Month: August 2025

Sunday, 24th August, 2025

Another week of Life begins. For me it is in the furnace and the bustling optimism of one of Europe’s most interesting capital cities. There is building and rebuilding going on everywhere. Building is a true sign of optimism, of investing capital in the Future.

And yet Greeks are well aware of the importance of their past. They refuse to forget it, to throw it away, to push it out of sight. They embrace ancient and modern with love.

Nothing is impossible. If your building excavation reveals an ancient past as so many do in Athens, there are ways around (or over ) it. In Stadiou Street as in so many others here, the present reveals the past at every turn. And it does not prevent business & commerce. Look at the floor of this well used shop.

I was thinking about past & present last night as we watched a Netflix political thriller – Designated Survivor. It is a substantial serialisation set in the Whitehouse which I’ve been watching for a couple of weeks. You don’t need to know the multi-stranded narrative in detail but last night the President’s wife died in a traffic ‘accident’. I try not to get involved but I am incredibly emotional and I found myself weeping silently in the darkness. A hardworking good man was deprived of the woman he loved.

Bereavement is a horribly difficult and cruel emotion – a state of intense grief after the loss of a loved one; desolation. It is another thing I don’t cope with well. I find it impossible to let go. That person lives on in my head forever almost as if they hadn’t gone. I talk to them as if they are in front of me. I think I know what they would say in certain circumstances and I supply them with the words. Often, for years afterwards, I seek them out in crowds sometime spotting them way off. Yes, Dear Reader, I know. I need locking up. It can’t be far away.

I blame the city. I am not generally a city person. I get lost too easily. It is amazing how lonely it is possible to feel while in a crowd.

Monday, 25th August, 2025

Lovely start to the day as the sun comes up over the hills surrounding Athens. Yesterday we relived all our yesterdays. Walked down through the Plaka to Monastiraki Metro Station to travel down to Piraeus.

As soon as you mix with The Great Unwashed of a city, you really see it in all its stark reality. Hawkers, Beggars, Chancers beseech you from every corner. There is one old man with a huge, shaggy, grey beard holding a placard saying in multiple languages that he has a brain tumour and needs help with medical bills as he holds out a tin of coins. I have seen that man with the same placard and tin every year for the past ten years. He never seems to grow older and his brain tumour clearly hasn’t affected him either.

At the Metro Station, the first challenge is to buy a ticket. Most Greeks don’t bother but we tourists have more of a conscience. Greeks just wait for one of us to open the gates and then rush through behind us for free. The ticket machines are complicated enough in English but in Greek … The ticket offices have gone and it is all self service with payment by card/phone. Ten minutes later and with one ticket bought and another from a kind girl who still had an hour left on her ticket which she didn’t need, we go down to the crowded platform. I tell my wife to keep tight grip of her phone and bag and I hear myself sounding like an old man.

We find an empty carriage but soon realise why. It is disgusting – stinks of stale urine and looks like a hell hole. It takes 15 mins to Piraeus and we choose to stand by the doors all the way. Even in that time, a well dressed, middle aged woman came down the corridor shaking a box lid of coins and begging.

Down at the Port, everything has changed while everything stays the same. We have been travelling by ferry to Greek islands since 1981. In those days, the Port was fringed by the ticket offices selling places on certain sea lines to groups of islands. If you wanted a ticket and could pay, you got a place on the ferry with no head count. In busy Summers, ferries were packed to the point of being dangerous. These days, everything is computerised and ferries have control passenger lists. It is the law. In busy times you can’t just turn up and get a ticket. The sellers offices have been made largely redundant and are disappearing.

The routine would be that you turned up, bought a ticket for the ferry and then sat in a café for an hour or two until the ferry, which itself was often delayed by hours in peak season, turned up. Now, the computerised, pre-booked system means that ferries are on time, passengers already have tickets and don’t need cafes to wait in. They have almost entirely disappeared. People we knew and were friends with have gone. I remember in 1998 the one featured in the photo above was where we took refuge from a hail storm in late March – Easter Holiday trip to Sifnos. Couldn’t believe how cold it was. The once bustling area is now dead.

Being old means you can see these developments from both ends of the telescope. We caught the first ever Blue Star 1 ferry on its first journey from Ancona to Patras. Now that chain of ferries do island runs. Yesterday, a Blue Star was just docking as we arrived.

In 1982, a ferry from Piraeus to Sifnos took us 5hrs 30mins. The slow and noisy chug of the diesel engines went on for ever. You could even pay for a cabin and sleep away the time. Now, you can do that same journey in under 2hrs by taking the Hydrofoil although it is a bit more susceptible to sea conditions and is far less reliable in the Winter.

Tuesday, 26th August, 2025

An early start this morning because we are flying home after 8 delightful days. We don’t actually take off until mid day but there is a lot to do before. At least when we get to the airport there is an Airside Executive Lounge which is a big step forward. The new, Goldair Handling Lounge means we can go through Security early and retreat to the calm of the Lounge.

Yesterday we were out a bit later in the morning to do our 90 mins walk around the base of the Acropolis. By the time we got there bus-loads of tourists were being disgorged by tour guides often leading Cruise Ship audiences around a brief acquaintance with Athens. They will forget it as quickly as they meet it. When my Mother in Law died, we found in her records a cruise she went on which called in at Piraeus/Athens. She had never talked about it although we sent her cards from there for 40 years. We think it was a blink in the eye of a two week cruise and hardly registered. She quickly forgot it and never told us.

We made the customary visit to the Leather Shop in the Plaka this morning. Alternate years, we end up with belts or bags. Unfortunately for the leather shop, this year was belts. What I like about this shop is that it is owned and run by members of the same family who started it in 1936 and the quality is high.

Wednesday, 27th August, 2025

We are back in UK after a really good day yesterday … and you don’t always say that about a travelling day. Everything was packed Monday afternoon with a few exceptions.

We went out to our favourite Taverna for our final meal. Rough & Ready, island style food where we ate freshly baked bread with our current food-fad, Fava. It is an alternative to Houmous and made from yellow split peas puree with onion and garlic, olive oil and capers.

Always amuses me that we walk out of here ..

…. and just 200 metres around the corner, we sit here for our meal.

Roast Chicken with potatoes slow cooked in the oven made the whole meal wonderful. The meal for two with wine cost just £28.00. That’s island style. A similar meal two streets away the night before cost £100.00. That’s tourist style.

The Hotel called a taxi for us at at 9.00 am and we had another wonderful driver. It is one of the best improvements in our travelling history. In 1981, Athens taxi drivers were legendary for going the long way round, over charging, being unpleasant. I suppose it was made worse because that made us nervous and the tension was heightend. We weren’t as affluent and were keen on keeping costs down.

The government has taken charge in recent years. There is a set price from the airport to Athens Centre – €45.00/£39.00 – which should be paid electronically so that their earnings are measured, controlled and taxed. If the driver is good, we pay in cash with a bonus. Recently they have been wonderful. Yesterday, our driver, Dimitris, spent 30 mins navigating the Athens traffic while telling us his life story, all about his family and his love of the history of his city. He even suggested we might stop off for coffee en route. Lovely man but we declined. Still, we paid him €60.00/£52.00 so quite a good bonus.

Athens airport was busy even at 10.00 am because the Greek holidays were coming to an end and many were returning. Even so, we sailed through Security and up to the Lounge for an hour’s peace and quiet before going down to Gate. I love the efficiency and reliability of Easyjet. We took off on time again and 3hrs 35 mins later after a comfortable and quiet flight, we landed smoothly at Gatwick.

The airport was virtually empty. The E-Gates for passport checking were totally deserted. It was as if the whole place had been forcibly evacuated. Anyway, with no luggage to collect, we were on a shuttle bus to the Long Stay Carpark in minutes and soon driving home. It’s always nice to be in control after sitting in a plane for hours.

Back home, the garden had survived the hot, dry week. The tomatoes were ripe and ready for picking. The Basil had grown hedge-like. The flowers had survived and I set about watering them. A bottle of champagne to toast the end of another successful Athens trip and to look forward to a trip to France, another to Northern England and then a month in Tenerife. I cooked for once – prawn & pea rissotto. It’s one of the few things I do well and it was enjoyable to cook and eat.

Thursday, 28th August, 2025

The Summer is closing down. The Autumn is shuffling in. The kids go back to school next week. And it is raining at last. I go out into the garden first thing in the morning and before Breakfast to deadhead the flowers, to encourage them to keep going a bit longer. I’ve noticed that they feel chilled as if the night time is telling them to wrap up. Even the village magazine is turning its thoughts to John Keats’ Autumn and a Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness.

Thoughts are turning to clearing up and closing down the beds and pots for the Winter. I’ve ordered a new sweeper and rejuvenator for the lawn carpet. It sweeps the detritus that gathers and raises the pile which walking and weather has flattened over the year.

The are two things I’ve noticed over the last couple of years. Firstly, we no longer see birds (Duh!) and secondly, lots of weeds find it the perfect environment to see and grow in. I should have anticipated the hydroponic effect. Pulling them out is quite difficult so we have to spray our false grass with weedkiller. These brushes should restore the original condition.

As the weather gets cooler and the days get shorter, my mind is turning to buying more sunshine and warmth. I’m determined to book a month next Summer in the Spanish property we rented this year. I’m so pleased I have a month of Canarian sunshine to look forward to this Winter.

Before that I have a lot of painting of roundabouts to do. The people of Sussex have already started.

Friday, 29th August, 2025

Just 3 days left of August 2025. Went to bed feeling quite sad at the disappearing year. Heavy rain over night much needed by the ground but it isn’t the changing weather – We can always mitigate that by buying sunshine. – but the loss of time. We can’t buy time.

This morning, after the rain had stopped, I slotted my walk in expecting more rain but the weather has just got warmer and sunnier as the day has developed. I’ve exchanged correspondence with the Manager of the hotel we stayed in in Athens.

We have stayed in 4 of the 6 hotels in the Electra Group but the Electra Palace Athens is our favourite for lots of reasons not least because the children’s author, Nina Bawden and her husband, the Head of BBC World Service, stayed there as they were building their home in Greece. Must try the Electra Palace Rhodes for a Winter Sun trip. Only ever called into the island of Rhodes en route to the island of Symi years go.

I’ve also been writing to my boyhood friend, Jonathan, who has lived in Boston, Massachusetts since 1968. He was always mad keen on sailing so he is in a good place for that. I certainly didn’t rise to the challenge. We spent much of our teenage years together and I’ve always intended to visit him but never got round to it. Another trip on my Before-I-Die List.

Loved this article in The Times this morning. It chimes so well with my (unreasonable) frustration. How often, at the age of 74, do I get frustrated with ‘old people’ crawling around completely unaware of those around them in the supermarket or an ‘old’ driver doing half the sppeed limit or someone suggesting they are far too old to use a smartphone or a computer. Often, I think they are probably younger than me. I try to stay up to date, physically fit, quick thinking and moving. So maybe I fit into this study’s findings. Where do you fit, Dear Reader?

Saturday, 30th August, 2025

A day of sunshine and showers – and a move towards Autumn. We haven’t got above 22C/70F today and the grass felt cold this morning. My next trip is the North of England so I wouldn’t expect to feel a lot of warmth there ….. unless it is the warmth of human kindness.

I finished yesterday’s Blog by saying I try to stay up todate and, at 5.00 am this morning, I was listening to reports of an AI Conference in America. Almost every aspect of our lives generates or uses data. From the phones in our pockets and the entertainment we stream online to the energy we consume in our homes, the data we help to produce is growing exponentially. So too is the ability to analyse it.

When used effectively, data can provide insights that can be used to improve healthcare, spot disease outbreaks or discover new treatments. It can be used to make journeys on our roads more efficient and can help manage critical infrastructure such as the energy network.

The vast data sets now available have also helped with the development of a form of artificial intelligence known as machine learning. These computer systems learn from data, examples and through experience rather than having to be pre-programmed to carry out complex tasks. Many of us now interact with a form of artificial intelligence every day through search engines, social media and voice recognition software. As the field develops, it is likely to percolate into our lives in ever more surprising ways

I’ve been using Artificial Intelligence for more than 20 years. Nice to see the world is catching up. Twenty years ago, I was writing online learning and testing programs. Essentially, they use artificial intelligence in their construction. We all use AI in our Google searches. I use AI in manipulating photographs. Look at this original photo of Becky on the left. The background distracts from her image so I asked my AI companion – Copilot which comes with Microsoft’s 365 Software – to soften the background out and warm the image overall. I think you’d agree, the result is quite wonderful.

My car uses AI in its sat.nav., intelligent driving aids, etc.. Our Washing Machine, Tumble Dryer and Dishwsher use AI in deciding for idiots like me which program to use. Even my Alexa Smartspeaker uses AI to select the right startup radio program for me in the morning and draws the day’s items from my calendar to announce; draws down the correct weather site to tell me how the day will go and remembers which podcasts I like to listen to.

Not sure AI could improve on these photos though. M returned to Florida yesterday but she took her dog with her. That meant going on a private jet from Luton to New Jersey stopping off in Newfoundland to refuel. She clearly can’t decide what to do first in Newfoundland. It’s a dog’s life, isn’t it.

Sunday, 17th August, 2025

A gorgeously warm and sunny morning. Woke up thinking about Solomon Street (If you read yesterday’s Blog post) and about History. Yesterday, I managed to get the Founder of and Lecturer at the Oldham Local History Centre and an old friend on the case. He was in France when I contacted him but has promised to provide the answer with evidence when he gets back. Actually, I’ve invited him to deliver it to our Hotel suite in Athens if he can make it. He might be 84 but he is in love again. His wife died a couple of years ago and he has reunited with an old girlfriend from pre-marriage days. They are deleriously happy and making the most of their final years.

History makes me happy. I think it always has. I woke this morning to a program about …. ossier harvesting and basket weaving. Yes, I know, you wish you’d been with me, Dear Reader, but you can’t have everything all at once. It took me back to my childhood in the village of Repton – in the High Street which was well known years before me as a place for the cottage industry of ossier harvesting and basket weaving. The brook running at the bottom of our garden and down to Main Street was the source of the willows that were the material harvested and dried for weaving those gorgeous baskets.

The man above is Seth Pearson. He and his wife lived in the cottage where the dark car is now parked on the upper right. This photograph was taken just before WW2 and probably marked the end stages of the industry.

His wife, Edith, ran a rubbish, grubby little shop selling chewing gum, sweets and tobacco right up to the late 1960s where she was virtually blind and the oldest person I ever met at the age of 107. They had a son, Thomas Seth Pearson, who in turn had a son Laurence Seth Pearson who only died just over 20 years ago and is buried in the local, Repton church yard. Neither followed in the trade of which there is no sign now.

Nothing remains the same. The tradition that I found evidence of going back over 250 years has gone completely in Repton but is being revived elsewhere because there is always nostalgia for the under-industrialised, pre-computerised past.

Well, today has been a lovely re-acclimatisation treat for Athens tomorrow. A hot and sunny 25C/77F will make Athenian 36C/97F seem a bit excessive.

Monday, 18th August, 2025

Quite a grey morning. We leave for Gatwick and Athens later but first, the Fainter is going back to the scene of her faint – the Dentist. She is now fully recovered so I expect things to go well. The bags are packed – just 4 carry-on bags, 2 large and 2 small, are packed. The house is set up but the car is filthy. We’ve had a dump of Saharan Dust over the past few days and black cars look terrible covered in that. I am desperate to clean it but just to stand in Gatwick Long Stay Carpark seems a bit of a waste. I’m certainly not going to spend £25.00 on it but I’m going to do it myself.

I was born and brought up in a small and fairly insular East Midlands village where quite conservative activities, emblematic of earlier times were pursued. The football team, Repton Casuals played on the Cow Pastures pitch. You can’t get much more pre-World War than that. Of course, the public school was significant in influencing that milieu but so was the burgeoning middle class of land and business owners, the retrospective influence of the Methodist church and the ancient influence of the CofE St Wystans church integrated with the school.

Things like the Scout Movement were integral to the post-war conservatism that I was born into. Of course, I was a cub and scout. My Mum was on the committee. I quite enjoyed the pre-pubescent camaraderie of it. I was an aggressive winner. I enjoyed the cut and thrust of scouting competitions.

While I was researching the basket weaving industry history of Repton, I came across this page about Boy Scouting in Repton. The photos take me back to the early 1960s. The workmen’s huts at the top were cast-offs from the building of Willington Power Station. The cooling towers could be seen from miles around across the countryside.

Finished in 1959, the huts were donated in 1963 with a plea from my long time friend, Dave Beasley who was scout leader. My friend, Jonathan and I were there when the panels were delivered on the backs of lorries to a field donated to the scouts by the Parish Council. We gave up hours of our time in their reconstruction and even more hours spray painting the walls inside. I spent hours of my early teenage years in those huts competing to be top dog. I am there in those black & white photos pulling the Trek Cart and sleeping in those awful 1950s tents. Happy, innocent days!

Little did I imagine that I would leave that village let alone live in Yorkshire or build a house in Greece. The boundaries of those hazy, innocent days were so narrow and soon began to feel like prison walls. Songs of Innocence & Experience. Experience brings joys and so much pain that I sometimes wonder what is best. See you in Athens, Dear Reader.

Tuesday, 19th August, 2025

Lovely process yesterday. Great drive to Gatwick – just 50mins. Perfect parking spot in the long stay car park. Airport Shuttle Bus arrived immediately and we were in the Security Clearance area in minutes. It was deserted. The staff were cheery and helpful. It went like a dream. Off to No 1 Gatwick North Executive Lounge for a bite to eat and then down to Gate. Speedy Boarding were boarded … speedily. Just 3 hrs 15 mins later we were in Athens Airport. It is a lovely place to be.

Our taxi driver, Giannis, had lived in England and spoke good if limited English. He knew immediately we spoke that I had Greek experience from the way I gave him the hotel’s address. The hotel is on Nikodimou Street. A taxi driver can tell instantly. If you say Ni ko di mo Street, you are tourist. If you say Nikod i mou and forget the street, you are Greek. He thought we were Greek. We had 40 mins where he practised his English on us and we practiced our Greek on him. The charge was the standard €45.00 but we gave him €60.00 for his interest.

At the hotel, we were a little early for our Suite to be ready. We were given free drinks vouchers for the rooftop bar and went up there to wait for the cleaners to prepare everything. As we sat there, the heavens opened and torrential rain fell on the capital.

Of course, at this time of year, nothing lasts long. The rain stopped. The sun came out. The sauna continued. We went out to shop for wine and nuts for a snack. I met a lovely man, Ναθαναήλ or Nathan who had worked in Birmingham in the past. He obviously wanted to practise his English on us and couldn’t stop talking. When we got back to our Suite, we found cake and an expensive bottle of Tsipouro as a gift on the table. Unfortunately, it does nothing for us but they believe that they are marking our long served loyalty.

You will know, Dear Reader, that Tsipouro is a traditional Greek distilled spirit drink. It’s a strong, clear spirit made from grape pomace. It is incredibly strong but is popular in Greece. I won’t be drinking (much of) it. We have found an interesting, new taverna called Symposio which serves modern, Greek cuisine. This evening, we have Dined out on a fruit flavoured, Green Leaf Salad with Pistachio crusted Pork Spare Ribs. Absolutely lovely.

Still very warm but it has been a long day and these old people need some sleep. Well one of us does. I have some reading and writing to do first but it is an effort.

Wednesday, 20th August, 2025

It’s 2.00 pm (GT) / 12.00 pm (UKT) and we’ve had Breakfast, done an 8 mile walk in a gentle 30C/86F of sunshine. Of course, I had my Failsworth Cap on but the whole thing was lovely. Whenever I return to Athens and even though I have stayed here 79 times before, I always find something new. Sometimes it is genuinely new and sometimes I have just missed it in the past.

Today, I stumbled upon the European Distribution Centre for DHL parcels. Doesn’t look dynamic, does it, Dear Reader.

My friend, Kevin, thinks he is a Greek god. He is very old and wants to be eternal. He has had a statue of himself commissioned to be erected in his North Yorkshire village and he is crowd funding its construction. This is how he sees himself. It is apposite because I am staying in the Electra Palace Hotel. Electra in Greek means amber brightness, or shining. It is the root of our electricity which was first used to light our homes. I suspect Kevin has an inflated view of himself and his chances of being venerated.

My travelling companion has relapsed a bit with an upset stomach. She is rapidly losing weight. We have spent the morning discussing whether to return home immediately or wait until we get there to follow this up. We have decided to give it 24hrs and then make a decision.

For now, I am going out to do another walk as the temperature rises to 32C/91F. Before that, I have the standard problem to sort out. I use BT Email service which is very sensitive to compromise. At the first sign of stress, it is shut down. Here it happens because I am in a foreign country with an unprotected wifi.

I am grateful that they are so careful although it is annoying that I have to reset everything across three platforms each time. At least I’ve got used to it and managed to update password access across smartphone, iPad and Laptop fairly quickly.

I have no interest in religious symbols but the Greeks do and my old friend, the Greek God does – sad, old man. This is the Athens Cathedral – Mitropolous – in yesterday’s sunshine lighting up the marble paving.

A friend came to call at lunchtime. I suspect she wanted my oregano-flavoured peanuts. I told her she was sexy but the wrong friend. She seemed indifferent to the news and just ate the nuts.

Tonight we have eaten in the scruffiest, scariest streetside Taverna you can imagine. We are staying in a top Suite in a 5* Hotel and this taverna looks lucky to get 1* as it sits on the pavements between two bombed out parking lots as cars rush past through the narrow road at the side. Of course, appearances can be deceptive. The 5* Hotel is great but the 1* taverna just round the corner is wonderful. In fact it’s called Paradosiako Evgenia because it was started by Evgenia and her husband almost 40 years ago.

We have been eating there since it opened and the food is typically Greek island style. The prices are too. Tonight, we had Greek Salad, grilled Sea Bass and oven roast potatoes in olive oil and lemon sauce. You should have been here, Dear Reader. With a litre of white wine from the barrel and a plate of green grapes to finish, the whole bill came to just €60.00 / £52.00. Wonderful value.

A fascinating and typically Greek thing happened while we ate. A couple sitting near by went out of their way to attract our attention and engage us in conversation. They were Athenians and middle class professionals. She was a Lecturer in Economics from the local University and he was a Stockbroker on the Athens Stock Market – Χρηματιστήριο Αθηνών (A.S.E.). They spoke quite good English and clearly wanted to practise it. Nowhere else have I found people so willing to seek out and engage total strangers as the Greeks do. It made the meal even more enjoyable.

Thursday, 21st August, 2025

Gorgeous morning which started at 6.15 am (GT) / 4.15 am (UKT) with a political podcast followed by a lecture on Einstein’s concept of time-space relativity. By the time I got up, my head was exploding.

Outside on the terrace, even in the centre of this never-sleep city, little was stirring. It always shocks me that we walk through the grandeur of the hotel’s Lobby into a beautifully appointed Suite and then outside on to its terrace …

…. only to look over the chaos that is an ancient city in constant reconstruction. Everywhere, one sees the otherwise hidden bits that people down on the street never see, bits of buildings built at different points over the last few centuries, things planned in different times and things built under the radar of the Planners so as to avoid inspection and taxation.

For a posh hotel trying to control the environment for its guests who are paying a lot of money for luxury, it is difficult. The rooftop pool is one way to do it. An oasis of calm and enjoyment distracts from what’s below. Drinks are served by attentive staff, towels brought, even food on trays – anything to draw the eyes away from scaffolding cladding surrounding decay.

Going out to walk round the base of the Acropolis again this morning. The walk takes about 90 mins and is best done before we hit today’s predicted temperature of 34C/93F. Over night we didn’t fall below 24C/75F which is pleasant. Mid day is a time for air-conditioning and resting. Along the route, Greeks try to relieve tourists of their Euros. Music players with collection plates, cheap jewellery sellers, fake antiquities for sale and photographs with ancient Greek Soldiers.

Normally, it is the Americans who cough up willingly but there are a lot less around this year. Our hotel is usually a hotbed of Americans who can afford the inflated prices but the dollar is weak this year as Trumps tariff policy perversely hits his own people and they are not coming to Europe. Lots of Italian and a few English voices but the hotel is full of rich Greeks this year.

Supper tonight will be at an old favourite we used to frequent with Greek friends from Sifnos Ella on Mitropoleos Street. They even serve Sifnos Chickpea Soup (Σούπα Ρεβίθια Σίφνου) and my favourite Courgette Fritters (Κολοκυθοκεφτέδες). I dare you to ask for that in Greek after a glass of wine. After me, Dear Reader: Kollo Kithia Keftedes. You see it’s easy.

Friday, 22nd August, 2025

A hot night here. While the North of England fell to an Autumnal 10C/50F and Surrey to an amazing 6C/43F, we never dipped below 28C/83F and we are forecast for an extra hot 36C/97F today.

Walking will be a little more taxing in that heat. My Failsworth Cap will be working hard. My Mother never visited Failsworth. She moved from London to the Midlands and stopped.

A day after the world’s oldest person became a British woman aged 116, my Mum would be 102 today. Once again, as every year for the past 45 years, I am in Greece and not there to wish her Happy Birthday in person. We have to live our own lives, don’t we, Dear Reader, just as she did.

This will seem a strange topic for the Blog …. or maybe not if you’re a regular reader. It may just drop in alongside all the other strange topics. Today, I am discussing Personal Hygiene and changing the bed sheets.

I have to say at the outset that I am not the cleanest person you will meet. I am not averse to wearing the same T-shirt & shorts three days running. I am not big on hygiene products and have to be pinned down to stay fresh. You’ve probably already run a mile, Dear Reader but I am not as bad as it sounds.

Of course, I shower every day sometimes two or three times a day. I dress neatly and cleanly when the occasion demands and I am house trained. It just seems there are far more important things in life to worry about. But where this is leading is the important topic of …. (drum roll) …. bed linen. How often do you change it?

I once lived in a disgustingly scruffy flat as a student, which I shared with three others. I remember hitting a terrible low when I just couldn’t be bothered going to the laundrette with the bed linen so I slept on the bed in a sleeping bag for a week. I stress, that was a low point – a very low point for all sorts of reasons. At home, my Mother’s cleaner washed the linen every week – occasionally turfing me out of bed to strip it. I wasn’t trained in Laundry.

My wife has never failed to do the same throughout our married life. In fact, I am charged with stripping it and bringing the sheets down to the Utility Room every Wednesday. Do you know how I remember it’s Wednesday? She records it on the online calendar which Alexa reads out to me every Wednesday morning: John, it’s sheets day! it announces.

Here, in this 5* hotel, the bed is very comfortable and the Egyptian Cotton bed linen inspires confidence. Far from changing the bed once a week. Here it is changed every day. I suppose at £550.00 per day, one can expect that but it really isn’t necessary.

We have things like this placed on the pillows and even though we have tried to say it is not necessary, still they are changed every day. Guests are supposed to put the Feeling Green notice on the bed to keep the sheets on.

Saturday, 23rd August, 2025

Very hot night which didn’t dip below 29C/84F and an even hotter day is in prospect. We ate out a Mezze Restaurant last night and had a wonderful meal of different fishes – Octopus, Langoustine and Sea Bass.

I’ve been there many times before but I would never be able to find it again without my trusty Sherpa who has a photographic memory.

I’ve written about it before but it is worth repeating. I couldn’t find my way out of a paper bag. Satellite Navigation was specifically designed for me. I even struggle in a large hotel like this with numbered floors, lifts to each floor, numbered Suites and I still can’t find my way back from Breakfast. As we leave our Suite for the lift, invariably, I turn right into the Linen Cupboard as my Sherpa turns left and calls the lift. I am being taught to memorise the furniture outside the lift so I know where I am.

I rarely dream or remember them but I did last night. I was in the centre of an unknown city. I came upon my car in an open garage. I didn’t know how it got there or where it actually was. I didn’t have my key or my phone and couldn’t remember where my hotel was or even what it was called. The total lack of control and understanding virtually sums up my everyday state as I move around the world.

I have often thought about it because it has been a feature of my whole life. When I took my future wife home to meet my Mother, she had to take control of navigation because I got lost. It is embarrassing but I’ve grown to accept it. I have a good memory for facts, figures, faces, ideas but I cannot do directions. I can see the starting point in my mind’s eye and I can clearly see the destination BUT I cannot see the link between the two. Try as I might I even struggle with places I visit every week at home. Without a guide, I would definitely need the hop-on-hop-off sightseeing bus in Athens.

Venturing down to Piraeus today so I am going to need an extra long ball of string to find my way back. Actually, that’s old technology now. I’m going to use the sat nav on my phone to guide me. I’ll let you know how I get on …. if I get back.

…… Well, I didn’t get lost because I didn’t get to Piraeus at all. I did my 8 mile walk but the temperature really rose quickly. By the time I got back to my hotel, the temperature had reached an uncomfortable 35C/95F. It is not really the way to travel on a crowded Metro and to walk across the Port so I decided to stay and watch Man. City in the hotel while travelling in my mind instead. It’s amazing how you don’t need sat. nav. to travel in your mind. You can find yourself in some lovely places without need of a map.

Sunday, 10th August, 2025

Glorious morning, Dear Reader, and it’s going to be a glorious week. And then to Athens where the daytime temeperature will be 36C/97F. It won’t fall at night time much below 25C/77F except in an airconditioned hotel.

This morning, I’ve been out in the garden picking cherry tomatoes which is strange because I haven’t planted any this year. In fact, the last time I did was in 2022. They grew like mad and nearly knocked the fence over. When you grow and pick vegetables, it is almost impossible to make sure you collect every one and tomatoes are notorious for escaping to regenerate. The plants this year date back to seed from the fruit 3 years ago and they are just as vigorous.

Fruits of my past constantly seed my mind in the present and point to the future. It’s good to look back and take stock some times. Time can rush past without one realising unless we take the time to review and understand. Three years ago, I had raised beds installed and my lawn replaced with carpet-grass and I don’t regret it one bit. Maintenance has been made so much easier.

Now, we can go away and not worry about keeping the whole thing watered, fed and cut. It used to take hours of labour to keep it in a manner that I would like.

The one thing I can’t grow at home but which I love is Sweet Corn. They are not easy to grow and take up far too much room for my garden and are very cheap to buy. English Corn-on-the-Cob smothered in melting butter is a Summer delight.

They are on the menu this afternoon outside in the sunshine …. from Sainsburys at £1.00 for two. Unfortunately for me, the butter is essential and massively calorific so I an not allowed to eat many of these delicious treats. I’ve tried the Greek way which is to BBQ the cobs until well charred and then eat them dry but it just doesn’t cut it for me.

Monday, 11th August, 2025

Gloriously hot and sunny morning. It is only 10.00 am and two strange things have happened already. We both had Dental appointments – well, Hygenist. My wife loves going to the Hygenist so her teeth are expertly cleaned. I hate it because he always hurts me.

I always go in first to get it over with. After my torture is over, I go out into the waiting room to find my wife looking very pale. She says she feels nauseous. Over the next few minutes, she feels worse and says she can’t cope with the Hygenist and would I take her home. She holds my arm as I walk to the Desk to say we have to leave and we are just shuffling to the exit when my arm goes light and a pale faced girl falls lightly and daintily on the floor beside me – almost like a circling feather falls through the air

My first thought is, She’s Dead! She hasn’t done the ironing yet. When my Dad died, I was 14 and I remember distinctly saying out loud, Who will give me my pocket money on Saturday? I am blessed with this great sense of empathy, Dear Reader.

Anyway, help was at hand. Assistants and Dentists rushed to help. They are trained to deal with fainting after a patient’s treatment so at least they knew what to do. As my dead wife started to come round, they listed dehydration, heat exhaustion and lack of food as likely causes. She was given a glucose tablet for food, a glass of water and time to come round. I was useless! I walked her back to the car and drove home so she could carry on doing the washing and ironing.

Back home, much Googling of symptoms is carried out with increasing bouts of fear provoked by possible causes. Eventually, her colour comes back but not until I’ve given her a very strong cup of hot water. And life goes on. I go out to Sainsburys to buy Rehydration treatments and Glucose Tablets in case this happens again. The Laundry Woman must be kept alive!

The second strange thing to happen actually occurred at 1.00 am this morning. I didn’t realise until around 5.00 am when I woke and found I had a Whatsapp from an old friend, Anne-Marie, who I hadn’t heard from for about 5 years. My relationships are rather slow-burn, Dear Reader.

She and her husband live in Edinburgh. They are both Arty. Amazing how many of my friends lean that way. Anne Marie’s husband, Bjorn, taught Art at my school while she lectured at Manchester University. Bjorn left us to Lecture in Project Design at Edinburgh’s Napier University. Anne Marie, who trained at the Royal College of Art and went on to research at the School of Art, Edinburgh University, became Internationally renowned and specialised in Jewellery Design and 3D Printing. We went up to Edinburgh to see them about 5 years ago and have just exchanged Christmas cards since then.

Life throws curved balls at us all the time when we least expect it. That’s why it is so interesting and one should never give up hope. This afternoon, it has posted us a temperature of 32C/90F and it is wonderful.

Tuesday, 12th August, 2025

Another gorgeous morning – hot and sunny and good training for Athens. The English Patient is improving but not back to full strength and confidence yet. She did an E-Consult with the Surgery this morning and is awaiting advice.

When we fly to Athens next week, we will be entering the hot arena of something like 36C/97F so she’ll need to be fit for that.

It seems hard to believe but 10 years ago today we signed the sale of our Surrey Duplex and, within a couple of days, bought this current house on the South Coast off-plan. It would be 6 months until it was ready for us to move in.

The Duplex was enough for 6 months a year but too small for all year round living and we’d sold the Greek house a year before. We only had the Surrey property for 5 years and we were amazed to find it had almost doubled in value over that time. It was the best investment we ever made.

We sold to a lady who was relocating back from Australia. We kept in touch for about 6 years and then she developed dementia and died last year. What was shocking was the price the duplex fetched 9 years after we sold it was less than we got.

Suddenly the City commute was out of fashion as so many are working from home and need bigger properties. In fact, it is quite fashionable to live on the South Coast and just go up to the Office occasionally by train. It is fuelling a huge house building expansion plan. It is also spawning Working Hubs where fast IT connections and individual work stations are rented out along with hot desking meeting areas and, in some cases it includes complimentary coffee and craft beer on tap. That’s the way to work!

Wednesday, 12th August, 2025

A strangely overcast and much cooler morning. The North is basking in 27C of sunshine while we are just 20C and grey. Despite the wonderful weather yesterday, it wasn’t a good day. Pauline got an immediate Doctor’s appointment after her E-consult but the diagnosis was confused and confusing. She has had to provide blood and urine specimens today but our research already suggests she is suffering from Gastroenteritis which just needs rest and rehydration to irradicate.

I don’t know anything about anything medical so Google is my first port of call. It is full of brilliantly technical illustrations like this one isn’t. Anyway, we should know the results of her test this afternoon on the NHS/PKB app and we can move ahead from that.

I have bought about 25 cars in my adult life. I have never bought a second hand one. I have written off a few but at least they were all shiny, brand new ones from my first in 1974 – a sandglow orange Skoda Coupé which I wrapped round a tree in Bolton on my first lone drive to visit my sister to the pageant-blue Mini that Richard – an executive at British Leyland – helped get a discount on before someone drove through the middle of it and nearly killed us both before it was 12 months old. It was replaced with a pale blue Datsun Cherry which lasted a year before the wing mirror rotted off and was traded in for a dark green Nissan Stanza.

That was the end of one era and the start of the Honda bromance. In 1984, I bought a brand new Honda Accord and have only bought Hondas since. About 5 brand new Honda Preludes, 15 or so CRVs and so many of them silver. Of course, everyone said I was mad and spendthrift throwing away money on depreciating assets but I didn’t care. I loved new cars – the smell, the feel, the look – and I could afford them so I indulged myself.

All the time I lived in Yorkshire, I bought from Hepworth Honda in Huddersfield. They moved to the outskirts of the area to brand new premises but my salesman who became a friend, Chris Woods, remained. It became so regular that I bought new cars – for one streak a new one every year – that it hardly cost me anything to trade in and get a new one. He knew it had been looked after and treated well (when I wasn’t writing them off) and he could resell them as ‘nearly new’.

This morning, I was shocked to read a notice on social media that Chris had died. He was younger than me at 72 but I had no idea he was ill. We kept in touch after I left Yorkshire for Surrey and subsequently Sussex but it was largely through Christmas cards although I did go back from Surrey to Huddersfield 10 years ago to buy one last car from him to help his pension fund.

The old Showroom was the place I confirmed the sale of my Helme house to my GP. I was buying a new car when he phoned to say he couldn’t raise the cash to buy the house because he was committed to the building of a big new surgery. I offered to let him pay in installments over the next year and the deal was done. The brand spanking new showrooms and garages were built on Honda‘s insistence and cost some couple of million pounds 25 years ago. What shocked me this morning was to find they had recently been bought up by a huge conglomerate and virtually no one could remember Chris Woods at all. I remember him with fondness.

Thursday, 13th August, 2025

Another warm but grey start to the day. The patient has had a bit of a relapse. It is beginning to cast some doubt on Athens next week at the moment. No point in going there to be ill when you can be ill at home in comfort. We will see.

While the patient is resting and being fed with continual cups of hot, strong water, I have been taking the chance to address some technical issues in the house which I haven’t thought about for a while. We have been using Sky for our TV services since the mid 1990s – about 30 years. In the early days it seemed quite expensive but has become almost dismissively cheap nowadays. Actually, I didn’t even know how much we paid each month until this morning. It turns out we have been paying £127.00 per month for a package which includes Sky Sports and Netflix as well as every other channel known to man other than children’s channels.

I have a Sky Q 2TB box plus 4 satellite mini boxes. I would prefer two more but 4 is the maximum allowed plus the main TV. It seems a long time since I had one television fed from a satellite dish in the garden. We had to have it there because we lived in a Conservation Area and were not allowed one on the house wall. I’ve been using Q Boxes since I moved here in 2016 and all the boxes are nearly 10 years old. One was playing up recently so I’ve finally got down to sorting it out.

I went on the Sky website to look for help and found that my 2yr contract had ended. I went to renew it and was given a reduction in subscription fees for loyalty. You see, there is some advantage in being faithful. I got the help I needed with my faulty box and had it upgraded remotely which was good but they are trying to tempt me with a new delivery system that I’ve been resisting for a couple of years Sky Glass. The TV sets don’t come big enough yet and mine are perfectly good for the moment but wifi delivery is definitely the way to go. All the properties we rent in Europe have been using it for quite a while.

The other thing I’ve been doing is restoring Alexa Echo Spot routines for my bedside. I have to program it to sound the alarm at 5.45 am with increasing volume until I tell it to stop. At that point, I have programmed it to announce the time, tell me what’s on the calendar for the day and then play BBC Radio 4 until I tell it to stop. I’ve also programmed it to pick up The Newsagents political podcast from Global Player which I listen to in the car and to just seamlessly carry on from where I left off.

How wonderfully life has moved on since I started out. I was jolted into this thought when a friend sent me a photo I haven’t seen before but which was taken in 1971.

Remarkably, all but one is still alive. The lad on the left with his head up died shortly after this but everyone else is still plugging on. Haven’t seen Christine, the girl on the left, since. She became an Art Adviser to Kent Education I think. The girl hiding at the back, Anne, has lived in Germany for years. David lives in Bolton but taught SEN in Salford. Peter behind David was a Primary Head in Yorkshire. Nigel (Head of Art) and Julie (Artist in Action) live in North East Yorkshire. Christopher, front right was a Deputy Head in Yorkshire. Tash/John was a Primary Teacher. The girl on the right, Liz, lived in Holmfirth all the time I lived within 3 miles but I didn’t realise until I had moved away. The girl on the far right, Carline Herbert, is an enigma.

Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,
The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere
The ceremony of innocence is drowned

W. B. Yeats: The Second Coming

And yet, you know, everything is still there to be reclaimed by the memories of those people and those times.

Friday, 14th August, 2025

Talking about reclaiming memories. I moved to Oldham in 1972 and learned many weird and wonderful things. Some were to do with language like brew, ginnel, kecks but there were also grammatical reconstructions of the English language. One of the first teachers I met said on my first day: I’m going there me, down the ginnel and up that brew. I have a smattering of foreign languages but this was completely beyond me. They ate barm cakes for Lunch which they called Dinner. They thought I was ‘posh’ because of the way I spoke and because I didn’t want to drink from a mug but brought my own cup & saucer. I have never been able to use mugs.

The Northern stereotypes of women in curlers and men with whippets on strings really weren’t so far fetched at all. I mention this because Friday is hairdressing day ready for the big night out. After a week of long hours of the dust in the mill, girls had to look their best for the evening out in the pub/club with their boyfriend/husband. I must admit, I didn’t see many whippets but there is definitely a North/South cultural divide.

Sorry, musing on because Friday is Hairdresser day down here – at least this week. The patient has made a miraculous recovery in time to go to the Hairdressers’ – £85.00 for a minamalist trim. Mine is cut for free but, if I was paying, it would cost me £40.00 so I reduce the hairdresser’s bill by almost half – and there are no curlers, headscarves or whippets in sight.

It looks like Athens is back on, which is just as well because the hotel has taken £4,000.00 out of my account this morning and contacted me to say they look forward to welcoming us next week. I can’t wait. I’ve worked out that this must be about our 80th trip to Athens since 1981 and that we have actually lived in Athens for just over one year if you amalgamate the stays.

It is a city that has definitely improved over the 44 years we have been visiting. We have only missed Covid Year in that time when we didn’t visit at least once. It would feel wrong to stay away.

It will be hot in Athens and it will be fairly hot down here although the first signs of Autumn are appearing. The fruits of the Summer are well underway in ripening. Apples, Cherries, Pears, Blackberries are all being eaten. The trees are starting to show the brown-tinged stress of aging. The grass is slowing down its growth and the days are shortening.

In the 8 days that I am away in Athens, Sussex loses 46 minutes of daylight. That is a hell of a lot to lose in just over a week. Soon, we will be complaining of cool, Autumn evenings and chilly Winter mornings. And another year over, Dear Reader. Hang on, hang on.

So hang on, hang on
Hang on, hang on
Hang on, hang on
‘Cause you already come so far along …

Saturday, 15th August, 2025

Warm, grey morning. We are driving up to Surrey to visit M&K and possibly go to the Dementia Home to see C. It might even be a goodbye because he is refusing to eat which is very worrying. One of the interesting things about Dementia is how the present disappears almost immediately but the distant past remains imprinted on the memory banks quite vividly.

Last time I sat with C and talked about what he had just been through, he honestly could not recall it from three days previously. I then asked if he had ever played cricket and his face lit up as he told me about Waterhead Cricket Club in Oldham. He hasn’t lived up there for almost 30 years and hasn’t played cricket for 50 years.

Found this document in a box of old photographs. It is a reference for C written either by Pauline’s Dad or Grandad from his business premises in Solomon Street, Oldham in the 1960s. Magnificent handwriting. I couldn’t have done that in my prime writing days never mind now in computer land old age. I’m still trying to find where Solomon Street was. It doesn’t exist any more. Maybe it will jog his memory and C will look through the mists of time and tell me. I’ll let you know, Dear Reader.

The person this reference was written for cannot remember Solomon Street, Oldham. Fortunately, I have a resident Historian who will tell me within days and I will go up to see him after the Athens trip. I have a number of people to see. This will just be one more. I look forward to it, Dear Reader.

Athens calls. Do you want to come? It’s going to be hot but very luxurious. You would really enjoy it.

Sunday, 3rd August, 2025

Was feeling a bit empty and sad last night. Not sure what to do. I’d finished watching the cricket and a ridiculous spy thriller which didn’t thrill. Flicking the channels and some ‘music’ suddenly caught my attention.

It was a retrospective featuring a band who I knew nothing about and hadn’t heard when they were current. Dexys Midnight Runners was a band in the 1980s, as I understand it. Could explain why I never heard of it. I was just coming out of my Ivory Tower period and ‘pop music’ didn’t feature. I was playing Beethoven and Mahler and embracing self improvement through a crash course in Opera. Apparently Dexys Midnight Runners were New Wave which will mean something to somebody but goes completely over my head.

I was particularly drawn to the initiator and lead singer, Kevin Rowland, who came across as a very thoughtful, intelligent and charismatic man. He was of Irish origin as I suppose I partly was but he was born in the Midlands, as I was. I was amazed to find that he wrote Come On Eileen – which I had heard – and that it was not about a woman at all but a composite created to express Roman Catholic guilt and repression. By that stage, I was on the edge of my seat. I have written before of carrying around the stigmata of original sin derived from a Catholic upbringing. As the Jesuits say, “Give me the child for the first seven years, and I will give you the man.” I have fought against it all my adult life.

Come On Eileen is a song about youthful rebellion and the desire to escape the constraints of a traditional oppressive, society. It is James Joyce’s alter ego, Stephen Daedalus, growing up in the late 20th Century. I identify with both. Eileen represents desire and a yearning to break free from societal expectations and find something more exciting and fulfilling. How did I miss this first time round?

The new European Union Entry/Exit System – EES – comes into force later this year before we fly to Tenerife. It will be a nightmare for travellers establishing their digital identity for the first time but will greatly speed things up in future. We are flying from Gatwick early in the morning and don’t want it to be a hassle so I’ve decided to squeeze in a quick trip to France for a couple of nights in the weeks before so we can go through that painful process at leisure in the Tunnel Terminal. We can do a bit of early Christmas shopping at the same time.

Monday, 4th August, 2025

Regular readers will already know I am fairly weird. I shudder to think that this next Blog will serve to reinforce that judgement. I woke early and my phone, which sends me reading suggestions, sent me to an article by a Cindy Yu, who is a British-Chinese journalist and economist. She is a columnist at The Times. 

After trying to reduce the burgeoning birthrate with a one-child policy, China is finding itself unable to afford its aging population. It is paying young couples to make babies to support the older generations.

I often think in poetry – that I’ve read, learnt, quoted in my work – and the first lines that came to me immediately were the well known, comic-serious ones from Philip Larkin. You will almost certainly recall them, Dear Reader:

This Be The Verse

They fuck you up, your mum and dad.
They may not mean to, but they do.
They fill you with the faults they had
And add some extra, just for you …

… Man hands on misery to man.
It deepens like a coastal shelf.
Get out as early as you can,
And don’t have any kids yourself.

I have lots of regrets about my life and one that occasionally rears its head is not having a child. It obviously wasn’t to be. Perhaps I was thought to be an unreliable Father or, perhaps, it was nothing to do with me but the idea does deepen with age. Almost certainly it is different for women who want a career, a life unfettered by childcare. I understand that but our societies and economies have been predicated on intergenerational dependence.

You may be aware of the 18th-century British economist best known for his theory that human populations tend to outgrow their agricultural production capabilities, resulting in famines, wars and other disasters which redress the balance. Subsequent generations have countered this with increasingly scientic approaches to food production and Malthus’ failure to take poverty and inequality into account. Certainly, women weren’t seen as economically significant in 18th-century Britain. Now, that is being erradicated which puts childbirth into the shadows.

While it may be quite easy to see the reasons for population decline, it is not always obvious what the effects are. You see Malthusian Demographic Theory really hasn’t been proved by India or China. Population growth there has been exponential not organically regulated. But more importantly in Western countries, our economies are designed on a bottom heavy shape where births are outnumbered by deaths.

Improved health, increased longevity and a largely reduced birthrate mean Western demographics have inverted the shape. Small numbers of economically inactive older people supported by large numbers of economically active younger ones has now been completely upended.

The Ponzi Scheme of Pensions is suddenly exposed. Here we were thinking we’d paid into a National Insurance pot that would fund State Pensions, Health & Welfare whereas all the time it was earners tax paying for the Retirees’ Care. Now that there are more Retirees than economically active young, taxation is stretched to breaking. Of course, the answer to this problem is to recruit immigrants to come, work, pay tax and support pensioners. If we’re not going to “fuck them up”, we have to import them, Dear Reader.

Tuesday, 5th August, 2025

Gorgeous morning of warm sunshine and blue skies. Going to be another busy one but I first had to deal with congratulations to friends. July is such a popular month for weddings, isn’t it Dear Reader. Some of them even released children into the world.

My dear friend and former Digs-mate, John, was married on this day in 1978. A very good year. He has had a happy life, achieved a Doctorate and a successful career in Education plus producing two, lovely and successful kids.

On this exact same day but 6 years earlier in 1972, Kevin & Christine got married at Shadwell Church and we are all there now frozen in time. Both have gone on to successful and rewarding careers in Education while producing four lovely kids as well. 53 years does feel a very long time. Anyway, I wish them all a happy day.

I found some new trainers online. I’m becoming obsessed with trainers. I get through so many pairs each year. I am walking over 3000 miles a year. Still, I was shocked to find that I’ve still got 7 new and boxed pairs to get through first so I won’t be buying any more for a while.

My old College friends have been recalling the days when I owned Department Stores around London. I don’t like to admit to it really because it seems so common but it is a matter of historical record. I find it ironic that I went for a teaching job in Ealing in the 1970s. I got the job but my girlfriend didn’t so I gave it up and moved on …. to Oldham!

Wednesday, 6th August, 2025

Already well into August 2025 and you can sense the season moving on. Dusk is falling earlier and morning lighting up a little later already. Almost felt Autumnal this morning after a warm evening last night.

The coolest morning for months at only 15C/59F. The moon last night looked like end of season, harvest fading orange. Took this photo with zoom on my phone and lost the orange colour the closer I got but just love the detail it shows.

From celestial bodies … and I can think of a few … earthly matters dominate this morning. AEG are delivering and installing a new double oven. Chef will supervise that while I get the car cleaned. We are driving up to Surrey tomorrow morning and have to look our best.

Actually, two young and heavily tattooed lads arrived early. They had driven from Stevenage near Welwyn Garden City. Within two minutes, they had unscrewed the old appliance and lifted all 60kgs out without any stress. My Housekeeper looked on in anguish as nearly 10 years worth collection of dust and grime was clearly shown in the insert area. She insisted that they wait while she cleaned.

Now the learning process starts, It looks like the old appliance but, can you believe it, Dear Reader, things have moved on in ten years and ovens have so many more sophisticated functions now. What will she do. She may be trialling & erroring for a while.

Just in case there is a hiatus in oven cookery while chef gets to grips, I have ordered an electric pizza oven which even I can use.

Thursday, 7th August, 2025

Quite disappointingly grey this morning. Our Surrey trip has been postponed because of complications up there at the moment. We will go next week instead. Off to Athens very soon and lots to fit in before then. Might do lawn mowing today. I’m also looking at a travelling timetable for next year.

Fifteen years ago we were still in our Greek home and wouldn’t be travelling back to UK before the beginning of October. Now it feels like a lifetime ago and, although we still look back fondly on those times, we really are freed up for more experiences. This year, we’ve still got three more trips covering 6 weeks away – a week in Athens, a weeek in the Northern England and a month in Tenerife.

I so enjoyed our trip to Spain and the property we rented that I am currently planning to rent the same property for a month over June-July next year. It is almost the perfect solution.

Our Greek home cost us thousands of pounds a year to get to, service and maintain. Just the return drive across Europe and sending all the stuff that we needed to make life enjoyable cost a minimum of £3000.00 each year and that was 15 years ago. We were also constantly having to maintain and improve the place which involved building improvements, new machinery, furnishings, gardening, etc.. What we did have is a home of a quality we would expect in UK as well.

We have rented lots of properties abroad in the past ten years and a few have not lived up to expectations. There really is no point in leaving a nice home to stay in a shabby one however good the weather. The Spanish property really did fulfil my requirements for an extended stay and it is so cheap. A month next year will come in at less than €3,000.00 and that includes all services with air con. constantly running, the grounds and pools kept immaculately. I don’t know how they do it but I can leave and others are responsible for building maintenance. I don’t have to commit hundreds of thousands of Euros to own the property. It might become a regular on the timetable for a few years …. if I’m still alive.

Friday, 8th August, 2025

A warm but overcast morning. Quite a few jobs to get through but first the Sainsburys shop. I’ve got to finish the lawn mowing and edging. My neighbours are having a large, BBQ birthday bash tomorrow so I’m trying to make the area look its best for their visitors. We fly to Athens in a week and things in Surrey seem to be sorting themselves out so we will be going up there next week. Time is running out to get everything done.

In marriage, jobs tend to get divided and allocated. One gets to know the intracacies of the tasks through experience and repetition. It is a risky process should one partner disappear but it is also binding through dependence. I have never done washing or ironing. Well, not since that disatrous Saturday in 1973 when I visited a Laundrette, put my clothes into the washing machine and they all came out PINK – to the amusement of the women around the room. Fortunately, I looked so pathetic that they took pity on me and offered to do it for me in future. I did buy an iron and board but my attempts to produce smooth shirts and creases in my suit trousers were fairly disastrous.

My wife does the washing and ironing and has done for the past 47 years. Occasionally, I have a twinge of anxiety that I don’t know how to use the machines just as I do when she is making bread. I don’t know how to do that either. If her computer, iPad, phone, etc., has a problem, I sort it out. But now, these jobs have been integrated. Artificial Intellingence is taking over as it is integrated into the most mundane of activities. I am coming into my element. The washing machine and the heat pump tumble dryer both use AI. At last, I can do it. Just put the clothes in; choose AI program; go for a walk with your phone. Job done automatically.

Artificial Intelligence runs my car. It senses the cars in front and moderates my speed automatically to suit. It reads the speed signs and sets my speed limit. It reads the road markings and keeps me within the white lines without steering. It brakes if it sees an obstruction and automatically puts on what used to be called the handbrake every time I stop. It downloads the traffic conditions on my Sat.Nav. route, calculating my driving time and suggesting alternatives to avoid problems.These things were unimaginble 5 years ago.

My computer offers me help with writing – bloody cheek – with photo enhancement, with information finding and much more using Copilot AI platform. Above, I asked it to help by making my original photo a bit more dramatic. Not sure about the result. It’s rival, Google Gemini is just beginning to offer the same. I am testing them out at the moment. Soon everything will utterly rely on AI and the old, wrinkly people will be left behind.

Saturday, 9th August, 2025

I apologise in advance because today’s Blog will be even more mundane than usual. In fact, I’m starting this gorgeously hot and sunny morning by …. going to the local Refuse Tip. I’ve been buying so much recently, I’m overwhelmed with cardboard packaging plus redundant outdoor ovens, etc.. Our nearest Tip site in Wick is fantastic. The workers are wonderful. They leap to help carry stuff, and advise where it should go. They do it with a friendly smile and make the experience happy.

It’s funny but the house always feels lighter when I have got rid of a lot of that old stuff. It included the huge boxes that packaged a new Pizza Oven which we tried yesterday and established was working really well. Chef made pizza dough in a matter of minutes and made it look so easy. I don’t even eat bread usually but had to test this process …. in the interests of science, of course.

It’s lovely to cook outside and this oven was bought to be used in the garden. You never know how good things are until you use them. Believe me, this oven is brilliant just as Chef’s pizza dough is unbelievably tasty. If you usually buy pizza, magnify the flavour by the power of 10 and imagine the quality – one Vegetarian and one Seafood – Even I was converted, Dear Reader.

The weather has been so lovely for months that I have spent very little time in the Gym. I am working outside most of the time instead although I am feeling fat this morning after that pizza last night. Anyway, I am watching far less Drama that I do exercising inside in the Winter but there is one thing I am loving and would recommend to anyone who enjoys political fiction. It was recommended to us by the young ones from Florida and is based on American politics but I’ve already got myself hooked on it.

I must admit I didn’t really know although I have a slight echo in my head from previous knowledge but the concept of a designated survivor is real and is part of the U.S. government’s Continuity of Government Plan. This plan ensures that the government can continue to function if a catastrophic event were to eliminate the line of succession. Each year, during events like the State of the Union address, a designated cabinet member is kept at a secure, undisclosed location, while the rest of the government attends the event. This person is prepared to assume the presidency if a disaster were to befall the other leaders. 

Of course, this Drama is predicated on the disaster that befalls the president and natural line of succession. On the night of the State of the Union, an explosion destroys the Capitol Building, killing the president and everyone in the line of succession except for Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, Thomas Kirkman, who had been named the Designated Survivor. And so it begins …

Sunday, 27th July, 2025

A dull morning but very warm. Political programmes over Breakfast. Good to see Bob Geldof sounding off about the Israeli genocide in Gaza. It needs the unelected to speak truth to power.

I have been scanning in the past. Photographs of a lost age. That is what my life is reduced to. Phyllis’s photograph store needs to be recorded for posterity although I have no idea who will be interested in twenty years from now. All I can do is record History. It took me more than two hours this morning to scan, edit and file a life time of images.

After a couple of hours of walking, the main task this morning was harvesting herbs from the garden. My job was the hard part – stripping the Parseley. It takes for ever. I have grown flat leaved and curly parsley. The former is said to provide the better flavour but my Chef prefers the latter. It produces one Freezer Bag of herb.

Today, a field of Basil has been cut, stripped, combined with Pine Nuts, Garlic, Oliver Oil and Lemon Juice in a Blender and is now in a plastic box waiting to be portioned for freezing. It is the second cutting of Basil. It is amazing how so much greenery can be reduced to so little space. There will be at least one and, hopefully two more cuttings. It will produce more than we need for the rest of the year.

Home grown new potatoes are delicious. The final act in the garden today was to lift another 2Kgs of potatoes that will be moist and delicate cooked less than 30 mins after growing in the soil. A bit of home grown mint and perfection awaits.

Monday, 28th July, 2025

Glorious morning. Blue sky and sunshine warm and positive. A lawn mowing and edge trimming morning for me. Go to stay active.

Fly to Athens in three weeks. Although I can’t say exactly, it will be about the 80th time I will have spent time there over the past 45 years. Must be more than a year of my life. I love it more each time I go.

My brother’s wife is going on a cruise with a childhood friend. They fly into Athens a couple of days before joining the ship. I had to advise her of a hotel for their first night and, while we are there, I will produce a brief, photo guide for someone who has little time to explore. I must admit, Athens can be a culture shock on a first visit. I hope she enjoys it.

Today, I have had to replace the legacy ice cream maker that I threw out the other day. It was nearly 50 years old. Time for something new. According to the reviews, it has to be Ninja and that is what will arrive later in the week. Might even have to try a bit myself. Chef makes it with double cream and real vanilla pod seeds which makes all the difference.

Retirement is for enjoyment or it’s pointless. It is for friendship and sharing or it is meaningless. It is for travelling and learning or we might as well be in the Care Home. I’ve already changed my mind about next year. I’m determined to go back to Spain for a month or six weeks June – July. I intend to book it early to make sure. Hope I live that long, Dear Reader.

So the Diary is already coming together. Obviously, I will be in the North of Engand again to visit friends, in Greece on at least two occasions to continue the tradition and, after a month in Tenerife this Winter, the decision will be Canaries or Florida next Winter.

The garden is in its full pomp at the moment. Might even get a bit of rain tomorrow. I’ve grown lots of stuff from seed this year both flowers and vegetables. I like the challenge. I’ve grown Zinnias for the first time this year. Before, I would have been hard pressed to identify them at all but I’m really pleased with the result.

Here is my favourite plant of the moment – a Houttuynia commonly know as the Harlequin Plant and the Zinnias are rising up behind it in a lovely echo of the colours. I shall try this again …. if I’m still alive.

Tuesday, 29th July, 2025

Warm, grey and overcast. Hoping for rain but it’s not looking too promising. The morning is at home today anyway. The Local Authority are coming to collect the old washing machine. Charge just £25.00. (Bargain!) We have a Tiler coming to re-grout one of the shower rooms.

After nearly 10 years, we have decided to replace the ovens. They are working perfectly but the grill element in the upper oven is a bit iffy. It would cost £150.00 to repair. A completely new replacement would only cost £550.00. Easy decision. A new one will be most cost effective and will do another 10 years. I will be 84, Dear Reader! I will start researching a new one for 2035.

Might have spoken too soon. No sooner than I’d suggested a new oven but my Housekeeper took advantage and started looking for an upgrade. Sounds expensive and I may live to regret it. It’s gone up to £750.00. Still, you only live once. No point in compromising. With installation and removal of the old one, the cost is £800.00 but at least it will be done.

I have to wish my World Champion Distance Runner sister, Jane BG, happy 73rd birthday. As I pointed out to her this morning, she has great legs for a 73 year old. Just wish she’d wash more often.

Of course, my legs are cleaner and older if not fitter. As you can see here, Jane’s thinner than my oven. Not sure she can cook as well. Actually, I’m not sure she can cook at all which is probably why she runs fast.

Done my 8 mile walk while our Tiler, who is actually a multi-skilled Project Manager and is being prepared for a series of jobs in our house, is working upstairs. He is local and can be trusted with a key. This morning we have been discussing with him an extension to the Kitchen. Who knows whether it will happen. Perhaps we’ll have an Orangery. They used to be all the rage you know. After 10 years, we need lots of renewal. He could be useful and seems to have the skills.

Our next door neighbour has invited us to a BBQ. It is in aid of a birthday but it is unlikely that we will be attending. We are going up to Surrey to say goodbye to M&K before they return to Forida and we fly off to Athens.

Was feeling emotional this afternoon as I reflected on my life and the sadness of life gone by. The combination of Sheeran & Bocelli reduced me to tears. I am a sad character.

Wednesday, 30th July, 2025

Was woken up at 4.30 am … by the washing machine phoning me to say it had finished washing and needed emptying. I resisted speaking to it but struggled to get back to sleep. Resolved to look at the smart control app and tone down the notifications.

It’s funny, I was talking to an old man the other day who couldn’t understand why you would bother controlling white goods remotely. I have a love of automation and the need to embrace the future. I have chosen to have the Laundry machines run by AI and made controllable from anywhere in the world …. just because I can but Artificial Intelligence mode solves so many problems of having to choose the correct program, duration, material and so on because it does it for you. I have never used a washing machine until now. Suddenly, I’m enjoying the challenge.

I run so many things around our house using a multitude of apps on my phone. The SmartThings app runs the Laundry machines and the Robot Vacuums. Hive runs the Downstairs Heating and the Upstairs Heating independently and the hot water. It switches on the lights around the house automatically and on a timer if I program it. It controls the garden lights, the exercise equipment in the Gym and the Radiator and Fan in the Gym as well. The Climate app controls the air conditioning in the house even though it is rarely more than a metre from me. Govee alerts me to the temperature in the Gym so I know when to turn on the heating or the cooling out there.

Groomtribe monitors and advises me on my shaving each morning. Alexa controls the smart speakers around the inside of the house and DMSS controls the CCTV cameras around the outside of the house. At some stage, I am going to have to bring all these functions under one controller but that is not available yet.

My Carer works out with dumbells every morning because she is obsessed with wrinkly arms. I keep telling her that it’s not important and I know lots of women much more wrinkly than her but it doesn’t seem to pacify her and it’s not just arms. I catch her stretching and she slightly uncomfortably says, I’ve got to get rid of my elephant knees. or My hands are beginning to look like my Mum’s. Everything of me is beginning to look like my Mum but I’ve given up fighting it.

Anyway, wrinkles are the new sexy, aren’t they Dear Reader. Well, that’s what I tell her as she works away to keep wrinkles at bay. My way to keep them at bay is to work. I’ve set the Under Gardener on Hedge Trimming while I edge the grass verges, clear the curbstones of weeds and generally keep the street tidy. Of course, when it comes to sweeping up Hedge trimmings, I am the under gardener to the under gardener. It’s so hot and humid I am wet from my exertions if that isn’t too much information. At 5.00 pm, we are seeing 27C/81F. It feels hotter because of the humidity – enough to wrinkle anyone!

Thursday, 31st July, 2025

July is going out on a warm and humid day with heavy rain forecast. Please let it be so. Gatwick is only 33 miles away and it is raining heavily already. Really hope it knows which direction to blow down to us.

A week ago, I bought £20,000.00 of Premium Bonds. My reasons included the fact that I needed a place for Easy Access cash and the fact that it is tax-free is a bonus. Of course, I could get 4% + in a conventional account but tax would immediately reduce that and Premium Bonds are predicated on an average yield of 3.8%. That is the payout each month across the piece. Of course, it’s not guaranteed for any individual investor but I’m intending to be a ‘lucky one’. The first draw in which I will be included is September and I will keep you updated over a 12 month period to see if I make the 3.8% target. It should make the princely sum of £760.00 tax free. We will see.

Who’d have thought that washing clothes could be so much fun. I’m washing Colours this morning. Well, my Artificially Intelligent friend is. I’m doing it remotely by phone from my Office. What I love about it other than the IT challenge is the fact that the whole process is silent. You can’t tell the machines are on at all. It won’t disturb the cricket. I’m doing towels next. Pray for me, Dear Reader.

For years I collected, had framed and displayed Victorian art in my homes. I came to it from a Left Wing perspective particularly through the socialism of William Morris and John Ruskin but eventually found myself absorbed by the most unlikely images of Frederick Lord Leighton and Lawrence Alma Tadema.

When I get something, I don’t compromise. I go full in and so it was with the paintings. I had framed huge prints all over the houses. I even had them in my Greek home. Eventually, when we moved to a new-build house in the South, I gave them to a Hospice charity who sold them all off individually for quite a bit of cash.

This week, an exhibition at the G.F. Watts Gallery in Surrey was advertised and I was about to make a note before suddenly realising that time for me has gone. I really have moved on and need something new. Looking for suggestions, Dear Reader.

Well, it’s 1.00 pm and no sign of the rain. I’m going to be furious if we’re deprived again. My Housekeeper is continuing her quest to harvest and process all the herbs in the garden. Today it is Mint and Tarragon. She is also making Strawberry Jam and preparing to make ice cream when the machine is delivered this afternoon. At the same time, she is using/learning her new Laundry machines. It’s all go. I’m going in the Gym although it is so hot outside, it won’t be comfortable.

Praise be to the Fates. The Rain has come in torrents. I got soaked but at last I am clean. I won’t have to water for a few days and the green of the grass will return for a while. The Test Match has been sporadic because of rain but England are securing their lead and are likely to win the Series. Rain does so much!

Friday, 1st August, 2025

August 2025 …. already. Happy new month, Dear Reader, even though your Life is running away. Unfortunately, so is mine. My 74th August is going to be a good one. Optimism is important.

When we are young, optimism is the default position. We believe we can do anything and certainly better than our previous generations. We don’t consider death. That is something so far off, it’s not worth contemplating. Actually, we believe we will live forever. We can abuse our bodies because there is plenty of time to pull back. We don’t need to save money. There is a lifetime to get into that.

It’s hard to know when the pivotal point is reached and we start to view the Future as shorter than the past. I suspect it was in my early 50s. As a young man, I always pledged to not fall into some of those old person cliches one so regularly hears:

• You can’t teach an old dog new tricks.
• I’m too old to learn computers.
• I’ll leave my kids to cope with smartphones. They’re beyond me.
• Thank goodness I’ll be dead before that happens.
• It was simple in my day.

I like to think I have retained my optimism as long as possible although cancer does bring you up short. This morning, the news was full of items about Heathrow expansion and a new runway at Gatwick. I welcome it but realise I will be 84 before they are in action. Will I still be fit? Will I still be travelling? It is like so many of these things. I long to see all the technological advances over the next 50 years and force myself to get to grips with them. I’ll be happy just to see the introduction of Dementia-beating drugs which will be in use over the next 7 or 8 years.

This morning, I caught myself in optimistic mode as a delivery arrived from Amazon. I love my shaver. It is a Philips Series 7000. I’ve had it two years. Philips advise changing the heads every two years and I got my technician to do that for me this week because she has smaller hands. I immediately ordered replacement heads and put in my online calendar for July 2027 an entry reminder to change my shaver heads. The shaver has an automatic cleaning program which entails putting it headfirst into a pot which contains cleaning fluid and then telling it via my smartphone app to run the program. It takes 60 secs. Each pot does a month. Today, I received 6 more pots.

My wife pointed out that I’m not only expecting my shaver to last another two years but expecting myself to manage six more months as well. She’s a delightful old woman!

Saturday, 2nd August, 2025

By the start of August, nature is rampant. Full blown. Blousy! As a typical male approach, I want to control nature. I plant vegetables in straight lines. I cut back edges of grass and impose my idea on it not what it wants to do naturally – grow. I dead head flowers every morning to encourage continued flowering instead of allowing the plants to do what they want – produce seed and perpetuate the next generation. All around the area, gardeners have been doing the same thing – trimming, edging, pruning, etc.

By August, Nature is really fighting back. It is screaming Let me go. Let me procreate, Let me Live. The job of controlling growth within defined boundaries is becoming too time consuming and, of course, even we want the fruits of their loins. We live in an area that is built on former Horticultural sites. Salad Vegetables and Herbs were grown in vast areas of glasshouses. Fruit was grown in huge tracts of orchards. This apple tree is growing wild amid the hedgerow on Orchard Road that I go down on my walk each day. The orchards have gone and given way to housing but Nature has found a way to reassert itself and perpetuate the species – not in the straight rows of human planted orchard trees but the chaotic and haphazard hedgerows.

It seems Humans have an innate desire – need even – to control their environment, their world. I wonder what you think about the Online Safety law that has kicked in this week. It was proposed and drafted by the Tory government under Theresa May but it has only just become law this week. We are told it is intended to keep children safe from undesirable web content – sex and suicide. Few people would not want to protect their kids but it has a lot of unintended consequences – if they are unintended.

The sites that the government designate unsafe require age certification. This can be done by supplying credit card details, passport copies, etc.. Would you supply those, Dear Reader? Is supplying your identity-specific to unknown content providers safe? Is the reasoning behind the process acceptable and can it be manipulated by future governments? You see, the Authoritarian Chinese State does exactly this. It blocks what it sees as decadent Western ideology on the web. The Russians, the Iranians Islamist Leadership, the Afghan Taliban do the same. It is essentially Authoritarian.

It is typical, common control of the extreme Right and the extreme Left which exhibits this need to block alternative views. When I developed an intranet platform in school, a parent complained that his son had accessed pornography through the net. I bought website-blocking software to prevent it happening again. The kids were as furious as if I’d stopped them going behind the bikesheds to experiment. Within a week they’d found a way around it and I was back to square one. In just the same way now, I can get round this mediocre attempt at control by telling the web I am in Albania via a cheap VPN which also allows me to tell the web I am in London when actually I am in Europe so I can access UK media.

They won’t win but they keep trying and it is our responsibility to resist. I’m sorry if this Blog post is a bit too long today but this is important. Farage, who is more of a joke than a threat, suddenly has some traction in the democratic world. We had the hilarious occurence of Farage trying to silence a Democratic Senator who was attending a Free Speech conference and not seeing the irony in it. Imagine if Farage got into power and how he would use this media control.

Well you don’t have to imagine it because we only have to look across the pond where Trump has been agitating to have the Chairman of the Federal Reserve sacked for not reducing Interest Rates even though economic data doesn’t warrant it and, today, he has reacted to a report based on accurate data collected about the Jobs Market with increased Unemployment because of his Tariff Policy by shooting the messenger – firing the Head of the Bureau of Labor Statistics for reporting this trend to the nation. He called it fake information to undermine him. We are already in Orwellian territory.