A Bit of Culture

So off to Liverpool last night (yes really, for culture) to see the Liverpool Philharmonic. Beethoven's 9th was stunning. Peter Maxwell-Davies's 9th was a little more challenging but not wholly unpleasant. Plus it was a premiere for his piece and the composer himself was there and took a bow. Sadly Beethoven couldn't make it. But the Philharmonic concert hall is lovely and the orchestra and chorus very good. The conductor is Russian and really quite cute although he does wear quite cheap clothes.. Really old fashioned venue though and in a nice up and coming part of Liverpool. Plenty of bars and restaurants in the area. And then we went to the Philharmonic pub afterwards which is just the most glorious Victorian pub with what appears to be all its original features still in place. And then the train home. Luckily not the last train home and so not completely filled with drunks and the like. Manchester Day Parade today but the barbecue has been cancelled. Probably for the best given the weather. In other news, mother has been told that she won't be getting any more chemotherapy but before we all get too giddy about this, its because it may be affecting the nerves in her leg. On the one hand this is good news - her cancer markers are low enough that they feel they can safely do this. But on the other hand she needs to see a specialist for her leg so we're not sure what the outcome of that will be. She has also been referred back to the surgeon (if you remember she originally had surgery but they couldn't remove the tumour because of its size and where it was). It may be that it has now shrunk enough for them to do the surgery again. A prospect that does not fill my mother with glee. Anyway, I'll let you all know how things develop. For the moment she feels quite well though and my Dad seems to be doing OK too. Hurrah!. In other, other news, Bryn has been diagnosed with ILD. Some sort of lung disease (you may remember that I said he sounded terrible he other week when DD and I went round for dinner). The good news is that it is treatable with steroids. Again, I'll let you know how things develop. That's all for now. J x