Week 902

Sunday, 5th April, 2026

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Monday, 6th April, 2026

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Tuesday, 7th April, 2026

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

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

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

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

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

Wednesday, 8th April, 2026

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

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

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

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

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

Thursday, 9th April, 2026

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Friday, 10th April, 2026

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Saturday, 10th April, 2026

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

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

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

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

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

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

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