Photo-boots

Hazel is still full of cold a week later. She had last Monday off and stayed in bed but struggled in Tuesday.
This photobooth photo is on Archie's wall now- hence the reflections. Taken by one of Hazel's students -Olivia Glasser - at the Interactive Arts degree show. We thought it was just one photo but the camera flashed agin when we were piling out (knocking the curtain down ) and Hazel jumped back in for the last one.
Busy day on Tuesday. Went to the Sorting Office and took down the feet shaped postcards that have been there over a year now. No chance of adding anything new to the cabinet so left it empty. Bought a cheap MP3 player with my birthday money and spent a a while adding lots of stuff to it. I've never really seen the point of getting one before as I would hardly use it but going to Manchester on the train last week with the clunky MD player made me realise it would be quite handy. This Archos is tiny and holds up to 16mbs with added memory slot thingy.
Wednesday watched the football - England v Slovakia which we scraped a win - a portent of things to come.
Archie went into college for final exam - General Studies.
Weather has been very warm and no rain for ages - most unusual for June!
Archie sat outside too long and got heat sickness and headache so he had Thursday off college.
Friday I walked to town and back despite the heat. Made a Waldorf salad for lunch with pecans.Yum! The onion pickle I made a month ago is ready to eat and is delicious even if I say so myself. I shall definitely be making some more!
More futball.

Went to town with Hazel on Saturday. No bargains. Glastonbury started. Watched some I recorded the previous night. Highlight was Bombay Bicycle Club.
More futball. In the evening went to see Bernard Wrigley ( The Bolton Bullfrog) at the local theatre. Phew- it was a bit hot and muggy inside what is basically a corrogated tin hut! Bernard was great though despite bits of the show being , as Hazel described it - like a Saga Holiday sing-along!
Boot sales the next day at Walnut Tree fram and Whitegate football club. Very hot- so hot I wore a silly big hat I bought in New York.
Got a couple of games and Hazel found a few bits and bobs including a fruit bowl, a gyroscope and a packet of old fuses - just what every girl needs!

Watched to England v Germany horror show in the afternoon and cried into our beer.
O well , we'll have to wait for the European championships to try and make up for it.
Had a nice bar-b-q outside later despite the noisy neighbours who seemed to be strangling a pig and sawing up some scaffolding poles with a bread knife.

Belly Funny

New animation by Archie.

Merz Day

As Creative Thing ( long time mail art chum ) keeps telling me- my birthday is also Kurt Schwitter's. Celebrated with a boot sale at Moss Farm. We had to park miles from it though as the car park was "full up" but when we got there it seemed half empty! Didnt find much- a DVD of Silence Of The Lambs with extras disc for a quid. Hazel was full of cold but bravely trudged round for my sake and bought a few weird things- a wooden ruler with an inch missing, an intricately peirced watch part, a watch chain fob? Then in the afternoon we went over to Granma's for fish 'n chips and a big sticky cake they had bought at the church fete.
It was Father's Day too so got a nice double card from Archie he had collaged with two flaps - one for birthday and the other for fathers. Box of chocs, set of collaging scalpels and plastic box box from Granma and Audrey and some money. Hazel found me a nice old toffee tin at the boot that I'm sure I had as a child.
Home to watch the football - exciting game between Brazil and the Ivory Coast. Ivory Coast left it a bit late for a fight back and lost 3 - 1. It all got a bit silly at the end with lots of diving and play acting.
Hazel was feeling terrible so went to bed early.
This photo was taken a few weeks ago but sums up how happy I felt yesterday being with my family.
Previously in the week we'd been to Manchester and the degree shows. Had lunch with John Hegley and his girlfriend in the Cornerhouse. He opened the Interactive Arts show later with a song and cut the purple ribbon. He then rushed off to the University theatre to do a gig which we managed to catch luckliy. We shared a taxi back to the centre of town. We we all feeling very tired so declined the offer of a drink in the hotel bar. The next day Hazel had to look after the gallery and keep an eye on the students but cold was kicking in. Archie and I wandered round all the rest of them - fine art, graphics, illustration etc.
So a pretty busy fun packed weekend. All that culture gave me a headache!

Budgie

Found this old collaborative mail art "pass along" piece in a folder today. The late and much missed Michael Scott added most of the words with a glue that looks a bit like treacle? Maybe it was treacle?
Another week and bit flashed by. The weekend was marred by the rain but did get to the indoor boot sale at the memorial Hall. Got there too early and passed the time by wandering around the town and looking at bits of buildings we hadnt really noticed before - wooden gargoyles, brightly painted imps, grotesque statuary - and that was just in the newsagents! No, I'm kiddin' ofcourse- some lovely corners and crooked nannies around the back streets of Northwich. Looking above the tarted up shop fronts you see some lovely old brickwork and ornate guttering , wonky chimneys and pointy roofs.
Back at the memorial Hall the Q's had formed and it was a bit packed inside with everyone shuffling around trying to get in each others way. So we didnt stay long. Hazel found a strange biomechanical bracelet with knobs on- for transforming a nervous wreck into a chilled out yoghurt. I found some cheap DVD's ofcourse- 50p each with no sleeves or boxes - he just put them in a paper bag like toffees.
The Comic Strip from the early days of Channel 4 when they showed some good stuff. Also some 10 hours of old cartoons on 4 discs with lots of Betty Boop and Popeye and other Fleischer Bros gems amongst the dross.
Later we went over to Granma's to plant some flowery plugs and weed her overgrown beds- not in that order ofcourse.

Today I ordered my new glasses- both long and short sighted specs. Boots are much better than Specsavers and I don't care who knows it. A little more expensive maybe but at least they treat you properly and you don't feel you're being rushed through because you are over 60.
Archie has been revising for his A levels and had two exams this week- Chemistry and Biology which went OK he said . Its General Studies next week. He's hoping to form a band but has only one conscript so far.
Looking forward to the football fest soon but I don't think Hazel is! I think we will refrain from draping a 6 foot union jack from the upstairs window though.

June Already!!!

A weekly feast of whelks? Why did i write that in my diary? Gawd nose.
The last couple of whelks have whizzed by at an alarming rate. Can't belive it's the 1st of June today- feels more like February! I have the heating on and wearing my thickest shirt and jumper!
So back to the diary to see what I was up to - if anything - for the last few days.
Had to lock up Rob's chickens again. No sign of them in the gloom so presume they were snuggled up inside the coop. They all trooped out the next morning. I could see an egg far back inside but I couldn't reach it. Rob said we could have the eggs if we found any but these chickens are a wiley bunch and super glue them to the back wall.
I finished ICO , well except for the boring final boss and borrowed the sequal , Shadow Of The Colossus from the library. I'm glad I didnt buy it as its not as good as ICO and mostly fighting which gets very tedious. Amazing landscapes to explore though. We watched Avatar on DVD which I heartily recommend for 2 and half hours of escapist nonsense. I can see why its done so well. Shame it means that everything will be in 3D from now on though!

Went to boot sale in Nantwich at the Vagrants Club and got a couple of films by John Carpenter. Hazel found a few things for her cabinet of curiosities. Propelling pencils ( that I found) and other stuff that I forget now. See her blog for details. It was incredibly hot and so unlike the weather today. Too hot to stay there long. After an hour I found Hazel and Archie who had hidden in the shade of a large tree.
O yes, Hazel found me a nice old tin post box with a mangled slit - attacked by some mad child with a cleaver, trying to get his pennies out.
First bar-b-q of the year in the garden.
Hazel trimmed the lawn with the new strimmer which sounds like a Boing 707 taking off.

Went to see excellent Charity Shop Cabaret at Plumly village hall - part of the Cheshire Rural Touring Network. We sat right at the back so didnt get roped into the daft audience participations - like the After Eight mint stuck to your forehead and slid down your face towards your mouth!
Bought some wine vinegar and jam jars and made a batch of caramel-ized onion pickle.Which i can eat on my birthday in two weeks ( hint hint ).
I boiled up a whole saucepanful and it reduced right down and filled two small jars. Hopefully should be tasty though.
No boots this Sunday so went for a nice walk around Shackerly mere to see the gooslings and feed the ducks etc. Dropped Archie off over in Wettenhall to camp out in a field with some college chums. We ha d a drive around the lanes and ended up back at the Broken Cross by the canal for a drink. We shivered outside waiting for boats to chug passed but saw just one solitary duck that seemed attached to some underwater rail- it kept going up and down, mainly for our benefit.
Terrible pub- beer was off- had to have bottled and their sandwiches are rubbish. We had nuts instead.
Yesterday it was Bank Holiday so a boot at Frodsham. Nice and sunny. Got a couple of scratchy records- Burl Ives and Attila The Stockbroker. See Boot Sale Sounds for details.
Also Village of The Damned (another John Carpenter film )Dragon Quest on PS2 and some spillikins for Hazels collection from Betty. Surprised to see her there. She explained her daughter drove her - else she wouldn't have bothered.
Got Archie from the camping field. He hadnt slept much and is making up for it now. 4 o'clock in the afternoon and still no sign of him!
O well, thats my news pretty much updated. The collage above is for the Mary Greg project that Hazel is involved in at Manchester Art Gallery. Mary Greg collected all kinds of weird stuff, some mundane and some fanciful. The toy ark I saw and the broken animals gave me the idea of the hospital ark and the animals with bandaged legs and paws etc.