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Hello, Elle!
Just heading out.
Here is a bit about Nicola and the young ones.
She is their "Big Sister", apparently! https://www.eveningexpress.co.uk/news/scotland/nicola-benedetti-joins-320-young-musicians-on-stage/

Good morning Rusty!
Oops! It looks though I have already missed you........
I was late back from my walk.......and you have gone out to the Pine Cone earlier than usual!
It is another lovely day here.... bright blue sky and sunshine...chilly as yet, at 10C....... but there are promises of mid twenties by mid- afternoon.
Sounds good!
Your link about Jim Carter and the British Library made very interesting reading.
I really must pay the Library a visit one of these days!
I hope your family enjoys the trip to New York.
MoMA in Manhattan is well worth a visit!
And I wanted to go to the Guggenheim Museum, too, but didn't manage that.
I was amazed on visiting Bloomingdales - one of the very prestigious department stores - to see well groomed middle -aged ladies toting equally well-groomed (small) dogs around the shop on leads!
Owner and dog often wore matching outfits!
(They wouldn't have wanted my muddy mutt!)
FAO Schwarz (founded in 1862) is the oldest toy store in the United States!
Easily found, also in Manhattan, it is a "must" to visit.............
The "toys" within have to be seen to be believed!!
It is a child's paradise!
And a fascinating experience, too, for an adult!
Thank you for the article about Nicola...I shall read it in a minute when my coffee has brewed!
Enjoy your outing to the Pine Cone!

Hello, Elle!
Yes, we were out earlier today.
Miss O has tutoring to do, later, that was why.
Great day here!
I will watch Jim Carter shortly.
MoMA is on the the girls bucket list for New York.
And Annie Moore's statue at Ellis Island, and Statue of Liberty, and Ground Zero, and loads of other things, and they are booked to see a show called "The Lion KIng".
I suggested the Yankee Stadium, but that fell on deaf ears!
They are staying in Times Square.
It's a good article about Nicola.

Hi, Rusty!
I am glad you had a good time with Miss O!
The girls sound very well organised with their sight-seeing plans.
Getting about Manhattan is not difficult.....all streets are labelled in a "predictable" fashion, so it is easy to get from A to B.
Times Square is not a "square", though, but resembles a "bowtie"!
And there are trams (street cars!) which are handy... and the inevitable yellow cabs!
Getting the Subway is similar to the Tube in London ( although the Tube is far more efficiently planned... a lot cleaner........ and less like cattle pens!)
I believe the "The Lion King" is very good.
I think the musical is still on here at the Lyceum Theatre.
One of my cousins took her class at school to see it.
They came all the way up from Devon!
I think Nicola is an inspiration to the children.....
I wish my grandson - who is learning the violin - could meet her!

Hello, Elle!
Yes, Miss O and me had a fine time!
They have loads of info on New York!
Nicola is the real deal! She works a lot with the youngsters.
Just watched Jim Carter.
He is married to Imelda Staunton, the actress.
He comes across as a very nice friendly lad.
He chose to see, 1, original posters and books on the circus.
He can juggle, stilt walk, walk the tightrope etc, and do magic tricks.
2, The original sound recordings of Emperor Rosko on Radio Caroline.
3, Roman history in Britain and the manuscripts of Bede.
4, The drawings of kitchen gardens, and a visit to one.
5, Ancient anatomical models.
6, Ancient books on magic.
I really enjoyed it, and Jim was very pleasant company!

Hi, Rusty!
Yes, Jim sounds an interesting character.
I enjoyed reading about him, and hearing your report on the "Treasures" programme.
How, though, does one ride a bicycle on stilts?!
I don't know his wife, Imelda Staunton?
The name is familiar, but I cannot place her?
Am I likely to have seen her in any play/film/ programme?
The dog and I have just returned from a (short) walk....I needed to post a Wedding Anniversary card , so decided on a stroll past the pillar box!
We were out for about an hour...very warm indeed.... no jacket needed.

Hello, Elle!
Jim built a special tall bike so he could ride it with stilts.
Imelda Staunton is a well known actress on stage and screen.
She won a Best Actress award for "Vera Drake".
I rarely watch films so I would not know her.
It is a lovely day here, too.

Hi, Rusty!
Yes, I had read about Jim's having a specially high bike built, but I still cannot envisage how he could ride it with stilts?
Stilts are rigid and immovable.......how could he turn the wheels?
Obviously I am not picturing this correctly?
I too do not know of "Vera Drake".
I thought today's puzzle was a lot easier than yesterday's was..... thank goodness!
I especially liked 7d: airport, and 16a: eclectic
But re 18a, I wouldn't have called a "marine marker" a "life buoy"?
A "buoy", yes, but surely a "lifebuoy" is a device to save some one from drowning by keeping them afloat in water?
And not there to "mark the spot"?
What do you think?

Good evening, Elle!
There were photos of Jim on stilts, on his tall bike.
Stilts are rigid but his knees are not.
They were maybe special stilts for cycling?
I had heard of "Vera Drake".
Vera was an abortionist, but I don't know how the story unfolded, but it was popular.
I agree with you in that I can not see how a life buoy is a marine marker, yet the clue got past the crossword editor.
A mystery!
I am watching an American news channel report of Hurricane Michael making landfall in Florida.
It is scary!

Hi, Rusty!
Yes, the weather conditions throughout the world are becoming far scarier and a much greater threat to life in very many places, than they used to be.
And not only the weather is becoming a threat...but the violence on the streets.....the shootings and the knife crimes....it can be frightening here in London for the young people.
It is hard to envisage what life will be like for our grandchildren... or greatgrandchildren.... when they grow up.
It is a sorry state of affairs
.I am reading about crime in Sweden at the moment ...back a few years, and detective fiction... but grim.....
Suiting my mood of the moment.
I think I need a strong coffee.....