Send in the clown

The circus came to town. The clown is married to the trapeze artists but she's having an affair with the tightrope walker so when the safety net is damaged and she falls to her death suspicion immediately falls on the wronged husband.

I was sure I had read books along those lines or seen films or television dramas - Midsomer springs to mind as the most likely setting - but I can't actually recall any. Which is a long-winded way of saying, "I went to the circus yesterday."

I think the last time we went was with our children and it was disappointing but on the principle that everybody needs to go to the circus at least once in their lives, I took three of the grandchildren with me yesterday, after I'd checked that Zyair circus had good reviews.

The Big Top and wooden seating may be the same but today's circus is a lot flashier and noisier than the ones I remember. Good fun though. And I think the three grands enjoyed it if only for the popcorn and candy floss they insisted I buy them.

There was only one clown and he didn't have what I think of as traditional make-up. It seems lots of people are frightened of clowns but this one was harmless and mildly entertaining. Most of the show was acrobatics of one sort or another, either on the ground or in the air. The aerobatics made me squeak and grab the hand of the unlucky grandson sitting next to me, and there was a very impressive motorbike display as the finale. All the acts were good though. Young, fit and healthy. And strong. 

* * * * * *

I asked Husband, "What's the difference between mushrooms and toadstools?"
He frowned. "I think mushrooms are edible."
"No, it can't be that," I said. "You get poisonous mushrooms too."

Needless to say I was wrong. According to BBC Gardener's World, "There's no biological or scientific difference between a toadstool and a mushroom." However "mushroom is more often used to define fungi that are edible."

So now I know.

Yet another thing I got wrong.

If some said to you, "Can we take a rain check?" what would you understand it to mean?

I was supposed to be going out to lunch on Monday with a friend for her birthday but on Saturday she messaged to say she'd had a tummy bug and could we take a rain check. I said yes of course, and then spent the weekend waiting for her to confirm or postpone the lunch. It wasn't until we arrived at Sunday evening and I'd not heard anything from her that it occurred to me that I might have misunderstood. I asked a couple of people what they understood by the term and both said, "Postpone an event."
"Not, wait and see if it's raining/how I feel?"
"No."

Just to be sure I messaged the friend and asked. Sure enough she meant postpone. 

* * * * * * 

In future if I have a big date (going to a funeral or something) I'm going to ask GrandDaughter2 what I should wear. A couple of days ago she said to me, "I like that jumper. It suits you better than dark colours."

For goodness sake, at her age I still thought purple and orange went well together.