finally got somewhere…

two weeks later than planned and not quite where we were supposed to be going…

at the end of september fizz popp and poppy were off on the train up to chester – well three trains, but who’s counting? well, fizz and poppy because that’s how many trains they had to catch – anyway, i’ll hand you over to the two travelling popps;

hello all *waves*, me and poppy were off to chester (as it was the cheapest place to go with a couple of weeks notice…)

after arriving at the pp at about two, the afternoon was spent looking around chester.

at bedtime we snuggled down with a paddington book

yay! paddington!

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on tuesday, we caught a train to liverpool. it was a bit blustery and occasionally rainy so we didn’t go too far from the waterfront and museums – but first we went to see the beatles

with macca

paul, george, ringo and paul

albert dock

two of four lions outside of st. george’s hall

we’d got a day ticket (£5.60 for a day’s train travel around merseyside) so had to go somewhere else – we chose new brighton. it was still very very blustery, but we had a walk down to the sea – then a walk back to the train station – very exciting…

new brighton lighthouse

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the next morning, wednesday, we’d planned on going to ellesmere port, but after a couple of cancelled trains, decided to spend the morning in chester

chester weir

chester wall

a mo-say-eek in chester cathedral

favourite window

after lunch we decided to go on the train. our first stop was west kirby. we had a walk down to the sea – then a walk back to the train station – very exciting…

walking on water

…then we popped back to liverpool

lie-ver birds in liv-verpool

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we finally got to ellesmere port on thursday. we’d forgotten that it was quite a long walk along a busy road to the canel museum

rainbow, a crocheted neddy

how strange would it be to be crocheted?

popped onto an indoor boat

porter’s row cottages

popped onto an outdoor narrow boat

a lot of locks

nine miles to go

a tidy wood workshop

colourful pots and pans

looking for kelvin popp

after getting back to the train station (via a subway under a big roundabout – with the words ‘don’t look behind’ graffitied on the pavement *walks even faster*) – we went up to port sunlight, which is always a lovely place to look round. the first stop was the art gallery where we had a drink and no cake (£4.50 is a bit steep for cake with banana in).

we definitely did not forget to take any photos, see…

spending a penny…

we then walked through the rose garden smelling the roses then had a look in the garden centre where they were getting ready for chrimbles *groans*, then caught the train back to chester.

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we decided to get the first train(s) home the next morning as the weather was going to be atrocious!

a very exciting mini popps minibobs as you can see…

on the plus point we’ve still got our other holibobs (near liverpool) to look forward to sometime next year, which fuzzy is hoping to go on.

until next time, byeeeee *waves*

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tour de devon

hello again,

junior, fizz popp and carter the panda enjoyed eight/nine days in devon – i’ll pass you over…

hello *waves*, junior here. we travelled down to exeter on a wednesday, mid may (about a four & a half hour train(s) ride) – where we were staying for our first four nights of our trip to devon. the purple palace was literally just over the road from the station.

the human informed us that she wasn’t going to buy cake/ice creams or spend any money on unnecessaries – hmmm, we’ll see…

on our first morning we popp-ed on a train to topsham, just a few minutes up the track. our first destination was the three floor antiques centre where we bought something on every floor – ahem…

carter in topsham

after looking in the few shops and having our lunch down by the water, we made our way back to the train station for the 20 minute ride to exmouth. it was quite a warm day so the human had a paddle when we got down to the beach while the rest of us rested our weary paws.

lazing on the beach

lazing on a sunny afternoon

exmouth marina

**cake of the day** was a notbuttercream filled chocolate cake – yummy! 9.6 out of 10

mini choccy-cream filled choccy cakes

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day two was going to be a bit cooler with showers (it wasn’t too bad) so the humans went into exeter for the day and had a long walk. see yesterday for **cake of the day** still yummy!

exeter cathedral

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carter; we were up a bit earlier on the last full day of the first half of our holibobs and caught a train to barnstaple, in north devon – which took just over an hour. the human had a vague memory of going when she was a wee nipper.

there wasn’t very much to see so after lunchtime dinner we caught a bus to ilfracombe – which took about an hour. it was somewhere else the human thought she’d been. Apart from not remembering it at all, it was quite an interesting seaside town…

E II R 2022

rocky water

harbour beach

more rocks

‘verity’ by damien hirst

back in barnstaple waiting for the train…

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all too soon sunday had arrived and it was time to check out. we spent the morning in exeter before catching the train to torquay.

exeter cathedral

yikes! dineysaws *runs*

a erm, thingy

we’d booked a pp plus room in torquay and we had a view of the harbour and beach!

i can confirm that the human definitely did not get on her hands and knees to measure the room with a two foot paper measure (15 1/2′ x 20′) – ahem. although it was a large room, the pp designers didn’t think it necessary for drawers for drawers(!)

*sings* i see the sea, the sea sees me…

in the evening we went down to the beach then walked along to the far end of the beach that we’ve never ventured to before

a zonkey/donkey ride

the far end of the beach

the view back

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on monday, we were off on the train. our first stop was teignmouth

the pier

view from the pier

after lunch we went a bit further down the track to dawlish. as we were on our holibobs, we had an ice cream

don’t eat it all fizz!

we saw some black swans

it started raining soon after so we made our way back to the station and on to newton abbot. it continued raining so we kept diving into shops. in the final one, we found a mini snoopy.

we’d only really visited newton abbot because the last time we came we had a pizza, then the best brownie & ice cream ever. so we had to come back!!

er, no we haven’t already had ice cream…

**dessert of the day** warm brownie with vanilla ice cream and raspberry sauce. 9.8 out of 10

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on tuesday we caught a bus to brixham. the idea was to go to a greeny bit above the town. we didn’t get that far, but we saw brixham from a different view.

the view back to brixham

getting further away

back at the harbour – with our new furiend snoops

brixham harbour

after getting back from brixham we had a walk to a different harbour

torquay harbour

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on our last full day, we caught a bus to paignton and looked in a few shops then caught another bus to kingswear

on top of the double decker *sings* get on board! get on board! come and join the double deckers…

we caught a ferry over to dartmouth, tried to keep dry then caught a ferry back over to get a bus to brixham

a misty mizzly day

it had brightened up a bit by the time we got to brixham so we enjoyed a final look round before catching a bus back to torquay

one last walk on torquay beach

**dessert of the day** was chedder strawberries which thankfully tasted of strawberries and not cheeese – 8 out of 10 – where’s the cake?

*sniff* they don’t smell of cheeese!

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the three trains home took about five and a half hours. at least there were no delays :o)

thank you for reading, if indeed you still are,

junior popp, fizz popp and carter…& snoops :o)

at last, we went to rhyl

greetings pop pickers

over two years ago the human was lucky enough to get two of only 300 tickets for her and her sister (hs) to see the alarm (80s band) at a special ‘gathering’ to mark their 40th anniversary. it was originally going to take place in may (& june) 2021, but that got postponed to january this year – then that was rearranged for the beginning of march

me and wheatus with our tickets

finally we were on our way up north to rhyl (about 150 miles). it took about four hours including a short stop in stoke.

the purple palace was right by the seafront (ish) and we could see the sea (ish) from our first floor room – there may have been a car park and wall in between…

we went up the day before the first concert, so after tea we went to scout out prestatyn & dyserth ready for sunday – but more of that later.

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the first concert was friday night at rhyl town hall which was only a hop, skip and a jump from the pp (or a 3-4 minute walk as they decided on)

they were presented with a 40th anniversary rosette when they went in (not as naff as they were expecting). mike peters (mp) performed an acoustic set with songs from the years 2022 to 2010, then after the interval, songs from 2009 to 2000. i must admit i only knew about six of the songs…

rhyl town hall

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on saturday morning we had a walk to rhyl harbour and metal mickey (statue of mike peters)

metal mickey

rhyl harbour – not a lot of boats

a red diddly

walking back we went on the beach…

me and wheatus on the beach

after an early lunch we were back at the town hall. most people had their photo taken with mp as they arrived – my human doesn’t have her photo taken thankyouverymuch. there was a big flag on a table that you could sign. the hs had already included the human so i signed me and wheatus’ names.

signed flag

upstairs waiting for the filum

the filum was ’50 days in lockdown’ about writing, recording and releasing a new album in er, 50 days in er, lockdown…

five out of five

we were back later for the second concert and was presented with a flag on the way in – this time it was songs from the years 1999 to 1992 (i knew a few more), then after the interval, songs from the years 1991 to 1981 (i knew most of them and sang along). he was on stage for nearly four hours *applause*

on the way to the loo….

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on the sunday morning we were rudely awoken at 7:30am by hs alarm going off #grrr

we had to check out and be off to prestatyn before 9:30am for a performance and presentation about the first ever Alarm gig, outside the now closed royal victoria pub (obviously their first gig was inside!!) his voice was a bit croaky!

the royal victoria, prestatyn

afterwards it was off to dyserth, a couple of miles away.

mp & his wife jules own a chapel which they’ve made into apartments and had just bought the pub next door so we went for a nosey.

dyserth waterfall

the chapel and pub

the apartments were very nice and even had one of mp’s guitars in each one. on the way out the humans decided to have a photo with the great man himself (purposely blurred!)

mike peters and a silly human

the second part of the 40th anniversary gathering is a concert in cardiff, originally going to be a couple of weeks after rhyl but it’s now been rescheduled for april…next year!

so look out for part two…

lyndon, ellis, fizz & bay at the bay

the last week in november, lyndon, ellis and fizz & bay popp were off on a train to cardiff – here’s their blog…

hello, ellis here *waves*

unlike the last two minibobs, the train(s) were on time! hurrah! it still took four hours, but we were able to have something to eat between connections. once in cardiff we caught a bus to the bay which only took a few minutes. it was going to get dark fairly soon so we had a walk down to the waterfront.

pier building

sun setting

lyndon and me, ellis

rainbow millennium centre

as we were on our minibobs (and back by popular demand – well, by jeremy anyway…) we had found some delicious looking cakes at the supermarket

chocolate fudge cupcakes

we’re pleased to say that they were very nice & chocolatey & fudgey 9/10

the next day, tuesday, we went to bath on the train. first we made our way to ‘the circus’, a circle of houses with a big roundabout in the centre – no acrobats today though

our circus skills

from there it was a short walk to the famous royal crescent, a half moon (or crescent if you will) of houses

royal crescent *bows*

there was a haha which is like a barrier, but it didn’t stop us! ha ha!

on the way back into town we took a wrong turn but eventually got to the river…

the weir

…then the abbey

bath abbey

the moon in the abbey

large stained glass window

then it was time to make our way back to the station

a neddy in a window

after we got back to the purple palace it was time for cake of the day

rocky road

we’d bought a box of five rocky roads so there was enough for one each. nice chewy marshmallows on a soft chocolatey base – a little bit sickly but a strong 8/10

as we were in cardiff but hadn’t actually seen much of cardiff yet, on wednesday we had a walk into town

a neddy outside a restaurant

we saw some GIANT bobbins which would keep snuffy going for quite a while!

most of the day was spent ‘shopping’ *yawns*, but we did find some cake / cookies at the market

a chrimbo cake loaf

salted caramel cookie

the chrimbo cake loaf tasted quite nice, but was overcooked/dry – a disappointing 6/10

the salted caramel cookie was quite nice, but it didn’t taste particularly saltly or caramelly – 7/10

the popps walked off some of the cake down by the waterfront

“no, i don’t know what it is…”

on the last full day, thursday, we once again made our way into the centre to catch a train – this time to chepstow.

we had a look around the shops and had an early lunch before having a walk to the riverbank

the riverbank

the bandstand

then we made our way to the castle

mini castle

big castle

we popped into the supermarket on our way back to the train station…

‘cake’ of the day was a strawberry cheeseless cheesecake – with a very strawberry-ry jelly on a moosey middle and a soft biscuit base 7.85/10

once back at the pp, the human started packing the cases while us bears, who were wearing everything we’d brought, could relax in front of the tellybox.

after checking out on friday, it was another walk to the centre to look in a few shops and have lunch before a bus ride (hurray) back to the bay to collect our cases and a bus ride (hurray) to the train station to be on our way home.

welsh cake

cake of the day was a welsh cake from the market with juicy sultanas – as yummy as usual 9.42/10

until next time, toodle pip *waves*

york, scarborough and durham

hello everybeary, in the last week of september melody, junior and fizz popp travelled up to york for their holibobs *passes you over to melody*

melody; hello! hello! i’m very excited to share my first fuzzy holibobs *waves*

on monday we were due to get into york at about 11:30am but because we missed our first connection and the second train kept stopping/was on a go slow we were an hour and 45 minutes late! not the best start but after seeing the weather forcast for the week (rain, rain, rain, rain and more rain) at least it was sunny.

we had a walk along the wall after dropping the cases off at the purple palace. in between the showers (good job i’ve got my caggle) we went in a few shops and finally found our way to the minster.

i think there’s a minster around here somewhere…

i’ve found it!

i scream the popps scream we all scream for ice cream! oh, it’s not open

we accidentally had nuggets and chips for tea.

we were thinking about going to scarborough on tuesday, but it gave rain for about 2pm so we stayed in york. we went a different way round and saw different shops and buildings.

another walk another wall

what a cute little van!

we found an old fashioned shop of allsorts in which the popps bought some tin buckets to take to the beach (when we go…)

merchant adventurers hall – a lovely old yellow building

in the museum garden – there’s still a few flowers out

unfortunately it started raining at 2pm so we went back to the hotel

dinner was a falafel & hummus ciabatta with fries.

we caught a train to scarborough on wednesday then immediately caught another to filey (15 minutes further). it’s quite a small town with quite a long beach. as it was a lovely sunny day we had an ice cream as soon as we could find one. then it was time to sit on the beach while the popps built their sandfort.

filey beach

the popps with their new buckets

having a paddle

after a couple of hours in filey, it was time to catch a train back to scarborough. sydney had told us about a fun arcade game called pacman, so once we’d found it we changed a whole pound into lots of tuppences and began to play. we were there quite a long time trying to spend a pound! the more we put in the more we got out – it was indeed great fun! then it was time to cross over to the beach

north bay

time for another paddle…

i could see the lighthouse from the beach, but it was quite a long walk round to it…

scarborough harbour

still a long way off

we’re here!

we found somewhere to eat on the way back – i had spaghetti lentil ragu (no chips) – it was quite nice all the same. then it was time to make our way back to the train station before it got dark

one last walk by the harbour

it was already raining when we woke up on thursday so i decided to stay in the hotel while the humans & popps did some shopping *yawns*

dinner was a humorous hummus salady thing with warm bread sticks (still no chips!)

it was fine again on friday so we caught a train to durham

durham castle & cathedral

a bit of the castle – we weren’t allowed in

durham cathedral

here are a few pictures of the inside…

cloisters

oooh , the mooon!

*sings* …i saw the whole of the mooon

stained…

…glass…

…windows

when we came out of the cathedral we had a walk about

view from a bridge

colourful brollies

it was the first time the human had been to durham and it was a bit up-py and down-y – and there were a LOT of people!

dinner was pretend fish (tofoo) and chips (hooray for chips!)

saturday was our final day, we’d booked to go to the train museum for 10am when it opened (luckily fuzzy had seen that you had to book in advance!)

here are a few pictures…

mallard

climb aboard

a new rocket

can you see me?

no climbing

the dragon hunter

fizz popp

haha, howard of …

a bear sized rocket

after the museum we went to find a place to eat, but there was no room at the inn so we had to get something from m&s – i had a salad and pretend egg (tofoo) & cress sandwich and sat eating it under a tree in the rain. the rain was set for the day and as we’d checked out of the hotel, decided to catch an earlier train home.

despite the rain we still had a good time. bye bye york – it was nice to see you!

bye bye everybody, bye bye *waves*

the sheffield bears and elsewhere

finally! i’m out and about once again!

back in june we saw that there were going to be 60 BIG bears to see around the city of sheffield. We booked a few days for the second week in september – we didn’t want to go too early as we don’t like it too hot.

day one;

on the day we went, it was going to be 28°c (yikes!!) the first part of our journey went smoothly, but our second train was 45 minutes late and then abandoned us at the stop before our stop (12 minutes further down the track). it was lunchtime so we sat in the shade outside the station with our pack-up looking at chesterfield’s spirally spire. 45 minutes later, we were back on a train to finish our journey!

we saw the first bear just outside the station.

‘colours by charlie 2’

the human spotted another one – in the wrong direction – just along the road.

‘plants and bees’

we made our way towards our accomodation, stopping now and again when we found a seat or some shade – or another bear.

‘mures’

finally we got to the purple palace and luckily the room was ready. as it was reasonably reasonable we’d booked a pp-plus room which had a little fridge, ‘free’ water and choccy bars.

a popp-sized choccy for me and poppy popp

after a rest, a food shop, a rest and dinner (with chips), it was time to find some more bears – the first two were outside the cathedral, including steampunk bear who reminded us of our friend toddy – the original steampunk bear.

‘steampunk bear’

‘sunshine, lollipops’

here are a few more we found…

‘city of trees’

‘sheffield allsorts’

‘peaky the bear’

“hello, do you know my friend zacky?”

poppy popp saw a shop from where she was created & was reminded of our friend willis

‘quaser one’

we then went through the winter gardens where there were many of the smaller bears, plus theo bear

“hello theo”

‘bare necessities’

i think our friend snuffy would like ‘two heads are better than one’

‘snoobear’

‘nano bear’

‘bear impressions’

‘super bear’

so that was day one – sixteen bears seen, but still many more to find…

day two;

we were out bright and early to find some more bears. after quite a long walk we found these ones;

‘nebula’ looking up into the night sky

‘woodstock’? he’s not even yellow!!

‘butterfly bush’

“don’t blink…”

‘polka dot suit’

‘chromabear’

after dinner (with chips) we were going to make our way to the train station, but some roads were blocked with building work and we were getting further away (plus we were getting a bit tired) so we stayed in sheffield – and came across a couple more bears…

‘sheffield folk’

‘be nice & be together’

‘barker’

as we’d missed our afternoon out, my human thought it would be a good idea (it wasn’t a good idea) to catch a supertram (starts singing ‘breakfast in america’) to meadow hall. but a couple of stops before, she decided to get out to go to ikea – once in, and after a couple of minutes she was already beginning to feel claustrophobic so we tried to get out – it was like a maze, this way and that way, this way, that way – HELP! let me out!! finally after about half an hour we were on our way back to the supertram

and breathe…

so we ended up at meadow hall, saw a couple of bears and travelled back to the pp with a still grumpy human.

‘flora’

‘ted’

ten more big bears seen – 26 in total

day three;

we went a slightly longer route to the train station to see if we could find a couple more bears

‘pastel pattern patchwork bear’

‘stony point’

‘peace bear with chilli pepper’

we caught a train to chesterfield to look at the spiraly spired church and look round the town.

st mary and all saints church

old buildings

after looking at the spiraly spired church and going round the town – and buying chrimbo cards (is it too early…?) we went in the church on our way back past.

church window

my pub…

once back in sheffield, we walked a different way back to find yet more bears…

‘thank you sheffield children’s hospital’ front…

…and back *giggles*

‘polar painter’

‘sky’

a small bear called fuzzy – named by me ;o)

another small bear, inside the cathedral

dinner was a hummus salad-y type thing (no chips) – it was surprisingly yummy!

peace gardens – bear missing :o<

six big bears today – 32 in total

day four;

before checking out of the pp, we had a short walk to find a bear by the quay.

‘bear hug’

victoria quays

my type of garden – wild & fuzzy

after checking out (and leaving our cases) we went on a long walk – about half an hour – to find one last bear.

one last goodbye with toddy…

‘hendo’s bear

opposite the bear

one last hurrah

two last bears today – 34 in total

as well as my new t-shirt (you may have noticed it) we bought a ‘bears of sheffield’ tote bag, notelets and a paint your own bear (see jeremy! bear not cake!).

after dinner (with chips – normal order was restored) and a few minutes in the peace garden – it’s quite noisy with all the rushing water fountains – it was time to collect our cases and make our way back to the train station.

we got home on time.

it was nice to be out and about again, albeit in a more careful way.

tatty bye for now, xx

i ain’t going anywhere…

i haven’t been anywhere since february and i ain’t going anywhere anytime soon, but i don’t mind…

the minis go fourth

as the mini’s were unable to get back home for a while, mini snuffy decided he’d help with decorating the popps abearment – he chose a lovely greyish purple

“finished…”

but after the first coat, he was told it was a bit too dark so mixed a lighter shade for the walls.

he had a little rest before laying and painting the new floor…

 

you’ve done a grand job snuffy!

once the furniture was back in, the popps played with legonotlego™ building blocks and had cookies.

cookies!

finally at the beginning of july it seemed safe to send them back home. it was a bit chilly here, but mini tweak was confident that he’d only need his new trunks on because it would be hot in portugal.

saying goodbye

junior and poppy popp drove them to the airport

have a safe journey snuffy and tweak

missing you already…

less than a week after they had left blighty they were back with willis, and a few days later they had a trip to the coast…

photo; copyright willis hendrix

thank you willis for letting them visit

*hugs* to all xx

travelling mini snuffy and mini tweak stay a while longer…

the day after returning from our trip to llandudno we had some snow, but it had gone by the time we’d found the sledge

snuffy opened the window to see the snow

a couple of weeks later, it was a nice enough day to show the mini’s around town. it didn’t take long…

first we went to the park where there were early signs of spring

blue spring flowers

in the bandstand

then we went in the castle, famous for it’s collection of neddyshoes

mini snuffy and tweak with (a copy of) the oldest neddyshoe

tunnock’s teacakes – toddy’s favourite

i’ve found a dragon! i’ve found a dragon! *gulps*

next we went to the museum

a desk from grandmama’s old school

♫ la la laa ♫ – on a singer…

junior, snuffy, tweak, fizz & poppy on a milk cart

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one friday, for no apparent reason, the human googled when there might be a steam train passing through – and it turns out that there would be one the next morning! mini snuffy went to have a look

“it’s coming! it’s coming!” *zoom* “it’s gone!”

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in the second week in march we had a day trip to ely. we had a walk along the river, by a park and on to an antique centre with lots of things that the human wanted to buy. then we went for lunch…

“did you know eels come from ely snuffy?” … “really? ely eels?”

spring flowers in the park

snuffy is a big fan of rainbows, so he enjoyed his colourful meal

no room for cake…

after lunch, we walked round to find oliver cromwell’s house – he wasn’t in.

we had a 2-for-1 ticket (for travelling by train) so went for a look – we wouldn’t have paid full price, but it was okay.

oliver cromwell’s house

kitchen fireplace

a view of the church (no, i can’t see it either…)

not far away was the cathedral. we had a 2-for-1 for there as well, which included entry to the stained glass museum

looking in a cannon

octagonal roof

painted ceiling

sea

gloria

the round window

a very nice cathedral. a *fuzzy recommendation*

it was then time to make our way back to the train station (via the antiques centre – tut tut). a lovely day out.

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we were due to go away for a couple of days at the end of march, but it had to be cancelled, so the popps, ellis & lyndon had a sleepover in the sheepherd huts

“let’s go see if the others are up”

“morning!”

we’re hoping snuffy and tweak will be able to return home as soon as possible.

stay safe, stay home, stay strong xx

mini snuffy and mini tweak visit – part two… the mini’s minibobs miniblog

at the end of january, me (fuzzy), junior, snuffy and tweak collected my cousin wheatus & little wheaty and were on our way to north wales. the human had made poppy hats for all the popps.

when we got to the apartment, the owner offered to help bring the luggage from the car – let’s just say that the hs does not travel light, and he was doing a bit of puffing by the time he’d carried three bags/cases up two flights of stairs! well, he did offer…

the forecast wasn’t very promising for the weekend, so we were soon on the beach while it was still dry.

sheltering from the wind

found, er made a sandcastle

on the pier

back on the beach

in the evening the popps had a few games of dominoes; snuffy & wheaty were winning by a good margin, but junior & tweak were catching up by the end. (junior & tweak won the next night – you’d have thought that they had won the world cup by the way they were running about shouting that they were the champions!)

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friday morning was spent in town, and in the evening there was a show described as ‘immersive rock theatre’  based around two alarm albums, with narrative by sean jones between the songs.

friday night

at 11pm they showed the big ben bongs to mark brexit, then finished with a rendition of ‘always look on the bright side of life’.

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on saturday there was a pre-show reception with mike peters for the first three hundred who had booked tickets for the weekend, including us! we were right at the front!

front row

song

unlike last year where we had three bands before the alarm came on, this year there was one band that did two songs (mp’s sons and their friend) then some (good 80’s) music until dave sharp came on for a whole hour  :o/

saturday night

during one of their songs, he (& some members of the audience) chucks a pack of playing cards. we couldn’t find any alarmy ones on the floor after the show, but the human saw that a couple had landed behind the barrier and a tidier-upper begrudgingly kindly passed one to the human…

we rescued a card

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on sunday morning there was a mass walk to the end of the pier. my human, who isn’t a very fast walker normally, walked as fast as she could to get a good spot for the sing-a-long.

he sang a couple of slade songs including ‘merry christmas everybody’ to finish off the gathering.

best seats in the house on the pier

on sunday evening, dave sharp (former member of the alarm) was playing just round the corner from the apartment. as we’d nothing better to do …

when we got there it was nearly empty, all but three people. there was a sofa which they chose to sit on. my human was going to say “wake me up when it starts”, but instead said “wake me up when he’s finished” only for hs to point out that one of the three was ds himself…tra la laa

the best bit was when the human needed the loo, it was quicker to go back to the apartment than through the crowd and past the stage, but you don’t need to know that… (35 paces, if you’re wondering).

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when we checked out on monday morning, mysteriously the owner of the apartments had had to ‘pop out’.

before we went home via wrexham and stoke, we popped along the promenade to have a quick photo by some early dafty-dils.

a quick look at the dafty-dils before we’re on our way

last year when we went to the gathering it was a one-off, and again this year was a two-off.

we were really lucky to get tickets for next year’s event as there were only 300 tickets available and it was sold out in two minutes!

*excited bears*