Sanders Blog

Sunday, 24th May, 2026

And the heat goes on … These are days to be savoured.

What are days for?
Days are where we live.
They come, they wake us   
Time and time over.
They are to be happy in:   
Where can we live but days?

Philip Larkin, “Days ” from Whitsun Weddings.

Do you savour them, Dear Reader? It is one of the problems I have. I have written about it before but the concept constantly troubles me and comes to a head in these days. If you read the Blog yesterday, you will see that I ended the afternoon with champagne in the garden. It is a lovely thing to do after working hard in the hot sun. It is a moment in time. I did enjoy it but it is a moment in time and I find myself struggling to relax in to it as an unrelated moment.

Artists, poets, bon viveurs extoll the moment. The frozen moment in time. Just look at this photo in the early morning across our South Downs National Park down to the sea. Sea mist is drifting in to the sunlight, the hot air balloon is surveying the green carpet beneath it and quintessential England goes on.

But does it? Of course not. This is a snapshot in time and ignores all context. The politics of the region are bubbling. The commerce of the region is thrusting and insisting. The humanity of the region is struggling, coping, enjoying success, failing badly, caring, entering its final days. Just pick any one of those variations. I find it impossible to let go for that one, idyllic moment.

Larkin’s poem ends with these lines:

Ah, solving that question
Brings the priest and the doctor   
In their long coats
Running over the fields.

In other words, everything has to be seen within the ultimate parameters of life and death. When I compare the glorious panolpy of our South Downs with the relatively minor work we have been doing in our Neighbourhood, it looks paltry but it gives me a sense of integrity and contribution. We have planted up 20 small beds each with about 20 mixed plants which we have grown ourselves over weeks.

They look small now but they will fill out and grow up to make a statement of unity in our community as people drive in. It brings people together to talk about and maintain the planting over the Summer. A new resident found himself meeting many others yesterday as he came out to ask me what was going on. Just as the plants develop so does the community; not a moment in time but time out of a moment.

Monday, 25th May, 2026

The start of the European Tour begins in a week. What better time for Trump to pretend that the Iran War was solved. Just that suggestion put the dollar down and the pound up against the Euro. Useful really because we have bills to settle.

We booked a suite for a week in the Electra Palace Thessaloniki almost a year ago. We knew the week would cost about £4,000.00 but we also knew we didn’t have to pay until a week before we arrived. In that way, if anything unforeseen happened, we could cancel right up to the last minute without losing out. Of course, that puts us at the mercy of the fluctuating exchange rate.

When we booked, the Exchange was £1.00 = €1.19. Since Trump’s escapade into Iran, the rate had fallen to £1.00 = €1.14. At least today it is back nearer €1.16 which will help a little – well, about £80.00. Not to be sneezed at.

Rather than pay exchange charges abroad and those annoying Non-Sterling Transaction Fees back home from our bank, I just set my default payment card on my phone to Direct Debit and I pay no exchange charges at all. I still need a few Euros for taxis and tips in the hotel, etc, so I’ve had to go out and buy some more this morning having used some up in France recently.

We are home from Greece for just 5 days and then we are off again for month in Spain. It will just give us time to check the automatic watering system in the garden, wash a few clothes and repack before driving to the airport.

We bought our flights – 2 x return flights to Northern Greece, 2 x return flights to Spain, 2 x return flights to Athens & 2 x return flights to Tenerife last September. There was a concern recently that flights would be cancelled, merged or subject to fuel surcharges. European, short haul flights are always Easyjet for us. They are fantastically reliable and so they are proving this time. They have assured us of our flights and no post booking fuel surcharges.

We are going to be at home for most of August apart for a week in The Electra Palace Athens where we have until a week before we travel to pay another £4,000.00 for a suite there. So, a more permanent solution to the war in Iran would help.

In the meantime, we’ve been down to the beach this morning and it was hot, busy with lots of people swimming and making excited noises, just enjoying a day off work. I remember that. Today, as the guage reads 34C/93F, we are enjoying cheese and biscuits in the garden with a bottle of wine. Must clean the patio tomorrow.

Tuesday, 26th May, 2026

We didn’t fall below 20C/68F over night and it is already 25C/77F at 8.00 am today. Planting out has finished for now but I have quite a few spare plants at the moment. I may be distributing them to neighbours. Certainly, I’ve got so many Basil plants growing on at the moment that I will have to make them presents for people.

At them moment, potted plants need constantly watering in this wonderful sunshine. They are really enjoying the warmth like me.

But today’s task is patio cleaning. This involves sweeping and then spraying an active but non-acidic solution which sinks below the surface and into the stone (composite) over a period of weeks. All the grime and stains of the Winter just melt away leaving the paving all but brand new. It is an almost magical process. It’s going to be hot work today.

Before that, my Housekeeper needs a medical appointment before we go away in exactly one week. She has an inner ear infection that is giving her some distress and it needs clearing up quickly. The system for getting an appointment could have been made for me. Online and with distinct question boxes needing precise information writing in them, they are a thing of delight.

In our Medical Centre, they are fulfilling the national requirement for online contact but keeping the old 8.00 am start of the online form being available. They say it is to stop them being overwhelmed by requests and I understand that. What it results in is preparing the answers to the online form in advance and then copying and pasting into the form at 8.00 am. It means that one can be concise but articulate, descriptive and directive having had time to refine the words in advance.

Wednesday, 27th May, 2026

Warm rather than hot over night but it is 8.00 am and the temperature is already 24C/75F. We are in full ‘going away’ mode now. The garden is looking good after a busy period of plant production. The house is being prepared. We are abroad for 5 out of the next six weeks with just 5 days back home so we are dealing with things as a continuous absence.

Smoke alarms which once embarrassed us on the first day after we had set off for a month away by issuing their highly piercing alarm are being serviced today. We have 5 interconnected across the house and setting one off sets them all off so it is important to get right. In the past ten years we have never set one off with smoke. We think it was a spider that did it. You just can’t stop spiders smoking these days.

We may be spending around £6,000.00 on a week’s trip to Greece but it doesn’t stop my personal shopper looking for bargains. This morning, I was shopping in Asda … yes, Asda because they are selling Sun Cream at 3 for 2. Do know how much sun cream costs, Dear Reader. I was shocked to find out that one of these bottles sells at £7.70 so quite a saving buying 3 for 2. They will be meticulously decanted into airline-sized 100 ml bottles.

Just shows how good our Doctors’ Surgery system is at the moment. My Housekeeper has an appointment with a GP this afternoon. Important to get antibiotics to kick in before we fly. Meanwhile clothes (well, shorts and teeshirts) are being prepared for packing, I.T. equipment being prepared for travelling and the house security systems being rehearsed.

This time, in addition to alarms and automatic lights and CCTV cameras, we have our Ring Video Doorbell which is really proving a useful addition. Of course, it has been so successful that I have already caved in and taken out a subscription to the Cloud and Notification Service. Of course, I saved £10.00 by taking out an annual plan but it still seems a bit steep when I could do it for myself if they let me.

I am watering the entire street again just to give all the plants we’ve put out a reasonable chance of survival. The forecast when we are away is excellent. I won’t need the automatic watering system on for this first week. We are set to receive rain for 5 of the 7 days we are away … and about time.

Before that, everything is to be enjoyed. It is 1.00 pm and 32C/90F. The main jobs of the day have been achieved and we feel we’ve earned Lunch in the garden. Everywhere is quiet. People are at work or working indoors. Half Term but there are virtually no children around here. It is delightful.

I was awake at 4.30 am this morning listening to a political podcast. I have been active since 7.00 am and, having done 5 hours of physical work in that heat was enough today. I was tired, wet and dehydrated all at the same time. It is time for a rest.

Thursday, 28th May, 2026

We were 20C over night again but we woke to high and broken fleecy clouds in a blue sky. I was chauffeur to the Hairdressers this morning. The parking is awful so I am the alternative and one of us needs their hair doing in readiness for going away. I have about an hour and a half to drop off, drive home, do some jobs and get back for the haircut girl.

One of the main jobs of the day is watering, watering, watering. Plants everywhere are crying out for it. It is more humid today but there is no sign of rain until Monday-Tuesday as we drive to the airport and fly to Greece.

Do you know what this delicate, little flower is, Dear Reader? It is the short-lived potato flower. My potatoes are just starting to flower now which means they will be ready for lifting in 6 weeks when I return from Spain. The forecast is for rain here on 5 of the 7 days I am away this time and then I will set up an automatic system for the month in Spain.

Basil seedlings germinated in a new and revolutionary way have exceeded expectations and are growing on in the frames. They will go out to neighbours this weekend because ours are growing on in the beds already.

Ours are already doing well in deep beds to be harvested in August when we are at home. They will be used immediately to make Pesto for the Winter.

About three years ago, I bought my latest bean-to-cup coffee maker from De Longhi. It did cost me about £750.00 at the time. I use it to make about 4 Capuccinos each day. According to BBC Radio 4 this morning, they could now cost me £20.00 each day or £5,475.00 over the 3 years on the High Street.

Business costs and raw product costs have hit an all-time high. It certainly pays to invest ahead. And I don’t have to leave my Kitchen, mingle with smelly people or sit on an uncomfortable chair at a grubby table.

Friday, 29th May, 2026

A humid night has given way to a less sunny but equally humid morning. My job this morning is the last lawn mowing before going away. My Under Gardener is tasked with Hedge Trimming. At least it is exercising in the daylight and healthy for all that.

Over Breakfast we have the conservatory doors wide open and, as I moved to the Office, a mosquito came in to accompany me. They are becoming increasingly common down here but this one didn’t last long because I hit it with a can of killer spray which I keep on the bookshelves just for that job. Hate mosquitoes. They used to love me in Greece and, of course, you always hurt the one you love.

Living down here, we don’t use too much heating throughout the year. We have gas central heating like most people even though we would have preferred electric underfloor heating. The option was not agreed to by our builders. Even so, water heating (constant) and a lot of cooking is done with gas and our monthly (averaged out) bill is £46.00 or £552.00 annually.

Electricity is a different matter. We are extremely extravagant with computers, televisions, two, large Freezers + fridge, air cooling systems, things on charge all the time. Our monthly (averaged out) bill is £137.00 or £1,644.00 annually. So our total Dual Fuel bill is £2196.00.

We are with British Gas and our consumption is already £85.00 above what they estimate the average household uses annually. Our contract comes to an end this summer so, with a new price cap coming into effect, I am setting up new tarrifs. With the electricity cost rising by around £9.00 per month and the gas price rising by about £25.00 per month, our annual power bill will increase over £400.00 which is not insubstantial.

Anyway, it has to be done and I should be grateful that we can afford it. What about poor people on low wages? They still need to heat their homes and stay warm/cool.

It is two years now since I was declared cancer-free. I’ve always treated that as a tendentious position but time softens the concern …. until you read news items like this. Tom Watson had Prostate Cancer. Like me, he was declared ‘free’ in 2023. At least I am checked twice a year. What I can’t understand at all is why these checks should be denied to all men over 50.

Saturday, 30th May, 2026

What a gorgeous morning to be alive. Warm, sunny, still, quiet – a day to celebrate being alive. At this exact moment Radio 4 is saying out loud in my Office:

You never know what’s around the corner so, if you’ve got someone you love, hold them close because you never know how long you’ve got them for.

At that moment, I realise what a sad, old man I am. A lad, man, old man who I haven’t seen since 1972 but who I’ve been talking to over the past 5 years announced yesterday that the cancer which he thought was gone two years ago had returned and is now in his lymph nodes and liver. I didn’t need to be told how bad that was but he has been given a maximum of 18 months to live.

I just can’t imagine what that is like even though I did face an indeterminate fate myself over the past few years. To be given that definitive outlook might seem clearer but also almost impossible to face. I’ve always thought that if it happened to me, I would break every rule I had observed in the past and feel totally uninhibited. There are some things I would definitely do and, no, I’m not telling you.

Almost 12 months ago, Pauline’s sister, Phyllis, died after a fall. She was nearly 88 years old. A year has gone so fast and yet this memory came up from the Oldham Chronicle in 1958 when Phyllis was just 20 years old. She is the top centre and, as always, trying to better herself. So long ago. I was just approaching 7 years old and about to get a birthday present of a green garden rake, fork and spade. I can remember it so clearly.

The heat over the past week and the long, outdoor days I have spent working have left me feeling incredibly tired. I’ve even questioned myself and wondered if it was a sign of age but I’ve been in bed early for the past few days and I never go to bed early normally. It was about 11.15 last night and I had just gone to bed and started to nod off as my phone blasted out a Whatsapp arrival. I shot up as if there was a fire. It was my lovely neighbour, Jill, former B.A. Hostess, asking if we wanted help in the garden while we are away.

We are in Northern Greece for just a week and, fortunately, it is forecast to rain here on every single day while we are away. I was able to tell her god (or Pan in our case as confirmed atheists) had everything in hand. We are back from Greece for just 5 days and then off for a month so she will almost certainly be needed then.

Sunday, 17th May, 2026

A warm and bright morning to drive up to sunny Surrey for a Birthday Party. It is a birthday party that has led to me doing some quite unusual things over the past couple of days. Anybody who knows me will know that I do not do clothes shopping; I do not go into clothes shops.

So, it was strange to find myself here. It was in a search for a teeshirt for a 90 year old. A teeshirt was bought but it wouldn’t have been my choice. My view was that, if you can’t wear a jokey teeshirt when you’re 90, when can you? I lost that argument until ….

…. at 5.00 am yesterday when I was woken to be told we need a printed teeshirt for the birthday. Amazon couldn’t do same day delivery but Google rarely lets me down. I found a local ‘business’ that said it would do printing-while-you-wait. We drove over there to what turned out to be a semi-detached house. The owner arrived on a motorbike as we parked up and he met us and took us in to what I assumed was a workshop. It was cluttered with little ornaments, bottles of spirits and grubby furniture. It was filthy, very ‘unloved’ and ill maintained. A woman shuffled in from a kitchen and I suddenly realised that was their Lounge.

I had one of those double-take moments. How could you live like that? Would you really not clean and tidy it? How could you be comfortable in that chaotic situation? It made me quite emotional and trembly. It took me back over 50 years when I was looking for somewhere to rent in Oldham as a young teacher. The quality of accomodation was so desperate that it reduced me to a blubbering wreck. I was asking the question: How can people live in these circumstances?

The house was across the road from a Secondary School which I learnt the owner had attended. Thinking about it later, he must have been a Special Needs boy who, in his terms, had made a success of his lfe by running a business from home. He had got together enough cash to buy the equipment for Stencil Cutting and Heat Transfer Printing. He said it made him enough to live on. Obviously, it didn’t provide much more than that but he seemed happy with it. We paid him £10.00 for a 15 minute job. Certainly, it is salutory to be reminded of the poverty that some people are condemned to cope with and just accept as the way life is.

As I knew it would, the image and sensations haunted me throughout the night and it was the first thing I woke up thinking about.

The party was delightful when we got up to Surrey. It was nice to see M&K again. And to see Richard and Alexis. Colin had so many lovely relatives and friends that the party extended to nearly 30 people with a good buffet and lovely wine, a cake made to Colin’s tastes

The residents of the Care Home were invited to wine and cake and a Frank Sinatra Tribute Act for half an hour. I sat next to a lovely couple who were there on Respite Care. He had been an Accountant and she had been an Advertising Executive. Not fully understanding who needed the respite care, I launched into a full blown conversation over a glass of wine. What had I done for a profession? Where did I live? I politely returned the questions and that was where things started to go wrong. The lovely, bright and lively lady had to ask her husband where they lived. Having told them that I lived in Worthing near Brighton, I suddenly realised that every second question she asked me was: And where do you live?

It’s a terrible affliction which I really hope to avoid. I couldn’t see myself shut in those confines for my own good but I saw ghosts of my past across the room. Perhaps it is where we’ll all meet our end.

Monday, 18th May, 2026

Yesterday was such a positive day. The 90 year old Birthday Boy who allegedly is suffering Dementia certainly rose to the occasion. He recognised and was keen to greet all his guests. He visibly made a real effort to enjoy the attention and ‘play his part’ in the day which his daughter had gone to such effort to plan. It was a symbol of how to do things well with conviction and love. But it all became too much and 90 proved to be too tiring. Colin was asleep in his chair when we left.

As we drove home, I thought about that. Living in a quiet, peaceful environment all of your days and then being suddenly being invaded is enough to make anyone exhausted. Not used to lots of socialising myself, all that talking and glad handing left me exhausted as well …. or, perhaps it was the wine. Even so, it made me grateful for my life.

I returned to receive a letter from the Bowel Cancer Screening Programme telling me that all was clear and I wouldn’t need a follow-up for 2 more years when I will be 77. I also had a reminder that we must Check-in online for our flights to Spain in 5 weeks time.

But first I must wish my little sister, Caroline, Happy 64th Birthday. Living over there in Ireland, she seems happy enough even though she has to wait another 3 years before she receives her State Pension … if little, Irish bog trotters ever do. She has lived, worked and paid tax in Southern Ireland for so many years I don’t know what her entitlement actually is.

She is pictured here in 1966 on the sand where the sea obviously fell steeply off the beach. It was World Cup year and I wasn’t on this holiday. Ironically, I was in Southern Ireland touring around Lough Derg in County Donegal in a horse drawn caravan like some Irish Tinker. When I left home in 1969, she was just an annoying little smidge. I’m sure she hasn’t changed. I think of her regularly.

We are lucky to have nice people around us even if they are not always nearby. We have made two transatlantic flights to Florida and have been lucky enough to have B.A. flights with beds to sleep. It made the journey so much more manageable.

Little M wants us to return although we are currently resisting re-entering Trumpland. She is trying everything and, of course, she will win in the end but her latest nudge is to bring us a bottle of strawberry-flavoured, melatonin gummies. Melatonin is well known and has been used for a long time as an aid to regulate sleep cycles and overcome jetlag. I’m going to try it out tonight. If the Blog is late tomorrow, you’ll know why. I am still dreaming of being greeted by an orange man-baby at Tampa Airport.

Back to earth now as we go out to plant up the street. Hoping it will rain tonight to bed them all in. Going to be steamy, hot and sunny as the week goes on – perfect plant growing weather. …. Well, the planting went well. My Under Gardener made sure of that. I decided that I couldn’t rely on rain and had just reeled out 350 metres of hose to start watering when the ‘heavens opened’ and natural irrigation took over.

Tuesday, 19th May, 2026

I was so shattered last night after a long day of gardening that I forgot to take the melatonin sweets and fell instantly asleep. At least the weather did its job and heavily irrigated the new plants throughout the night. It was still raining this morning at 6.00 am. I was having a Whatsapp conversation with my next door neighbour last night when she thanked me for the gardening outside. I told her I was happy to do it in Retirement as she would be in another 20 years. At 6.00 am today, she messaged me to say she had looked outside and decided to retire immediately.

We received a thank you photo from the birthday boy yesterday with his party bag of sweets and his card. At least he looks happy.

If I live to 150, I will never understand women. Took my wife for a blood test this morning and then on to Sainsburys. She came out of the surgery with one of those cotton wool pads stuck over the wound on her arm. We get to Sainsbury’s and she asks if she should remove the dressing. As so often, I don’t really understand the question but ask her, Why? Answer, Because it doesn’t match my outfit. Sometimes I despair.

Some people live to 90. Some die young. I was reading of the death of Scott Hastings, a fantastic Scottish Rugby International and incredibly fit man. He was just 61 and died of incurable non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma which just proves we never know who or what is around the corner. I think of my own father who died aged just 49 years old.

I found this Business Notice in The London Gazette (est. 1665) which announced that my Great Grandfather, Edwin Thomas Sanders, at the age of just 60, wanted to retire from his partnership in a Joiners & Builders firm he had set up with the Dolman family in the 1880s. He died just 7 years later.

The parnership was dissolved and the business separated between their eldest sons. In 1920, my Grandfather was 31 and in his prime. His son, my Dad, was just 5 years old but in those days lives and lineage was much more predictable especially in the Middle Classes. Grandfather established his new firm of Builders with my 5 year old Dad already incorporated into the name: Sanders & Son. Just 44 years later, he was dead.

If I don’t make 90, I will be furious! I want to be able to apply for a new GHIC (Global Health Insurance card) before I die. In fact, I want it to be an EHIC (European Health Insurance) again next time. My new one arrived today and I will be 80 by the time it comes up for renewal.

Wednesday, 20th May, 2026

The Summer is coming. Hold on. We are hoping to see 30C in the next few days. The plants are out at the front and well watered in by the rain. The next couple of days will be devoted to planting up our back garden and moving out the more delicate plants like Basil. We only have two weeks to get them established before we go away.

I’ve written to my neighbours an instruction sheet on what we’ve grown for them and how to maintain them while we are away.

This gardening bug has been with me for a long time now. From the moment I moved in to a large house and garden, I was constructing deep beds, garden paths, hiring rotovators and collecting manure by the lorry load from the local stables.

This was Slade House (1984 – 2000) and it was a major garden project. We bought a house built in the centre of an acre of land in a conservation village on the Pennines. The weather was often cold and wet, the soil was full of clay and the whole garden was surrounded by mature trees which cut out the light and littered the ground with leaves.

But the activity of developing a garden with different ‘rooms’ for relaxation & entertainment, for kitchen garden vegetable production and for woodland flowering shrubbery was challenging but exciting.

We felt we had put our stamp on the area when we sold up in 2000 to start building our house in Greece.

There is something satisfying about reordering nature and leaving it a different way than it was before we started. A building development project about a mile away from us ran out of money and stopped completely about two years ago. Nothing has happened since then but Nature has completely reclaimed the site and is rampantly covering it now. Nature and Man have to live together and each has to make compromises.

Of course, I moved straight on to learning how to garden in Greece, in intense heat with a shortage of water. It was frustrating, challenging but fun to grow aubergines and tomatoes, green beans and onions, courgettes and Basil in the dusty, volcanic soil. Two old islanders came to teach us to dig bowls in the dust and fill them with water once a day at sundown. Fortunately, we had and endless supply of free water which was pumped up from a very deep well on our land. The islanders were very envious.

Thursday, 21st May, 2026

A warm night but quite overcast this morning. The sun will arrive in the afternoon so one of my jobs is to water the newly planted beds. I have to cover a street and a half or about 350 meters now so I’ve had to buy additional hosepipes to daisychain for the purpose and bring water from my back garden tap.

If you water plants, you don’t give them half a watering can – little and often. You should give them an extended soaking that they would expect from rainfall. Of course, I will be in trouble for our increased water bill which my wife says is unjustified but you can’t do these things without cost and I have asked the neighbours to take over after I’ve established the plants.

I was listening to a vox pop on the radio this morning and the topic was food and energy prices and the effects of inflation. People on the street were questioned about their understanding of price rises. Having been a teacher for many years, I shouldn’t be surprised but I still found myself amazed at the massive gulf between the individuals confident indignation at how they saw the problem and what the problem actually was. They talk with the confidence of the ‘pub bore’ but show utter ignorance when questioned closely. This is the Farage Effect in action.

It is the same with immigration. Today, as I predicted months ago, Net Migration figures (a concept few actually understand) are at there lowest for 5 years, have come down 48% year on year and have fallen 82% since Labour came to power.

Public perception, however, is quite the reverse. Polling suggests that people in the street believe that Net Migration is rising steeply and is expected to rise next year. In reality, it is quite possible that the government will have tightened the screw too much and will have nil Net Migration which will mean we have a shortage of labour in key areas like Health and Social Care, Construction and I.T.

Friday, 22nd May, 2026

The start of Summer …. weather. Yesterday, we reached 24C/75F and we didn’t fall below 19C/66F over night. I will be doing a lot of watering today in advance of the holiday. Bank Holidays … hate them. They are not for the retired. Sainsburys was full of people flocking around Barbecue equipment and ingredients this morning. This is one of the things I really hate about Bank Holidays – the herd instinct. My personality doesn’t allow me to follow them. I instinctively go the opposite way.

My Digital Memory Box threw up this morning the fact that it was 17 years ago today that we were contacted by our Estate Agent to say that our last house in the North was going on sale for £400,000 and we were trying to choose pictures to feature in the brochure.

Looking back all that time, the house we had downsized to turned out to be fun to live in although it looks rather old fashioned from here. Almost forgot the VHS, DVD and Sky boxes on a TV stand. A gas coal-effect fire and all that heavy furniture! Can you imagine it now?

On this day 12 years ago, we were in our Greek house and a cat came to call to escape a thunderstorm. She never left until we did. We have just over a week before we fly to Greece so getting the garden ready really is the order of the day. Plastered with suncream today because the sky is vicious.

Well, it must be my age. I’ve only done a couple of hours and I’ve retreated to the shade for a break. Gone are the days when I walked under 32C/90F of furnace sunshine, stripped to the waist and with minimal sunscreen. I thought I was indestructible. Like so many brave men, I now realise that I’m not.

Saturday, 23rd May, 2026

Soon we will fly to the Mediterranean but first the Mediterranean has flown to us. I did five hours work in 27C/81F of heat yesterday. My Teeshirt turned tie-dye with dried sweat and my legs wouldn’t allow me to go anywhere by the evening. All the girls of the street are pledged to maintain the watering programme although I’m not sure Davina and Sharon will completely take it seriously. They will definitely be punished if they don’t.

I’m sorry if this is repetitive and boring but my mind always turns to airconditioning when this weather comes. Actually, climate resilience dominated the news at the beginning of the week. It is particularly important as we get older, isn’t it Dear Reader? I still have to completely persuade my wife who is a little sceptical although I am winning.

While she prevaricates, the quality and functionality of available systems is vastly improving. This system runs off a single, outdoor unit and we have the perfect place to site that without seeing it all the time. It runs 5 cooling/dehumidifying/heating wall units and that would allow us to do three of the bedrooms, the lounge and the office. With installation we could do it for £3000.00 and keep ourselves cool into our 90s. If we really bite the bullet and install solar panels, the whole thing might ultimately pay for itself.

I’ve been talking to an old friend, Kevin Sellers, this morning. He definitely won’t need air con at his home up in Northern Scotland. He loves New Zealand because that’s where his son lives now and he goes out for weeks each year. Still carries on with his art work as so many of that group do. Good to see how happy and commited he still is. He’s come a long way from his hometown of Sheffield and where I knew him in Yorkshire.

I must also wish my much older sister, Ruth, happy birthday. She is 79 this morning. Can you believe it? I remember turning 40 and thinking, This can’t be true. but it was and, looking back, it was nothing. Being in one’s 70s is bad enough but approaching 80 is really scarey. Anyway, not to put a downer on her birthday, we hope she makes the best of a bad job.

Here, Ruth is pictured with one of her daughters in happier times and doing some of her charity work raising money for Youth Homelessness. I don’t know how much of that there is in Bolton but her work for Bolton Football Club and church as well as this organisation out of Bridgeman House, are all rooted in her area. Anyone who does that is deserving of a happy birthday. I’ve just told my old friend David Weatherley, a lifelong Bolton Wanderers fan, to look for her in the carpark and say Hello.

Four hours work in 28C/83F today has been enough. We are 3C hotter than Athens. Time for a bottle of icy champagne and relaxation …. or whatever.

Sunday, 10th May, 2026

What a difference a day makes …. It really does. Yesterday, we enjoyed 26.5C/80F for the first time this year. It was absolutely glorious. Lots of sun tan lotion, lots of gardening, cooking outside. This morning it is half that at 13C/55F, grey over head and raining lightly but persistently.

The week ahead is not brilliant in prospect – cool and quite wet just as plants go out to face their destiny. Even the Ripon Reunion does not escape.

Actually, one of our ‘problems’ this year is how to cope with the garden. We are sowing and planting as usual but we will not be here to maintain it as usual. We want it to be productive and attractive as usual when we are here but the problem is how to keep that going when we are not. We are going to Thessaloniki in three weeks time, come back for just five days and are off to Murcia for another four weeks.

So, at a crucial time in the gardening year, we are going to be away for 5 out of 6 weeks. I knew it when I booked but the reality is hitting home now and I am hoping the weather at home will allow me to move things on so they establish before we go away. Automatic watering systems can only go so far. Still, this year I’ve voted for sunshine.

We are home from Spain for five weeks and then we are off to our old friend, Athens. Couldn’t miss that whatever else goes on. Then we’ve got a few weeks to breathe and collect in the vegetables and herbs, tidy up the garden re-acquaint ourselves with our home.

A week in the sun on the Costa Oldham will be followed by four weeks in Tenerife on the Costa Adeje for a bit more sunshine before Christmas.

Monday, 11th May, 2026

Very sunny and clear but cold this morning. It’s going to be a big, Politics morning with a Prime Minister’s reset speech. Busy week of travelling and investment decisions. Got to concentrate. Unfortunately, I’ve got to move some money around and it has to be before interest rates have risen as they almost certainly will in the next couple of months. Doing research in my down time.

Haven’t been back to Yorkshire recently. Looking forward to visiting our old house on the Pennines which the Doctor has now sold. I noticed on Google Earth that they’ve put new gates on the drive with garish, gold lettering.

First, there is the political moment. Keir Starmer, an honest and decent man has to fight for his political life and for the Labour Centrists against the left wing of his party and the right wing of the UK media. Whether he can bring himself to define specific policies rather than bland values is in doubt.

After the speech, there are still a lot of questions to answer and little specific in response. We will have to see the King’s Speech at the re-opening of Parliament to make a final decision. On the plus side, the weather has really looked up outside. My Under Gardener is pricking out and potting up Lettuce and Endive seedlings.

At the same time, I’m working hard to resolve technical, I.T. problems. I think I’ve sorted out the Ring Door Video app with two smartphones, two iPads and two Alexa Echo units. The Window Cleaner tested the system for me. He triggered my phone numerous times as did a Waitrose delivery van so I may have to reduce the sensitivity.

I’ve also got some Banking apps to bend to my will. I need a home for some money for the next couple of years with access from abroad …. I’m pleased to report that after a couple of hour’s work, the app is back under control and life is working again.

Tuesday, 12th May, 2026

Lovely blue sky and strong sunshine. Quite a cold night but quickly warming up this morning. I’ve got to prepare the car for my long journey. It doesn’t take much these days. Do you remember when we had to check the petrol, oil, radiator, tyre pressure and washer bottle – even the wiper blades? Everything these days is electronically indicated. Haven’t put air in the tyres since the first week after service. The automatic, electronic gauge alerts me to loss of the minimum psi and it hasn’t.

The only thing I have to monitor is the washer bottle and that is now so economical because the watered is not crudely squirted in a jet onto the screen. It now comes out of the wiper blades and just delivers the minimum needed.

One thing you do dread as you set off, is to see this flash up on the screen and the dinging of a warning symbol to say there is a problem with a tyre. In the early days with this model, I would stop quickly and check to find that, after the pressure had been ‘set’, one tyre had lost just 0.25 psi. It is a rounding error that wouldn’t have been picked up in the past. Experience has made me a bit blasé about it now.

There is plenty to entertain/distract me with the political situation at the moment. Will he stay or will he go. Lots to listen to, talk and think about. My immediate feeling is that Starmer will not resign and he will be right because we cannot repeat the chaos of the Tories. But, what do I know?

Obviously I will be relying on iPads and phones for wifi and media relay. Couldn’t they have chosen a quieter time?

Meanwhile, I’m musing on September 13th, 1970 – 56 years ago when I was just 19 years old. And oh so young.

Wednesday, 13th May, 2026

When Life doesn’t go your way, escape to France. There is always another chance. Certainly the sunshine was beautiful across the Channel yesterday and the temperature was warmer. The drive down was wonderfully quiet although the crossing was busier than in February. At least we were driving away from the rain in the North to the sunshine in the South.

One of the reasons for this journey, as in February, was to go through the new EES or European Digital Entry Exit System before we fly to Europe. Unfortunately, the multi million pound new building at Folkestone was completed but not in use so the pain is postponed.

In France, the day was beautiful. I heaved a huge sigh of relief and bathed in the sunshine. We have to get our warmth where we can.

Thursday, 14th May, 2026

The drive home last night was through patches of very heavy rain. Visibility at times was very poor. I got in to a mini aquaplaning situation at one point where the drainage on the M20 was so poor that unpredicatable patches of standing water made life difficult, Anyway, we got back in one piece and with our cargo intact.

Late evening and tired from 4 hours driving over the day, I was unloading the car of 80 bottles of delicious Bordeaux Wine to dull my sorrows along with another 20 bottles of dry, Champagne and 15 litres of wine boxed wine to get me over the evening. Some, eagle-eyed observers may have noticed that I exceeded my allowance by 100% but, when you’ve got an honest face like mine, who is going to challenge?

You know that, at the moment we are not supposed to bring meat or dairy products back into the UK because of the risk of foot & mouth disease. As an essential reason for shopping in France is to buy Cheeses and Cooked Meats, this is quite a dissincentive. Even so, nobody ever checks us. We could bring the contents of an entire abattoir with us and it would have been fine. To make life even simpler, just as we came back through French Customs, the skies opened and torrential rain began to fall. All the Customs Officers scurried for shelter and left us to go though without checks.

After emptying the car and racking up the wine, I was able to view photos of the old boys’ afternoon in Ripon. They seem to have enjoyed it. Some girls went as well. One day ….

Friday, 15th May, 2026

Gorgeous morning – warm and sunny. Let’s hope it lasts. Anyway, never give in! Lots of jobs to get through outside. I must admit I feel distinctly unsettled by the National Drama as the Labour Party has a collective nervous breakdown. The risk is that we could lose a Byelection in Makerfield and then go on to lose the Mayoralty of Greater Manchester. There is also a bit of a risk of overselling the electoral powers of Andy Burnham.

Andy Burnham’s politics are my politics. He is on the soft Left and describes himself as an aspirational socialist. He is 20 years younger than me, brought up as a Roman Catholic which he later rejected at university. He married his university girlfriend. His brother is the principal of Cardinal Newman College in Preston.

He was opposed to Brexit like all sensible people but has felt it difficult to address after the vote because he wanted to be elected. Only this week he has vascilated between ‘wanting to make Brexit work and my position which demands another vote. He is in favour of an elected second chamber to replace the Lords which I completely favour and he supports proportional representation which I see as the only answer to the changing swirl of 21st Century politics.

I love looking at other people’s lives. There is something of the Historian and something of the geek about that. The set book in my 2nd Year in Grammar School in 1963 when I was 12 years old was Winston Churchill’s, My Early Life. It was about his exploits as a young man during the Boer War and taught me how to follow the clues of the youth to the development of the man. I was absolutely fascinated. Most of my classmates were not.

I am quite happy to accept I am strange. I am me and I put myself before you. People’s lives, their similarities and differences are what makes Life interesting. I was listening to the actor, David Morrissey this morning. He was talking about how his early life informed his later life. He is a wonderful and sensitive man. He is intelligent and thoughtful. He is rooted in the working class North of England. He feels a lot as I do. He cries a lot as I do. He is not ashamed of that and nor am I.

Lives are raw and we shouldn’t be ashamed of raw emotion. Lives are not rehearsals and we shouldn’t prevaricate, shouldn’t put things off because they are difficult or risky. Bridges are meant to be burnt.

Had we but world enough, and time,
This coyness, Lady, were no crime

It is all too late for ‘coyness’. David Morrissey chose Joni Mitchell to illustrate his life and I had forgotten. It hit me like a hammer:

Don’t it always seem to go
That you don’t know what you’ve got ’til it’s gone?

I hope Andy Burnham doesn’t feel like that in a few weeks time. A settled government with a renewed agenda and energy would be a good reward.

Saturday, 16th May, 2026

A beautiful warm and sunny day. Up early because tomorrow I am driving up to Surrey to attend a 90th Birthday Party and someone has discovered at 5.00 this morning that she needs to give him a personalised T-shirt tomorrow Lunchtime. I am in the Office with breakfast orange juice in hand searching for local t-shirt printers. No, I’m not prepared to drive to London to have some words put on a t-shirt quickly. Bognor Regis is about 30 mins drive away but possible.

We found one which is about 15 mins away and said they opened at 10.00 am. We phoned at 8.00 am and followed up with a Whatsapp. To our amazement, they replied immediately.

I mocked up what we wanted and sent it over to them and they laughed and said it was quick and easy and could be done while we wait. They could even supply the t-shirt if we needed it. We have one and it will be printed at Lunchtime. Never give up, Dear Reader.

Good, I will be home in time for the Cup Final. Fortunately, we had sourced the card in advance. Before we go out, we have some gardening to get through in the public spaces. It will be nice to be out in the sunshine.

Ten years ago today, we had been in our house for about a month and the Kitchen Dining Table had at last arrived ….. from Lithuania via Oldham in Lancashire. Housing Units to be precise. I loved it. The first thing my Odd Job Lady did was coat it in beeswax. Made from reclaimed timber, it cost just £350.00. Absolute bargain and it will see me out.

Sunday, 3rd May, 2026

We had some rain yesterday evening. How wonderful. The evening world smelled fresh and replenished. A very warm night I woke at 3.30 am and resorted to listening to political podcasts.

These are my current favourites but The News Agents really tops them all. They can all be found on the Global Player platform which is free to access as are the podcasts.

I used to work with a lad who ate the same thing every single day of his working life for Lunch. It stopped me visiting his office because it stank. I must point out that I hate spicy food. I hate curry, chilli and corriander. I love softer, gentler styles of the French an Italian cuisine. Every single day for his Lunch this lad, who was Head of I.T., opened a tin of Spicy tomato & chilli Mackerel and ate it with a spoon. It made me heave and I swore I would never sink that low.

These days, Dear Reader, I have to admit that I eat a tin of fish most days for my Lunch with a spoon. No, it doesn’t involve spices but it does make my wife heave because she says it smells like cat food. It is the only occasion that I volunteer to kiss her and and get rejected. I have been eating a tin of kippers in sunflower oil for a few years for my Lunch. Oily fish such as salmon, mackerel, kippers, sardines, and anchovies—are packed with long-chain omega-3 fatty acids (EPA and DHA), which are essential for heart health, reducing blood pressure but increasing brain function & mental health as regular intake is associated with reduced risk of dementia. I am tapping in to that hope.

Why does talk of childhood make me sad? I watched an interview of Keir Starmer talking about his children listening to him speak and laughing at him. How he loved it. I suddenly felt, I would love to be laughed at by children – by my children. Children are the future – a future  we have virtually no say over. It makes me sad that I have no child to speak for that future or to laugh at me. I want to be laughed at.

I was watching a political drama where a baby was born and the grandfather picked it up as it cried. He smiled and gurgled to the baby who smiled and gurgled back and reached out with tiny fingers to explore his face and I felt the warmth of tears on my face and felt pathetic. It is something I will never know.

Having cleaned the car inside and out, it suddenly struck me it was nearly 2 years old and looked just as it did when I picked it up. It only has 6500 miles on the clock and I will be abroad for 3 months of this year without it. I can’t live with an old car but this feels ridiculous.

Anyway, there is a new model coming on the market towards the end of the year I have learnt. The plug-in hybrid is what I am thinking of moving to and the redefined body with a slightly rakish, more sporty style quite appeals to me over the currently more ‘boxy’ style.

Monday, 4th May, 2026

Bank Holiday. Who are these bloody bankers who need special holidays? They always ruin the weather. This morning, after days of lovely, sunny weather, it is heavily overcast. I am trying to ignore the event altogether.

Every year, one of the most important events of the garden calendar is the production of a large harvest of sweet, basil leaves which are turned into enough Pesto to get us through the year. Basil is not the easiest plant to germinate and grow on ready for planting out. We have sown seed but need a backup so are going out this morning to a small, local garden centre to source seedlings for potting up.

There are rhythms to the year which a 75 year old has experienced and developed across their life. Nature informs them and gardening in particular. National holidays are part of that rhythm even if I resent them. My working neighbours are going to be busily enjoying their long weekend. For me, the pattern of the annual cycle includes travel – travel in Europe and revisiting old friends reinforces the passing of time. In a week, a regular trip to France will be renewed and a week later we will attend a 90th birthday party. There was a time when that would have been quite remarkable. Now, it almost feels normal, expectable.

I was sent two photographs of the past this weekend. They are both from 57 years ago. Can you imagine 57 years ago, Dear Reader? The first is of a lovely, mild mannered, Liverpudlian lad who was 4 years older than me when I met him but who died 6 years ago having been bedridden for several years before. There are few photos of him in my collection and this quirky one from his student digs has all the moody shambles of student life in gloomy monochrome. The photo on the right is a group of girls at the Christmas Ball. I knew a few of them but not all. I do know that at least one is dead and has been for some years now. The whole lesson one can extract from these memories is carpe diem. There is no time to waste.

With four weeks until we fly to Thessaloniki and reunite ourselves with this lovely airport, we have been assured that the new European Entry/Exit system will not be in use and queuing will not be a feature. EasyJet have assured us that there is no fuel shortage or surcharge. I checked-in online last night and downloaded the Boarding Passes. Everything is set for a happy time and we need as many of those as we can fit in to what time we have left.

Tuesday, 5th May, 2026

The sun is out after a warm night. We were 13C/56F as Gt. Manchester was 3C/37F and my friend, Kevin Sellers in Northern Scotland had snowfall. Nature all around is bursting with energy, trees in full, new leaf; birds calling for mates from rooftops; bees constantly feeding and fertilising flowers as their bright colours advertise their wares; snails, slugs, ants, butterflies everywhere out on the hunt.

Spotted this on my walk yesterday, Never seen one before. The colour blue is not so common in nature and the translucent, pale blue here caught my eye. The Holly-Blue is a small blue butterfly that emerges in early spring and is reasonably common in UK. Who knew?

I was writing about the rhythms of the year yesterday and this morning my Digital Memory Box threw up this photo from 2006. It is a photo of our house which we built in Greece in 2000. By this time, the house was finished and we were living in it during our school holidays and particularly for 5 of our 6 week summer break. It became the pattern until we retired when the 6 weeks became 6 months. That’s when we had time to develop the gardens – well part of them because we bought a 4 acre field initially. The Greek island survived on annual patterns.

Throughout the year, Boulis would walk past our house in the morning, taking his sheep up the mountain to graze and then bring them back down in the evening. He had a limp and I always thought what a hard and lonely life it was for him. However, it suited him. He always seemed perfectly content with his sheep and his dog.

On this day in 2010, we were retired and embarking on a 6 month stay in the house. Regularly we would drive out to a small fishing bay called Φάρος / Faros (Lighthouse) for Lunch and to enjoy the view. Here, the boats which go out fishing in the dusk of evening, are moored up while fisherment clean and sell their catch, mend their nets and smoke quietly chatting amongst themselves. It is their pattern of life.

My wife is walking on air. She had to book a blood test and couldn’t do it online. At the surgery, the Receptionist asked her date of birth. When she told her, the Receptionist asked the question twice more in astonishment.

Pauline thought she must have been mumbling and apologised. The man behind her in the queue pointed out that they were questioning her date of birth and that she didn’t look anything like her age. He said, You’re older than me. as if that was an achievement.

It’s been hard to bring her down since then although I have been counting and announcing at least three grey hairs. Still, she’s not looking bad for a 74½ year old. She’s always been an annoying pixie. Going out for an hour’s walk in the sunshine now. Got to keep the fitness up even though I’ll never look young again.

Out on my walk, I saw this gorgeous Hawthorn Bush/Tree – Crataegus ‘Crimson Cloud‘. It doesn’t look good like this for long so it is worth savouring while it’s here. The white version is most common and can be seen all over the South Downs of Sussex.

This Crimson Cloud is special just like the crimson flowering Horse Chestnut with its glorious candles of flower.

Wednesday, 6th May, 2026

The week’s going on. Wednesday already. Hope you’re enjoying it, Dear Reader. I’m busy. I’m happy when I’m busy. Found a new, local electrician yesterday. Contacted and booked for later this week within hours which is always a good sign. It’s a small job – renewing an outdoor power supply – but one I can’t do so I’m pleased. I’ve also finally made a decision about something I’ve prevaricated about for weeks but which I want to resolve before travelling times.

Having asked around with my neighbours and friends, I’ve decided to go with an Amazon Ring Video Doorbell. You may laugh but one of the things that put me off was the practical one of screwing into my door, connecting up wiring, removing the existing system. These are the things I am scared of. Connecting up to the wifi, installing it on smartphones and iPads, making sure that the Alexa Echo screens in the house can integrate with the door is my area of expertise. I will love doing all that.

What pursuaded me was my great near neighbour, Richard, a Cambridge graduate and I.T. adviser who had similar technical concerns. He installed a Door Spy Hole camera doorbell system that I didn’t even know existed. It doesn’t involve damaging the door at all. It just replaces the existing spy hole. Just as important, it is wireless and runs off a rechargeable battery with 2 months life which will be fine.

I heaved a sigh of relief when I was told of this solution. The one thing I wanted to avoid was an ongoing cloud storage charge but I have had to bite the bullet and accept a £50.00 per year service charge which saves all the video footage in the cloud for 180 days and provides immediate video alert online to our smartphones and computers. While we are away from home – roaming Lancashire & Yorkshire or walking around Spain and Greece – we will be automatically alerted to people at our door in Sussex.

It is only 4.00 pm and I am absolutely exhausted. I must be getting old. I’ve been working on the public flower beds in the street outside my house, weeding, edging, replenishing with compost mulch. They look good and will be ready for planting up in a couple of weeks. I thought I was fitter than this!

Thursday, 7th May, 2026

Glorious morning with clear blue sky and strong sunshine. Busy day with a list of jobs to get through, targets to accomplish and a trip to the Polling Station in the morning followed by an appointment at the Surgery for Part 2 of my Annual Medical Review.

Going out to vote to Keep Reform Out even if it means voting tactically. We have a wonderful Labour MP but our Council Ward is Conservative and I may have to hold my nose and vote Conservative for the first time in my life just to keep Deform out.

No, I couldn’t do it in the end. I voted Labour more in hope than anticipation. It wasn’t very busy at the polling booth. I had thought it might be with all the media frenzy.

Be interesting if all this media hype increases the turn out or not. We don’t have so many Racists down here so the motivation won’t be quite as strong as in the forgotten North. Actually, after a bit of research, it looks as if Green Candidate will my best alternative to Stop Deform. Sigh of relief. Trip to the Garden Centre to collect a few plants that we haven’t got time to grow ourselves.

It turned out that a dozen plants for £7.75 were no better than the ones I am growing on in my cold frames so I left them.

On my walk every day through the park, I go past a house where they have the most wonderful, white-flowing wisteria I have ever seen. It is called Wisteria sinensis ‘alba’ or white chinese wisteria. The house owner saw me photographing it one day and came out to (well I thought remonstrate with me) offer some seed pods to grow my own. I did but they failed.

A few weeks ago, he came out to tell me he had been growing some cuttings on in pots and would give me one. This morning, he did. What a lovely thought. You would have to pay £50.00 to buy one they are that unusual. I didn’t even want it for me but for my lovely, next door neighbour who had been upset when her’s died. So that’s where it is going and I will take a bottle of wine round to the kind donor as a thank you. I’ll also suggest we start a business together selling them. He can grow them and I’ll run the shop online.

I forgot to report because I forgot to check the Premium Bonds draw for May 1st. Sorry to report that after 8 wins over the first 5 months, the last 3 have been fallow which begins to give pause for thought. In the first 8 months, 8 prizes totally £375.00 is not good enough.

Friday, 8th May, 2026

Warm but overcast today. I’ve got a number of tasks to get through. I’ve got a trip to the Refuse Disposal site booked. I’m getting rid of the heavy, old, commercial griddle, an old garden table and more cardboard packaging than I can cope with. The staff are so helpful and the house heaves a sigh of relief when I return empty handed. The new griddle will be prepared and an electrician is coming this afternoon to replace the outdoor sockets.

When I got home, I had received the latest iteration of the National Bowel Screening Programme. I actually had to request this because I am over 75. My wife still gets hers automatically because she is so young.

Next, my new Ring Peephole Camera (Door View Cam) was delivered last night and it has to be installed this afternoon. I’m sure my Housekeeper will do it successfully because I’ve provided her with an instructive video. When she’s done that, I will link it to the apps on our phones and iPads.

Now a proud owner of a Door Cam which is working, linked to two smartphone, two iPads and one Alexa Echo. Hardly a hitch … or that’s what my Housekeeper reports. It only looks wonky because I took the photo. It sits straight and proud on the door because someone else fixed it on. There are going to be hours of fun this weekend as we receive a never ending stream of deliveries from Amazon – most of them ordered just to hear and see the video cam working. I just hope next door’s cats don’t get too inquisitive in the middle of the night.

Saturday, 9th May, 2026

Got to wish my old, Greek island friend, Martin a Happy Birthday. It is 15 years since we both saw each other because he left early. Bet we both look the same.

Blue sky, sunshine here today and on we go. Up early this morning with lots to get through. The Poo Test has been achieved early and prepared for posting this morning. I didn’t include you in that process, Dear Reader. Thought that would be a step too far.

Firstly, if you thought spider season was open, we’ve also got to find the source of some ants which appear from nowhere in the kitchen. We think it may be through air vents in the conservatory. It is a problem we had in the heat of our Greek home and it was solved with Ant Boxes. Been out to get some this morning.

My Housekeeper took with her a collection of clothes she no longer wears and cooking pans she no longer uses to Age Concern UK. We went on to the Garden Centre because, although I have grown hundreds of flowering plants this year, I love Geraniums and particularly bright, red ones. Don’t know where that came from because my parents despised them. Perhaps that’s why.

Of course, the Garden Centre on a Saturday morning in May is not the best place to go because it is so busy. Still, the display of healthy, flowering plants is sumptuous and irresistible. I’m a sucker for plants. They were being sold at 3 for £15.00 so I bought 15 to supplement my own in the back garden.

Geraniums, Impatiens and Osteospurmums are fairly hardy and all Summer flowering plants for our patio pots. We’ve been growing on Lettuces to plant out in the deep beds this morning. Basil seedlings are being potted up and everywhere is being watered because we don’t know what rain is down here at the moment.

Potatoes – early ones for lifting in about 6 weeks – are growing strongly but need water to swell. I just hope it rains a lot while I am away.

The new griddle has been unpacked and will be trialled tonight in the garden. The new socket was installed last night so everything should be back to normal. Tonight it will be Tuna Steaks with Green Salad but there is work to be done before then.

Sunday, 26th April, 2026

Well, April 2026 is going out on a beautiful stretch of weather. Gorgeous morning again. I almost resent the need to keep up with political discussion programmes – Trevor Phillips & Laura Kuenssberg – before getting out in the sunshine. In spite of popular opinion and whatever the local elections produce, there is a movement that can save Labour at the next General Election and it is the subject close to my heart – Europe.

The majority of economists believe that Brexit has harmed the UK’s economy and reduced its real per capita income in the long term, and the referendum itself damaged the economy. A decade on from the vote, every major data poll indicates that the majority of Britains regret leaving. Large numbers of Labour voters have always been against it but the government has believed it electoral suicide to acknowledge that.

As the government’s popularity has fallen and electoral success is in need of a boost, the obvious way is to address the elephant in the room and embrace Europe. Trump, of course, has helped. He has forced us to reassess our alliances. A united Europe is becoming a necessity. The mood music is clear. The Labour Party have to reset and the next election must be an EU-return referendum.

So pleased to be spending 12 weeks in Europe this summer/Autumn. France again soon and then Thessaloniki in June followed almost immediately by Murcia. Can’t wait.

Monday, 27th April, 2026

Glorious day. My wife has left me …. to go up to London to meet her friends from College. One of them, she hasn’t seen since 1973. They are going to Lunch at Battersea Power Station which is quite swish these days.

I took her to the train at 8.30 am and began a life of freedom. Actually, I read the newspapers and focussed on a leading news item reporting the latest findings from The Health Foundation‘s analysis of the Office for National Statistics research into Life Expectancy and Healthy Life Expectancy.

For a 75 year old, Dear Reader, it is quite a stark finding. There is no point in living a long time if you are not healthy enough to enjoy it. Quite clearly, 14 years of Tory management of the economy and the Health Service has brought us to this parlous state.

If you baulk at my politicising it, you only have to realise that poorer, Northern areas do so much worse than more affluent, Southern areas to see where the traditional parties have drawn the line.

With much talk about Farage making a diference. You can be absolutely sure he will. Deform Party voters will be shocked to find proposals to change the arrangements coming from Farage who has said the country cannot afford the NHS and has advocated an insurance system. Of course, as Local Elections loom he denies saying it in spite of the records. Which of his ill-educated voters will bother to check?

Lack of financial stress, comfortable living conditions, good food, lots of exercise, friendship and holidays, education and life-long-learning are all contributory factors to a long and healthy life. Of course luck and genetics play their part but that applies to us all. If Levelling Up had meant anything – and for Boris Johnson it meant a good slogan on which to get re-elected – it has to mean equalising expectations for a long and healthy life.

Time eats away at memory and connection. It constantly needs to be refreshed and strengthened to avoid the mists enveloping them. I work hard at it even to the point of annoying people who don’t want to be remembered.

I talk to people who don’t want to talk to me, keeping the piplelines of memory and human spirit alive until the end. It may well be that I say things they don’t like, remember things they want to forget, celebrate things they don’t. We all do things in our own way.

Hard to believe that my Mum died 18 years ago today. I can see her laying motionless and tiny in the hospital bed acutely now. I can see the contact telling me to come, the long, edgy drive from Yorkshire to Staffordshire knowing that I could be too late. Essentially I was and I regretted it. It would have been right to say a personal goodbye however much we had parted ways in recent years.

Tuesday, 28th April, 2026

I picked up the happy traveller from the station last night. Sounded like she had had an enjoyable day. She didn’t spend much money which cheered me up. This was even though it costs £24.00 to get the lift up to the top of the power station viewing platform. Why she didn’t take the stairs I don’t know.

A meeting of the 3 old friends after 53 long years when the other two had married, had kids, lost husbands and lived lives very different to ours meant a lot of catching up.

In this week 16 years ago, we had been retired for just one year and were very relaxed, sitting having lunch under the pergola on the patio of our Greek home. Everything was wonderful. The weather was warm. The cicadas were humming in the olive trees. Goat collar bells were tinkling on the hillside. We were looking down over the port as the mid day ferry was arriving – hopefully with newspapers from Athens.

I only have to look at the photo to be back there instantly but why this event of a relaxed Lunch in the sunshine on a Greek island is particularly significant is because of the events that followed. Our house in Yorkshire had been on the market for almost a year and we hadn’t managed to sell it. Suddenly, as we drove across Europe to Greece, I received a phone call from our Estate Agent to say they had a buyer. We were on the Autostrada del Sole through Italy en route to Ancona. All that was required was negotiation on price, contents and timing.

Suddenly excitement rose but concerns rose with it. In those days a mobile phone call from Greece to UK was very expensive. We had to do everything via Skype. We had nowhere to move to and nowhere to store furniture. We had bookings for a return drive in October yet expected to exchange contracts on the sale in June/July. Eventually, we left our car in Greece, flew home and hired one for a month as we sorted out the house sale. We had to open accounts with multiple banks so we could safely deposit the house sale proceeds until we needed them.

We flew back to Greece at the end of July and carried on an idyllic Summer with this uncertainty hovering over us but knowing we had the money in the bank to deal with any immediate problem. It was a Summer of infinite possibilities ….

Wednesday, 29th April, 2026

The penultimate day of April already. Sunny and warm, the garden is starting to look busy again. I earthed the potatoes up a couple of days ago and they are already pushing back up through the soil. Shallots are attracting interest of blackbirds. I can’t really complain. One blackbird sits on the corner of a house roof away in the distance and treats us to non stop music for hours in the early evening. How such a little thing can generate such a volume is amazing. Then, little things are like that in my experience.

I am receiving another 80 plantlets this morning which will need potting up. I have never grown Gaillardia before. They are suitable for planting out in our street because they thrive in full sun, well-drained soil, are drought-tolerant and ideal for borders, and coastal gardens. If you were to go out and buy one fully grown plant, it would cost you about £16.00 today. I have 80 plantlets which each cost me about £0.16 and just need a few weeks effort on my part.

Ten years ago today, we were still unpacking boxes after our move from Surrey a couple of weeks before. We had the conservatory doors open at Breakfast and we were enjoying the South Coast air. On that same day ten years ago, my sister Jane posted this scene from her window in Yorkshire and I realised why I didn’t live there any more.

Like Sifnos, I still miss Yorkshire at times. Both feature barren moorland and dry stone walls, both featured some lovely people who still populate my mind and memory. The weather is where they part company. Sifnos will be girding its loins for months of dry, hot Summer. Yorkshire will have the occasional day of real warmth.

Been out watering 100s of lively, thrusting plants, desperate for sunlight and sustenance, desperate for adulthood and parentage. We all understand that need, don’t we Dear Reader?

Thursday, 30th April, 2026

April 2026 goes out on the most beautiful day. The thread of time slips through the eye of memory. Soon, I will have to re-read my Blog to remember what happened. On this day, we mark Kieron’s 61st Birthday. Retired and living in Florida, he is luckily nothing but a boy.

It is always interesting how Émigrés cling to and even elevate the fondness for elements of their Homeland. Kieron is a keen Man. Utd. fan so I thought he would appreciate best wishes from Bobby Charlton from beyond the grave.

I am always fascinated by moments frozen in time like insects from millions of years ago. Not that this applies to Kieron because he will long outlive me but life is kinetic and lack of life is stasis. Here, a mosquito that lived a hundred million years ago, flying, feeling the air and biting beings to feed on their blood is now frozen in the stasis of amber. A moment from the Jurassic period with us for ever.

One of the photos that came up in my Memory Box this morning was taken from my Mother’s effects. I recorded on Monday that it was 18 years since she had died. What accompanies that are the sharp and personal memories of the event along with the hazy memories of less pertinent occasions involving her which I struggle desperately and ineffectually to recall.

You only have to look at this pair of old, monochrome photos to imbibe the scene, the relationships, the time, the technology and then link it to the future that I knew of her. This was the year before she married Dad and everything that flowed from that – 7 kids, widowhood, and so on. And now, here she is frozen in time, a time I can only imagine.

Friday, 1st May, 2026

Happy May, Dear Reader. Happy new month. We reached 25C/77F yesterday and were warmer than Athens. It looks like another beautiful one today.

I’m going to the Beautician’s this morning but not for myself. I am beyond saving. The pixie I live with still has hope of warding off her age and is prepared to get me to pay for it. Who am I to argue? I have a long, hot day in the garden. We may actually get a bit of rain tomorrow evening and it will be very welcome especially if it’s over night.

One of the joys of our Greek home and worries when we locked it up for 6 months and left it was the fate of the cat family who had adopted us 15 years ago. On this day in 2013, we had been back in Greece for over a week and our main cat called Mother had not returned. On this day 13 years ago, we had eaten Supper out on the verandah watching the sun go down which it does very quickly and suddenly in Greece. It was very warm and we were watching the Greek News on television.

Suddenly, through the olive trees and the murky gloom of nightfall, we spotted something coming over the dry stone wall. Pauline called and with a loud shriek, a cat came bounding across the land and up the steps to our patio. This ferral cat, aka Mother, greeted us with affection and recognition after 6 months abandonment. It was one of those delightful moments of life that stick in the memory for ever.

Now, 13 years on, Mother Cat is almost certainly dead especially surviving the harsh world of Greek winters and scavenging for food but her children, Little Ginge & Tabs – the only children I’ve had – may well be out there fighting for survival still with their families.

Saturday, 2nd May, 2026

Summer means cooking outside. Well more cooking outside. Chef does it all year round but more in the warmer weather. More often than anything else, it means outdoor griddling – usually fish and vegetables. Yesterday it was Tuna Steaks with courgette strips and mushroom slices. They are cooked on a commercial electric steel griddle usually outside in the garden because of the all-pervasive smell.

Unfortunately yesterday, by the time the food was cooked, the plug was too hot to touch and the outdoor socket had almost melted. We have been using this method for longer than I can remember – certainly all the way through our Greek life and for the ten years down here. It is time for an electrician to replace the weatherproof socket and for me to source a new griddle. They are so easy to use and such a healthy way to cook that we use it two or three times a week at least.

It is contact cooking which requires virtually no fat/oil and cooks a fish steak in about 4 minutes. We used to have to go to a commercial cooking appliance supplier but guess who offers the best choice and price today? Yes, our old friend Amazon.

Feeling old and sensitive today. Pathetic, I know but it is only occasionally I give in to it. When I feel like this, I listen to music and dream ….

This morning it is Elgar’s Cello Concerto in E minor, Op. 85. There is something about it that reaches deep down inside me a pulls the past up to the present. How could he write such beautiful and evocative music? It is just genius.

Enough of that. I’ve got to clean the car but first (and I usually prevaricate at this point.) I want to show you this photo from 56 years ago today. It is of my old friend, John aka Tash because he had one. Every picture tells a story. I knew nothing about the North of England when I arrived there in 1969.

Tash was from the Bradford area that he taught me was called Pudsey. He was proud of it being in the Rhubarb Triangle. This was renowned for growing the best rhubarb in dark tunnels lit only by candles becausing excluding the light forced rhubarb to grow quickly and be picked early while it was red and sweet. All very interesting but this photograph strikes me so acutely of its time.

The elements that leap out of this captured 1970 moment of Tash in his student digs include the wallpaper – something we haven’t used for decades now. The curtains are striking for their design which was almost out of date when this photo was originally taken. We haven’t had curtains for at least 20 years now. The television goes without saying and it would have received just 3 main, analogue channels. The Windsor hooped back chair is a relic of its time now just as it was in 1970 when it harked back to the 19th century. And then there is the calendar on the wall. Who has a physical calendar on the wall these days? Oh, don’t say you do, Dear Reader. Everyone should keep their calendar on line these days to be accessible wherever and whenever they need it. Come on!

Sunday, 19th April, 2026

Glorious morning of clear blue sky and strong sunshine. The week ahead is going to be dry and warm. Out door living has begun at last. Gardening is fully underway. Potatoes are shooting; shallots are growing strongly; lettuces are almost ready to be thinned out. The new herbs are out in the beds and the flowers for the public beds are potted up in the cold frames.

Since I bought a house with an acre of land in the early 1980s, I have loved growing vegetables. I was also slightly amused by myself because what I was doing 30 years on was what my Dad had tried to get me to do in the 1950s. He had come from the Dig for Britain generation where every scrap of land was called up to produce food for a war torn country. I rejected it as old fashioned as a child but found myself just enjoying the air, the feel of the soil and the taste of home grown vegetables.

With all the cash I spent on doing it, I could have bought a lifetime’s vegetables but it is the overall experience I was buying. I think, Dad would have smiled with a knowing appreciation even if he criticised my technique. There is a difference between the generation who grew their food because there was no other available and the lifestyle generation of my time. Failure for Dad’s generation would have meant going without. Failure for me means I go to Sainsburys for my banana shallots instead.

Big football match this afternoon but first it is too lovely a day not to walk by the sea and we spent an hour doing just that on a path we haven’t used since Covid times. It was lovely, peaceful and warm with beautiful colours all around.

Monday, 20th April, 2026

The gorgeous days continue. Going to spend the first half out in the garden potting up seedlings. That will complete the first 200. Another 120 arrive at the end of the week and another 120 the week after. I’ve got to get them growing on and hardened off before planting out and established before we go away for a month in mid-June.

Exactly a week ago today, I cracked my ankle really painfully on the corner of the conservatory, slashing it open and badly bruising it. Stupid old man that I am. The problem with age is that the body doesn’t repair as quickly as in youth. This morning, the damage on my ankle is healing up but the foot remains puffy and swollen and the damage has travelled down the bones to the toes with this angry purple colour.

I am still keeping active. I always think it is important to push it rather than use the damage as an excuse to sit around. It may well be that such beligerence has slowed recovery but so be it. Life has to have purpose. Some find it in religion. I have to manufacture my own. I have targets to achieve and I will push on until they are.

If you are retired as I am, you will almost certainly know about the Triple Lock in which State Pensions are increased each April by the highest of three measures: inflation, average earnings growth, or a minimum of 2.5%. Introduced in 2010, it aims to protect pensioners’ income against rising living costs and to keep them in line with the working population. This was particularly important because UK has one of the poorest State Pensions in Europe.

Of course, in the early days of my working life, we were encouraged to see State Pensions as contributory. We paid in Graduated Pension payments in the expectation that our accrued pension pot would keep us safe in retrirement. The nearer you get to retirement, the more likely you are to find out that almost none of that is true. We don’t pay into a specific pot for our retirement. We just pay extra tax which is not hypothecated. Of course, as the retired cohort increases so does the National commitment to fund it. As the workers are outstripped by the retirees, the burden on tax payers increases.

Calls for limiting the State Pension, even making it not a right but a means tested benefit is being touted by the Far Right who are also wanting to rein in what they see as gold-plated State workers’ pensions as well. Gordon Brown saw as important that every citizen had dignity in retirement and gave it this belt & braces support. I was reading a record of our own State Pensions from 2014 and they have now almost doubled in the intervening 12 years. I wouldn’t want to have to live on it though. Of course, it will take a strong government with a big majority to do anything about it. Old people vote and Turkeys don’t vote for Christmas.

Tuesday, 21st April, 2026

A bit overcast and chilly this morning. In fact, today is forecast to be our least good weather for the next ten days which are said to be wall to wall sunshine. Even Wales is said to get better weather than us today and that is unheard of. Still, I’d rather be here than in Keir Starmer’s shoes or those of his sacked Civil Servant, Oily Robbins.

If Life gives you lemons … make Lemon Curd. On this day 15 years ago, that’s just what my Chef did. Just 15 years ago today I was a youthful 60 years old and we were in our first week of a 6 month stay in our Greek house. Actually, the weather there was cool and we had the underfloor heating on at night time to ‘air’ the house which had been closed up since the previous October.

This was our first full and continuous 6 month stay and we had arrived with computers and televisions, with groceries we couldn’t source on the island like Yorkshire Tea and Kenco Coffee. Much of this had been packed in huge, 20kgs boxes and sent via Parcel Force from Huddersfield to the small, island Post Office where they only just fitted in the office.What we didn’t need to bring were lemons. We had a year’s worth on trees in our garden which was a joy. If only we could have grown bottles of wine.

In those days, Greek wine was not the best and island wine was so unrefined that it had a tendency to strip the lining from one’s stomach almost as the now infamous Retsina does. I took the advantage for many years of stocking up the car with cases of wine in France and Italy en route both out and returning to UK. This was even more important when we were staying anywhere for 6 months at a time.

What really concerns me is how far all those experiences seem to feel now for a time which ended only just over a decade ago. If they can fade into the mists of time so easily what else of my life will do that

Wednesday, 22nd April, 2026

As forecast, the day has opened with blue skies and strong sunshine which we expect to run for the next few days. I am expecting another 120 plantlets by post this morning. In the past, I would have been sowing seeds to be germinated in seed trays needing warmth on window sills or on the floor of the conservatory windows. I hated doing it although it was tolerated by my Housekeeper.

Nature is a wonderful thing. To think these seedlings have been germinated and grown on in perfect conditions and have then travelled 300 miles and survived the UK Postal Service. They will now be potted up and grown on in my cold frames, planted out in the roadside beds and should look like the flowers on the right from June to October.

On this day 10 years ago, I officially became a State Pensioner. It was in that year that the Coalition Government introduced the Triple Lock. Because I was born on the 6th April 1951, I qualified for the New State Pension by one day. I had to have some luck in this world.

This month all State Pensions increase by 4.8%. This is set against the current National rate of inflation which was announced this morning at 3.3%. Teachers’ Pensions increase this month by 3.8% which is still an increase although Trump’s war and its effect of fuel prices has bitten in to that.

I always find it shocking how few people really understand the concept of percentages. You wonder how they get through life which is full of percentages. It must be like tottering through a fog. No wonder politicians find it so easy to pull the wool over their eyes.

Thursday, 23rd April, 2026

Very warm, sunny day in prospect which is good news for gardening. Yesterday, we reached and stayed at 22C/70F throughout a chunk of the day but I still don’t understand temperatures because the evening fell to just 13C/55F but felt really cold.

Yesterday was so sunny that we were warmer than Athens and we ate Greek last night with Calamari, Salata & Skordalia in the garden. The new seedlings, pricked out, potted up and in the coldframes were instantly affected by the strong sunshine and began to wilt. I just managed to catch them in time and did some panic watering and shading with insulation muslin which I had bought in advance.

This morning, I was relieved to find they had all recovered and were growing on strongly. I have two identical coldframes of this type and I am already realising that at peak times like this I could do with two more. I have 120 more plants to pot up and find protected storage for this morning.

I won’t be in the garden for a while. Just been alerted to a loud noise and discovered a wasp’s nest swarming across my neighbour’s garden around an olive tree. It is the hottest day so far and has already reached 24C/75F in the back garden. By contrast, Athens is just 16C/61F. Bet they haven’t got wasps.

But first, I have to go for Part 1 of my Annual Medical Review. This is always ‘fun’ but I get less competetive about it as I get older. Blood and Urine samples are involved. Weight and Height is measured. I can confirm that I have shrunk by 1.5 cm over the past decade which means I can no longer proudly say I am 6 feet tall. You will note my modern dilemma of growing in Feet & Inches but shrinking in Centimetres. My wife is definitely shrinking. We started measuring her against the garage wall with a pencil line. Unfortunately, the weather soon erased it.

Friday, 24th April, 2026

It turned out the wasps were bees – very long, thin wasp-like bees. They appear to have swarmed off somewhere else which is a blessing. Our neighbour can have her pool-party in peace. We went down to the beach to buy fish. It really is full on holiday weather but with most kids in school and most parents at work, the whole scene was quiet.

There did seem to be an early natural history lesson going on which looked just idyllic. What a playground to have on your doorstep.

And it very rarely gets busy. If you want busy, you have to go to Brighton one way or Bognor Regis the other. We are the retirement home of the South Coast. Health Facilities are fantastic down here because of the age demographic. Even our wonderful Labour MP is Dr Beccy Cooper.

As a member of the South Coast Retirement Club, I was pleased to have Part 1 of my Annual Health Checkup yesterday. Height, Weight, Blood Pressure, Blood and Urine samples sent off for testing. The only difficult bit was the regular discussion about alcohol consumption. It gets a bit tedious and, if I’m asked how much I drink, my default position is to say, Why, how much do you drink? and usually, they sheepishly admit similar levels but I know I drink too much wine.

First thing this morning, I received text confirmation from my doctor that my test results were ‘satisfactory/stable’. On the Patients Know Best app, I looked up the results in detail and, as far as I could understand them, there was nothing to be concerned about which, at my age, is all I can hope for. Still managing to keep the plates spinning at the moment.

Saturday, 25th April, 2026

Sun tan lotion on from the outset every morning now. The sun is strong and the effect is aging, particularly on dry, old skin. I’m lucky, I have naturally oily skin which makes my wife furious as she piles on layers of cream every day. I am a man and averse to putting cream on. I have to be badgered. Still, I don’t do it myself. With all the walking I do, my feet need extra care so my wife files and creams them every day. Slaves are so good, aren’t they? She takes her chance and slaps sun tan lotion on me at the same time which I submit to.

Having lived in a hot country, I am sensitive to the prospect of skin cancer so I don’t resist too much although I can’t be bothered doing it myself. I must admit, I favour an all-day cream because I won’t be doing it twice. It also costs a ridiculous £30.00 a tube so I definitely won’t be doing it twice. What could possibly be in that cream to merit a price of £30.00? Do they think I’m made of money.

I really don’t know when I became interested, almost fixated on money. Strange thing for a poorly paid teacher to do really. In my first few years of teaching, I lived in a garret flat paying £5.00 per week and my salary came monthly paid by cheque which I had to take to the Bank to pay in. We had Pay-in Books alongside Cheque Books.

I’ve just found a copy of a Paying-In Book online to remind myself what it looked like. Often I couldn’t be bothered going to the bank when I was busy working and I once found 3 monthly teaching salary cheques in a Bureau draw that I hadn’t got round to cashing. I lived very frugally in those days.

So it must be getting married that attracted me to cash. We have never had separate finances. We pooled everything from the start and I handed over Day-to-Day management to someone who could be bothered. I just look after the bigger picture. I love Maths, Economics and keeping up to date with investment. I’ve moved from not paying in any paychecks for 3 months to checking Bank, Savings and Investment accounts every morning just as I used to check Exchange Rates hourly at one point.

These are my favourite sites to visit regularly and it is important to constantly keep up to speed. I find them genuinely interesting. My shadow is constantly monitoring where the best prices are for things she intends to buy. Price comparison sites particularly for supermarkets are her thing.

Her iPad is white hot with visits to every clothes retailer known to woman but also all the supermarkets easily available to us here – Sainsburys, Tesco, Waitrose, CoOp, Morrisons, M&S, Aldi and Lidl. She only buys quality but at the best price and when there is a special offer on something she needs, a year’s supply may be purchased in advance.

I bet lots of people are price sensitive about petrol at the moment. Do you use a comparison site for petrol prices, Dear Reader. I have this app on my phone so I know which one of the fifteen nearby outlets is serving the cheapest Unleaded at the time I need it. The government’s warnings about price gouging seem to have had an effect but you can still find a 10p per litre discrepancy across our region.

Saving money through a little bit of effort undoubtedly accrues money and pays dividends – literally – in the long term. Just as a byline, we bought fresh fish this weekend – whole salmon, 2.5 kg of Tuna and 2.5 kg of Swordfish plus a kilo of prawns. The bill at £240.00 was more than the whole of my first month’s salary as a teacher back in 1972. Everything is relative in the end.

Sunday, 12th April, 2026

A gorgeous start to the new week with strong, warm sunshine and everywhere is thrusting forward with bright green shoots. Wonderful early walk through the park where people were out drinking in the vitamin D and girding their loins for going back to work and school tomorrow.

Our work is never finished. Yesterday the kitchen was infused with freshly baked bread. This morning there is the sweet air of warm, strawberry jam being poured into jars. It’s a regular process of which starts off with bags of frozen strawberries which always smell like Summer arriving as they defrost.

Just 6 bags of frozen fruit become 10 jars of wonderfully flavoursome jam in just a couple of hours. It amuses me that the jars were all original Hartley’s jam jars from another age. Anyway, it keeps Chef happy for a while.

I was observing the other day that graphics were becoming more important to the Blog these days and it is true that a picture paints a thousand words but what is more evocative is photos of one’s past.

One of my great friends from my teaching days was Sam Shepherd. He and I worked together a lot and he was a really true friend. He retired in July 1984 – 42 years ago – and this photo of his return to be greeted on his 70th birthday shocks and invokes those forgotten times. What really strikes me is the old buildings and old, poor quality furniture we spent so much of our working lives with and compare it to the new Academy that replaced it as £millions were thrown at the problem.

And then there was this snap shot posted from a time even further away – 55 years. This group of students were my contemporaries so they are in their mid-70s now. How happy, carefree and young they all look as well as monochrome like the world of the early 1970s they inhabited.

The wonderful grounds have moved on like the rest of us and are now home to owners of chic, new apartments crafted out of the elegant, old building. Busy, noisy, pressured it is not.

Monday, 13th April, 2026

Lovely morning. The window cleaner arrived at 7.00 am. He’s hobbling and in a pot cast on his leg where he has broken bones in three places. He was playing football! He announced his prices were rising from £21.00 to £23.00 because of the War in Iran. Very international our window cleaner. After he had picked me up from the pavement and helped me recover from the shock, I tried to discuss payment terms with him but he wasn’t offering ‘interst free’. I have to say, he is still cheaper than the service we were paying for a decade ago in Surrey.

Great news over night as Orban was overwhelmingly booted out of Hungary. Orban, a far right, anti-EU, pro-Putin politician who was blocking Europe’s attempts to contribute to the Ukraine war because of his support for Russia had been in power for 16 years and had become an increasing thorn in the side of Europe.

Orban and Farage are politicians who wouldn’t have been tolerated 30 years ago when Liberal Socialism held sway. In fact, 20 years ago even 15 years ago, they were out on the socially unacceptable end of ‘extreme’. Throughout my lifetime, the pendulum has swung Left – Centre – Right and back but now it is swinging further out to the extremes. We nearly had a Corbyn government and we may nearly get a Farage government to come. We didn’t quite get the first and we probably won’t get the second but it is an example of the Overton Window.

The Overton Window describes the pendulum of acceptable beliefs/policies that are current at any one time. We had a Deform Party politician say the other day that, on a trip to Birmingham, they hadn’t seen a single white face. Similar things are said about London. In the past, they wouldn’t just have been criticised but not said at all by people hoping to be elected. The Overton Window has swung Right towards the Unthinkable extreme.

It will change despite anything that happens in May here with a local elections kicking for the government. Trump, friend of Orban and Farage, is very unpopular in Europe and UK and will almost certainly lose the US mid-term elections because he is seen as increasingly erratic and out of touch. France was expected to go Right but actually went Left in their elections recently. The pendulum will eventually swing back and the unthinkable right wing racism will become unsayable again.

Walking in the sun now and then gardening. Fresh air and activity is the best prescription for staying alive. Got to live long enough for the Overton Window to slide back my way. I also want to live long enough to enjoy more Easter celebrations in the Greek sunshine. Orthodox Easter was yesterday and Greeks were out in the warmth spit roasting whole lambs by the sea. Iconic, happy and emotional.

Tuesday, 14th April, 2026

Pure blue sky and strong sunshine has greeted the morning. At 8.00 am, the temperature is 14C/57F and rising rapidly. I’ve only been 75 for 8 days but I’ve become increasingly doddery. Yesterday while out in the garden I was confidently carrying a large plant pot across the patio when I cracked my leg hard on the corner of the conservatory. I think I did it in sympathy with the window cleaner.

I had taken a huge chunk out of my ankle which spouted with blood immediately. I do find that age has made my skin thinner and less resilient. Nurse washed and dressed it and I was relieved to still be able to do my walk. However, this morning it has swollen badly and leaked blood through the dressing. It will take a while to walk myself back into full mobility. Got quite a lot to do today

I’ve also got a tender left arm. Yesterday, I had my Covid vaccination at the local Kamsons Pharmacy. The two girls administering it really inspired confidence by telling me I was their first of the new season. Anyway, they were lovely and the jab was fine. I had Moderna this time and don’t seem to have had any reaction over night.

Been out to Tesco Superstore in Littlehampton for a couple of things. I wanted the car valeting and they have a good one there in the carpark and my Housekeeper wanted a chunk of fresh yeast for baking bread. Tesco Superstore still make bread in-house and are happy to give customers chunks of their yeast supply which is continually growing in the Bakery for free. Chef says it performs much better than dry yeast.

The car valeting service is so good that it is very busy and really has to work hard to satisfy demand. It is still a major source of employment for E2L immigrants who find it more difficult to get work elsewhere. They are delightful and assiduous and I like to learn of their backgrounds. We dropped off the car and were told it would be ready in an hour.

We did a bit of shopping and then went in to the coffee shop to kill the time. I haven’t been in to a Costa Coffee or any coffee shop for a year or two. A large Capuccino and a small Hot Chocolate cost £8.00. Eight Pounds!! At home I drink around 4 large Capuccinos a day. I would be bankrupt at that price.

Wednesday, 15th April, 2026

Quite an overcast but warm morning. I didn’t have a good night’s sleep. My ankle was on fire as it ballooned with swelling. The cuts were quite deep and one is still running a bit. I can walk but it is uncomfortable so I am having to push myself.

There are some things that we need to stock up on and, ironically, they are sourced in Aldi and Lidl. Yes, a morning slumming it today. Everywhere we go leads down to the sea. This morning it was very quiet but dramatic.

The sea for me, as for so many others, symbolises infinity, continuous and endless time. It can be both exciting and frightening in that way. It emphasises the brevity of our personal journey set in the context of the eternal human journey. The conveyor belt of life brings the same call for us all … Next, Please!

Only one ship is seeking us, a black-
Sailed unfamiliar, towing at her back
A huge and birdless silence. In her wake
No waters breed or break.

Philip Larkin – Next, Please

This morning, I was listening to a podcast about American politics. The talk was of Yanks and I suddenly realised I didn’t know where that term had originated. There was no one I could ask. There are few people older than me. I used to ring my Mum if there was something from my past which I couldn’t remember or didn’t know but she is long gone. In the next couple of weeks, it will be the anniversary of her death 18 years ago.

But now no fact is out of easy reach. I can ask Google or Wikipedia or AI and the answer will not only be there in seconds but the context will be provided as well. That is exactly what I want. Mum would require so much more as a price for the answers. In this case, I’m sure she would have known but Google told me early Dutch settlers to North America used the derogatory term of little Johns for all common men. The Dutch name for Little John is Janke. You see, Dear Reader, who needs a Mother?

At least we will all be saved by that leading Yankie Holy Man….

Thursday, 16th April, 2026

Nice, warm morning. I’m still hobbling painfully like a 75 year old man. What have I been reduced to? Thursday is usually Sainsburys day. This morning, the shelves of fresh produce were almost bare. Imported Fruit & Veg was particularly poor. Don’t know if it is the current crisis but I can’t see it getting better too soon.

We are preparing for foreign travel. One of us is constantly looking for Summer clothes and it isn’t me. I am always being asked which pair of shorts, which shirt, which skirt or dress I prefer. I must admit, I find it impossible to say. One pair of shorts looks much like the next to me. It’s easier to say, Just get both.

The garden will have to survive while we are away for months at a time. Watering deep beds will need to be done and I’m trying to move away from spray watering and on to drip feed. So, I’m looking at plastic pipe system driven by an automatic timer fixed to the garden tap.

I’m also thinking of using the available technology to keep contact with things that can go missing during travel. I’m thinking of buying some bluetooth tags which have a range of about 200m and are controlled by our smart phones. Just as I was weighing up their value this morning, my wife lost her car keys which virtually made up my mind.

I understand that the current crisis in Iran has turned many people to think of generating their own power through solar panels and towards electric cars with enthusiasm just as it had begun to wane a bit. Even the Americans are picking up their interest in electric cars.

We have Hive heating controls and monitoring from British Gas. They contacted me today because they know we’ve been considering it for ages. Our only question is: Will we live long enough to make it worthwhile. This estimate is based on just 8 panels. We have a perfect, south-facing roof which is constantly in the sun and the size of our house would require 16 panels. We would have a battery which we would site in the Gym so we could store power for night time use so we would be looking at a price of about £14,000. I’ve got to ask how long it would take to break even. We are going to invite them round for a survey and a chat.

Friday, 17th April, 2026

Quite a grey and relatively cool start to the day. It always surprises me that 15C/59F can feel so cold but it does this morning. Ironically, it is a gardening day. Lawn mowing, bed tidying and I am expecting the first tranche of plantlets to arrive with 240 needing potting up to grow on in the cold frames. Would have been nicer to have a warmer, sunnier day for it but I’m sure they will come.

Life is spent looking for sunnier days, isn’t it Dear Reader? We try to push the darker, monochrome days behind us. And, of course, everything changes. I read the Manchester Evening News and the Huddersfield Examiner online editions every morning. I’ve been following the renovations of Oldham’s historic Coliseum Theatre and I’ve been reading recently about Oldham’s Queen Elizabeth Hall which my school used for formal functions like Prize Giving for a while in the late 1970s & 1980s.

The Coliseum is being saved while the QE Hall is being demolished. It’s interesting that the theatre opened in the 1880s and has quaint features of that time whereas the QE Hall was built in the early 1970s on designs inherited from the 1960s white heat of the technological age as articulated by Harold Wilson.

The Hall is in the brutalist, poured concrete, ‘modern style that had hints of an almost soviet reference which was meant quite deliberately to pose a break with the past. The staggered slabs of grubby concrete on the outside and the authoritarian-style chandeliers on the inside make one shudder in retrospect but felt exciting at the time as we swept away the 19th century slums.

This was the legacy of Le Corbusier. In just the same way, the terraced housing of the St Mary’s area of Oldham had been demolished and replaced with high rise flats with inside toilets and bathrooms, new kitchens and insulated windows. Life was on the up.

The soft South owes it to the mean North and money is begining to move in. Oldham has a new development programme. The Shaw Road Estate has long been history. Now, the Mumps area is being developed in association with the railway station and the tram system. Change isn’t easy. The people of the 19th century slums complained bitterly about losing the dire homes. The residents of Shaw Road Estate fought loudly to keep their cold and damp flats. The next change will come but after me.

Saturday, 18th April, 2026

Gorgeous morning for gardening although my foot has blown up with an angry swelling and turned midnight blue. Gives a whole new meaning to sex on legs. I’ll have to go through the pain barrier today. I’ve got gardening to do.

Yesterday, I spent about 2 hrs mowing all the public lawns while my Under Gardener prepared all the flower beds. They won’t be planted up for at least another month but they needed weeding and the soil refreshing. While we were working, Royal Mail delivered a box of 240 Marigold plantlets. They are sown and grown in expert conditions and delivered in sealed containers to be grown on at home. These ones only grow to around 10″ but last from May – October with little maintenance apart from dead heading so they are a good choice for public spaces.

They have been spray watered and are sitting out in the sun waiting to be potted up and placed in cold frames for protection in case we have a cold night. Down here that is very unlikely but I have to be prepared.

I remember during the pandemic out constantly walking in the fresh air, I suddenly became aware of another life. There were birds in a world I had rarely considered living above me. I had spent 70 years without thinking much about the life under the sea or above my head in the sky.

I remember looking up and seeing a bird soaring high above me and asking Google what it was. A Red Kite which is common in the South of England came back the answer. I was gripped. This is a civilisation that exists out of my everyday experience.

Now, of course, I know I walk down Robin Alley which is alive with song. Every evening, a blackbird sings from a house roof behind me and fills the area with song. Birds are now my friends and I was pleased to see Adrian Edmonson and Samuel West are on the same wavelength.

Sunday, 5th April, 2026

For me, it is just the start of Week 902. To the diminishing few, today is Easter Day. I don’t begrudge them their day although I do find the shut down of the commercial world a bit annoying. My friend, John Ridley, posted this photo of his church in Middleton Tyas, North Yorkshire and I do acknowledge his quiet but confident belief and commitment to the area.

It is not for me. I am confident of very little and I just can’t bring myself to believe in fairies. I am not agnostic though. I am firmly in the atheistic camp so you could say I am confident of that. God is a social construct which I don’t need. I would rather be lonely, lost and aimless than to pretend there was some grand design around my life.

My days start and end with technology not god. This morning, my Echo-Alexa speaker woke me at 5.45 am but she had changed. She started chatting to me about my day ahead including the fact that it was Easter Day. Normally, she would just make a flat announcement on request. I had forgotten that there had been an upgrade to Alexa+. This new version uses generative AI to understand context better and carry on natural conversations, rather than relying on strict, specific voice commands. It’s going to take a bit of getting used to. Alexa+ is the new God!

One thing Alexa+ reminded me of this morning was connected with the washing machine. You know how family routines develop. Well, in our house, Wednesdays have been bed linen changing days and Thursdays have been towel replacement days. This has developed over years in different homes in UK and abroad. They have integrated into our working weeks. I am responsible for stripping the bed but I don’t get involved in the washing or drying because that is above my pay grade although it is now controlled by apps on our phones so I am responsible for maintaining that.

We buy Dual Fuel through British Gas and they are offering half price electricity on Sundays. I knew Sundays were good for something. Using the Tumble Dryer – and we have a Samsung Digital Heat Pump one – which is virtually the most power hungry machine in the house. Never one to miss a money saving opportunity, I have swept away that long established tradition and both sheets and towels are now being washed and dried on a Sunday. You see. There is a God. I am it and I’m here even if I am nearly 75.

Twenty five years ago I celebrated my 5oth birthday in our Greek home on Sifnos. It was Easter holidays and we had flown out to supervise the building of our house. The owners of the Supermarket (aka Tesco) in Kamares, Moscha & Apostelos entertained me at their house.

It was a lovely, homely and kind occasion and one where I was introduced to Halva Cake made with semolina, honey syrup, nuts, and raisins for the first time. They considered it a treat. What gets me is that even now Moscha & Apostelos are only in their late 50s. It really isn’t fair.

Anyway, it is always nice to get a Greek Birthday card from Greek friends. Actually, it’s nice to get a birthday card from anyone on occasions as momentous as this.

Monday, 6th April, 2026

Happy Birthday to me. Happy Birthday to me. Happy Birthday old wrinkly ….

I came down to Breakfast to find this card in my place. Chef had put it there. Wholly inappropriate, of course, because I’m not female, don’t purr and don’t drink. But Chef is so thrifty that she was recycling the card I gave her when she was 60. Seems appropriate, I suppose for a 75 year old man.

I heard first thing from old friends from College, Derek France and John Ridley, Kevin Sellers and John Morris and an old friend from Sifnos, Martin Reynolds. A couple of girls from school have wished me a good day and a couple of friends from the North have sent me their morning sunrise from Rhodes.

Regular readers will know that I don’t usually take things like birthdays seriously but being 75 seems a bit more momentous and I’m not sure why. I suppose, I have exceeded the three score years and ten but it has quite hit me. I must get out my funeral planning file and check it is in order.

I spoke about not being religious yesterday. It was a bit ironic, therefore, that I tucked into a supper of Roast Leg of Lamb, with mint sauce and white, onion sauce. It is the sort of meal that we would have eaten at home as a child. I was brought up in the Roman Catholic religion and was forced to go through the motions by my Mother who was fairly devout. I was forced to serve at the Sunday Mass and you can take the boy out of the liturgy but you cannot take the liturgy out of the boy.

It was completely in Latin which intrigued me and it was a challenge to learn a foreign language which attracted me. The cadences of poetry pleased me. The indoctrination caught me. In spite of life long rejection, the sounds of the liturgy have stayed with me.

Out walking this afternoon, the weather has turned really warm. We are reading 18C/65F in the sunshine. My Under Gardener is sorting out all the pots and washing them in readiness. The plantlets start to arrive next Monday and will need potting up to plant out in coldframes.. She is preparing them.

Tuesday, 7th April, 2026

Another gorgeous day in prospect. Going to be a busy one. But first I must wish my old friend, John, a happy birthday. Of course, he is so much older than me as almost everyone is.

We first met in September 1972 and lived together in student digs for two years. You only have to look at him to see what a mild mannered, pleasant individual he is. Quietly contented in his life, John is to be envied although I’m glad I’m not that old!

Wonderful day to cope with being 75. Even Wales is hot today. Been out to the Garden Centre now that Easter is over. It was looking very inviting with beautiful blossom around. Needed some replacements for herbs that haven’t survived this very wet winter. We tend to favour mediterranean herbs – rosemary, tarragon, sage, thyme, oregano, basil which like poor, dry, soil in full sun. The winter weather hasn’t been to their liking and I needed tarragon which is one of the most used herbs in our cooking and a replacement sage.

Then on to the beach which was gloriously warm and sunny. The tide was out to reveal some clean, flat sand and the temperature hit 23C/73F for the first time for a while.

It’s going to be a busy few days in the sunshine. Hedge trimming, lawns sweeping, potting up the first 240 plug plants arriving soon and being grown on in the cold frames. Annual cleaning of all the hard standing flags around the outside of the house from the grime of winter. Garden furniture uncovered and cleaned up for use. We’ll be eating in the garden soon. It will stop me getting bored for a while.

Wednesday, 8th April, 2026

The days are rushing on. I’m well in to my 76th year already. It’s such a beautiful day that it is hard to imagine not seeing them for ever. Mind you, it is only two years since I thought I could be on my way out then. Amazing how the word Cancer makes you see the world and one’s path through it very differently. For me, I wanted to do everything, have everything, indulge myself while I still could. It has largely been enjoyable and life-affirming but it has had its inevitable consequences.

Although I have continued with the exercise programme, it has been with reduced targets because the original ones were taking up so much time and dominating my days. At the same time, my diet has gradually become more relaxed and I’ve definitely been drinking too much wine. You can guess what the outcome has been. I’ve piled on the weight. I’ve already made two false starts at trying to reverse that trend but I can put it off no more. I have restarted the campaign on the day after my 75th birthday. It’s all up hill from here.

I am fully reinstating my eating programme and the first thing to go has been all alcohol for the foreseeable future. A bit tricky because I’ve got a wine buying trip to France booked for May but it will just have to be stored for the future. The diet is being stripped back to one meal per day with no carbohydrates. The sugar & starch crash is the hardest problem I experience so it is important to cut out those triggers.

My exercise has been almost entirely cardio vascular but I’ve really got to involve anti-aging exercises to counter balance problems and loss of muscle. Particularly, I’ve noticed since my cancer treatment that I feel the cold abit more and my strength is a bit less. I am going to concentrate on eating more protein and doing specific exercises to strengthen my muscles and improve my balance. I’ve been telling myself for so long that I must do more rowing in the Gym and balancing which I’ve never been good at.

I’ve got Part 1 of my Annual Health Check at the surgery to book so I’m bound to be told off there. Then I’ve got a full body scan booked in London at the end of July and I’m bound to be told off there as well. It will do me good.

Thursday, 9th April, 2026

The glorious days go on. Please, never stop! Sun, warmth, blue skies. Living in shorts and tee shirts, cooking and eating outside. You are talking my language.

Going back to France in 4 weeks and then flying to Thessaloniki 2 weeks later followed by a month in Spain a week after that. Looking forward to a busy Summer/Autumn warding off Dementia.

I’ve found a benefit of being 75. I’ve been invited for a Covid19 vaccination. I’m having it on Monday so you know what’s happened if the Blog doesn’t appear on Tuesday. Funeral arrangements will be announced.

I am very happy with computers, software, technical solutions. I’m very happy designing websites and Blogs. Yesterday, it took me about 4 hrs to construct a wheelbarrow out of a box from Amazon. I nearly killed myself I got so frustrated. I am utterly useless when it comes to practical tasks. I had a useless paper diagram but I had a simple Youtube video which took me stage by stage through the process and still I managed to get it wrong many times.

My Under Gardener was busy cutting the hedges. I am rubbish at that as well. Don’t have the patience. She gets so shaken by the electric hedge trimmers that she can’t hold a cup without spilling for two days afterwards.

Anyway, I think you’ll agree, Dear Reader, that I conquered my demons in the end. Just £47.00 and what fun!

This utterly mad and ill thought out war of Trump and his barmy boys has terribly backfired on him and is almost certain to strengthen China and Russia. What it has certainly done is strengthen Iran as the pricipal operator of the region as it controls the Strait of Humuz which it didn’t previously. The tariff it is charging tankers to go through safely is reported to be $2million which will add considerably to oil and gas supplies. Our petrol price has now risen to £1.51 per litre and is unlikely to fall any time soon. What it is doing, looking on the positive side, is making Trump very unpopular in the US as they lead up to the mid-Term elections. There is always an upside to consider!

Friday, 10th April, 2026

Another lovely day. My neighbours, who are obviously mad as hatters, have decided that this is the weekend to drive up to Anglesey – just a 6 hrs journey of nightmare proportions. To make it worse, Dé has decided that Saturday is the day for her Birthday treat on the Zipwire Experience.

Mad at the best of times (well she is German), she should have checked the weather. For one day only, they are forecast to experience gale force winds. I have a feeling it won’t end well for a girl who is 20 years younger than us. You wouldn’t have caught me doing it even when I was younger. Can’t stand Wales.

Well, it’s all go in our household if not to the death defying level of our neighbours. This morning, the Gym has moved from Winter into Summer mode with all it’s insulation for the delicate equipment packed away. The patio flags around the house are having their biennial spray with black spot remover and pressure washed off.

I’ve been using a magic solution for the patio that needs almost no effort. I spray it on, leave it for a few hours and then wash it off with a hose. Everything went back to ‘new’ state and stayed like that for virtually 2 yrs. I hate sitting in a grimy, old-looking garden and this really pleased me so I’m committed to the effort.

While I do that, my Housekeeper is bringing the cast iron hob supports back to a pristine state by soaking them outside in a bath of something or other that she’s found. It’s important to keep on top of everything particularly as we are going away so much. It is lovely to come home to things in order. It doesn’t take much to please Housekeeper and she was delighted with this result.

However, the contrast doesn’t escape me between Spring Cleaning at home and death defying zip wire experience in North Wales (North Wales – Woooo!) and it is not in my favour. But, Dear Reader, my time will come.

Fifteen years ago we moved to Surrey and met a huge cat called Minnie. She belonged to our neighbour, Rosina, who was a Social Worker in Woking. Minnie was 7 years. She came round every day to say Hello and look for a stroke. Rosina has just contacted me to say that Minnie has decided to go to Cat Dignitas at the grand old age of 22 years. Apparently 22 cat years is the equivalent of 100 human years. Quite some feat.

Saturday, 10th April, 2026

Quite a cool morning. Not terribly inviting outside at all. The warm kitchen is rather enticing with the smell of freshly baked bread drifting across it even though bread is on my banned list. I can enjoy it vicariously via the smell just as I did when I gave up smoking. I’m enjoying a morning in my Office although I’ve got a walk to do soon as well. I might have to wear a fleece today.

I’m reading an interesting article in The Times about the jobs/professions AI will make redundant and, therefore kids should avoid taking up. I have always thought that teaching would be an obvious choice for AI. I was using it 20 years ago to develop online learning. The article suggests that the emotional and ethical elements of people facing professions limits the role of AI and I can see that.

Many well paid professional jobs are going and will go quite rapidly because the rote, logical, analytical content of those jobs is much more easily done by computers. It is the people skills and the hands on physical skills that will resist AI involvement. So plumbers and electricians will be safer than accountants and software engineers.

I’m enjoying exploring different AI / Artificial Intelligence tools. I subscribe to Microsoft 365 Family which gives me access to Copilot – the Microsoft AI client but I also use Chat GPT and Google AI – Gemini. I love the challenge it gives me to learn new skills.

It’s funny because I grew up thinking I didn’t like Science. I did ‘O Level’ Physics and Chemistry. I hated both at the time where as I loved English and History. My father was disappointed that I didn’t take to Science and my Mother was pleased that I had sided with her in the Arts. On the other hand, I loved Maths and was quite good at it but couldn’t combine it at ‘ A Level’ with English and History.

In College I found I loved Philosophy. It was just right for my mind. As I moved on to do my first Degree, I found I loved Logic and Statistics. They suited my natural method of enquiry although I didn’t find Venn Diagrams to be easy chatup openers. In my Masters Degree, data collection skills and analysis came to the fore much more in a scientific discipline than and arts. I think I.T. lends itself to those intermingled disciplines which were thought incompatible 60 years ago.

These are the thoughts buzzing round my head as I set off for my walk. Just about bearable in shorts today. The sun is out but the temperature is only 13C/55F and feels colder in the breeze. Fresh air is good. I’m dreaming of creativity through Artificial Intelligence while my walking companion is marvelling at the moonshot although I don’t think she will be volunteering to go on one. The earth is more than I can cope with.

Sunday, 29th March, 2026

The clocks all went forward automatically except the ovens and the coffee maker. The March Equinox, also known as the Vernal (or Spring) Equinox marks the official start of Spring but ushers in British Summer Time. Ours has started bright but cold. It doesn’t feel like Summer.

My friend, Kevin, is taking 18 members of his family to Portugal for a week and I don’t blame him. It will certainly be warmer than here although I don’t envy him being surrounded by 17 other members of his family. My idea of a nightmare!

It’s going to be another gardening day here. Everything has to be ready for plants to arrive through the post in the second week of April. First I watch the political interview programmes – Trevor Phillips on Sky and Laura Kuenssberg on BBC1. They are all about the effects of Trump’s mad war on the world’s economy and our supplies and prices which all affect public opinion even though we had no part in prosecuting this disaster.

People as old as me, and I will join the old wrinklies next week when I reach 75, will remember the 3-Day Week of 1973 and the fuel rationing that took place. To comment on that, David Owen was wheeled out to recall on those times.

On this day 10 years ago, we moved into our new house and spent our first night here. It was a busy, long and exhausting day which saw us eating a Take Away meal which was so unusual for us. We had the internet but the Televisions were on order and hadn’t arrived. We watched the news across the net on my laptop propped up on a plastic box. Ironically, I had spent a lot of cash on Media Distribution Panels which were sitting idly on the wall in front of me.

It took another 4 days for the Sky installer to come and put us out of our misery by erecting a satelite dish. Ten years on, it is no longer needed as superfast broadband has taken over. I took this photo on the day but what strikes me now, looking back, is the building dust covering the road and the weedy little hedge that is now 5ft tall, thick, green and lustrous. We had been staying with P&C in Surrey while we waited for our house completion and it was poignant last week to visit the house as it was closed for the last time before being handed over to its new owners. Everything changes eventually, Dear Reader.

Monday, 30th March, 2026

Glorious morning – warm and sunny. Perfect for gardening. Just been out to Wickes to buy 10 bags or 500 litres of perfectly sifted and enriched garden compost for just £40.00. A bargain! My wife was more worried about whether I would break the back axel of the car than how much it cost.

I have been gardening since I was 7 but seriously since I was 27. I really enjoy it and the effort is good for me. Most of this compost will be used in public spaces but it will also enrich my raised beds in the back garden and replenish the pots.

In a matter of days and depending on the weather, NASA’s modern moonshot, Artemis II, is set to launch, beginning a multi-mission expedition to take humans back to the moon. Some people get very excited about things like this but I’m afraid it doesn’t really raise my interest. The first moon landing happened in July, 1969.

I had just finished my A Levels and was doing a holiday job at Pirelli Tyre Factory in Burton upon Trent. I was working 12 hr shifts 6 days a week and raking in the cash. With my first week’s wage, I went out and bought a pair of incredibly tight fitting hipster trousers – grey with orange stripes very similar to the ones featured above. My Mother hated them which made them even more hip and certainly more significant than men on the moon.

I wonder what you remember about 1969, Dear Reader. Let me jog your memory. I certainly had to jog my own. In 1969 in the UK:

• The Beatles released their final album, Abbey Road, and give their last public performance on the roof of Apple Records.
• The Rolling Stones released Honky Tonk Women and Brian Jones died at 27 years of age in his swimming pool.
• Monty Python’s Flying Circus premiered.
• Charles was invested as Prince of Wales.
• Concorde flew its maiden flight.
• The Northern Ireland ‘Troubles’ began as troops were deployed.
• The House of Lords voted to abolish the death penalty.

In 1969 in the United States:

• The Woodstock Festival was held featuring Jimmi Hendrix, Joe Cocker, Joni Mitchel, Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young and many more.
• Charles Manson and his disciples murdered five people including Sharon Tate.
• The first moon landing happened.
• Nixon became President.
• The first citizen died of Aids and the Gay Rights Movement began.

However, far exceeding all of those events in significance is the fact that I left home and went to College in North Yorkshire. Admittedly, its significance is more for me than the world but similar.

Tuesday, 31st March, 2026

Not the greatest day to see out March 2026. Not cold but fairly grey still. I was hoping for better. Gardening is put off until tomorrow. Today, I’ve got more lucrative things to do. You will have heard about the Car Finance Scandal in which Car Salesmen managed to engineer extra commissions by selling financial products that customers didn’t really need. I’ve been buying new cars since 1975 and I can tell you that this has only really became a feature of that transaction in the last 20 years.

The claims that are possible against misselling can only go back to 2007. In that time I have bought 10 brand new cars. As such, I am the Claims Nightmare because I get my secretary to file everything. I have paperwork for every new car purchase including that one I bought in Oldham in 1975. It is a comprehensive record to rival the Blog.

These documents are making the filing cabinet bulge to the point where a new cabinet is more urgent than a new car. We were told last night that each eligible claim would receive £830.00 compensation. Of the 10 new cars I bought in that period, 7 are potentially eligible claims so I am confidently expecting a pay out of just under £6000.00 in time.

All my cars were bought from two Dealerships. Of those, 3 since 2007 were bought from Hepworth Honda in Huddersfield where I bought almost 20 new cars since the 1980s but only 3 qualify under this scheme. The salesman died last year and the dealership has changed hands and name. The rest were bought from Honda in Worthing where lots of weird and wonderfully dodgy finance schemes were offered.

This morning, a couple of hours searching through paperwork and then filling out a stock, formal email letter has allowed me to send off 7 claims to the official compensation scheme not to one of the many internet lawyers who claim 30% of the cash. I will not be giving any of it out although, of course, I will be handing it all to my wife for ‘safe keeping’ or new clothes.

At least the garden is looking clean and ready for what is to come. Already in are potatoes, onion sets and lettuce seeds. The temperature this afternoon is a pleasant 20C/68F and the sun is warm. My odd job woman is varnishing the cold frames and everything is ready for the season to begin. There are stars in my eyes!

Wednesday, 1st April, 2026

Happy New Month, Dear Reader. Happy April. A warm morning after a beautiful, moonlit night. We are looking forward to long, sunny days ahead. This month will be gardening but then the travelling begins – and I for one can’t wait. France, Greece, Spain, Tenerife, Lancashire & Yorkshire. People and Places to look forward to.

I also have to wish my friend, Christine Dagg, Happy Birthday. I have known her for 54 years and being 75 is quite scary. She is jetting off to Albufeira in Portugal with 17 members of her extended family to celebrate. I’ve spoken to her today to wish her a happy time. She seems to be very content in her family with children at university and doing well. I’m pleased for her.

I must admit I’m quite scared at the prospect of being 75 next week. I remember the 50 and 60 barriers quite well. When we moved from the North of England, I was only 60 years old. When we moved down to the South Coast, I was only 65 years old but it is scary how short those spans of time have felt. A similar one will see me reach 85 and 90 years old. Could anyone seriously imagine that?

I don’t know why but I watched a serious but meaningful film last night on Netflix called Care. It was written by Jimmy McGovern so it is fairly hard hitting and gritty. It starred Sheridan Smith and Alison Steadman as daughter and mother. Mother has two daughters one of whom also has two daughters. A lot of the positions are cliched in that they are true to reality. Older Mothers tend to outlive their husbands and so it is here.

Mother, Alison Steadman, has survived her husband and is now doing Grandma duties looking after her daughter’s two kids when they come home from school so their mother, Sheridan Smith can work. Suddenly, everything changes in a flash. Driving the kids home from school, Grandma has a stroke and crashes the car. In hospital, she is also diagnosed with dementia.

Daughter has to look after a stroke limited, dementia limited Mother. She loses her job and the father of her two children has moved on to another relationship. Her own sister is too tied up in life to share the care and they can’t afford a quality Care Home.

I won’t tell you any more because it would spoil the story but it is predictive of a situation that many of us will face from one end of the telescope or another. I already talk to my Carer about not caring too much. Aggression comes with dementia and I am too big for her to cope with. If that is my future, she has instructions to dump me outside the Local Authority Offices and to save all the money to look after herself. Of course, when dementia calls, you have to remember the good times however distant.

Now, just as Americans get ready to blast off to the moon for the first time for almost 55 years, I’m going out to mow the lawns. Bet I finish first. I was sweating when I finished in a temperature of 16C/61F. The summer is coming!

Thursday, 2nd April, 2026

Glorious morning after a beautiful night which featured an almost full moon. Apparently that is tonight – a pink moon. I will be looking up at that, Dear Reader. Will you?

The first week of April is finance time. The end of the old and the start of the new Tax Year on my birthday. In case you’ve forgotten it, that is April 6th. Chef is already planning my Birthday Supper. She is making Vegetable Pizza. I am not allowed pizza normally, in fact, I am not allowed bread but birthdays are treat days so I ask for pizza. I bought Chef a wonderful electric, Pizza Oven last year but it so rarely gets used that it lives in the outdoor kitchen. It reaches 400C and cooks a pizza perfectly in minutes. All the time is taken in the preparation of the dough but that’s what Chefs are for.

I’m afraid I’ve had a second blank month on Premium Bonds so the experiment is going a little sour at the moment. It’s going to take a big prize to catch up at this rate. I’m still considering ISA investments at the moment. In fact, I may hold off for a while to see if interest rates, which were forecast to fall, have another rise. The current league table looks like this above. I certainly don’t want to tie money up for more than 3 years but it would be nice to get 5.00% tax free on £40,000.00 over that period. As you know, with compound interest, that would make £6,305.00 over the period.

We aim to save £20,000 per year from our income which goes into various high rate paying acccounts before being moved into tax free ISAs. I know that will seem small beer to some people but we think it is reasonable for two poorly paid teacher pensioners and it is an investment in our futures such as they are.

Friday, 3rd April, 2026

A damp start to a momentous day. It is the official start to the English Cricket Season … but that’s not the moment. On this day 17 years ago, we left work for the last time. A day later, we were on our way to Greece with Olympic Airways which also doesn’t exist anymore.

An ex-pupil provided this memory of the beginning of our school journey. I started in September 1972 and Pauline in September 1973. I always remember her arriving for interview. I was teaching a Year 11 class English as this gorgeous creature with long, blonde hair right down to her bottom walked past my open classroom door. I stopped speaking and stuck my head out to watch her walking up the corridor only to find two boys behind me doing exactly the same thing. At that point the die was cast in all sorts of ways.

Teaching gave us a reasonable living and is providing a much better retirement than expected but I would not go into it if I had my time again. We met some lovely people, some delightful kids but I became increasingly cynical about managing the process of state education. So much time was spent gaming the system, massaging/fabricating the data for essentially meaningless targets and being judged on ludicrous standards which, once again, were subject to massage.

I have a feeling it is too late to change course now. I received a Birthday card to day which rather emphasises that I am joining the old, wrinklies. Actually, in spite of what I say, I’m still finding it really hard to let go of ambition. There are things I am determined to achieve and the graduation points of time like this just temporarily dent my confidence and then I shrug them off.

We have to keep moving forward or we die. Time is the film score to that movement and it is up to us to turn the volume down a notch and not let it drown out the narrative. It may be Bad Friday today but I live in hope that the next one will be better. I am determined to make it so.

In moments like this I listen to Bocelli’s Because We Believe. It moves me every time but it proves I am alive and still hoping and, through a vale of tears, makes me more determined.

Like stars across the sky
E per avvincere
Tu dovrai vincere
We were born to shine
All of us here because we believe

Non arrenderti
Qualcuno è con te
Like stars across the sky
We were born to shine
E per avvincere
Dovrai vincere
E allora vincerai

Music and words are the morphine for the heart. The song ends with E allora vincerai – And then you’ll win. Optimism is all. And in that vein, I am going in the Gym while Chef is trying to sabotage it by making Hot Crossed Buns which she will serve dripping in butter. How will I cope?

Saturday, 4th April, 2026

End of another week already. My last full week of youth. I received another reminder that I enter the world’s Old People’s Home on Monday. It is not something to celebrate although it is something I should mark because I won’t be back. Reincarnation is an illusion to comfort the dying. Ashes to ashes is the reality.

Well, we’ll leave that there for now. There are more immedate things to deal with like … petrol prices. There are so many complaints about rising fuel prices and demands for the government to mitigate them. Pejorative comparisons are drawn with other countries in an attempt to paint ours in a bad light.

Before the Iran debacle, we were paying about £1.35 per litre for unleaded. This week, our price hit £1.51. Two weeks ago, I filled up in France and payed the equivalent of £1.71 per litre. It was quite a shock and illustrated just how isolated we Brits are.

We got back to a petrol station at home which was closed for lack of fuel due to panic buying. It quickly reopened and we have had a policy of filling up little and often since then. Yesterday, I topped up just £15.00’s worth of fuel and the car said it gave me a range of 503 miles until empty. One of the joys of driving a Hybrid. To be honest, on normal weekly driving, that would get me through a month.

In spite of the fuel prices, I love Europe. The Brexit vote was the sheer madness of the Great Unwashed doing the Global Elite’s bidding. A full decade on, it is becoming clear. The mantra of take back control of our borders rings a bit hollow as they start to complain about Europe doing exactly that themselves.

What gets me is that they talk about the EES  Entry-Exit System (EES) for non-EU citizens  as punishment for leaving the EU. They never refer to the almost identical system used by USA. I wonder what we’re being punished for there. Not being American? Losing the American War of Independence of 1783? As the mantra goes: if you leave a club, new rules apply. And so it is with Europe.

There is something so inclusive and optimistic about the nations of Europe that we can tap into and nobody says utterly superficially, Have a nice day. I leave you with the Beethoven’s “Ode to Joy” expresses Schiller’s idealistic vision of the human race becoming brothers and adopted by EU leaders as the official anthem of the European Union..

Sunday, 22nd March, 2026

It’s great to wake early and see sunshine from clear, blue sky. I’m seeing it again this morning. It’s going to be a good day and, hopefully, a good week.

Gardening today. Sowing lettuces and parsley for cutting in June. Tidying up the garden and cleaning the patio and paths of the winter grime. In West Yorkshire our acre of garden was a daunting task to manage. Here, a few hours and it’s done and this year with so much time away the garden will just have to get on without too much help.

Nipping to France this week mainly on a wine buying trip but I suspect my navigator will be looking for shoes and chocolate to balance the experience. We are driving to the tunnel early to avoid traffic. Hoping that they will be using the new biometric recognition system – the EEC Entry/Exit System which is replacing manual passport stamps for non-EU citizens – so we can establish our position on the database in advance of airport travel in June.

It has been delayed for the past 12 months because it was causing chaos and delays but we’ve got two chances this week and another French trip in May before we fly to Greece in June and Spain in July.

I love Europe and feel European. I certainly don’t feel American and Trump has crystalised that. He is really doing us a favour in driving UK back into the arms of Europe where we need economic and military alliances. For the pro-EU folk among us — which is, in fact, most of the country at this point — this is welcome mood music. It’s not just Paris, either. The Germans miss having us around to wind the French up. The Nordics and Netherlanders and Baltics all want us more involved. The Irish wish we’d never left. Everyone realises that America’s world chaos era makes European co-operation vital.

Monday, 23rd March, 2026

A warm morning with weak sunshine. The car is cleaned and ready for setting off for France tomorrow morning. The station that was out of fuel on Saturday now has some and the price is only 141.9p. The drive is about 200 miles round trip and the tank has 420 miles in it now so all is well. I will fill up in France before returning.

The order of the day is preparing for gardening next week. I have to buy plants to put out on the street beds and for our own back garden. This year, I’m buying plug plants to pot up and grow on in my cold frames.

They have to make an effect from a distance as you drive into the Development so I don’t choose subtle colours. They have to survive throughout the Summer and well into Autumn without much aftercare. These plants will do that.

I’ve ordered 400 plants which will cost me about £150.00 but it is a small contribution to my neighbourhood which is a happy and friendly place to live. They will arrive throughout the month of April and I will grow them on under glass until they go out into beds in May. I’ll have a few weeks to establish them outside before I go abroad and leave them to the mercy of my neighbours.

A lot of Right Wing populist rhetoric is just that – hot air without a foot in reality. It is easy to be a critic without responsibility. It is easy to spout nonsense without understanding. Today, we see Trump punctured of hot air by the reality of the bind he finds himself in and from which he is back pedalling furiously. Trump Always Chickens Out is coming home to roost before our eyes.

At the same time, the slavering Right Wing Press in the UK have been predicting the rise of the rabid Right Wing in France and the demise of Macron. Wrong again. It was wishful thinking like that of those supporting the Deform Party in UK. The Socialists have won again. You just have to love the French!

Tuesday, 24th March, 2026

Up early at 5.00 am. Dark and felt a bit chilly this morning. Setting off for Le Shuttle at 5.30 am and still dusk. The car said it was 11C/52F but felt really cold. We had a nearly 2hr drive A272/M23/M25/M20. We arrived 30 mins early in time for a cup of coffee. There was hardly anyone lining up for a 9.15 am train.

It looks like world instability and off peak times have almost killed cross channel travel. I think this every time I go through an airport and here, today at the Tunnel Terminal. Keen shop assistants stand around looking deperate for clients. They’re looking at the wrong person in me. I would never buy from them. My wife occasionally buys perfume that she says is much cheaper but that’s the best they can expect.

France was grey and cold. Unseasonably cold. Actually, we reached 14C/57F but the breeze made it feel freezing. I contacted friends back in UK looking for warmth. I listened to Radio 4 Today programme by putting my phone through my car’s sound system while under the sea. Swiftly off the train in France and on to Cité Europe. Here the cost of living and instability of current times was obvious. These are desperate times for poor people.

I, on the other hand, was indulging in wine buying. My wife was indulging in chocolate buying. The contrast didn’t escape me. Our indulgencies are purely discretionary. They are exactly that … discretionary. I spent £800.00 on wine and she spent £60.00 on chocolate. We both have our weakenesses.

Wednesday, 25th March, 2026

Not warm again but bright and sunny. We have our annual Central Heating service this morning. We haven’t used it much in the past year although the water is heated constantly. Sounds like we are going to bear the brunt of the costs of this Middle East war. However, it was interesting yesterday to fill up with petrol in France at a cost of £1.73 per litre and then drive home and fill up again at a cost of £1.40 per litre. If you remain insular, you are denied the international comparison that provides perspective and meaning. You think we have it bad. Look elsewhere to know.

Funnily enough and I love these ironies, one of the first things I heard about as I sat drinking coffee in France was the collapse of a building …. in Oldham. I love France. I feel relaxed and comfortable there but the warm glow of memory floods my mind when Oldham is conjured up. As I followed the news story up, I found the collapse was caused by building rennovation work and when you look at the town it desperately needs it. Labour is investing £31 million in developing the old Mumps area.

So many of these Northern towns which were made prosperous by the industrial revolution feel like they have been left behind by a post-industrial society in which the economy and social structures have shifted from manufacturing to services and technology driven activities. They have to address that and investment is needed. Boris Johnson proudly talking of levelling up but that was all he did. Labour are actually doing it.

Nobody would pretend that it is enough but it is something more than previously and looks like it will transform the landscape. You only have to look at the old and dilapidated buildings that speak of a long lost time – a time before modern heating and insulation were even dreamed of. Often they were built before most of the services were available that we would consider essential now.

For all the romance of history, it is surely time to sweep much of it away and build new. That’s why I am pleased to see Labour prepare to build 7 new towns with 1.5 million new homes all built to a level of insulation and with solar heating that the builders of the last century could only have dreamed of.

Thursday, 26th March, 2026

Gorgeous morning. Drinking the sunlight in and enjoying the Mediterranean sky. Just makes me feel happier. As the world is on fire, I am trying to navigate a retirement of happiness and fulfillment. Only 16 years ago, I was just 58 years old and had decided I wasn’t going to work anymore. We had both made that decision and were negotiating hard the terms of our redundancy.

They didn’t want us to go. They even offered Pauline a new job. We had to make them realise it would be for the best if they gave us a nice big pay off and let us slip away quietly. On this day, 16 years ago, we had just 8 days left of our working lives. It was absolutely weired, scary, exciting, optimistic with the future full of possibilities. Actually, we didn’t even know if we might need to do some consultancy work to supplement our incomes. We soon realised that wasn’t going to be necessary at all.

As we prepared to go off and play out in our Greek home, the school wound down towards the new Academy in Waterhead. The once busy corridors, that I walked for years keeping noisy kids in check, soon fell silent. The cleaners and caretakers moved out and the building was left to the winds of time.

It was a time when I most needed to be in charge of events and I was constantly contacting people, checking financial figures – redundancy payoffs x 2, Pension forecasts x 2, Lump Sums x 2, Mortgage settlement figure, etc.. It all felt too demanding. Right up to the last day, things were uncertain. And then, suddenly they weren’t. The terms were agreed, the figures looked better than anticipated and all was well with the world.

We flew straight to our Greek home where we could relax after the turmoil of the last term. The property was carpeted with Spring flowers, the air was warm, there were lemons on the trees in the back garden and life was suddenly calm and quiet. We realised that we’d never need to work again unless we chose and it took a little while before we accepted that, psychologically, we didn’t need to work.

Sixteen years on, what is my life reduced to? This morning I received a new responsibility – using a Food Waste Bin! Well, I won’t be responsible but you know what I mean. It feels like the microcosm has gone almost as mad as the macrocosm. Food Bins, Gaza, Iran – let’s run away to a Greek island!

Friday, 27th March, 2026

Only Friday. It’s seemed a long week. I’ve got through quite a lot. The days are getting longer and the clocks go forward on Saturday night/Sunday morning. I’ve been awake since 5.00 am and listening to political podcasts The Newsagents USA this morning discussing the $Billion spikes in the Nasdaq just before Trump announced a 10 day hiatus in the bombing of Iran. Insider Trading was going on making a great deal of money for the chosen few in the know. And we wonder why people are cynical about politicians.

And then I found this. Who needs AI when you can fool most of the people some of the time with simple software. I posted it on Twitter/X and Threads, Bluesky and Facebook. At the time of writing, it had received more than 10,000 viewings, reposts, etc..

It is now 8.00 am and life has come back with a soft landing – a glorious landing – as I switch on my PC and I’m greeted by this scene. My computer screen gives me a new picture each day and this one made me think of the past, of innocent times, of happier times and of John Ridley.

Of course, the turmoil out on the world’s rim is bleeding back into our own lives as the world economy cracks under the strain. It is also derailing the Labour Government’s hard work as interest rates were due to reduce again. Inflation was forecast to return to the BoE’s 2.0% and net migration was expected to go negative by the end of the year. Now, the reverse is expected. This major investment in roads has almost gone out unannounced and almost unnoticed as the noise of war clouds everything.

Saturday, 28th March, 2026

Well, the month of March and Blog Week 900 are drawing to a conclusion in sympathy with Daylight Saving. An hour less in bed tonight. I won’t miss it. I was awake at 5.00 am this morning as the day opened with clear blue sky and strong sunshine.

Today is Jane’s birthday. She is 72 years old and living in West Yorkshire where I used to live. I didn’t want to flatter her too much with the photo but we hope she has a lovely day in spite of it.

Down on the pier, the Prom. Run was starting to prepare and busy people were packing as much into their lives as possible with a Saturday Fun Run. I often think I’ve done nothing with my life but then, on focussing down, I realise how many experiences I’ve got through.

This morning, I found my life on the Office desk in the form of the Accounts. We must have been talking about something yesterday which led to my accountant getting out the early records. The top book began on 25th, September 1981. We had been married for almost 3 years by then and earlier records were kept on Bank Statements but the real plan started here.

Although the amounts seem farcically small, I can see the seeds of a lifetime’s principles from the start. We have always tried to maintain a healthy current account. Our principle 45 years ago was to keep a level of about £550.00 which was more than one salary. Now, 45 years on, we would be unhappy if our current account fell much below £10,000.00. In those early days, our mortgage was just £55.08 per month. Our final mortagage was around £2,500.00 per month. Even though we were working on relatively small sums of income, we set the principle of saving right from the start. Our Standing Orders contained 3 monthly payments out to M&G or Municipal & General Securities Company Limited, an investment company where we built up savings. We have been doing it ever since.

Our house was centrally heated but we had an open fire in the Lounge for which we bought coal and logs. Albert Stephens was the supplier and I found his company still listed this morning. I was big into photography even then but everything had to be sent off to be developed by PhotoPost and returned as prints – however bad. I think it became Photo Express just for enthusiasts like my brother, Bob, after digital became established. We loved to eat out at Sole Mio in Huddersfield which was fantastic in the early days but it only cost us £10.05 for a meal with wine back in 1981.

Just 8 years later, our salaries had more than doubled because of big catching-up pay awards and career promotions and we were feeling affluent. We had bought a big, new house with an acre of land in a Conservation village, we had bought four new cars, taken out Health Insurance at a cost of £600.00 per year first with Clinicare and then with Bupa. And our accounts were preparing to go digital.

How life has changed. Even the accounts package we use was discontinued 20 years ago but I’ve managed to bend it to install on all future platforms. It is so easy to go back and check when something was purchased, when some new investment programme was started, when some subscription needs cancelling. It is life on a spreadsheet and non the less important for that.