If you can`t beat `em, join `em.

I`ve never been a cricket widow. Instead I offered to make the lads their sandwiches. Now, over 20 years on, and several thousand loaves later, and having become the Chairman`s wifey* . . . . I am now the proud owner of a Christleton Cricket Club sweater, YIPPEE, WEYHEY AND WUTWOO!!

This is our 2nd team captain, who incidentally, ISN`T "approaching veteran status"(!)



*I didn`t marry the Chairman.My husb of 29 years and who has played here for 29 years, was ELECTED Chairman. He scored 94 not out today.(and is now asleep and snoring on the settee)

History at Royal Ascot

There were nearly 69,000 people at Ascot yesterday to witness YEATS making history by being the only horse to win the ASCOT GOLD CUP for the 4th successive year. What an impressive run. I had to halt my colouring temporarily while I watched him thundering home. He won by 3 lengths and was the 6-4 favourite.

TV commentators were calling this race the "Bookie Basher" as they had watched punters putting small fortunes on this horse. Trainer Aidan O`Brien said afterwards that he had never ever felt so much pressure, but Johnny Murtagh, who rode him to victory said "He loves fast ground, he loves Ascot, he`ll be ready" and ready he was. He was given a standing ovation by the adoring Ascot crowd and her majesty The Queen, looking splendid in white and turquoise, came down into the winners enclosure specially , to greet him. (The Queen hasn`t missed a Royal Ascot meeting for 45 years)

"History" was also made yesterday with the opening of the first racecourse in Wales for 83 years, at Ffos Las (pronouced Force Lass). Sceptics had said it was crazy to build a racecourse on an open-cast mine in a depressed and remote community, but last night 10,000 punters attended, a sell-out crowd for the opening night and they weren`t disappointed, A.P.Mcoy having a hat-trick of winners.

As a footnote, It was pointed out, by the fashion gurus at Ascot, that a lady with a very short skirt had been "moved on" as she was in The Queen`s eyeline, considered inappropriate. Coincidentally our local high school (husby`s school) has just issued a "trousers for girls" policy due to the girls wearing their skirts far too short. This resulted in the girls setting up a protest,on Tuesday,which was duly reported in our local paper.



5.30pm and husb has just come home from school informing me the short-skirt-strike-protest has made it into the national tabloids:- Daily Star, Sun, Daily Mail.... under the headline "mini minxes".

"The chances of anything coming from Mars..."

...are a million to one" he said..."the chances of anything coming from Mars ...are a million to one...BUT STILL THEY COME"



Jeff Wayne`s musical version of the H.G.Wells novel WAR OF THE WORLDS celebrates its 30th anniversary this year and is touring the country, so I booked fantastic seats (5 rows from the front and centre)at the Echo Arena, Liverpool.

Brilliant, brilliant, brilliant. Click for a sample!

Jeff Wayne conducted the BLACK SMOKE BAND and the ULLAdubULLA STRINGS in front of a 100ft cinema screen, beneath a gigantic model of the Martian(which seemed to take a distinct liking to the blonde lady sitting in front of us. It zapped her, and thus us, regularly with its heat ray)

There were vocal performances by Justin Hayward, formerly of the Moody Blues,(he was so ultra cool), Liverpool`s own Jennifer Ellison, Shannon Noll, the runner-up of Australian Idol, Alexis James who was a big hit with the audience, and Chris Thompson. Jeff`s daughter Anne-Marie Wayne was on screen as "Carrie", and to complete the cast, a huge 3D hologram of a young Richard Burton, complete with a cleverly super-imposed moving bottom jaw to accomodate his original voice.

A totally brilliant concert, and we even managed to catch a couple of leaves as Justin was singing "Forever Autumn".

Welcome home Chris!

Well that 3 months has flown by and Chris is now home from Australia, welcomed by a tube strike and thunderstorms. But no cricket kit. So being the ever doting mother (and knowing he had an Oxford Reunion cricket match at the weekend) it was washed and packed up and I headed south with it.Pity he only scored 6 runs, but he DID bowl a few overs (and has the DOMS to prove it) so it was worth the drive.







We saw the photos of the turtles and a shark he met recently when scuba diving the GREAT BARRIER REEF, so we just need to catch up on the earlier months including the WORLD CUP CRICKET where the England Ladies became champions of the world (WUTWOO), Bondi Beach, the Blue mountains, and the MCG stadium in Melbourne....I`m looking forward to his blog...

Looks good doesn`t he?(and no different really)

"My name is Ali and I`m a gambler" ha ha

Walking along the walls to Chester Races...



...over the railway bridge...



...to meet the girls... (it was Ladies Evening so they got dressed up... but I was there to see the horses so none of that fancy stuff for me...)



Look at EMBSAY CRAG, lovely horse... "It matters more when there`s money on it"... Oooooh yes, verrrrry nice...and about to win me some money =)



Yippee!!!!



"OMG OMG Ali, you won...HOW much????!"



Lovely bit of topiary...



Helen and I...



... "hmmmm what`s THIS horse called?"