Wow!
Big daughter spent some time with a good friend of hers and her toddler son last week.
“Mum, he’s so cute!” she exclaimed, showing me photos of the little chap enthralled by ducks on a lake. She was only quite small herself when not so small daughter was born and she spent a lot of her time at school then, and most of her other friends now are still at the life-before-children stage, so she’s never really experienced toddlers as a grown up. “He’s just amazed by everything – he either says, “Uh-oh!” or “Wow!” and it’s so lovely!”
“We should be more toddler!”, she declared, and she’s right. So in the spirit of being more toddler and amazed by the things I’ve seen recently, here is a post all about the wows of the last week or so 🙂 (and just to warn you in case you’re not a fan – there are photos of grasshoppers and butterflies coming up!)
Wow! Look at this! A butterfly was flitting from flower to flower on the Buddleja bush and all of suddenly, it wanted to land on me! I stood there for ages as it landed on my arm, flew off and then came back again. Some people think that butterflies are a spiritual sign; maybe they are, maybe this one just liked my blue jumper. I was just happy to see it.
Wow! It’s been a while since I’ve been up on the top deck of a bus, and I still think you should always sit in the front seat to “drive” at every available opportunity – and it looks like the people up front did too! I think this is the next best seat overlooking the stairs, so I was happy to sit there instead. I was on my way into Manchester with my lovely friend Emma Varnam to meet up with another lovely friend, Lucy, and thoroughly enjoyed being on the top deck of the bus!
Wow! What a place! This is the Portico Library, a beautiful old private members’ library where non-members are allowed to go in to admire the thousands of books lining the walls and enjoy a cup of tea or coffee and a piece of excellent cake. I didn’t even know this place existed, and it felt like a huge treat to find somewhere so peaceful in the centre of a city. If you look closely, you can see what type of books are on the wall under the clock – Polite Literature … I love that, but I do wonder where the Impolite Literature might be kept!
Wow! Well, if you’re out in Manchester with good friends, it would be rude not to have glasses to clink and Cloud23 is an amazing place to while away some time, cocktail in hand (other drinks are available) as you look out across the Manchester skyline. It’s called Cloud23 as it’s 23 floors up in the Hilton Deansgate hotel and it feels like you’re on top of the world!
Wow! If you ever need a good reason to look up from the ground when you’re walking (and so often, we don’t, do we? We’re just intent on getting to where we’re going), the murals on the buildings in Manchester’s Northern Quarter are perfect for that. We saw so many when we were walking around – some very obvious on huge walls, and others tucked away – but this one was my favourite …
Wow! You don’t always think about canals being in cities when you travel by car or on buses or trains, but Manchester was an industrial city and one of the ways that products got in and out was by the canal system. These are the locks right by Piccadilly Station (canal locks are a way to raise or lower the water level with the boat inside the lock so that it can travel between sections of the canal where the water is not the same level) and you’d never notice them if you weren’t walking past. This is a stretch of the Rochdale Canal at Dale Street; the canal goes right under your feet where I was standing and there are tunnels that take the canal (and boats) underneath the city. Definitely wow!
Wow! I’ve photographed this tree before when I’ve been out with the dog, but I don’t remember it being quite so yellow at this time of year before. At first, I thought that it was starting to get its autumn leaves and that made me a little sad as it’s only the beginning of September (and we’re experiencing a late heat-wave!), but on closer inspection, it’s a variegated variety of sycamore – I looked it up and the Latin name is Acer pseudoplatanus ‘Simon-louis-Freres’ and that sounds about right as I think I heard once that there were lots of different acer varieties planted around this particular housing estate.
Wow! As we walked further on, there were definitely more signs of the trees thinking it’s time to start changing their colours. I don’t think of it as being autumn yet (the autumn equinox isn’t until 23 September) but I’m seeing so many knitted and crocheted pumpkins on social media that you’d be forgiven for thinking that summer has well and truly left! There’s always a point where the smell in the air changes, isn’t there, but that’s not happened here yet.
Wow! It’s been ridiculously hot here for the last couple of days – out of the blue, we’ve gone from being quite cold and thinking that we need layers on to the weather being 30 degrees again. I’ve got my shorts on whilst I writing this and I’ve been wrapped up in jumpers and woolly socks recently! It’s been far too hot for the dog to go out during the day recently so we’ve been taking our walks later in the day and watching the sun go down.
Wow! Back on the TV this week – that’s twice in the last couple of months with the release of the WYS Country Birds yarns and now Nutcracker, the new yarn for Christmas 2023. If you’re very quick, you can catch the reply on this link but it’s only around for 7 days.
Wow! Not so small daughter is back at sixth form college; the summer holidays are over and we’re back to early starts, bus rides and a Crimpit toasted sandwich for a morning snack 🙂 I am very grateful that we no longer have to do battle over school shoes or uniform, and I hope that if you still have to buy those, your shopping expeditions were speedy and stress-free! Someone pointed out to me that this time next year (and assuming that not so small daughter goes to university), I’ll be weeks away from having no children living at home and I didn’t like the thought of that, so I’ll appreciate the opportunity to make toasted sandwiches and chivvy about timetables whilst I can.
Wow! I saw a grasshopper! I absolutely love the film “A Bug’s Life” (definitely my favourite Pixar movie), but it does give you the impression that grasshoppers are giant creatures when I know that they’re not really. I also know that they are difficult to spot and whilst you can hear them, you can’t always see them! Imagine my surprise when one of them landed on a log I standing close to – I’d actually spotted a grasshopper!
Wow! If you’re around the Winwick area this weekend, there’s a Heritage weekend at St Oswald’s Church this Saturday and Sunday (9-10 September). The church is open to visitors, there’s a selection of historical and architectural artifacts to view, there’s a small exhibition about the Titanic – the Captain was married at St Oswald’s Church – and there are local authors and historians to chat to as well.
Wow! That’s a lot packed into one blog post! I’m off out into the garden now whilst I can – thunderstorms are forecast later – so I hope you enjoy the rest of your weekend and I’ll see you soon xx
wow pictures are amazing loved the butterfly on your sleeve and the grasshopper .
I couldn’t believe I’d snapped the grasshopper, and the butterfly was just lovely – I was sorry when it flew off! 🙂 xx
What a lovely blog just what you need on a day like today .
Thank you! 🙂 xx
A lovely blog. I love the idea of appreciating the things we see more – but not so sure of being more toddler – I remember those days as being very fraught – trying to get a toddler fed, dressed and off to creche/nursery and me to college and then work – all rush rush and not much stopping to admire anything.
Lovely photos – how lucky you are to have buses. We would have a very long walk to the nearest bus stop and then it would be a single decker – not a proper bus.
Maybe not so small daughter will also choose to go to Uni – if she does – close to home as her big sister did. Not such a wrench for you all.
It is due to get cooler in the next two days – we hope – 33C just now (4pm Saturday) here in Surrey (we live not far from the weather station at RHS Wisley).
According to the TV Meterologists Autumn starts on the 1st September not at the Autumnal Equinox – certainly this Indian Summer is a bit of a shock to the garden as well as us.
Happy Weekend.
Ha ha, I remember all those fraught toddler times as well, but now that I’m past that, I can think about the lovely times instead 🙂 The Manchester buses are brilliant, they were really frequent and there’s a national cap on fares to £2 until the end of October, which is amazing! It’s hotter where you are than here – 28 degrees right now (I’ve just come in from digging in the garden, it was a bit hot!); you’re right, meterological autumn is earlier than the equinox, just as meterological spring is 🙂 xx
I’ve been wondering how good those crimpit toastie makes may or may not be. I might have to give one a go.
We’ve used ours a lot. Not so small daughter went through a phase last year of refusing to eat breakfast before she went out but she would take a toastie – maybe not the ideal breakfast but they’re a good size to wrap up and put in your pocket or bag (and use as a handwarmer in the winter! 🙂 ). Definitely worth the money for us! 🙂 xx
How lovely to read something which shows such enjoyment of everyday life – thank you. I will try and be as positive myself on a day to day basis.
It’s a habit that needs cultivating, but I think as habits go, it’s not a bad one to have! 🙂 xx
fab post! I do try to be ‘ more toddler’ ( I dont have to try hard!) though I did get laughed at ( in a nice way) by a friend for saying I enjoyed looking at the lorries with their slogans and amusing stickers, on our long motorway journey last week, and that I particularly liked the pale blue one! x
I’m glad your friend laughed nicely – and maybe she will look at the lorries more too! I still wave at trains – you never know, somebody might wave back! 🙂 xx
What a lovely post about a day out in Manchester. This is where I live so I instantly recognised where you were from the top deck of that bus. I only discovered The Portico Library during Manchester Science Festival. Up until then I never knew it existed. You are braver than me I don’t like heights but cocktails well….yes! Sarah x
It doesn’t feel too bad being up high at Cloud23 because the windows are thick and they don’t open. Big daughter’s boyfriend lived in one of the apartment blocks you can see from up there – he was on the 16th floor and I didn’t like being there at all because the windows opened and I felt like I’d fall out if I even went close to them! Isn’t the Portico Library amazing? I loved it there! 🙂 xx
A lovely feel good post. I was feeling a bit down the other week but sat and thought about all my husband and I had done this year. It’s amazing how these things pass by and are easily forgotten. I will try and be more Wow!
It’s so easy to forget even what you did yesterday sometimes! I guess that’s why many people keep diaries or journals, and I write my blog – but even photos on your phone or camera are worth going through sometimes simply to remind you what you’ve been up to! 🙂 xx
I love the blue tit mural. I went on a walking tour of the city centre once – the things you don’t know about where you live!!
It was painted for Converse, a mural in random cities all over. It was only to last 3 months, 12 year’s later… You can see the Converse logo lower right, a star and chevron but not in your picture. The artist has painted another bird on magnolia in London which came up on my Instagram feed recently. A falcon or kestrel I think.
Oh, I had no idea about that – we didn’t go further up the street so I didn’t see! Well, I’m glad it’s stayed up for all this time! I think it’s great to do the visitor tours in the places that you live – you just don’t notice things that you see every day. We’ve done the sightseeing bus tours in Chester and Liverpool quite often, but never a tour in Manchester for some reason so we maybe need to find out what’s available! 🙂 xx
it was fascinating, a walking tour around the Northern Quarter mostly. odd never seen back to back houses.
My Gx3cGrandparents married at St Oswald’s in the 18th century. They had 3 children and the youngest was buried at 5 years of age in St Oswald’s graveyard. My G x2 Grandfather took himself from Lowton to Manchester to see if the streets were made of gold. He met and married an Irish Colleen. They lived in poverty but their 7 children did better. Several became shop keepers, 2 emigrated to Australia. My poor old G grandfather was less fortunate and stayed a manual worker all his life!
The Portico Library is amazing. When I visited the group were told that anyone is most welcome to visit.
Thank you for a lovely Blog.
Oh wow, what a history! Have you ever been to look in the graveyard? Some of the headstones are unbelievably old! I think the Portico Library is always happy to welcome visitors, but you have to know where it is and that’s part of the treat! 🙂 xx
Thank you for the reminder to stop and look around and say WOW. You made me smile and be happy.
That’s lovely, thank you! 🙂 xx