Baztastic!

Dearest Lucy, I must tell you about my FABULOUS night out last night: Mr Chino, and I travelled to Manchester with a couple of friends to see the rather marvellous Barry Manilow! What a night! Mr Chino was entirely sceptical about the whole thing, not manly enough for him, I fear, and bemoaned his lot the entire journey south. He was able to sympathise with the wife of the couple we went with, as she had bought the tickets as a surprise gift for her husband; both he and I were giddy with excitement and burst into impromptu renditions of "Bermuda Triangle" at the slightest provocation!
We arrived at the Arena after having had our tea at the 'Blue Diamond' chinese restaurant in Rochdale (should you ever be in those parts, let me recommend the Satay Chicken, Mongolian Style - delicious!) and quickly found our seats high up in block 204. We had a good view of the stage, I'm pleased to say, and any action was shown on two large screens on either side; the warm up act was a comedian (I use that term loosely) but he wasn't on for too long, thankfully. Anyway, with glow sticks firmly in hand the excitement grew and I was all of a dither when the legend, that is Barry, came on to the stage. No sooner had the opening bars of "It's a miracle" been played, than Mr Chino was waving his glow stick in the air and singing along; he was even on his feet and dancing when, later in the set, 'Copacabana' was played! I must confess that Mr Manilow is not a natural dancer and that anything above his lips failed to move all night, but he knows how to belt out a tune, doesn't take himself too seriously and puts on one heck of a show. I can thoroughly recommend him for a good night out.
Basking in the after-concert glow we wended our way northwards and home, the haunting strains of "One voice" ringing in our ears. It was a night of musical magic and, for one night only Mr Chino had become a Fanilow! Alas, he soon returned to his normal gruff and crusty self, almost as if he and Barry had never shared the love, and I fear that tomorrow morning he will deny all knowledge of our shared experience. Never mind, I will always have the vision of his smiling face by the light of a thousand glow sticks as we sang "Mandy" together...
On the baking front, I've had chocolate muffins coming out of my ears having baked for my Year 11 leavers and number 1 Chino child's post Year 6 SATs celebration: 56 muffins in two days! I did try making a Chocolate Fudge topping to decorate them with, which was very well received, although, as usual, it all looked a bit rustic.
I'm hoping that your life is ticking along nicely. Do let me know all your latest news. Have you seen Margo lately?

Much love,

Cathy x