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Hello, Elle!
Yes, we were out earlier today.
Miss O has tutoring to do, later, that was why.
Great day here!
I will watch Jim Carter shortly.
MoMA is on the the girls bucket list for New York.
And Annie Moore's statue at Ellis Island, and Statue of Liberty, and Ground Zero, and loads of other things, and they are booked to see a show called "The Lion KIng".
I suggested the Yankee Stadium, but that fell on deaf ears!
They are staying in Times Square.
It's a good article about Nicola.

Hi, Rusty!
I am glad you had a good time with Miss O!
The girls sound very well organised with their sight-seeing plans.
Getting about Manhattan is not difficult.....all streets are labelled in a "predictable" fashion, so it is easy to get from A to B.
Times Square is not a "square", though, but resembles a "bowtie"!
And there are trams (street cars!) which are handy... and the inevitable yellow cabs!
Getting the Subway is similar to the Tube in London ( although the Tube is far more efficiently planned... a lot cleaner........ and less like cattle pens!)
I believe the "The Lion King" is very good.
I think the musical is still on here at the Lyceum Theatre.
One of my cousins took her class at school to see it.
They came all the way up from Devon!
I think Nicola is an inspiration to the children.....
I wish my grandson - who is learning the violin - could meet her!

Hello, Elle!
Yes, Miss O and me had a fine time!
They have loads of info on New York!
Nicola is the real deal! She works a lot with the youngsters.
Just watched Jim Carter.
He is married to Imelda Staunton, the actress.
He comes across as a very nice friendly lad.
He chose to see, 1, original posters and books on the circus.
He can juggle, stilt walk, walk the tightrope etc, and do magic tricks.
2, The original sound recordings of Emperor Rosko on Radio Caroline.
3, Roman history in Britain and the manuscripts of Bede.
4, The drawings of kitchen gardens, and a visit to one.
5, Ancient anatomical models.
6, Ancient books on magic.
I really enjoyed it, and Jim was very pleasant company!

Hi, Rusty!
Yes, Jim sounds an interesting character.
I enjoyed reading about him, and hearing your report on the "Treasures" programme.
How, though, does one ride a bicycle on stilts?!
I don't know his wife, Imelda Staunton?
The name is familiar, but I cannot place her?
Am I likely to have seen her in any play/film/ programme?
The dog and I have just returned from a (short) walk....I needed to post a Wedding Anniversary card , so decided on a stroll past the pillar box!
We were out for about an hour...very warm indeed.... no jacket needed.

Hello, Elle!
Jim built a special tall bike so he could ride it with stilts.
Imelda Staunton is a well known actress on stage and screen.
She won a Best Actress award for "Vera Drake".
I rarely watch films so I would not know her.
It is a lovely day here, too.

Hi, Rusty!
Yes, I had read about Jim's having a specially high bike built, but I still cannot envisage how he could ride it with stilts?
Stilts are rigid and immovable.......how could he turn the wheels?
Obviously I am not picturing this correctly?
I too do not know of "Vera Drake".
I thought today's puzzle was a lot easier than yesterday's was..... thank goodness!
I especially liked 7d: airport, and 16a: eclectic
But re 18a, I wouldn't have called a "marine marker" a "life buoy"?
A "buoy", yes, but surely a "lifebuoy" is a device to save some one from drowning by keeping them afloat in water?
And not there to "mark the spot"?
What do you think?

Good evening, Elle!
There were photos of Jim on stilts, on his tall bike.
Stilts are rigid but his knees are not.
They were maybe special stilts for cycling?
I had heard of "Vera Drake".
Vera was an abortionist, but I don't know how the story unfolded, but it was popular.
I agree with you in that I can not see how a life buoy is a marine marker, yet the clue got past the crossword editor.
A mystery!
I am watching an American news channel report of Hurricane Michael making landfall in Florida.
It is scary!

Hi, Rusty!
Yes, the weather conditions throughout the world are becoming far scarier and a much greater threat to life in very many places, than they used to be.
And not only the weather is becoming a threat...but the violence on the streets.....the shootings and the knife crimes....it can be frightening here in London for the young people.
It is hard to envisage what life will be like for our grandchildren... or greatgrandchildren.... when they grow up.
It is a sorry state of affairs
.I am reading about crime in Sweden at the moment ...back a few years, and detective fiction... but grim.....
Suiting my mood of the moment.
I think I need a strong coffee.....

Hello, Elle!
We certainly hear much more about things going on around the world.
Hurricane Michael is the third most intense hurricane to make landfall, after the Labor Day 1935 one, and Hurricane Camille in 1969.
I have an eye on that, and an eye on the Dow Jones Index going way down!
I think I'll head to YouTube for something cheerier!

Hi, Rusty!
I have been catching up with my serial "Strangers" - I think I have mentioned it previously.
It gets weirder and more complicated by the episode!
I need Perry Mason to come on at the end and explain it all to Della!
The series, though, is also very bloodthirsty and threatening......and adding to my general depression and misgivings about our world....
Did you find anything diverting and amusing on YouTube to cheer us, and offset all this?