Slight changes to the routine…

Ottawacker Jr. had no U13 game today, so I actually slept in, which was most welcome, only getting up to wave farewell to Mrs. Ottawacker and Ottawacker Jr., who had decided to go skating on the canal and thus make a token effort at attending Winterlude, the annual snow festival for Ottawans and Ottawackers.
 
While they were out, I tidied the kitchen, which had apparently been the target of some sort of localised military explosion, and then settled down to watch Liverpool play at Plymouth Argyle in the FA Cup. Liverpool are top of the Premier League and top of the Champions League: Plymouth are last in the Championship, the tier below the Premier League. Part of the beauty and the cliché of football is that, on any given day, any team can beat any other team. And so it proved today, as Plymouth not only won, they deservedly won. Admittedly, Liverpool had a bunch of kids playing (and Tsimikas, who when he is not playing well, morphs into possibly the worst footballer I have ever seen), but they really never looked like scoring. Plymouth, as is often the case in the cup, played above their usual levels – and were reasonably comfortable winners. Well done to them. That’s the Magic of the Cup.TM
 
In the afternoon, it was back out to Blackburn Hamlet for Ottawacker Jr.’s goalkeeping practice. Then back home where I cooked a roast chicken and fingerling potatoes for dinner. Football aside, not a bad day.