Yesterday was an all round good day. We went for a long walk down one of the many public footpaths… and actually met a woman who has lived in Namao and Edmonton; bit of a brassy American who has now settled in the same district as Andrew and Hayley. The husband is a bit eccentric, wearing a violent blue (and yes, I meant to use the word ‘violent’) ball cap with his gold engraved name tags from his previous American employers flopping all over it.

The girls rode their bikes, while we hoofed it, with the dogs running merrily through the countryside. We followed through the Sutton Green village to the canal (I’ve got some video of a small lock in operation with two canal barges working their way through if anyone is interested) and then back to the Olive Tree pub for a late lunch. During lunch we explained to the girls, in graphic detail, what I have been through, why the scars, and my current eating habits. I should point out that I am eating much better. There is a slight problem with swallowing, still, but for the most part my consumption of food is getting better every day. I’m going through a lot of milk at mealtimes…

Oh, and by the way, strawberry flavoured Ensure is vile. Well, at least the UK version is…

The early evening was an open air concert with Elton John and 15,000 of his devotees at Brooklyn’s… an old race car track that has been converted to an outdoor concert venue. Mercedes-Benz has a huge stake in it… and owns the naming rights. After abandoning the Range Rover in the car park, we walked for a kilometer onto the grounds where there was the obligatory rock ‘n roll concert fair set up. Concessions offered Wine, Champagne and PIMMS #1 by the pitcher, regular bar stock, Posh Burgers, ice cream, and there was even a Salmon and Oyster Bar. A disco dance floor was offered in a huge tent…

We met up with friends of Andrew and Hayley’s… and realized that Andy had arranged a block of tickets for them and us… lovely folks, all.

The average age of the concert goers had to be forty (40).

The concert was pretty much the same as the ‘Red Piano’ concert from his Las Vegas show… and I must say that the sound was absolutely brilliant! I heard everything! I didn’t notice any frequency drop out at all. Either my hearing is improving or it was so loud that I couldn’t NOT hear it all. I can still be snuck up on easily, however… I still can’t hear what I used to be able to, but I truly believe that it is getting better.

This evening Andrew will drive us as far as Birmingham where he will hand us off to Gail’s mother.