Ralph has covid, so its still around. Got the train to Thatcham and walked along the canal to see Andy. A massive improvement from last week, he can get himself around in a chair and no longer has a catheter. Allie and Hamish were there and his old mate Ted. Got the train back from Newbury Racecourse but not a pleasant walk. Did the 5 hills ride on Tuesday. Had a RSAC sound team meeting in the evening. I was meant to go swimming with M on Wednesday but my booking didn't go through for some reason so did the Southcote Lock walk instead. In the afternoon M submitted her thesis. Edith was very pleased.  Found out URZ have been docked another 3 points. On Thursday went over to Tom and Sally's to babysit whilst they went to the Greenwich Comedy Festival. Edith was very chatty in her bouncy chair whilst we had our tea and then just slept until they got back about 11pm.

Set off back late Friday morning. Sally took Edith to Greenwich Park.

Went to see Andy on Monday afternoon armed with fruit, cheese and alcohol free beer. Did gardening on Tuesday. We're having a late heat wave. The Tour of Britain was from  Goole to Beverley, watched highlights on ITV4. Amy went in for her planned caesarean on Wednesday morning. Here's the result.Both doing great. They weren't sure of the name to start with. Had a video WhatsApp with them about 1 30. He looks gorgeous and all are well. Here he is keeping an eye on his dad.He's called Owen Eberlin Ounsley.

A bit of a lazy day on Tuesday. It was M's birthday on Wednesday. I bought her some bath pampering things. We went over to Tom and Sally's in the afternoon. Edith was a bit out if sorts as she had had jabs earlier in the day. She fell asleep on her granny though.We popped out for pint and then had an excellent meal prepared by Tom and Sally. On Thursday Edith had perked up.We took her out for a walk and then set off home. There and back on the Elizabeth Line, it's so easy. Went to see Andy on Friday morning. He's been moved to the rehabilitation unit in the West Berkshire Community Hospital in Thatcham so he's a lot happier. We sat out in the garden. Went up to the Barbican to see Nicklecreek in the evening. Great gig, not sure if I've seen them before but I have seen Chris Thile at least once before in The Punch Brothers. They were excellent. I thought the were just fiddle, mandolin and acoustic bass but they also have a guitarist. We got the Elizabeth Line again, this time to Farringdon and had really nice Italian at a place called Apilua. Even M enjoyed the evening. London's not cheap though. Meanwhile Edith was getting the hang of crib...

...the Eberlins were at Paesanos...

...and Tom had a piesanose.

On Saturday lunchtime Cracking Up played at the Cross Keys in Wallingford as part of Bunkfest. No photos but here's the stage and The Ironics who were on before us.

Its quite a big event.

In the evening we went to Stuart and Clare's 40th wedding anniversary bash up at Park House in the university. A very enjoyable do and I did all the ceilidh dances. Went to RSAC on Sunday for a HCTS follow up meeting followed by beer and pizza.

Went to see Andy on Tuesday. He can move his hands a lot better than last week. He'd been reading a book and had managed to feed himself. Getting understandably a bit fed up waiting to be moved to the rehab centre though. On Wednesday me, Kelvin, Stuart and Graham did the annual URZ ride. This year it was 50 miles (points deductions are ignored) so we headed out to Purefoy Arms at Preston Candover. Great pub with excellent fish finger (goujon) sandwiches.

Here's the evidence in kilometers from Stuart's garmin. We measured the distance to and from the Mad Stad but we probably did over 60 miles in all. All went well until Kelvin's rear gear mech broke about 5 miles from home. We raised a glass to Andy. Had a band practice on Thursday. Edith found it all very funny.

Went to Brendan and Lynda's on Friday for the annual garden party. Played a couple of new games, Taco, Cat, Goat, Cheese, Pizza and Möllky. A great time was had by all. Quiet day Saturday but cooked a really nice meal I'd read about in the novel I'm reading, a Syrian dish called Dawood Basha. Spent most of Sunday practising for Monday's gig. On Monday afternoon Cracking Up played at The Unicorn in Peppard. We did our full repertoire and went down well. There were a few mistakes but no one seemed to notice.

M worked all weekend to try and produce a final draft of her PhD which she finished about 10pm on Monday.

Did my first bike ride for a few weeks on Monday out to Maker Space with Kelvin and Stuart. Went to see Andy in the afternoon. Slight improvement from last week. He can now put on his glasses and scratch his nose. Also use his ipad with voice control. Jeannie and Jess were also there. Went to watch URZ v Cheltenham with Ralph on Tuesday. Something strange happened, we scored a goal and they didn't. It was all a bit odd. Continuing with football on Wednesday I watched the Lionesses beat the Matildas 3 1 to get to the World Cup final for the first time where they play Spain. We got the train to Cambridge in the afternoon and unfortunately M either lost her phone of had it stolen between Paddington and Kings X. It had all her cards in the wallet as well. We managed to cancel everything and order a new phone and sim but it was all a bit stressful. In the evening we went to a very large Italian restaurant where we were the only customers. Food was fine but it was odd. In fact it was all a bit quiet but was lively during the day. M went to the university library on Thursday which was the purpose of the visit.I went for a walk along the river as far as Baits Bite Lock. About 12 miles in all. I walked past Cambridge Utd's ground, the Abbey Stadium, it only has a capacity of 7937 as opposed to URZ which is nearly 25000. Came back more or less by tube. Thameslink to Farringdon then the Elizabeth Line. Got a voice activated WhatsApp from Andy on the way back. Meanwhile James visited Edith but first impressions weren't great.Went to the hygenist on Friday then drove over to Anne and Wynn's. Wynn cooked a fine fish pie. Did a walk down to The Sun in Rhewl then a mini pub crawl in Llangollen followed by a meal at The Boat at Erbistock. On Sunday we watched the Lionesses lose to Spain 1 0. Spain played  better I thought and deserved to win but iy was still a pity. After we walked into Llangollen, had a couple of pints in The Cornmill and met up with Wynn's son in law Scott. Then went back and had a BBQ followed by the hot tub

Went down RSAC on Tuesday to do a bit of measuring up and materials purchasing but it was too wet to do any work. Went down on Wednesday and made good progress with the chalkboards and gate. Madeline is becoming very fashion conscious.Went to the Hop Leaf in the evening with Kevin, Adrienne and Penno. Finished the fence on Thursday except for a second coat of paint.

I drove up to Ian's on Tuesday morning to meet up with him, Rick, John and Greg. Had a fun evening sitting round Ian's kitchen table. Rick had made a puppet. Meanwhile Madeline was going up in the world. Went to the Richtone music shop on Wednesday as Rick wanted to see how much he could get for his 1962 SG. They reckoned it would go for a couple of grand but they would only offer 1300 so he didn't go for it. I tried a Gretch Resonator which was pretty good. Drove back in the afternoon. Got to know that Andy is out of ICU and is keen for visitors. On Thursday I went to RSAC to put up the fence with help from Felix and his son Jo.