Riverside Writers met last night, and we had the pleasure of John Gorman ’s company as he had joined us to describe the proposed series of arts and literary events for the Wirral Writers Inc festival next year. Tim Hulme , (who’s stories have been featured on Radio Merseyside), and I had attended the inaugural meeting of Wirral Writers Inc. recently, and it was encouraging to see the enthusiastic reactions of Riverside Writers’ other members when they learned about how they could get involved. The most popular ideas proved to be the 15-20 minute monologues and dialogues, which will be written by writers local to Wirral, and then performed by professional actors on stage before an audience. There may well be a series of these performances, depending on the quantity of manuscripts and public response. To get things moving, Riverside Writers’ latest monthly writing project is to create a five-minute monologue on any subject. These will be read at our next meeting, on June 25th. Mea

The inaugural meeting of Wirral Writers Inc took place this morning, at the Masque Theatre in Birkenhead. The idea is to use this as a launch for what is intended to become an annual event, according to organiser John Gorman , who said he hopes to, “Raise the profile of Wirral through the arts.” There was a huge list of proposed events to coincide with Liverpool’s Capital of Culture in 2008. Musicals, monologues performed by actors before live audiences, poetry slams, an extensive Shakespeare Festival, art exhibitions, the first Wirral Young Poet Laureate competition, performances of classical and contemporary dance, new operas, new music of any genre, plays to be written and performed, ‘ghosts’ taking people on story tours of Wirral…. These are only proposals as yet. But it sounds rather exciting, don’t you think? And you don’t have to be living in Wirral to take part, either – though all events will be staged here, obviously. Interested?

Conversation between two toddlers, overheard when walking past with my dogs:- Boy: What are you doing? Girl: Going shopping. Boy: Can I come too? Girl: Ok. (Steps to one side and looks determinedly at the garden hedge.) Boy: What are you doing now? Girl: Now we’re at the mall and we’re going to buy baby girl clothes. Boy: ( Looks at the teddy in a toy pram and seems puzzled.) How do you know it’s a girl teddy? Girl: Because her name’s Susan.

On Monday, a party of us enjoyed a very good dinner at The Wheatsheaf in Neston. Richard and my mother had the Barbary duck, my sister Evelyn chose lasagne, and I had the chicken curry served with Basmati rice. Everyone enjoyed their meals, and the place itself is spacious, contemporary country in style. We’ve dined there before and have always been pleased. Just a few minutes along the narrow country lane is Ness Gardens . My mother had last been there when Eric was still in a pushchair, and Evelyn had never visited Ness before. They both thoroughly enjoyed the afternoon. The gardens offer so much contrast, from shady, hilly woodland glades to rambling meadows, to ponds and tidy flower beds, to jagged rockeries and glasshouses.   See photos of Ness Gardens here: http://hubpages.com/hub/Ness-Gardens