No digging this weekend

Last weekend was a sort of weekend off. Our old friend Rolf, old in the sense of having known him a long time not old as in being the wrong end of too many summers, married Gill at Haigh Hall in Lancashire. We travelled up on the Saturday morning for the service in the afternoon. We set off extra early to make sure we arrived in time. It was a prudent measure. The A50 had problems and the M6 had two problems so it took over three hours for a journey which should have less than two. It was a moving ceremony not least because both families have had to deal with tragedy in their time together. Rolf and Gill were over flowing with love for each other. There was not a dry eye in the house as they said their own special vows to each other.

The day went very well. Hazel and I met friends from Hazel's time in banking. Rolf & Gill still work in banking in Manchester. We also met our long time best buddies Liz and Chris. Haigh Hall is high on the side of the valley over looking Wigan. It was a clear night which was great view over the Douglas valley to the fireworks from the Bonfire parties below. Altogether it was a smashing day & night. We were taken back to our hotel for a peaceful night. Breakfast was a buffet arrangement so Lucy and I were able to pig out on Pancakes, Maple syrup and lashings of Tea.

The drive home was uneventful but long. We chose to avoid the motorway as it was a very foggy morning. We drove though my old stomping grounds in Newton le Willows, Cadishead, Irlam, Salford and on into Manchester. The city looks very different to city I left eight years ago. The changes had begun back then. A legacy of the IRA bomb in the city in 1996.

After we got home and had a spot of lunch I popped over the lottie to drop the food scraps onto the worms. Whilst I was there I sawed a plank to size to create another lift on the front of the big compost bin. The bin has really heated up since last week when I dumped on the dried pressings from the Cider making. I am looking forward to the weekend for a bit of proper winter digging.