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Yes, the Venn diagram would be an accurate picture of who organised the delivery - I was pleased to be able to arrange a little something for you on behalf of A87834711 while I arranged a little something for myself for D's birthday too.

Sorry is unwell but glad to hear there is improvement following the treatment - hopefully on the mend indeed

Glad you had a straightforward trip to and from parkrun to bag a new course Did I see on that there is going to be a parkrun at an airport soon so people can get great times running along a disused runway? Glad Richmond was a mixture of solid ground and scenery with the deer

I'm having a good weekend so far - World Museum have another excellent exhibition on, displaying statues of Greek/Roman Gods alongside other artefacts eg Greek Vase Paintings from Liverpool Museums, so I enjoyed that very much.

There was a strange moment when a member of staff shepherded people through the Clore Gallery and locked us into another room, because the Clore Gallery closes at 3.30pm. After 5 minutes he unlocked the door and let us all out through the Clore Gallery as there was no other exit from that room... All fine, though, and the museum wasn't too busy, so there were plenty of seats in the new cafe area and mum and I were able to explore the exhibitions at leisure

Glad you're enjoying your own garden I plan to do birdwatching today as the weather is warm but not too warm so far, so that should be good