I've been very lazy with my blogging of late. I really must rectify this. Though I'm not sure how many updates will be forthcoming in the next week as tomorrow I'm going to Gavin and Janie's housewarming party in Chorley then flying to Belfast for a week. Rory's actually taking some time off work this visit, though apparently there isn't much happening for us to go see. Typically, it's all on this weekend or after I leave. Today I'm meant to be going sofa shopping with my dad. I'm not sure the shops will all be open though, as it's Good Friday. We'll just have to wait and see.
I had a great time whilst Ed was here. As expected, much hugging was indulged in, along with other delights, such as cake making, window shopping and drink, um, drinking. The Four Planes gig was wonderful, as usual, and Ed was a converted fan by the end. Their numbers have swelled to include their friend Ben, who plays double bass and xylophone. It works very well, even if it doesn't sound like it should. Deerpark were also playing, and I've seen them in gig listings before but have never been inclined to go see them, how they've been described just didn't appeal to me. I'm glad I've finally seen them though, they were ace. They had about seven band members, including a violinist, a flute player and a double bass player. It made me very jealous that I can't play an instrument, and made me wish I'd put more effort into learning to play something when I was younger. I've love to be able to play piano, flute, violin, cello, harp or other such instruments. I could always try to start now, but I've gained other interests such as photography, so I guess that can fill the hole in my life left by a lack of musical training. Plus I know that not much has changed since I was younger, and I'd still be unlikely to practice enough, no matter how much I loved the instrument.
On Tuesday, Ed and I had been considering going to the
Royal Armouries as they usually have special events on during school holidays. Their website didn't provide much information about what would be going on though, so we decided to look elsewhere. I narrowed it down to the
Yorkshire Sculpture Park or
Tropical World. We decided that the Sculpture Park probably wasn't that good an idea, as half of it is outside and the weather has been very typical for April - temperamental, changeable and unpredictable. Plus it was an excuse for him to visit again some other time when the weather was warmer and drier. So we went to Tropical World. It's in a part of Leeds I'd never been to before, and it required catching buses who's routes I didn't know and getting off when we felt the time was right. This is something I couldn't have managed two years ago, so I'm quite proud of myself for coping well with it. The centre was swarming with children and pushchairs, we did our best to ignore them though. There was many wonderful things to see, including snakes, meercats, stick insects, terrapins, butterflies, fruit bats, bush babies, parrots, many varieties of ugly fish, lizards, degus (who we decided were the cutest creatures on Earth), nasty crawly things like spiders and scorpions, and there was also many varieties of plants and cacti. We had a fantastic time, and would definitely recommend it.
Ed went home on Wednesday morning, understandably a little depressed. But I promised to make him come back in the summer, so all should be well I think.
11:27
