I moved into my house in 2002, and it’s been in a state of renovation and decoration ever since then! In 2014, the carpet in my bedroom was removed after having the whole room replastered, so I’ve just had bare floorboards since then, and there’s been none downstairs or on the stairs & landing for 18 years!

But now, I finally have new carpets throughout the house! It’s amazing how much it changes the feel of the place – it really does mean my house is finally starting to feel more like a home!

And on top of that, I also have a decent bed! For years I’ve been making do with basic single bed whilst I’ve been sorting stuff out (at one point I spent months just sleeping on a mattress on the floor!), but now I have a really nice ottoman bed with a reasonably expensive(!) memory-foam topped mattress, so it really feels like I’m now living in luxury!

To be honest, it did take something to kickstart all this after living so long without carpets and a decent bed! Basically, Ali rang me a few weeks ago saying that she and the kids were going to be on a family holiday in north Wales, and was wondering if I’d be able to put them up for a few days if they came back via Manchester (so they also could visit some friends in Buxton). I said yes, knowing the house wasn’t ideal – especially for kids(!) – so it forced me into going out and choosing what carpet to have, and then arranging to get it fitted just a few days before they arrived! Also, I’d put off getting a new bed until I had carpet down, so it meant I could then buy a new bed from Dreams and arrange to get it delivered on the Monday, with my guests arriving on the Tuesday.

I gave up my bed for the week, and slept on the sofa bed in the office so they could all stay in my room, along with a single mattress on the floor for one of the kids. So, after waiting so long to get a decent bed, I didn’t actually get to sleep in it until it’d been slept in by others!

Anyway, they all arrived on the Tuesday lunchtime, and it was like a whirlwind hit the house, but in a good way! I’d booked some tickets for us all to go to the Science and Industry Museum in Manchester, so we all headed off to take the tram into the city.

Science and Industry Museum.It’d been a few years since I’d been there, and to be honest, I was a bit disappointed by it. In the time since my last visit, they’ve permanently closed the Air and Space Hall (which I was aware of, but is still a shame as they had some really cool stuff in there), but also quite a lot of the museum is closed for renovation, including the Power Hall which had a lot of cool steam engines, machines and a load of trains, many of which you could interact with. What they did have was a big exhibit about textiles, but not sure how exciting that is to a 6 and 8 year old!

We did find one section that was much more hands-on, and totally aimed at kids – Experiment. This let them have a go at moving a full-sized car up and down with the use of gears and levers, play various puzzles and games, and interact with themselves as seen through a thermal camera. We spent a couple of hours there, before getting the tram back to East Didsbury, and then we went to the Greene King pub in Parrs Wood to get a carvery for our tea, which was delicious! You really can’t beat a good roast dinner!

The next day, they left early to visit Ali’s friends in Buxton, so that meant I was able to get some work done, and they didn’t get back to mine until after 7pm, so got to hang out with the kids a bit before their bedtime.

Thursday, and the headed out again in the morning to visit one of Ali’s aunties who lived not too far away, and then in the afternoon I met up with the three of them at Lyme Park.

We had a picnic lunch in front of Lyme Hall, with a nice view of the lake next to it, and then took a walk around the house. I’d been to Lyme Hall a couple of times many years ago with some of the guys from Reach, but I’d never actually gone inside the main house. It was actually really interesting, and rooms in there are really stunning. Also, they had an activity sheet for the kids which kept their interest up, with them trying to spot various symbols around the rooms.

After that, we walked around the grounds for a while, ending up at the Timber Yard cafe for ice cream! And just across from that was an adventure playground, so the kids were able to play in there for a bit. As we were entering the playground, I bumped into Tim Mycock who I hadn’t seen for years, so we had a brief catch-up which was cool.

We got home about half five, and whilst trying to work out what to give the kids for tea, we decided it was easier to go out and get something for all of us… so we headed up to Parrs Wood and went to eat in Five Guys. I’ve only been there a few times (actually the first time I went was in Florida!), and even though it’s a bit expensive, the burgers do taste really good, and a meal from there really is pretty filling. Everyone else seemed to enjoy it too! The next day, they left quite early because they had a long drive back down to Bristol, and suddenly the house was quiet again! Since it was the Queen’s Jubilee, they thought they might stop off somewhere on the way that might be commemorating the day, but I’m not sure if they actually found anything! It was really great having them stay for the week – they’re really great kids and I had a lot of fun hanging out with them!

And then yesterday, I was over at the Old Trafford Cricket Ground so see The Killers! I can’t remember when I bought the ticket for it, but I’d really been looking forward to it for a while.

I got there reasonably early and managed to get a pretty decent spot to stand, but I got a bit annoyed by a largish group of people arrived a bit later on, and then complained because I was standing in the middle of them! I stood my ground for the most part, but did end up moving back a bit to avoid more aggro!

Anyway, back to the music! The support act was Blossoms, which I was really pleased about since I’m quite a fan! I thought they won over the crowd pretty quickly, and I’m sure it must be one of the biggest crowds they’ve played to – pretty sure I read that there was going to be an audience of 50,000 last night!!

Blossoms setlist:

I Can’t Stand It
If You Think This Is Real Life
The Sulking Poet
Your Girlfriend
Getaway
My Swimming Brain
The Keeper
Care For
Honey Sweet
Blown Rose
Ribbon Around the Bomb
Oh No (I Think I’m in Love)
At Most a Kiss
There’s a Reason Why (I Never Returned Your Calls)
Charlemagne

Then it was time for The Killers. They opened with loads of confetti cannons going off, so that was quite the entrance! Brandon Flowers is a great frontman, and entertained the crowd with ease. I knew most of the songs, but even the ones I wasn’t really familiar with were good, and the video and visuals on the ginormous screen at the back of the stage were really well done.

There was one really memorable bit where they had to stop the gig briefly. They’d just started with a Joy Division cover, when something caught Brandon Flowers’ eye which caused him to get everyone to stop. Basically, a pensioner called Billy had decided to crowd surf near the front, and I think he ended up getting dropped by the crowd! After he’d been lifted over the barrier, Brandon went down to him to check he was okay before carrying on with the show.

It really was a fantastic gig – Brandon Flowers is a true showman, and throughout the night you totally got a vibe of watching a rock and roll superstar. Getting home was fun – I walked back to Firswood tram stop to get a tram home, but every one that came through from the city was already totally full, and there was no way our ever-growing crowd on the platform could get on! Last night also saw Ed Sheeran and Alicia Keys both doing shows in town, plus it’s also the Parklife weekend, so a lot of people were trying to get home!

In the end I made the decision to cross over to the other platform and take a tram into town for a few stops, so I could get on a return tram before it got too full! It worked, although it soon got really packed tight, but at least I was on it travelling back towards home!

The Killers setlist:

My Own Soul’s Warning
Enterlude
When You Were Young
Jenny Was a Friend of Mine
Smile Like You Mean It
Shot at the Night
Running Towards a Place
Human
Somebody Told Me
Fire in Bone
Shadowplay (Joy Division cover)
In the Car Outside
For Reasons Unknown
A Dustland Fairytale
The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face
Runaways
Read My Mind
Dying Breed
Caution
All These Things That I’ve Done

Encore:
Spaceman
Mr. Brightside