A Nice November For Once

In recent years, November has ranked as one of the worst months in each year due to a history of woes rather than positives. This time around despite not being perfect for obvious reasons heading into it, November was actually a decent month overall with a total of six goals achieved.

Sport

For only the second month in the year, Rugby League was a minor feature with the England RL team sealing a 2-1 Test series win over New Zealand. Personally, there was the annual renewal of my Wigan Season Ticket which for the first time was a gift as my parents funded it for Christmas due to my current financial situation but was still a goal on the 26th.

Skelmersdale United had their best month of the season so far with just a single defeat across five games of which I attended all but the first of the run. The aforementioned game was the FA Trophy 1st Qual replay which Skem won 1-0 away to Hyde United but following it was an attendance to forget as a weakened Skem side were trounced 6-1 in the Doodson Cup by Northwich Victoria on a cold Tuesday evening.

After that, Skem performed superbly with a 4-2 win in the FA Trophy 2nd qual over Lincoln United before a stunning 2-1 win over high-flying Blyth Spartans in the League and they ended the month with a trip to National League North side Chorley FC. Skem secured a 0-0 drawn against the odds and the game served as two completed goals for me on the 28th in the form of my first Skem away game and my 25th attendance of the year.

Liverpool's luck was fairly similar as they claimed four wins from five games as the Jurgen Klopp effect continued its success starting with a 1-0 win away to Rubin Kazan in the Europa League but it was followed by his first defeat as manager with Crystal Palace winning 2-1 at Anfield. However, the Reds bounced back in style as they stormed to a 4-1 win away to Manchester City and backed it up with a 2-1 win at home to Bordeaux which sealed their place in the Europa League last 32. The month ended with a slim 1-0 win over Swansea as the Reds closed up on the top four.

So a great month for my domestic football teams and that joy continued over to my NFL team as Washington ended the month atop the NFC East division after two wins from four games.  The month started with a 27-10 loss to the unbeaten New England Patriots before a stunning 47-14 demolition of the New Orleans Saints. Another undefeated side awaited in the next game in the form of the Carolina Panthers who went to 11-0 with a 44-16 win but the Redskins bounced back against division rivals New York Giants with a 20-14 win which was a pleasure to watch and put them at 5-6.

Leisure

On the video front, Out and About reached week 45 while there is a plan for individual features on any Skem attendances until the end of the year to compensate for the lack of RL coverage now the season is over. In terms of views the channel reached 48,500 meaning that the all-time goal of 50,000 should be achieved before the end of the year.

The stay on Universal Credit continues but I am at least in some form of work as I began volunteering at my local British Heart Foundation Furniture and Electrical store for 12 hours a week across Monday and Tuesday which includes eBay services and telephone services and after three weeks (six days), I have fitted in well and become a valued part of the team. The chance to gain experience is good but ending November still without paid work simply means that Christmas will not be 'celebrated' this year and I will end 2015 a long way from being financially secure.

Gaming 

After a record breaking October, November saw a good month but pale in comparison to its predecessor.

The highlight of the month was having a good split between the current and last generations with the latter helped by the solitary completion of the month in the Xbox 360 version of Costume Quest 2.

The overall total came to 131 with the split being 79 (X1) and 52 (X360/Win) and was coupled with a good haul of 6,317 TA which was split at 3,262 (X1) and 3,055 (X360/Win)

A good total of 4,336 G was significant as it led to three goals but firstly the split which was 2,739 (X1) and 1,897 (X360/Win). The ultimate of the trio of goals was finally reaching 150,000 G which came on the 11th as did achieving 50,000 on the Xbox One itself but the third goal came a day later as the dream split between the generations was dented by a time based achievement but all the same the goal of 100,000 across the Xbox 360 and Windows 8/10 platforms was reached successfully.

What's Next?

As this post is being written a few days into this December, only the monthly Riversiders meeting has taken place along with the FA Trophy replay against Chorley and as they clashed only the latter was attended but more on that in the next post. At the time of writing the home game against Whitby Town had been postponed.

• At present, only two home games for Skem against Ashton United (19th) and Marine (28th) are confirmed.

Some other events may just pop up but only time will tell in the next post.

Photo/Video Highlights

October Scoops Best Month!

A smaller delay in summarising compared to recent months but a delay all the same as October becomes a focus for half an hour or so before returning to present day November in a sort of Back to the Future trip. October certainly broke the mould in terms of successful goals with a new record of nine completed.

Sport

Rugby league's dominance across the year came to complete halt with the final two games of the year for me being the home play-off semi final against Huddersfield Giants which Wigan won 32-8 and saw the goal of attending all home games reached before an achingly close Super League Grand Final against Leeds Rhinos which Wigan lost 22-20. So two Old Trafford defeats in a row sadly but an achieved goal to attend the event itself on the 10th.

As I have two Football strands, I'll start each one with Skelmersdale United due to attendances being included and October saw three with the trio featuring mixed results but more on that in a bit. The month itself began with a 0-0 draw away at Rushall Olympic followed by a 4-3 penalty win (0-0) away to Marine in the Liverpool Senior Cup.The first home game saw a 1-1 draw against Frickley Athletic but being in Manchester at the SLGF meant a rare non-attendance. 

My first visit of the month saw a seven goal thriller against Colwyn Bay see Skem lose 4-3 with a 2-2 draw away at Grantham ahead of my second visit which saw a rare home win with a 2-1 success against Buxton.Away woes saw 2-1 losses at Halesowen Town and Workington with the month ending with my third visit to Stormy Corner for the FA Trophy qualifier against Hyde United. The game saw a cracking injury time leveller from Skem defender Tony Rendell secure a 3-3 draw in a game which was my 20th this year to set up a replay in November (Skem advanced to next stage but result will come in next month's post.)

Liverpool's luck was far from better as 1-1 draws against Sion in the Europa League and Everton in the Merseyside derby were followed days later by the sacking of Brendan Rodgers who was not a favourite of mine aside from the joy of the title challenging season but a shock to see him go all the same. The new era saw fan favourite Jurgen Klopp take charge and steer the team to a 0-0 draw away to Tottenham on debut followed by 1-1's against Rubin Kazan (EL) and Southampton but the month ended superbly with a 1-0 win against Bournemouth in the League cup and a majestic 3-1 win away to Chelsea on the 31st!

So a mixed month for my football teams but with the RL ending, it is nice that the NFL season is in full swing and my hopes continued with Washington Redskins who secured two wins from four games across the month. A narrow 23-20 win over Philadelphia Eagles opened October before consecutive losses saw a 25-19 loss to Atlanta Falcons followed by the 34-20 woe against New York Jets but alike my other sides, they saved the highlight until the last game of the month. As they came from 24-0 down to win 31-30 against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Leisure

On the video front, Super 8s Stories continued with the Huddersfield and Grand Final editions with a total of 541 views across the series while the 'Out and About' Series reached 41 with some featuring just one event due to my lack of trips at present but the view total as a whole is just over 3700.Two goals came on the video front with 40,000 views reached as well as 175 total uploads.

The stay on Universal Credit lasted to a first payment as the job hunt is becoming a case of researching and applying but getting no replies full stop which is just depressing but continuing is a definitive must. The despair of being basically a failure since the original sign on of seven years ago is hard to shift given the lack of ambition and general motivation I have at present.

Gaming

After a good month in September, October went more than just a little better as the title of 'Best Month Ever' was claimed in stunning style.

The highlight of the month was the day of 100 achievements which saw my 'Best Day Ever' from March smashed with 52 more unlocks as well as a total of 2000 G and around 2300 TA and saw the goal of 7500 achievements reached.

The overall total though was one that I believe will never be beaten with a first ever 250 reached in 252 unlocks with a split of 159 (XOne) and a rare high of 93 for the X360/Win8/10). A staggering 8271 TA after gains/losses also included the goal success of 225,000 TA reached early in the month.

A huge haul of 5495 G saw a split of 4290 on the Xbox One and 1205 on the Xbox 360/Windows 8-10 platforms which like the unlocks is a rare high for the last gen services. The haul of gamerscore saw the year's goal of hitting 146,919 reached on the 28th meaning as well as being best for TA, 2015 will be best for G with the unlocks the only one left to complete the set. The other goal in terms of gaming was one which has taken a while in the form of reaching 40% game completion overall which came on the 23rd.

What's Next?

As this post is being written a few days into this month itself, only the monthly Riversiders meeting has taken place so the rest of the planned events are yet to attend.

• Home games for Skem are plentiful with Ilkeston (Today 7th), Northwich Victoria (10th), Lincoln United (FAT 2Q 14th), Blyth Spartans (21st) and a potential 25th game of the year in FAT Q3 (29th) if advanced but if not will come in a special day for me in early December.

Some other events may just pop up but only time will tell in the next post.

Photo/Video Highlights

So Long Summer As Autumn Arrives

A hugely delayed September summary comes over halfway into October after a busy few weeks was coupled with a lack of motivation to write. The pursuit of goals has continued gradually with just two successes across the month.

Sport

Rugby league continued to dominate the schedule and saw a total of seven attendances across the month with four senior and three academy. Super League 8s action began with the 'On the Road' trip to Millwall with Wigan strolling past Catalans (42-16) before a return to the DW saw Hull defeated (30-24). After setting a target of reaching 15 away wins overall, the hope had to continue into the next month after a defeat away at St Helens (18-14) but the month did end on a high with a home win against Castleford (47-12) which ensured second spot behind a last-gasp Leeds LLS triumph.

The academy trilogy began with a narrow home win against Castleford 19s (22-20) to end the 8s campaign followed by a superb victory in the play-off semi against Warrington 19s (46-16) but the best was yet to come as Wigan retained their title with a 22-10 Grand Final win at the DW against St Helens to round off a near perfect season.

The new football season got into full swing but sadly Liverpool didn't as they came away from the month with just two wins in five games, a 3-1 defeat away to Manchester United opened September before 1-1 draws away to Bordeaux and at home to Norwich dampened the charge. However, the month did end on a high with a 3-2 win over Aston Villa which came after a lacklustre 1-1 draw with Carlisle United in the Capital One Cup which saw Liverpool narrowly advance on penalties.

As Liverpool stuttered, sadly so did Skelmersdale United with just two successes across the month,one of which came in my three visits to Stormy Corner. They began the month with a 3-2 win over Matlock but I was unable to see it as it clashed with the Wigan trip to London but sadly fell to defeats away to Mickleover (2-1) and Ashton United (5-0) which sandwiched my first attendance to SC which saw a 2-1 FA Cup win over Glossop North End and saw the goal of 15 games attended in 2015 achieved. My other visits to Stormy Corner were not as good though with Sutton Coldfield winning 2-1 and Darlington salvaging a 1-1 draw on consecutive Tuesday nights.

So a good month in terms of rugby league but more of the opposite for my football teams, though soon enough my fourth team re-entered the focus as the new NFL season began. Washington Redskins opened with a 17-10 loss to Miami Dolphins before getting their first win in week two with a 24-10 victory over St Louis Rams. The joy was dented by a 32-21 loss to New York Giants meaning a 1-2 record in the first month of the campaign.

Leisure

On the video front, Super 8s Stories continued with St Helens while the 'Out and About' Series reached 37 weeks and both meant continued progress towards the next view count goal with 40,000 just on the horizon as the month came to an end.

As has been mentioned on and off, over the last year or so is my job hunt while continuing to freelance for SARL but as September began, my financial situation reached breaking point. This led to 'signing on' for the first time since 2008 when I did so after leaving University with a degree but with no money at all. This time around it was to 'Universal Credit' which will help me survive and hopefully boost my chances of a job outside of the horrors of order picking.

The worst part of it is that any ambition and motivation that I had just evaporated as signing on after a seven year gap, basically makes me a failure as a person both career wise and life wise, seven years ago going into what was originally a stop/go at ASDA sees me now hitting rock bottom.

Gaming

After a mixed month in August, September continued the trend with just 125 unlocks meaning October needs to be amazing to keep on track for a 'Best Ever Year'. 

The split saw a huge advantage on the Xbox One with 118 unlocks while the Windows/Xbox 360 platforms saw just seven unlocks.

The next TA goal of 225,000 is making good progress with the goal of 221,855 reached on the 18th which ensures this year tops 2014 as highest TA haul overall which was boosted by 4,375 across September itself.

What's Next?

As this post is being written midway through October, the first point will highlight events which have already been attended in the month followed by those which are still upcoming...

• A Super League play-off at home to Huddersfield and my sixth trip to the Grand Final as Wigan faced Leeds came with mixed success which will be detailed in the Oct post as will the Skem home game against Colwyn Bay.

•  Upcoming is the trip to Stormy Corner on Tuesday 20th as Buxton FC visit as well as my fortnightly appointment with my work coach at the Job Centre next week.

• Some other events may just pop up but only time will tell in the next post.

A few photo highlights of the month can be seen below....

 

 

Busy Summer Continues

After a strange few months in terms of blogging, only a small delay in this month's edition so the summary of August is still fresh in the mind. The pursuit of goals has continued gradually with just two successes across the month.

Sport

Rugby league's recent domination was cut with the fully fledged return of the football season which was a welcome addition to the calendar. Rugby wise, I attended four game in the form of three senior matches and a single Academy game. Super League action saw an opening Super 8s win at home to Huddersfield (30-22) before an away defeat to Leeds (25-18) but the away form picked up with a win at Warrington (0-28).

The Academy fixture saw a huge home win against Hull FC (50-16) and due to a clash with the Warrington trip, I missed out on a superb away Academy win at St Helens (16-23) as Wigan sealed top spot. After a trio of goals in the previous month, another came on the rugby list as I attended by 150th Wigan game as an ST holder which sadly wasn't a great night as it came in the defeat at Leeds.

The return of football saw Liverpool end their pre-season campaign with wins over HJK Helsinki and Swindon Town ahead of a perfect start to the league season with an away win at Stoke before a home win over Bournemouth. However, the month ended with a draw at Arsenal before a hammering at home to West Ham.

Attendance wise, I took in five Skem games across the month with good success, a 1-1 draw against AFC Fylde and 4-2 win over Airbus UK Broughton ended pre-season before a 2-0 win over Workington started the home league campaign in style with a 1-0 win over Halesowen and 2-1 defeat to Stourbridge rounding off the month. Away form saw Skem start with a opening league 3-1 win at Ilkeston before a 2-1 loss at Buxton and 2-2 draw at Marine.

Leisure

After the success of 'Away Days', my next RL feature began with the first two episodes of 'Super 8s Stories' with a mixed start views and comment wise. The 'Out and About' series has continued well and has been a huge factor in my next goal being reached in the shape of 35,000 views on the 29th.

Gaming

After reaching a record haul of unlocks last month, August saw a slight slow down with just 126.


The split saw the Xbox One dominate with 118 and just eight across the Xbox 360 and Windows platforms.

The next TA goal of 225,000 is making good progress with just under 5000 to go meaning the goal should be completed within two months,

What's Next?

As with August, September has some clashes but all possible events have been confirmed so far...

• Super League wise, the Super 8's continue with Wigan's 'On the Road' game in London vs Catalans (Tomorrow) followed by a home game v Hull FC (11th), away trip to St Helens (18th) and home finisher against Castleford (25th).
•  Academy wise, a home game vs Castleford has already gone on the second with a potential play-offs game yet to be announced at present.
• Two visits to Stormy Corner are on the cards with Sutton (22nd) and Darlington (29th).
• Some other events may just pop up but only time will tell in the next post.

A few photo highlights of the month can be seen below....

Summer In Full Flow

After a strange few months in terms of blogging, only a small delay in this month's edition so the summary of July is still fresh in the mind as the first full month of the second half of the year. The pursuit of goals has stepped up massively with five successes across the month.

Sport

Rugby league continued to dominate the schedule but late in the month the was a welcoming return of the football to the calendar. Rugby wise, I attended six games with four senior matches and to Academy outings. Super League action saw a defeat away to Warrington (17-6) followed by back-to-back home wins against Leeds (26-24) and Widnes (20-10) before the final away trip of the regular season which saw a success at Hull FC (48-12).

In a month where the Academy played five times, my two outings were both to Orrell at either ends of the month for a famous win over St Helens (38-22) and a huge win over Hull KR (68-0) with the latter coming on a superb Fan Day for the club. A packed month on the rugby stage saw three goals accomplished in the form of attending 40 games this year which came against the St Helens Academy before my 100th regular season attendance which came against Widnes and the 100th win as a ST holder which was the Hull FC triumph.

The return of football saw Liverpool secure three wins and a draw on their pre-season tour to Thailand, Malaysia and Australia but in therms of attendance, it was great to be back at Stormy Corner to watch my home-town team - Skelmersdale United for the first time since the end of last season. The game saw the visit of lower league side 1874 Northwich and saw the hosts secure a 4-3 win ahead of what should be a better year than the last.

Leisure

After originally being a random idea, 'Simon's Away Days' has flourished with a total of  3421 views which is good for a channel with a small audience and has seen all UK SL grounds visited with the overall exception being Catalans in France but that will always be on the dream list for the future.

The other idea for the year was my 'Out and About' series which has seen 3388 views across 29 editions and the success of both series has seen my channel reach 62 subscribers and a view count of 31,924 (at the time of writing) which of course means my goal of 30,000 views was accomplished and this took place on the 24th of the month.

The plan for my Away Days continuance has the potential for five specials this year with the three Super 8's trips to Leeds, Warrington and St Helens accompanied by the 'On the Road' game in London against Catalans and a potential visit to Old Trafford for the SL Grand Final.

Gaming

After reaching a record haul of 220 unlocks back in December, July saw the record smashed in a stunning month which saw a total of 235 achievements.

The record breaking amount saw the biggest split since the origin of Xbox One with 206 on the One and just 29 across the Xbox 360 and Windows platforms including the newly released Windows 10.

The next TA goal of 225,000 is making good progress with just under 7000 accrued this month meaning the goal should be completed within two months,

After reaching the goal of 50 game completions in June, the next step is 75 with the overall completion rate of 40% edging closer. Two games were completed in July and in consecutive days as Max-The Curse of Brotherhood and Lego Batman 3 increased the Xbox One success on the 18th and 19th.

The continuance of the Achievement chase of course relies on my Xbox Live subscription which each year sees the renewal listed as a goal so my fifth completion in this summary is that very renewal which came on the fifth of the month. The purchase means my eighth year as an Xbox gamer and for the second year in a row was purchased with a huge discount meaning I have had two years for the price of one.

What's Next?

 After hinting of clashes in July, August has just one and all possible events have been confirmed  with the exception of  ticketed events (*) as follows..

• Super League wise, the Super 8's begin with a home tie against Huddersfield (6th) followed by trips to Leeds (14th) and Warrington (21st*).
•  Academy wise, home games against Castleford (8th) and Hull FC (15th) will be followed by my fifth visit to Langtree Park this year for the game against St Helens (22nd).
• Three visits to Stormy Corner are on the cards with Workington (18th) followed by a quick dash from St Helens for Halesowen (22nd) and ending with Stourbridge (29th).
• Some other events may just pop up but only time will tell in the next post.

A few photo highlights of the month can be seen below....

Halfway to 2016

After a strange few months in terms of blogging, the tradition of a delayed monthly summary ends as I have caught up all backlogs meaning an instant summary of June in what is officially the second half of 2015. The pursuit to complete yearly goals saw a great month with four successes which feature across the upcoming summary.

Sport

Rugby league was my sole sport of the month and saw five attendances with two Academy games and three in Super League. Super League action saw an away trip to Huddersfield early in the month which saw a comfortable Wigan win was followed by short trip to St Helens which sadly saw a loss meaning in four visits to Langtree Park this year, I have yet to see a Wigan win. The third game saw the long awaited return to the DW stadium feature a closely fought win over Salford.

The Academy double saw home games against Warrington and Leeds U19s which saw the Young Warriors demolish the Wolves with 72 points  before a well earned win over the Rhinos last week to continue their perfect home record

Leisure

The  success of  'Simon's Away Days' has seen nearly every SL ground featured this year with the only miss so far being Catalans due to being too costly for me to attend but UK wise there are just two more left to complete a full season so plans for where the feature goes will take some thought.

The success of the feature coupled with the continuing run of 'Out and About', has resulted in my channel surpassing 50 subscribers and alike the previous month, smashing two goals in terms of view count. 20,000 views were achieved by the third of the month with a further 5000 for 25,000 reached inside three weeks as it came on the 22nd. The next goal of 30,000 could be broken within the next month with a new special goal of 50,000 in place ahead of the channel's two year anniversary in December.

Another goal in the Leisure section came on the 29th of the month as I finally reached three million Nike+ Fuel which has taken longer than the previous two millions due to a lack of exercise compared to previous years.

Gaming

The month saw a return to the run of 100+ unlocks after May's failure with a total of 122 overall with a close split between the main platforms.

The next TA goal of 225,000 is making good progress with over 5,000 collected this month which made up for the decline

The all-time goal of 50 game completions on the ninth of the month and in style as I set up an assault on a favourite of mine in Sega Mega Drive Ulimate Collection. The collection was a great fit for the goal as it contained many memories from my early years of gaming such as Sonic, Streets of Rage and Golden Axe Warrior.

Reflection

Around this point in last month's post, I mentioned about a final goodbye to my Nan which came in the 27th and was a solemn but happy occasion as she was given the farewell she always wanted in Liverpool.

What's Next?

 At the time of writing, there are a fair number of potential events based on my regular trips so some below may clash and not be attended....

• Super League wise, away in Warrington later tonight (2nd) with home games against Leeds (9th) and Widnes (17th) with the final SL game away to Hull (23rd) currently a maybe.
• Academy wise, home derby against St Helens (4th) and the Wigan Fan Day combines with the visit of Hull KR (25th) Away trip to Warrington was an option if solo but as coupled with Wire v StH SL game not risking it.
• A chance of football with a pre-season game at Skem United vs Northwich (28th)
• Some other events may just pop up but only time will tell in next post.

A few photo highlights of the month can be seen below....

Goodbye Spring Hello Summer

In what seems to be becoming a strange tradition, the monthly summary suffered a delay but anyway here is May's post. The pursuit to complete yearly goals saw a best ever month with five successes which feature across the upcoming summary.

Sport

After just a single Anfield attendance in April, the final month of the season saw a double as I attended the narrow win over QPR followed by Steven Gerrard's farewell in a sad loss against Crystal Palace. The other two games of the month saw a draw away at Chelsea and a humiliating final day defeat at Stoke to cap off a mixed season for the Reds.

In terms of Rugby League, I attended eight games across the month featuring five in Super League, one Scholarship and one Academy game. Super League action saw home wins against Hull KR and Castleford before the Magic Weekend spectacular in Newcastle which I visited on the first day which saw Salford/Widnes, HullFC/HullKR and the finale of Leeds v Wigan with the Warriors securing a victory.

However, the senior team did suffer one loss as the Challenge Cup tie against Hull KR was played at Leigh rather than the DW and saw Wigan exit in the sixth round meaning no Wembley appearance this year. The Scholarship side eased to a win over Cumbria Academy while the Academy side ended their regular season in second place behind St Helens via points difference after a victory in the re-arranged game against Wakefield.


The  success of  'Simon's Away Days' and the continuing run of 'Out and About', has reached the goal of 20 weeks worth of content and the rise of subscribers has surpassed 40 after a huge rise in traffic can be attributed to the breaking of my all-time view record of 2000 on a single video as my two-part feature on BGT star Henry Gallagher saw both reach 4000. Such success meant my view goals were easily reached with the 10,000 (12th) and 15,000 (28th) both completed with the next goal becoming 20,000.

Gaming

The month sadly saw the end of the 100+ unlock run with a total of just 95 while no games were completed for the first month in 2015.

The goal of 200,000 TA points was a success though in being reached o the 20th and it came despite a 2129 point drop from April's huge rise on the 360.

The all-time goal of 50 game completions is just two away and plans are in progress for a special game to be the hallowed 50th but more will be revealed in the June post.




Finally, many readers will hopefully have seen the special tribute to my nan who sadly passed away last month and hopefully a final goodbye to a great woman will come when we scatter her ashes in Liverpool just as she had always wanted.

As with last month, there have been a few events in June at the time of writing but there are a still a fair amount to look forward to as follows...

• Rugby wise, an away trip to St Helens followed by a home game against Salford
• An Academy home double as Warrington and Leeds visit Orrell

A few photo highlights of the month can be seen below....

Nan - Always In Our Hearts

Traditionally, saying farewell to a loved one is a sad occasion but after saying a final goodbye to my Nan today, I feel happy she is finally at peace. Seeing her laid to rest brought a smile inside rather than tears as though it sounds strange, I said goodbye to the Nan I knew and loved long ago.

Until I saw her lying peacefully and relived of pain two days ago, my most recent memory of Nan is one which had haunted me but no more. A few years ago, although I was aware he was ill, knew little of just how much it would affect her. However this hit home one sad day when returning from a walk to the shop.

As I turned onto our road, I spotted what I thought was Nan going to our house but she went past it and knocked a few doors down. I assumed from the back, it wasn't her and rather than shout and be embarrassed if proved true, I continued home. However, as I reached the door, I heard a voice and instantly knew it was her as she said "I'm looking for my daughter Carol's house" to which I replied "It's here, Nan, It's me Simon." it sounds weird that I told her who I was but after saying Nan she seemed puzzled.

She said “Yes, Simon is Carol's son, is he in?" At this point, I was struggling to hold back the tears and simply said "not at the moment, but I'll get Carol to ring you when their home." Happy with the reply she said she was going home and in my upsetting state, allowed her to for fear of her reacting if I followed her to make sure she got home safe.

Back home, first thing I did was ring mum and mention Nan had popped round looking puzzled and didn't know who I was. It was then that she told me Nan was suffering with Dementia. In that very moment for me my Nan had gone forever. However, my lasting thoughts of nan will be happy ones after growing up knowing she was always there to talk to and at many times have a good laugh with as such the remainder of this tribute I dedicate to a number of highlights from the joy I shared with her.

Out and About- when thinking of trips with Nan and grandad, three words come to mind, St Helens, Tuebrook and Kirkby. All three bring great memories of bargain markets and exotic odours of meat and fish. St. Helens stands out in the form of a little café in the back streets featuring chips and mushy peas which we visited very often and the famous NSS newsagents which they both joked was the home of Christmas presents.

Extended Visits- one of the joys at a young age when visiting nan and grandad was the weekends staying over with the recent stays after grandad's passing throwing up come classic memories with nan. A notable one was a weekend I stayed over which saw us take part in a Monopoly game which spanned both mornings and evenings and after so long we decided to call it a fair draw.

Gardening- a big part of Nan's life after grandad passed was the upkeep of a very busy garden but my most memorable thought of those days in the garden came when I came close to killing both me and Nan while mowing the lawn. We were chatting and all of a sudden the lead from the mower became caught and sliced under the blades which cut the power and gave me a bit of a shock but luckily Nan moved quickly away from the plug outlet to prevent a fatal accident.

I could go on with more and more memories but the highlights above make me smile enough to feel I have done my best to give a glowing tribute to a great Nan and a wonderful person who graced so many lives and will continue to do long after her passing.

                                                               Rest In Peace Nan

                                                            Always In Our Hearts