Citeh's Big Night

From iphone2010

I've started going to see City again this season because the Blues have enjoyed a long League Cup run, which in turn meant midweek fixtures that fit with visits to my nonagerian dad. As a treat a good mate fixed me with a ticket for Citeh v Manyoo in the first leg of the semi final.
In the moments before the game began the lights were turned off in the enormous City of Manchester stadium and the forty six thousand strong crowd went collectively bonkers. An enormous projected blue moon appeared on the Main Stand and the United fans lit enormous red fireworks. This was so much more than a game to the people in that ground - a massively significant fixture as the blue half of Manchester met the red half on equal sporting terms for the first time in many years - and at stake a trip to Wembley which would bring to an end City's exile from football's top table.

And I don't think I've ever seen a more exciting match although City's performance lacked finishing (with the glorious exception of Carlos Tevez). The final ten minutes as the home side clung on to a 2-1 lead against the massive efforts of Rooney and Owen was the most nervous time I've ever spent at a sporting occasion. I don't think I'll ever forget it, and I doubt anyone else there will either. The problem is City has to go to Old Trafford next week, which may end significantly differently.

Family Ties

From Shropshire240508

I never really got to know the rest of my family beyond my parents. My Dad was in his forties when they got me from an adoption agency and my mum was in her late thirties. We were a self sufficient unit. I got the feeling my Dad's folks were from Cumbria - we'd see my two uncles Joe and Jim from time to time - and my mum had a brother who came round with his kids occasionally. All my Grandparents were gone by the time I was any age at all really.

Recently though my Dad has started talking about our relatives so I got busy on the PC today and subscribed to one or two of these ancestry sites that market the old census lists. Some of them even have online access to the death certificates. I found my mum pretty much effortlessly, which was as sad as you'd expect.

My Dad's side was interesting (but I admit I'm biased). It seems he comes from a long line of Cumbrian farmers which I traced back to 1840. His ancestors had loads of kids and I'd bet they led pretty hard lives, although at least they were out in the fresh air and not down a pit or something. Their farms are still there and I gazed down at them on Google Maps. I reckon I might drive up there at some point when the weather improves. I can see how people get hooked on this.