Ben in Berlin - 30th of May - 2nd of June, 2026

The second half of our busy Sunday! The gig at Waldbühne, wearing ponchos, and a relaxed dinner at Yo Soy!

Wet, wet, wet!

We had reluctantly left the Literatur Café and walked back to the bus stop near Theodor-Heuss-Platz. The sky had darkened, and big clouds were massing above us. We took shelter in the bus stop, and realised that a lot of our fellow travellers were wearing cowboy attire... Two women wore bandanas, short skirts and cowboy boots. They were obviously only interested in Zach Bryan, whereas we were only interested in Ben Howard...

A bus arrived, and we all piled on. It was already rammed with people, and we all steamed gently as we made our way to an S-Bahn station. When we disembarked, the rain was coming down heavily, and we had to run across a busy road, trying to avoid a few deep puddles!

Heerstrasse station was very quiet, but as the time for the train's arrival drew near, more people gathered on the platform. Sophie was understandably annoyed with me for leaving our small umbrella in the hotel room, but I doubt it would have been much good anyway!

We boarded the S9 train to Pichelsburg, and when we arrived, everyone streamed off. It was still raining, and those of us who weren't prepared for the downpour had no choice but to buy a poncho from a very enterprising woman who was selling them for 5 euros each. She was making an absolute killing, and fair play to her! We hesitated about buying them at first to see if the rain would stop, but it was clear it was set in for the foreseeable future! We bought a clear one each, which covered all of us, including our bags. 

We set off with hundreds of others, up a flight of steps, along a bridge, up more steps, and then through a wooded area with tennis courts off to our left. As we emerged from the woods, we saw a constant procession of people heading for the arena. Trolleys, with a sign saying "Pfand", or deposit, were standing along the road, ready to collect bottles that people couldn't take in with them, so that the deposit could be claimed back. There is a thriving little business here in Berlin, and we often saw people going through bins to find the "Pfand" bottles. 

We asked a friendly steward the way to get in, but she said that if we wanted merchandise, to go there first. Sophie looked in vain for a Ben Howard T-shirt but couldn't see any, only Zach Bryan ones, which were selling for about 50 euros!

We made our way to the gate and joined a throng of people, most of whom were wearing ponchos! There were security searches here, and annoyingly, my can of freeze spray was taken off me and thrown away... Grrr! When we entered the amphitheatre, it was amazing to see so many people gathered together on the steep sides of the arena. Waldbühne was built in 1936 for the Olympic Games and is based on an ancient Greek theatre. It can seat just over 22,000 people.

Sophie queued to go to the loo, and then we descended the steep stone steps to our "seats", places on a wet bench quite close to the stage.

"Has the world gone mad, or is it me?"

Looking around, it was like we'd joined a weird cult for people with a fetish for ponchos! A singer called Keenan O'Meara was warbling away on stage, but most people hadn't taken their seats yet.

We tried to keep dry as it was raining hard now. I couldn't quite believe we were sitting on hard, wet benches in the downpour, waiting for Ben Howard to come on, and he would only be singing for about an hour! We weren't going to even stay for the main show!

Keenan O'Meara finished his act, and there was a flurry of activity on the stage as the roadies set up for Ben. I asked Sophie if there was another way out, and we both deduced there wasn't. It was going to be a hard slog back up the steps after our long day of walking!

Ben came on, and we whooped and cheered! A lot of people were still milling about at the top of the amphitheatre and obviously weren't interested in our hero from England! He did the following songs:

Sister

Cadence

Small Things

Towing the Line

Conrad

Days of Lantana

What the Moon Does

I Forget Where We Were

Sophie was ecstatic that he did Small Things, Days of Lantana (or Brantano, as I called it), and I Forget Where We Were. He was on for about forty-five minutes, but it was worth it to see him again, and really quite close! By now, the rain had stopped, and the sun was trying to peek through the clouds.

From the screen next to us

As soon as he was finished, and it was obvious he wasn't going to do an encore, we made our way back up the slippery stone steps. Frankly, I thought they were dangerous. It would only take one big, burly guy, dressed in his camo T-shirt and cowboy hat, to lose his footing after a bellyful of beer, and take out a load of people as he went down! I was hugely relieved when we reached the top!

We made our way out and asked if we could leave. The female steward (who I wouldn't mess with) barked that we were unable to come back in, and "had to go home!" Fine with us! Sophie cast another long, lingering look at a merch stand, but decided to keep her money!

We walked back the way we'd come from the station, but both of us were reluctant to go through the now deserted woodland part, especially as a lone man was meandering about... we took the longer route and walked through a beautiful residential area of lovely houses and what we think were exclusive apartments. The complex of apartments was bristling with CCTV cameras... diplomatic quarters, perhaps?

We soon came back to the bridge we'd crossed and saw several security guards wandering about. The station was very quiet, and we boarded the next train, which arrived in minutes. Inside the train, it was also quiet with people engrossed with their phones or reading.

We had decided to take the train to Hackescher Markt and try to have dinner at Yo Soy, a Spanish tapas restaurant we'd eaten at a few years ago. It was an exceedingly pleasant journey to the station, and the sun streamed through the windows. I loved just gazing out at the Berlin cityscape.

Tapas treats

Once we'd alighted at Hackescher Markt station, we made our way to the restaurant. Even though it was a Sunday evening, the bars and restaurants were busy with people eating and drinking. Yo Soy also looked very busy, but the waiter who had served us before kindly led us to a quiet area at the back of the restaurant and said we could sit there.

We had a good look at the menu and chose a Spanish omelette, Padron peppers, meatballs, chicken croquettes, and bread, accompanied by olives and aioli. Two glasses of rosé completed our dinner order.

A dried-out Sophie!

We enjoyed a delicious dinner, away from the main hustle and bustle of the restaurant. Our waiter was impressed that Sophie ordered our dishes in Spanish! It had been a long day, and it was bliss to sit and relax and eat delicious food.

After we'd eaten and paid the bill, we called an Uber to take us back to the hotel. We couldn't face walking or getting the train to Alexanderplatz and then Märkisches Museum. I think we had done enough for today!

Back in our room, we poured a glass of fizz each and relaxed before bed! 

Our steps from Sunday

Ben in Berlin - 30th of May - 2nd of June, 2026

I have split today into two, as we managed to pack so much in! The first half will be the flea market and lunch at the Literatur Café, while the second half will be the concert at Waldbühne and dinner in Hackescher Markt.

Flea market Sunday

We both slept well, and it was great to make a lovely coffee in our room. We were showered and dressed by 9:30am, and walked the short distance to the bakery that we had eaten breakfast in when we visited in December. This time, though, we didn't have the enormous breakfasts we had before! A coffee and an almond croissant were enough!

We sat and enjoyed our breakfast inside, but the folding doors were open. It was a gorgeous day, and we were keeping our fingers crossed about the concert this evening as the venue was outdoors! From the bakery, we took the U2 line to Eberswalder Strasse and then walked to the Mauer Park, situated in  Prenzlauer Berg. The walk took us through a pleasant residential district with apartment blocks, cafés, and restaurants. It was now quite warm, and at first we couldn't find the entrance to the park. It seemed to be fenced off! We noticed a huge arena advertising lots of well-known bands, and finally, after walking around the perimeter of the arena, we saw the flea market in the distance.

The first thing we needed was a sit-down and some water. Sophie spotted a stand selling drinks and said, "Ooh! Aperol Spritz!" But I said we needed to drink water to keep hydrated. She listened to me for once, and we both drank half a litre of still water while sitting in the shade of a tree. After this, she felt a lot better as her cold had been troubling her while we had been walking.

We both now felt ready to do justice to the enormous variety of goods for sale in the flea market. The park used to be a no-man's land when the Berlin Wall was standing, and it was inaccessible between 1961 and 1989. Now, it's an enormously popular Sunday market selling everything from new clothes, secondhand clothes, jewellery, art and food, to small-batch gins and vodkas, posters and antiques.

Sophie found a beautiful ring that fitted her thumb perfectly, so that's all of her fingers taken care of. She's moving onto toes next!

It was lovely to wander around and look at all the different things for sale. We both loved the antique stands, and Sophie bought two old postcards to take home with her. It was a good job we were flying home and not driving, as more items would have been purchased!

As is usual for Berlin, we found some stalls with more edgier items for sale, such as posters like these:

Nearby was a stand that had us wondering...

I couldn't see any donkeys about...

Sophie spotted a stand selling T-shirts and bought one with a cat in a plant pot on the front. She was enjoying herself immensely! We bought another bottle of water to keep us going and resumed our wanderings. Sophie used the immaculate loos and paid 50c, but thought this was a bargain as they were so clean!

The time was getting on, so we left and made our way back to the U-Bahn station via a different route. Sophie said she needed the loo, so we stopped at the first restaurant we came to, a Vietnamese eaterie called Chay35. We asked if we could have just a drink, and they were more than happy to accommodate us. Sophie ordered a glass of white wine while I had a "Han Noi" smoothie with mango and coconut milk.

It was very pleasant to sit outside and rest our weary feet! I had inserted the heel lifts into my trainers, and they had taken away the pain in my left heel, so I was very relieved! I dread to think how much pain I'd have been in by now without the inserts! We were tempted to order some food, but we had a lunch booking at the Literatur Café, and we didn't want to spoil our appetites!

Dedicated people watching!

After resting for about forty-five minutes and using the facilities again, we walked back to the U-Bahn station and rode the underground to the Märkisches Museum stop. We both needed to freshen up a little before having lunch, so we went up to our rooms and cooled down for ten minutes!

The last time we had visited the beautiful Literatur Café, it had been the depths of winter with a layer of dangerous black ice on the pavements and roads. It had grown a little cloudy while we were in the hotel, but it was still warm, and we took the U2 line to Theodor-Heuss-Platz. From the station, we crossed a small park (the last time we walked on the grass to avoid slipping over) and a couple of roads before heading down through a quiet residential area. To our left were exhibition halls and tennis courts, and we soon arrived at the entrance. It was still lovely and quiet, and we were shown to a reserved table on the terrace.

A few other tables were occupied; opposite were three men who looked dodgy to me, and were doing some kind of business deal in English, an Asian couple next to us were completely engrossed in their laptops with a pot of tea between them, and another two men were enjoying a quiet lunch. They were still there when we left, a lot later!

The terrace of the Literatur Café is the kind of place that induces a feeling of calm. We looked at the menu, and we both decided to have sandwiches. Sophie had a coronation chicken filling in hers, while I opted for a crusty baguette with serrano ham, salad and egg. We shared a bowl of crunchy French fries. For drinks, I chose a beer, while Sophie enjoyed a Campari and orange juice. It was heaven to sit and relax after our busy morning!

We both indulged in people-watching, and the terrace began to fill up with guests. An older couple arrived and were asked to move tables as the one they had chosen was reserved. They must have been in their early 80s, and the man chain-smoked cigarettes, even when his wife was eating! I said to Sophie that they were both most likely war babies, born around the early 1940s, like my Dad. This then made me think of the song "War Baby" by Tom Robinson, and it was in my head all afternoon.

However, if I thought the couple were old, the two women who came in next made them look like teenagers! I was utterly fascinated by them both... They sat opposite me, and one of the women pulled her chair around so I couldn't see her properly. They both wore hats and scruffy clothes, and when they were finally settled, one of the women took out a sheaf of papers, and I swear they were court papers, as in a court case. She then took out a newspaper cutting with a page highlighted, and I would have given my right arm to have sat with them and chatted about their lives!

They may have been too young to have been involved in the war (I hazarded a guess at late 80s), but even if they had been in their early 90s, they still wouldn't have been old enough to have had active roles in the Second World War. My guess was that they were lesbian lovers (although I would have settled for sisters) and had been active in the Stasi in the 1960s.

We ordered more drinks (wine and another beer) and an apple strudel each, accompanied by a delicious custard.

You can see the two women in the background

As the women were perusing the menu, fat drops of rain began to fall, and one of the women immediately got up and went inside, leaving her companion to struggle up by herself! Bugger! The staff set the awning in motion so it covered us, but the drops of rain didn't last, and it soon stopped.

We ordered more drinks (wine and another beer) and an apple strudel each, accompanied by a delicious custard. We could have stayed forever, but the time was marching on, and we had a bus and a train to catch to see Ben!

Ben in Berlin - 30th of May - 2nd of June, 2026

A poorly daughter...

Sophie woke me at 2:30am this morning, but I'd had such a bad night's sleep, I set my alarm for 3:00am and snoozed for half an hour. When we were all set to go, Sophie said she felt terrible and had had a bad night's sleep as well. Not an ideal start to our break in Berlin!

We left at 3:30am, and Jeeves took us onto the A5 to Dunstable, as a large section of the M1 was closed. It felt very strange taking such a different route, and as we drove, the sky became lighter and lighter. After this diversion, the journey was largely uneventful, except for one confusing section of the M25, which must have just reopened minutes before we reached it. This sent Jeeves into a tailspin, and he kept repeating, "Adhere to the route!" in a weird robotic voice, until we turned him off!

We arrived at Maple Parking in good time and took our seats on a bus bound for Terminal 5. We cleared security easily (without any grumbles from me) and decided to have breakfast at Giraffe. We both chose porridge with fruit and coffee. The food and coffee revived Sophie, who said she felt better, but she was still stuffed up, sneezing and coughing, bless her! She was able to comment to me quietly about the girl at the next table who was sitting with huge curlers in her hair and obviously making a YouTube video of a trip to New York... It was funny when she was asked for ID after ordering a Hugo Spritz!

After breakfast, we made our way straight to the gate and had our cabin bags taken away and put in the hold as the plane was full. We had checked in online and chosen middle and window seats, and Sophie was hoping that the seat next to her would be empty.

We had to board a bus to get to the plane, and soon we were taking our seats. Amazingly, despite the plane being "full", Sophie had an empty seat next to her! Bonus! We had a very pleasant flight indeed; Sophie enjoyed an Aperol Spritz, and I chose a "Trip" drink, meant to induce calm. It sent me off to sleep!

I loved looking out of the window at the clouds and glimpsing the land (and sea) below!

Lunch by the river

We were dreading the EES system, but we used the machines easily, and then queued to go through passport control again. I have no idea why we have to do this, as our fingerprints were taken again, and our passports stamped! I honestly thought that once you go through this rigmarole, it lasts up to three years, and you don't have to go through it all again. Obviously not!

We had decided to take the S-Bahn to Jannowitzbrücke station (a couple of stops before Alexanderplatz) and order an Uber to take us to the hotel. We descended to the station platform and jumped straight onto the S9 to Spandau. We had bought 24-hour tickets and made sure we had validated them before boarding the train. Minutes after the train left the station, we were asked for our tickets. Two guys sitting opposite, who had been on our plane, were told off for not validating their tickets, but the ticket collector's wrath was reserved for a mother and son pair who had not bought a ticket at all! A huge argument ensued with the mother almost screaming at the ticket collector. The ticket collector would not give in, and at the next station, they all got off and carried on their argument on the platform!

A lovely couple boarded with a small dog, and I could see the woman was itching to talk. She asked us if this was our first trip to Berlin, and we had a great chat with them both until they disembarked at another station. Their dog was called Flo, and the woman had family in Birmingham who ran a pub. It was lovely to sit and chat, and another man also joined in, who was American. Only the two lads kept quiet!

It was warm and stuffy on the train, and it was great to leave it at Jannowitzbrücke station and hail an Uber. The driver arrived within minutes and took us the short distance to the hotel. Sophie hadn't wanted to go through all the ups and downs at Alexanderplatz and then take the U-Bahn to Märkisches Museum, and this was an ideal solution. 

Thankfully, our rooms were ready and up on the sixth floor. We were given two keys, which confused us slightly, but all was made clear when we entered the room. We had an entrance hall with a tiny kitchenette and two rooms on either side. We both had a bathroom, which was very convenient! My room overlooked the river, the Berliner Dom in the distance, and the blocks of flats.

We unpacked and then strolled over to the Nikolai Quarter for lunch. It was a gorgeous day with sunshine and blue skies. It felt a little weird walking over, as the last time we'd been in Berlin when it wasn't Spring or Summer was in 2013!

The roadworks were still in place on the main road we needed to cross to get to the Nikolai Quarter, but we were soon across and gazing at the views, which never fail to disappoint.

We walked along the river and chose Trattoria San Nicola for lunch. It was pleasantly busy, and the waitress was lovely. We took a table right by the river and watched all the pleasure boats pass by. We were hoping to take a boat ride on Tuesday morning before we went home.

We shared a pizza and a bowl of French fries for lunch, as well as a glass of rosé each. We had ordered a 500ml pichet, and we were delighted to see it was from Bédoin! It was heavenly to be sitting in one of our favourite cities, in the sunshine, with our four-day break ahead of us. The stress of travelling was over, and we could relax!

Sophie had been taking Lemsips for her cold, but after we'd eaten, she started to feel stuffed up again. We decided to return to the hotel for a much-needed nap before going out for dinner at Ephraim's tonight.

Return to Ephraim's

We walked back to the hotel and called into the supermarket on the way to buy milk and some snacks. Before going up to our rooms, we made sure that the bar in the Grosser Kurfurst opposite was open, as we both wanted to have a drink there and enjoy one of Chrizz's signature cocktails. Thankfully, the bar opened at 6:00pm, but the only method of payment was cash... That would rein us in!

It was then time for a nap and a freshen up before we crossed the street again. We hadn't chosen the Grosser Kurfurst as we weren't able to book an apartment or family room, but we were delighted by the Derag Living Hotel Berlin Mitte (formerly the Henriette). I was sure this hotel used to have a bar, but it now seemed to be part of the breakfast room.

The bar was empty, and we were able to sit in our favourite seat - the banquette right next to the bar. From here, we could watch Chrizz at work! Sophie chose one of Chrizz's own cocktails, called Be Fresh, while I indulged in a Black Russian. It was delicious!

Nobody else took advantage of the lovely bar while we were there, which was a shame. Chrizz has won loads of awards for his cocktails and is a fabulous bartender, albeit a little grumpy! As we still had an hour to go before our dinner booking at Ephraim's, we decided to try another drink each. This time I went for a summery cocktail, one of Chrizz's own, called Spring Fever, which was a longer drink and was gorgeous. It contained: Absolut Vanilla Vodka, red orange liqueur, passion fruit syrup, mandarin syrup, orange juice and passion fruit nectar!

Chrizz was a little bemused when Sophie asked him if he could make her a Negroni with cherry liqueur... However, he made it for her and made sure he tested it before handing her the glass! She pronounced it delicious! 

We paid the bill and left a tip, which pleased Chrizz and made our way back to the Nikolai Quarter. We decided to sit inside at Ephraim's and took a table in the beautiful front parlour.  We both chose the chicken with pineapple curry sauce served with rice and salad, and a 250ml pichet of white wine apiece. It felt very strange to be eating while it was still light outside! 

Our waiter had served us before and was lovely and friendly. The food was delicious, and we both found room for dessert - warm pancakes stuffed with blueberries for me, and the layered walnut cake for Sophie. My daughter was fascinated by a family that came to sit behind us, and was amazed at how surly and rude the daughter was!

We paid the bill and decided to have a nightcap at Zille-Destille, where we discovered Berliner Luft last December. On the way, we booked a table at Moon Exquisite for Monday night, and this was where we had enjoyed pre-dinner cocktails last Christmas. It's a South Asian Fusion restaurant, and the schnitzel caught our eye on the menu!

We walked to Stille-Destille and took a seat at an outside table. The Champions League Final between Arsenal and Paris Saint-Germain had just finished with the French side winning. It took a little while to attract the attention of the scatty waiter, but we weren't in any hurry! Nearby were four British lads who were working their way through large glasses of beer, and I was a little shocked to see one of them get up and make his way over to some bushes where he threw up... ugh! Amazingly, they all ordered another round of beers even though I think the staff were in the process of closing off the outside area. This bar is surrounded by apartments, and we had been told the outside area was closing at 10:00pm, presumably because of the local residents.  This was fine with us as we had just one Berliner Luft each, which was a perfect ending to our evening!

We walked back along the main street, and Sophie fell in love with BJ, a large black retriever who took a liking to her, and lay down at her feet so she could stroke his furry tummy! His owner came out, and we had a chat, which was lovely!

A deserted Nikolai Quarter

It was great to get back to our rooms and look forward to a good night's sleep!

Cuddles with Milo

It turned warm again, but thankfully, it hasn't been as hot as earlier in the week! Today has been fairly uneventful; at work, I manned the phones with Kathy, and we had to deal with more swimming problems. The time whizzed past, and apart from the swimming lesson niggles, it was a pleasant shift.

When I arrived home, Milo was in the garden again, and he ran off as soon as he saw me. I followed him down the drive, and he let me stroke him. This time, I messaged Lynn, who lives next door to his owners and let her know he's been drinking a lot and that we were a little worried about him. She messaged back to say his owners were away and that she was feeding him and their other cat, Ninja, who doesn't leave the house. This might explain why he's been visiting our garden. Then, Lynn said that Ninja doesn't let Milo drink from the water fountain, so that explained even more!

He was still about when Sophie arrived home, so she had mega cuddles with him!

Milo

I don't think our two cats were amused!

Sophie has a heavy cold and admitted to feeling awful. This doesn't bode well for our early morning tomorrow and our trip to Berlin! I packed before we had dinner: Tesco curries tonight, as we didn't want to have to cook a heavy meal. Tomorrow, we're up at about 2:30am!

Back to the heat!

I took today off as we have been quiet at work, and I had a lot of things to get done. Keith went shopping first thing while I tackled some household chores, such as washing bedding and getting it out to dry on the line in the sunshine. It was set to be hot again today, but hopefully the weather will cool down a bit tomorrow.

I spent the morning pootling about the house and trying to stay cool! As well as numerous washes, I sorted my clothes out for Berlin. The weather looks like a mixed bag with cooler, rainier conditions for Monday, but I think I'll get away with dresses this time! We just want it to stay dry for Sunday evening, when we have tickets to see Ben Howard at an outdoor concert.

Keith returned from shopping and helped out by ironing some of the clothes I needed. I went to see Mum in the afternoon, and had a pleasant chat with her for over an hour. Again, I haven't told her we're going to Berlin, as I think it would just upset her. 

Back home, I carried on with more housework and did my exercises to help my heel. I'm starting to worry it will never get better, and just hope it doesn't play up too much in Berlin!

Sophie came home from work and spent an hour trying to take out the links on a strap for her new Apple watch. She'd bought it from her friend Becky at a bargain price! It will be able to tell her accurately in Berlin how many steps we've walked every day!

Once that was done, we prepared a lovely supper of cold meats, salad and new potatoes and caught up with an episode of Panda, accompanied by a glass of rosé!

A welcome respite

I was awake at 4:22am this morning and went to check on Sophie after her inadvertent poisoning last night! She was fine and went straight back to sleep, even though I had only cracked open her door quietly, but it took me a little longer to go back to the land of Nod! I hadn't had a call from the care home, so I assumed that Mum hadn't gone to the hospital, as they would have let me know.

However, I was woken at 7:00am by one of the carers saying the ambulance had arrived late last night, and as Mum wasn't in pain, they hadn't admitted her. Phew! What a relief! I did wish they'd left telling me for another hour, though!

It was good to get up early and have a coffee with Keith in the kitchen. Sophie left for work at 8:00am, and I caught up with the blog. It was a lot cooler today, and there was a delicious breeze coming through the back door. It was lovely to feel more energetic!

I had an appointment at the Back and Body Clinic at 11:00am, and Keith was going to drop me off, see Glen in Moulton about a pre-holiday service for the VW and pop to Aldi to buy more water as we drank so much yesterday in the heat.

I wasn't seeing Gabriel today, and had a consultation with Ben, who was lovely. I did miss having Sophie with me, though, and hearing the banter between her and Gabriel! Ben talked about the tendon and made me do a couple of exercises to see what range of movement I had with my knees. He wanted to rule out any other problems that could affect the tendon. He then made me lie down and manipulated my hips, which he said were OK. 

I was made to turn over, and he applied one treatment of the shockwave therapy. It hurt as much as last week, but it was bearable. He then used a massager on the back of my left leg, which was very relaxing. He recommended I buy a heel lift for the trip to Berlin and said I could use Co-Codamol for the pain. Sophie had written out our itinerary on Monday, and we will make use of the excellent buses, trains and trams in Berlin, like we did in Vienna.

Keith was waiting for me, and we went to Riverside as I wanted to get the heel lift for my trainers. I texted Sophie to ask if she wanted to meet for lunch, and she agreed. I spent another small fortune in Boots, and we walked to Next to meet Sophie.

I was expecting the Costa in the shop to be heaving as it's half-term, but it was pleasantly quiet. I bought lunch, but Keith only wanted a pot of tea as he had the rest of yesterday's prawns to eat at home in a sandwich. Rather him than me! I only ate half of my meal last night because I was worried about Sophie, and because it was tasteless! We sat and chatted, and I told Sophie about my appointment, telling her I'd been thoroughly checked over!

After we'd eaten, we amused ourselves by sitting on all the sofas and chairs in Next, and I had a play with a rise-and-recliner seat. I don't think I'm quite ready for that yet! We said goodbye to Sophie and headed home. As I was hanging the washing on the line, Mooney appeared, and we had a major love-in. He is so sweet! He loved rolling around in the grass, one ear cocked for all the bird sounds about. We have baby Jackdaws in the house next to us, and I could hear the young squawking for food! I sat with Mooney for a little while and then went inside to catch up with some jobs. 

I spent a good hour preparing tonight's dinner, and I do wonder how the contestants on MasterChef manage to prepare and cook their dishes in the short time allowed. Do they have someone helping? I grated ginger (next time we're going to get a jar, it's so fiddly!), garlic, chopped up broccoli and spring onions, and cubed chicken breasts. I then made a sauce of honey, soy sauce and rice wine vinegar. This was a recipe for Honey Glazed Chicken that sounded delicious, so I was hoping it would work out well (and I wouldn't end up poisoning any of my family!).

Sophie came home with a long list of things she needed to do, and I started on the dinner. I had to coat the chicken in cornflour, which made it lovely and crispy, cook the veg, and then amalgamate it all together and add the sauce. We ate it with deliciously sticky Jasmine rice and prawn crackers. The sauce wasn't as thick as I would have liked, but it was still lovely, and Sophie had enough for two lunches. I'll definitely cook it again, but maybe lessen the wet ingredients.

As Sophie was washing up, she spotted a strange cat in the garden! It was Milo, a big tabby who lives down the road, and he had come along to drink the water we'd put down for the birds! He drank and drank, which was slightly worrying as cats don't normally drink a lot. Gomez had made one of his rare appearances and stood stock still in the garden as he suddenly realised there was an intruder in his territory! Sophie picked Mooney up, who, when he eventually noticed Milo, let out a growl!

We went into the garden, and Milo ran out, which freaked out both of our cats. It set the tone for an unsettled night, when Gomez kept being spooked by people. Twice, Sophie had him in her arms to bring him in as it was cooler, and twice he struggled to get free and ran off.

We watched an episode of MasterChef after dinner, and there are now just four going into the finals next week. Sophie and I have made predictions as to who will win, and I think we're both sure it will be a close-run contest!

Nature's entertainment

I was back at work at the normal time of 8:00am this morning and managed to park opposite our office. Sara was back from her break, so it was great to catch up with her before I started work. Already, the office felt hot, and we had turned on all the fans and drawn the blinds again. Nicola called Sara and asked what the temperature was like, and when Sara said it was warm, she asked her to go and get some big fans that we use in the main sports hall. 

Unfortunately, all they did was move hot air around the office, and they were noisy, so not an ideal solution! With six of us in the office, it became hot and stuffy! I felt for Nicola as her old office was air-conditioned, and she was clearly suffering in the heat, as was Sara, who looked a little red in the face. One of the senior managers came in and made us laugh with his tales of shaving his chest and having his shoulders and back waxed in the summer to feel cooler, so that provided a little light relief! He was on the lookout for sweets or chocolate, but they would have melted in our office at the moment!

Unfortunately, I received a call from the care home at about 11:00am to say that Mum had fallen again and was complaining of pain in her hip. The staff had called for an ambulance, but it would be about ten hours... ten hours? I asked them to let me know the outcome and tried not to worry about my Mum going into hospital again. She had broken her hip last July, and I really didn't want her to go into the hospital again, especially at the moment. I spent my short lunch period researching private rehabilitation homes where she could go if she had to have an operation, but there weren't any, just nursing homes, similar to where she is now.

It was lovely to escape at 4:00pm and turn on the air-conditioning in the car! I returned home, where I stripped off all my clothes and took a long, cool shower. What bliss! It has been hotter today, and the temperature hovered around 35 °C on the way home. We were forecast to have thunderstorms in the evening, and we were hoping they would materialise. However, although the clouds built up and we heard the odd rumble of thunder, we didn't see any rain at all.

I called the care home, and they said that my Mum had managed to get herself up from her fall and had been walking around, so that seemed like cautious good news. The ambulance hadn't arrived yet, but they would let me know the outcome.

Sophie and I watched Masterchef again, and she was delighted to see one of her heroes attend a fabulous dinner. The contestants had to cook at the old Whitehall building for people connected to the Secret Service, and Gordon Corera was one of the guests. We are going to see him live in London in September when he appears with another of Sophie's heroes, David McCloskey! Gordon Corera was the BBC security correspondent, and it was great to see him indulge in the fantastic dinner cooked by the contestants. We particularly liked the Vesper-inspired dessert!

When the show was finished, we prepared our own dinner. Keith and I were having prawn salad while Sophie made do with fish finger sandwiches. When we sat down to eat, she took a bite and said that the fish fingers smelled and tasted strange... she persevered, but in the end, left them. She said they tasted weird. She pointed out the baking tray she'd cooked them on, and I realised that last night, I'd sprayed it with the Fairy no-soak cleaner and left it overnight. Nobody had washed it, and Sophie had put the fish fingers directly onto the pan... I was horrified! Sophie started to panic, so we had a good look at the bottle, but there were no dire warnings about ingesting it, only to avoid getting it into the eyes. She said she felt fine, and she could only have ingested a small amount of cleaner, but it worried me all night. Not really what we needed at the moment, with the worry about my Mum!

Keith and I half-heartedly watched Spring Watch after dinner, but I was more interested in the sky outside! Huge thunder clouds had built up, and with the setting sun were all different colours. They looked beautiful.

Sophie and I went outside to watch and noticed both sheet lightning and fork lightning sparking off amidst the clouds. It was a fantastic spectacle, and I could have watched for hours! It was noticeably cooler with a brisk wind.

The colour of the clouds ranged from pink and peach to light blue, light grey, a bluey grey and white. The sky was ever-changing, and the lightning was brilliant. A lovely end to a somewhat trying day!