Before I go to Uni next month I wanted to make an effort to visit both sets of grandparents before I go. I don’t enjoy saying it, but its more “just in case” than anything else because all four (I’m lucky and still have 2 full sets of Grandparents!!) of them are quite old and life is very unpredictable and I’d be absolutely gutted if anything happened to them while I was away and I hadn’t seen them one last time before I left. I also wanted to get photos with them for my wall at uni which is slowly accumulating more and more photos of me in different places and with friends and family.
The first leg of my tour took me to Grange-Over-Sands in the Lake District to visit my dad’s parents on Wednesday. The visit was only me and my dad, we only stopped on the way up to visit Grange’s famous award-winning Butcher and we made pretty good time. We were greeted at the door, and I cooked a big pot of pasta which apparently was the first time in years they’d eaten Pasta or bacon. I was pretty pleased with my creation, but it needed more sauce because there was so much pasta. Grandma went off and did her thing in the kitchen while me, my dad and Granddad watched Arsenal – Celtic which was fairly entertaining. Grange’s Granny And Granddad are both 83 and still doing alright. It gets tough on my Granddad a bit because Grandma’s going into decline a bit in her old age, she rarely settles at night which is tough, she isn’t good outside the familiar surroundings of their bungalow, and has trouble recognising people (me and my dad included) which can effect me a little but at the same time I remember her before she went downhill and she’s had a really good life so its just one of those things. She lives in the moment and still seems to have a good time, she seems happiest in the kitchen washing up etc. and is always humming which is good. As I said, she didn’t recognise me and won’t remember our visit but Granddad really appreciated the company and it gave him a real boost to see us and learn more about my course (we took him a prospectus) and he gave me a fairly generous cheque to help me get started which was really good. The next morning I had a snooze (Grandma kept me up in the night) while my dad went and helped do a bit of gardening and helped to deal with a wasps nest at the bottom of the garden. It was only a short overnight stay and after the gardening was done and I had the photo I drove me and my dad back (2nd longest journey I’ve driven for!) home.

When I got home I relaxed for a bit and watched 7 Pounds with Will Smith which was really good (I just about managed to hold it together at the end!) before heading out for the night.
I went into Altrincham and found a pub and settled down for City – Crystal Palace in the League Cup which was an alright game. There were a few hairy moments and Shay Given bailed us out a couple of times but overall I thought we were good value for the win, especially after Robinho’s controversially disallowed goal. It was good to see Tevez open his account too, especially with a header! From there me and a few mates moved on, staying in Altrincham and heading to a new-ish bar called Heart & Soul where it was the 18th of a set of twin’s I am good friends with. It was a good night, I knew most people there and managed to catch up with loads of people. A little expensive but I still had a good night. Craig Charles (of Red Dwarf, RobotWars and Coronation Street fame) turned up without realising it was a private do but it was all alright. Spoke to him and the woman he was with for a bit which was cool, I used to obsess over Robot Wars every Friday night when I was younger so it was bizarre seeing him, I know he’s had a few scandals with cocaine and whatever but he genuinely seemed like a top bloke. He had a crowd round him the whole time he was there and was absolutely loving it! I ended up going back to a Claire’s (girl I went Benicassim with) house where there was a bit of an atmosphere (she and her friends had just been pulled over by the police and their mate had to go down to the station.. not good) which eventually warmed and everyone started having a laugh again.

Next morning I had a killer hangover from the finishing wine at Claire’s but had to continue my Grandparents tour! Mum picked me up and me, her and my sister headed back up to the Lake District to Culgaith for even more Family Fun. On the way up I managed to sort my accommodation with Rick over the phone. He’d spoke to the University and they said they had no more spaces in our first choice, The Forge, but he managed to find a company called Unite : Students who dealt in accommodation and they did have spaces left so its looking like we are in The Forge which is what we wanted!

Culgaith’s Granny & Granddad are both younger and naturally more active and aware than my other Grandparents, but it looks like this Granny is heading the same way as my other which is a real shame, and Granddad is quite deaf, but we still have a good laugh when we get together, they are fun and I enjoy seeing them .
We were met at the door again and after initial pleasantries and showing holiday photos while everyone else had a game of Monopoly (an institution in our family) I had to head upstairs for some rest. I came back down for dinner (steak – nice) and some more board games (Scrabble) before we all watched Napoleon Dynamite on film4 and had an early night which I really needed. I got an amazing sleep, and woke up about 9 next morning and finished off the book I’ve been reading, “A Day In The Life of Ivan Denisavich” which took me 4 days in my life to read! Breakfast, we fed a pheasent (sp?) that came to the door, we relaxed, had lunch and came home.

While I've been away a few friends have gone Creamfields or Leeds Festival. Wish I could have but couldn't afford it in the end. I could hear Creamfields on the wind last year but no such luck this time round. I'm watching Arctic Monkeys on BBC3 from Reading later on.
DJ AM died which is a shame, especially not even a year after that plane crash.
Oasis split, with Noel quitting. Glad I got to see them at Benicassim, I'm gutted but not at all surprised, it was a very long tour, they didn't talk onstage when I saw them and it seemed inevitable after reading Liam's NME interview last week. Seen this coming a mile off. Kings Of Leon will end the same way I reckon. I look forward to the Gallagher's solo albums!
Michael Jackson was officially killed - DUUUHHH
Warrington Wolves won their first silverware in 35 years (Challenge Cup). I don't really follow them but the town is buzzing which is good to see.

Pictures with Grandparents coming soon! haha