Outside gym

It was a fine autumn day so James and I went to the west end and had a walk in the Botanic Gardens. I thoroughly enjoyed it (it was my idea) but James was disgruntled because he had wanted to go for a bigger walk; he then developed a headache and when we got home he took to his bed for the afternoon.
Anyway the autumn colours of the trees were beautiful and when we walked down to the river a little grey squirrel came running right up to us, begging on its hind legs for something to eat! It was very sweet but unfortunately we had nothing to give it. As we continued along the river I saw something that I thought at first was a play park but upon closer scrutiny was a gorgeous little outside gym. I tried out some of the sturdy equipment and it all works well; I wasn't working too hard because I had a cup of coffee in one hand! James says that these outdoor gyms are all the rage; there is one in the park opposite his work now. I love the idea!
When we came to the Kibble Palace we went in for a stroll round only to find a Woodwind group preforming a mix of classical music for charity. It was lovely music. We headed home via Waitrose where I got some globe artichokes - I have such good memories of eating these in France in the 1980s - which we will have tomorrow night. By this time James (not a fan of shopping at the best of times!) was like a dying swan so I couldn't linger long!
Update at 11 p.m. - we have just had a really good evening with Grandma at "The Magic Flute" at the Theatre Royal. First we went for a pre-theatre meal at the Piping Centre which was excellent. The opera was very good apart from some boring Masonic-type rituals in the second half, and the singers were all great especially Mari Moriya who played the Queen of the Night. James was feeling better and we all enjoyed it very much.