The beekeepers

After an early start for various reasons, Anna and I walked along the Esplanade in the sunshine. The tide was out and mud was calling us to lark about in, but Anna was luncheoning and I was off to see mum. I drove North through the buzzing Baltic triangle and the upper dock road, noting familiar and new businesses, all evolving and fascinating. In Formby, mum was dozing in front of an Agatha Christie. She is doing marvellously. We sat in the conservatory during yet another rainstorm, with crust off sandwiches and still warm lemon meringue pie, the best I have had in years. I left her in the embraces of the girls at Locharwoods.

Back in the Pool, I found Val, Anna and Larry the Lurcher at the coffee end of lunch, surrounded by the secret garden. What a fabulous city Liverpool is. Urban living with its original charm in tact.