Month: September 2024

Sunday, 22nd September, 2024

Once again, it rained overnight. Very warm outside and quickly brightening up. An old friend tells me it was even nice in North Wales yesterday. Amazing! We went out early to the Waste Disposal Site to get rid of some redundant electrical stuff. It was incredibly busy for early on a Sunday morning.

On to the beach for our morning walk. The warm weather had brought out lots of people, walking, paddling, swimming even though the tide was out. I just love living here.

Ten years ago, we were still in Surrey. I recorded that a local estate agent’s House Magazine had featured our Duplex Apartment but described it as a Mews Cottage. We were extremely surprised but very pleased that they had valued it at almost double the price we’d bought it at 4 years earlier. Buying new properties is always an uncertain thing but this had really paid off. We had bought in to a commuter sweetspot.

Fifteen years ago, when I was just 58, we were still in Greece and this was the view from our house looking down towards the beach. An autumnal sky looking down over the Aegean Sea is just wonderful. Good times.

Monday, 23rd September, 2024

It rained over night but was amazingly warm. Dry now in time for a walk. Going out to collect new soundbars for the TVs from Currys and doing an hour or so walking in the sunshine. First I must wish our old friend and our former Head of Reprographics, Little Viv, a Happy 70th Birthday. She is still living up in Oldham just like my friend, Lisa in Littleborough, is still working at the ‘chalk face’ more than 15 years after I left to ‘play out’. Hard to imagine all the effort she has put in while I am relaxing. At least she looks happy.

A lad who worked for me as I.T. Manager and who I really liked, sent me this photo from the morning drive to work in Oldham. It brought it all back to me and the early morning drive across the Pennines in some of the most dreaful weather one can imagine – torrential rain, white-out blizzards and gale-force winds and the occasional sunny day.

I certainly don’t miss that. It doesn’t make you want to go through all that again does it, Dear Reader.

It had rained here over night and was still a bit gloomy as we set out on our walk. The tide was as far out as it could be but the shades were of grey. Typically, as soon as we got home, the sun came out, the clouds blew away and all was like mid-summer. Very warm.

Got home and setup the sound bar on the Lounge TV. Makes an amazingly obvious difference immediately. Glad I bought it. Dialogue in films is immediately sharper and music has huge richness and complexity of tone. I chose a Bose speaker and I’m pleased I did.

Today marks the end of the first month done without alcohol. Only another 7 to go. I’ve decided not to drink wine again until May. We’ll see how that goes. I’ve ordered a case of white wines to celebrate by unpacking and racking them.

Tuesday, 24th September, 2024

Out early on a warm but grey morning for a blood test. Biannually, I have to have my blood coagulation home-testing machine cross checked with the professionals. After a 5 or more years going to hospitals each month to have it done, I bought my own machine and tested myself. I think it cost around £500.00 15 years ago but it was well worth it. Anyway, today is one of those days.

On to the beach road for our walk. Becoming addicted to this again. I’ve told you before, Dear Reader, I am an addictive personality which works for good and for ill. This is definitely for good. An hour and a half later, I feel a better person and I can justify an hour in my Office sitting still.

Had one of those lovely moments yesterday which quite shocked and surprised me. Had a phone call from Little Viv last night to thank us for our card and present for her 70^th birthday. When we speak, it invariably leads to a trawl through the names of Those we have Known. Today, she told us of a lad called Adrian who had been our Head of Music. He left our school to take a school management job in Lincolnshire and we didn’t hear much of him after that.

Viv told us today that he had retired but she wasn’t sure how old he was. I couldn’t remember so I did some research on him. I found him very quickly and that he is 63. I found that because he listed his School Year as 1979. What shocked me was that he listed his Secondary School as Abbot Beyne School. I thought, I know that name. As soon as I looked it up, I realised in was in Burton on Trent.

I went to school in Burton on Trent at the Boys Grammar School. Mum had taught Art at the Girls High School up the road. My Grandfather and my Father ( who died 59 years ago today) had both been pupils there before me. The school was founded in 1520. I started in 1962 and left in 1969. Before I left, a Secondary Modern School was built lower down the hill and, soon after I left my ancient Grammar School was closed and combined with the Secondary Modern school to form a Comprehensive. There was uproar in the Grammar community but the new school was deliberately called Abbot Beyne School to link with the history of the original Grammar School.

So, I realised that Adrian had spent 6 years working in our school. I spoke to him every day. I had no idea that he had come from my Home Town and attended another iteration of my own school. Fascinating to find. Adrian is in Australia at the moment and I’m trying to contact him.

It sounds like our new car will be delivered on Saturday. I paid for it this morning so I am reviewing what new facilities I can expect to have to learn when I start driving. One facility is a digital app called MyHonda+. It is like sitting in the car but anywhere using youir smartphone. You can:

• Lock & Unlock Car Remotely.
• Turn on the heating in the car to de-ice in advance.
• Set up the sat.nav. remotely in advance and check the full route on the map.
• Have the position where the car was parked with route to find it in new city.
• Get all the dashboard information – fuel, oil, tyres, temperature, etc on the phone remotely.
• Get vehicle car health alerts and contact Honda for dealing with them.

The car features Wing Mirrow cameras that display on the central screen a view of the street you’re turning left into before you actually get there so problems can be anticipated. It also has Adaptive Cornering Lights and Adaptive Driving Beam which causes the front headlights to tutn into the corners rather than staying straight ahead and automatically dips headlights when others are driving towards us.

The car also features Honda Sensing 360 which provides the following facilities:

• Front Cross Traffic Warning
• Lane Change Collision Mitigation
• Active Lane Change Assist
• Collision Mitigation Braking System
• Adaptive Cruise Control with Low Speed Follow

I’m a gadgets man. I love them and conquering their complexities. The more a new car has, the better for me. Going to be good fun.

Wednesday, 25th September, 2024

Woke up to a grey, drizzly morning. Still very warm. Delayed my walk for a few hours to wait for the sunshine. Drove out to Currys to collect a new TV for the Kitchen. This one had developed a bright spot which is sign of dying pixels apparently.

It is only a 43″ TV but it has been there for 8 years so is due for renewal. New one ordered at a cost of £480.00. I’m told it will need a new wall mount which I’ve bought and the fitters will install it for me because I can’t. It will be fitted this week.

Julie told me that my friend, Nigel, is 76 tomorrow. Hard to believe even though I knew he was older than me. Everyone was older than me. We were in Digs together for 2 years 1969 & 70 and then flatmates in 1971. The above photo is from then.

Nigel is a Potter. He was Head of Art in a distinguished Yorkshire school. For a while, he was a Buddhist. He was always ‘Alternative’. It made him interesting and ‘difficult’.

This photo is one he took and developed himself and sums him up completely …. better than the description, off-beat.

Thursday, 26th September, 2024

Lovely morning. Blue sky and sunshine. Taking the car out for one of its last trips. The new one will be delivered on Monday. Can we get this one up to 8,000 miles?

I quite often see the first iteration of the Honda CRV that we bought in 1997. It carried a spare wheel on the back door covered in a nice, hardcased cover. Later ones and this new one have no spare wheel at all. We just get an injection puncture kit which I’m not keen on but it does allow the car greater storage space.

There have been 7 different model redesigns since its inception 27 years ago. Although it has been a very gentle evolution, the current model is quite a long way from the first. I think we’ve had 15 CRVs now and at least one of each redesign so I am reasonably equipped to evaluate them.

Honda are big in USA and we often feel that redesigns have been heavily influenced by American tastes. They prefer a chunkier, heavier, more flashy design which doesn’t necessarily appeal to us. For example, the macho approach likes a twin exhaust pipe to give the impression that the engine is a monster of power. Our new model will have twin exhaust pipes and the oblong shaped ones that Americans seem to like. It is quite ridiculous because our emissions from a petrol/electric hybrid are far less than the model I bought in 1997. One of the two will be working and the other a dummy …. just for balance, Honda say.

My old friend, Nigel is 76 today. It is a scary number. I’ve only seen him once since 1972. To be honest, he hasn’t changed much. I have sent him this.

Friday, 27th September, 2024

Heavy rain all night has given way to a bright and warm morning. It’s possible that we will have more rain clouds scudding across the day so I will be confined to the Gym today. Got to be in for the TV fitters so it’s not a problem. At least we are not in Florida at the moment but we are thinking of M&K who are battening down the hatches just off the Florida coast as Tropical Storm Helene moves towards them.

They seem quite plegmatic about it but, then, they are so much younger. Hope they are looking after our house well. If they start to panic, we will just have to pop over and help them.

Ironically, I am looking forward to a Gym session today because I’ve got an interesting new film to watch. Set on a Greek island and filmed on Crete, Killer Heat features character actors I have enjoyed before. It’s helping me exercise and the exercise is working. My weight is seriously coming down and my fitness levels pleasingly going up. Just a matter of keeping on keeping on. I’ve now done 31 days without alcohol and I’m not missing it at all. I’ve become addicted to Tonic Water with supper instead. It is Fever-Tree Light Spanish Clementine Tonic Water. It is low in calories and a refreshing taste.

Just over twenty years ago, the build of our Greek house was coming to completion and it needed furnishing. We looked around Athens and the online Greek market and thought we would struggle to find what we wanted so we considered buying it all in UK but ….. how to get it to a little lump of rock in the middle of the Aegean Sea. There are people who drive white vans across Europe regularly and deliver goods for people but they couldn’t cope with the amount of stuff we wanted to send.

So, we decided that shipping container was the way to go. I found one that would get from Leeds to Hull Docks and on to Piraeus for about £4,000 which seemed quite a lot 20 years ago. We bought:

• 3 x double beds
• 3 x dressing tables & chairs
• A sofa bed for the Office
• A desk system, chair and bookcase
• A computer & printer
• 2 x settees + armchair
• A large coffee table & 3 tall standard lamps
• A large TV stand/cabinet + TV
• An antique wood settle
• A log burning stove
• A full, IKEA flatpack kitchen including worksurfaces
• A large set of cooking pans and utensils + white crockery
• Heavy 6ft wooden Dining table + 6 chairs
• Lots of mirrors for around the house
• 3 x Outdoor Benches + table and chairs

We tried to buy the very best quality we could afford. We were able to order all these things and have them delivered to the container in Leeds. The container was taken by lorry to King George Dock, Hull and set off on its 3 month journey to Piraeus. From there, we hired an island lorry firm to pick it up and deliver it to our house on the island.

We were still there when it arrived at the end of August. It was all packed into bedrooms for the winter. The log burning stove, a Jotul, cost £2,500 even then but we thought it a thing of beauty. When it was delivered, it was so heavy, it was left in the porch outside the front door. It was left there all winter while we were away. Finally, I got Stavros to find someone to install it and there it was situated beautifully in the Sitting Room. The baskets were from the Greek gypsies who called. The pictures were my photographs of earlier Greek times framed in Huddersfield. On this day, 15 years ago, we were retired and stayed long enough to justify putting on the underfloor heating and lighting the log burner. Delicious!

Saturday, 28th September, 2024

What a day to be alive. Warm, sunny, azure blue sky. Walking along the beach path, with the waves of the turning tide crashing on the shale and everywhere people were embracing the sunshine.

There were people paddling and shrieking as the waves hit them. There were swimmers enjoying the swell and ebb of the tide. Half naked people stretched out on the beach topping up on Autumn rays and older ones just sitting and talking in the wamth. The Whelk Stalls and Doghnut Shops were opening in anticipation of weekend crowds.

The Council are spending lots of money to improve the seafront facilities and work is just starting now. There are acres of space which are currently laid to grass and have to be mowed regularly at the moment but which is going to be developed with extra play areas, coffee shops, a swimming pool and skate park.

Two men arrived at 6.30 pm to fit the TV. They had started their working day in Kent at 5.30 am driving up to central London to do a series of jobs and then driven back through Surrey and Sussex doing more installation jobs. They installed the TV in our kitchen, had a cup of coffee and left at around 7.00 pm for Brighton to do another installation before driving an hour and a half back to Maidstone. I felt so sorry for them.

As usual, I got their Life Stories out of them before they left. The older man had been involved in High Tec. digital film development and had worked in Germany and then Norway. He spoke both languages. On a trip back to England he met a girl. She got pregnant (What is it with girls?) and they had a daughter but soon after he split with his girlfriend. He dotes on his daughter and moved back to Maidstone in Kent in order to be closer to her which is why he had such a menial job.

The younger lad – just 20 years old – had been thrown out of school in Year 11. He is autistic and has ADHD. He passed all his GCSEs after time in Special schools but like working with his hands and loved this job. The older man was his mentor. Neither had anybody to rush home to so they were happy on the road together – the odd couple of TV fitters. It’s stories like this that make me realise how lucky I’ve been.

Sunday, 15th September, 2024

After a beautiful, moonlit but mild night – and it is full moon on Wednesday – the day has opened to strong, warm sunshine. We have a week of warm sunshine in prospect which will be nice. It is lovely to be out walking by the sea each morning with sun on my skin.

Every day, I talk to people across UK and the world. I don’t know if you do this, Dear Reader, but I often entertain that old romance of wondering whether people I talk to are looking at the same moon that I am at the same time. Madness, I know but what else is lunacy?

In the warm sunshine of the morning we went walking. At 10.00 am, families were beginning to arrive at the beach and the shops were beginning to raise their shutters in the hope of making a catch. The FunFare was beginning to start up and children delivered to a few hours of fun. People were out walking their children and their dogs.

The newish Cafe-Restaurant that has opened in the last few months on the edge of the beach was packed for Breakfasts and morning coffee and to watch the sailing school out in front of the roof top viewing platform. Everywhere, people enjoying their weekend.

I valeting the car with enthusiasm. The leatherwork has never looked so healthy since I bought it. Actually, when it goes for trade-in tomorrow, I more or less know what they will offer and at which point I will push them. Honda know our car well, after all and didn’t even bother looking at it last time I traded it in. But, I have pride and it must look its best. The only real question is: which colour from a dreadful list. Actually, it can only be black. Nothing else appeals.

Monday, 16th September, 2024

The Ides of September passed already, but it seems that the Autumn has been ordered to wait. Another gorgeous morning after a lovely day on Sunday. The week is forecast to be sunny and touching 22C/70F – certainly enough to make my outdoor tomatoes finish ripening. We ate some yesterday and they were delicious. West Sussex water and West Sussex sunshine taste really special. You should try it, Dear Reader.

These cherry tomatoes were planted by me two years ago and cleared away in October 2022. On that space I have grown green beans for the past two years but in June I noticed a small tomato plant growing amongst them. Just for fun, I left it and it blossomed and fruited rather late. We have eaten a few tomatoes from it so far but it is heavily laden with nearly ripe fruit. This week’s late Summer weather may have come to the rescue.

Some time next week, all the annual plants will probably be grubbed up as colder nights switch off the plants growth instincts and they yellow and fade. Time and seasons will move on. It’s strange that the perspective of 50 years ago is so short whereas the perspective of 3 years ago feels so long. Just 3 years ago we were in Boulogne sur Mer buying fish on the Quay. That’s not unusual. We’ve been doing it for 30 years. What struck me was the fact that Covid and indoor mask wearing was still a thing and we had to have an ‘official’ Covid test in a Pharmacie in Coquelles before we were allowed back into Britain. Only 3 years ago!

So much has happened since then, hasn’t it Dear Reader. Just take a moment to review your own life over those 3 years. What were you doing on 16th September, 2021? No idea? Keep a diary or write a Blog – get a true perspective.

Out to Honda for a 2.00 pm meeting. We met the Sales Exec. we have dealt with since we came down here. In the last eight years we have bought 4 cars from him. We knew we would buy. He knew we would buy. It was all a friendly discussion about margins on our car and off the new one. Our car was immaculate and had done 7,670 miles. They will resell it for a couple of thousand pounds more than they offer us for it after polishing it up a bit more. I don’t care.

Of course, we chose black as the only acceptable colour in the range at the moment but that was OK. There is a lot of talk about people waiting weeks and months for new cars and Honda have left the UK because of Brexit. All their vehicles are made in Japan and shipped over.

Fortunately, there are 12, Black CR-V e:HEV Full Hybrid Advance in the country and one will be ready for us a week on Thursday if we hand over £53,723.11 including the trade-in. That price will include 5 years full warranty + 5 years servicing and 5 years Roadside Assistance across Europe. It will also include the transfer of the cherished number plate that we have had for about 30 years. I think this is our 15th new CRV and our 20th new Honda over the last 40 years. And I haven’t finished yet. Just love the smell of new cars.

Sunshine and 24C/75F as I drove home. No alcohol to celebrate but Chicken Stir-Fry for Supper. The world is a nice place to inhabit.

Tuesday, 17th September, 2024

The evening yesterday was like the perfect holiday weather with a glorious sunset that all the tourists have to photograph. So warm, we stayed at 24C/75F well into the evening. I love this weather. It makes me feel so relaxed although it is quite exhausting in the Gym.

As you will know, Dear Reader, our Gym was converted out of our garage. The long, wall is South facing and the sun heats the brick structure like a kiln. We’ve even had extra insulation installed to keep the Winter cold out. The heated bricks build up the temperature which is added to by sweaty bodies … well mine … and becomes extremely high.

After a warm and wonderful, moonlit night the day has opened on a lovely, sunny morning although I woke at 5.00 am. Lots to do today so going to hit the floor running.

While I was valeting the car on Sunday, two things broke. First, I broke the arm of the vacuum cleaner in my brutish delicacy. New part ordered – £30.00. Then, half way through the cleaning, the pressure washer just died. New one ordered – £180.00. That was one of the cheapest. When did pressure washers get so expensive? Going out to pick that up this morning.

The vacuum is a Shark cordless. It folds in half for storage. I don’t use it much. The fold/unfold buttons are confusing. I chose the wrong one and broke the unfold mechanism. Fortunately, lots of people do that so the replacements are readily available. That will arrive today.

Tradition has it that we pick up a new car and drive straight to France to try it out but things are different at the moment. We are on a self-improvement programme and a trip to the land of Vins et Saucisson would break our resolve. I will have to save it for a trip to the North. There is plenty of time for everything and priorities are important

Lovely down at the beach this afternoon walking up the inlet to the Marina. Warm – 22C/70F – and sunny with people swimming in the sea. There is just no stopping these small boats.

Wednesday, 18th September, 2024

Well the sun is surely sinking down
But the moon is slowly rising
So this old world must still
Be spinning round ….

Very warm night last night. I woke at 2.22 and again at 4.44. I’m only allowed to wake to identical numbers. A barmy, religious site informed me this morning that these specific runs of numbers are commonly known as Angel Numbers. Another told me those specific number runs had spiritual meaning. If you believe that you are even madder than me and that’s saying something.

Of course, we all know that the food of Angels are figs although the Greek Gods wouldn’t have sanctioned figs from their biggest enemy, Turkey. These fresh, Turkish figs are 25p per fruit in Sainsburys. In the Greengrocers a couple of miles away, they are 99p per fruit. I would pay anything for them. I must be an angel, Dear Reader, because I love them.

Down at the beach on the daily walk in gorgeous, hot sunshine, there are still a few tourists around. Cafés were open but quiet. Walkers stop to rest and stare over the incoming waves.

There is something quite joyful about walking in the sunshine with the sound of waves crashing on the beach. Relaxing, releasing and promising.

At my last Dentist checkup, I foolishly pointed out that the older I got the fewer problems I had with my teeth. The dentistry fates have intervened and I’ve had toothache for the past few days. I think a bit of amalgam has fallen out and the tooth is leaking. Hot and cold liquid immediately makes the pain flare up and I think it is reaching the nerve. I’ve given in today and made a dentist appointment for tomorrow.

Fighting through the pain, Dear Reader, I have mowed all the lawns this afternoon as I melted into a pool of sweat in 25C/77F of sweltering heat. I wonder how many more cuts it will need.

Thursday, 19th September, 2024

Our house is bounded by the sea at the front and the South Downs National Park behind. Our natural tendency is to go to the sea. The South Downs are beautiful and this photo illustrates the evening sky last night.

It was incredibly warm all night. The sunset was lovely and the moonlight was fantastic. You missed a treat, Dear Reader.

We’ve got a couple more days of sunshine and hot temperatures but we can’t take advantage of it today because we both have appointments. Pauline has a hospital scan this morning and I have a vist to the Dentist this afternoon. Pauline’s is much more important but I am the one most scared of his treatment.

First, we drove 30 mins to the delightful, seaside Hospital of Southlands in Shoreham-on-Sea. Pauline was having a couple of scans. We are so lucky down here with wonderful hospitals. Southlands has lots of parking and the hospital was deserted when Pauline walked in. Her appointment started early and she was out in no time. Unfortunately, the result was no better. As feared, she has to have an operation soon. She has another scan on Saturday.

Old people across the country scream about the loss of High Steet Bank branches mainly because they haven’t kept up with digital developments. I am only too pleased that I don’t have to join a queue in a poorly staff office waiting to do some simple financial transaction. However, although I am experienced and confident working online, there are still those knee tremblerss when I am moving relatively large amounts of money around in the ether – could it be scammed, could it be forwarded to the wrong recipient, etc? You certainly hear of cases like that. A friend once ‘lost’ £250,000.00 temporarily. The bank sent it to the wrong account. Fotunately, it was’found’ within a week or so but can you imagine living with that stress all that time.

I have savings/investment accounts with different financial institutions and I’m used to moving tens of thousands at the click of a mouse. It has never failed me. Yesterday, I was moving more than £10,000.00 from one bank to another bank in readiness for paying towards the new car. Usually it arrives within a couple of hours and always can be seen in my main bank account by the end of the day. I went to bed last night with no money arriving. I woke up at 5.45 am and … no sign of it in my account. As I drove out to the hospital at 10.00 am, a ping on my phone announced that the money had finally arrived. I could do without that tension. It was easy in the old days.

Friday, 20th September, 2024

Quite a day yesterday. We reached 27C/81F in mid afternoon. Unfortunately, I couldn’t take full enjoyment of it because it coincided with a trip to the dentist.

Thought I was going to be having a filling but an extra showed the tooth had broken internally high up to the root. No wonder I was in pain. I was told it had to come out immediately. It is nearly 20 years since I had a tooth removed and that was definitely not a pleasant experience. I was being treated by a little girl who was less than half my age and about half my height. She couldn’t get it out and eventually stood on a chair to get more leverage. That was my last Nation Health Service dentist.

Before they proceeded yesterday, they presented me with an electronic form to sign to say I would pay £225.55. That’s what hurt the most. I had 3 injections which took effect almost immediately. Testing my tooth still hurt a bit so I had another 5 injections. Then, with a slight pull, my tooth was out.

Of course, I take warfarin which is an anticogulant and the dentist was terrified I would bleed to death. As the evening went on, I did lose a lot of blood and had to sleep with towels on my pillow which are in the wash this morning but all is well. I am still alive, you will be delighted to hear, Dear Reader.

I wasn’t up to dancing last night. I’m never up to dancing come to think of it but I was sent this photo of couples dancing under the Harvest Moon outside the SeaHorse Restaurant on Brighton Pier last night.

Another lovely morning. Got to make the most of it so it is gardening time. A few more lawns to mow, flowers to dead-head and tidying up to do. It gets me out in the sunshine, exercising and making my world more presentable.

This afternoon in a steamy atmosphere of 26C/79F, we walked down the coast. I must admit I was exhausted after a couple of hours hard mowing in the morning and an hour and a half walking this afternoon has pushed me. Still, it’s all in a good cause.

Saturday, 21st September, 2024

Woke in the night to flashing lights. It was distantant lightning. No thunder. We had heavy rain for about 3 minutes and then it was gone but very hot. Lovely relaxed morning. Taking Pauline for another scan at midday. These are definitely signs of the times.

We always said we would never blame things on our age. We so often blame things – actions and opinions – on the old people around us. We try not to see it in ourselves. Suddenly I see a contemporary and realise, I am old. I was talking to a girl ex-pupil yesterday. She was 43 and complaining about getting old. Wait until you’re 73, I told her and suddenly realised that is what I am and how old it sounds.

I was talking to this young man yesterday. I shared a flat with him over 50 years ago. When I think of him, I hold the 1970s image in my head. It brings me up short to see him here. It makes me see myself. He is old as am I.

For a year, I shared a flat with Nigel, Kevin and Chris. Talking, we all have hazy memories of it. Actually, I think mine is the strongest although I sometimes think I’ve invented it. Talking to them this morning, we weren’t completely clear where we washed our clothes. Did we wash our clothes? We can’t have worn them for a year without washing … can we?

I really am creaking at the joints at the moment but forcing myself to ignore it and push on with the exercise.It is working but simple things like having a tooth removed remind me of my own frailty. I refuse to be left behind by the world and challenge myself every day to keep up Politics & Economics, Society & Culture and with Technology. I will never say, I am too old to understand or try that. as so many old people do now about the internet or smart phones.

It is our bodies that are most likely to embarrass us first. We have noticed that as we watch films, the dialogue is so variable in its volume and diction. (You see, it makes me sound old just saying that.) I’ve decided we have to install soundbars with our TVs.

Sunday, 8th September, 2024

A nice, warm, sunny morning. A morning for a haircut. I hate haircuts because I have to sit still under a sweaty cape for so long. But I like the result so I grit my teeth and try to distract myself.

Sunday morning is politics morning. Some people stay in bed. Some actually go to church. Some say they go to church but actually stay in bed. I get up at the same time as any other day and worship at my own choice of altar. I like to watch Trevor Philips on Sunday followed by Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg so I can do that while sitting still having my hair cut.

My school was regularly In Need of Improvement or in Special Measures in the last decade of my career. The very nature of our catchement area virtually ensured that. Eventually, the Race riots in Oldham in 2001 and the reflection of impoverishment of the two communities led governments to try something else. Great play was made of closing Counthill and Breezehill schools and combining (integrating the largely white, former population with the largely Asian heritage, latter population under one roof of a brand new Academy.

Waterhead Academy was built at the cost of a mere £25 million and was widely seen as a ‘brave experiment’. It was featured in a BBC documentary. It was written about in the national press. It was shouted about by its new Management but, ultimately, it was doomed to bump along the bottom and that is exactly what has happened. It has been in and out of Inadequate / In Need of Improvement / Satisfactory (Not) and so on. And so the merry-go-round continues.

Instead of really acknowledging the true causes, another Educational Trust will take it on and it will fail again. Poverty engendering hopelessness, lack of ambition engendered by decades of hopelessness will have to be tackled first. Levelling Up was exactly the right idea but it was never anthing other than a campaign slogan and nothing/little changed. Until it does, the school will fail quietly.

Monday, 9th September, 2024

Went down to the beach this morning. Searching, searching … Soft and warm, gentle, muted colours to infinity ….

We have lingered in the chambers of the sea
By sea-girls wreathed with seaweed red and brown
Till human voices wake us, and we drown.

Waters of Death – T.S. Eliot

Lovely to walk in the fresh air and without the hoards of Summer. The beachside food shops are locked up and deserted. The little train that takes people along the beach path was standing sad and empty and will soon disappear completely until next year. Clouds of birds – murmurations in the making were swarming over the sea.

Drove home to find our neighbours putting their garden furniture away for the Winter to be ressurected next Spring. Going to spend the afternoon in the Gym. I do my session every day, 7 days a week without exception. Only by building up a consistency can I force myself on days when I would rather rest. The next few months will be like that – working hard and mintaining my discipline. It has to be done.

If you’d like an economic prediction, make a mental note of this. Oil prices will plunge in the near future, amid doubts over demand from China and the US. There is likely to be global oversupply and a glut leads to a fall in price. This should lead to a drop in petrol prices and will help if the budget increases the price. If sustained, it could lead to a fall in generated heating fuel prices but that is a bit more tenuous. Certainly, it will tend towards lowering inflation.

Tuesday, 10th September, 2024

A warm, grey day again with a little on shore breeze. Lovely walking on the beach path this morning and found this old tree trunk washed up. Wonder where that floated from. Should it be repatriated to France?

Interesting experience on the way to our walk. We had to call into Currys/PCWorld. Nearly two years ago, Pauline bought a Bosch Kitchen Blender. It cost £100.00 and came with a 2yr Warranty. It was double the price of most available at the time and was bought with quality in mind. Yesterday, just within the 2yr warranty, it failed. We took it back this morning. Currys didn’t bat an eyelid when we presented the Sales Receipt printed out from the email at the time.

Because the model is no longer made, we were offered a full refund or another model of our choice. Pauline chose a KitchenAid machine which had just been reduced from £160.00 to £113.00. We had to pay £13.00 for a new machine with a 5yr warranty.

Lots of talk about Pensioners at the moment. This article appeared in The Telegraph this morning and made me think. We are both in the Teachers’ Defined Benefit Pension Scheme which is inflation linked. I worked out that we would each need around £820,000 to fund our pension in the open market which everyone else needs to do – a joint pension pot of £1.6 million. Of course, contrary to comon expectations, there is no Teachers Pension Fund. Our Pensions are paid by the Government from taxation. In that, we are very lucky.

We have never felt so comfortable. The general expectation is that a couple would require £59,000.00 a year to live comfortably in retirement. This would mean funding all the home services plus a reasonable amount of travel/holidays. We are so lucky that ours well exceeds ‘that’comfortable’ which allows us not to question our choices too closely. For example, our car is just 19 months old and has clocked a mere 7,500 miles. Honda Sales have just rung me with what is an excellent offer for a new car and I don’t need to think too hard about it. I will make an appointment to go in and discuss it with them next week. The question is whether to go for the self-charging hybrid or the plugin hybrid. Questions, questions …

I am writing all of this in the context of the announced means-testing of the Winter Fuel Allowance for Pensioners. We don’t need it. We have never needed it. We’ve taken it but tended to spend it on Food Bank contributions. The State Pension isn’t brilliant and I can’t imagine surviving on it but there are many like me don’t need top ups like Heating and Christmas Bonus. Unlike many of my contemporaries, I qualified for the New State Pension by one day. I was born on April 6th which allowed me to creep over the line whereas my younger wife gets the Old State Pension.

Earnings this year are at 4%. We will both be enjoying the Earnings uplift part of the Triple Lock – The greater of Inflation, Earnings or 2% – which has helped poor people keep afloat.

Wednesday, 11th September, 2024

Glorious day if a bit cooler than recently. Out reasonably early to walk by the sea. The sun was strong and the air was fresh but pure. I’m going to try to start my day with this routine for a while if it is dry. About an hour and a half in the sunshine really does make you feel better.

The problem is, I have to develop a control over photographs or you will get or have got utterly bored with them. Talking to our neighbours yesterday and we all said we forget we live by the sea and should walk there more often. Well I will.

I was phoned by Honda yesterday and I’ve spent a bit of time this morning getting my current car valued through online companies. It looks as though it will be around £31,000.00 trade in. It is just under 2yrs old and has only done 7,600 miles. If I buy a new one, it will cost me about £55,000.00 because I’m thinking of moving up from a self-charge hybrid to a plug-in hybrid. It will incur the extra cost of having a charging point fitted on the garage wall but it will offer quite a few additional facilities.

The new car has a self-park facility which allows the driver to just let the car line up the parking space and slot it in without intervention. It has 4 parking sensor at the front, 4 at the rear and 4 on each side. It has all-round camera coverage. Most of all, it will address the style of our day to day driving. I like long distance driving and it will do that very economically with its petrol engine. So, when I drive up to Huddersfield or over to France, I won’t need to worry about range but our day to day trips barely extend to a 15 mile round trip. This plug-in hybrid will do 50 miles just on electric charge so will be much more economical.

Thursday, 12th September, 2024

We went down to 7C/45F last night. It may be a blip but it warns us that Winter is approaching. We will soon be searching for extra warmth. I have already closedthe window vents around the house.

I was looking at a record of what I was doing on this day in 2010. I recorded that we had just 3 weeks left in our Greek house before setting off to drive home. Just two weeks into September, the weather had changed dramatically. The stifling heat had vanished and had been replaced with this scene. We actually started to switch the underfloor heating on before we set off for Patras and our drive through Italy.

The sun has risen and the world is warm again. Decided to walk by the Marina this morning – away from the sea and the path we normally take. We should all take different paths at times, shouldn’t we Dear Reader.

Boats are being packed up and moored for the winter. Old people are out in warm clothes against the breeze whereas I am uncompromisingly wearing shorts and teeshirt to get as much sun to my body as possible.

I am strictly controlling my food intake, not touching alcohol, upping my exercise routine, trying to make an effort. I have lost 15 lbs. When I’m not drinking wine, I am buying and storing it to make myself feel better. Receiving a delivery of choice red wines this afternoon. Another light at the end of the the disciplinary tunnel.

Friday, 13th September, 2024

Gorgeous morning. Lovely, strong sunshine for Friday the 13th! Glad I didn’t choose today to have my hair cut. Shopping day today. Went down to a branch of GrapeTree for health foods to construct the morning’s Museli. (What am I saying??) On to Sainsbury for the weekly shop. Had a row with a man whose wife was talking on her phone while blocking the escalator. Didn’t hit him … or her.

I don’t know why but I am fascinated by research and, particularly, people search, their lives and events. I have always been like that. I enjoy programmes like Who Do You Think You Are and Long Lost Family even though I find them quite an emotional watch. I was gripped by the film, The Magdalene Sisters particularly because it exposed the Catholic Church for what it is.

There is an innate need in us to search for those who are lost to us even if it takes decades. This week it was illustrated in a story from Royton, Oldham. A mass burial ground containing the remains of aborted and stillborn babies, other young children and some adults was found. As the reports said, people who spent more than half a century not knowing where their loved ones were buried have finally been able to visit their graves. Some were ‘paupers’ graves, some were hospital ‘disposals’. They came from a different time when lives and sentiments were cheaper.

Of course hearts are what are important. You are not human without a heart. They always fascinate me. Like car engines just tick away for thousands of miles and day after day so hearts just beat constantly from birth to death – could be 100 years. Amazing things. However, looks like there may be a problem on the male side of my family.

My Dad died of a heart attack at the age of 49. My youngest brother survived a heart attack in his 50s. I was diagnosed with Atrial Fibrillation or irregular heart beat in my late 50s. Now my other, younger brother has had a couple of strokes. It has rather shocked me and made me redouble my fitness campaign. Bob is a fit 72 year old although I didn’t know he smoked until he told me this week. Even so, he is the last person I would have expected to suffer in this way ….. unless it is genetic. Thank goodness I gave up smoking almost exactly 40 years ago.

Scorchingly hot day in the garden this afternoon. Not unheard of in mid-September, of course, but lovely all the same.

Saturday, 14th September, 2024

What a glorious day. Burning hot sunshine and no movement of air at all. Down at the beach for my walk in shorts and teeshirt and it really is burning. Lots of others out today enjoying the warmth.

Lots of people walking but plenty on the beach, in the sea paddling, swimming, boarding. It’s like being on holiday but these days I don’t know the difference.

Home for Breakfast … well, Museli and coffee. The weather is forecast to be like this throughout the week so plenty to enjoy for a while. Also, had good news from my brother, Bob, last night. It turns out he hasn’t had any strokes as he believed and reported to me. The Consultant who he saw yesterday told him that he was suffering a form of migraine – which he has experienced throughout his working life. No headache just shimmering shapes and now blurred vision. He is allowed to drive again so is over the moon.

Was sent this mashup this morning which is destined to become a Campaign Anthem. Really worth a listen, Dear Reader.

I’m agonising over buying a new car. Against: our current car is only 19 months old and has done just 7,500 miles. It is an indulgence. For: I love new cars. Honda are offering a discount. I can afford it. Why not indulge?

Turning it over in my head today. There is lots in there and not much room for indecision. I will know the answer by Sunday evening. Tolley made an interesting comment this morning. He had come back from France and gone to Ripon for a reminisce. In spite of all he’s done in his life including living in France, he sent this photo and said,

Just popped in. Still feels like we belong here!

Isn’t life strange, we carry these things round with us in our heads all the time. They are the experiences that make us what we are.

Sunday, 1st September, 2024

Farewell to the Summer of 2004. Happy Autumn, Dear Reader. Yesterday was mainly grey and Autumnal. Ironically, today is gorgeously hot and sunny. Yesterday we just managed 22C but today we are already basking in 28C/82F under blue skies.

Had to drive out to ALDI!! where they were selling AVOCADO OIL!!! Don’t ask. I have no idea why it was necessary but there it is. At least it encouraged me to go on to the beach where parents and children were making the most of their final weekend before the new school year by swimming in the sea, eating icecreams and letting off steam.

We found no where to park because so many people had come down. To add to the crowds, a yachting regatta was in full swing as others pottered about in canoes or just swam out to get a better view. Angmering beach is a very homely place which is safe for families. There is a small Funfair Park for little kids and a few desultory ‘occasional’ shops selling finger fish food – crab meat, prawns, whelks – donuts and coffee, candyfloss and flipflops, buckets & spades, etc.

There are quite a few restaurants but they are not much good – fast food, fish & chips, a Harvester – that sort of thing. People will eat anywhere when they are in the holiday mood.

I have been talking to a number of Hotels in the past couple of days and it has been really interesting (to me) to see their responses. The general rule of thumb in commerce has been there is little gain in loyalty. People buying Insurance have log know that. Newcomers seem to get prefential rates than long term customers. I am by inclination a loyal person and my experience has been exactly the opposite.

I have bought dozens of new Honda cars since the early 1980s. I have always had good (even preferential) treatment as a customer. I have used the Electra Group Hotels while travelling in Greece and I have been rewarded by real preferential treatment from them. Nowadays, I am a Gold Card holder.

In the past couple of days, I’ve been talking to Holiday Inn Brighouse which we’ve been using for many years. We were members of their Health Club for a few years. They are members of the huge, faceless, Anglo-American IHG goup but I’ve had multi-personal dealings with the bookings girl on the Brighouse desk moving around bookings that I was not really entitled to do. They recognised our loyalties and bent the rules to help me.

Monday, 2nd September, 2024

Rain overnight and the world looks fresh and wonderful. It is warm but there are increasing signs of Autumn with brown leaves on the lawns and birds raiding berries from the bushes. Grey sky but brightening. Yesterday we peaked at an amazing 31C/88F but today we are just 20C/68F.

Nice to go down to the beach this morning. Yesterday it was very busy – hot and sunny. Today it was totally isolated other than for one, lonely detectorist trying to find the valuables lost by yesterday’s crowds.

Of course, all my Generation – The Boomers – are in the Autumn of their lives. A lot are Grandparents. I was sent a picture of Grandad Tolley on his Training Day walk this morning before kids go back tomorrow.

Not being a Grandad myself, I have dual feelings about it. Sometimes I think it would have been nice and fulfilling and, on other occasions, I wonder if I would have risen to the challenge or whether I even wanted to rise to the challenge. I suppose it would have depended on Rebecca Jane.

Got through quite a lot of Office jobs since we got back from Greece and quite a few practical ones as well. Three trips away sorted out – 2 in Europe and 1 in UK. Flu + Covid Booster jabs booked. Eye test sorted out at the hospital. Done a week of hard dieting and exercise. Found a wooden floor repairer to come and do a small restoration job on our hall flooring. Sorted out a printer sharer problem for the Office because we both need to print to the Laser Printer. Bought Pauline a present. There are not many girls who would be delighted with 3 ltrs of Kalamata Olive Oil but she is.

In order to go alcohol-free, I have been buying up the world’s supply of Perrier Sparkling Water + Fever~Tree’s Clementine Tonic Water and Shloer’s Zero ughh drink. Would never have guessed that I’d enjoy Clementine Tonic Water

Tuesday, 3rd September,2024

Rain over night but the morning is warm and sunny with cloud. Had to go out to M&S this morning to collect an order. Little Viv (so called because her name is Viv and she is little) who worked in our school had given Pauline an M&S gift voucher for her birthday and she finally got round to spending it.

No surprises that she used it to order kitchen things: an oil bottle, a new cheese grater, a pair of kitchen shears and a set of Corn on the Cob holders. Thank you Litte Viv.

M&S is just across the road from the Pier and the Wheel. It all had an end of the Summer feel to it. Tourist stalls were closed. The wheel was empty, the funfair was quiet. Bliss and it’s still warm – 22C/70F in mid morning.

Back at home, I am reading and writing, interacting with friends: Kevin & Dave, Julie & John all sharing their lives with me. It’s nice. Particularly today, the newspapers and news programmes are discussing the shift in the country’s opinions from the Express/Daily Fail view more towards mine. In the 1980s, Thatcher declared that there was no such thing as society just individuals in it. I was on the other side. Later, Theresa May criticised about the Citizens of Nowhere. I was one of them. More recently, there has been the Johnsonian National Exceptionalism and flag waving Jingoism. I was nowhere near that.

I didn’t agree with any of that and I didn’t believe the majority of the country did either. The Tories kept telling us we were wrong to the point where you begin to doubt yourself. This morning, a new study conducted over the past couple of years showed that the Tories 14 year in power had coincided with or caused a marked decline in National Pride and an increased receptivity to the idea that being British didn’t demand being born here. It certainly suggests that it was time for the Tories to crawl away and hide for a decade or so.

Wednesday, 4th September, 2024

Lovely and warm and sunny this morning. Took Pauline to yet another new Hairdressers. Her current one has had a heart attack and is unlikely to return. He will probably retire to the island of Crete. She has found a replacement after lots of agonising. It seems to have gone well. Only cost £60.00 and she’s still got some hair.

The hair dresser is on Sea Road so we went on to the beach now all those little sods with buckets & spades have been locked away at school for another year. It was beautiful and peaceful with a cormorant sleeping on a tidal post, gently lapping warm waves and the smell of the sea.

I have always been a ‘clever boy’ but lazy or, at least, a procrastinator. There is always something more enjoyable than hard work. It took me years to realise that hard work was enjoyable in itself. My Mother was shocked and furious when the Head of my Grammar School told her I would come to nothing intellectually.

When I was 18, my dreams involved sex, getting away from my mother and my suffocating village and going to university. I thought I could encapsulate them all by applying for a Literature Degree at Newcastle University or Sterling University – two institutions far enough away from the centre of England where I lived. There were going to be girls and …. no Mother.

In Grammar School, I learnt that I could achieve but I would rather play Rugby, Athletics and Bridge. I did so badly in my A Levels which I had thought would be easy and I was shocked by my rubbish grades. What to do? What to do to get away? My mother had warned me against teaching. The salary would be too low but Teacher Training seemed the next best way to get out and so I took it. I knew almost immediately that I’d sold myself short.

After completing my Probationary Year in 1973, I started to think about putting it right. Fortunately, Harold Wilson & Jennie Lee had instituted The Open University which opened in 1971. I started a Literature Degree and discovered how exciting hard work could be and that I was good at it. Teaching by day and studying by night got me through.

I did always think it was second best though. I would rather have been at Oxford reading (PPE) Philosophy, Politics & Economics but it was my own fault. Before I even finished my Degree, I noticed a Political History Masters Degree at Huddersfield. I went to speak to the professor who designed the course and started even before I had heard the result of my first Degree. It was like heaven. So demanding that I could never rest. I even took books to read and make notes on the beach in Greece.

With the indulgence of my wife and her secretarial skills, I completed my Masters. I should and would have loved to go on to do the Doctorate but life called. It would have been a self indulgence and taken another 5 years. I decided to stop because I felt vindicated. I had lanced the boil of failure. I still wonder whether I should have carried on. I hate the failures in my life and constantly try to re-address them, to put them right. I’ve actually considered reapplying to Oxford University as a 70 year old man to do PPE. Can you imagine it, Dear Reader. I can but … no. Life is too short.

I chose this topic this morning in the knowledge that I have written about it before because the students who obtained the Teaching Certificate that I received for three years playing at Training College is now being upgraded to a Degree status rather as an Oxford University B.A. graduate can buy an upgrade to an M.A. without further work. I used to feel quite cheapened by the idea but it’s amazing how age melows one … about some things.

Thursday, 5th September, 2024

Rain arrived over night. The gardens are loving it because the air is still warm. Our house is just too hot all the time. I can’t bear it. The windows are permanently open to compensate. Looks like it is the North’s turn for better weather this weekend. Might have to pop up and enjoy it.

Twenty years ago, I was diagnosed as Type 2 Diabetic. There are a number of treatments to correct that and I was prescribed drugs. I didn’t want rely on them so I began a personal journet of exercise and diet which amazed my doctor when she declared I would no longer be considered diabetic and the drugs were withdrawn. I will always be monitored as a diabetic but I manage myself completely through diet alone. When you’re a diabetic, all prescriptions are free so, long before I qualified by my age, I enjoyed that. I was given regular GP check-ups and two, hospital eye checks a year.

I was born with a condition which I now know is called Amblyopia and more commonly known as lazy eye. I have always been stupid and, at birth, my left eye was perfect while my right eye was short sighted. Guess which one I chose to be a lazy eye? So all my life I have only had the sight of one eye and been short sighted in the other.

One morning, in my early 50s, I got up, opened my newspaper and was utterly shocked to find I couldn’t read the text even with my reading glasses on. It was scary. I went immediately to the opticians who said I should urgently visit my doctor. By the time I got there, might sight and miraculously returned but that is when Type-2 was diagnosed and I was sent to see a consultant who diagnosed Atrial Fibrillation or irregular heart beat. I’ve always thought that young girl optician at Specsavers saved my life.

My checkups are now only once a year but I am always nervous. Today is my annual checkup and I have no idea what they will find but it could make the difference to my life if they see a deterioration. I could lose my driving licence. I could need an operation on the one good eye. I’m always terrified of them saying I need a cataract operation on that eye. I know they are generally safe but one slip up would leave me totally blind. So, that is the joy for the day.

Going in the Gym now where I am watching Official Secrets, a British drama film based on the case of whistleblower Katharine Gun who exposed an illegal spying operation by American and British intelligence services to gauge sentiment of and potentially blackmail United Nations diplomats tasked to vote on a resolution regarding the 2003 invasion of Iraq. This is exactly the sort of political history based drama I like.

Back from my eye examination and blinded by eye drops and bright lights, I was overjoyed to be told that my sight was getting better. I read the entire chart without my glasses which not many people of my age can do. I will be tested again at 74 and, if all is well, put on biennial tests from then on. Lovely people and a great service. I am so lucky.

Friday, 6th September, 2024

A warm but wet day. Soft and graduated grey. The Fish Suppliers on the beach told us they had Sword Fish in so we drove down to buy a 2Kg slab to be sliced into steaks and a dozen Sea bas fillets. It is so warm that getting wet isn’t a problem … in fact, it’s almost a joy. But then I don’t have to worry about my hair.

The sea is beautiful in soft shades of muted colour. It smelled gorgeous and sounded so relaxing. Isolated and empty apart from the sea kale. It is all mine.

The whole place has a sense of sadness, slightly scruffy and deserted. The beach huts closed up for the next few months apart from a few hardy souls who are determined to get full value out of their tenancy. For me, it is sunshine I crave. Anyone got some to share?

It must be more than 40 years since we used a travel agent or a holiday brochure to book trips away. I remember the first couple of package holidays to Greece and thinking I could book much better arrangements myself. Teletext was the first source to go to.

Accomodation and travel are two, separate items and have been almost throughout our travelling life. The problem can be marrying the two elements neatly together. It has, at times, been hairy trying to gets seats on flights to match nights booked in hotels, etc. We have been forced to fly with some dodgy airlines just to get the dates. It’s all part of the fun.

Nowadays, nothing is left to choice. Hotels, villas, etc, are booked first online and then flight seats are booked to fit. There is so much more choice available. I have an account with Easyjet because we use them so often. My app on my phone does everything and automatically fills in all my personal details including my credit card so the whole thing is incredibly quick.

The flights are still all remarkably cheap. We add on an additional carry on suitcase each instead of things going in the Hold. It makes everything so much easier and quicker. None of that waiting anxiously at carousels. We add on Extra Leg Room and Priority Boarding and these are the prices:

Gatwick	Thessaloniki	2 x £55.00	£110.00
Thessaloniki	Gatwick	2 x £60.00	£120.00
Electra Palace Thessaloniki		7 Nights	£3,667.00
			£3,897.00
Gatwick	Athens	2 x £  54.00	£108.00
Athens	Gatwick	2 x £218.00	£436.00
Electra Palace Athens		7 Nights	£3,775.00
			£4,319.00

I really don’t know why the leg back from Athens is comparatively so expensive but it has always been like that. We flew almost the first ever flight on Easyjet from Athens in 1995. It is a very reliable airline.

Still, as the nights get darker earlier and the mornings get lighter later and that is all very obviously happening now, having sunshine trips in the calendar is a beacon to look forward to. There will be lots more like that to come in 2025.

Saturday, 7th September, 2024

Well nobody had pointed out that I had done my usual trick of copying across from the previous week and forgotten to upgrade to September. Thick as a brick – sorry. It really does feel like September. Warm but grey with rain over night. The garden is winding down and we are beginning to clear it.

The green beans might have one more picking in them. The herbs are being cut down to restore themselves in the Spring. Today, I’ve pulled the last of the beetroot. The carrots will be next. I’m not sure I’ll bother growing my own root vegetables again. They take up too much space and are not dynamically better than shop bought. The green beans were totally different. So much better than the supermarket ones flown from Kenya. I will definitely grow those again.

The passing of time – days, weeks, months, seasons, years – makes me rather wistful. Life is running away. Press the STOP button NOW. The whole of this Winter is going to be focussed on diet and fitness. I intend to be and I will be back to my pre-cancer condition and better. I am in the mind set. Just got to keep my focus. I think I’m going through a mid-life crisis at the age of 73.

My friend, Kevin has suggested that we buy a motorbike and sidecar. He would be happy in the sidecar being driven around. I wouldn’t. The scary thing is that I even considered it for a moment. Definitely a sign of the times. The last time I rode a motorbike was around Norway in 1968. Wonderful experience but one that is just a stretch too far to revisit.

But the past cannot be eradicated or shut out. There are so many good things, enjoyable things to retain. One of the wonderful things about buildings from an earlier age is the philosophy of pride not economy that informed their design and construction. You would not see such indulgence applied to a swimming baths building now so saving the Ripon Baths frontage is well worthwhile and that is what’s now going to happen.

When I lived in Oldham, my favourite building was the Prudential Assurance Building – a beautiful redbrick construction both in design and detail. Internally, it was indulgently lavish as befits a financial institution who wanted to display their probity in brick. Oldham, like so many Northern towns, has been impoverished for as long as I have known it. The building was deserted by the Prudential and Oldham had no cash to do anything about it. Nature has taken back the space.

Until now. Now the council have received a grant and will spend £8.6 million on turning this beautiful building into a business incubation hub. Great idea. You can always trust a Labour Council working in tandem with a Labour Government.

Sunday, 25th August, 2024

You can have too much of a good thing and that is what we found when we spent half the year in our Greek home. Yes, British weather can be awful but every day of hot sunshine can get you down. In fact, after the initial burst of heat, we quickly seek out the cooler shade. After eating two or three cooked breakfasts, just orange juice and coffee is enough.

Got to stop eating. We went out for another, wonderful Supper last night at the lovely Ella restaurant. Ella in Greek means Come On so it is an invitation or insistence to go there. We did but, because of the heat of the day, we hadn’t done enough exercise to justify it. And here we are, once again Breakfast …. UGH! Got to recommit when we go home. Less food. More exercise. No Alcohol. Must do it!

We love our hotel but Brexiters would hate its multi-national qualities. There are Greeks here, of course, and lots of Americans, Chinese, Japanese, Russians, Israelis, and a few British. This weekend, Athenians traditionally return from their island holidays where they have been trying to avoid the intense heat that has been a feature of Athens for weeks. The islands at least are cooled by sea breezes which help. The city will be noticeably busier from today.

Our walks have become more like shopping ambles in the heat. The Pharmacy (Φαρμακείο) signs all around highlight the local temperature – Here it was 37C at 11.00 am with still a bit to go.

To be honest with you, the stuff my wife looks at is all ‘tat’ but it amuses her and it is just cheap, holiday amusement. I like watching the world go by while she ‘flicks the rails’. Aren’t women strange? Men are so normal. I was reading about the cost of a middle class holiday treat in UK this morning. A trip for two parents and two children to Chester Zoo would cost £160.00 for one day’s admission which seems quite a stretch. The parents featured had a little daughter who was fascinated by fruit bats in Primary School. Chester Zoo happens to have an extensive Bat Pen but £160.00 for a Fruit Bat? I couldn’t eat a whole one!

Monday, 26th August, 2024

I won’t bore you with a weather report – no change. Out walking it is easy to see ancient, old and modern Greece all jostling for space. I featured the Ancient last week but I would like to show you this, Dear Reader. A simple domestic, village scene with the lady mopping the pavement outside her shop as others stop to chat. It really isn’t so long since Athens was just a simple village and the Greek capital was Nafplio on the Peloponnese coast.

When we were building our house on a farmer’s field, we had to have holes dug by a JCB to prove there were no ancient remains or acropolis under the soil. If they uncovered them and the authorities found out, we would have been prevented from building. Having spent £60,000.00 on the land, I panicked when I was told that. I was told not to worry because canny islanders would just rapidly cover it all over with soil and dig more holes until they got the all-clear.

In Athens, a huge, posh hotel in our Electra Group – The Electra Metropolis – was built out of the former Education Offices which had a very old, little church in front of it. In order to create a marble-clad, covered front lobby, they were forced to incorporate the church into their building. When you’ve spent time in Greece it doesn’t surprise one. We are so old that we really do remember this little church standing alone on Apollonos Street.

There is a huge wealth gap demonstrated across the city as in so many great cities and here there are many pavement beggars – often dressed in black to suggest they are widowed and alone and often cradling a grubby, tiny child to add to the sentiment. It is impossible to give to them all but people try. Within yards of the beggar you wouldn’t be surprised to see upper middle class homes like this. Expensive real estate in a world capital – cool, well constructed out of fine materials with space and comfort. Set back from the road for a little quiet and seclusion but still in the heart of the city.

Our quite grand, 5* Hotel has its entrance on a grubby, narrow back street that taxis struggle up to deliver their clientele. The fully liveried Doorman stands in 95F looking out on a hairdressers and a religious relics shop. Just 50 metres up the road is a carpark on one side and a roadside taverna on the other. This is the magic of Athens.

Tuesday, 27th August, 2024

Early breakfast. Packing. Checkout. Taxi called. Nice, new Mercedes E Class to the Airport. Athens Airport is lovely but busy and a nightmare for Business Lounges. They are in Terminals A & B but not in C where our flights depart. Consequently, we have had to go through security to Airside A slump in an Executive Lounge until our Departure Gate is announced and then dash across through Security again to Terminal C where our Gate would be. Took so much time and involved so much walking.

Now, Goldair have opened a new Executive Lounge on C side which we can use. Perfect. Relaxed there with our Laptop and iPads, a glass of orange and peace and quiet. On to Gate. Easy Boarding meant we were first on. Settled. On Time take off. On Time time landing after 3hrs 10 mins flying. No bags to collect. Shuttle Bus to Long Stay North Car Park. Our Car! Lovely to be reunited. Carpark was bathed in hot sunshine out of a cloudless sky. The car reported 25C/77F which was a nice re-entry feel.

Just under an hour’s quiet drive home. Met by Gill, our neighbour, weeding her drive. Unpacked and off to Sainsburys for essentials. There had been quite a bit of rain while we were away and the garden looked good. I’m looking forward to reconnecting with friends and relatives, Dear Reader. But now, I am bit tired. Kevin has come home from Spain this morning and has already gone to bed. Poor, old man. He just can’t take it nowadays!

Wednesday, 28th August, 2024

Travelling does make me tired. I need a holiday after that and there is so much to do. Shopping, gardening, washing, ironing, plus quite a lot of Office work, emails and Whatsapps, etc.. I’m just too tired for most of it. Woke up at 4.00 am (6.00 am (Athens) and slipped in and out of sleep until UK 6.00 am. Wasn’t going to sleep after that. We have left 37C of heat but returned to the sunny South Coast and 27C of warmth. It really is quite delightful.

I’ve just been writing to the Athens hotel to thank them for their hospitality and service. They really did go beyond expectations and I couldn’t resist re-telling the story of how we first chose their Group of Hotels which you may have heard before but which you’re now going to hear again.

We first went to the Electra Hotel, Ermou Street in 2004 at the time we were travelling to our Greek house. I had read a book while relaxing on a Greek island beach about a couple renovating a grand old house in Nafplion on the Greek Peloponnese coast. The couple were Austin Kark, Head of the BBC World Service and his wife, the children’s novelist, Nina Bawden.

They were clearly a wealthy couple and they constantly travelled back and forth to Greece to supervise the building work and source fine materials for their house. Each time, they would fly to Athens and stay either in the Electra Hotel or the Electra Palace Hotel as a base. The book inspired me to do what we subsequently achieved. We had already been travelling to Sifnos and Athens for 20 years and we bit the bullet and bought a farmer’s field, hired an architect and had a house designed.

As we went out to check on things, we stayed first in the Electra Hotel in Ermou Street and later in the Electra Palace Hotel on Nikodimou Street. It felt good to be following in their footsteps. I wanted to speak to them about our project but, unfortunately, they were caught up in the Potters Bar train crash where Kark died and Bawden was severely injured.

I thought they might like to incorporate this story into their own history and use it in the advertising brochures. Anyway, I have established a relationship with their newly appointed Guest Relationship Manager and I will be looking for special treatment next time.

While we are sweating away in 27C/81F here, my friend Kevin in Leeds is complaining about the cold having returned from Spain. Why did he return?

Thursday, 29th August, 2024

Beautiful, sunny morning. I’ve got catching-up jobs to do. I mowed all the lawns to within an inch of their lives before we went away but, with all the rain, they have grown thick and luscious. I think I’ll have that engraved on my headstone: Here lies John. He was thick and luscious. Unfortunately, it is making mowing slow and laborious but producing beautifully striped grass.

The neighbours in the street love the appearance as they drive in now with well cut grass and bright flowers in clumps under the trees. I must admit, I quite like it too. It’s brought me more into contact with people living on our street who I would never normally meet. They stop and tell me how their friends and relatives remark on how lovely the approach is as they arrive at houses.

A couple have already said I was going to increase the price of their property if they sold. Just before we went away, a man who I had never met before but who lives just round the corner came to our door with a bottle of ouzo that he had brought back from a recent trip. That was lovely of him.

It turns out he has a Greek wife and she had heard we loved Greece. We didn’t like to tell him that Ouzo is one of those things which doesn’t travel well. It tastes fantastic outside a taverna in the Greek sunshine but doesn’t quite work in grey and damp England. Still, it’s the thought that counts.

My wife is distraught. She thinks she has found areas of her face which are collapsing. I’m not surprised at her age and she has been losing weight which has that effect as well …. so I’m told. To add to her woes, I have to take her to the hospital this afternoon for a check-up and not on her face. The result is that she has to go in for a procedure which won’t be pleasant.

I spent an hour in the hospital car park which turned out to be an amazingly pleasant place this afternoon. Warm and sunny and surprisingly attractive.

To lift her spirits, we have booked two more trips to Thessaloniki and to Athens for 2025. It’s always good to have something to live for, isn’t it Dear Reader?

Friday, 30th August, 2024

Another lovely, sunny morning but make the most of it, Dear Reader, because Autumn is on its way. Officially, we have two days left of Summer 2024 but already the signs are there. Hints in the leaves on trees, flowers going over, farmers fields down here are scraped of wheat and straw ready for the stubble to be ploughed back in. The days are shortening frighteningly fast and schools go back on Tuesday.

This morning, our monthly village magazine was pushed through the door and typically echoes the season. A drive out to Sainsburys where they sell punnets of Blackberries for £3.15 are undercut by the hedgerow outside where blackberries are free in abundance to the whole world. Soon, we will be looking to ‘buy’ sunshine elsewhere.

We can’t do anything until Pauline’s medical problems are sorted out and we haven’t got a date for that yet. Even so, the Mediterranean is not really reliable enough. Two days after we left Athens, they were experiencing thunderstorms and a bad weekend of weather is forecast for Aegean.

When we were living there, we were always surprised how quickly September ushered in a complete change to the weather. The photo above was taken from our house on this day 15 years ago. We woke up to extensive sea mist which filled the port and the valley. It signalled the end of Summer and the start of uncertain Autumn.

Saturday, 3st August, 2024

After a poor night’s sleep, the morning has opened with a bit of light rain and a disappointingly grey and breezy last day of Summer. We are discussing travel arrangements as we always do when the sunshine is about to be rationed. I’ve also been talking to our hotel in Brighouse for a trip to torment our Friends in the North.

We’ve been in our house for more than 8 years and conversation has turned to what to do next. We like it here but we also like ‘new’ so the dilemma begins. The Labour Government has been elected on a manifesto of change and a manifesto to build 1.5 million houses in the first Parliament. To do this, they know they will have to upset some people – mainly the established, middle class home owners who tend to vote Tory and read the Mail/Express.

Our village really used to be a village and you can understand their sense of dislocation as the size and feel changes, We have had a great deal of house building just in the times we have been here and the villagers who have been here since the 1950s will have seen massive change. But that’s how life is. Nothing stands still.

One of the biggest (understandable) complaints down here is that the new properties are all, large, executive designs to attract those moving out of London for better value and healthier lifestyles. It has really pushed the prices up and left many locals priced out of the market. There is still lots of green space around us but long term residents are shocked by how quickly it’s disappearing. I can’t complain. My house was built on a former market garden but I understand the emotions and they are running high down here.