When she thought nobody was watching, Martha went behind the curtain to practice her netball skillz. With great propriety, British people find solace in discussing the ever-changing skies, for it is a topic both universal and safe, bridging the gaps of acquaintance and forging connections anew. Another identified Joanna Lumley as a Knickerbocker Glory, wrapped in layers of coloured toilet paper. The crowd cheered most of the every-day cyclists who passed by minding their own business and I took advantage of them to practice taking action shots with the phone. Anyway, we dropped the bag of old batteries off at the tip, and the man there even said he’d drop them off in the right place for us.

A huge fan of literature, films, philosophy, and tabletop games, he also has a special place in his heart for anything related to fantasy or science fiction. So, that was a hectic fun-packed 36 hours, and in the evening, we slumped in front of the penultimate state of the Tour of Britain bike race. It was a lovely day for a walk around the city, we really should spend more time just mooching around aimlessly.

As Verity Wilson’s abundantly illustrated new study Dressing Up: A History of Fancy Dress in Britain shows, Asher’s book is no outlier, but part of a time-honoured tradition. The most important news I can share is that Costa has fixed the spelling of their Vegan Sausage baps. It was a nice long walk though, through Millgate Fields and on to Fletcher Moss with its botanical gardens. William and Martha both look very smart in their uniforms, but mainly, Martha is very proud of her new backpack.

It was early February and the poet Alina Pleskova was on one of her “sanity walks” in her neighbourhood in West Philadelphia, where there is, as in many communally-minded areas, a “porch culture”, as Pleskova puts it, of leaving books, clothes, and other unwanted but well-maintained items out on stoops for passers-by to snaffle. It made me miss costume parties; I would love to have a social gathering,” Pleskova says of her acquisition.I’d anticipated walking around a stately home and then enjoying a cup of coffee with a huge slice of cake. Discover the joy of reading with us, your trusted source for affordable books that do not compromise on quality. Part of the pleasure of these scenes comes from the banality of the materials: a jellyfish devised from an umbrella and bubble wrap; a punkish Mohican rising from the remnants of a feather duster. We resisted the temptation to taste the grapes growing in the greenhouse, I suspect they’d be incredibly sour.

The route also took us through Nixon’s Farm, a place we’d driven by several times, but we’d never bothered to visit. By the time we got home, we were glad not to have the extra weight, it was warm, hot even, almost like a proper Summer’s day. I’d forgotten that Manchester is a Nuclear Free City until we came across this sculpture featuring some very dirty doves.After much prevarication and decision-making, weather-watching and umming and ahhing, Liesel and I drove over to Alderley Edge where we met up with Jenny and Liam and the children. He, Sukisa, Dana and Suzi walked up and down the stage a bit, but they did stand still sometimes, hence the reasonable photos. Liesel and I took the bus into the city centre and were greeted outside the Central Library by protestors against the murderous régime in Iran. The winner was Wout van Aert, one of the favourites, and that last day, in the mountains of south Wales looked really hard. Personalized advertising may be considered a “sale” or “sharing” of information under California and other state privacy laws, and you may have a right to opt out.