Mission Impossible.

Had a phone call from Debs yesterday....they are having a lovely time on the Isle of Wight....and despite it being very cold they have had blue skies and sunshine.
Not all is rosy though.......some of the guests have gone down with the Norovirus.....and have had to be confined to their rooms. And some guests have had their holiday shortened by a day because the hotel is closing down on Saturday so that a complete disinfection program can be undertaken.
Ma and Debs have(so far - and i have my fingers crossed here)not been affected.

Today my daughter and I have had a day out in Manchester.
I went with the intention of finding some presents for the 'hard to buy for' members of the family.
I also thought that perhaps daughter may see something that she liked and I would buy it for her for Christmas.
My mission was a dismal failure, in respect of the intention.
That isn't to say that it wasn't an enjoyable day........I think we both enjoyed it very much.
We had morning coffee out....browsed round the shops in the Arndale.
I was most uncomfortable walking around. I had put on a pair of support tights....well, that's what it said on the pack.
These tights had a mind of their own......and tried to pull my trousers down......I spent most of the morning wrestling with my gusset......I felt like it was somewhere lurking round my knees. I am only a short person, so what it would have been like if I had been five foot six, is anybody's guess.

I eventually decided that i had to take these tights in hand (so to speak)......we made a pit stop at the 'ladies'.......I told my daughter if she heard grunting and groaning, she had to come in and rescue me....because it would be the tights that had me in a strangle hold....she was giggling.
I told her that this was no laughing matter.
I took myself into the cubicle and stripped off my trousers, ripped off the tights and thrust them into a carrier bag....'get out of that' was my triumphant cry.
I got my gear back on and went outside and threw the tights into the rubbish bin with a flourish.
I felt renewed, invigorated even....and our shopping trip could continue in a happier vein.

We did an awful lot of looking, but not a lot of buying.
We looked around the Christmas markets.....the smell of german sausage and mulled wine was thick enough to cut with a knife. I have never been a great fan of either of those things.....I am very suspicious of sausages, and mulled wine puts me in mind of a fierce cough medicine.
I did like the Christmas lights though, and I don't care what anyone says Manchester has some wonderful architecture...as a city it is just as beautiful as Sydney or Melbourne.

So although I still have to buy those elusive gifts....we had a very pleasant day.
That can't be bad.