Category: Uncategorized

Sunday, 17th April, 2022

Easter Sunday. As a life-long and committed atheist, it holds no meaning for me whatsoever other than to illustrate how easily others are misguided. I think that, if I ever believed in the resurrection, I lost that belief with the realisation that Santa Claus was a fiction. The two concepts are analagous and equally ridculous. 

That doesn’t mean I don’t have a spiritual side. All humans do. Some choose to create a god to fill it. I choose music, emotion and ideas. My Grandfather was an Irish Catholic although, latterly, not very committed to his faith. He gave me a windup Gramophone and some old 78″ records that he loved. Most of it produced scratchy sound from recordings of the 1930s but I was captivated by a piece colloquially called Handel’s Largo.

I later learnt that it is the opening Aria to Handel’s opera, Xerxes (1738) but the intellectual discovery came long after the spiritual one. I played it over and over and over until it drove everyone mad. I loved it and it made me cry. I loved it because it made me cry. I am playing it as I type now and I am feeling the keys through a veil of tears. Long after my Grandfather has gone, the spirit he bequeathed remains.

If you know the book, My Left Foot or watched the film, you will know that Handel’s Largo represented hope and spirituality for a man with cerebral palsy. I can understand how he reached that position. You only have to play it two or three times on repeat and you will be hooked for life.

I am a stupid man. You don’t have to tell me. I know myself. I feel spirituality through loss of the past. I mourn times and people gone from my life. It diminishes me and my life greatly. Because of that, I can understand the need to create the expectation of resurrection, the hope that time can be retraced. My stupidity is that, the more I fail, the harder I try.

Although I am an atheist, I will take political support from wherever it is offered. I am always amused/appalled how un-Christian professed Christians can be. It is good to see the Archbishop of Canterbury speaking out against the unbelievably cruel idea of exporting refugees who have fled persecution and look to us for a better, safer life. As he says, sub-contracting out our national responsibilities to an African state with a dubious human rights record is wrong.

Looking forward to watching the next few episodes of my current favourite drama – Anatomy of a Scandal which is showing on Netflix. It is just my sort of thing – sex and politics! What more could you want for Easter Sunday. It is suggestive of the Cameron cabinet with flashbacks to the Bullingdon Club and a mop of blonde hair floating around. The dialogue may not be brilliant but it is entertaining.

I can tell you that Easter eggs have not sold well this year. The fresh produce shelves – fruit, vegetables, chicken, etc – were very sparse but we had to fight our way past a wall of Easter Eggs just to get in to Sainsburys yesterday.

Monday, 18th April, 2022

Summer continues. Lovely clear sky last night full of stars and a bright full moon. The morning has opened with clear blue sky and lovely sunshine. Almost makes putting out the bins a pleasure. All the exciting things on the list today include cleaning the car. Whoo-hoo! Driving to Surrey tomorrow. Done my INR and have to phone the Anti-Coag. Department in preparation for my operation three weeks on Wednesday.

Got to be positive and look forward. Planning the future. As soon as the operation is over and I can comfortably walk again, we will drive into France and explore. In late August we will go to Athens. I have already booked a week in a suite in the Electra Palace Hotel and flights with Easyjet. In spite of the past year, prices really haven’t increased a great deal. We will leave August 21st and return on the 28th. Gives us something to aim for.

Booked our Northern trip between October 16th – 21st. Staying at the Holiday Inn, Brighouse and arranging to meet lots of lovely, old and wrinkly friends. We can now plan the rest of our year – driving in France and, possibly, travelling to Florida. Let’s hope we live to do all that.

Tuesday, 19th April, 2022

Woke early – couldn’t sleep. Up at 5.30 am and out half an hour later. Just 6 miles this morning – a bright and reasonably mild one. I’ve got lawns to cut before we drive up to Surrey.

It might be ‘relatively’ mild but nothing like Sarasota County where we were only 3 weeks ago. Over coffee this morning, Sky news featured this huge beast this morning, stalking the properties of Sarasota. M says it is really heating up now. Could just do with that. However, duty calls and we are taking PW for her cataract operation at Ashford Hospital. These things are never easy and even worse when you’re 120 years old.

People and things can be so cruel at times for no reason. I’m sure they will sort themselves out but it can be depressing. As I walked outside waiting for PW and her cataract operation, I received a phone call to tell me that my hernia operation was cancelled. It was to be on Wednesday, May 11th and would now be …. Monday, May 9th. Panic stations! It turns out that PW’s blood pressure was far too high and her operation was postponed. I just hope I come through my first general anaesthetic since 1958.

Wednesday, 20th April, 2022

Up early on a gorgeous morning. We have a garden design man arriving at 8.00 am. He is going to quote for installing raised beds around two sides of the lawn in the back garden. It will be constructed with planed ‘sleepers’, lined and filled with aggregate for drainage and then topsoil. I’m hoping they will do it for around £5,000.00 but we’ll see.

Before our visitor arrived, I wanted to try out my latest toy – a rechargeable, cordless leaf blower for sweeping away lawn mowings without the effort of sweeping. It only arrived yesterday and I charged it up over night so nipped outside and tried it out as soon as I got up until Pauline shouted at me because it was not quite 7.00 am and she thought the neighbours might have been disturbed. I thought I might have been doing them a favour – save on alarm clocks. Certainly, it was advertised as ‘whisper quiet’ which it definitely is not as I found at 6.55 am in the back garden.

Been feeling unbelievably sad for a couple of days and I don’t know why. Life is so good. I want for nothing and yet I want for everything. Still doing my 10 miles a day and will do until my operation which is now just under 3 weeks away on Monday, May 9th. Got to keep pushing myself!

Thursday, 21st April, 2022

What a delightful day! Hot and sunny throughout. We reached 23C/73F in our back garden. Went out for an early walk and felt lucky to have the time to do so. Had to hurry back for a dentist appointment – my first for a year. My dentist is an absolutely beautiful Iranian woman with the most wonderful complexion. Just reminds us how old we are. Nothing has changed in my mouth. As part of her routine, she asked me how much alcohol I drank each week. I told her I wasn’t going to tell her. We agreed on a ‘fudge’.

Walked down to the beach at Rustington on the most gorgeous morning. Not too many people around and that made it even more delightful.

Back for Lunch in the garden sunshine. I met a couple who had used a garden designer and asked them for his contact. Received it this afternoon. His website has lots of interesting designs we could consider.

Once again, I have been absolutely humbled by the response of the NHS. My operation has been brought forward to Monday, May 9th. I have now had four separate apologies for ‘inconveniencing’ me. I don’t feel the slightest bit inconvenienced.

I have three other processes contingent on the operation – a Covid test, a Blood test and a halt to warfarin with the advice of the Anti-Coagulation Department. This has involved numerous phone calls to totally overworked staff. Each one has gone out of their way to apologise for the demands the process is making on me and to make the appropriate dates available for my tests. I feel incredibly embarrassed to be causing such a workload and humbled by their efforts on my behalf.

Friday, 22nd April, 2022

There are certain points in the year that prick our memories with tinges of pain. This coming weekend is one such. It is Greek Easter – Pashca (Πάσχα).

It is the time of red painted eggs, huge loaves of bread, white body-bags containing whole lamb carcasses, endless religious ceremonies, constant Easter bombardment on television, fireworks on the midnight beach, charcoal spit fires with whole, skewered carcasses of lambs slowly turning and roasting.

The other common facet of Orthodox Easter is the turbulent weather and it is forecast for this year as well.

Greek Easter is the equivalent of UK Christmas. We hope for snow and they hope for hot sun. It was one of those times that expat residents like us really felt our ‘outsiderness’. We knew that, for all the 40 years of involvement in the country and the island, we would always be outsiders.

Saturday, 23rd April, 2022

We are so lucky to live in such a lovely place. Couldn’t help thinking that as we walked down to the village in warm sunshine this morning.

Yes, I would love to be in Athens or Florida but this will do for the moment. We have lived in quite a few homes in lots of nice places but this is as good as any of them.

We were reflecting on past homes as we walked. Particularly, Slade House which we found in 1984. It was more than double the price of the house we were selling but it offered everything I wanted. It was private and set in just under an acre of land. It was more than big enough for us and had potential for development. The problem was …. how to afford it. We have always pushed ourselves to the limit in the belief that short term pain would mean long term gain. It has never let us down but we almost lost Slade House because we were …. £1,000.00 short. Seems unbelievable now but that was 38 years ago.

How did we secure the house that we stayed in for the next 16 years? Pauline’s Mum, who never had any money, had squirreled away £1000.00 in a Building Society savings account over the years and she just gave it to us. It represented everything she had but, to us, it made the difference between getting our dream house and not.

In the next month, our EE mobile contracts come up for renewal and, as ever, they bribe us to stay with ‘free’ brand new mobiles. I love Samsung Android phones and I will replace our two contracts and phones for two more, 18 month contracts and two Samsung Galaxy Ultra smartphones. To put that £1000.00 loan in to perspective across time, each of the smartphones would cost us £1,400.00 to buy on the open market.

Sunday, 10th April, 2022

Gorgeous weather with a bit of sadness built in. It is the build up to Easter. Not that it means anything at all to me apart from a date in the calendar. This was the time we would set off for Greece. In the 1990s/2000s, we would get a Friday night flight to Athens, possibly stay in the Electra Hotel and then catch a Saturday morning ferry to Sifnos arriving around mid-afternoon. A decade ago after we had retired, we arrived on this day to find the work we had ordered complete.

We were already considering putting the house on the market as the Greek economy began to crumble and were doing everything we could to make it as saleable as possible. Before we left in October 2011, we employed a Romanian builder to build a wall all the way up the front of our land. In retrospect, it cost very little – about €3,000.00 and it looked lovely. As we approached it on our return in April 2012, we were really pleased with what he had done.

These are nice thoughts tinged with sadness because I really miss bits of my past painfully. I am soft like that and can’t help it. I don’t even apologise for it ultimately. The house had to go but I miss it. The times have to go but I miss them. People from my past have to go but I mourn their departure. We were talking about Mothers this morning on our walk. Pauline’s Mum died 12 years ago. It feels as if we can still touch that time and yet we have done so much in it.

I have to touch base with the people from my past. It is very important to me. Exactly 4 years ago today, we were staying in a hotel in Kensington and spent a couple of hours with Elerania Miliotie and her family. Her husband is a dentist. Her daughter is at University in Denmark. Elerania was our close friend and our Notary (Συμβολαιογράφος) for the sale of our house. She helped us repatriate our cash back into UK. It was important that we meet again.

Closer to home but in just the same way, it has been important to meet up with Kevin, Christine, Julie, Nigel and John from the late 1960s/early 1970s. It has meant a huge amount to me and I think it has to them. I had shunned them for decades and I was wrong. Life’s experiences, I’ve learnt to my cost, are too important to ignore.

Monday, 11th April, 2022

Another lovely day. Out in the back garden were the obvious signs of freedom of movement. During the hardest times of Lockdown, the skies were completely clear. This morning the sky was hectic in plane trails highlighting the exodus from both Heathrow and Gatwick jetting out across the Channel.

We don’t often hear them because they are so high by the time they reach us down at the coast but the trails tell their own story. Of course, the pandemic is not over. Down here, infection rates are still high. Only this morning, Julie contacted me from North Yorkshire to tell me she tested positive for Covid over the weekend. She has been prescribed antibiotics for a severe chest infection.

Find it hard to believe that we’ve been in this house for 6 years this week. We left the North of England 11 years ago this month and retired from teaching for 13 years last week. Everything screams that, if you have an ambition, you should never put it off because the time is flying away. I refuse to give up on my ambitions!

We were in this car most evenings during our month in Florida and managed to survive. We were lucky. As M&K drove to an ice hockey game (Why?) over the weekend, they had a tyre blow-out and eventually had it towed away. At least they got a lift in the tow-truck.

After my colonoscopy and a month in Florida, I came home to my biennial bowel cancer screening test. We did it, sent it off and the result came back within a week. Both completely clear. Phew! I have written to my Nuffield consultant to request I go on his biennial colonoscopy register. Better safe than sorry.

Tuesday, 12th April, 2022

Very (relatively) warm morning. Not Floridian but very nice! Talking about Florida, when you’ve been away for a month, there is so much to catch up on.

When we got home, we found that the Spring gales had loosened and removed some concrete coving/pointing down the gable of the NW end of the house. We are already 1 year out of the 5-year warranty but our housebuilder immediately engaged a company to come and do a repair at their cost. We had a cherry-picker parked outside the garage to get up, clean out and repoint. It only took about an hour but it was one of the less usual events of the day.

Not only has British Gas repaid us £150.00 which we had over paid for the previous year but they have cut our annual charges by £820.00. When you set this against the current angst for so many people about the strains of heating and eating, you realise how fortunate we are. You also realise that the more time you spend in Florida sunshine, the less heating you need elsewhere. Just saying!

Finally got round to ordering Pauline a new laptop. Don’t like spending money on her but I made an exception because I’ll use it while we’re travelling. Fantastic price includes an pickup & return repair service. About 30 years ago, I bought my first laptop – a Toshiba – for £3,000.00. It was incredibly chunky and heavy. This has a 17″ screen and is slim and light and beautiful …. just like me. She’s a very lucky woman.

Received our Covid Project Test results today. Pleased to say we are both virus free and both still have ’High Level’ blood antibodies … and we got £50.00 for the privilege.

Wednesday, 13th April, 2022

An absolutely glorious day. It got sunnier and hotter as it went on and we reached 18C/65F. I went out for a walk of a couple of hours first thing while Pauline waited to receive a large, fresh fish delivery – Salmon, Tuna, Hake, Tilapia, Crab and King Prawns – and the delivery of her new laptop.

This brought me a few hours of work unpacking, assembling and installing software. These days, a lot of software downloads automatically from the cloud – saved files, Ms Office, etc. I had to include Macromedia Dreamweaver and Fireworks, Adobe Acrobat Writer and the all important Ms Money financial package.

After 2 hrs walking and a couple of hours on the laptop, I also cut and edged all the lawns and then went out for another hour’s walk before our meal. I am genuinely tired now and looking forward to watching the final episode of the final series of Killing Eve. This has seemed the least satisfying of the series.

It was nice to see Daniel pop up on Instagram signing for his Florida University – Saint Leo’s. Good to see M has taught him how to write his name and spell it correctly. Soon, she will teach him how to shave!

Thursday, 14th April, 2022

A wonderful, warm and sunny day that started with a visit by an engineer to repair our treadmill. It needed a new computer board and power controller fitting but it took him a couple of hours to work that one out. Fortunately, it turned out that we are covered for this for 3 years. We have half of that remaining which is wonderful news. A repair that would have cost £500.00 was ‘free’.

After the engineer left, we went out for a couple of hours walk and then ate a snack, salad lunch outside in the sunshine. Sitting out there, we have finally come to the conclusion – after 6 years – that we must do something ‘officially’ with the garden. We are going to edge the lawn/fences with raised beds in which we will plant herbs and salad plants.

Our home-office has two, laser printers – a mono and a colour – but we are increasingly frustrated by not being able to print directly from our smart phones and iPads.

I have decided to rectify that by replacing our mono laser with a wi-fi one which we can download to from everything. Can you believe the price? Almost giveaway but the catch is you are tied in to the manufacturers toner supplies for ever.

Friday, 15th April, 2022

For the mid point of April, this was a lovely day. We reached 22C/70F by 11.00 am and stayed there until late afternoon. The whole region from coast and Marina to fields of the Sussex Downs was looking beautiful.

We went out shopping early. Both Tesco and Sainsburys shelves were shockingly bare. It felt as if we were in a third world country. This is Brexit just as much as the ridiculous scheme to export asylum seekers to the sunny heights of Liberalism in …. Rwanda!

Our long walk in the sunshine was delightful and we followed it with another trip to the garden centre to buy plants for the patio. Cheese and wine outside in the garden and …. relax!

Saturday, 16th April, 2022

Another wonderful day of sunshine. We have hovered around 22C/70F all day. Those who went to Spain this week have had a fairly average experience weather-wise. I went out to Lidl to buy Almond Milk and found their shelves really well stocked compared with the main supermarkets. I wonder why they can do it?

This is the sort of weather that brings out the tourists to the South Coast. The marina thrives in these conditions.

We had quite a low key day potting up plants on the patio, walking in the sunshine, lunching outside, lazing in the sunshine.

In contrast, Mr Perpetual Motion – aka captain John Ridley was launching his sailing season on the Ullswater lake this morning. Actually, I have the wanderlust. This morning, I was within a click away from booking a short break in Venice staying on the Grand Canal.

It is more than 30 years since we were there and it is time to return. Unfortunately, sense overtook impulsion and I decided to get my operation over before we embark on a whirlwind of travel. Pity!

Sunday, 3rd April, 2022

Another glorious start to the day. Sunday, a day of rest? No chance. Going to make it a very active one. At last, we’re up at normal time – 7.00 am. The underlying feeling of jetlag is gone and we can push ahead. Breakfast and then out for a couple of hour’s walking in the sunshine. We even did the woodland path this morning. It is a delightful retreat from the world.

When we got back, I had heard from Dr John Ridley. I had rebuked him for using my 1971 hairstyle to illustrate a talk he had been giving in North Yorkshire. Of course, I am used to being a figure of fun so my rebuke was very gentle and tongue-in-cheek. I am so enjoying reaching out my hand across the past half century to people in my past. It has generated real meaning for me.

One thing that has changed over that time is the greetings we exchange. It is not unusual for Julie to end her text with kisses. It is what girls do but Kevin, (KEVIN!!) does the same and I reciprocate! We would never have even considered it 50 years ago. Few men would. John Ridley is a gentle man as well as a gentleman. He ends his emails – With love to you. I am shocked to find how much that means to me.

While John’s story about me features my refusal to get my hair cut which is set against the short haircut I now sport, he has just published his latest picture which features more hair than he ever had as a young man. Unfortunately, it is not on the top of his head but under his chin. Still, we can’t all be beautiful, can we?

Going out to the hospital for my pre-op Assessment tomorrow morning. We think it should mean that I will have the repair done within the next 6 weeks. In some ways, it will be good to have it fixed but it is not without dangers including, down here, catching Covid. I sometimes wonder if it is worth it.

Monday, 4th April, 2022

Couldn’t sleep. Head full of thoughts and memories. Got up at 5.30 am. Thought I’d go out for an early walk before it rained. The moment I put the key in the door, it started to rain. I decided to prepare my documents for my Hospital assessment and wait for a break. At 6.30 am, I went out for my walk. It was dry but quite cold and breezy. I did a 6 mile round trip but, less than half way through, it started to rain and drive it into my face. I just gritted my teeth and continued.

By the time I’d got back, I was being instructed to shower and make myself presentable for the hospital appointment. I was driven there down the coast road in dull, wet, cold air.

At the hospital, I arrived in tee-shirt and shorts and everyone wanted to know why I was so brown. I told them that I just didn’t wash much. I had to spend about an hour with two, different nurses. I even had an ECG. Everything seemed to be alright and I was told that it would be about 6 weeks before my procedure and another 6 weeks before I could fly.

The only awkward moment was when I was asked how much I drink. I spoke honestly that we shared a bottle of wine with our meal most days and that I drank ⅔rds of that. She said that was close to being referred to the alcohol nurse. I asked her how much she drank. She said they had a similar amount. I asked if I should refer her to the alcohol nurse and she seemed less enthusiastic.

We are going to have to fit a few days wine buying trip to France in before the operation. We also have to have our treadmill repaired urgently if it’s going too rain much. In the gym, I’m watching a really good film on Amazon Prime. Others of my generation – and you know who you are – will immediately remember the true story of the British businessman/ spy, Greville Wynne who was caught up in the 1960s escapade in Russia while Khrushchev was in charge.

This is a 2021 film starring Benedict Cumberbatch whose mother, Wanda Ventham was one of my early erotic fantasies in The Lotus Eaters. In Greek mythology, ‘lotus-eater’ denotes a person who spends their time indulging in pleasure and luxury rather than dealing with practical concerns. It was broadcast in 1972-73 (a difficult year for me) and set on the Greek island of Crete. Spies, Greece and eroticism …. What’s not to like?

Before that, we have been visited by a Covid Survey Inspector who tests our infection with a PCR and our antibodies with a phial of blood. This was followed by an afternoon walk so dissimilar from the morning one that it was incredible. Dry, really warm and no wind. Really enjoyable.

Tuesday, 5th April, 2022

Out walking at 7.00 am on a lovely, sunny morning. Quite (relatively) warm. Have to leave home to drive to Surrey at 8.15 am. The M25 was remarkably good and we got there in about an hour. As we drove, the skies got darker and the temperature colder. For some reason, I am absolutely starving today. We had presents from Florida to deliver – popcorn for Colin/squeaky toys for the dog, etc..

We had to drive PW to Ashford Hospital near Windsor for a pre-assessment in advance of a cataract operation. Well that’s what she says. We have been speculating that it’s actually a face lift. Pauline went in to the hospital with her very old sister and I was left to walk. It turns out that PW’s blood pressure is far too high.

I walked solidly and unstopping for 90 mins by which time I was tired and even more STARVING!!! About 40 mins back to West Byfleet with the old lady and then an hour or so back to West Sussex. Quite enjoyed the drive and the car certainly did. We will repeat the performance in two weeks if PW can get her blood pressure down.

I have to do a little more exercise to complete my routine. Tomorrow I will be 71 and WILL have achieved my pledge of walking 10 miles every single day for a year. There have been a few difficult moments in that time but, largely, it has been enjoyable. I set out saying I wanted to live another 30 years and was going to walk myself to health. I am beginning to wonder if it’s worth it. Do I really want to live another 29 years?

Wednesday, 6th April, 2022

Went out early to walk this morning. It was cold, windy and wet. Did about 90 mins. Possibly not the way people generally celebrate their birthday but who wants to celebrate being 71? Just another day on the conveyor belt to oblivion.

It is genuinely lovely to receive so many good wishes from people even though some are very perfunctory and others obviously heartfelt. Family, friends, ex-colleagues and ex-pupils all reminded me how old I am. After walking my 10 miles, my legs reminded me too. Still, I’ve completed my pledge this afternoon in beautiful, warm sunshine.

I will keep going now until my hernia operation. The NHS has been absolutely fantastic. I had a pre-assessment on Monday. Within a couple of hours of that meeting, the Anti-Coagulation Department phoned me with advice. This afternoon, I was phoned by Monday’s nurse to see if I had a date yet and to advise me about Anti-Coagulation processes. All that work put in to one patient makes me feel very humble.

Nice of M to send me this from Florida this afternoon. Obviously, she’s the only one who knows my true spirit.

Mind you, I don’t remember wearing that outfit ….. and that colour really wouldn’t suit me.

Thursday, 7th April, 2022

The start of my 72nd year – bright, sunny and mild. Google picks up on so many things I do on-line and helps me to buy them. It can be quite eerily intrusive at times. I do like receiving my travel map each month and this time, at least, it shows I haven’t been so insular.

One new country, 16 new cities and 66 new places. I suppose that those on the conveyor belt to oblivion should make the most of the short time they have left. John Ridley begins his 74th year this morning. He’s spent time in South Korea. I have never been that brave although I did apply for a job with the British Council in Lima, Peru once. It was 1973/74 and I chickened out when they offered me the job.

Google knows exactly where I’ve been because my smartphone is attached to my arm permanently. Every shop we visited; every restaurant we ate in, every juice bar or supermarket we bought from Google registered. This is, in part, because I use their wi-fi but also because I use Google-Pay on my phone instead of a credit card. Yesterday, we even paid a cheque in on-line for the first time.

When we flew to New York, it even picked up places we flew over as we were in the air. Thank goodness I don’t use Google’s version of Alexa much because that is even more frightening!

You can tell the Summer has started here because we’ve made our first trip to the Garden Centre. It was busy and packed out with new plants. We just bought a couple of these – Euonymus japonicus ‘Marieke’. We have some already and they are wonderfully, bright and cheerful, evergreen (well, ever-gold) plants that stand out in the darker days of winter. They grow to about a metre high and spread to a metre wide. They are incredibly hardy and resistant to drought. Even so, it was hard to believe that two, small plants cost £25.00. In my day, that would buy a house!

All that’s left now is to do a walk and some exercise in the Gym. Assorted fish platter for Dinner tonight. Looking forward to that. Just have to cling on to the small, pinpricks of light.

Friday, 8th April, 2022

I always swore that I would never obsess about health and medical appointments – so aging! Unfortunately, today I will break that rule. One of my sisters told me yesterday that my (maternal) Great Grandmother (who I never met) died of bowel cancer as did my Grandma and my Mother. That is quite a strong lineage indicator. As a result, my sister has a colonoscopy every 5 years. If I’d known that (or even thought about it), I’d have done the same. Anyway, I am being put on a rolling, 2-yr colonoscopy plan so that will be fun!

Now, I have the date for my Hernia repair. It will be on the 11th May. I was phoned yesterday by a lovely lady called Liz who offered me an afternoon operation on the 9th. I asked if there was a morning slot so I wouldn’t need to stay in over night and she found one two days later. I have to be there at 7.30 in the morning which is ideal for me.

I have to stop taking Warfarin 5 days before and go in for a blood test and a Covid test two days before and then self-isolate. The operation will not be keyhole but a large incision to insert mesh support before closing up the tear in the wall. I will have a general anaesthetic for the first time since I was 7 years old. All I know about that was my Father telling me that I came out of anaesthetic kicking and punching which sounds rather like me. I just hope I don’t do the same thing aged 71!

Saturday, 9th April, 2022

Up and out early on a beautiful morning. Quick visit to Next for Pauline to return mail order and then on to Sainsburys for my latest obsession – Protein Bars. I got this from my month in Florida where M bought them for her son. These bars are a great way to refuel quickly but in a completely measurable, controlled way. I supposed I have been doing that with bananas but these offer so much more variety.

One of these bars delivers between 140 – 200 calories instantly. At least you know what you are doing by eating them. After a 10 mile walk, they are great.

After that, we drove down to the beach for a walk. Lovely view, wonderful fresh air with warm sunshine but very few people. Businesses were setting up in expectation of the Easter rush. Actually, Covid infection is still quite high down here so may dampen the traders’ hopes.

Talked to Kevin yesterday. He is in Alicante again and looks as if he is having warm if not very sunny weather. I know that, like me, me is a sun worshipper. It transforms the landscape and makes everything seem happier. He’d certainly like it down here.

Pauline needs a new laptop. Her’s is about 5 years old and they get slower and slower over that time. I usually buy Hewlett Packard because of the continuing on-line maintenance that they provide so comprehensively. Laptops are so cheap now that we should replace it more often.

Sunday, 27th March, 2022

UK is back to 5 hours ahead. This Blog is being written at 3.00 pm (FT)/8.00 pm (GMT). We have completed over 3 hrs of exercise – gym/walk/swim – had a lunch of salad and salmon dip and are now resting before Dinner out. I apologise but I was so tired last night that I couldn’t manage any more. 

In the early evening, we drove to Sarasota Opera House for a Gala performance to celebrate the 40 year career of their Director, Victor DeRenzi. Champagne, wine and canapés to start.

The Opera House itself is quite delightful and relaxed although plenty of patrons dressed up in evening suits and bow ties for the event. We were smart-casual and comfortable with that.

Kevin had sent me a clip of an Elton John impersonator from a pub in Spain. I was hoping to reciprocate. Only after I had taken this photo did I see the instruction above the stage to turn our phones off.

The highlight for me was an audience performance of Verdi’s Va Pensiero to finish guided by the Italian libretti on a scrolling screen above the stage. I can’t help singing, thinking of sad experiences and crying at this point. I warned the man next to me who said he was the same which made me feel liberated. I sang my heart out and wept.

The Opera House looked lovely as we left to go to the restaurant M had booked. It was a Spanish restaurant called Columbia in Armands Circle by the beach. It had a fantastic menu which majored on fish.

I had the Pompano en Papillot which was delicious and we shared a bottle of Sauvignon Blanc. Back home, I won Wordle getting EPOXY in 3 goes.

So we weren’t in bed until 1.00 am (FT)/6.00am (GMT) and were up at 6.00 am (FT)/11.00am (GMT) for the gym again. After coffee we go on an extended walk around the neighbourhood. In this delightful weather, the expensively built gated properties look delightful and exotic under blue sky and strong sunshine. We leave on Wednesday evening and land in Gatwick early on Thursday morning. It has been a good trip packed with worthwhile experiences. M&K have been very generous and made it really enjoyable.

Monday, 28th March, 2022

Happy 68th Birthday to Jane. Not sure whether she’s in London or Yorkshire but I send her best wishes from sunny Florida where thoughts of packing have started. We fly on Wednesday evening and land on Thursday morning.

I will turn the heating on to air the house before we get on the plane and the hot water on as soon as we reach the airport. We ‘walked round’ the outside of the house last night through the magic of CCTV (I’m so glad I thought of installing that.) across the internet.

Everything looks good. I even looked into the conservatory-kitchen by turning the lights on and off with my smartphone. I love it. Just as it is great to be able to put a letter together for Jane, turn it into an illustrated pdf and email it from my smartphone across the globe. No red phone boxes on the corner and pressing Button B now!

Kevin contacted me this morning as we walked to the post office. He had dropped his phone in the bath and was testing it out. He wants to know the funniest thing we did together at College. I am struggling to remember. Any ideas?

I have an old friend called Caroline who lives in Grotton, Oldham. She has no digital skills. Like so many of the wrinkly generation, she is rather scared of computers. She and I have exchanged postcards from all round the world for the past 35 years. I had a card but no stamp or postbox. We walked for 30mins to a post office and back in the sunshine. It was absolutely delightful.

When we got back onto the IMG campus, a worker had a baby racoon cornered outside the club house. He was trying to catch it in his cap and he asked for my help. The little, baby racoon was very frightened and was hissing at us and trying to fight back. I just had time to take a photo.

Tuesday, 29th March, 2022

Our penultimate day in Florida on this trip and it is turning into a scorcher. Alarm went off at 6.00 am and I was still tired from the night before. We went out to a waterside fish restaurant for Dinner. We ate outside. For the first time in a month, I got a mosquito bite. The sunset was beautiful across the ocean.

We had already done a supermarket shop at Publix supermarket to replace things we had consumed. I found the perfect box of chocolates for our hosts although the raw salt on the outside was a bit strong.

Kevin sent me this this morning and suggested I would ‘smash it’ in the gym. I’ve invited Julie – in the absence of other offers – to join me in the challenge.

Whatever she's on, keep it the hell away from me! 😱 pic.twitter.com/k254dNjj9m

— PilgrimChris (@PilgrimChris) March 28, 2022

I suspect that, at the age of 71 (almost) and with a hernia repair in the offing, Boogie Bounce would be a bit of a stretch but I’m willing to give it a go!

It is 29C/85F at 4.00pm (FT)/4.00pm (GMT). We are going out to eat AGAIN this evening. Nice as it is, I will be glad to eat a home-cooked meal that is ingredient and calorie controlled in the next few days. Glad to get back under control without temptations.

Wednesday, 30th March, 2022

Glorious morning for our last one in Florida this trip. I’ve done 2 hrs in the gym and it is now 9.00 am (FT)/2.00 pm (GMT). Our flight this afternoon has been altered slightly and we now fly from Tampa Airport at 18.50 (FT) arriving at London Gatwick on Thursday at 8.00 am (GMT). When we land, we will try to carry on as if it is a normal day, following UK times.

M&K have been incredibly generous and they saved the best until last yesterday. We ate out at the delightful Shore Restaurant at a table with a real view.

We will have a walk in the glorious sunshine for about an hour, return to shower, change and complete the packing before M&K drive us to Tampa Airport for our flight. See you on the other side.

Actually, a lovely little friend popped up on the path by my foot to say goodbye. It would have been rude not to have taken her picture.

Thursday, 31st March, 2022

Wednesday evening in Tampa and Thursday morning in Gatwick. Tampa Airport is quite basic and parochial. We dropped our bags and went through security quickly. Few people and well organised. We went to the one Business Lounge – The Admiral Club – but it isn’t up to much. We certainly wouldn’t have paid the fees people pay if they use it privately.

The British Airways terminal is plastic and brash and very limited in its facilities. It wasn’t very comfortable.

The newspaper headlines generated by the government were all about masks being dropped on flights but BA made it clear they would remain compulsory in the airport and on the plane. Very easy flight. Business Class makes it very comfortable. The ability to sleep on a bed really makes the difference. The biggest problem is constant eating and drinking with no exercise.

Within 5 minutes of landing and as I stood around the Baggage Reclaim area, a Whatsapp message came in on my phone from Kevin wanting to know how I was. I appreciate that. Soon after that, Dr John Ridley texted to welcome me home and give me a link to a university talk he was giving which, he says, includes a reference to me. It will have to wait until tomorrow.

Back in the UK by 9.00 am (GMT)/4.00 am (FT), our taxi was waiting for us and we were home for 10.00 am. The car had been stationary for a month but started immediately and the brakes hadn’t seized as we drove off to Sainsburys where we were absolutely shocked by the empty shelves. After the abundance of America, our supermarket looked positively 3rd world. Very few fresh vegetables and very light on milk.

Back home, tiredness was beginning to set in but I tricked my wife into accompanying me on a 10 mile walk out in the sunshine. It is now 7.00 pm (GMT) / 2.00 pm (FT) and I am really tired but I am determined to make this a normal, UK-time day just as I was determined to complete my fitness target. It is mind over matter in the end. My mind is strong even if my body is failing.

Friday, 1st April, 2022

Happy new month. Up late this morning. By 8.30 am, the day was absolutely gorgeous with blue sky and strong sunshine. Still feeling quite tired. Having my hair cut and doing my exercise will probably be the sum of my activities today.

Been absolutely lovely to hear from so many friends acknowledging our return to UK. Kevin sent me a cartoon this morning. For many years I used P&O ferries from Hull – Zeebrugge en route to Greece. Kevin told me it was snowing in North Yorkshire yesterday and is freezing there this morning. It may be beautiful down here but still relatively cold. I was delighted to check my fig trees this morning and they are leafing up well.

I received ‘welcome home’ greetings from Julie and an introduction to an 18 certificate publication that she seems enamoured with at the moment. Freezing in Bridlington this morning apparently – a beautiful coastline but so often too cold for me. I definitely feel more suited to Florida sunshine and warmth.

John Ridley really took prize billing last night when he sent me a link to his talk which he performs all round the country on a regular basis. I’d known about this for quite some time but he chose last night to let me know that I was featured in it including a bonkers college photo. He sent me the link by text and I’ve added it to the graphic which advertises his talk. If you click the photo with sound on, you will be able to open the talk. Don’t get too excited, it is just a gentle homily of everyday folk but it would mean something to a Riponite.

The link is also here but it is a bit ‘clunky’ so you need to give it a bit of time to load. I’m sure John would be pleased if you did. I did cringe a bit when I listened to a talk that included my 1971 hairstyle and the story of a wig but I am not really too embarrassed. 

The one thing out of the mountain of mail that was waiting on our doormat when we got home and which gave me some concern was this.

I have no idea what any of it means or how serious it is but it sounds imminently life threatening. I am going to seek a meeting with my GP to discuss it. She will spell it out in words of one syllable to a biologically illiterate idiot like me.

Saturday, 2nd April, 2022

Beautiful morning bright, sunny but cold. No real frost which had been forecast. My exercise routine is being hampered by a problem with my treadmill. There was a power-cut while we were away and it looks as if a surge afterwards may have damaged the computer board inside it. The electrics are dead completely. Looks like I’m going to be pounding the pavements for a few days until I can get it fixed.

And that’s what I’ve been doing this morning. It’s pleasant but cold. I am still struggling with the tiredness of travel and the adjustment of time. Forced myself to stick to normal routines and local timings but feel vaguely zombie-like under the surface. Can’t help comparing UK with America and feeling we are so far behind the times of development and luxury, of technology and choice, of general wealth and life chances. It was quite a revelation.

Back in UK scenery, there is a lot to enjoy when it warms up. Trees are starting to open. The grass is growing wildly. Photinia hedges are popular down here and grow really well. Along our walk they are everywhere. Still, I can’t stop thinking about the next escape – France or Greece. I feel there is little to keep me here.

Having a pre-op assessment on Monday and looking at booking flights/hotel to Athens in June with, maybe, France in April/May. Strange feeling not being wanted / not belonging. All will depend on the operation dates.

Addendum: While media warn people of steeply rising power prices, British Gas quietly returned to our Bank Account £150.00 which we had in credit with them. It is really helpful to travel and to manage our heating, hot water and lighting remotely.

Sunday, 20th March, 2022

Up at 6.00 am and out at the gym by 7.00 am. We are going to have a quiet, ‘home’ day so I needed to put in 3hrs work. By 10.00am, I was given freshly squeezed orange juice and yoghurt with a banana for my breakfast. Shower and Blogging. At 12.3opm (FT)/4.30pm (GMT), I’m going to watch Tottenham v West Ham on Sky Sports on my laptop. Apparently, M is cooking chicken for Dinner tonight. It will be nice to eat at home rather than a restaurant for a change.

At the risk of boring you, I thought I’d put on a couple of photos from yesterday. Firstly, M&K’s Winter Home or as we are now calling it, J&P’s Summer Home. It has 3 kitchens for goodness sake and a cinema room to die for. They are having a pool and jacuzzi put in and there are acres of beautiful countryside to walk in.

America could never get the idea of Brexit. The entire country is made up of generations of immigrants. The Irish are so populous and so celebrated because they were central and instrumental in building industrialised USA but there is an area called Venice, LA and another called Naples, L because the architects had spent early stages of their lives in those places. There are lots of Poles and Russians here who will remember St. Petersburgh, Russia as Leningrad but nobody seems to hold that against them. They are assimilated US citizens.

Thought I’d share with you a joke that is swirling round social media. Even in the USA, where petrol is half the price of UK, there is indignation at the rising cost of filling a car.

In the UK, there is genuine pain for some people managing their daily commute, driving to their holiday home or whatever.

Monday, 21st March, 2022

Another lovely morning begins at 6.00 am (FT) and, in time for a 7.00 am start, we are walking a couple of hundred metres to the gym through immaculately maintained fern and palm fringed gardens. As we walk, four, huge eyes stare at us from a tree, They belong to two, baby racoons about 5ft up in the crook of a tree and they spot us walking and try to reach out, to make a connection. It is incredibly touching. I am so wrapped up in the moment that I forget to get my camera ready to record it.

Warm at 7.00 am (FT) – 22C/70F, it gets really warm as the sun comes up. We did just an hour in the gym this morning and then another hour walking in the area.

It is just before 6.00 pm now and the temperature is still 30C/86F. This is the sort of climate I absolutely love. We’ve been up for 12 hrs, done 11 miles walking and are going out to eat at a restaurant on the quayside.

Dave Weatherly, an old College friend, sent an early morning photo of his walk around the nature reserve in Bolton. Heavy frost comes as quite a shock from this distance.

Even more of a shock is news from Athens. In earlier years, we might well have been driving through the Patras – Athens – Piraeus area this time in March as we arrived at our house in time for Greek Easter.

Certainly wouldn’t have been pleased to see this. In fact, in all those years travelling there, we have never seen it at this time of year. I suspect that Florida has never seen a frost never mind snow!

Tuesday, 22nd March, 2022

This is how a wonderful day starts. We are forecast to reach 30C/86F today but outside the gym at 7.00 am the temperature was already 22C/70F and humid.

After 2hrs work the walk back revealed this little chap. He was going the wrong way and we reset his journey towards the water. By the time we returned to check, baby turtle had disappeared. Love babies. Always been denied them. Is it an old man thing? Must be in my dotage!

I am cooking tonight. My signature dish – Risotto. I’m going to do at least two, maybe three: Mushroom Risotto, Broadbean Risotto, Prawn Risotto. It will be accompanied by fillets of fish – salmon, sea bass, grouper, etc. and salad. Looking forward to the challenge. Actually, prefer this to eating out. The challenge of beating the professionals is half the fun.

Out to Publix supermarket for quite a big shop of fish, wine and salads. The thing I like about this, apart from sourcing different products, is meeting people. Every counter I come to, I get chatting to people and, by the time I’ve gone, I have a large proportion of their life history. This afternoon, I met Chuck, a retired builder aged 68 who has 3 kids and is divorced. He used to live in Minnesota but retired to Florida for the climate. I met a really lovely girl called Maria at the check-out just packing bags. Aged 25, she was pretty, intelligent and interested in other people. She said this was her only job but it can’t have been enough for her.

We bought far more than we needed because everything looked so nice and interesting. This jar of minced, fresh garlic in olive oil is fantastic. I’m taking some home and I’m going to source it from UK if I can. The total bill came to $280.00/£211.00 which is quite high for the last couple of meals we will cook here. We only have 8 days left until we fly but you only live once.

Wednesday, 23rd March, 2022

The meal went well last night and we enjoyed cooking. I have been developing a head cold for a few days since returning from New York and it seems to have reached a peak today. I am a typical man – rarely ill but really ill when I am. I have still done my early start and full exercise routine completing 11.6 miles plus a swim but I will be unbearable for the rest of the day. Things are stomping all over the inside of my head and I have to wait for them to resolve themselves. I am going to stay at home and Blog and write to people.

It is Pauline’s sister and her husband’s 65th Wedding Anniversary. Can you imagine that? Of course, they are both very, very old and wrinkly but still breathing. I had to make a card for them last night.

Apparently, 65 years of marriage should be celebrated with blue sapphires. We are working on the principle that they are so gaga that they won’t know that.

Dan’s current girlfriend is a trainee lawyer from Boston. They are flying up there for the weekend – as students do! My boyhood friend, Jonathan, has lived in Boston for 40 years. Last night Pauline phoned her relative, Andrew, who is a chemical engineer with a doctorate and who I last saw in my classroom in the early 1970s. He has lived in Boston for 30 years. Next trip will have to include a flight to Boston to meet up with these people.

Little Andrew Jones was a shy, polite and delightful little lad to teach. His parents have lived in Littlemore, Oldham for more than 60 years. Andrew now looks exactly like his dad. Really scary how that happens. Still, it will be good to meet up with more people from my past.

Thursday, 24th March, 2022

Heavy rain over night. Out at 7.00 am on a very humid and steamy morning. After 90 ins in the gym, an hour out walking and 30 mins in the pool and I feel I have done my commitment for the day. Out on the walk, there was a dead and mangled armadillo which had obviously been caught crossing the road. I’ve still never seen a live one.

This afternoon we did my least favourite activity – shopping. We went to a huge outlet shopping ‘mall’. I get tired walking round one shop never mind 51! It looked a bit like a 15th century, cloistered monastery but it was encompassing so many well know outlets.

To keep me on side and interested, we visited a huge Trainer warehouse of a Skechers shop which you needed to be fit just to walk around.

I bought a new pair of trainers for $100.00 which works out slightly cheaper than back home plus 6 pairs of trainer socks.

We were joined by Dan and his girlfriend. We ended the afternoon/evening by eating Dinner at a delightful Italian restaurant where I had prawns and scallops – absolutely delicious! They are flying down to Boston for the weekend and we are flying back to UK on …. Wednesday night and arrive back on Thursday morning. It will mean a whole month gone. It’s amazing how quickly it has flown by.

Good to see the Chancellor’s Economic Statement falling apart within 24 hrs and to watch Johnson an uncomfortable and isolated figure at the NATO conference. For the first time since I was student, a British Prime Minister was not needed or invited to take centre stage amongst the elite of Europe. His despicable analogy of Brexit with the invasion of Ukraine has left him isolated and humiliated. There will be more to come as the economy tanks and inflation rips the heart out of the British nation.

Friday, 25th March, 2022

Lovely morning of warmth, sun and exercise. For some strange reason, things and friends in England have been playing on my mind. Walking round my head. I have no idea why. I am just a sad individual. The children have flown to Boston for the weekend. Pauline is roasting salmon for Dinner for the adults.

We are going to Sarasota Opera House tomorrow evening for the Jubilee Concert to pay tribute to Maestro DeRenzi’s 40^th Season as Artistic Director. Tickets for the performance and the Prime table at dinner will only cost $10,000.00 but …. we decided not to purchase them. We decided to go for the more modest $50.00 tickets in front of the orchestra.

Kevin and I have been chatting today. He sent me some obscure Kevin-joke-Fact as an intro to conversation. I shouldn’t complain. He is obviously keen to rekindle and bolster an old relationship and he is trying his best.

I really want to reaffirm old relationships because I think they are important and contribute to giving our lives meaning across time. For that reason, I’ve continued to talk to Kevin, Nigel, Julie, John and Brian to share my life events with them. I have already agreed that we will meet up once more in October if not before.

Before then, we fly home on Wednesday/Thursday next week after a lovely month here. M&K have gone out of their way to entertain us. We are extremely grateful to the young people. In the next few weeks, I’m hoping to have a hernia operation, make a couple of trips to France, spend a week in Athens and, maybe, even return to Florida. It is strange but I feel much more comfortable in these ventures when I have a secure base of friends back home.

For a traveller, my sense of place and geography is terrible. If you open this map, the blue spot marks Tampa area where we are set in the Gulf of Mexico and so close to Cuba and the Bahamas. It really is idyllic.

Saturday, 26th March, 2022

Lovely warm and sunny morning. Just got back from a long walk. I am a naturally friendly person. I can’t control my inclination to communicate. Some people shun me but most welcome the contact. I speak to people in shops, in the street, even service people I speak to on the phone. I am interested in them and their lives. My wife says I can find out more about a total stranger’s life in a few minutes than most people divulge about themselves over decades. It’s all about showing an interest.

This morning, a man with a walking stick passed us going the opposite way. Eventually, we turned round from our walk and headed back and we passed the man and walking stick returning from his walk. His style was a little laboured and his stick was used for support. As we recrossed, I said with throwaway cheeriness, “Glad to see you made it to your turn round point.” That was all the invitation he needed to talk for the next 20 mins. He was 85 years old and said we were ‘just kids’. His origins were in Northern Ireland. He taught Biology for 40 years and was married to an Italian nurse.

We will almost certainly never meet that man again but the time we talked was enjoyable and instructive. These moments of human interaction are what illuminate a life.

Sunday, 13th March, 2022

Bit of a shock this morning. We were out at the old 6.00 am (FT) now 7.00 am (FT) because the clocks had gone forward two weeks before the UK. It was a bit chilly as we walked to the gym. Two hours later, I returned for coffee and the Sunday Times on my iPad. I sat with my leg up with an ice pack for a chunk of the day watching a couple of Premier League matches – Chelsea v Newcastle and Arsenal v Leicester. I enjoyed it.

We are going out for yet another meal and then, when we get home, I will ‘check-in’ on the JetBlue app for our flight to New York tomorrow. We leave from Sarasota airport in the evening and get to JFK International at 9.00 pm.

I’ve got a list of places I want to visit from Times Square where we are staying. I am not a tourist and refuse to do all the must-see sights. I want to soak up the atmosphere and understand the people and their culture. I want to visit Little Italy and China Town along with Central Station, Ground Zero, etc.

We ate out again tonight at a dockside restaurant called Pier22. We ate pleasant fish and vegetables although it got quite chilly as the evening went on. Leaving for the airport mid-afternoon tomorrow. M&K have kindly offered to drive us there. We probably won’t get into our hotel in Times Square until 10.00 pm (FT)/4.00 am (GMT).

Monday, 14th March, 2022

This is going to be quite moving day. Well, we are flying to New York from Sarasota am (FT), out to the gym for 2hrs work. Back for coffee and then a 30 mins swim. Packing for colder weather in NY. Doing on-line Check-in; making sure our smartphones have pdfs of our Boarding Passes and asking M to print a hard copy for backup. Making sure everything is charged up and that we have all the required chargers packed.

We only have one check-in bag for the time we are there and carry-on luggage. M&K will drop us at the Main Terminal. Looking forward to exploring it.

These are all firsts which, at the age of 70, is quite nice. It will be our first flight on a JetBlue plane.

Amazing to think this internal flight is 3hrs or longer than to Italy or Spain from London. We are told there is little ceremony and internal flights are so commonplace here that they are treated like bus journeys.

Tuesday, 15th March, 2022

Yesterday was one of the more bizarre travelling days we’ve had for a while. M&K dropped us at the airport just after 3.00 pm as we requested. We were supposed to be flying at 6.00 pm on a 3hr flight to New York. Almost immediately, we found that there would be a delay of just under an hour. Not a problem. We were in a new and interesting airport. However, as 6.00 pm stretched to 8.00 pm, it was becoming a bit tedious.

We boarded at 8.00 pm but were told that we couldn’t use the ’bathroom’ because they were waiting for a spare part to fix it. It would be about 30 mins. That 30 mins sitting on the plane stretched to an hour and then 2 hrs before we took off around 10.00 pm just 4 hrs late. We landed in JFK at around 20 mins after midnight around 9 hrs after we started.

Our bag came off quickly and we set off to find a yellow cab. We were allocated one, gave the driver the name and address of our hotel in Times Square and asked for a price. It was exactly what we had researched at $52.00 + $3.00 taxes. The driver was a Greek Cypriot with family in Brighton, West Sussex. He said he’d been driving in the New York for many years and we settled back to enjoy our introduction to the city.

Things took a slightly weird turn as Andreas started telling us about his two wives and how he had recently hired two prostitutes who had robbed him of his money. He seemed to be struggling to find our well known hotel. Anyway, we did eventually get there and Andreas proudly announced it was only 1.00 am. He was a bit shocked when I pointed out that it was actually 2.00 am. He had forgotten that clocks went forward on Sunday.

We paid him $70.00 and checked in to our Hotel. The Suite with a terrace is pleasant but not huge and the lights from the buildings around are like Blackpool on steroids!

Anyway, this morning is a beautiful day. The weather is warm and sunny so we’ve probably brought a lot of unnecessary clothes. We have been down to get a ’Grab & Go’ breakfast and there is a ’free’ (We like that!”) acclimatisation, 2hr walking tour that the hotel offers and we are going with that this morning. Sending our love to all our readers from the Big Apple. Let you know later how it goes.

I’m not really a fan of these organised ’walks’ but it was extremely useful and a quick orientation to the place and its history.

We – 8 of us including 3 American women, a Glaswegian couple and our tour guide – walked around Times Square, learning about how the block road/property system made getting around easy and quite a bit of the history of its development. We moved on to the Rockfeller Plaza and the United Nations principles of its founder which became wrapped up in Capitalism and Communism as competing ideologies.

Everything about this area makes it difficult to photograph. I went dizzy just trying. You can see the need to build upwards rather than outwards because of the premium on footprint but the multi million dollar apartments on the 26th floors of some of the buildings would give me nightmares. Just think of the danger of fires!

We broke the rules of the past decade and ate PIZZA today. After all that walking and fresh car fumes, we were starving. We found a little Italian sandwich shop which made huge, fresh pizzas with about 20 different toppings just as we’d buy in Italy as we travelled through. We bought 3 slices and shared them for Lunch and they were delicious but sinful and filling.

It has been a lovely day after only about 4 hours sleep. Our first day in New York will never be forgotten like so many wonderful experiences of our lives. A wise person once said that you never forget two things – your first love and your first day in New York City. Well our introduction to this city will linger long in my memory even over the delights of Mary with the long, blonde hair.

Wednesday, 16th March, 2022

A long, hot and tiring day but very rewarding. Against all my usual instincts, we’ve done the tourist thing.

1. Breakfast in the Art Deco Diner of our 1930s Edison Hotel which was lit and opened by Thomas Edison of light bulb invention fame. Our hotel, which was extensively used in Sex in the City, has proved a good choice

2. Visit Grand Central Station which is still a fantastic structure although the pandemic has rather hollowed out many of the more interesting traders especially the food ones.

3. On to the Empire State Building which was closed to visitors until afternoon. I didn’t want to go up there anyway.

4. We walked around Macy’s but, like so many other Department Stores, it looked a bit seedy and fraying at the edges. We weren’t there long.

Clothes Shopping kills me more than any other activity in the world. We returned to our hotel for coffee and to watch a download of Prime Minister’s Questions. Refreshed by a dose of politics, we went out to walk down to the Hudson River in the most beautiful and warm Spring sunshine. 

Although I have done almost my entire fitness commitment for the day, I’ve spent a short while in the gym to top it up and wind down. Kevin has been communicating with me about watching Huddersfield Town v Milwall and bemoaning finally losing just as we were going out to eat at a lovely Italian restaurant we had found during our walks.

I’m really enjoying talking to and being involved in the lives of old friends. I’m not sure why but it has a sort of pleasing circularity for me as I renew old relationships. Julie contacted me this morning to ask how our trip was doing and to share a new print she was working on. She is redesigning her conservatory with light and a large table to do her art work on. I like to know this sort of detail about people. It really helps me to understand them and most feel quite happy to share it.

Thursday, 17th March, 2022

Glad we filled the past two days with so much because today has been wet. I had no idea that we had booked St Patrick Day’s celebration week but Manhattan has gone mad. There are Americans dressed as their Irish ancestors everywhere. The bars, restaurants and hotels are overflowing with ’green people’.

After an hour in the gym, we went out to 5th Avenue t0 watch the procession. Actually, the city police have kept everyone at quite a distance. I had to take photographs over the heads of the drunken crowds.

New York television has been making much of the fact that human connections have been severely disrupted by the pandemic. People have craved human connection and the Irish, in particular, have been desperate to reconnect. I know what they mean. I have been hugely lifted by reconnection with my past and with members of my friends and family who I have been distant from for so long. I hope they are reading this. I would like to think Jane is reading this and understands.

As I sit here in my hotel suite in Times Square, New York, writing my Blog and feeling strangely sad, I have just been contacted by an Oldham lad who was born in the year I started teaching. He is 50 this year and addresses me as ‘Sir’. Mind you, I insist my wife does as well. The internet is the most wonderful thing. We should never be afraid of it but embrace and exploit its ability to bring us together. Looking forward to a trip back to the North of England to meet up with friends and relatives just as much as I can’t wait to revisit France and Greece this summer.

Too late, we found that friends of ours from over 40years ago were staying a couple of streets away having arrived in New York last night and Pauline was trying to contact her relative who we both taught many years ago and who has lived in Boston for years. Actually, we are resolved to revisit my boyhood friend in Boston, Massachusetts and her relative next time we are here.

Friday, 18th March, 2022

Up early on a day that is sunny and bright. New Yorkers are celebrating the prediction that they will beat 70F/22C today. How unlucky were the Irish yesterday? These buildings, waking to a bright sun today, were shrouded in fine rain and mist yesterday. We are flying back to sunny Florida and a temperature of 30C/86F this morning. I’ve been in the hotel gym for a couple of hours between 6.00 – 8.00 am and had breakfast while Pauline packed. Instead of a mad, Greek taxi driver, we will be taken to the airport by the hotel shuttle which will cost half the price and take less than half the time.

Actually, the shuttle driver turned out to be a mad ’hippy’ who thought he was a comedian. His driving certainly suited him to it. Anyway, we were at JFK airport, Terminal 5 (internal flights) by 12.oo pm with 2hrs before our flight ….. except, once again, it wasn’t. As we dropped off our bags and went ’airside’, my JetBlue app messaged me with a 50 mins delay. We decided to have a drink at one of the many outlets in this one of 8 different vast terminals. As we sat down, my app informed me of a second delay of an hour +and we now know that we will be more than 3 hrs late.

We decided to have a meal and, just as in France, this most ordinary and commercial of outlets produced the most lovely meal. We shared a mixed-leaf salad with olives and feta cheese followed by pan-fried salmon with grilled vegetables. It was lovely. I am still there, with a cup of coffee and my iPad, writing up my Blog.

You couldn’t invent the next bit. Delay built on delay. Excuse built on excuse. We were told that the crew couldn’t be found, Air Traffic Control had forbidden take-off, a rocket had fallen on Sarasota Airport. Eventually, 2.00 pm became 7.30 pm and we took off. We landed in Sarasota by 10.30 pm. We waited a further hour for our baggage and long suffering M&K met us at the airport. By 11.30 pm, we were drinking red wine with cheese. Just right for bedtime.

Saturday, 19th March, 2022

We weren’t in bed until 2.00 am and the alarm went off at 5.55 am. Out to the gym at 6.55 am. Because of the hour forward, it was still dark and moonlit and very warm – 22C/70F. As we flew back from JFK to Sarasota last night, I vainly tried to photograph the full moon through the window.

As I walked to the gym this morning that same moon was shining down through the palm trees and over the pool. The sky was dark but cloudless.

I did a couple of hours in the gym and felt really tired after it. It’s not surprising, I suppose, after a hard week and little sleep. Even so, we have quite a busy day ahead. We are going to see the new house that M&K are buying, followed by a trip to see Dan’s University which he will attend after the Summer. Finally, we will go out to eat.

Kevin, who is heavily into Fine Art, sent me this over Whatsapp yesterday. He’s a happy, little chap. Certainly, flying between Florida – New York and back highlighted the mask use in America. Florida is very relaxed with fairly low observance whereas New York is the opposite probably because of the density of population. All airports and public transport demanded complete compliance on the pain of being stopped from travelling at all.

M&K drove us out to see their new, Winter home that they have just bought. It is in lovely, open countryside and has extensive grounds as well as a huge number of huge rooms. They are going to be very happy there and have very kindly extended an open invitation to us. I have a feeling they may regret that!

Dan and his American girlfriend, Babs, drove us over to St Leo’s University where he will be for the next 4 years studying Tennis & Business. It is the most incredible quality life compared with the sort of thing we experienced in the late 1960s/ early 1970s. He is very lucky to be born now and have the opportunity.

We drove on this evening to St Petersburgh and ate a lovely Italian meal and then walked in 80F/27C down the St Petersburgh Pier where all sorts of music was being played. It was a lovely end to a busy, tiring but lovely day. We have been up for 18hrs after just 4 hrs sleep but we are retired and have no time to waste. I hope you agree.

Sunday, 6th March, 2022

Oh, think twice
It’s another day for you and me in paradise
Oh, just think twice
‘Cause it’s another day for you
You and me in paradise

And it really is another day in paradise here which is starting before 7.00 am with a short walk to the gym.

The sun is just coming up. Exotic birds call from the trees and the lovely, gentle warmth of 22C/70F eases the aching muscles. After a couple of hours in the gym, I walk back to the house and collect Pauline for a swim. We only do half an hour but we have the pool entirely to ourselves and enjoying the sunshine which has now built up to 82F/28C by 9.30 am.

Back home for a shower, a glass of almond milk and a large cup of coffee as I start my new week of the Blog and communicate with friends across social media.

This morning, shocking news came in of the terribly early death of Andy Remic who, as a young man, came to teach English in my school. He was very interesting and likeable. Of Yugoslavian origin, Andrey Remic wrote Science Fiction and even made a few films. He died of cancer at the ridiculously young age of 50. It should be a lesson to all of us to not put off things we want to do but go for everything because we never know when the axe will fall.

The axe will fall for me this afternoon when I accompany two, young women to the shopping ‘Mall’ to look at/buy clothes. It will test my patience to the limit but I will try to look as if I’m with them and interested. Before that, we have walked to the Pharmacy to buy mouthwash which cost $7.50/£5.70 in US but would have cost £4.50 in UK. The price of paradise!

The trip to The Mall wasn’t quite as bad as I thought. It cost me a pair of new flip-flops which felt like being let off lightly. We visited the famous Macy’s store but were not over-impressed. We ended the day at a Greek restaurant drinking Mythos beer and Retsina wine with Mezedes which was wonderful. The temperature was still hovering around 31C/88F as we left the restaurant which felt very Greek in itself.

Monday, 7th March, 2022

In the gym at 7.00 am and then out walking shortly after 10.00 am. It was already hot. We are living in a property on the IMG Tennis Academy where Dan is studying. It really has all the facilities one could want on site including a gym and pool for us.

I do a couple of hours in the gym and then we share half an hour in the pool to cool off. We always have it completely to ourselves.

Walking out of the complex brings us immediately face to face with the naked capitalism that is America. Building goes on everywhere in this vast country and property is constantly for sale.

We might even have considered looking for one of these lovely apartments if we could afford it but M&K have already generously offered us the chance to use their new property whenever we would like to even when they are in England so we’ll keep our cash in the bank.

For the first time since we arrived, we are not eating out. Pauline is doing the catering and we had to go shopping to the fish market and the supermarket. We bought Tuna Steaks, peppers and asparagus for the adults and chicken for the kids. She will griddle on the barbecue outside which will be interesting.

The barbecued Tuna Steaks and Chicken went well. The evening has filtered out into family discussion and the time now is 23.40 (FT)/4.40 (GMT). The temperature outside is still 74F/24C – a balmy end to a very hot day. Tomorrow, we’ll do it all again.

Tuesday, 8th March, 2022

Paradise opened at 5.30 am and the walk from our house to the gym at 7.00 am, as always was magical.

.

The smells of the flowers and trees in the humid air and the sounds of exotic birds combine to create a magical atmosphere. Two hours in that steamy atmosphere is enough at one go. I walk back for coffee and then we do another hour walking in the neighbourhood and the strong sunshine. We quickly burn in this strong sunshine and return for half an hour in the pool.

In the afternoon, we went down to the local beach with its gorgeous, fine, soft white sand and shallow, gently lapping warm water. We walked for an hour. Although I am getting fitter, 4 hours of walking was taking its toll on my legs as we set off for a nearby dockside fish restaurant.

I had crab which I love with a glass of Pinot Grigio. Eating outside in the balmy air is delightful. We drove home to have coffee, watch BBC News and compete at the new craze, Wordle. This is a game made for people like me and hosted by the New York Times. I won the first two games that I played but only came third tonight so I won’t be able to sleep thinking about it.

Wednesday, 9th March, 2022

Well, we are just completing our first week in Paradise – first of many to come in the future, we hope. We have just over 3 weeks left on this trip and we intend to make the most of it. Someone asked me yesterday if I was enjoying my holiday and I told them I never considered myself as ‘on holiday’ but just ‘living somewhere else’. I really do try to continue my life but through the lens of a different culture. I still exercise, try to follow my diet, write, Blog, correspond just as ever.

In the past couple of days, Kevin and I have exchanged banter on Whatsapp; John Ridley and Julie have shared their days with me by email; I have sent a restaurant postcard to Caroline in Saddleworth and my Blog has been maintained for anyone interested. There must be one!

I won’t bore you with the early up/exercise/walk/swim routine although, of course, I just have. However, I thought I would mention the hot topic of fuel prices as a result of post-pandemic demands + Russian sanctions. Americans are alarmed at having to pay $4.21/£3.20 per gallon. Here, car is king! The huge amounts of space and distance between places and facilities means that everyone from 16 years old up drives everywhere.

How they would feel to know our fuel is almost double the price, goodness knows but they definitely have to drive further than us for everything.

The day has ended beautifully. Pauline has cooked chicken wings with barbecue sauce and the most wonderful giant prawns with green salad. We are eating in one of the two Lounge/Dining rooms. I am drinking local, red wine and feeling mellow! What more could one want? I’m sure you know what I mean! Well, I could win the daily Wordle contest but that will come later.

Thursday, 10th March, 2022

We’ve been here a week already. We have exactly 3 weeks left this time. I won’t bore you with the routine but we were joined on our walk to the gym by a white Florida Egret this morning. Quiet and statuesque, beautiful in the urban surroundings. Not a pheasant, admittedly, but lovely in its own way.

We are going out for a 16k walk and then Pauline & M will probably go clothes shopping and I will stay at home researching things to do in New York where we fly on Monday. Looking forward to seeing JFK International.

Actually, we did 16k on the long, wide straight sidewalks. The weather is more cloudy this morning but still 80F/27C and very humid.

The roads are edged with lots of fascinating, exotic trees and plants and I spotted this unusual weeping bottle brush tree (Callistemon Citrinus) which originates in Greece. I was tired and wet by the time we got back from our walk. Went for a swim. This afternoon, we are going in to the Sports Academy to watch Daniel play tennis and then on to the supermarket for food.

This is bizarre but clocks go forward in Florida 2 weeks before they do in UK. This weekend we lose an hour here and not until the 27th of March does this happen in UK. So, for a couple of weeks, we will only be 4 hrs behind UK.

Friday, 11th March, 2022

We visited the IMG Tennis Academy training facilities yesterday afternoon. We even went in to one of the vast, covered areas of courts where Dan was working with his coach.

It was suggested that we walk to a local Italian restaurant for Dinner but the heavens opened with thunder and lightning and torrential rain which temporarily turned the road outside into a river.

We drove instead to an All-American-Diner with more televisions around the walls than I’ve ever seen in one room. It was busy, noisy and brash – not my favourite location but a great experience none the less.

This morning, of course, we do it all over again. Awake at 5.30 am (FT))/10.30 am (GMT) and down to the gym just before 7.00 am (FT). The house is kept deceptively cool Night & Day by air con. so, stepping out even at that time in the morning, just as the sun is coming up and the temperature is already 22C/70F, is something of a shock. The natural humidity is added to by the overnight sprinkler systems leaving pools of water on the roadside. Walking back from the gym at 9.00 am, the temperature has reached 27C/81F and it is going to be a lovely day.

After 2 hours in the gym, we are going out for an hour’s walk in the sunshine followed by a swim in the pool. Pauline is cooking American-style sweet & sour spare-ribs. There are 6 of us and we bought enough to feed 12 at least. She is marinading them throughout the day and will then slow roast until the meat just falls off the bones. We would never normally eat like this so it will be another challenge.

Saturday, 12th March, 2022

Really strange but exciting day which started off normally in the gym at 6.55 am (FT)/11.55 am (GMT). I have been doing so much pounding of treadmills and pavements that I have produced a massive blister on the pad of one of my feet. It is agony but I am trying to work through the pain because I have my 10 miles a day commitment to meet whatever. I am currently moving on a foot which is plastered and padded but the electric shock of putting my weight on it is difficult.

So, this morning I just had to steel myself and do around 3 hours in the gym to get it all done in one go because I knew I wouldn’t feel like it later. At around 9.30 am, the clouds outside darkened, lighting flashed across them followed by bangs of rolling thunder and the downpour had to be seen to be believed. It reminded us of Greece.

I gave it half an hour until the lightning had stopped and I’d completed my 10 miles and then waded through the temporarily flooded pavements back to the house. In the gym I watch BBC World News which is fascinating, but I am also able to access my Netflix account where I am watching Suranne Jones in Doctor Foster. Once again, it is not something I would normally watch but, in the gym and in a foreign country, it has proved quite absorbing. It is about marital infidelity and the conflict resolution involved.

Back at the house, I am watching two sports at the same time. Pauline is catching up with Doctor Foster on the laptop while I am watching 6 Nations Rugby – England v Ireland on my iPad and simultaneously discussing it with Kevin in North Yorkshire on Whatsapp as well as keeping in touch with the Man.United score against Spurs while Pauline is commiserating with her friend, Christine, on Whatsapp, because she has caught Covid-19. By 2.00 pm (FT), the skies are clear blue and the sun is beating down. The world is back to normal.

This evening we walked to a lovely, little warm and cosy, unassuming Italian restaurant. Luigi’s Il Farinaio Grille is owned and run, apparently, by a mercurial Italian New Yorker whose mood is difficult to predict from one visit to another. We chose Chicken Milanese with salad and it was enjoyable although, we are struggling to eat out so much. We are far more used to controlled, home cooking.

Sunday, 27th February, 2022

Up at 4.00 am. Couldn’t sleep. Too hot! It’s insane. There’s nothing worse than lying awake with thoughts coursing across one’s mind, telling oneself to empty one’s head and get back to sleep and to dismiss the desire to get up. Why am I too hot? We only have a 1-tog quilt on the bed.

That was one of the thoughts I couldn’t get out of my head. What is a ‘tog’? Where did it come from? Why was it called a Continental Quilt? When did they first become popular? I remember those heavy blankets on the bed of my childhood and first buying a quilt when I left College in 1972. What am I doing at 4.00 am, drinking tea and researching duvet togs. 

The term duvet comes from the French for feather ‘down’ and was first used by Dr Samuel Johnson in 1760 although duvets originated in rural Europe and were filled with the down feathers of ducks or geese. The insulation rating, tog, derived from Togs – the slang word for clothes and probably originated from Toga. We have duvets of varying tog ratings from 12 through 7, 5, 3 and 1. This house is a 1-tog requirement because of its insulation. Even then, it can be too hot. With that sorted out, maybe I can go back to sleep now.

We are going to spend the month of March here in Bradenton, Florida. I’ve at last got round to researching the place. This is their Welcome brochure for tourists. Certainly looks an interesting place. The weather forecast for our first week there says it will be sunny and 28 – 30C. Should be better than UK.

Pauline bought two Lottery tickets yesterday. Both of the won – one for £5.00 and the other another Luck Dip ticket. Think I might retire!

On our walk this morning, we came across an old man staring at a missing piece of fence on the perimeter of his garden. I asked if the recent wind had done it and he said that it had been deteriorating for a few years. He had installed it himself more than 30 years ago. I asked him how old he was. He was clearly pleased to be speaking and to be asked about. He asked me what I thought. I said he was 83. I’ve know idea why. He looked astonished. I worried I had insulted him as he invited me to guess again so I deliberately went down to 73. That clearly pleased him as he told me he was actually 93. He was obviously lonely and told me he hadn’t seen his children for a while. This is what will happen to us all … our fences will fall down!

Monday, 28th February, 2022

Every bone in my body aches this morning. I’m not sure why but at least, sometimes, lovely things happen. This morning was one such time. We are going to America tomorrow. This morning I booked our New York trip. We will be there for 5 days although only 3 will be full, tourist ones. Flying Jetblue from Sarasota Airport to JFK New York and then staying in the Edison Hotel, Times Square for 4 nights.

New York hotels are incredibly stingy with space. The rooms are places we would store luggage in or use as Dressing Rooms. We have decided that this will be a one-off and pushed the boat out. We’ve booked a Suite which is positively luxurious for this city. It is 400 sq. ft. in space.

We have 4 days in the heart of the action for around £1,200.00. The return flights with Jet Blue cost £675.00 so the 5 days will cost us around £2,000.00. You only live once.

I went out on my walk with real optimism in my heart. Aching bones are nothing when other things lift you. The taxi will arrive tomorrow afternoon to take us to a hotel at Gatwick Airport and then we will fly on Wednesday morning for around 10 hours. We will arrive in Florida at 4.00 pm (21.00 GMT). Looking forward to Florida heat!

Tuesday, 1st March, 2022

Happy new month and officially welcome the Spring. Actually, we and the wildlife around us have been welcoming it for weeks. We’ve had such a long run of lovely days with clear blue skies and strong sunshine. Ironically, this morning is dark and wet.

I hesitate to report this because I know it will just convince you of my madness but I don’t care. In line with my personality, I never, ever, ever give in. I had 4.5 hours sleep last night. Up at 3.30 am and into the gym. Did 2.5 hours workout – 2 hrs on the treadmill and 30 mins on the bike – while finishing my Politico-Scandi thriller – the last episode of 25. Like so many of these things, the longer the writers went on the more flabby their ideas became but the parallels with the current Russian invasion of Ukraine mirroring the Russians invasion of Norway to take control of the oil fields.

Back in the kitchen by 6.00 am just as Pauline is woken by the BBC R4 Today programme. A large glass of freshly squeezed orange juice finishing the last 3 oranges, a cup of tea and tick off the jobs still to be done. The automatic lights need to be set up. There are 7 of them around the house which will have an initial schedule setting but which I will change remotely as the clocks go forward. All the chargers and electrical paraphernalia needed for a month including iPads, Kindle, Laptop, phones, watches, shaver, toothbrushes needed to be wrapped and packed.

Left over food which can’t be frozen had to be thrown out along with the lovely ‘free’ flowers that have been performing so long.

https://www.youtube.com/embed/Eo2ZsAOlvEM?feature=oembedI’ve gone to look for America …

I’m empty and aching and I don’t know why
Counting the cars on the New Jersey Turnpike
They’ve all come to look for America

Taxi picks us up at Lunchtime for the hour’s drive to the Sofitel Gatwick Airport and then the required Covid Test at the airport walk-in. We can drop bags off the night before and then have a relaxed evening because every bone in my body aches even more after this start to the day.

The Covid test was successfully negative. All the required documents were accepted by BA. We checked in on-line and downloaded our boarding passes. I’ve checked out the hotel gym in readiness for tomorrow morning. It looks good.

Wednesday, 2nd March, 2022

Up at 3.30 am and down to the hotel gym. Listened to radio news on my phone while doing 2 hrs 30 mins exercise.

Back to find Pauline was already up and about. Breakfast, check out of hotel and off to bag drop, through passport control with multiple apps to present on my phone and then the sanctuary of the BA Business Lounge – No.1 for a glass of orange juice before boarding. No sooner than we had found and sat down in our seats but a glass of champagne was thrust into our hands and we were off.

Pillows, blankets, TVs with multiple films and other facilities were provided for our 10 hour flight along with this menu for Lunch.

I couldn’t face watching films but I did read The Times on my iPad. We were constantly plied with drinks and really enjoyed the space and comfort Business Class gave us.

I drank large quantities of Rioja with my meal and promptly fell asleep. I couldn’t face watching films although there were about 50 to choose from. I woke up to find an ‘Afternoon Tea’ of smoked salmon sandwiches followed by scones and clotted cream being served. I found it increasingly difficult to cope with all this food.

The last couple of hours of the flight seemed to go on for ever but we finally landed in brilliant sunshine and 27C of warmth at Tampa Airport where M&K were there to meet us. Shortly after settling us in to their home, we were whisked off to a Marina-side restaurant. I must admit to struggling to eat but managed a seafood salad and shared a bottle of white wine.

It is now 22.30 Florida time which is 3.30 am UK time – exactly 24 hrs since I started the day in the gym. I am quite tired but not excessively so. However, it is time for a shower and bed.

Thursday, 3rd March, 2022

It is 3.30 am (Florida Time – FT) / 8.30 am (UK Time – GMT) and we are just settling an insurance claim and drinking Yorkshire tea. Mad? Yes of course but it is not my fault this time. Pauline has just received a call on her mobile from our insurance company telling us they were paying our claim of £200.00 for a pair of my glasses that smashed in the gale a couple of weeks ago. Could they have our bank details to pay it in. Not easy to supply at this time in the morning so we settled for a cheque. The girl on the phone asked us to give her love to New York. Strange world but fascinating.

Kevin & I communicated on Whatsapp. Kevin Sellers contacted me on Messenger. Even received a text message from P in Surrey. What’s she doing up so early. She doesn’t usually get up until Lunchtime. Everyone suddenly feels so far away.

M, on the other hand, has gone out of her way to make us feel welcome and prepare for our stay right down to an alcoholic health freak like me. She has even enrolled us in the Development’s Gym and pool.

Although we are going to the beach this afternoon, we are going to try out the gym and, maybe, the pool this morning. Just getting our bearings today. The TV in our bedroom has a local channel which gives detailed advice on how to cope with the weather. This snap feature Thursday’s weather. Actually, all the local displays made it 87F at midday.

Did 90 mins in the gym followed by an hour’s walk round the neighbourhood and then 30 mins in the pool and jacuzzi. We walk back at around 12.45 pm (FT) wondering why we were so hungry until we realised that our body clocks still thought it was nearly 6.00 pm. (GMT).

It is 2.00 pm (FT), 7.00 pm (GMT) and we are going out for a walk on the beach with our hosts followed by eating at beachside, fish restaurant for Dinner. I could get used to this life … and may have to!

Friday, 4th March, 2022

It was lovely to be in warm sunshine yesterday. It was 28F/82C and a very comfortable temperature without being too humid. Today is going to be 86F/30C rising to 88F/31C over the weekend. Could be worse!

I walked a record 16.3 miles in the gym, in the local community and on the beach where we went to drink wine, eat fish and watch the sun set on a lovely day. This sand is a fine, white dust and sets off the beautiful blue of the sky reflected in the sea which is shallow for a long way out.

We are staying with M&K who are currently living in the IMG Tennis Academy. I’ve been conferred with temporary residency so I can use the facilities like the pool and the gym. It all feels very nice and welcoming.

I am already into a routine of getting up early and going to the gym, doing a couple of hours then back for orange juice & coffee before going for a walk around the local area which is full of fascinating people and places but also plants and birds. I saw a bright red parakeet-type bird this morning as I walked to the gym and little, grey terrapins run everywhere in the warmth.

The highlight of the day will be a trip to two, major supermarkets. You can learn so much about a people and their culture by their products and the way they shop. Apparently, Americans are not big on imported goods but prefer to stock locally sourced products. What they lose in variety, they gain in freshness.

We visited the two, big supermarket chains – Publix and Walmart. I have to say there was nothing particularly different other than size. Prices were similar but choice was rather more restricted.

Later, we drove out to the seashore for Dinner in the heat of the evening. I had salmon and it was delicious.

Saturday, 5th March, 2022

Up at 5.30 am on another lovely morning and in the gym I did 2.5 hrs of exercise followed by half an hour in the pool with the sun on my back. Today is really warm and has stayed around 30C/86F which is delightful.

In the middle of the day, as the sun was at its hottest, we went down to the docks and out for a couple of hours on a rented boat. It was a lovely, comfortable family experience.

The boat cost almost $500.00/£380.00 for the trip but it was enjoyable to share with M&K, Pauline + Bumface & Babs. We took a cool-box of beers, cocktails, crisps & nuts and explored the area seaside.

It was a delightful experience as we watched the pelicans dive for fish and the dolphins surf the boats’ wake, the multi-millionaire, waterside mansions and the ultra-rich’s boats. Actually, I hanker for neither which is fortunate because I won’t attain them either. My dreams are much cheaper than that!

Tonight we will return to the same area for Dinner in another seafood restaurant. Salad and fried Grouper was our meal and delicious.

Sunday, 20th February, 2022

An interesting day of three, distinct parts. Out early for a 90 mins walk of just over 6 miles. The weather was fairly overcast and breezy but warm. 

Off to drive up to Surrey to visit P&C and M who had nipped back from Florida for a week. She was suffering with a bad cold. You know how the young are so vulnerable! We talked about our trip out to see her in less than a couple of weeks. She was very generous and we are looking forward to seeing her there very soon. She advised us to consider the much more local Sarasota Airport for our trip to New York. 

We didn’t even know there was one but, apparently, it is only 15 mins drive from where we will be staying so it will be much more convenient. I am already looking at potential bookings.

The drive between our house in Sussex and their house in Surrey is about 1hr 15 mins. It is a lovely, clear and quiet drive apart from the M25 which was very quiet today. Back home by mid-afternoon, I had 90 mins to do in the gym while I watched some football but then swiftly moved on to my current obsession which is a Scandi-Political Intrigue called Occupied.

The plot could not be more on trend. In the near future, Norway is occupied by Russia with the tacit consent of the European Union because the newly-elected environmentally-friendly Norwegian government has stopped the all important oil- and gas-production in the North Sea. The story features the struggles between Norway and the EU/USA axis in dealing with a bullying, invading force of the Russian State. The EU states are more interested in securing their power supply than dealing with Russian aggression. The USA are more interested in maintaining Global Political stability than helping a minnow like Norway.

We will see how that plays out in Ukraine but it is fascinating to find Boris Johnson living up to the old political maxim of ‘not failing to make the most of a political crisis’. He certainly sees his ‘Churchill’ moment even though he is a minnow on the world stage.

Monday, 21st February, 2022

A bit blustery this morning but lovely. A huge list of jobs to get through. First we had to go out shopping and so we called in on the beach as we did. It was beautiful.

John Ridley in North Yorkshire, Derek France in West Yorkshire, friends in Greater Manchester all posting pictures and accounts of rising, overflowing, flooding rivers. One of my ex-pupils in Oldham writing of wading through water in her kitchen. Certainly feels lucky to be down here.

Just been contacted on Messenger by a lad – well, a 47 year old ex-pupil who is Director of Swimming at a private school in Nairobi, Kenya. He did a Degree in Leeds and an MSc in Leicester.

I must admit, I wouldn’t have predicted it but it looks like he’s made a good life for himself which is always gratifying.

More jobs completed today towards our trip included updating the medical insurance and buying a mountain of Dollars from … Tesco of all places. Milly-Molly, on the other hand, has been thinking of our welfare and mine, in particular. She’s suggested we all go to the Sarasota Opera House where they will be performing Bizet’s The Pearl Fishers and Puccini’s Tosca. I absolutely love Puccini!

Tuesday, 22nd February, 2022

Beautiful day again. lovely sunshine. Gardeners are out in our development cutting all the grass. Birds have gone mad on the mating signs. Out for an early walk as a prelude to completing travel jobs. I have to make sure that we have paper and digital (pdf) copies of 4 documents:

• Proof of full vaccination
• Proof of Covid Negative Test – 24 hr prior to flying
• Successful ESTA application
• Attestation Form

It can’t be completed until we have had the Covid Antigen Test on Tuesday, March 1st. We have booked our taxi to the Sofitel Gatwick and our subsequent test at the Express Test in Gatwick Airport North Terminal which is 5 minutes walk away. Under an hour and £35.00 each should produce a paper and digital copy of a negative Covid test. Goodness knows what we will do if one of us proves otherwise.

I have been sorting out contact sheets for our neighbours with mobile numbers, Florida address and burglar alarm details. Of course, something always comes up on these occasions. Today, I received an appointment form the hospital for my hernia repair on … March 10th. I have now got to phone and beg for a delay after begging for an urgent appointment.

I didn’t have to beg. They were wonderful and have given me an appointment just over two weeks later and 4 days after returning form Florida. How lucky am I?

Johnson is being lambasted in all quarters of Twitter. The Twitterati all know his game. Deflect failings and crimes by pretending to be a player on the world stage. It worked for Thatcher with The Falklands.

Wednesday, 23rd February, 2022

It is the most lovely, Spring day – warm and sunny. Early trip to Sainsburys. Getting tricky to control what is required for our last 5 days here. At least we got our customary, ‘free’ bunch of flowers. They had been on sale for £10.00.

There is a feeling of optimism in the air. Even the sky over the park sent us a kiss. Everything centres on travel plans at the moment. Still done an early, 7 mile walk. Felt great! Only 4 miles to complete this afternoon. The groundsmen on our Development were cutting the grass and it smelt and looked wonderful. Walking in just tee-shirt this morning it is so warm and nice.

Back home, all that the talk is about clothes and packing, baggage allowances and luggage labels. These are things I don’t get involved in if I can help it. Questions like how many tee-shirts and pairs of shorts to pack I leave to underlings. As long as I’ve done the essential documentation then I feel my work is done. I just have to get the cases out and carry them to the Dressing Room and wait for my next instruction.

We are only going for a month so we won’t need to much. M&K have a Laundry so clothes will be recycled. We do have the added complication of two, diametrically opposed climates in Florida and New York but it is not beyond simple logistics to cater for that.

The British Airways Business Class Luggage allowance is just incredible. We didn’t take this much to Greece for 6 months at a time. It’s hard to imagine a taxi that could accommodate them on the drive to the airport.

This allowance is per person. I don’t think I’ve ever owned enough clothes to fill the possible maximum weight. I’m told that things like Sketchers‘ trainers are much cheaper in the States and we should take an empty suitcase to carry back our purchases. That is one justification at least.

Thursday, 24th February, 2022

Another beautiful Spring day. I’m not finding it so easy. I feel I have something missing that I can’t put my finger on. Still, continuing to try. In Alicante, Kevin is carrying on. In Bridlington, Nigel and Julie are carrying on. In Catterick, John is carrying on and in Royton, Brian is carrying on. I’ve been in contact with them all in the past couple of days and they are all ‘carrying on’ but I’m left feeling, Is that enough? There has to be more than this. When your closing in on 71, there has to be more than this.

Went out to Sainsburys for …. a net of 3 Spanish onions. I am cooking today. The onions cost £0.95p but we were given a ‘free’ bunch of flowers that had been on sale until yesterday at a price of £15.00. So, in the past 2 days, we have had cut flowers to the value of £25.00 for ‘free’. They look and smell lovely – just like me!

I cooked chicken & oregano casserole today to give Pauline a rest. Of course, it was a triumph and we ate the lot after completing the 11 mile target for the day. Ironically, my hernia was painful as I exercised today. It was on a day when I received a delightful, personal letter from the most wonderful Italian Consultant, Mr Valerio Di Nicola MD, PHD, FRCS who I met last week. He has fast tracked me for surgery and dated it immediately after my American trip. The NHS is staffed with the most wonderful people who are so generous with their time. I just love intelligent people!

Friday, 25th February, 2022

You should be here! The sky is pure blue and the sun is warm. It is forecast to remain this way until we leave on Tuesday. The air is clean and the birds are singing.

New Developments down here are required to build-in green space. We have lots of them and this one always makes me think of Telly-Tubby Land. The sea may still roll in this afternoon.

Out to collect currency this morning and some luggage labels. We ordered the dollars before the invasion of Ukraine and so before the weakening of the pound/dollar exchange rate. Not massive but we gained a bit. Unfortunately, the Ukrainians are losing everything! Trump and Farage have both spoken to justify Putin’s aggression which tells you all you need to know about the anti-democratic Right.

$2,670 looks nothing on our kitchen table in the sunshine. Never used dollars before – Francs, Lira, Drachma, Krone, Punta, Peseta, Euros but never dollars. I suspect we will be using our credit card plenty and seeing Non-Sterling Transaction charges racking up on our account. Might even view this as a bit reckless as the UK will be hit by the triple whammy of Brexit, Covid and Russian Isolation massively impacting the cost of living in UK.

Loss of Russian gas will impact everything – from Petrochemicals to industrial manufacturing to home heating. Prediction is that the Home Fuel Price Cap which was to double to around £2,500.00 per year on average, will now triple to around £3,700.00. The cost of filling the tank of an average 4×4 vehicle is expected to hit £145.00 but, of course, it will hit the cost of delivery of goods which will impact general inflation and hurt everyone. Russia is the breadbasket of the West and shunning their supplies will make shortages of all things wheat-based as well as raise the prices due to scarcity. Bread and pasta are the core of high energy, belly-filling, poverty food. There will be many more people forced into real hardship.

We got home from town to do our 90 mins walk and then have the burglar alarm serviced. Give the lawns a cut tomorrow and then most things will be done. Going out to Specsavers this afternoon to collect two pairs of prescription sunglasses in time for Florida del sol! I’m also going to drop off two more, huge bags of clothes at the Hospice Shop. Kevin’s still in Alicante but at least he seems to have found a new friend.

Saturday, 26th February, 2022

Unbelievably beautiful and warm day. Early walk and then lawn cutting in the Spring sunshine. Quite delightful!

Trying to tie up all the loose ends before we go away including completing my correspondence. Received a letter from this man earlier this week. He is the consultant I met at Worthing Hospital and I had to write to him to express my gratitude for his support.

Dr Di Nicola hails from the Università degli Studi di Roma La Sapienza, one of the largest European universities and one of the oldest in history, founded in 1303. I found him an instantly attractive personality to relate to.

When I want something, I want it NOW! I am terrible at waiting even though I have got better with age. When I want something, I will have it whatever I have to do and that hasn’t got easier with age. I like things to be settled. I don’t like prevarication. This is my personality. It makes taking me shopping impossible for ‘normal’ people who like to consider different options. The current demands of travelling at the moment are definitely inappropriate for people like me.

I work in a linear, tick-off, mode and need to meet the challenge head on, like the Arian ram I am. I have to butt my way to the winning post. The trip we leave for in a few days has a number of requirements. They can all be assembled in this single app, Verifly. Unfortunately and annoyingly, they can’t be uploaded until tomorrow – 48hrs before departure. This means that I cannot tick-off my list!

Sunday, 13th February, 2022

I couldn’t sleep and was up at 3.30 am. I’m not sure why. I had a problem whirling round my head that  I had been trying to resolve in the past few days and a solution came to me as I lay restlessly in the darkness. I drank tea, sitting quietly alone in the Office as Pauline slept above. I watched Sky News and strained to hear so as not to wake her. 

As we prepare for a trip to America, I am gathering together all the necessary documents that are demanded of transatlantic travel now. Little M advised us to download a travel app called Verifly in which we can integrate all the disparate forms of proof/evidence for fitness to fly. When that has been achieved, a single QR-Code is produced which can be presented to Airport check-in.

Unfortunately, Pauline’s smartphone has suddenly gone haywire. Lots of apps refuse to open. Even AppStore refuses to open. We use Android smartphones and I hadn’t a clue what had gone wrong. At 2.00 am, I suddenly realised that it had something to do with her Google account. I opened it up, reset her Google password and everything went back to normal. Life could continue smoothly. By that time, it was 4.30 am and I was into my second cup of coffee. Pauline was snoring gently so I couldn’t wake her.

The bedside radio comes on at 6.00 am every morning – a bit late, I know, but we can be lazy in retirement. Breakfast at 7.00 am and then out on a 90 mins walk by 9.00 am. Our walk follows a familiar route around the perimeter of our Development, skirting the wood and past the Rugby fields which are on the far side.

Early on Sunday mornings, parents and girls and boys aged from about 5 – 20 years, congregate around about 6 different pitches. Mornings are training sessions and there are usually around 150 kids in different groups being commanded to Pass! or Run!. Girls groups are featuring much more commonly now – for Rugby! Surely they should be taking up crochet. This morning there was a cold wind as they trained. The kids were oblivious to it but I felt for the bystander parents and grandparents.

Our 90 mins walk was a bit more mind over matter than the usual enjoyment. I was tired before I started having slept only a couple of hours tthat night. With all this exercise, you would think it would knock me out. Instead, I carry the world’s problems on my shoulders.

Monday, 14th February, 2022

Gorgeous morning for a Birthday or anything else. My generation were 21 50 years ago this year. In older age many of us are becoming more health conscious. A former College friend who lives in West Yorkshire posted a photo yesterday and said that he had just bought a pair of 32″-waisted jeans for the first time since he was 21 in College days. For me that would be positively skinny.

I have walked at least 10 miles a day every day since April 6^th – my 70^th birthday. Actually, I’ve walked 3220 miles in that time. Last month, I averaged 11 miles a day. I’m afraid to say that I haven’t had a 32″ waist since 1965 and I’m never likely to see one again however much I ramp up my exercise.

I’ve been out to Sainsburys to satisfy my latest obsession – unsweetened almond milk. I bought some originally when we made a first ever visit to a Lidl supermarket. It cost £0.80 per litre. I loved it. Our normal shop is done at Sainsburys but the milk cost £1.20 and is quite unpleasant. Looks like Lidl will become one of our regular shops. Always liked the Germans.

Over night, our Honda sat.nav. updated itself over the satellite and 3G wifi. We locked it on Saturday and left Serena – a delightful girl announcer happily in the entertainment centre.

When we started off on Sunday, James had taken over and he was only giving directions without using street names. It’s never happened before. This morning, I have searched the settings and managed to reinstate Serena. Phew! Much prefer to listen to a woman.

Last job this morning is to make sure our smoke alarm batteries will get through the month of March without annoying our neighbours. We have mains-powered smoke alarms with battery backups all over the house. Last time we went away for a month, the backup batteries failed on our first night away and intermittently screamed for the next 48 hours until a neighbour with a key came in and turned them off. Can’t run that risk again. Too embarrassing.

Although they are mains-powered, the integrity of the whole system is compromised if just one battery goes down. Trouble is they only need replacing every couple of years or so and I forget how to get the casings off. I’m not very practical at the best of times. Fortunately, I found this clip on the internet that deals with our precise model. Amusingly, even the demonstrator here has difficulty doing the job.

Last job to be ticked off the list today is to widen our mobile roaming contracts to the USA. We have unlimited calls/texts plus 50mb of web data. We have to pay just £10.00 each extra to use our full allowance in USA for the month of March.

Tuesday, 15th February, 2022

We are forecast for some rain later in the morning so went out at 8.00 am for a 90 mins walk. We just got away with it before light rain began to fall. At that time in the morning kids meet in the park we walk through. Their school is nearby. We were just remarking how delightfu kids are round here. Having spent most of my teaching life in Oldham, the topic of kids in parks was associated with truancy, dug taking, drinking, sex in the bushes, fights and all other manner of anti-social activity.

As we walked through the park yesterday, kids were using the outdoor gym equipment that the park managers had provided to exercise together. Others were sitting at picnic tables using the 5G Wi-Fi signal that is strong there. Others were meeting up after school on their bikes or using the small skateboarding facility. Nothing was rowdy or excessive. Today, as we walked through, kids were on bikes on their way to school. Nothing is more shocking than when a teenager politely says, Thank you when we stand aside to let him bike past. It must be the sea air!

Late last night a man appeared at the door with a huge, Amazon box. His first question was, What year were you born? I told him 1951 and he replied, You’ve just made it! I thought it was a joke until I opened the box to find a bottle of wine and a box of chocolates. Apparently Amazon don’t deliver alcohol to underage clients. They were from our good friend and ex-colleague, Margaret in Oldham. Pauline had told her I had got the all-clear and she had taken the trouble to send me these gifts to celebrate my reprieve. Could almost have been my birthday!

I wrote a couple of weeks ago of a delightful telephone conversation I’d had with Jane Eyre, Surgical Registrar at Worthing Hospital. She was gorgeous to talk to and intelligent with a voice to drown in. This morning, I received a lovely, long letter from her confirming our conversation and what we had agreed. She had told me that she was 33 and kept responding, Cool to everything I said. Her letter today rather shocked me by referring to me as a 70 year old, independent gentleman who is a retired teacher. All of those things are accurate but faintly damning.

My job today to be ticked off from the list is choosing the best place to buy US Dollars. Because travel has been so restricted of late, a number of FX firms have closed down. I used to have Euros home-delivered by International Currency Exchange but they’ve gone out of business. I still have an account with Moneycorp who I used in selling our Greek home.

I spent an hour or so researching the options and thought Travelex looked the best for home delivery and exchange rate price until I found that nipping round to our local Tesco would give me quite a few more dollars for my pounds.

Wednesday, 16th February, 2022

Up early and out walking at 8.00 am. I need to get the first 5 or 6 miles in before I go off to the Hospital for a pre-op review of my hernia. If you ever wanted to be bathed in the glow of kindness and civility, this experience would have done it for you. My appointment was at 10.20 and I was told not to arrive before that. When I checked in, at the main desk, I was told to sit in the waiting room. I had hardly sat down when my name was called by an elderly, white haired lady. She took me to an office where she weighed and measured me.

She had barked out an order to follow her. I said, Are you Irish? She said, I am. How did you know? She became all coy, gentle and girlish. I told her I could hear the lilt in her voice. She was from Tipperary. I was there in 1966, I told her. You’ve been to Tip? You’ve been to Tip?, she exclaimed like some excited teenager. I told her about my trip and how an Irish girl had inducted me into smoking Sweet Afton cigarettes. She was putty in my hands. Oh, I haven’t heard those words for so long, she said, sighing.

She took me in to meet the Consultant who greeted me warmly. He had read all my notes and knew exactly my position. His badge said he was called Marcelo. He was Italian although his English was perfect. I told him I loved Italy and particularly, Lucca, Bologna and Parma. I rambled on about driving the Autostrada del Sol but he seemed extremely pleased I liked it. He told me that my hernia was significant and required surgery. I said I was going abroad for the month of March and he kindly volunteered to list me for after we came back. I will probably be a day patient.

I had gone to the hospital in shorts and tee-shirt. The temperature was 14C/57F and the Spring sunshine was delightful. We drove back via the beach where the tide was on the turn and the scene was lovely.

We had to be back for a visit from the ONS Covid Project who had come to take Lateral Flow tests and Antibody tests which we’ve become very proficient at. Kevin tells me he is off to Spain at the weekend and Julie seems happy with her lot although I do think she is rather lonely deep down. John Ridley and I are quite enjoying catching up on each other’s lives. He, like me, is perpetually busy and looking to travel particularly to South Korea where his son is teaching and making movies. Of course, they are all older than me. Everybody is thank goodness.

Thursday, 17th February, 2022

The days are running away but today is an absolutely beautiful one. En route to Sainsburys, I took a detour past the beach. So warm again this morning and none of the expected wind so far.

We had reports of the storm hitting North Yorkshire with this dramatic photo of Whitby harbour.

A wonderful, warm and sunny walk this morning with gulls circling, gliding overhead and daffodils and crocuses flowering under foot. Spring is a time of optimism and hope. I still have hope and I’m naturally optimistic.

The thing that will dominate politics over the rest of this year will be inflation and cost of living. I predicted this months ago and so it is happening before our eyes. Petrol/Diesel is at a record high price and household fuel bills are massively increasing. Food and clothing prices are up. This morning, BT told me that my services – Fibre Broadband, Digital Phone and BT Sport are all rising by inflation of 5.4% + some nominally chosen 3.9%. The total increase will only be just over £10.00 per month but as everything rises the overall cost is considerable. The one compensation appears to be that the value of our house increased by £70,000 over the past 12 months but that is only helpful if we sell and realise the profit.

Friday, 18th February, 2022

A little breezy this morning but warm. Went out to the beach at high tide for a photo opportunity.

It is nice to see the coast in a different light. Quite a few people out being blown about. Amazing how powerful the sea is.

As we drove back from the beach, we found the road blocked by a fallen conifer. I had to take a detour but, by the time we went out on our walk which was wind-assisted in one direction, the tree had been logged and piled at the side to allow traffic through.

Kevin’s flying to Alicante from Leeds tomorrow and seems quite laidback about it although services are being cancelled everywhere today. Dave Roberts from Middleton contacted me this morning when I posted this photo. Strange to be in touch across time and space!

I am a member of B.A.’s Executive Travel Club. It gives me a number of privileges but we are struggling to complete all the on-line paperwork for our BA flight which is less than two weeks away. We can check-in on-line but not until the API is completed and it is notoriously flaky to do. I am tearing (what’s left of) my hair out but I WILL get there in the end …. and I did by using the app on my phone. Two hours of wasted time when a huge concern like British Airways can’t get their platform right.

Saturday, 19th February, 2022

Chill wind this morning. Even though it’s snowing at Leeds Airport this morning, I quite envy Kevin jetting off to Alicante and some relative warmth. Still, it won’t be long until we are in the sunshine.

I’ve only been to Leeds Airport once – in 1973. I was collecting a coach load of Dutch English teachers who I was helping to deliver an English Language course to at Ripon College. I remember it more as a shed in a field. It certainly didn’t look like this.

My little brother, Bob’s 70th Birthday. This photograph from circa 1956 tells me so much about him and about those times. Look at what we are wearing. I used to think Mum wanted girls really until History taught me that this was the sort of thing Victorians did to their kids.

You only have to look at Bob’s face to see he can’t be trusted. Typical Aquarian! He always used to get away with stuff that I got punished for. Story of my life. Anyway, at least he is the same age as me for a few weeks.

As we were out on our walk this morning, a number of roofing companies were featured – repairing the effects of yesterday’s wind. Even so, it wasn’t half as bad as rolling News channels would have you believe.