Sunday, 12th April, 2026
A gorgeous start to the new week with strong, warm sunshine and everywhere is thrusting forward with bright green shoots. Wonderful early walk through the park where people were out drinking in the vitamin D and girding their loins for going back to work and school tomorrow.
Our work is never finished. Yesterday the kitchen was infused with freshly baked bread. This morning there is the sweet air of warm, strawberry jam being poured into jars. It’s a regular process of which starts off with bags of frozen strawberries which always smell like Summer arriving as they defrost.
Just 6 bags of frozen fruit become 10 jars of wonderfully flavoursome jam in just a couple of hours. It amuses me that the jars were all original Hartley’s jam jars from another age. Anyway, it keeps Chef happy for a while.
I was observing the other day that graphics were becoming more important to the Blog these days and it is true that a picture paints a thousand words but what is more evocative is photos of one’s past.
One of my great friends from my teaching days was Sam Shepherd. He and I worked together a lot and he was a really true friend. He retired in July 1984 – 42 years ago – and this photo of his return to be greeted on his 70th birthday shocks and invokes those forgotten times. What really strikes me is the old buildings and old, poor quality furniture we spent so much of our working lives with and compare it to the new Academy that replaced it as £millions were thrown at the problem.
And then there was this snap shot posted from a time even further away – 55 years. This group of students were my contemporaries so they are in their mid-70s now. How happy, carefree and young they all look as well as monochrome like the world of the early 1970s they inhabited.
The wonderful grounds have moved on like the rest of us and are now home to owners of chic, new apartments crafted out of the elegant, old building. Busy, noisy, pressured it is not.
Monday, 13th April, 2026
Lovely morning. The window cleaner arrived at 7.00 am. He’s hobbling and in a pot cast on his leg where he has broken bones in three places. He was playing football! He announced his prices were rising from £21.00 to £23.00 because of the War in Iran. Very international our window cleaner. After he had picked me up from the pavement and helped me recover from the shock, I tried to discuss payment terms with him but he wasn’t offering ‘interst free’. I have to say, he is still cheaper than the service we were paying for a decade ago in Surrey.
Great news over night as Orban was overwhelmingly booted out of Hungary. Orban, a far right, anti-EU, pro-Putin politician who was blocking Europe’s attempts to contribute to the Ukraine war because of his support for Russia had been in power for 16 years and had become an increasing thorn in the side of Europe.
Orban and Farage are politicians who wouldn’t have been tolerated 30 years ago when Liberal Socialism held sway. In fact, 20 years ago even 15 years ago, they were out on the socially unacceptable end of ‘extreme’. Throughout my lifetime, the pendulum has swung Left – Centre – Right and back but now it is swinging further out to the extremes. We nearly had a Corbyn government and we may nearly get a Farage government to come. We didn’t quite get the first and we probably won’t get the second but it is an example of the Overton Window.
The Overton Window describes the pendulum of acceptable beliefs/policies that are current at any one time. We had a Deform Party politician say the other day that, on a trip to Birmingham, they hadn’t seen a single white face. Similar things are said about London. In the past, they wouldn’t just have been criticised but not said at all by people hoping to be elected. The Overton Window has swung Right towards the Unthinkable extreme.
It will change despite anything that happens in May here with a local elections kicking for the government. Trump, friend of Orban and Farage, is very unpopular in Europe and UK and will almost certainly lose the US mid-term elections because he is seen as increasingly erratic and out of touch. France was expected to go Right but actually went Left in their elections recently. The pendulum will eventually swing back and the unthinkable right wing racism will become unsayable again.
Walking in the sun now and then gardening. Fresh air and activity is the best prescription for staying alive. Got to live long enough for the Overton Window to slide back my way. I also want to live long enough to enjoy more Easter celebrations in the Greek sunshine. Orthodox Easter was yesterday and Greeks were out in the warmth spit roasting whole lambs by the sea. Iconic, happy and emotional.
Tuesday, 14th April, 2026
Pure blue sky and strong sunshine has greeted the morning. At 8.00 am, the temperature is 14C/57F and rising rapidly. I’ve only been 75 for 8 days but I’ve become increasingly doddery. Yesterday while out in the garden I was confidently carrying a large plant pot across the patio when I cracked my leg hard on the corner of the conservatory. I think I did it in sympathy with the window cleaner.
I had taken a huge chunk out of my ankle which spouted with blood immediately. I do find that age has made my skin thinner and less resilient. Nurse washed and dressed it and I was relieved to still be able to do my walk. However, this morning it has swollen badly and leaked blood through the dressing. It will take a while to walk myself back into full mobility. Got quite a lot to do today
I’ve also got a tender left arm. Yesterday, I had my Covid vaccination at the local Kamsons Pharmacy. The two girls administering it really inspired confidence by telling me I was their first of the new season. Anyway, they were lovely and the jab was fine. I had Moderna this time and don’t seem to have had any reaction over night.
Been out to Tesco Superstore in Littlehampton for a couple of things. I wanted the car valeting and they have a good one there in the carpark and my Housekeeper wanted a chunk of fresh yeast for baking bread. Tesco Superstore still make bread in-house and are happy to give customers chunks of their yeast supply which is continually growing in the Bakery for free. Chef says it performs much better than dry yeast.
The car valeting service is so good that it is very busy and really has to work hard to satisfy demand. It is still a major source of employment for E2L immigrants who find it more difficult to get work elsewhere. They are delightful and assiduous and I like to learn of their backgrounds. We dropped off the car and were told it would be ready in an hour.
We did a bit of shopping and then went in to the coffee shop to kill the time. I haven’t been in to a Costa Coffee or any coffee shop for a year or two. A large Capuccino and a small Hot Chocolate cost £8.00. Eight Pounds!! At home I drink around 4 large Capuccinos a day. I would be bankrupt at that price.
Wednesday, 15th April, 2026
Quite an overcast but warm morning. I didn’t have a good night’s sleep. My ankle was on fire as it ballooned with swelling. The cuts were quite deep and one is still running a bit. I can walk but it is uncomfortable so I am having to push myself.
There are some things that we need to stock up on and, ironically, they are sourced in Aldi and Lidl. Yes, a morning slumming it today. Everywhere we go leads down to the sea. This morning it was very quiet but dramatic.
The sea for me, as for so many others, symbolises infinity, continuous and endless time. It can be both exciting and frightening in that way. It emphasises the brevity of our personal journey set in the context of the eternal human journey. The conveyor belt of life brings the same call for us all … Next, Please!
Only one ship is seeking us, a black-
Sailed unfamiliar, towing at her back
A huge and birdless silence. In her wake
No waters breed or break.Philip Larkin – Next, Please
This morning, I was listening to a podcast about American politics. The talk was of Yanks and I suddenly realised I didn’t know where that term had originated. There was no one I could ask. There are few people older than me. I used to ring my Mum if there was something from my past which I couldn’t remember or didn’t know but she is long gone. In the next couple of weeks, it will be the anniversary of her death 18 years ago.
But now no fact is out of easy reach. I can ask Google or Wikipedia or AI and the answer will not only be there in seconds but the context will be provided as well. That is exactly what I want. Mum would require so much more as a price for the answers. In this case, I’m sure she would have known but Google told me early Dutch settlers to North America used the derogatory term of little Johns for all common men. The Dutch name for Little John is Janke. You see, Dear Reader, who needs a Mother?
At least we will all be saved by that leading Yankie Holy Man….
Thursday, 16th April, 2026
Nice, warm morning. I’m still hobbling painfully like a 75 year old man. What have I been reduced to? Thursday is usually Sainsburys day. This morning, the shelves of fresh produce were almost bare. Imported Fruit & Veg was particularly poor. Don’t know if it is the current crisis but I can’t see it getting better too soon.
We are preparing for foreign travel. One of us is constantly looking for Summer clothes and it isn’t me. I am always being asked which pair of shorts, which shirt, which skirt or dress I prefer. I must admit, I find it impossible to say. One pair of shorts looks much like the next to me. It’s easier to say, Just get both.
The garden will have to survive while we are away for months at a time. Watering deep beds will need to be done and I’m trying to move away from spray watering and on to drip feed. So, I’m looking at plastic pipe system driven by an automatic timer fixed to the garden tap.
I’m also thinking of using the available technology to keep contact with things that can go missing during travel. I’m thinking of buying some bluetooth tags which have a range of about 200m and are controlled by our smart phones. Just as I was weighing up their value this morning, my wife lost her car keys which virtually made up my mind.
I understand that the current crisis in Iran has turned many people to think of generating their own power through solar panels and towards electric cars with enthusiasm just as it had begun to wane a bit. Even the Americans are picking up their interest in electric cars.
We have Hive heating controls and monitoring from British Gas. They contacted me today because they know we’ve been considering it for ages. Our only question is: Will we live long enough to make it worthwhile. This estimate is based on just 8 panels. We have a perfect, south-facing roof which is constantly in the sun and the size of our house would require 16 panels. We would have a battery which we would site in the Gym so we could store power for night time use so we would be looking at a price of about £14,000. I’ve got to ask how long it would take to break even. We are going to invite them round for a survey and a chat.
Friday, 17th April, 2026
Quite a grey and relatively cool start to the day. It always surprises me that 15C/59F can feel so cold but it does this morning. Ironically, it is a gardening day. Lawn mowing, bed tidying and I am expecting the first tranche of plantlets to arrive with 240 needing potting up to grow on in the cold frames. Would have been nicer to have a warmer, sunnier day for it but I’m sure they will come.
Life is spent looking for sunnier days, isn’t it Dear Reader? We try to push the darker, monochrome days behind us. And, of course, everything changes. I read the Manchester Evening News and the Huddersfield Examiner online editions every morning. I’ve been following the renovations of Oldham’s historic Coliseum Theatre and I’ve been reading recently about Oldham’s Queen Elizabeth Hall which my school used for formal functions like Prize Giving for a while in the late 1970s & 1980s.
The Coliseum is being saved while the QE Hall is being demolished. It’s interesting that the theatre opened in the 1880s and has quaint features of that time whereas the QE Hall was built in the early 1970s on designs inherited from the 1960s white heat of the technological age as articulated by Harold Wilson.
The Hall is in the brutalist, poured concrete, ‘modern style that had hints of an almost soviet reference which was meant quite deliberately to pose a break with the past. The staggered slabs of grubby concrete on the outside and the authoritarian-style chandeliers on the inside make one shudder in retrospect but felt exciting at the time as we swept away the 19th century slums.
This was the legacy of Le Corbusier. In just the same way, the terraced housing of the St Mary’s area of Oldham had been demolished and replaced with high rise flats with inside toilets and bathrooms, new kitchens and insulated windows. Life was on the up.
The soft South owes it to the mean North and money is begining to move in. Oldham has a new development programme. The Shaw Road Estate has long been history. Now, the Mumps area is being developed in association with the railway station and the tram system. Change isn’t easy. The people of the 19th century slums complained bitterly about losing the dire homes. The residents of Shaw Road Estate fought loudly to keep their cold and damp flats. The next change will come but after me.
Saturday, 18th April, 2026
Gorgeous morning for gardening although my foot has blown up with an angry swelling and turned midnight blue. Gives a whole new meaning to sex on legs. I’ll have to go through the pain barrier today. I’ve got gardening to do.
Yesterday, I spent about 2 hrs mowing all the public lawns while my Under Gardener prepared all the flower beds. They won’t be planted up for at least another month but they needed weeding and the soil refreshing. While we were working, Royal Mail delivered a box of 240 Marigold plantlets. They are sown and grown in expert conditions and delivered in sealed containers to be grown on at home. These ones only grow to around 10″ but last from May – October with little maintenance apart from dead heading so they are a good choice for public spaces.
They have been spray watered and are sitting out in the sun waiting to be potted up and placed in cold frames for protection in case we have a cold night. Down here that is very unlikely but I have to be prepared.
I remember during the pandemic out constantly walking in the fresh air, I suddenly became aware of another life. There were birds in a world I had rarely considered living above me. I had spent 70 years without thinking much about the life under the sea or above my head in the sky.
I remember looking up and seeing a bird soaring high above me and asking Google what it was. A Red Kite which is common in the South of England came back the answer. I was gripped. This is a civilisation that exists out of my everyday experience.
Now, of course, I know I walk down Robin Alley which is alive with song. Every evening, a blackbird sings from a house roof behind me and fills the area with song. Birds are now my friends and I was pleased to see Adrian Edmonson and Samuel West are on the same wavelength.
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