Sanders Blog

Sunday, 12th May, 2024

When am I going to get rid of this bloody Covid? I know I am rather immuno-compromised since radiotherapy but it’s starting to get me down. For the 9th consecutive day, I have tested strongly positive for Covid whereas my wife, who is obviously a much more resilient character is now clear. I do still feel under the weather – rasping cough, runny nose, tired all the time with aching limbs. At least I’m forcing myself to complete my Gym routine each day and only missed two days at the start of the infection.

Went to bed at 9.30 pm last night. It is unheard of but I was feeling exhausted. I slept as well. The temperature didn’t fall below 17C/63F last night and I slept on top of the bedclothes with the window open. During the day, the garden has reached a lovely 26C/79F.

When we woke, Pauline had been in a dream about a Gite in the Dordogne where we stayed for a month one July. But which July? Quite astonishing how time fades away in the memory …. but not with a Blog. First thing after Breakfast I was able to pinpoint a month driving around France & Italy in July 2017.

In July 2018, we rented a Gite in Saint-Sauveur, a quaint village outside Bergerac. When we got there, we found the girl who owned it was from Warrington and had worked in Oldham for years.

The weather was glorious throughout our month’s stay, we got to travel around and visit lots of local markets, visited my cousin who had a Gite business not far away and do lots of walking. Happy times before Covid.

Today, in spite of being terribly ill, Dear Reader, I am being roped into cleaning the stone lintels of our windows which have become rather stained over the last 8 years. Having seen how the magic potion can so successfully clean the patio, my Housekeeper has decided to use it on stone lintels prior to cleaning all the white windows and doors. Unfortunately, I am the only one stupid enough to go up a ladder and the only one who can reached the difficult bits. I’m going to have that as my epitaph, Dear Reader: He was the only one able to reach the difficult bits! Could be worse, I suppose.

Monday, 13th May, 2024

Suddenly garden time has arrived … about a week later than last year. I maintain the public lawns and beds of our street. I try to keep everything lush, green and striped and then plant out bright, repeating colours in the flower beds. I grow plants from seed and then buy some from local Nurseries. My own sowings will need another couple of weeks before they go out.

Today, I’ve bought huge batches of Marigolds and Osteospurmums. They are brightly coloured, hardy and flower all Summer with the minimum of attention.

I have used these plants for years and only learnt today that they are from the same genus – Calendula. These warm, bright colours will echo each other along each side of our street and give it a ‘corporate’ look.

It is just a month until we fly to Thessaloniki but I am so pleased to avoid this cattle market of the past. Over the decades, the hot, sweaty nights we have queued in Greek airports to Check-in while trying to guess which Gates it will go from only to find them switched at the last minute. Easyjet contacted me today to say I could Check-in online. We have Speedy Boarding with 1 x large carry-on cabin bag + 1 x small carry-on cabin bag each which is plenty for us. We just go straight through Security and down to our Executive Lounge before boarding. The whole process is relaxing. Boarding Passes are printed out. Life is comparatively so straightforward these days.

No sooner had I written that than I turned to the first story on the Daily Telegraph where all my confidence was punctured immediately. I don’t think that will affect June but we are using them again in August. Let’s hope they have settled by then.

Tuesday, 14th May, 2024

I’m still testing positive for Covid after two weeks. All Kissing is still banned, you’ll be devastated to hear, Dear Reader. Had to cancel my dentist appointment tomorrow. So, there is an upside. My friend, Kevin, is completing his Starvation/Purge prior to another colonoscopy this afternoon in Leeds. He ate his last meal yesterday lunchtime and had to wake up at 6.00 am this morning to take his next enema. I phoned him at 5.55 am this morning to his surprise. He’s not a morning person. He definitely isn’t now! He’s a very, very empty person.

We had a bit of rain over night and everything is fresh, clean and sweet-smelling this morning in the warm air. It reminds me of that morning feeling everyday on the island in Greece – walking out onto the terrace with the rising sun, the warm enveloping air, the sounds of a donkey braying away across the valley and the cockerel calling out to corral its hareem and all the time the orchestra of cicadas builds in the olive trees to the heat at the peak of the day. But the evening sun going down across the sea reflects the glory of the day and moderates the baking heat ready to start all over again the next morning.

In the garden today we are planting out blocks of seed grown carrots. Just for fun, we have chosen a rainbow coloured variety. In the end, they’re just carrots but the colours are attractive on the plate. Some beetroot, some lettuce – Red Little Gem is what we eat about three times a week -will also go in to join the early potatoes and the green beans.

I love this time in the garden – so full of optimism and promise. In about 8 weeks, we will be cutting lettuces and picking green beans, harvesting and freezing herbs and making pesto for the winter. The effort put in really does feel worth it.

Wednesday, 15th May, 2024

Half way through May already. I have been feeling absolutely awful since late April. At times I thought I was just being lazy. At other times I thought I was depressed. Yesterday, reading an article in a local newspaper, I suddenly realised that I was reading about things which were happening to me that I thought were totally unrelated.

I’ve been suffering with all-pervasive fatigue for over 3 weeks. My joints have been aching to the point of ‘cracking’. Every day I’ve had to set myself tasks to get through and then force myself to complete them. My Gym routine has been an absolute nightmare to get through. I’ve had to tell my head each day to get on with it, to get through it. I just thought I was being bone-idle.

At the same time, my favourite drink – coffee – was leaving a dead, dry taste in my mouth. My other favourite drink – wine – was tasting like acid. I actually poured some bottles away thinking they were ‘corked’. I have been feeling sick after eating. I have had a cold and continuous dry cough. I’ve had loss of appetite and changed bowel movements. I felt a bit reassured when the National Bowel Cancer Screening Programme found I was clear because my changes had raised concerns.

Suddenly yesterday, I read of the new FLiRT variant which has come from America and is now surging across UK and all my symptoms are brought together in this infection. At least I know I am not going mad. Pleased to hear that my friend, Kevin, got the all-clear (to coin a phrase) from his colonoscopy yesterday and now won’t need another for 3 years.

Going to force myself to Valet the car this morning in this wonderfully warm sunshine. I need it to be looking and feeling good because I’ve just booked a short trip to France next week in the hope of giving myself a boost. Don’t have to isolate now after 5 days of infection although I still won’t be doing too much kissing.

Thursday, 16th May, 2024

Finally, Dear Reader, after almost three, consecutive weeks, I have tested Covid-free. 💋💋 I’ve already informed the neighbours that I am available for kissing again. I’ve asked them to form an orderly queue. Fortunately, I’ve already delivered my wife to the Beautician’s where she will spend the next couple of hours having a complete face renovation so I’m free for a while.

It’s warm and raining this morning so all the seedlings are being watered in. Perfect growing weather. The garden smells wonderful and the air is full of birdsong. We have a resident blackbird who fills the sky with the most beautiful music. The fresh, new growth of greens in many shades would do credit to the Garden of Eden.

One of my more intelligent girls who missed an extended education because of pregnancy and family problems Whatsapp‘d me last night to say she had just completed her Degree at Manchester Metropolitan Uni. I was the first person she’d told, which was nice of her. Isn’t it great when people get there in the end. She’s 45 with three kids and a career as a Teaching Assistant in Oldham but she didn’t give up.

I really believe you can achieve most ambitions if you are prepared to keep going. You do need a bit of personal obsession – something I know quite a bit about. Doggedness, never letting the bone go can get you to most ambitions. It can make you annoying at times but you have to shake that off, keep your head down and keep going.

As the season for European travel approaches, I am having to check we have enough Euros in our travel store. I don’t like to use my Credit or Debit card abroad if I can avoid it. I prefer to fix my exchange rate rather than leave it to the bank at a time of their choosing.

It is totally different in UK though. I never have any cash apart from a £1.00 coin in my key ring holder for a supermarket trolley. I don’t bother carrying physical credit/debit cards any more. I was reading this article the other day which was saying that about 50% of us now never carry a wallet anymore.

Everything is contained within my Google Digital Wallet on my phone. I can pay out anything from a £1.00 to £50,000.00 or more with a single swipe of my mobile and tell it which Credit or Bank card I want it to use. I don’t have to remember account or pin numbers. It does it all for me. My Digital Wallet also contains Store Cards and Travel Passes. My Executive Lounge Card and my Boarding Passes are in there as well.

I love this advance in digital technology. I want to live another 100 years to see how it advances. Do you get post? We never get anything worthwhile now. Medical communications come straight to apps on our phones. Appointment letters are the same. I can’t think of a single thing where the hard copy was not preceded by a digital one. As the old people die off, non-digital methods will become irrelevant. Someone should tell the European Billionaire who is bidding to buy the Post Office. His investment will have a very short life time unless, of course, he is buying Parcel Force. Did you know you can pay a cheque into your Bank Account without leaving your home – just scan it in on your Mobile through your Banking App. This is how it should be.

The rain has stopped. The sun is out. The Garden is warm and sunny. As Eliot, quoting Julian of Norwich, says:

And all shall be well and
All manner of thing shall be wellT.S. Eliot – Little Gidding – 1942

The nearest thing, Dear Reader, that I will ever get towards a religious spirit.

Friday, 17th May, 2024

Gorgeously sunny and warm morning. I’m celebrating by driving my wife to the Hairdresser’s. Parking is so difficult that it’s more reasonable for me to take her and pick her back up later. Beauty Clinic yesterday (£80.00) and Hairdresser today (£50.00). I’m keeping a close eye on her, Dear Reader. She says it is nothing compared to the hundreds I will spend on wine next week … and I’m finding that quite hard to argue against. Anybody got any good ideas?

After the hairdressers, the beautiful day has been given over to self-appointed public duties. All the lawns along the roadside are cut for the weekend and, today, we planted up all the cut-out flower beds in the lawns with plants I’ve been growing from seed in my coldframes.

After all the work of the day, I was out on my feet. It is a great feeling. When you’re retired, to find an activity to completely tire you out is a sign of success. Supper was Tuna Steaks griddled outside in the garden with green beans and a chilled glass of Bordeaux red. Hard to beat. Hope you are enjoying your Friday as much as me, Dear Reader.

Saturday, 18th May, 2024

One of those days when I had hoped for rain. I went to bed with forecasts guaranteeing substantial rain throughout Saturday and woke up to find everything had changed. It means I will be out with hosepipes and watering cans watering in all the carefully planted flowers from yesterday. Instead of sitting back and watching the rain, I will have to give over an hour or two to manual labour.

We have the most lovely neighbours. Lots of Whatsapp thanks from them this morning. One rang the bell this morning with a bunch of flowers. She said she came home from work last night and thought how wonderful the area looked.

Our neighbour in the house behind ours unexpectedly dropped in yesterday. He retired recently from a London City property developers and has moved to his villa just North of Alicante with his wife and son. Their house here has been Sold Subject to Contract for months but it will finally go through in the next couple of months. Wonder who will be arriving.

After 8 years here, the trees along our street are finally starting to grow into their looks. I have to confess that, until today, I wasn’t sure what trees they were. Today, using the Google Lens app on my phone, I established that they are Tilia Cordata better known as small-leaved Lime trees or Linden Trees.

In their new season’s growth, they are delicious and have been chosen to not grow too high. Unfortunately, they develop quite a thick canopy which stops rain and sunlight reaching the flower bed below which makes growing rather more challenging.

It is my littlest sister, Caroline’s 62 birthday today. I can’t believe it. When I left home, she was just 7 years old and tiny. She lives in Ireland and messaged me today that she is celebrating by hiking down the Derrynane mass path along the peninsula by the sea. She is a football fanatic and a Derby County supporter so she is already celebrating their promotion.

Sunday, 5th May, 2024

I was feeling better yesterday although Pauline is not feeling at all well. Did another Covid test after the one two days ago and I genuinely though I might be clear. Absolutely not. Starkly infected so confined to the garden. Had lovely, sympathetic and supportive Whatsapps from Kevin, Julie and John.

I am part of the Left Wing family and have been since teenage days – my reaction to Daily Telegraph, Tory voting parents. My reaction to Roman Catholicism. My academic life has been informed by left wing analysis based in Marxist Dialectical Materialism, a method for the empirical study of social processes in terms of interrelations, development, and transformation. In the 1980s, it was the dominant analytical tool of Historical analysis.

Convention seems to hold that we move Right as we age. I have fought convention like so many educated Boomers and have held true to the Left Wing view of politics and the world. Although we were happy to take a Labour Government – an absence of Tories – the Blair Government never quite did it for us.

Now, after 14 years of the most horrendous Right Wingery, we are on the cusp of a return to sanity and socially directed policies. Policies which serve all the people not just a few. This weekend is a time to celebrate before getting on with the fight to ensure victory later in the year. If that victory comes, it is unlikely to be for one term of 5 years. The Tories are going to be in the wilderness for 10 years at least after this debacle – maybe 15. I could be 88 by the time I let a Tory back in.

It’s not been the most brilliant weekend in Greece but today is Easter Sunday and we wish our Greek friends, Καλό Πάσχα – Happy Easter. They will have been singing and dancing and feasting on spit roast lamb. We will be joining up with them soon to relax in the sun and drink in the culture and atmosphere we have loved for the past 45 years.

Feeling quite emotional tonight as I review the loss of the years. So many things loved and lost over the years. I always believe they can be regained if I am determined enough. We have to go back to Sifnos.

Monday, 6th May, 2024

Talk about things lost over the years, I thought Covid was one of them and isolation was another. I have them both at the moment and I don’t like it.

Today it is cool and …. raining but I just had to get out for a while or I would have gone mad. As you can see, the beach was packed out as it always is on a sunny, Bank Holiday Monday. Back home for porridge and then a Gym session. I know, I’m just so rocknroll.

Talking to College friends this morning, I am constantly amazed how many have or have had cancer and how much older than me so many are – something I didn’t realise at the time. Just as Keith Lowery was buried at the weekend after dying of prostate cancer, I learnt today that DaveW from Bolton – who I’m shocked to find is 75 – has cancer and DaveRoberts from Rochdale has been treated for cancer. My old friend, John R is 76 this year I think. I really was the baby at College.

Tuesday, 7th May, 2024

Gorgeous morning …. and I’ve still got Covid. Tested positive again this morning and so did my co-pilot. Grounded for a while longer. Don’t actually feel too bad just a light, flu-like condition but I’m obviously such a poor specimen that I haven’t thrown it off yet. As we move into the afternoon and work in the garden, the temperature has already hit 22C/70F and feels delicious.

Just heard from my Greek friend, Martini, that she has Covid now. I think we all must have just been unlucky to hit a new wave of infection. On the plus side, we’ve both heard from the Bowel Cancer Screening Programme that all is fine and neither needs a follow up.

Labour will win the next election and one of my political heroes, Professor John Curtice, tells us that the large majority of Labour voters and particularly those returning to Labour from the Tories want to re-enter European membership. They realise at last that Leaving was lunacy and harmful to their welfare and the welfare of UK.Prof. John Curtice addressing UK in a Changing Europe conference.

I have long been a Euro enthusiast. I’m one of the few people who watches the Euro News channel on Sky. I have always believed that the Leave vote was mindless nonsense and so it is being revealed.

It is so easy to appeal to the mindless, xenophobic minority who like to trot out the racist, lunatic phrases. Stop the Boats! / We’re Full! / Migrants Out / No Asylum Seekers. You’d be amazed how many of those people profess to be Christians and believe in the parable of the Good Samaritan. And yet they can’t see the connection. Little Englanders have to be reminded of their European heritage. They will go to a European country for their holidays and some will complain about all the foreigners there. We are a very dim people.

Wednesday, 8th May, 2024

A warm but grey start to the day but we know the sun isn’t far off. Tested positive for covid again this morning. It’s going to be a long week. The order of the day will include gardening. My cold frames are bursting at the seams with seedlings pushing up towards the sun.

Second week of May is always the sort of time that gardeners start to feel the itch. On the edge of early because of the weather but on the edge of late because we want things to plant out and establish quickly.

The South Coast does us some favours because it almost guarantees an absence of frost which is the gardener’s mortal enemy. I am going to plant out Green Bean plants this morning. They are pushing against the glass frame tops. It is probably about a week early but I should get away with it. My friend, Julie, in North Yorkshire will need to wait at least two more weeks before hers go outside.

I will sow a succession of Green Bean plants because we eat so many of them. Picking them fresh from the bush in your garden is so much nicer than flying them over from Kenya and it is so easy to do. If you were to cut a cross-section of me, I would probably be made up of Green Beans and Tomatoes.

It’s 10.00 am and the sun is out. It’s going to be a good day. Outside, BT Openreach are installing additional fibre cable to serve superfast broadband to new customers. I’ve had it virtually since the day we moved in 8 years ago. Before we came from Surrey, I had written to BT and to our Builders to suggest that the ducting infrastructure was built in to the design. Initially, I had a polite brush-off but soon after we moved in, I found that the require piping had been installed and the cabling came soon after.

My broadband speed went from 32 mbps to 1000 mbps over an afternoon. Nowadays, everything loads instantly even though everything from TVs, iPads, Computers, watches, Gym equipment, Security Cameras, Car apps connects to the net and makes demands on it. Even our House Phone comes over the net now. All copper wires from the last century are gone. I’ve always believed that it is important to fully embrace change. I have to have the latest. Apple is releasing new iPads next week and I will be looking to upgrade ours soon after. I’m hoping this edition will become far closer to a laptop than it currently is. I’d like to get an emulator to put my MS Windows software on it.

Really feeling out of sorts with my body today. Everything is too much effort. I can’t eat or drink. Everything tastes weird. I haven’t been able to drink coffee for a few days now because it tastes dry and lifeless. Wine has tasted like battery acid. As soon as I start to eat, I feel full. I’m having to beat myself up to get my Gym routine done and it is hurting. And at 1.00 pm this afternoon, the sky is cloudless blue and the sun is hot. I should be out in the garden enjoying it. Can you tell I’m feeling sorry for myself? Well, thanks for your sympathy!

Thursday, 9th May, 2024

Gorgeous morning. A morning to celebrate being alive. I received an In Memoriam card from my friend up in Leeds remembering our College, football team friend from 50 years ago who died recently of Prostate Cancer. It is a shock every time I hear such news. There but for the grace of fate go I. It is something of a Titanic moment … the heart will go on. I, certainly, will not go quietly. I am definitely a trouble maker.

Testing again tomorrow but don’t feel brilliant. Still, lots to do and can’t afford to waste such a lovely day. I was going get a company in to clean the patio. I’m not a very practical person and I like watching people work for me but, conscience got the better of me and I ordered enough cleaning fluid to cover 150 sq. mtrs. plus a pump sprayer and set my wife on using it. She has managed quite well and the stone is coming up like new.

The stone flags are York stone quarried not far from where I used to live in the North and the cleaning fluid comes from a small company just 10 miles away from my current home even though I bought it on Amazon. I like that sort of thing – items with relevance and meaning. After 4 hrs, I will spray off the cleaner (not my wife) and all should be good.

I can touch, taste, smell 50 years ago with amazing clarity. I can hear the raucous, naive laughter of my Geordie football friend reaching down across those years. In just the same way, I am shocked that it is 15 years to the day since we sat down and selected 3 estate agents to come and value our Huddersfield house as we prepared to put it up for sale and to look for a property in the South of England. That span of 15 years both feels very short and incredibly packed with life events. Time is a strange thing, Dear Reader.

Friday, 10th May, 2024

The 10th of May could have been a wonderful day, Dear Reader, but all things are still on hold because I’m still testing positive for Covid. When will it end? All kissing is off … for now.

https://www.youtube.com/embed/oONl977H8rg?feature=oembedThe 10th of May – Peter Levy

Still, the weather is rather nice. We’re touching 24C/75F, the sun is out and I am still alive. I’m going to cut all the lawns in our street, plant out some green bean plants and sow more. My patio cleaner has done such a good job that I am thinking of keeping her on for a while.

It turned out to be such a simple, cost effective plan that I won’t need a contractor for a few years to come.

I love this time of year when everything is rushing ahead like mad. No time to lose. This morning, the Green Bean plants are just luxuriating in the sunshine. The ground is warm and moist, the sunshine is hot and overhead. What more could they want? They haven’t got Covid! My friends Kevin and Julie are both feeling rather down about life. They’re going to have to taste my Green Beans.

Saturday, 11th May, 2024

Oh, what a perfect day. I wish you could spend it with me, Dear Reader. Chef is making Bread. The sun is shining warmly outside. There is no hint of a breeze. The French Beans are standing erect to the sky. The day is promising everything.

This was last night as the Northern Lights visited our garden. This is not something you see very often on the South Coast. A harbinger of good things to come.

Mind you, in just over a month, we are going back to sunny Thessaloniki in Northern Greece. This was Thessaloniki centre yesterday as bad weather sweeps across Greece. I notice Jet2 have cancelled flights from Manchester to the Greek Islands today because of the weather. Almost unprecedented.

The garden is a delight. As we reach 27C/81F this afternoon, it is beginning to feel like my sort of climate. Someone said the other day that they could cope with hot weather less as they became older. When I say that, take me out and shoot me.

We’ve nipped out to the Garden Centre The pots are being planted up this afternoon by the under-gardener and the garden should be brighter for it.

A glass of chilled white wine with Supper under the stars – griddled chicken and salad. Life could be worse although, of course, it could be better. Making it better is in our own hands. I will do that. Trust me, Dear Reader.

Sunday, 28th April, 2024

It’s raining. Plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose. On this day a decade ago, I had two tasks. We were in our Greek home and I was going through the complex of routines in preparation for selling it – speaking to the Notary and visiting our Accountant, cultivating our Bank officials and having coffee with people who could potentially smooth our path.

I loved whiling away the hours drinking and talking problems/tactics through. After coffee on this day in 2014, we drove up to our favourite Supermarket in Apollonia – you can see it below. It doesn’t get much more rock-n-roll than that. The island Tesco – I’m sure you can see it Dear Reader. We were shopping for chicken, bell-peppers, onions and mushrooms.

I am cooking again today. It just happens to be … chicken, bell-peppers, onions and mushrooms. The circularity of life’s events always interests and amuses me with some, notable exceptions. Up in the North on Friday, one of my College associates is being buried. It seems to be happening with worrying frequency now. One year below me, he was always an ebullient Geordie. Like so many, he stayed to live and work around Ripon. My friend has told me that wearing College ties is the order of the day. That won’t be happening. Never had one anyway.

Monday, 29th April, 2024

Nearly the end of April already. Absolutely gorgeous morning. A morning to die for …. but I won’t. In fact, I’m doing all I can to avoid it. And I know you want to hear this, Dear Reader: this morning is National Bowel Screening Test.

I love the instruction to Squeeze to Open. Seems a bit personal. Anyway, my bowel has always been one of my best features. I will have to request the next one because I will be too old for an automatic one. Always a bit of a shock when I forward book appointments. This morning, I recorded today’s event on my online calendar and asked it to repeat the same event every two years into the future. I also told it to alert me 2 months before every second year so I can apply for the test. Whizzing across the calendar years to check it has recorded correctly, I stop at April 2026 (I will be 75.) and April 2028 (I will be 77.) and life rushes on.

Purely by chance, I was sent a photo of my favourite café that I featured yesterday but which was photographed last night. How magical a Greek island can seem at night time! Must go back. It is one of the two things I have to see again.

I know it is pathetic but I am still suffering the after effects of my cancer treatment and it is driving me mad. It has lowered my immunity and I am constantly sniffling on the edge of a cold. I am also tired all the time. Although I am still doing a couple of hours in the Gym each day, every minute of it is an effort whereas it used to be a joy. I am really struggling to do all the other activities I would normally do.

It has been worrying me for quite a while but help may be at hand. I had a scan recently and I have blood tests coming up – all things to quieten the worried well – but it appears that I have a low red blood cell count which is a consequence of radiotherapy and a symptom of Anaemia. I hope that’s all it is because it should then be easily treatable.

Tuesday, 30th April, 2024

April is dying but … it’s only Tuesday. This is turning out to be a very long week. M flew back to Tampa yesterday. She was upgraded to Business Class which, normally, would be a good move but she found herself sitting next to Nigel Farage. That’s enough to upset anyone although M is a very calm, people-person. Anyway, she got through the ordeal in time to be reunited with K who is celebrating a scary birthday.

Today, he is 59. Yes, I know he looks a lot older and that was years ago but we can’t all look young, can we Dear Reader?

I am struggling at the moment. I wrote about feeling tired all the time well, last night, Man-Flu hit me. Haven’t had anything like that for years. I really am a typical man when I do get it. Going to need a lot of TLC over the next 24 hrs. We’ve been discussing it and have come to the conclusion it might be as a result of my covid booster. I had SpikeVax (formally Moderna) and side effects do include shivering, chills, fatigue, joint pain. I really don’t know if I will manage my Gym session today. I will be furious with myself if I fail.

I was asked by one of my little sisters if I could provide some photos of our Grandparents – Mum’s parents. While I was going through my archive – where I keep the incriminating evidence on anyone I have ever met – I found this photo of our family home in the village of Repton taken in the big snow of 1955. Haven’t seen weather like that since. The house was built by my Grandfather and Great Grandfather in their burgeoning builders’ business, Sanders & Son.

My Dad died when I was 14 and Mum was left to juggle a family of 7 kids alone. Her one real joy was to go out ‘dancing’ and I was press ganged to be her +1. Haven’t seen this photo from 1967 since it was taken although I do remember how excruciating I found the experience. I never danced again.

Wednesday, 1st May, 2024

May again! Happy new month, Dear Reader. Don’t look back. April 2024 is sliding away on the conveyor belt of time. Sorry to whinge but I’m still feeling lifeless and terrible. I didn’t manage my Gym routine yesterday. Even my head was struggling to say I wanted to. Anyway, a higher power banned me from exercise and I was grateful for the excuse.

Whatever has suddenly hit me is extremely powerful and has not only sapped all my energy and made my muscles feel like they have given up but it given me a terrible headache, sore mouth, aching ears, feeling of overheating alternating with shivering. As I do my morning tasks, I think it is better than yesterday but still quite a long way to go. Hopefully back to normal by Friday.

We chose to major on herbs in cooking to cut down on salt which raises the blood pressure. It’s like all these changes, difficult at first but soon becomes the new routine. Now, if something is over seasoned, I can’t eat it. A lot of the herbs we use are of Mediterranean origin and particularly, Oregano, Basil, Sage, Thyme, Rosemary. Even Parsley came from Greece. The wet Winter has not helped them and I’ve had to replace quite a few. If I can stir myself, I am going out to the Garden Centre for a collection of replacement plants.

It’s been a difficult start to the year for Garden Centres with a very wet Spring. They have been receiving deliveries of plants from Holland and are visibly straining at the leash to sell them. Suddenly, the warm, dry weather has arrived and you can feel the release.

All is not well in the garden for plant sellers and buyers. As we drove in, a huge pantechnicon from Holland had parked up loaded with plants for the Centre to stock up and sell on. It is probably the last one to make it before today’s changes. Starting today, all fresh European plant and animal products being imported to the UK must be checked directly for diseases at the British border. This includes milk, meat – and flowers. Dutch flower and plant exporters expect days-long delays and believe that British consumers will soon have to pay more. These are some more of the benefits of Brexit.

We had 19C/66F yesterday in the garden and already at 10.30 am it is reading 20C/68F. We might break the magic 22C/70F barrier today.

Thursday, 2nd May, 2024

Oh what a night. It really was. Four hours of pyrotechnics. I never go to bed early but yesterday was an exception because I was feeling so awful. Lemsip and bed at 10.00 pm. Of course, I would choose the one night when the weather made sleep difficult. From Midnight until 4 in the morning, the bedroom was repeatedly lit up by huge flashes of lightning followed by rolling claps of thunder and intense bursts of rain. It was impossible to sleep through – although it was pointed out that I missed the first two hours being dead to the world. Well, I don’t know if I’ve told you but I’ve not been well.

When I got up, I found that the storm had really been quite severe but confined to the south. Damaged buildings on the beach side. Trains out of service because lines were down. Local media and even Sky featured stories and pictures about it. Outside our house, the world looked wonderfully fresh and clean with no damage at all. The sky was still grey.

The first duty after Breakfast was to go out and vote. We only had a Police & Crime Commissioner to elect today. We drove down to the Community Centre which was also being used for an exercise class and a Mother & Baby meeting. In fact, as we went in, I did have a chat with one baby about which way he was going to vote but he hadn’t decided. Sainsburys shopping and Fish Shop visit. Going to try to get a Gym session done today. Could be a big day tomorrow.

Friday, 3rd May, 2024

Didn’t sleep well, listened to the post election results/analysis which BBC R4 do so well. The results were pure humiliation of the Tories although there is no real sense that Sunak will be moved against. I was interested to find what effect the lunatic fringe led by Galloway would have in Rochdale. It was minimal with the barmy, WPB Party taking 2 seats off Labour who still held a huge overall control.

In our Town, Labour gained control of Adur and held Worthing. Up in North Yorkshire where Sunak’s own seat is, the new Mayor was taken by Labour which sends out an uncomfortable message to the little chap. Is it me or are Mayors looking younger?

It is ironic that just as I am beginning to feel a bit better, Pauline has woken feeling unwell and decided to test for Covid. Of course I did the same and ….. we both have Covid. Having gone all these years without a sign of it, we both tested positive this morning. Now, I understand why I felt like I’d hit a brick wall.

This rather changes plans. Pauline did a covid test because she was having a blood test this morning – now cancelled. I tested because … I did as I was told. Kevin wanted me to be in Leeds this afternoon for a funeral of one of our College friends. I certainly wasn’t well enough for that before this test.

Saturday, 4th May, 2024

Absolutely glorious day on which I really feel better … or at least better until I start doing things. My wife is really unwell today so, clearly, I infected her and she is on a recovery lag. Her reward is to have things that are prohibited normally but will cheer her up.

She is permanently skinny and doesn’t weigh much more than when we got married which is annoying. She loves carbohydrates but doesn’t indulge herself in order to help me. Today, she will have her forbidden favourites to cheer her up. Crumpets with morning coffee – or, in her case, water because that’s all she drinks and then Jacket Potato for Supper. For her, nirvana on a plate!

Hot sunshine and blue sky is just right for being outside in the garden. The beach will be far too busy and there is a rugby tournament going on at the Sports ground down the road with cars parked everywhere. When you’re free to go out every day, why would you choose a Bank Holiday weekend? I’ve been to the garden centre again this morning but most bedding plants are still being held back because of this unusual start to the season. I’m going to do some preparation work today because we can’t wait much longer.

My old friend, JohnR, is out in South Korea again with his wife visiting an Andy Warhol exhibition. You couldn’t get much more not Yorkshire than that. So admirable!

Spent a wonderful day in the garden in really hot sunshine. Lunch outside was just a bowl of the very best, Greek olive oil and homemade ‘dipping’ bread with an ice cold bottle of Sauvignon Blanc. What more could any man ask for? Oh, what a perfect day. I wish I could spend it with you, Dear Reader.

Supper in the garden this evening – Kalamari & Salad with Garlic Sauce. Dream on, Dear Reader. You should have been here. My joy would have beeen transmitted to you. It was magnified as we followed the local elections. First Andy Burnham in Manchester was given a 3rd term and then Sadiq Khan in London was given the same. Finally, against all the odds, Andy Street, totemic Tory mayor in the West Midlands, has been defeated by Labour. The Tories are totally gone. Praise the Lord … if you believe in him/her.

Sunday, 21st April, 2024

If nothing else, you have to admit 800 weeks at 7 times a week of absolute drivel is at least impressive for its persistence. It has far outlasted my expectations and, having come this far, it is difficult to give up now. Sorry. The next celebration will be at Week 832 or 16 full years. Set your diaries and calendars. I’ll have to organise a Blog Party. Of course, you, Dear Reader, will be the prime guest.

My friend, Kevin, is out on his 5th trip to Benidorm this year. Declining his kind invitations each time, we are planning trips to Thessaloniki in Northern Greece and to Athens + islands on a second trip. When we started our Greek flights back in 1981, we were relatively poor and we had big, self-imposed responsibilities. We had a large mortgage, a car loan, a savings and investment programme for the future, private healthcare insurance and holidays were done on the cheap.

I always booked the cheapest flights I could find. Price was the primary decider. As a consequence, we were always flying at unsocial hours with less trustworthy airlines and landing at difficult times with hours to wait for connections. Monarch Airlines was a popular one but I wasn’t beyond booking Lithuanian Airlines if needs be. We certainly had some hairy experiences.

I remember using a flight seat bucket shop seller – Avro who usually sold me Dan Air or Airtours flights. They were always from Manchester to Athens and left late on Friday night after school, getting to Athens around 3.00 am with time to get a cheap bus ride down to Piraeus to buy the cheapest ferry tickets to an island where we booked simple hotels for next to nothing. We had fantastic experiences and it makes the luxury of our travel these days all the more sweet. We really appreciate not having to do things on the cheap now.

This morning, we have been forward booking airport Lounges. In the 1980s, we slept on beach mats on the airports’ floors. These days, our bank gives us ‘free’ access to dozens of Airport Executive Lounges. We tend to fly from Gatwick North these days and there are 5 different Lounges that our membership entitles us to.

Ten years ago, we could just turn up, wave our membership cards and walk straight in. These days, we a have learnt that it pays to pre-book and reserve a space. Non-members are charged £38.00 each for a 3 hr stay but there are so many prepared to do that it makes our pre-book fee of £5.00 well worth it. Of all the 5 possible Lounges in the North Terminal, only 2 still have availability when we want to be there.

Monday, 22nd April, 2024

Nice, sunny morning and I’m off to Shoreham-by-Sea, a delightful, small coastal town about 10 miles away to attend an appointment at Southlands Hospital. I am having an ultrasound scan although I’m not completely clear which part of me is being scanned. Hope it’s one of my best bits. I’ve been given the appointment by my GP following a recent blood test.

Got to get a chunk of my Gym work done before I go or I will be under pressure later in the day. This is one of my personality problems. It has to be done and I don’t feel comfortable until it is.

Talking about the NHS and doctors’ appointments, it’s almost impossible to believe this world – this NHS – existed. Less than 20 years ago. There is no better argument for voting for Labour.

I’m pleased to report that I had more difficulty working out the parking ticket machine this morning than I did with my scan. Why are NHS carparks so difficult to navigate? Fortunately, I was seen right on time and within 30 mins was given the immediate all-clear by the radiologist which was a relief but …. thank you all for asking.

Tuesday, 23rd April, 2024

Went out early this morning to a small, old and fairly linear village of Yapton which is on the road to the seaside town of Bognor Regis. I was going to speak to them about an invitation I have received for a Winter Covid booster because of my recent cancer treatment.

Never been to Yapton before even though it is only 15 mins drive away. As you can see, it is a pleasant but old and a bit down-at-heel village with a Co-op, a chip shop, a village hall and a pub.

What they did have was a fantastic, old fashioned Butcher’s shop where I bought thick, back bacon and pork ribs to go with artisan pork sausages to make my ‘world famous’ Cassoulet. When I say, world famous, I mean I have famously cooked it in a number of places around the world. We will serve it for Supper and you are invited, Dear Reader. You’re very welcome.

Are you old, Dear Reader? Am I? New research suggests the age at which ‘old’ kicks in is increasing. A recently published piece of research showed that when participants who were born in 1911 were 65 years old, they said the beginning of old age was 71. However, participants born in 1956 said old age begins at 74, on average, when they were 65. Recently, participants at age 74 said old age started at 76.8. For me, Dear Reader, old age begins when I meet my destiny.

Wednesday, 24th April, 2024

A bright and sunny morning but not one to be swimming in the sea. Clothes are definitely required this morning. Well, the cassoulet supper went down really well last night. You should have been here, Dear Reader.

Had to drive an elderly lady to town this morning. She wanted to go to M&S on the sea front. We parked in Waitrose carpark and walked through the town down along the linear, pop-up market stalls which appear on Wednesdays and then down the more trendy Warwick Lane with its cascade of Restaurants, informal eateries, bars and cafes. It didn’t feel terribly warm this morning although plenty of people were drinking coffee outside at the pavement tables.

The elderly lady was chauffeured back after a successful although reasonably cheap shopping trip and I got her home in time for Prime Minister’s Questions. Her cup runneth over … particularly after she settled down to order another £200.00’s worth of Summer clothes online from Lands End.

Had a weirdly unsettling dream last night that fed into an old insecurity of mine. I don’t know if this will mean anything to readers but I’ve always had a strange feeling of vulnerability in houses. We build a sense of security within the frail walls of our homes when there is little between us as we sleep and the cold winds of the streets chasing along outside. Although I came from a comfortable, middle class, family home as a child, I experienced some fairly dilapidated rented accommodation as a student and as a young teacher.

The property above, behind the sandwich shed which used to be a hairdressers, was where I paid £5.00 per week for 2 rooms – the two windows downstairs on the right of the smaller photo below – when I started teaching. It was horrible but all I could get at the time. The little photo below is taken from the property sale site when it was valued at over £300,000 and the 2nd most expensive property in the street which tells you a lot about the other houses.

I have had this recurring dream across my life ever since, where my subconscious seems to liken poor housing to the fragility of camping which I also hated. I am definitely someone who needs his creature comforts and the certainty of 4, well constructed walls around me. Last night the insecurity of my student flat morphed into the horrendous property I rented in my early teaching years and presented itself like an out-of-body experience where I watched a young couple enter a rented room with huge gaps in the walls and damp on the floors and yet they seemed oblivious to it and were intent on enjoying their new found freedom. I woke up feeling shaky and unclean.

This syndrome really establishes why I like new build, latest-standards homes with the best insulation, the most efficient heating and air conditioning, quality, modern materials built to exacting standards.

Thursday, 25th April, 2024

Lovely evening in our Marina yesterday which boded well for today. Currently, it is a nice morning of cloud and sunshine.

Went to Sainsburys and was shocked to find the Chicken Breasts were security protected. In Sainsburys!! I know that Lidl has manned gun towers on the roof but shop lifters at Sainsburys!

Times must be hard. Certainly prices of some things are soaring for different reasons. Brexit-broken supply chains play a part but climate change has also had a significant effect on olive oil and coffee beans. I’m currently trying to find some new coffee beans because I am bored with my current ones. These three bags of coffee beans to try out cost £21.50 which is 50% more than I was paying 2 years ago. Olive oil is more than double the price 2 years ago.

I drink quite a lot – maybe too much – coffee each day. I cannot drink it unsweetened. I use sweeteners. I haven’t used sugar since the early 1970s. In cooking, we use Splenda powder and for many years, I have used Sweetex tablets in drinks at a rate of 3 per cup. Recently, there have been doubts raised about the effects of artificial sweeteners on our gut health so I’ve decided to monitor my intake. Over today, I drank a total of 17 drinks and included 33 Sweetex tablets. Is that too many? Probably. It may well be a bit to late for me but it will be interesting to see if I can kick the habit after all these years

Supposed to have had a discussion with my GP about Monday’s scan results but it has been postponed and I am booked for a phone review next week. Suggests the initial radiographer’s observations were accurate and there is no great need for concern.

Friday, 26th April, 2024

Out early to a high street branch of a Private Investment Bank to increase our investments in the new tax year. We went in during the first week after April 6th but it was under such pressure that we have had to wait two weeks for an appointment. This morning, we were there for 9.00 am and seen fairly promptly.

In July last year, I managed to invest in a 2 year fixed rate bond at 6.05% and two, 2 year fixed rate ISAs at 5.35%. These investments were taken out at a time when inflation (CPI) was 6.4%. At that time, I expected inflation to fall and wrote so in my Blog. With 14 months still on that fixed rate, we have been able to put in a second year’s 2 x £20,000 under the 5.35% ISA wrapper. Inflation (CPI) is currently 3.2% and expected to fall to around 2% in the next few months. So, even at this point, our investments have gone from small earnings deficit to comparably large earnings surplus over the 10 months so far.

Inflation rates are absolutely critical to earnings and savings rates. In March 2023, inflation (CPI) was 10.1%. Our Teachers Pensions are uprated by CPI each year. It used to be RPI inflation rate at one time but deliberately reduced by the Tories to CPI which doesn’t include housing/mortgage costs. Ten years of 10.1% inflation would totally wipe out anyone’s savings over that time. The same would double our Teachers Pension.

Although it is a pittance and one of the worst State Pensions in Europe, the Triple Lock increase on State Pensions has seen it increase by 60% over the past 12 years. We rather treat it like pocket money and can’t imagine how someone could actually live on it but, for the first time for many years, our investments will have earned more than our joint state pensions and will continue to do so next year as well which feels rather nice after years of almost no earnings at all.

Just to emphasise that money isn’t everything and to remind me of my mortality, the postman delivered two packages when we got home. The National Bowel Cancer Tests arrived for the last time automatically. In two years time when it would be next due, I will be 75 and will have to specifically request it. Of course, I will do so …. if I’m still alive.

Saturday, 27th April, 2024

My Mum, Catherine, Lily Coghlan born on August 22nd, 1923 died 16 years ago today. It is still shocking how times recede in the memory and need to be regularly revived and commemorated. This photo is of her in 1936 aged 13, three years before war broke out. She is in Brighton with her Dad in the seaside town where Grandad Coghlan was born. It is ironic that I now live 10 miles away from where they were photographed 87 years ago.

Lovely, sunny morning. A jobs morning. Chef is baking bread and making strawberry jam. She buys packs of frozen strawberries from Sainsburys and the flavour they produce is of Summer whatever the time of year. This is one of the few occasions in the kitchen where sugar is allowed/required.

I am going to pressure wash the drive on this lovely, warm morning. This is how the jobs list is allocated according to gender.

Fifteen years ago this week, we were tidying up our garden in Quarry Court, Huddersfield in preparation for putting the property up for sale prior to setting off on our drive to our Greek house. Quite liked that garden.

Sunday, 14th April, 2024

Sunday, Sunday here again … but I won’t be lazin on a Sunday afternoon. There are too many things to do. It’s warm but rather grey today so far. A couple of years ago on this day we were eating Lunch outside in the sunshine garden. I don’t think we’ll be doing that today.

I don’t know what you think about Amazon, the online retailer. I first came into contact with it just over 15 years ago. I bought Pauline an Amazon Kindle. I love all things I.T. and we were travelling abroad for 6 months at a time. We were both taking boxes of books with us in the car and the Kindle offered the chance to ditch the books and read them electronically. It was an immediate step forward. The Kindle was/is small, light and will carry thousands of books at any one time.

She is constantly buying, downloading and storing books to her library and gets through more than one a week. Her Kindle even has a free internet connection to download books at any time from anywhere although the 3G service will not last much longer. It saves me a fortune because almost all the books she downloads are free.

I must admit, we resisted buying generally from Amazon in the early days but are Amazon-aholics nowadays. The initial fear that they were more expensive is either less significant than we thought or we are just becoming more self indulgent than before. We pay a monthly fee for Amazon Prime which has two benefits. Firstly, we access the Prime Video platform on TV but also everything I order from Amazon comes delivery ‘free’ and almost always ‘next day’. If I search the web for something I want, invariably, Amazon will come up as a potential stockist which I know will make the process easy and quick.

The idea on which Amazon was founded and developed is brilliant. Information Technology, Artificial Intelligence and Robotic Automation were the future, are becoming the present and are definitely offering exciting development.

The one weaker link in the chain at the moment is delivery to our door. We have an Amazon depot a bout three miles away and their vans are everywhere but it is not the most cost effective way to do it. The poor drivers are pushed almost beyond their limits and earn just a pittance plus the pressure for space on the already busy roads is a problem.

In the past fortnight, Pauline has bought and downloaded 4 books and we have jointly bought and had delivered 14 items. I can order things up to about 10.00 pm and they are delivered the next day for ‘free’. I can’t wait to see all those drivers get better jobs, all the vans taken off the roads and most Amazon parcels being delivered to my door by drone. If we can fight wars with drones, we can deliver purchases.

Just 3 of those14 items have been returned. That is another thing which Amazon do well. Returning goods is simple, ‘free’ and quick. There is no obligation to have a reason other than change of mind. We download a QR code to our phones, take the item, unwrapped, to a Post Office, or Hub and the refund is made within minutes. Everything is in place to encourage returning custom. Why didn’t I think of that? Bezos, who founded Amazon in his garage just 30 years ago, recently sold a few shares in the company for $8.5 billion and the company is valued overall at just under $1.9 trillion. Soon they’ll be talking serious money!

Monday, 15th April, 2024

Well it’s turned a bit chilly again and we had an absolute cloudburst in the middle of the morning. The shorts have been put back in the wardrobe for a day or two. I’ve also had to tell my beans, which are rapidly shooting, to slow down a bit.

I grow all kinds of herbs both for cutting fresh and for freeze storing. There are some it is just not worth growing. One of the most popular herbs in Greek cooking and in fish cooking is Dill or, officially, Dill-Weed. It has a delightfully mild aniseed flavour. It is a large, frond type plant which needs a lot of space and staking. I find it is easier to just buy it. Asda sells huge bunches. I bought 4 today for £4.00. Certainly not worth the effort of growing at home.

I’ve hurt my back this morning. I’m now wandering around hunched over like an old man. Oh, I am an old man … I just don’t want to look like it. I did it by taking an old (2yrs) garden parasol base to the local tip. There was nothing wrong with it other than it weighed 45 kgs and was a nightmare to move around as a woman instructed me to do when the sun moved.

We have two, garden parasols – a circular one and a large rectangular one. This latter came with a heavy, concrete base which nearly killed me to move around. The other came with a wheeled base + handle to pull it into position. Yesterday, we bought another of those and today I made the ultimate sacrifice by lifting this 100 lb lump of concrete from the patio into the boot of my car. As I drove away to the local tip, I knew I had a problem. I approached one of the workers there who made light work of taking the rock out of my boot and tossing it into a skip. That’s the second time I felt old today.

Earlier, I was chatting to an old friend from Greece. He is an Englishman from Bexhill in East Sussex but for the decade or more we were in our house on Sifnos, he & his wife were renting a house on Paros. On a clear day, the island of Paros was clearly seen from Sifnos and we pretended we could see each other as we talked. Just as we have left, so has he. The wages of Brexit bite deeply.

I spent 30 years on the island of Sifnos and remember every inch of it. This morning a friend and chef on the island posted a couple of photos that took me back there immediately. The first is a taverna with the picture of a tree-silhouette and the words Το Λιοτρίβι / The Liotrivi underneath. The Liotrivi is The Olive Press and it was a delightful restaurant. The second photo is also taken from the village of Artemonas and is of the Bakery & Zacharoplasteio. Wonderful bread and sweets made there.

Tuesday, 16th April, 2024

Lovely morning. Going to do some gardening. I’m setting the under-gardener on to giving the hedge its first trim of the season. She does it so well. We’ve got a cooler but drier 10 days to come so not going to do more than preparation at the moment. All feels rather parochial and hemmed in at the moment.

Talking to my former Greek expat friend yesterday took me back to this week in 2013 when I was driving from Mulhouse in Alsace, across the border into Switzerland, through the 17km Gotthard Tunnel, round Lake Lucerne, into Italy and round Lake Como, on to the Milan ring road and on to a hotel in Parma which is where, ironically, my next door neighbours are from.

Received a surprise letter/email yesterday inviting me to have a Covid Booster in the next few weeks. They say I have been identified as more vulnerable because my immune system will have been weakened by the Hormone treatment and Radiotherapy of last year. Apparently, I am only just in that category because the treatment was within the past 6 months. I’ve booked one because I am happy to have my antibodies boosted. I’ve got an ultrasound scan next week.

Wednesday, 17th April, 2024

Gorgeous morning of blue sky and strong sunshine. I was woken just after 6.00 am with a Whatsapp message on my phone. It was from an ex-pupil of mine who is now in her 40s. She was a very bright girl who I took under my wing but who was not allowed to go to university at the time.

She is currently a Teaching Assistant in Oldham and is married with children. She has continued to work and, last night, was recognised by Sheffield Hallam University for her outstanding efforts. Although she has my mobile number, she still calls me Sir. She sends me love and kisses but daren’t tell her husband. She still wants my approbation for what we both saw as her initial failure to capitalise on her ability as she redresses that failure now. Might try to see her when I drive to the North – hopefully soon.

Another day of gardening as everything is beginning to grow away. In North Yorkshire, my friend, JohnR, is extolling the beauty of the early flowers on his 50 year old cherry tree. As I pointed out to him, in Sussex they would be considered late flowering. KevinS on the northern tip of Scotland tells me he has another month to wait.

Still, JohnS lives in the beautiful, North Yorkshire village of Catterick which he sent me this photo of this morning. It has old world charm and gentility.

Thursday, 18th April, 2024

Beautiful, sunny morning. Such a lovely change from recent times. The sun streaming in through the conservatory windows and over the Breakfast table bodes well for the day to come. In contrast, I was thinking about death and loss this morning. Sending a sympathy card to the husband of Pauline’s recently deceased relative in Lancashire this morning. The funeral will be in the next 10 days. Can’t believe that someone so full of life and joy of life is so suddenly no more. They live on in memories, of course, but you can’t kiss memories. My mother died 16 years ago next week and the memories definitely soften and fade over time.

We are all programmed to stay alive. Self preservation is genetically programmed into all life. Sometimes I pretend to myself to be blasé about my longevity but I know, deep down, that death is just a huge void which I do not wish to enter before I have to. Trying hard to keep fit, to eat well, to exercise, to keep my brain alert and challenged.

I am a typical man and reluctant to visit doctors but I have a Carer who is keen on these things and pushes me to do the right thing. I have been doing the Biennial Bowel Screening which involves those aged 60 – 74. I received my latest this morning but realise I will not receive another unless I specifically request it. All these little crosses on the balance sheet like this and the driving licence renewal, move one further down the escalator of life … and I don’t like it. What about you, Dear Reader? Or am I worrying needlessly, inordinately?

Well according to today’s Daily Telegraph, I am already in the last chance saloon with only 7 years left and that’s living in one of UK’s healthiest, wealthiest places. Panic!!

Out in hot sunshine this afternoon on the road at the front of our house. Trimming the grass verges, preparing the flower beds and generally neatening up in readiness for the Summer season. We will be away for quite a bit of it so trying to do our bit now. Pauline was trimming the hedge which looks incredibly healthy and vigorous. She’s got the patience to do it carefully. I was in support role, sweeping up, removing cuttings, etc..

Friday, 19th April, 2024

Tempus Fugit. On Sunday, the Blog will begin its 500th week. Talk about Life Expectancy! Fifteen years ago, we were just returning from our 10th Easter Holiday on Sifnos but this one was different. We didn’t have to go back to work. We were retired and this was the time it first really hit us. So often, we would get back the day before work and I would be berating myself about not having prepared that presentation, not having written that report, etc. Not in April 2009. I was turning my attention to the garden and selling the house.

This photo of Kamares in Easter 2009 sums up the sort of unpredictable weather we could expect at that time but it didn’t matter. In 2011, at this time in our Greek home we were turning the underfloor heating on. We had stopped going to Greece for the weather long before. In fact, we would have been delighted this year because 3 days of rain are forecast to fall in Sifnos and the garden would already be crying our for water.

I am not an animal lover. I’d rather eat them than house them but my heart was definitely opened by this little, feral cat which adopted us in our Greek home. She was known as Mother Cat because she kept having babies – the nearest to Fatherhood I got. It really hurt us to leave her to survive each Winter unaided but we had no choice and she proved resilient enough to cope just fine. She greeted us noisily within hours of our return in the Spring after 6 months away.

I know you’ll think I’m mad but the photo I took of Mother Cat always reminds me of one of my favourite ever paintings which can be seen in Manchester. I had a large, framed copy on my walls for years at home in Huddersfield. I always go for the wild girls!

Here today it is mild but grey. I’m going to get some exercise gardening before getting some more exercise in the Gym. Talking to my friend, Julie, on the North East coast of Yorkshire this morning, she complains that she is already wearing a fleece indoors and is just about to light the log fire. I’m so grateful that we came down here. And what lovely neighbours. Everyone stops to chat as we work on the streetside lawns and flower beds. So & so is going off to Seville next week. Another is getting ‘Flu. A couple go past with their dog and worry about it getting too friendly. They know I’m not keen on dogs.

We build our lives in the details of these everyday things and so many rarely hold on to the bigger picture, the major events, the ultimate timeline of being. I, for one, will never be able to escape my past. It torments and delights me in equal measure.

Saturday, 20th April, 2024

A lovely, deceptively sunny day. The breeze has a cool edge on it. Although I went down to the Garden Centre early on this morning, I will not be tempted to buy for at least another week and even then we will have to plan around when we will be away.

Our village square always looks nice in the sunshine and the gardening team, Angmering in Bloom, work hard to maintain it with seasonal planting. Every year, the council pollard the trees so they are always late getting back into leaf which is a pity.

Living in a nice, attractive and well maintained space is so often associated with increased longevity for its residents. I noticed this article in the Huddersfield Examiner yesterday. It is and piece about the village of Uppermill near Oldham where many people still consider themselves living in Yorkshire even though it was designated Lancashire years ago. Lots of our friends and former colleagues live there. Infants born within the OL3 postcode, covering extensive areas of Uppermill, Greenfield, Diggle, and Dobcross, are predicted to live a prosperous 85 years on average whereas life expectancy nosedives to 75 years for new-borns in the OL1 region, home to parts of Chadderton, Royton and Shaw which is among the country’s lowest.

P&C need somewhere new to live. They are both in their later 80s and vulnerable for different reasons. C is in the mid stages of Dementia and P is registered Blind. Until now, each has looked after the other but that is coming to an end. C is the driver but really isn’t safe out in the car anymore. P has managed to cope brilliantly with her disability but now is not able to manage herself plus a deteriorating dementia sufferer however much she tries.

Their lovely daughter has made her later life in Florida and tries to get back regularly but has her own life to lead and it will be in America. P&C need to move on to their next stage urgently before it is too late. In Surrey, where they live, there are lots of retirement opportunities that provide for freedom and support. They are not cheap but P&C are fortunate to have the financial backing to take advantage.

At Highfields, they can have a 2-bed apartment for £530,000.00 or for Rental from £3,050 pcm. At Botanical Place, in the heart of the village/town, they would be near boutiques, cafés, and restaurants but in reach of friendly faces, listening ears and help when they needed it. When you are in your late 80s, there is no better place. In this latter place, they can buy, rent or part rent/part buy. For them, it really doesn’t matter. The big decision is making the move in their minds after so many years of totally independent living.

We will all find it hard but, in your senior years, you have to accept an element of dependence. Pride is good but can be taken too far. Children have their own lives. The parents have to move on themselves. I know my Mother actively encouraged us to go away and fight for our own lives and to leave her to sort out her own support network.

Sunday, 7th April, 2024

A lovely warm and sunny morning. Gardening and walking will happen this morning and this afternoon will be Gym and football – Man.Utd. v Liverpool. It is one of the rare occasions when I want United to lose. I would really like to see Liverpool win the League and certainly not Arsenal or City.

I must wish my friend and former Digs-mate, JohnR a happy birthday. He is 75 today which makes me feel like a youth. Thank you, JohnR. The first men (boys) in an all women’s (girls) college are pictured above in our first couple of weeks in College. Don’t know how those girls got in there. We didn’t mix with them.

Put my new shaving mirror up yesterday and this morning was the real test. It was great for a shave but … goodness I’m UGLY!! It really doesn’t do anyone any favours with such close scrutiny. What it has done is illustrate how badly I’ve been shaving all this time. I must try harder.

Before I kill myself in despair, I’m going out in the sunshine to sow parsley, plant seed potatoes and then sow some flower seeds in my cold frames. The raised beds are cleaned replenished with fresh compost and ready to go as long as we get a run of dry, warm weather.

Lovely warm and sunny afternoon. Pouring with rain in Manchester. Unfortunately, the match went to a draw which was bad for both teams. At least the garden is ready to receive guests. Got to get the patio professionally cleaned and then all the pots can be planted up and enjoyed in the sunshine.

Monday, 8th April, 2024

Another week. It’s dry and warm but not terribly sunny this morning. The highlight of the day is …. the Dentist. Well, actually, the Hygienist. Hate the Hygienist! Always hurts me and I’m only little.

Life seems to be jogging along quite slowly at the moment which can be viewed in two ways. It does feel a little boring but at least time is slowing and extending in that way. I was reading an interesting article about the sculptor, Anthony Gormley, yesterday. Like me, he is 73. Like me, he is obsessed with the passage of time. Many of his works contain the word “time” in the title. His army of silent, featureless iron figures interrogate time and the relationship between humans, geology and nature over the course of our planet’s history. He is also listening to the clock ticking on his own lifetime. At 73 he is filled with a sense of urgency to get things done.

What have I got to get done, Dear Reader? Now that would be telling although some of you will know already. Today, before crying at the Dentist, I am going to achieve world-beating sowing of seeds. I’m going to grow acres of Parsley. To me, that is quite an old fashioned herb which was served at home every Friday in a sauce with fish. I had moved on to the more exotic herbs – Oregano, Dill, Thyme, Tarragon, etc of the Mediterranean. That is until I rediscovered its flavour and was immediately won back. Of course, Parsley originates in Greece where it is known as πετροσέλινον or rock celery.

The French for parsley – persil – derives from it. Actually, I’ve just found out where the washing powder Persil got its name and it is from two of the original ingredients, sodium perborate and silicate. I remember my Mother swore by it. It was a time when people believed there were a limited number of product brands which could be trusted and relied on. Now, the market is more fluid and opaque. We don’t know without research who makes these products.

Persil is a German brand of laundry detergent manufactured and marketed by Henkel around the world except in a few countries like UK where it is manufactured and marketed by Unilever.

In Greece, we would buy almost exclusively flat leaved parsley but still prefer the curly-leafed for flavour. It is very easy to grow and used to be used by farmers to mark the lines of other, crops they had sown.

Tuesday, 9th April, 2024

Not a good night made more difficult by strong winds creaking in the roof joists. In fact, put the radio on at 4.00 am and that helped me to fall asleep. It had been forecast and I had anchored down the garden furniture, etc. but that didn’t make sleeping any easier.

Didn’t realise how bad the weather had been over night until I got up at 7.00 am to be greeted by lots of national news reports on my phone from the Mail and Express and this one from the London Evening Standard mentioning our home town, Littlehampton.

They suggested that just down the coast from us, people were having to be rescued from one of those dreadful static caravan parks that seem to be popular in coastal locations. I can’t imagine living permanently in a caravan/shed like that but some seem to like it. We didn’t have any rain but there were signs of a very high tide on the coastal path this morning with shale covering the road.

Went to the dentist yesterday for my Hygienist appointment. It struck me that I haven’t had any problems with my teeth for years. In fact, the older I get, the less concerns if have, which is nice. We have Annual Dentistry Plans which provide 2 x Hygienist + 2 x Dentist appointments each year. It is impossible to find an NHS Dentist down here as it was in Surrey. We pay £500.00 per year for the two of us to have these 4 treatments and that gives us a 20% reduction on all other work.

We go to Calm & Gentle because that’s what I require at the dentist. I need a pretty girl to hold my hand and speak soothingly to me while the dentist does his work very, very gently. It works for me.

Wednesday, 10th April, 2024

Beautiful morning of blue sky and sunshine. The strong winds have gone and normality has been resumed. In fact, the strong winds subsided quickly yesterday afternoon and we had a lovely evening of sunshine and birdsong. The beach which had been the subject of some publicity the night before looked like this at 6.00 pm as if nothing had happened.

I don’t know what you feel about internet banking. I love it. About 35 years ago, I joined the Nat.West internet banking test group. In fact, I was Tester 0001. I am comfortable and fairly confident with online control of my accounts. I know there are still some people who are not. This is becoming an increasing concern for towns that are being deserted by the major banks.

We have just two left in our nearest town of Rustington and recently Nat.West announced it was closing. That will just leave Santander for people who want to Bank in branch. This is always the problem with innovation.

When I was pushing internet use in Home-School work, the complaint was that some people couldn’t afford computers and broadband connections. They were, of course, legitimate concerns but affected so few that it could not be allowed to slow the roll out of such developments and I pushed ahead with a full Home-School Intranet platform which is still flourishing.

The FROG Intranet School Learning & Management Platform has gone on to transform lives for teachers, pupils and parents. In just the same way, Internet Banking has rather left some of the old, wrinklies behind. A little old lady came into the Post Office I was at yesterday and just couldn’t manage her money transfer herself and had to be inordinately helped by the kindly sub postmistress.

Today, even though I am fairly confident with the process, I was rather nervously awaiting the arrival of £40,000.00 from a Building Society Easy Access Account which I wanted to put into two, new ISA accounts with a private bank which I invest in. The trouble is that I had to wait almost 24hrs between pressing go from one account and seeing it arrive in another. All sorts of thoughts cross one’s mind about it going missing. Not so many years ago, a friend ‘lost’ £200,000.00 in transfer from a UK bank to a foreign bank. Can you imagine it? It eventually turned up but I bet he didn’t sleep too well in the meantime.

My £40,000.00 turned up this morning and I went down to the Private Bank offices where, ironically, online business is not available. Everything has to be done through Investment Managers with paper forms and I was told that I could have an appointment but not for 10 days because demand was so high at the beginning of the new tax year. I didn’t complain but two wrinklies in front of me kicked up a fuss because they were being forced to wait. You can’t win!

Thursday, 11th April, 2024

The awful news arrived this morning and it was no less awful for being expected. Pauline’s niece, Dawn, died over night from a stomach cancer which was diagnosed only two years ago. She was just 62, lived in Lancashire, attended Oldham Bluecoat School and hadn’t even had the chance to properly enjoy any retirement.

In contrast, we have been lucky enough to have already enjoyed 15 years of comfortable retirement and it just emphasises that there is an terrible disparity across the lives of human beings. Dawn had struggled to maintain as normal a life as she could over two years of horrible treatment which inevitably led to her death in a hospice in Nelson.

At this time in 2009, we were enjoying our first couple of weeks of freedom in our Greek home. Today, 15 years ago, we had lunch in the village square of Artemonas at Manganas Taverna. I remember those days were heady, rest-of-our-lives planning sessions that we hadn’t had time to discuss while still working.

I must admit, those plans didn’t all work out quite as we expected and there have been a number of bumps on the way but to end up on the Sussex coast has been fine. New, rest-of-our-lives planning sessions are currently taking place. The move from Yorkshire/Lancashire to Surrey and then to Sussex has settled down … for now. In this week 8 years ago, we were living from garden furniture in the kitchen, NO Sky TV and only a few wardrobes to store clothes. I hadn’t even got a coffee maker at the time.

Eight years on, perhaps life is too comfortable and we need new challenges. New directions and destinations.

This morning, we are sitting round this table planning the year out. The first job is to review our flights to Thessaloniki in June. The timings have slightly changed but the aircraft itself has completely changed and, with it, our seating plan. Have to book carpark and Airport Lounge.

Friday, 12th April, 2024

Lovely day in prospect. Hope it’s good for you, Dear Reader. In fact, the forward forecast is dry for a couple of weeks with the exception of a bit of rain on Monday. Today’s timetable starts with a trip to the fish shop – sides of Salmon, Cod loins, big piece of Tuna, bags of King Prawns. Should get us through the weekend. Mowing, edging and feeding the public lawns this morning will be a nice job in the sunshine.

Been talking to my old friend, JohnR in North Yorkshire this morning. He is two years older than me and that struck me this morning. We both retired on the same day in 2009. He celebrated by going on a walking holiday in the Lake District whereas I drove to Greece. I have been saying to myself since my cancer scare that I am taking too long to get back to previous fitness despite Gym work every day. JohnR told me this morning that he would struggle to do the Lake District walk today.

He is preparing to return to South Korea to visit his son who teaches EFL there and makes films in addition. JohnR and South Korea are something of a mismatch for me. Just shows one should never be too quick to judge.

The fishmonger is just off the beach which was looking lovely today although the tide was completely out. Walkers and their dogs had far to go. We walked down to East Beach Cafe which is housed in a rather strange, modernistic structure that looks like it was designed by a committee of 1st Year Architecture students.

We drove home for coffee and jobs to get through – Pauline in the kitchen and me in the garden. Both of us have got our Gym routines to fit in to the rest of the day as well.

Saturday, 13th April, 2024

Some lovely days in prospect. Definitely shorts and tee-shirt time now until November if we live that long. Yesterday we heard that an old friend and fellow footballer had died.

Keith Lowery, who was 6 months younger than me, died last night of ….. prostate cancer. Death brings us up short. The death of someone younger is particularly poignant. To learn that he had been suffering with prostate cancer for the past few months is distinctly scary. How lucky was I to be diagnosed early?

And yet, life goes on. Doesn’t it, dear Reader. Must be positive in the the disappearing line of time. The garden is a symbol of optimism and positivity. A trip to the Garden Centre for some fresh Sage plants to supply the freezer for the rest of the year. Sage is an old, Mediterranean herb that we use a lot but isn’t very long lived so I’m planting out and sowing seeds for my own new plants as well.

The main job today is cleaning out and tidying up the garden storage pods which have become invaluable since we converted the garage into Gym & Kitchen. These huge, simple storage pods-cum-sheds just swallow up everything from lawn mowers and garden tools to pressure washer and leaf blower, packs of backup house tiles, tins of touch-up paint, tool boxes, etc.

Sunday, 31st March, 2024

Beautiful morning. All the windows and doors are open to the sunshine. Fresh, coastal air is gently wafting through the house. My Housekeeper is taking washing to dry outside and preparing to slow roast a leg of lamb for Dinner. All is well with the world. Well, let’s not get carried away. Nearly All. Still some things to address.

We’ve reached a surprising 19C/66F this afternoon but looking at the weather forecast for the coming week, it is hard to get motivated for gardening. So much rain forecast to come and not terribly warm. At least I can start seeds off in the cold frame and hope things improve. This year I’m going to grow French Beans because it is the vegetable I eat most of. We get through 3 large packs a week but they have travelled thousands of miles from Kenya and Senegal. Mine will travel 25 metres from garden to kitchen and they taste so much more succulent because of that. Hopefully, by the time they are ready for planting out, the rain will have stopped.

Just 15 years ago this week, we were in the final throes of negotiating our way out of work, pay off our mortgage and preparing to leave for our Greek home. The ferries were booked and the thought of a garden full of olive trees and flowers was so appealing.

Within 4 days it was all over and (in one bound) we were free. I remember the climax and anti-climax of that time. Although we can look back on it with amusement now, it didn’t feel like it at the time. From certainty to uncertainty with one bound. We flew Olympic Airways from Manchester for the last time. Haven’t flown from Manchester since and certainly not Olympic which went out of business not so long afterwards.

Just as work has gone, the airline has gone, The old Athens airport has gone, the houses are gone, that life has gone too. Even the newspapers have largely gone.

One of the first things I did on the Sunday morning in Athens was to walk up to Syndagma (Parliament) Square to buy newspapers – The Observer and the Sunday Times which were flown in from London each day. I am brought up short by that memory. Haven’t bought a physical newspaper for so many years and I’ve got the clean hands to prove it.

Monday, 1st April, 2024

Happy new month to all Readers. April is an optimistic month and the sun outside this morning is wonderful. Warm weather, rain to come; must be growing weather very soon.

Even so, the time continuum is unstoppable so I must wish my friend, Christine, happy birthday. Always nice to know she is older than me and on such an auspicious day as well. She told me this morning that one of her daughters was 40 last week. As some of us know, that’s nothing is it Dear Reader?

It is funny how so many of us remember fondly our College days and much more fondly than our subsequent university experiences. Many have gone on to complete Degrees, Masters and Doctorates but I suppose, the former were a significant part of our formative years and we went on to Universities in a relatively more mature state.

I look at these two old men and still see the boys in them. It is only 55 years ago that we met. Here they are sitting in 22C/70F of sunshine yesterday in Elgin on the northern tip of Scotland enjoying their retirements.

Quite pleased I didn’t rush in to buying compost from my local garden centre. I need quite a lot to refresh the raised beds and refill the pots around the garden. Suddenly saw an advert for Wickes packs of compost that contain trace elements to promote growth and at almost half the garden centre price. I have ordered 1000 ltrs for £100.00 to be delivered for ‘free’ tomorrow rather than have to go out and make a number of trips bringing it home myself.

Unfortunately, we’ve still got quite a bit of rain forecast for the coming week. Ironically, might have to retreat to Wales at this rate. Anyway, we have to believe that things are getting better slowly.

Outside Sainsburys this morning, a young homeless man was sitting with his dog. Pauline bought him some Easter cakes and some treats for the dog. As we paid at the self service till, Sainsburys offered us comprehensive pet insurance.

Tuesday, 2nd April, 2024

Another nice morning. I’m at home today expecting a large delivery of garden supplies. It is a typically self indulgent thing. As I plan my day in my newish 4-bedroom home with a Utility, an Office, a Garden and a Gym, with a newish car parked outside and delightful neighbours surrounding me, I focussed on the latest Tory Government’s obscenity: a Bill to criminalise Homelessness.

A century ago, George Bernard Shaw and G.K. Chesterton considered it a central and a great evil and how we respond to poverty as a measure of the success or failure of our humanity.

During the pandemic, in an attempt to avoid nice people getting infected, there was a concerted, Governmental mission to get the great unwashed off the streets by providing accommodation – something which had long been advocated by the Left. Behold, it worked. End of the pandemic panic, end of the housing support – Homeless back on the streets. Now, instead of helping them (the carrot), they are going to criminalise them (the stick).

The Bill even says that people on the streets can be arrested if they smell. Can you imagine it? Straight out of the Gym, I would be arrested every day. I walk past so many women who stink of cheap perfume so badly that it takes my breathe away. I would definitely have them arrested.

While I’m writing, I am listening to a podcast from the The News Agents entitled: Is the world running out of babies? The world’s population is in steep decline. To just maintain it, every woman should have 2.1 children and that is not an academic observation. Everything that my Generation expects in their old age – pensions, health care, social care, etc. These things are paid for by the taxes of working people just as ours paid for the generation before us. We are living longer and need caring for longer. All of that needs more not less workers paying taxes.

Now, I’ve had experience of a number of barren women and I can’t see people like them being persuaded to change their lifestyles to start having children never mind how the tax system is altered to incentivise them. And the solution to this socio-economic problem will be …. greater immigration. An influx of people from abroad will be required to do the jobs and pay the taxes providing the resources for Government to pay the Pensions, resource the Health and Social Care plus all the other things we expect.

This is the wonderful irony. Exactly what the Tories say they are against is exactly what they need …. and they know it is which is why they say they want to bring immigration down while presiding over record immigration. It is the only thing which keeps us afloat. Of course, quite a few of those immigrants start off sleeping rough and all of them will eventually require houses. Building houses, which the Tories have also failed to do, is a major requirement. The real test of how bad the Tories are is that so many Tory MPs are revolting … literally and literally.

Wednesday, 3rd April, 2024

Well, I’ve woken up in Wales again. It’s raining … again! Pity really because I want to get on with the garden. Everything I needed was delivered yesterday and is piled outside in the rain. Just have to do extra Gym today.

Fifteen years ago today, I retired. I haven’t worked since although, I have been tempted at times. In the past, workers weren’t expected to get more than 5 years out of their retirement and drawing on their State Pension. Retire at 65 and die at 70. (Three score years and ten).

I retired at 58 and have had a decade more than my allocation already. Although, I am incredibly grateful for that, I intend to have many more years to come. Longevity will help me achieve my goals.

When I arrived at my College digs in September 1969, I was told that I would be sharing with two other lads. Nigel was already there but the third, a lad called John hadn’t yet arrived. When he did, we agreed with the family that I would be called John-1 and he would be called John-2 not only because of my natural superiority but because I got there first.

We started on the same day and we retired on the same day. My good friend, John-2 is celebrating 15 years of retirement too. I wish him many more years of happiness. Of course, he’s a lot older than me.

A girl, a relation of Pauline’s, who is just 62 found she had cancer two years ago. She has been undergoing horrendous treatment but without much effect. She was educated at Bluecoat School in Oldham. She hadn’t even retired and has been deprived of the joy of senior relaxation. Now she is bedridden and in her final days. They can’t even find hospice space for her up in Lancashire. I can’t get all that out of my head. It seems so incredibly unfair. What it does teach me is to go for everything I want and not worry about breaking a few eggs. No regrets. We are a long time dead,

Thursday, 4th April, 2024

Typical April day of sun and showers. Went to Sainsburys this morning where we always do self-checkout having used my smartphone to scan in the items. Today, there were quite a few things on half price to Nectar Card holders so we bought multiples of those to take advantage. At checkout, the bill came to £120.00 which even now seems quite high and we do shop multiple times in multiple places each week but the young couple next to us paid a bill of £220.00! Can you imagine the cost of a young family at the moment?

Because of the incredible run of wet weather this winter, almost all my exercise has been done in the Gym. I don’t mind. I’ve rather enjoyed it but it has meant that I’ve watched a lot of drama while I worked out. Usually, I like a fact or historically based drama. For example, I watched Spooks, an MI6 drama based around actual terrorist scenarios I remember through the past 3 decades.

I’ve been watching Strike Back, a similar Special Operations series which deals with Rhodesia/Zimbabwe independence, the freeing of Kenya from its British Colonial Protectorate and Tanzania as it became a Republic. It is a socio-political process I had to study for my Degree. Both of these dramas are rather macho affairs which are not really my style but I like the context in which they’re set.

These sort of things do not appeal to my wife so other genres are required for joint watching in the evenings. Recently, I’ve found a strange but wonderful comedy drama called The Gentlemen on Netflix. I nearly didn’t get past the first episode but stayed with this wacky/sinister drama about drug cultivation in a stately home. It turned out to be really cleverly written and produced and I’m hoping there will be a second series

To really display the full gamut of taste and decency, we are currently watching together a drama about sex in and out of marriage. It centres on a newly widowed older woman played by Emma Thompson who hires a male escort to experience a sexual experience that her recently deceased husband could never provide.

The whole drama – Good Luck to you Leo Grande – centres on this process and is confined to a hotel room. It is a very uncomfortable and rather sad comedy at times but ends as Emma Thompson’s character has her first ever orgasm and, as a result for the first time, actually appreciates her own naked body. Sometimes, it can be a bit too near the bone but that is good for all of us at times, isn’t it Dear Reader?

Now, I’m going in the Gym to get closer to appreciating my naked body although I think it will take longer than a couple of hours over the next few weeks before that happens.

Friday, 5th April, 2024

Guess how the day’s started. Yes, it’s raining. Actually, it won’t be for long and the next few days will be lovely. My friend, Julie, is a cricket fanatic and is celebrating the first day of the new season in her potting shed because she is expecting a wet day. She sent me a picture of her typically scruffy, allotment grower’s shed. It obviously does the job.

I am still shocked at the Man.Utd. result last night. I still need consoling. Might even move my allegiances to Brighton & Hove Albion.

It’s 9.30 am and the sun is out, the clouds have largely dispersed, it’s gorgeously warm in the garden and I am looking forward to a good few days. Before I use the Gym, it has to be cleaned. I’ve actually offered to help my Housekeeper in doing it. So, after that, I’ve got a couple of hours work out there. Over the weekend we can actually get down to some garden work. We virtually never eat potatoes – maybe 3 or 4 times in as many years – but I am going to grow some.

Pauline loves baby new potatoes and I am going to provide her with them this summer. She has sacrificed herself enough for me.

Just been listening to a podcast of Professor Tim Spector talking about his specialist subject: Dieting and Gut Health. He came to prominence during the pandemic because he launched a successful National Data app whereas the Government’s was late and an utter failure. It was used, initially, to track Covid symptoms and infections across the country, to inform users and the National Health Service of the current position. Spector’s app called ZOE which means LIFE in Greek quickly attracted 5 million users and we reported every morning over Breakfast our current state of health.

Professor Spector is an interesting man. Like me, his father died young of a heart attack. Like me, he compensated for loss by eating and drinking the wrong things and put on weight. Like me, he had his own health crisis – in his case a mini-stroke. Like me, he looked to his fitness and diet as a consequence.

Unlike me, he is a Professor and has become nationally significant in his subsequent work which has branched out into attention to gut health. This is a step too far for me. I eat lots of fruit, vegetables and fish but I can’t bring myself to major on fermented foods as he advises. Have you tried sauerkraut? Don’t make me eat fermented cabbage.

My wife is not shaving very well in the mornings so I’m buying her a new mirror for her bathroom. I’m also buying one for mine as well. The secret of a good marriage is definitely separate bathrooms. Woman are so untidy aren’t they?

Saturday, 6th April, 2024

Happy Birthday to me, Happy Birthday to me …. I am 73 today and I am beginning to feel it. Today, I have been allowed TOAST for breakfast. Can you imagine it? Homemade, wholemeal bread toasted. Felt so sinful … well it would do if I was religious.

Hard to conceive of the fact that I was born 73 years ago this morning. My father never forgave me because I was born on the 1st day of the new tax year which cost him a year’s reclaimable tax for a child. My father would be 110 and my mother 101 this year. It is 52 years since I started teaching and 15 years since I retired. The statistics keep coming towards me. At some stage they will roll right over me but not until I have completed my list ….

Today, I will be having not one but two simple carbohydrates. Toast for Breakfast and my chosen Birthday Supper – Linguine. There is something about pasta and seafood that really appeals to me. So, exercise first to earn the privilege of self-indulgence.

This week a decade ago, we were setting off for our 15th and last trip across Europe to our Greek house. It seems so near and yet so far like so many things. Even though it has freed us to do so many more different and interesting things, I mourn its loss. Our first night was spent at a lovely hotel in Rheims. The Hotel de las Paix was delightful.

Sunday, 24th March, 2024

Gorgeous morning again. Thank goodness for that. We need some good news, don’t we, Dear Reader. The sky is blue and sun is streaming through the patio windows on to the Breakfast table making it, almost, too warm.

For no other reason than it looked beautiful to me, I feature a photo of fruit in sunshine. The ribbed texture in the sunlight looked so appealing. Melon, Mango and Banana are my go-to fruits currently

I must admit, I’d rather be in Greek sun than the light streaming into our kitchen. Above is Aristotelous Square, Thessaloniki taken this morning from the hotel we will be in during June. I snatched the photo from webcam at 9.30 am (UK) / 11.30 am (Gr) where the square is clearly being prepared for yet another cultural event. It’s not Easter because, in Greece this year, Easter is not until May.

How seriously do you take security? You would think that a man who parades the minutiae of his daily life across the internet for all to read would be low on security. Quite the opposite. I take it incredibly seriously and only allow access to the things I choose. I wonder what you do about your data and passwords security.

Years ago, I moved on from just one password to multiples recorded in a file which I had to carry round with me as I travelled to Greece for half the year to using an on-line password manager which stores and automatically retrieves all passwords for me. Great for dementia sufferers. I use Norton 360 which installs on Computers, Laptops, IPads and smartphones to keep data secure and passwords available. It synchronises across all platforms. Then I back everything up in the cloud and double backup on memory sticks. With my Blog, I rent a second site to back the whole thing up ready for publication when I retire – if I retire from Blogging.

Valeting the car in the afternoon sunshine. Carpets vacuumed, seats and upholstery leather treated, Glass cleaned, Fascia freshened up, paintwork shampooed and waxed, wheels treated and tyres faced. Needed some help with all that. Must admit, it did look good afterwards. Neighbours around pay just over £100.00 per car per month in a contract with professional cleaners who come to their homes to do the job. I usually quite enjoy doing it myself but it felt too demanding today.

Monday, 25th March, 2024

The last week of March begins with a blood test. When I was ill in America, hospital tests reported raised enzymes in the liver. Ultimately, Legionnaires Disease was diagnosed but my last blood test at the UK surgery indicated the same thing – raised enzymes in the liver. I have been asked to have another blood test to pinpoint the problem.

After that we walked on the beach path for a few minutes. Lovely and warm and fresh, the tide was coming in and the light was gentle.

I must admit, I couldn’t have told you where my liver was or what it was there for. Now I’ve looked it up, I wish I hadn’t. Bodies are just too scary for delicate people like me.

I will almost certainly be told to stop drinking. I will, of course, do as I’m told. Only got 300 bottles to drink first. There will probably be a hiatus for Easter so I won’t hear the result for a couple of weeks and then an appointment to discuss them. So, about 3 weeks … 100 bottles a week … feels a bit of a stretch.

Watch a sad/romantic serialised film over the past few nights. It had been suggested to us and appeared to be the sort of watch we could share. It was about an unlikely couple who met at university in Edinburgh and became friends against all the odds but then went their separate ways. She went into teaching and he became a television presenter. They meet once a year over a decade and then finally get together and life is going well just as she …

Apparently, the story was originally made into an American film but this UK series made by Netflix was brilliantly cast. It is not my normal sort of viewing but I found it really moving and it played across my mind over night. I am pathetic! But then you knew that, Dear Reader.

Smoked salmon salad for lunch. Haven’t done that for months. It feels like Summer. Been out to buy seeds this morning. Going to sow French Beans, Parsley, Sage, Salad Leaves all for the kitchen and then African Marigolds for the street beds in the lawns.

Tuesday, 26th March, 2024

The morning didn’t start off well. Received a text from the surgery to tell me that, as a result of my blood tests yesterday, they are sending me for an abdominal ultrasound. Just the sort of reassurance one needs at Breakfast. My Housekeeper is out at an early Hairdressers appointment so I am rapidly Googling the results of my blood test and the need for abdominal ultrasound. There don’t appear to be many upsides.

Suddenly began to wonder if it’s worth sowing those seeds I bought yesterday. Isn’t life weird?

We have a friend in Lancashire who retired recently and is now dying of cancer. She has been trying so hard over the past few months to live life as fully as possible but the chemotherapy has finally worn her down, taken all her strength and the cancer has taken her life almost entirely away. She is now bedridden, out of strength, out of fight and preparing for Hospice Care although that seems to be in very short supply up there. Pauline did a Facetime conversation with her this morning. How she did it, I don’t know. It would have been quite beyond me.

Wednesday, 27th March, 2024

Another nice, warm day although not full of sunshine. I’ve been busy in the Office all morning. Anyone who is married or living in a long term relationship will understand the dilemma I’ve been confronting this morning. Household tasks are largely assigned according to gender mainly because our ages. Younger households may well see it differently.

Washing machines are a mystery to me. Not that I am proud of the fact but it is so. For a short period, I lived on my own and took everything to a Laundrette where the lady who owned it took pity on me and washed everything for me after the occasion when I threw everything in together and ended with a batch of pink shirts. Then, I got married and my Housekeeper took over. Similarly with the Dryer and the Ironing. I know I should have tried but persuade myself that it is beyond me.

That is not to say that I don’t contribute in my own way. I do the heavy lifting, open jars, move loads, carry things. I write most letters, documents where it is important to win an argument, have influence, make a strong case. I am responsible for organising Savings and Investments – as opposed to day to day spending. S&A is so much more enjoyable at the moment with interest rates offering real returns against inflation. Even in our 70s, we have been able to move from pure savings into a mix of investments to really make a substantial contribution to our income. There is no question: Money makes Money.

One of the nice things is not having to worry about pensions. Younger ones have had to keep an eye on the performance of invested pension funds to decide when to retire. Ours may not be generous but they are guaranteed and index-linked. Anything else we make is a bonus for luxuries and future solutions. As long as I can shelter them from tax, they are doing well. But what would happen if I died? Would my wife know how to access everything? Liquidate things? Move things around? What about Probate? Can I organise things so that she doesn’t have to pay out extra fees to get at things. This is what I’ve been working on today. If I should die, think only this of me ….

Thursday, 28th March, 2024

Little Jane is 70 years old today. It is a special landmark and we wish her a very happy day.

The rain just keeps coming in squalls of warm but blustery water. In fact, it was so wet this morning, we decided not to shop at Waitrose but go the Sainsburys underground (dry) carpark.

It does make life a lot easier. Went on to the beach where strong winds and a rising tide had brought out the intrepid windsurfers. Even so, I couldn’t see myself doing this at any stage of my life.

Had a nice chat with Kevin who has sun and is going out on a 20 mile bike ride, with Julie who has sun and is setting off with pieces of her art work to sell in a local gallery and with JohnR who is preparing his talk on Life in a Cistercian Community which he will deliver in Richmond, North Yorkshire. And I’m setting off to Lidl to buy gardening products which are so much cheaper there. What am I doing?? I’m going in the Gym where the rain can only be heard on the roof and the TV needs to be turned up a notch.

Friday, 29th March, 2024

They say it’s Good Friday. I’ll be the judge of that! There are definitely some things missing which I have to seek out and I will. Actually, down at the beach it is a very good Friday for sun worshippers.

Real contrast with yesterday. Warm, relatively calm for a turning tide, quiet even on a holiday and with strong colours.

The rhythms of the year are defined by the seasons as dormant Winter gives rise to Spring, blossoms into Summer and fruits in Autumn before the cycle is repeated. Similarly, the calendar is graduated by anachronistic religious festivals – Lent, Easter, Whitsun, Harvest Festival and Christmas.

They all emphasise the continuity of life. For children, these sections seem endless but the older one gets the quicker the transitions seem to arrive. I’ve no idea why but, despite not believing in any religion, we still make Christmas cakes, eat turkey; we still roast a leg of lamb at Easter and make Greek filo lamb parcels with the left overs. Living in Greece, it seemed rude not to.

Sometimes it’s hard to break out of the patterns. Even so, after a difficult year, we have to make this one a whole lot better. I am determined not to be put off. Got to visit, travel meet – all the things I couldn’t do last year. We are feeling a bit hemmed in at the moment. Still one or two medical issues to sort out but it won’t be long, hopefully.

Saturday, 30th March, 2024

Easter Weekend. A lovely, warm morning. You’ll be pleased to know, Dear Reader, that I am celebrating by having my haircut by my Housekeeper. Well, got to keep costs down. Every morning, she also creams my feet. Can you imagine the chiropody bill for that? All the walking I do can lead to problems – dryness and cracking – so I need to be maintained regularly. I understand, you didn’t really need to know that. Well, Easter is a time for honesty. How many self-professed Christians do you know who are really profoundly un-Christian?

Just thought the Philosophy students among you might like this cartoon based on the theory of Schrodinger’s Cat. We atheists have to fight back in a period when Christianity has its little moment.

Just heard from Jane who has spent the week celebrating her 70th birthday in Oporto. It looks nice although I know absolutely nothing about it. In fact, I’ve never been to Portugal at all. Pleased she’s enjoyed her week.

To cap the week, received in the post this morning an appointment to attend Southlands Hospital at Shoreham by Sea for an Abdomen Ultrasound Scan at the end of April. Wonder what that will throw up. Oh, Christians, pray for me – even those pretending to be Christian. It can’t do any harm at least.

Still maintaining hope until the guillotine falls. Incredibly warm, Spring weather this weekend. At mid day, we are reading 16C/61F in brilliant sunshine from clear blue skies. A quick trip to the garden centre was a mistake. All the world was there. Time to sow seeds. Collect all the materials together – seeds, seed compost, propagators and vermiculite to top them off. This is a wonder mineral largely mined in South Africa. It mixes with the soil to absorb and retain moisture but is also used as a cover for seeds to stop them rotting off.

Sunday, 17th March, 2024

Another grey, wet day began as one of mourning. Death of an old and long-loved friend was announced at 5.45 am.

I bought my bedside clock-radio-alarm almost 25 years ago in Huddersfield. It has been with me through good and bad times, through happiness and sadness and looked after me throughout. The news addict that I am, I value this service more than anything else. On automatically at 5.45 am (Why waste the day?) and off at 7.00 am when I get up.

It introduces me to, prepares me for and gets up ready for the coming day. It got me up for work in the early days and kept me up to date with Farming Today (You’d be surprised how interesting that is. Margaret Thatcher was a fan.). I am an expert on Badger Culling, Slurry Spreading, Crop Rotation and Tractor Maintenance.

Just before the Today Programme starts, there is always Tweet of the Day in which someone features the song of a different bird each morning. The Today programme has been with me since the 1960s, since the late, great Jack de Manio and Brian Redhead.

Today, of course, is St Patrick’s Day. It doesn’t mean anything to me other than it reminds me of two years ago today when we were in Midtown Manhattan, New York City just as the parade began to start its route through the city. It was an interesting week.

My clock radio has died before and this time I really though it was terminal. I’m pleased and very relieved to announce that I have managed to resurrect it once again. The news is less good of a young man from our past. It had been announced this morning that Steve Harley of Cockney Rebel has died of cancer at the age of …. 73. The silent drip, drip, drip of our time continues continuously …..

Monday, 18th March, 2024

Well into the second half of March and at least the day is warm and dry with patchy sunshine. The clocks go forward in two weeks and the world will be hurtling towards Summer. Our ‘village’ is decidedly Spring-like with flowers and blossom all around. It’s also rampant with new house developments that have enraged the longer standing village residents.

March is traditionally time for a revival of the housing market. We didn’t really see much down time. We are not NIMBYs. We are comers-in ourselves and didn’t buy for the qualities of a quaint, old village setting.

Over 2000 new homes have been built or started in the 7 years since we arrived. Above is just one, David Wilson development which is in process at the moment. When we moved here, every inch of the area in the above photo was green fields with trees and hedgerows, soon it will be completely covered in residences.

The demand for these homes is fuelled by commutability to London via the rail network and the motorways system, but is also marketed through its proximity to the coast and the Sussex Downs for walking. Sometimes it is hard to imagine that there are enough people to buy these homes within travelling distance to their work from here. If you work on an average of 3 people per household, about 6000 new people have arrived here over 7 years with at least 2000 extra cars.

The demand for new houses has driven up the prices considerably. Starting prices for ‘quality’, 2 bed first homes opens at around £360,000 and a 4 bed home will begin at £700,000. It always makes me laugh when we broke the bank 40 years ago in 1984 to buy a 4 bedroom stone built house in an acre of land in Helme for £74,000. We really thought we had arrived. Now, most people who are buying a similar house without land are paying 10 x that price before kitting it out.

Tuesday, 19th March, 2024

I’m told it’s Tuesday. It could be any day at the moment. They are all blending into each other quite monotonously. Got to do something to mix things up very soon. Go somewhere. See things. Meet people. It’s been coming for some time.

This time two years ago, I was staying in a Sporting Academy complex in Florida – using their Gym and pool, walking in the sunshine and enjoying lovely company. The IMG campus was huge.

At the weekend, while watching the build up to the 6 Nations match, a report on a member of the Welsh team moving to American sport was featured from the same IMG Academy complex in Bradenton, Florida and warm memories flooded back.

We may not go back to Florida until next year but intend to make a number of shorter trips in the next few months. Must go to France a few times soon, to the North soon and then fly to Thessaloniki in June and Athens in August. Got to start moving!

Pauline has always kept mementoes as she has moved through the timeline of her life. Things that are time or person specific, things of her Mum & Dad, of our married life and of our travels. Generally, they are not moribund items stuffed away in a box but she tries to incorporate them into her current life. When she was 21, she had a little party with her College friends in Tottenham. They were Food Science students and bought her a large, glass mixing bowl 51 years ago. She uses it almost every day even now.

In the mid 1970s, a blocked drain outside our first house in Meltham, Huddersfield was excavated. This blue jewel of of fluorite emerged from the mud. Who knows how it got there. Our house was the original, 19th century Coaching House in the grounds of the Mansion house. It certainly had centuries of history to reclaim. It reclaimed some of my memories this morning when I came upon it although I tend to collect people not things.

Wednesday, 20th March, 2024

The Spring Equinox, Dear Reader. Yet another one! The word equinox comes from two Latin words meaning equal and night.

From here, the days increasingly get longer than the nights which is why clocks go forward in 10 days to make use of all that daylight. I would prefer them staying that way. Bugger Scotland. They can have their own time zone if they like.

While daylight/sunlight gets longer, inflation is coming down. Today it was announced at 3.4%. After years of making next to no income from cash savings, I am feeling so much better. Having tied money up at a loss for many years, I bought 3 year fixed-rate bonds at 6.1% last year when inflation was 9.4%, now I have more than 18 months left while lower inflation means I am making positive earnings and it is predicted to be down to 2% by winter. Because of that, I am continuing the process of investing it in ISAs to shelter it from tax. We can only make £2000 a year tax free unless it is in an ISA wrapper so I will be buying another £40,000 next month when the new tax year allows it.

Of course, prices aren’t coming down. They are just going up a little more slowly. Today, we bought the last of Sainsburys cans of Virgin Olive Oil. Only 2 years ago, we were buying this 3L can for £7.35. Today, each can was £16.10. Fortunately, we can afford to pay it but many can’t. The Spanish themselves are largely turning away from their own olive oils in favour of cheaper seed/nut oils.

Exactly 52 years ago this morning, I was regretting everything. I had sprinted across the College lawns from the Cottages to reach the student bar, affectionately know as the Wilkie, with just 30 mins to closing time at 11.00 pm. I was meeting my friend, Kevin, who had a pint of John Smith’s Bitter waiting for me. Three pints later (well we had 30 minutes), we saw something going on down in the carpark. A coach had arrived. Students were getting on it in the darkness. We learnt that they were going to do the Lyke Wake Walk. For me, after 3 pints in 30 minutes, they could have been doing naked sunbathing at midnight so when Kevin said, Come on. Let’s do it., I stupidly agreed.

Almost 12 hours later and after 40 miles of walking under the moonlight – the Lyke Wake Walk is a complete crossing of the North Yorkshire Moors – I had feet covered in blisters and very aching legs. Actually, Kevin had heard that the Marines had run the entire route and thought we should emulate them. We tried but just couldn’t sustain it. I don’t think I could walk 40 miles now.

Thursday, 21st March, 2024

Yesterday launched Summer at the start of Spring. We were warm – 18C/65F – and gorgeously sunny. The lawns were mowed. Minds turned to gardening. Well, I turned my gardener’s mind to clearing the pots and weeding the raised beds. I think she enjoyed it. My job today is forking over, aerating the soil and topping it up with fresh. Next I can book a company to come and professionally clean the surrounding patio, drive and front path so we will be ready for the season.

As a reward for her work yesterday, the gardener has ordered 5 new swimming costumes in readiness for European travel. She tells me her bikini days are over. I suspect she won’t need them in Oldham but you never know.

My friend, Kevin, is in mourning because his favourite pub is being converted into apartments. They could convert all pubs to apartments for me. I’ve offered him my choice as an alternative.

We have a plumber here this morning fitting a new shower in one of the bathrooms. We think this shower has started to lose its power because it is rarely used. Since living in Greece, we both prefer showers to baths and should rotate through the bathrooms but generally use the same one each time because it’s a bigger, walk-in one.

As the general Election looms, we are still only hearing from one, political party in our new constituency. Labour are becoming increasingly confident of winning down here for the first time in over 50 years. The sitting Conservative MP is so old he is the Father of the House of Commons. Sir Peter Bottomley is 80 this year. Time to retire! Time for a Change!

Our Labour candidate is a lively, young-ish, local doctor. Exactly the sort of character to represent a thrusting area such as this. If she can win here against the weight of history then Labour can sweep the board across the country. The Tories are jumping ship in so many places. Noticed that the candidate for Manchester Mayor has defected to the Reform Party this morning. He wouldn’t have stood a chance anyway.

Friday, 22nd March, 2024

Strange dream last night. I was 90 years old – only 17 years away. Still reasonably fit but I seemed to be talking in the wind, having a one way conversation that had lasted for years. There was nothing coming back. Wondered if it was my Blog. It was very uncomfortable.

Very warm but overcast day. At least it’s still dry. Every morning over Breakfast I am sent a news briefing from various parts of the country and parts of the world that are/have been significant to me over time. This morning there was a story about a woman being knocked down on Falinge Road in Rochdale. It wasn’t the dark, damp, chilly night that struck me. It wasn’t the 42 year old drug-driver who struck the elderly woman. What hit me hardest was that we were told the woman was 72! Elderly woman aged 72!!! What is happening?? We’ll all be living on canal boats at this rate. At least we won’t get run down.

These things are beginning to get to me more and more. This week, I decided I could be a WASPI woman. Think of all the compensation. My Housekeeper missed out on 15 months state pension because of the unannounced change. That could amount to more that 20p in compensation. Actually, the Right Wing Press is arguing that Wealthy ‘WASPIs should be barred from compensation. Just think, elderly woman died without compensation. I don’t know which is worse.

Saturday, 23rd March, 2024

After a clear night and the garden illuminated by a nearly full moon, the day has opened to a glorious morning. Blue sky, strong sunshine, feeling of vibrant life and possibilities. I’m going out to buy …. a new garden brush! Woohoo!!

I have to wish P&C a happy anniversary. It is 67 years ago today that Pauline’s sister got married. Pauline, the mistake, was just 5 years old. This is the happy couple on Oldham Wakes holiday in Blackpool three months after their wedding in 1957.

I bought a new garden brush to sweep away the winter detritus from the garden and then walked across the beach as the sea was rushing in to clean the pebbles once again.

Pauline had ordered 5 swim suits and a couple of dresses for the holidays in the sun. Today, we returned 3 of the swim suits and one of the dresses and the company took them back at their expense although I suppose it was factored into the price. I was quite surprised that she went for an ethnic, ‘Aztec’ design which you might expect Pocahontas to wear but she looks nice in it and it is so cheap it won’t matter if sun cream stains it.

We’ve got almost 12 weeks until we do a hot sun trip so I suspect there will be plenty more where that came from. It won’t be quite the same in France where anything goes. I am currently looking at just getting in the car and driving – perhaps booking ahead by one night at a time. Route: Coquelles, Wimereux, Boulogne, Le Touquet, Saint Valery, Dieppe, Le Havre, Saint Malo, Nantes, La Rochelle, Bordeaux … and relax. I definitely need to move and explore, to find new places and people, to revisit and rejoin places and people from the past. I intend to do all 0f those things this year.

For me the changing seasons mean travelling and gardening. For my Housekeeper. they mean ingredients and menus. As in Greece so it is in UK. Easter means Roast Lamb. We virtually never eat lamb throughout the year but at Easter it is obligatory. Of course, we recognise that it is a religious thing – The Lamb of God – in which we are not invested. However, the tradition is fun to observe. In Greece, it would be a whole lamb spit roast outside in the sunshine. Here, it is a leg of lamb from Waitrose roasted with home grown rosemary and mint.

Sunday, 10th March, 2024

Pleasant, soft day of calm. You could almost think it was a Sunday. Things are so far gone that we have both forgotten Mothers’ Day. I struggle to remember, feel sentimental about the loss nowadays. I know, it says more about me but just being honest.

I have one job and one job only. I have to copy our old phones to our new phones and then the trouble starts. If you have never had to do this, you won’t understand but it is a nightmare!

When I swap Apple iPads, the copy across is easy and straightforward but I’ve been invested in Android phones for twenty years and I enjoy my Samsung phones, watches, etc so I am persevering. Today, with two, new phones, I am copying apps and data so that our lives continue seamlessly. Or not.

I keep all my texts back over the past 5 years, my social media connections and they are important to me. They copied across perfectly. Whatsapp messages copied across. Eventually, it all came down to Pauline’s smartwatch which gave me trouble. It took two hours before her data flooded into the phone and all was well. I don’t know why I put myself through it. I sent out Whatsapps and got successful replies. I sent out texts and got some successful replies. Emails are working.

It has been such a stressful morning, it will be good to get in the Gym and work off the aches of the day. Raining in the North this morning. It must affect their texts. Watched a few minutes of Huddersfield Town at home in strong rain. Not a pretty sight. They were winning for … 10 minutes but lost 1-4 to Kevin’s chagrin.

Monday, 11th March, 2024

Warm, grey and overcast. Oh, I know the feeling. Well, quite a few jobs to get through plus a couple of hours in the Gym. One of the bathroom sinks has developed a slow leak. Got to get the plumber. While he’s here, he can fix the flow of one of the bathrooms’ showers. This afternoon, the House Security System is doing the annual service so we have to be here. Don’t want him breaking in!

Finally agreed to sell our two, old (nearly new) phones for £642.00 to a resale company called Meelie Mobile in Newcastle-under-Lyme. According to their website, they will sell them on for about £1000.00. They are in perfect condition after two years of use having been protected by back cases and front screen covers. Good luck to them. I’m quite happy. I ordered all the extras – covers, screen protectors, etc, from Amazon Prime. I love it. Next day delivery ‘free’ and free and easy returns if you don’t like them … which I don’t. New ones ordered to be delivered tomorrow. Rejects going back tomorrow.

We’ve decided that our plumber isn’t as good as we first thought and I have to look for another. Our local Checkatrade has quite a few but how do I decide? I just pick one and call. If they’re rubbish, I won’t use them again. We’ve phoned Plumber on Tap because I like the name. He will be with us tomorrow.

Talked to Julie this morning. Kevin’s wife, Chris, is going up to see her this week which is both ironic and magnanimous. Both are in a flurry to get things at their best. Kevin won’t be there. I wonder why.

Anyway, I’m going in the Gym to hide away from the world. Until I go on a Kings’ drive to discover what lies beyond. Can you believe the Royal Family deliberately deceiving their slavering public by altering photographs. Is there anyone who actually cares? I certainly don’t. They are irrelevant to modern Britain.

Tuesday, 12th March, 2024

A truly horrible day of heavy rain. Warm but terribly wet. There is so much to do but the climate is revolting. Early this morning we had to go out for some purchases.

No wonder I use Amazon Prime who deliver ‘free of charge’ next day to my door. By the end of this week I will have received deliveries from them on 5 consecutive days. I know it sounds mad but phone covers and screen protectors. Some rejected and returned with new ones ordered. Computer/iPad Screen cleaner, specialist lighting tubes used in the bathrooms but which I can’t be bothered hunting for in the real world, Sellotape pack, mobile trickle charger for the side of my bed. It’s the delivery people I feel sorry for. They constantly looked shattered and stressed. Come to think of it, I remember that feeling …

The Home Security service man arrived yesterday afternoon. It took him precisely 15 minutes to check the system, PIRs, Alarm battery, sound box, etc. That costs £110.00 per year. Actually, it is more of an insurance policy because they come out immediately in crisis times when the alarm goes off. It would be incredibly stressful for the neighbourhood particularly if we were away.

Think I’m giving up the will to live. We have a dear friend who is struggling with terminal cancer. It is almost unimaginable. Sometimes death seems to follow us round. I was reading an article written by a Hospice nurse about the most common things people in their final days regret:

• ‘ I wish I hadn’t dedicated so much of my life to working so hard.’ …
• ‘ I wish I’d lived my life the way I wanted, not how others expected me to behave.’ …
• ‘ I regret losing touch with so many of my friends’. …
• ‘ I wish I’d been brave enough to express my feelings more’. ‘ …
• ‘ I wish I’d let myself be happier’.

So many of these things could apply to me. They are a wake up call for the now, for the alive. Learn from other’s mistakes. They Stay With Me.

I have a problem with sex. I am strictly heterosexual and I just can’t watch a homosexual kiss on screen or anywhere else. It is clearly becoming more acceptable in the media but I just cannot watch it. I have literally to avert my eyes. I have tried to examine my response but I really don’t know if it is cultural or physical or a blend of the two. Maybe, I am a product of my time when overt homosexuality was a crime and the generations coming after me will be much more liberal and accepting.

I am in my 70s and like to think I’m fairly open minded. I have no objection to same-sex couples even though I find it impossible to face it myself. I have much more discomfort with Gender Dysphoria which is the subject of action today as the NHS withdraws from the gender-altering process of so-called Trans Children.

Wednesday, 13th March, 2024

Pleasant, dry and fairly bright day. Really warm. Not feeling at my best today – old, fat, tired. Got to get going. Got some photo editing to do today. Making a card for a friend wearing bikini and wellies (her not me) in this weather.

I enjoy photo editing so the recent Royal debacle has rather amused me. Anything which undermines the Monarchy cheers me up and putting out a publicly sanctioned photo is a bit different to the personal things I do but anybody who uses social media trespasses into this sphere regularly.

Above, two separate photos of Littlehampton beach where the River Arun flows into the sea are then knitted together to create a more panoramic but untruthful shot.

Looks a bit cold and grey so I’ve warmed it up a little by adjusting the colour saturation and hue using a Photoshop precursor I’ve been using for years – Macromedia Fireworks.

There is plenty of speculation that Kate has been editing out the difficult parts of her life and not just the sleeve in a photo. It is possible that she wasn’t even there for the ‘officially published photo but superimposed he face in between kids on a computer. It isn’t difficult and it hasn’t taken the cartoonists long to see the funny side. If only Sunak could Photoshop his difficulties away.

Thursday, 14th March, 2024

Lovely warm and sunny morning. After the warmest Winter we have ever known and in which we have almost forgotten how to use the central heating, this morning we are …. having the central heating serviced. My secretary is nothing if not assiduous about such things.

A couple of days ago, we had the Security System serviced at an annual cost of £110.00 and the Central Heating service today is undertaken by British Gas at an annual cost of £310.00. Although we have been her for 7 years now from ‘new’, very little is showing signs of wear and tear. The central heating and security systems are working as good as new. The boiler is fairly small and hidden in a cupboard in the Utility Room. It’s a cupboard we never open. It’s unnecessary.

Everything is done remotely from phones, iPads and computers. It is so much more convenient. It is also so much more economical. You want the towel rails heating for warm towels after a shower. Turn them on just Upstairs while working in the Office downstairs. You want to cool the Gym, turn the fan on before you get there. This is how life should be organised. I bet you can’t do this on a canal boat!

My friend, Kevin, and I have exchanged memories. He’s done a 12 mile bike ride today for fitness. I reminded him that I did one in July 1972 to attend my sister’s wedding. There were no early morning buses to the station in Harrogate. I had to borrow my flatmate, Nigel’s bike. I had bought a new, black, 3-piece suit from Burton’s in Ripon – £99.00.

Dressed in my suit, I biked from Ripon to Harrogate at 5.00 am. The crows on the road were massive and very intimidating. After 12 miles, I got there in time because I was very fit then. I was at the wedding but that was the last time I ever rode bike.

Kevin did his afternoon ride this afternoon. It was just 12 miles but not in a Burton’s suit.

Friday, 15th March, 2024

Up very early to get through our own jobs before we set out to help others. Off to Sainsburys to shop for ourselves and then home to prepare for a drive to Surrey.

We were on a mercy mission this morning as we left early to drive up to Surrey. P&C had got into a muddle with the new television we had installed for them. They were only able to watch CNN …. a fate worse than death. Anyone who has been stuck in a foreign hotel room with the only English channel as CNN will know how hard it can be. I knew that the problem was that they had altered the source from the Freeview box. It took minutes to rectify even though the process wasn’t easy to explain over the phone.

The drive was typically Spring moving through warm sunshine and sharp rain storms and back again. We knew that the M25 around there would be closed at the weekend and it was absolutely packed this morning so we went through Cobham instead. It was a good decision.

The TV took minutes to restore and to rehearse with P&C so they could restore it themselves if anything went wrong again.

Pauline noticed their fridge was empty so we shot off to Tesco by the old, Brooklands car race track. We got a reasonable trolley of fruit and vegetables, meat and cheese, wine and chocolate and delivered it back to P&C before setting off on the 90 mins drive home. The drive was typically Spring weather moving through warm sunshine and sharp rain storms and back again. Beautiful blossom everywhere – May Blossom on the roadsides, Magnolia trees in gardens, Cherry blossom in public spaces.

Saturday, 16th March, 2024

Unfortunately P&C are finding life increasingly demanding to deal with. A BT engineer arrived while we were there yesterday. Nobody, including the engineer seemed to know why he had arrived. He left but, by the time we had driven home, their phone line had stopped working. Something had happened which we will have to spend this morning sorting out.

Everything is difficult because of Privacy and Public Liability laws. Even though Pauline shares Power of Attorney, BT will not discuss anything with her about someone else without specific information she just doesn’t have. Perhaps she could phone P&C … if their line hadn’t been cut. We could have driven up there again but the M25 is closed all weekend. Anyway, it turns out that P&C are now having their copper wired land line removed and switched over to a VOIP (voice over internet protocol) one. BT is pushing everyone in that direction. The only thing is that they are charging people £40.00 to fit a new broadband hub. If I’d known yesterday, I could have done it for them for free.

Kevin told me this morning that Julia – my goddaughter – had just completed a very successful Ofsted as SENCO of her school in York. I’ve had a nice chat with her this morning. She is a lovely girl and Kevin is justifiably very proud of her.

In the 6 Nations rugby this afternoon, I want all the away teams to win. The hardest one will be England in Paris but I would particularly like Italy to stuff the Welsh. They deserve it. I’ll be watching from the treadmill and pretending that I’m still playing. It’s quite difficult nowadays to face up to the fact that I will never play again. In fact, never work again. Still, we can all dream and there are still plenty of things that I can and will do again, Dear Reader.

My little sister, Cathy, was in London the other day. I asked her if she was visiting one of my many other sisters, Liz, on her house boat. No fear, she said, I can’t stand boats. All these years and I’d never know that …. a real testament to my sensitivity.