Ashes To Ashes

We picked the ashes up from the Co-op's new premises in Oldham. They came in a cardboard box, in a shiny purple carrier bag. They were surprisingly heavy. You hear the word "ashes" and you think of wood ash which is light and fluffy. Human cremains are more like something you'd spread on an icy road. Ailz says our ashes weigh as much as our bodies weighed at birth. I'd heard that one before. I'd like it to be true but has anyone actually tested it?

There was a bottleneck at the cemetery gates. Cars coming. Cars going.  This place was laid out before there were cars. A guy in a kilt and highland bonnet was unpacking his gear from the back of a van. Later we heard the skirl of his pipes from another corner of the cemetery complex.

There are raised rose beds on three sides of the crematorium chapel; that's where the ashes go. Behind the beds-  beyond a walk-way of astroturf- is the wall where the imitation stone memorial plaques are displayed. An attendant put the ashes into a pot with a handle; The handle has a lever in it; you press the lever and the ashes come out the bottom. Ailz and Dot did the business. For future reference, the ashes are in bed #1. The sun was shining- a rare occurrence this summer. 

City Of Death

On the plus side: Tom Baker (though I find him a bit showy and self-regarding), Lalla Ward, the chemistry between them, her wardrobe, a script that occasionally glitters (something to do with Douglas Adams having a hand in it?) and a brief appearance by John Cleese and Eleanor Bron. 

On the minus side: lengthy sequences of the characters weaving their way through the streets of Paris (look at us, we're on our hols!), 
a silly looking monster, and one seriously disappointing dropped catch: we travel back in time to Leonardo's da Vinci's studio and never get to meet him.  This is the fourth story I've watched in succession (cruising round the continuum, dropping in on different Doctors) and the one I've been most tempted to fast-forward. Golden Age? I'm not convinced.

And now I think I fancy a little Peter Davison.