Sunday, 20th September, 2026
Another lovely day which started rather grey but soon blossomed. The sky is now bright and the sun is out. I am going to be spending a good proportion of it outside in shorts and tee shirt absorbing the Vitamin D. Just 6 weeks to go before I fly to Tenerife and I’m hoping to remain in these clothes (or clean replacements) until I return in December. The challenges will be maintaining that over a trip to central London where we are having comprehensive Health Checks and a trip to the North where it can be cold.
Cooking is going on outside today as well. Chicken stock is being made where the smells can dissipate in the breeze. Bolognese Sauce is being made for portioning up and freezing – not to be eaten with pasta but in stuffed peppers and stuffed tomatoes over the weeks. Final crops and storage of herbs is taking place over the next few days.
The kitchen is full of machinery but one area attracted my interest particularly. A Kenwood Chef has featured in food production since I got married in 1978. It mixes cakes, kneeds bread dough, whisks cream, chops herbs, minces meat and stuffs sausages.
Today, steak is being minced to make the sauce. Non of this supermarket minced beef rubbish according to chef. She likes to start from first priciples and with assured quality ingredients. I don’t take part in that. The meals are always wonderful. The Kenwood machine featured here was bought in 1978 and has now been replaced with a new one but one that still uses all the original tools.
What caught my eye this morning was a bag – a simple bag made of light mushroom coloured corduroy. It was made in 1978 out of some spare material to contain all the Kenwood’s tools and parts. But it wasn’t just the bag that took me back. The cloth was bought from Huddersfield Market to make curtains for two, poor teachers. It also made cushion covers on settees in the Lounge and a draught excluder at the front door. And here it is almost 50 years later. The rabbit hole of time and memory remains open.
Monday, 21st September, 2026
The Summer continues. Clear blue sky and gorgeous sunshine. Walking by the waves will be a joy today. I am gradually trying to increase my efforts without letting it dominate my day. When I was doing 10 miles a day, it was taking up too much of my time. I actually got complaints from my wife. It’s alright when you can slip into Size 10 jeans all your life without them touching the sides but I am not one those. I have to work at it.
This guy featured in the newspapers this morning. I will never be him. I could live to 100 and not enjoy or be good at running. Walking is enough for me these days which is just as well. I can’t afford joint problems caused by pounding the pavements now. I am currently walking just over 6 miles per day / 45 miles per week which works out at around 180 miles a month. I think I am easily doing the NHS guidelines.
I am managing 7 times the guidelines of walking a marathon a month. I am trying to build up to 8 miles per day and to maintain that every day. I will never now go back to the two year spell when I walked 7,300 miles because I just couldn’t let go. I find letting go very difficult.
I was amused to see William Shatner/Captain Startrek feature in the newspapers this morning. At the age of 90, he has started a rock band. We all hate to give up the things we love and why should we? Some people love the limelight.
This is what I see on my walk although most of the older people looked dressed for Winter. They’ve probably never known Northern temperatures. I try to be always in Summer clothes. Yesterday, it was 24C/75F and today 25C/77F. These ‘Indian Summers’ are delightful.
Tuesday, 22nd September, 2026
Wall to wall sunshine again today. Looking forward it, sad, old man that I am. Looks like I’ll be outside for most of the day which will do me good.
Tomorrow is a the Birthday of a litle girl from my past. She was always known by me as Little Viv and she is Italian. I’ve always loved little people. They bring out the tender in me. She was the Head of Reprographics in my school for 30 years. I refer to her as a girl because of her size rather than her age. Tomorrow is her 72nd birthday.
Who sends actual cards these days? Little Viv is in the digital age and uses Whatsapp and email. I decided to make a digital birthday card for her to put on Whatsapp. To make it personal, I wanted to include a picture of her. The only recent one I have is from last Christmas and it is terrible quality.
The world is full of Artificial Intelligence, isn’t it Dear Reader. Fears of AI are the big news of the month. Of course, there are real justifications to that fear but we can’t uninvent it now just like the internet or the car. We have to use it to our benefit. I use it all the time in relatively minor ways to do jobs that would take me hours and days but it completes in minutes. How to extract Little Viv from this photo to use her elsewhere. Normally, it takes a lot of work. My AI platform, MS CoPilot, took just 90 secs not only to clear the complicated clutter of her background but to also enhance the quality of her image.
So now to put her into a graphic to celebrate her birthday. She loves the countryside, red wine and her cats. I asked MS CoPilot to create a card with those guidelines. I could have done this myself although I’m not sure how well and certainly not in the three minutes AI took.
This is just a card front and I wanted it to look like an actual 3D card so I asked AI to produce this with a message from me.
Ok, it is a bit too saccharine and idealised but memories tend to be that way, don’t they Dear Reader. Every new invention / development has both dangers and benefits for us. This is good fun and amazingly helpful. I use AI to do my research which would normally take me days. If only it had been like this when I was working. I could have run rings round Ofsted.
Now, I use AI to research data from multiple sources which it would take me ages to do using Google. I then ask it to present that data in a variety of forms such as graphs to illustrate a point I am making. I use AI to structure the case for and against a position I am arguing which is extremely helpful because it doesn’t get emotionally involved but just argues from the facts that it can find. AI can grab from complex Office for National Statistics data and present it alongside other sources so that I can make a decision myself without all the slog of research which one might give to a secretary.
The thing to do is keep your mind open and receptive to change. I warned a couple of years ago those stuck in the analogue age that digital telephony was on its way. All landlines by the end of this year will have been converted to internet-based or VOIP – Voice Over Internet Protocol. The downside is that, if your broadband goes down, you have no phone connection. I accepted a digital landline years ago and I ditched our landline completely 18 months ago. I haven’t once missed it.
I read this yesterday and thought: Who are those 5% and how have they managed to hold on to the past for so long. Of course, it is possible that they don’t have broadband installed. Well, they will now or they’ll need to get two tin cans with a long piece of string tp communicate but I wouldn’t advise it. You definitely wouldn’t be able to share pictures.
Wednesday, 23rd September, 2026
After a starry, moonlit night, we wake to a glororious day of clear blue sky and brilliant sunshine. Today is the Autumn Equinox when day and night are of equal length with only 12 hours of sunlight. The year is all downhill from here. To celebrate the end of the pier show we went down to the pier.
On a day like today, however tawdry a pier can be at the end of its season, the bright, mediterranean light lifts the mood and the view.
In Worthing, Wednesday is Market Day when market stalls are set up down the centre of a popular, pedestrianised walk way.
There all sorts of cheap and cheerful rubbish sold from cleaning products to hats to second hand books but there are also some useful stalls like a specialist in Greek Produce and others that sell Artisan Bread (if I was eating any), Specialist Cheeses (if I was eating any), Quality Meat (if I was eating any), Locally Caught Fish and Fruit & Vegetables. I went in to look for one, specific thing – fresh, Greek Figs. I love them.
Daren’t tell you how much these cost but I would have paid any price. They are Greek Sun sealed in a magnificently sweet fruit. And they are quite moving.
At mid day, the temperature has reached 25C/77F (Athens is 22C/70F) which is lovely as we anticipate the end of Summer. People in town are in beachwear, sitting on benches soaking up the rays. These bonus days are a time to really enjoy because they are unexpected. Soon, I am going to be living with a 75 year old so I am making the most of her youth while it remains.
Thursday, 24th September, 2026
A bit more cloudy this morning but still very warm. It’s a quiet day today with just exercise and a blood test. My Dad died when I was 14 of a heart attack whilst in hospital being treated for Angina. It wouldn’t happen now. He died 61 years ago today. I can see the day like it was now. If he had lived, he would be 111 this year. Not likely but not impossible. I just think of the 25+ years that I’ve had and that he missed.
Should be good quality blood this morning. I am dieting and that includes no alcohol. I have just completed 4 weeks without alcohol. My blood sugar is excellent after no carbohydrate for a month. My exercise is burning around 1000 cals per day and my intake is reduced by around 1500 cals per day. So, I am down net 2,500 cals per day which is significant. I have gone through the stage when the process makes me tired and I now have a new release of energy.
You know, I have drunk a bottle of red wine with my evening meal every night since 1973. I love red wine and I have moved over the years from French to Italian and I’m currently favouring Spanish and particularly Rioja. I do get into habits and I’ve often asked myself if I am alcoholic because of this habit. I have never been drunk in my life. Funnily enough, when I adopt a soft drink as an alternative, I get addicted to that habit instead. Currently, I am drinking a glass of non-alcoholic red wine with Supper and I have no longings for the alcohol at all.
The grass is growing so quickly at the moment that I will have to do the street again tomorrow. We have used all the Basil we can cope with this year so I am taking bagsful of it to neighbours today as well. It was a warm moonlit night last night but soon the temperatures at night will fall and the Basil won’t survive for long.
I’ve been using the Gym for less than an hour a day over the Summer. That will increase as less comfortable weather arrives. I’m looking forward to walking and swimming in Tenerife. Some call it a holiday. I call it warm weather training. The test will be if I can maintain my discipline when I am away from Home environment. Travelling does challenge my resolve but I will just have to be tougher with myself.
Actually, it’s interesting that our Bank Account, which is not free, provides benefits that it insists are worth more than it costs. They are right in that we get ‘free’ Worldwide Annual Travel Insurance for the two of us. We get ‘free’ Mobile Phone Insurance for both our mobiles. We get ‘free’ unlimited Airport Executive Lounge entry. We use all of these a lot. We could have ‘free’ AA European Breakdown cover but we have that with our car already. We could have ‘free’ Home Emergency support but we have that with our House Insurance. We could have a ‘free’ Concierge Service for travel booking or Event Booking but I would never leave that to someone else so I’ve never used it.
However, we are now being offered this ‘free’ Health Benefits Package which may well be useful. I don’t know what you think, Dear Reader. If only my Dad had had this at the touch of a button.
Friday, 25th September, 2026
Beautiful day of blue sky and sunshine. Please let them continue. We’ve got 5 weeks before we reach Canarian sunshine. You know you’re old when your kids are old. I don’t have any kids but I taught plenty.
One of the lovely ones I have stayed in contact with is Fiza who is Mum to two kids of her own and runs her own business as a Counsellor in Oldham. She is 40 today and my spirit shrinks one little bit more in acknowledging it. That feisty girl that I knew achieved her Degree a couple of years ago and is now a busy and committed woman of the world. It makes me feel old and lazy.
Of course the really important element of aging involves the distinction between Lifespan vs. Healthspan.
The Gap: People spend roughly around 18 years—or about 22% of their lives—managing sickness, functional decline, or disability.
Lifespan: The total number of years you live from birth to death. Globally, average life expectancy is about 79 years for men and 83 years for women.
Healthspan: The number of years you live in good health, free from chronic illness, pain, or disability. The disease-free healthspan averages about 61 years.
This is Office for National Statistics data for British men and women. Even the Life Expectancy average is a scarily early age but the Healthy Span is terribly low. Makes a mockery of changing working/pension ages.
I had a routine blood test yesterday at 11,30 am. By 2.30 pm, I had a text to say the results were available on Patients Know Best. It’s a great service and I’m sure you’ll be delighted to hear, Dear Reader, that my results are excellent.
It was a full test of 20 different items and I am in the ‘healthy’ range for every one which gives me confidence. Particularly pleased with my cholesterol readings which are all within healthy range. The overall cholesterol has come down again which is pleasing.
Having said that, the ONS data captures me in the sense that since my 60s, I have been diagnosed with Atrial Fibrillation and then with Prostate Cancer which would count towards my unhealthy final years. At least I’ve got 4 more actual years to live. I find that emboldens me to do whatever I like and not worry too much about the consequences.
What a dream of a day it’s been. Out for our walk by the beach. The temperature has reached 25C/77F and sun is burning us. Lots of people sunbathing on the beach and lots more swimming in the sea. Coach parties have arrived from central London and the ice cream cabin is doing a roaring trade. It feels like it might be the last Hurrah of Summer but you never know.
Saturday, 26th September, 2026
Clear blue sky, sunshine and no breeze for yet another day. Garden Centre followed by the beach to start off the day. Not long until we travel so appointments at the Beauticians, Hairdressers, Clothes Shops/websites are all being hungrily pursued although not by me.
I love travelling. It makes me feel alive and challenges my organisation. We have comprehensive travel insurance as I wrote the other day. It comes ‘free’ from our bank and I read the small print very carefully. You hear of so many people who bought cheap policies without checking ‘exclusions’ and then finding they are ‘covered’ in name only.
It is just four weeks since we left the Plaka area of Athens and news came yesterday of a building being demolished by a gas explosion near our hotel. Rescuers combing the ruins of the building found passports for an American couple who haven’t been seen since.
About this time of year in days gone past, we were setting out on our journey from our Greek home to Yorkshire or, later, Surrey in a journey which involved driving through Athens and across the Corinth Canal to Patras where we would join a ferry up the Adriatic to Ancona on the Italian coast. There are three ferry companies which do that route – Superfast, Minoan and Bluestar.
We actually took the first ever Blue Star ferry on that route almost 30 years ago. This week we learnt of a potential tragedy unfolding in the Aegean as a Blue Star ferry with many cars on board caught fire off the coast of Mykonos island in the Cyclades. Fortunately, everyone was rescued but not their cars and I only have to project that forward to the insurance claims for lost cars, forward transport, accomodation, etc..
Aside from Explosions, Ferry Fires and the like, the big news of this week has been …. a new kettle. Yet another new kettle. We are always needing a new kettle. I don’t know if it is because we drink more at home in retirement and we have different requirements or if kettles are just less reliable these days but this will be our 4th kettle in as many years. Variable temperature kettles was a thing for the last two but now we are reverting to a simple (if stylish) standard kettle. Let’s hope that does at least 5 years this time. Don’t forget, you get all the big news here!
