Rock on

 We were up early for Ellie to be dropped off. Urban-Cub had a meeting in Southampton today (now that she has got the right day). Despite Ellie being quite hyper, it was a relatively quiet morning. The Silver Vixen took her up for a bath and hair wash after which she styled her hair (following Ellie's instructions) and then helped and monitored her as she put on her makeup. She was very cute when it was all done.

As the Gorse Fox and Silver Vixen were going out later, we had a good lunch at the same time as Ellie. Despite her saying she didn't want any cooked lunch, she ended up eating chicken, triple-cooked chips, and carrot.

After lunch the Gorse Fox took her to park. We had the place to ourselves and Ellie charged about on the slide and the obstacles. She insisted on having races. First she would run round the park using the various bits of apparatus, the the Gorse Fox would have to do the same (without using the apparatus). Finally, she began to tire and we started to head home. Then she remembered the other park, so we trotted off there for another session. Again, we had the place to ourselves. She spent the whole time on a swing while instructing the Gorse Fox to push her imaginary friend on another swing.

Pistol Pete arrived soon after 16:00 to collect Ellie for the weekend.

By 17:00 the Gorse Fox and Silver Vixen were on the road, heading for Southampton. We had tickets to see David Essex in concert. These tickets were originally booked pre-Covid. Despite roadworks on the road into Southampton and the SatNav trying to direct us down a "No Entry", we were parked up just after 18:00. We strolled towards the theatre and stopped at nearby pub for a drink while we waited for the doors to open. There was already a massive queue forming outside the theatre, but as we had tickets we ignored it.

Refreshed, we wandered across and walked straight in. We had fairly good seats near the back of the stalls. There was a real buzz about the place as hundreds of women of a certain age traipsed in to find their seats. The odd chap was scattered among the throng and there was an overwhelming sense that the UK's stock of HRT was all in this one place.

The concert started with a support act from a chap who identified as the Principal of Brighton College of the Perfoming Arts (or some such organisation). He was very good, but the sound quality was poor. As usual the sound engineers had gone for volume over clarity and it was quite difficult to understand what he was singing. As his set was drawing to a close, two or three large women plonked themselves in the seats behind us. Talking at full volume over, and then shouting "Boring" at the performer. It was about to get raucous.

After the interval, David Essex came on. Old Big Mouth, behind us, started to shout, then to sing along at full volume. She stood and started to wave her arms about. It was getting silly. The lady next to the Silver Vixen went to the manager to complain. Old Big Mouth was told to sit down and quieten down. Well, that didn't work. In the end, she was ejected from the theatre and eventually, so was her friend. The rest of the concert was more relaxed! The audience clearly enjoyed the show, though the Gorse Fox and Silver Vixen wouldn't bother going to see him again. Having said that, the Silver Vixen is glad she got the chance to see him.

The show finished just before 22:00 and we headed to the car. We had a good run and were home by 23:00.