Category: Uncategorized

Sunday, 11th July, 2021

Even though I was shattered last night and went to bed just after 11.00 pm, I was awake at 2.30 am and didn’t really get back to sleep again. It’s amazing how one’s head rules one’s body in times like this. Tired this morning when I got up at 7.00 am but a lovely, sunny morning has helped.

The quote for our CCTV installation came in yesterday and, at £780.00 for supply & installation, was below the figure we had expected. We have instructed the company to go ahead with the plan as soon as possible.

Also in the post yesterday were our official, NHS Vaccination Certificates required for European and Transatlantic travel. Very efficient system in which we applied online and received by post within 5 working days. Unfortunately, Covid cases are exploding exponentially in England just as Johnson looks to open up. Already, hospitals are becoming overwhelmed with patients who have contracted the Johnson (formerly Delta/India) Variant. England’s R number is back up to 1.2 – 1.5 again.

Covid cases are soaring in Spain and Portugal and increasing in Greece and Turkey as Johnson Variant takes hold – just as lots of Brits prepare to fly to Europe. Only fully vaccinated will be allowed out/in and, even then, will require expensive PCR tests each way. At the moment, we think the best we can do is a French drive.

Roast salmon with Pesto Crust
Samphire & Green Beans with Garlic

Not too many calories in this meal apart from in the pesto. Yesterday’s exercise in the Gym was an absolute killer but I forced myself to do it. I have completed my routine for 149 consecutive days. I am managing about 65 miles a week at the moment although my weights work has been a bit sporadic. I’m giving myself a good talking to and will renew my effort in that from the start of the new week.

TV and print media are really going over the top about football this morning. I enjoy football and watch lots of it but this is not really about sport. It is all about politics. It makes me very uncomfortable. Of course, I remember dear Harold Wilson not being shy about milking World Cup glory in 1966 so it is nothing new.https://www.youtube.com/embed/euveRgxXB2g?feature=oembed

In an effort to make the ‘news’ about football, one commentator also reminded me that the No.1 single at the time in 1966 was Chris Farlowe’s Out of Time. I was embarrassed to find that I still knew all the words. Why do I remember such meaningless rubbish but forget all the important things?

Monday, 12th July, 2021

Everywhere was quiet, silent even and this on an evening of international football. There were a number of reasons. Firstly, having lived here for over 5 years, we have never had a power cut. There was one last night just an hour before the game kicked off. We were reduced to the idea of watching on smartphones or driving out and finding a hotspot to link up our iPads. Pauline’s friend was preparing to keep us up to date and her niece in America was watching live and texting her. Fortunately, Southern Electricity rode to the rescue and found there had been a number of substations that had tripped out. Just before the kick-off, a worker arrived at the perimeter of our Development to fix ours and the power came back on.

Even so, as rain fell, planned football parties in back gardens were moved inside behind closed doors. So, when England scored early on, any cheering was unheard. Finally, when Italy equalised and then won, the silent depression of England supporters was matched by the silent but respectful celebration of our Italian neighbours.

I’ve been reading an interesting article by Andrew Adonis in Prospect Magazine, Andrew remembers Johnson musing over two, particular ideas in a conversation just before he took on the Referendum campaign. Firstly, he was totally undecided which side of the Brexit vote he should come down on which tells you much about his personal ambition overriding his principles. Secondly, he said whichever side he came down on, the British people would be malleable. In Latin, he quoted the Roman poet, Virgil, “Give them bread and circuses and they will never revolt.” By playing the clown to the audience; by allying himself to English sporting achievements like the European Football Championship in which he has no interest, Johnson is harnessing the Bread & Circuses distraction.

The objective manifestation of this could be seen in Leicester Square last night as the foolish led the idiotic in Tory, nationalist England. And none of these people will have the slightest inkling that their rights of protest are currently being legislated out of UK law. The international rights of asylum claim are being severely truncated. The conditions of exercising a vote are being made less easy. This is how the Bread & Circuses trick works. Of course the pickanniny/letterbox prime minister has come out to condemn the racist abuse of his followers that he legitimised in the first place.

I used to think I was brave and something of a risk taker. Now, I’ve realised how weak and pathetic I’ve become. Why? Well, in the past, I would happily invest comparatively large amounts of money in investment vehicles. We didn’t really have one significant failure in that policy. In the past few days, I’ve merely wanted to move largish sums of money from one account to another online instead of asking the bank to do it and found myself really scared in pressing the final, ‘SEND’ key. Is this a sign of age? I WILL do it … soon.

Chicken in White Wine, French Mustard & Tarragon Sauce
Broad Beans
Cauliflower & Broccoli Salad

You might spot the weakness in the latest meal-pic. Yes, I gave in and drank red wine. Well, everyone else with some notable exceptions, seemed to be drinking yesterday.

Just 4 years ago today, we were in the hot and sweaty but beautiful Florence railway station having travelled from our base in Lucca. I bet it will have been a lot noisier last night.

Tuesday, 13th July, 2021

Halfway through July already! The end of the school year this week. I know it’s stupid but these things suddenly jump up and bite me – the passage of time, the speed of it. Been out early to Rustington to buy fruit – peaches from Spain and Apricots from Portugal. Nice, warm morning with sun breaking through. Got the Covid-Testing Lady from Oxford University arriving at 10.00 am for a Lateral Flow test followed by another pint of blood. No wonder I’m losing weight.

A lovely morning of warm sunshine yesterday which made our walk down to the village delightful. I came back and did some writing. Getting beyond the planning stage has been really hurting me. Suddenly, this morning it flowed quite naturally from a simple idea, a memory, a picture. I had a feeling it might happen in this way but was beginning to get a bit despondent. When it started, the flow was so enjoyable, I couldn’t stop. Like the sudden sharp hot stink of fox … It enters the dark hole of the head. … The page is printed. Not getting ahead of myself but hope my muse visits again today!

Talking about flowing, central London streets were awash yesteday afternoon after a cloud burst. Our neighbour, Dorset suffered similarly. We had thunder but without the water.

Pan-fried Cod Loin
Artichoke Hearts & Peas

I read the Manchester Evening News, Oldham Chronicle and Huddersfield Examiner most evenings and have really been struck by the level of violent crime featured in them. I may be wrong but it doesn’t feel as bad in my local papers. Last night, the MEN reported two men with serious stab wounds being dumped at the doors of the Oldham Royal Hospital. They had been attacked at Middleton Junction. At the same, the Oldham Chronicle was reporting a murder by shooting in streets of terraced houses. How much anger and violence there is in our society, however impoverished, astonishes and saddens me.

Watched another episode of Long Lost Family last night and, although it seems obvious, it suddenly dawned on me that it was the constant searching, the constant looking, the constant enquiring for the missing person that was so soul-destroying. So often that searching needn’t have been so prolonged. Often, when the reconnection takes place, the separated have been living within miles of each other most of their lives. There is a compounding of the tragedy that destroys their lives. The thread with one fixed in time and the other loose and flailing is the image on which to pin my writing.

Wednesday, 14th July, 2021

This morning has opened with lovely weather, remaining 17C/63F overnight and we are forecast to get better as the week advances. We have a fresh fish delivery of Cod, Swordfish, Tuna, Calamari and Dressed Crabs – enough for the rest of the month.

Yesterday we did the next installment of the Lateral Flow and Blood Antibody tests for the Oxford University Covid Project. An interesting lady from the Gatwick area sat in the sunshine of our back garden to carry out the Tests & Questionnaire. She used to be a Monarch Airways hostess and, later, a British Airways hostess but had been forced into this project by the cut in travel. The sun was hot and the temperature reached a quite sultry 25C/77F. It was almost too bright for her to use her iPad.

Pan-fried Fillet of Sea Bass with King Prawns,
Asparagus, Roasted Cherry Tomatoes with Oregano & Basil and Samphire

Having now completed the 7 days Food Record, readers will see that it is dominated by fish and vegetables. This week, it has included 2 meat days but that is one more than normal. It represents a massive shift from our working life when I would eat a huge bowl of cereal for Breakfast, a spam burger from the school Canteen at Break. I would have a school Lunch which would invariably include chips and then a Pasta dish in the evening at home with at least one bottle of red wine. All this stress-eating! How I coped with all that carbohydrate, I have no idea.

You know, I’ve thought about writing a book, a fiction, a story for so many years. I had told myself that my time had passed. I was kidding myself. I couldn’t do it. Perhaps I couldn’t be bothered. Suddenly, something happened and, at the age of 70, I began to think again. I don’t know what sparked it but it has been churning round in my head for the past few months without really taking off. Suddenly, it has spurted into my mind.

Call it what you will but I’ll fall back on that old cliché, my Muse has appeared. Years late – nothing changes. Old, wrinkly but not dry, the creative juices have started flowing. Will it last? Who knows. I have a feeling it will. Today, I’ve found an interesting book to help me. I know people who publish their books purely to Kindle format and avoid all publishing costs but this, Manchester man, has done it the hard way and may well have some useful lessons to teach me.

I could buy it from https://www.abebooks.co.uk/ for £12.78 or download it to my Kindle Reader app for ‘free’. Guess? Who are these people who haven’t arrived at e-books yet? Must be very wealthy! Thank goodness I found this book. Let’s hope my wrinkly old Muse doesn’t see it as cheating and dry up!

Wonderful story reported by the BBC last night. A Chinese man, Guo Gangtang’s son had been snatched aged two by human traffickers in front of their home in the province of Shandong. His son’s disappearance actually inspired a movie in 2015. After his son was abducted in 1997, Mr. Guo reportedly travelled to more than 20 provinces around the country on the back of a motorbike chasing tip-offs.

In the process, he broke bones in traffic accidents and even encountered highway robbers. Ten motorbikes were also damaged. Carrying around banners with his son’s picture on them, he is said to have spent his life savings on his mission, sleeping under bridges and begging for money when he ran out of cash. However, Guo was rewarded for such tenacious and dedicated effort and he has been reunited with his son after a 24-year search that saw him travel over 500,000km on a motorbike across the country.

Do I have that staying power? I’d like to think I do but would rather not be put to the test!

Just an interesting coda: The police are reporting 2,300 incidents of attacks on Italians across the country following the football final. That is the sort of country the Tories’ populist nationalism with all its flag-waving has created.https://www.youtube.com/embed/iMJPZ-mu-Ts?feature=oembed

To encourage them, I feature the most appropriate music for a day like today: Beethoven’s 6th Symphony – Pastoral. Forget the flags and move to the country!

Thursday, 15th July, 2021

Yesterday was warm and sultry. We reached 26C/79F in the afternoon. I was busy all through the day cutting lawns including my neighbours, doing my exercise routine for the 153rd consecutive day including a very warm walk outside.

Up at 6.30 am this morning with a gorgeous prospect for today. Blue sky, strong sun, green lawns, bright flowers – 18C/65F at this time. We have a Sainsbury’s delivery at 7.30 am. Although we have a lovely day in prospect, I still feel trapped by my circumstances.

Three years ago we were spending a month in the Dordogne and called in to visit one of my cousins who has properties there.

Four years ago we were spending a month driving round Tuscany and were enjoying the wonderful town of Bologna in incredible heat.

Ten years ago, we were halfway through our 6 months stay on Sifnos and eating out in the quiet, fishing village of Vathy eating in one of our favourite restaurants.

These are the sorts of things we are absolutely desperate to continue even though it feels like running away from reality. Living in a ‘nice’ place pales into insignificance when it begins to feel like a prison.

Pauline has text or phone communication with her old, College friend from 1973 almost every day which is lovely for her. She is really enjoying it. They will meet up again soon. This time, I may drive her to Milton Keynes and meet Chris myself. Having heard her on the phone, she sounds delightful and I’m looking forward to meeting her. Her husband died 2 – 3 years ago of cancer. The other two girls of the quartet we have not met yet. One is on her 2^nd marriage and the other is on her 3rd husband and has just heard that he has terminal cancer. How stark lives can be! I find these hard messages unbearably difficult to cope with. I was told this yesterday and carried it round in my head as I worked and walked. I know I am over-sensitive, weak and pathetic but that’s how it is.

Few of us are untouched by cancer at one remove at least. My mother had bowel cancer and surgery resulted in a colostomy bag which I know she found very uncomfortable and limiting. Our lovely neighbour, Pat, is suffering from stage 4 cancer which has moved into his lymph glands making it inoperable. How do you cope with that news?  It panics me and urges on my project. I have so many goals to achieve before I go.

Just been listening to the former Children’s Commissioner talking about child poverty and citing the case of a boy sleeping on a Palet with only a blanket to cover him and of a family sleeping on a bus overnight to keep warm. In the UK!! I cannot bear the thought of it and weep as I think about it. How can people be put in that situation? Maybe it is because we don’t have the distraction of travel or just that I am getting older but I’m finding it hard shutting these things out.

Friday, 16th July, 2021

Wonderful, wonderful morning. Hot, sunny, welcoming, embracing. Going down to the beach this morning to enjoy the weather and the smell of the sea. Before that, a quick trip to the Garden Centre for supplies for the lawns.

Up early yesterday and out for a walk in the strong sunshine by 9.30 am. The temperature was already 23C/74F and we felt its power as we walked in our local area. It is the first time for a couple of weeks that we have done this route and it’s amazing how far the countryside has advanced towards the end of Summer.

The fields of barley are turning rapidly golden and ready for the harvester. The field edges are really the most beautiful areas with their diversity of plants. These thistles (Echinops) are almost over but are all the more dynamic for their seed heads. Yesterday, from the fields’ margins, we picked and ate handfuls of wild raspberries with the most wonderful flavour.

You’ll remember me when the west wind moves
Upon the fields of barley
You’ll forget the sun in his jealous sky
As we walk in fields of gold …..

I hate, resent the way that music draws out of me emotions I desperately want to repress. Even so, I have to recognise their existence. Nigel, Julie and John-2 have acknowledged my photos of the fields of barley which I’ve posted on social media. That is nice and gives me a sense of reconnection.

Lovely photo taken from a drone camera yesterday of the River Arun running into the sea at Littlehampton Marina where we walk so often. The picture is so sharp that you can see the wind farm out at sea. We will be down there today.

Saturday, 17th July, 2021

Up at 4.00 am. Couldn’t sleep. My head is full of thoughts. Sometimes I think I’m losing the plot. On others, I think I never had it in the first place. Out walking by 5.00 am. The sky is like a backlit stage as the sun begins to rise. The birds and rabbits have the world to themselves until I arrive. Actually, a lady is watering her front garden and I meet a couple of girls out walking as well. Pauline woke to find me gone and phoned when I was at my furthest point from the house. I was back by 6.30 am and we were soon out to Tesco and then Asda to re-corner the market in Shloer because my stocks are running down and they are on half-price offers.

The lovely days continue and this one is going to be even better. It’s just as well because all ideas of a French trip seem to be on hold as the government has moved France on to the ‘red’ list with quarantine required even for the fully vaccinated. Looks like Yorkshire/Lancashire will be the extent of our travels this year. Still, there are lots of lovely people and places to revisit there.

Yesterday, we went down to the beach. Because schools are still in session, it was very quiet and peaceful at 10.00 in the morning.

A few old men sat around Oyster Pond sailing their model boats but the cries of children were obviously missing.

As we walked along the beach path, a crocodile of children in high-viz vests wound down the beach and set up with their teachers for their Sports Day which I thought was a nice idea.

As we walked by the beach yesterday morning, two, grey haired ladies walked by talking. I love to overhear this sort of conversation. It’s the sort of thing writers feed off. One was saying, Well, we all went to the reunion and then, you know, two months later she was dead. Can you believe that? I really never want to have that conversation myself. Pauline has an emergency investigation at the hospital next week which is worrying us but we are both working hard to keep fit and stay healthy. We are determined to never give in to ageism! It is important to do everything to keep at bay the decline of the intellect.

One of the clear signs of aging is accepting. It is fatal. Never give up trying new things. Never say you are too old to try that. Never think it is just for younger people. Never give up!

It hurts me when I hear people say they are too old. We are only too old when we are dead! It is a mindset that can be cultivated. It separates two types of human beings. Reader, you really must fall on the right side of this divide. New things; new inventions; new routines; new relationships are what keep us young and alive. The challenge is all!

Recent research has found that those who continue to pursue intellectual activities – reading, writing, etc., are the most likely to delay the onset of aging, of Dementia/Alzheimer’s by at least 5 years which, at our age, could be significant. Embracing new technology, learning new languages, travelling, learning new skills are all ways of staving off the closing down of the brain. Rage, Rage against the dying of the light!

Really struggling to find new things to watch in the gym at the moment. My latest, Netflix distraction is called White Lines and is set in 1990s Manchester and 2020s Ibiza.

It is like the old BBC ‘Eldorado’ from the 90’s and ‘Hollyoaks’ rolled into one in Ibiza. Sex scenes and nudity mostly for no reason at all, but a nice back drop and distraction from sometimes misplaced humour.

Film Critic

The former centres around the 1990s, Manchester music scene which, of course, I am not an expert in. I’m told it features Stone Roses, The Happy Mondays, the Inspiral Carpets. Can you imagine being inspired by carpets? The latter largely centres around the drugs scene which I’m also not expert in hence the white lines. It’s all a bit daft but it is 10 episodes and I’m reluctant to stop halfway through. I’m reluctant to give up on anything worth having.

Sunday, 4th July, 2021

Warm but heavy rain over night. Nice of the philistines to send it down South. Up at 6.30 am and it is soon dry again. Everywhere looks lovely and luscious just like me. My new trousers arrived yesterday and fitted me perfectly. The waistband has returned me to 1985. I’ve got 3 more pairs arriving over the next few days even though my fitness programme will continue. Good job we’ve got lots of ‘overspill’ wardrobes. Success will be relegating these new trousers to there.

Our next door neighbours bought us some lovely roses as a thank you for a small favour we had done for them. They were bought in Waitrose and have been scenting the kitchen for almost 2 full weeks. Absolutely lovely to have cut flowers in the room and to last so long.

How do people survive without modern technology? I know of those who don’t use a computer, don’t use email, don’t even have a smartphone. I only ask because I have realised as I have gone back into the shopping world that I couldn’t manage without any of these things. My smartphone pays for almost everything that is contactless. My watch tells me that emails and text messages are coming in as long as my smartphone is close. If I’m out of the house, I get notices of breaking news, I can check the weather and I can be warned that something is being delivered and when. All banking is done on line. Haven’t had money or been to a bank for years.

I usually found that those who didn’t embrace technology were basically rather frightened of it, frightened of ‘breaking’ it or embarrassed that they would be found wanting. It has been my mission in life to convert them to the modern world. Ever the teacher, all it takes is compassion and reassurance. Anyone who intends to live for another 20 years will find themselves completely left behind by the fast pace of the technological society.

I love writing. I write something every day. I am forcing myself currently to map out a potential book based on life events. It is amazing how difficult it is to visualise the central theme. It needs to be a weave of the emotional and the intellectual but it needs to be gripping. It occupies my thoughts whatever I am doing during the day. At 5.30 am, I was listening to a BBC Radio 4 programme about the nature of inspiration which provoked this thought today but I have always liked Ted Hughes description of the creative process as a sensual, sexual one which he describes in his poem, The Thought Fox.

Hughes compares his mind sniffing out the ideas for his poem like a fox sniffing out its mate in the forest. It is slow, silent, gentle at first but

A fox’s nose touches twig, leaf;
Two eyes serve a movement, that now
And again now, and now, and now ….

…Coming about its own business

Till, with a sudden sharp hot stink of fox
It enters the dark hole of the head.
The window is starless still; the clock ticks,
The page is printed.

Ejaculation and fertilisation is the inspiration of the imagination. Writer’s block is erectile dysfunction. And in the same vein (if you will pardon the allusion), my most recent gym film was a bonkers one called Sirens with Hugh Grant and Tara Fitzgerald. It has an 18 certification and is not right for a 70 yr old on a treadmill. Unfortunately, I have to finish when I’ve started.

I don’t advertise its address but I have bought separate, WordPress space to do an entire backup and replication of my Blog in case anything happens to it. I really couldn’t stand the idea of losing so many years of my life. There are so few people left alive who could help in recalling it for me. Every Sunday evening, I back up the previous week’s Blog in its entirety for posterity.

Monday, 5th July, 2021

Lovely, sunny and warm morning – quite the opposite of what was forecast. My jobs are pressure washing the patio and cleaning the car. Can’t wait!

On this day in 1948, just 3 years before I was born, the Labour Government’s Health Minister, Aneurin Bevan, launched the new, National Health Service which would be free at the point of delivery. It transformed the lives of the English population and gave me a great start in life. I had so many serious Rugby injuries that I made full use of it in my youth. From cradle to grave it was intended to support us against the exigencies of life. Now we await the Tory’s Care Plan which they said was already ready but seems to have got lost in translation. I wonder if it will arrive before I need it.

I have driven around Lake Maggiore in Northern Italy at least 30 times in my life en route to/from Ancona via Milano. I must admit that it never looked like this beautiful painting from more than 100 years before when I was there. Even so, I am painfully, heart-rendingly conscious of the fact that I have been on the same patch of earth that some random, American artist occupied however fleetingly as well.

I am constantly taunted by this concept as I review my life. The patch of earth where I spent my childhood in a Midlands village and all the human connections and experiences that came with it. The patch of earth in North Yorkshire and all the pleasure and torment that I associate with that time. The patch of earth I briefly inhabited in Lancashire and the events interwoven in my consciousness followed by those patches of earth I lived on for 30 years in Yorkshire. There is the tiny chunk of rock in the middle of the Aegean Sea where I spent so much of my adult life and the patches of earth in Surrey and Sussex where I’ve passed the time in retirement.

All of these patches of earth have been imbued with my life’s blood, with my tears of sadness and of joy, where I have celebrated congregation and mourned separation. Yet I have an overwhelming desire to cling on, to revisit, to not let go. Letting go would represent relinquishing life itself.https://www.youtube.com/embed/SN2fOgfFnDo?feature=oembed

I have just done an idle search on YouTube and watched footage of each of these places. I know them so well, I can feel, hear, taste and smell each of them in my memories. They move me to tears in the sense of lost time. And yet I hear that song which so struck me so forcibly alone in my bedroom back in 1964 – The Moody Blues, Go Now. Then, I was desperate to get away. Now, it must be aging and the need to cling on that has changed my perception of these experiences.

Tuesday, 6th July, 2021

Warm, wet and windy this morning. I will spend it in the gym and the office. Yesterday really did turn out much better than expected with lovely, warm sunshine as we walked. I also did a really hard gym workout to help the cause.

It is nice to get fun and cheeky texts and my little sister, Liz, thought it would be amusing to emphasise the aging process by sending me an article illustrating two parents and their child who were photographed on the same day each year over a period of about 30 years.

Last week my dentist took one look at my notes and said, You don’t look 70! I thought you were about my age – 56. On Friday, our new neighbours exclaimed, You certainly don’t look anything like 70. You have to be a bit sceptical about these protestations but maybe being denied children has kept us younger. Who knows? I certainly know a few 70 year olds who are distinctly more wrinkly – not that I would ever point it out …. unless I had the chance! Pauline thinks I am so fat I just fill and stretch my skin better but she’s just jealous of my innate beauty.

This week 7 years ago, we had agreed a price for the sale of our Greek house and were preparing to sign the sale documents after quite a tortuous process. It marked a sad but profitable end to our time there and we were just looking forward to the long drive home. I suppose all lives have these landmarks in them. They make us who we are. The differences between the two photographs above will have been fashioned by events like these although we will never know their personal circumstances.

I stare at these people and try to imagine what has happened to them, their loves and fears, arguments and celebrations. We all have disasters and successes, losses and gains. It may be my imagination but there seems to be a small element of reticence, resignation and defeat in the couple as they’ve aged. I stare and want to shout to them,

Do not go gentle into that good night,

Old age should burn and rave at close of day;

Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

Dylan Thomas – 1952

Whatever little Liz thought she might achieve; I intend to grab victory from the jaws of defeat. There are lots more things to explore and enjoy. Hopefully, lots of this will include travel, interesting places and lovely people.

Four years ago this week, we were driving through France to Italy and staying in Reims, Dijon, Lyon, Turin, Genoa, Lucca, Florence, Pizza, Bologna, Parma, etc. An epic month away. This year a week in Yorkshire feels quite a bonus. Perhaps there will be more than that. Keeping optimistic and working on material for the book.

I don’t know why I do it because it always gets to me but I watched the first of a new series of Long Lost Family last night. The format was the same as always. Two people had started searching for people from their past, from almost 50 years ago. They have often held back for years for fear of rejection.

Initial search and contact is made by the professionals and then one writes a letter for the other and supplies a photograph. The photograph is so important. Almost always, there has been an empty divide, a longing for reunion, an emotional completion on both sides although each is uncertain of the other. They are concerned how others in their lives will react.

When contact is finally made, there is an overwhelming release of the pent up emotion which has been held at bay over years. Sometimes, it is too much for those involved and the relationship doesn’t develop. More often and certainly last night, the participants find reunion extends and completes their lives. Even for the viewer, this is an emotional and enriching experience. I sob quietly into my coffee.

Wednesday, 7th July, 2021

Yesterday turned out very warm and sunny and we managed a good hour’s walk. The birds were out in force and singing very loudly. Whole schools of young starlings were being given flying lessons on the fence. To be honest, they seem naturals.

Rule, Britannia! Britannia, rule the waves!
Britons never, never, never shall be slaves.

I’ve always found this anthem strangely contradictory. Britons seem to believe they will never be slaves (unless as a lifestyle choice) but just let us live under an unelected monarchy and a ruling aristocracy who have inherited power and influence with an unelected House of Lords and a House of Commons dominated by the privileged of public school education.  

Bryan Ferry,extreme Brexit supporter with his sons at Public School, widely criticised as a Nazi apologist, sang Slave to Love. He was certainly a slave to the concept of authoritarian politics:https://www.youtube.com/embed/9kp3N3wQPO0?feature=oembed

I am a lifelong republican although, in America, I would be a Democrat. I reject any form of rule that cannot be removed by democratic, peaceful means if we are not satisfied with it. I reject populism, jingoism and all those other isms of flag-waving nationalism because they embody the demand for authoritarian government. Populism and authoritarianism thrive on flag-waving which it encourages by demonising outsiders. It is classic Orwell and Animal Farm.

For this reason, I have a problem wholeheartedly embracing the national euphoria around the England football team and shudder to watch politicians who have little knowledge or love of the game trying to expropriate the national team’s success. I enjoy watching football, rugby and cricket. Only football is dominated by flag-waving. It almost signals a lack of self-confidence in the country’s desperate assertion of collectivity.

My online calendar reminds me that it is 7 years (7 years!) tonight – a very sweaty 34/93F – in Greece that we signed over our island home and started to work out how to repatriate all that cash without paying tax on it.

These two photos illustrate the ‘supermarkets’ which were really no more than corner shops in UK terms where all our groceries were sourced for so many Summers.

It is unbelievable to think, in one week’s time, it will have been a whole 7 years since we left for the last time. What will we achieve in the next 7 years? Maybe you know!

This morning we have been out to real supermarkets and have rushed home because DPD have pinged my app to tell me they are making a delivery. Pauline needed a more powerful hob for outdoor cooking.

It is being delivered by Shaun who is married with 2 kids and has worked for DPD for 2 years and made 40K+ deliveries. Shaun used to play rugby but now only watches. This potted biography is helpfully supplied by DPD on my app.

Thursday, 8th July, 2021

Another dull, overcast morning although it had been warm – 16C/61F  – all night. Up early for a Sainsbury‘s delivery at 7.00 am. Got a CCTV installer arriving at 10.00 am and then we can get on with the day. 

Everybody seemed to want to give me money back yesterday. I haven’t denied them. Our Sky monthly bill went up to £121.00. I’d had no warning so I looked it up on the website. There, having logged into my account, I was told that my contract was up for renewal and that, if I agreed to a 18 month renewal, they would reduce it to £99.00 per month. Eventually, a phone call allowed me to negotiate another reduction to £81.00 per month which was a considerable reduction on our current contract. I’ve no idea what was going on other than a crude incentive to renew my contract. I had no intention of leaving Sky anyway.

Well, it looks like we won’t be getting to Athens in the next few weeks. Easyjet have so altered our flights as to make the trip almost pointless. We would lose the best part of 2 days out of a 5-day trip and pay for an expensive test to get on the flight and again to return.

Fortunately, Easyjet have refunded our total outlay for the Return flights – £702.98. Our hotel will also refund our total outlay of £1140.00 for the 4 nights. We know that Greece is struggling with a new wave of virus and we think we must wait until the position is clearer before we re-book.

I know this isn’t really the done thing but I am trying hard to eat a healthy and controlled diet. For a week, I am going to include a record of the one meal a day I eat accompanied by a photo. I must stress that I don’t eat everything in the photos but it is available for the meal. I eat after exercise each afternoon around 4.00 pm and I am not drinking alcohol so usually accompany it with sparkling water and Shloer.

Smoked Mackerel / Prawns
Asparagus / Cucumber Salad
Tomato Salad with Blue Cheese/Mozarella and Balsamic Dressing.

To end the meal, I have a measured amount of Greek Yoghurt followed by coffee. I will not have eaten during the day at all although I will have the juice of 2 freshly-squeezed oranges for breakfast. During the evening, I might have fruit – banana, peach or apricot – plus coffee and tea. I work out that my daily intake is around 1500 calories. My output is around 3500 calories. A lot of my exercise routine is spent walking. Yes, I’m walking my way back. I am averaging just over 9 miles per day over the past 3 months. If I can get it up to 10 miles per day, it will help but we’ll see.

Friday, 9th July, 2021

Beautiful, warm, sunny morning. You really ought to be here. The lawns are looking luscious; the flowers are bright and thrusting; the birds are singing. What more could one want? Well, I can think of a few things but it’s a good start.

We met the CCTV installer yesterday morning. He is the brother of one of our neighbours across the road. He drove from the Gatwick region where he lives and says it was torrential rain there. Arriving in Angmering, it felt like a different country with its beautiful, sunny weather. Of course, for a nomad like me, that is not unusual.

We are going to have 3, small, white cameras networked to a box in the Gym/Garage. They will cover the entire perimeter of our property and will have High Definition, colour video capture which will be relayed directly to our smartphones and iPads and to my Office computer. I can see a new, morning routine of fast forward play checking recording from the night before. I may have to employ a little philistine to check it for me after initial novelty wears off.

Griddled Fillet Steak with red wine reduction jus
Field mushrooms stuffed with onion and blue cheese
Green beans with garlic

I cut all the lawns yesterday including my new, Italian neighbours’ lawn across the road. It’s the generous sort of community thing we socialists do. Anyway, I’m hoping for an invite to their family home in Italy next year.

This little chap popped up on my screen this morning. I haven’t seen John (Tash) Coates since he attended my wedding in 1978. He bought us an egg coddler as a present. He seems to be very happy in his retirement.

Saturday, 10th July, 2021

Wet but warm and that’s just the day at the moment. Looks like I’m going to be working out solely in the gym this morning. We spent the entire day outside yesterday and I was exhausted after it but I didn’t sleep well for some reason.

Writing a daily Blog like mine is exposing. It exposes one to ridicule, anger, sadness and irritation. Occasionally, readers contact me to express their views. More often than not, it is sympathetic or advisory. Sometimes readers correct a factual point I’ve got wrong. Occasionally, it is highly critical. I received one of the latter from a reader who had been trawling my back catalogue which at least shows genuine inquisitiveness. They wrote to me suggesting, at the end, I had been counting the days to retirement and looking for a big pay-out. I found that quite hurtful.

I was still doing my utmost to dig our school out of Special Measures before it became an Academy. I saw absolutely no reason why we shouldn’t maximise our pay-out in retirement. After all, I would use it far better than Oldham Education Authority and I have. I am always open to fair criticism but I fight my corner when it isn’t.

Because I had been denied a child of my own, I used to ‘adopt’ kids who needed some support or just seemed a bit different. I still communicate with most of them. I was reminded of this as Pauline got a text from Derby yesterday afternoon not far from my family home from a girl who was in just that category. She is in her 40s with a family of her own now but occasionally checks that we older ones are alright. It is a lovely thing for her to do.

I taught these two girls above and we chat occasionally. The one on the right, Marie, is in her late 50s now with a grownup son of her own but still insists on calling me Sir.

The young lady (left) – Emma and now in her mid 40s with 3 graduate kids and one living in Italy – was one of my adoptees for a few years. I played matchmaker for her (just one of my great skills) and she and her boyfriend would come over to our house. We took them out to the seaside and out for meals. I think I was playing at being a Dad – always looking for Rebecca-Jane.

Emma sent me the most moving card for my 70^th birthday. I was really touched by it. She was and is a lovely girl. By contrast, Terri Lee (Below) was an absolute hooligan who drove me mad. She was always truanting and very aggressive when she was in school. She was very skinny and always looked as if she needed a good meal.

She was intelligent but her life didn’t allow her to use it. We became friends before she left and have remained in regular contact ever since. She is 30 this year and has 3 kids. She is clearly a good Mum and does so much for her family.

Women’s Final at Wimbledon this afternoon. The morning news shocked me with the reminder that it is exactly 50 years since a 19yr old Yvonne Goolagong won the title. She was never quite the same for me when she became Cawley. Tomorrow, our neighbours across the road will be supporting Italy. They told us yesterday that they were a little nervous about reaction around the area. I told them that, if fighting broke out, I would be on their side. Might get an invite to Parma yet!

Griddled Tuna Steaks
Greek Salad and Asparagus

Along with the reminder of Goolagong/Cawley, this morning I also learnt of the death of Paul Mariner, former Ipswich and England centre forward. He was 68 – just 68! He died of brain cancer. It really underlines how precious life is and how we must make the most of it.

Sunday, 27th June, 2021

Lovely, warm and sunny morning. Lots of nice things to start the day. Freshly squeezed orange juice with the conservatory doors flung wide open. The lawn is looking so beautiful and inviting.

It is jab-a-youngster weekend around here and they are desperate for it. This was the scene yesterday as we walked past our Community Centre where Vaccinations are being conducted:

The travel industry is really being forced into unpalatable conditions by the pandemic. Our Easyjet flights in August which were rolled over from last year can be changed without charge at any time up until the day we should fly. Our Athens hotel which we have also rolled over will provide a full refund if we don’t take it up. The IHG booking I’ve made in the philistine territory of the North of England is cancellable up to 3 days before the date. Mind you, it would need a lot to stop us from taking that up.

Overall, I am feeling very optimistic this morning, I’m sure you will be pleased to know. Things will only get better. Probably be living in a tent tomorrow!

On this day 3 years ago, we were wandering through the city of Bergerac on the banks of the Dordogne. Ironically, this evening in 2018, Germany got thrashed by South Korea which bodes well for next Tuesday evening.

The day is ending steamy and humid down here on the South Coast. It’s been enjoyable and I’ve completed my gym session without keeling over.

Monday, 28th June, 2021

Hot and humid start to the morning but dark and gloomy. We have the lights on for breakfast. Sometimes life kisses us and lifts our spirits. I felt like that all day yesterday. Everything felt as if it was lifted on a wave of warm air. The day had started with warm sunshine and 22C/70F and ended in hot and humid conditions. It is my sort of weather. The hotter the better.

Seven years ago, we were close to sealing the deal to sell our Greek property. It had been an intense few months and, to take the pressure off, we took a ferry to Athens for a few days break from the process. Pauline booked an appointment at the hairdressers across the road from our favourite hotel.

The top stylist only cost about €35.00 and she was thrilled with the result. This week she is going for her 3^rd haircut in less than two months. If that doesn’t satisfy, we will be off to Covent Garden Sassoon’s.

When we got back from our 4 day break, the feral cat who had adopted us a couple of year’s earlier was sitting very grumpily staring us out from the patio wall and demanding attention and food. It is one of the things which has tormented us since leaving that we deserted this animal and her family. The people who bought our property didn’t want feral cats as they were expecting a baby imminently.

The poor, old cat would have to pack her bags and make the arduous journey to find new benefactors. She had groomed us very successfully for three years and now would either start all over again or starve. I didn’t want that on my conscience. Everybody deserves a good Breakfast.

I am at the planning stage of my book. Immediately, it throws up problems, demands resources that I struggle with. Writing forces us to expose ourselves to scrutiny. It is painful and embarrassing. You could say I’ve had plenty of practice in my Blog but, make no mistake, this writing holds so much back that a book will expose. Raw, sore, painful honesty will be required. Difficult admissions even to myself and I’m only at the Planning stage. Memories of things I’ve blotted out subconsciously will need to be resurrected. I do ask myself if it is worth it but, if I don’t do it now, I never will.

The day here has turned out really hot and sunny. Our walk was quite sweaty. I found that, all the time I was walking, I was constantly preoccupied by my writing. I’ve got 3 or 4 working titles which I’ll be canvassing to gauge opinion.

Tuesday, 29th June, 2021

Yesterday was lovely, sunny and hot. Last night, we had a cloud burst at around three in the morning. Now, everywhere is fresh and clean. It looks like the next couple of days will be largely overcast. Keep seeing people going away. It’s making me increasingly itchy to travel. Spent an hour or two checking availability and prices in French hotels so I’m ready to go as soon as it’s possible. Our Greek arrangements can be triggered very quickly when we are able to. Our Yorkshire trip is booked. I am not going to be left behind!

About 15 years ago, I was diagnosed with Type-2 Diabetes and high blood pressure. I was prescribed drugs to control them both but, eventually, decided that I had to take my own control. Through diet and weight loss, I managed to completely eradicate my Diabetes and massively reduce my blood pressure drugs. Part of this involved cutting out salt. We replaced it with herbs and it was transforming.

The main herbs our diet features are Oregano, Tarragon, Sage, Thyme, Rosemary, Mint, Chervil, Chives and Basil. We grow them rather than buy them in packets or dried. When they are abundant, like now, Pauline harvests, prepares and freezes to get us through the year. That is what was happening yesterday.

One of the things that contributed to my health getting out of control was Ofsted. Our inner-city, impoverished-catchment school was constantly dipping in and out of Special Measures in the last decade of our careers. It was hugely stressful. My response was to work hard but compensate by eating and drinking too much as well. My image bank for this day 16 years ago reminded me of the specific concern I was focussing on at the time – School Attendance rates. Strategy papers, management meetings, staff training sessions, digital registering, pupil incentives all were tried but we moved the dial by mere single-digit percentage points. At this distance in time, at least I can say, Who cares?

Now, I am working hard to improve my health through daily exercise. They say, No gain without pain. I am finding that is true for me at the moment. To add to my stamina work, I have moved on to weights and my stomach muscles are agony this morning. Even so, I am going to push myself through the pain barrier for a few months. I’m also going to continue restricting my calorie intake. My coffee maker will be my best friend.

Wednesday, 30th June, 2021

The last day of June has started well. Took Pauline for an early appointment at a third, new hairdresser and it looks to have gone well. This hairdresser trained as a ballet dancer with Ballet Rambert (speaks volumes) but then went on to train as a Hairdresser with Vidal Sassoon himself in London before moving on to work in Sassoon‘s Manchester branch. The cut looks good. Fortunately, she has no grey so doesn’t need colouring and the cut only cost £50.00 so will probably merit at least one more visit later.

I wrote recently of the ‘heat’ in our local, property market. This week, an article appeared in the MyLondon publication which rather confirmed what was happening. The pandemic has encouraged a move from the intensity of London life to the more open and healthier environment of seaside villages like ours. Angmering is described as ‘gorgeous’ which I think is going a bit far but it is pleasing if wealthy Londoners think so. They are welcome to come and inflate our property values.

I was born into a family home actually built by my own family firm for family life. We have not had children so that necessity never arose. There is a sense in which family encourages the feeling of a house being a home rather than just another property. We have always bought, invested and sold properties as much for profit even though we have enjoyed living in them. It has, I suppose, contributed to my feeling of rootlessness and not belonging. (Cue sarcastic singing!)

The search, purchase, development and marketing have almost become ends in themselves. We have actually talked about having this house valued and looking again now we have been here 5 years. There is a refusal to accept that the process has finished at the age of 70. Although my mother was from London and her parents from Brighton, she married into a family totally rooted, fully located in the small, Midlands village life with its history, its suffocating cultural, religious and commercial life that I became so desperate to escape. Her world was one of faith, of moral and political certainties, of unquestioning belief that I utterly rejected although her certainty, possibly, made her less troubled than I have been.

Awful news about our old haunts in the North of England this morning. The coronavirus death rate in Greater Manchester has been 25% higher than in the rest of England, new research has found. Long-standing health inequalities, high levels of economic deprivation and wide social disparities have meant the region has suffered especially acutely during the pandemic, the study by Professor Sir Michael Marmot says. To make matters worse, Life Expectancy in Greater Manchester is said to have declined by 2 full years. If you needed a reason to move then this would be it.

Thursday, 1st July, 2021

Happy July! July already? The year, the time, the Life is running ahead too fast. The new month is being greeted by a really lovely morning. The day is warm, sunny and cloudless. Breakfast is taken with the conservatory doors flung wide open and bird song competes with R4 Today.

Sainsburys delivery early, window cleaner arriving and then we are going out to Tesco before more lawn mowing, hedge trimming and a long walk. Pauline’s haircut appears, after one sleep, to have been quite effective so we can relax on that subject for a while.

It is cherry season. I love cherries and am inclined to gorge on them when they are available. The greengrocer in Rustington has two, beautiful types for sale at the moment and I am really enjoying them.

I have been preparing for the slightest window of possibility when we might be able to drive across the Channel by exploring hotel bookings.

It would just be nice to get a suite at our favourite hotel in Coquelles and use it as a springboard to drive to nice places for lunch – Wissant, St Omer, Arras, Le Touquet.

My little sister, skinny Liz, is Director of Social Care & Public Health at Richmond and Wandsworth councils. It always brings me up short when her face comes up on social media. This morning, I accessed Linkedin and there she was, sitting on an empty train from Chiswick to Wandsworth.

Friday, 2nd July, 2021

Interesting morning which started brightly but very quickly became enveloped in a drifting sea mist. It’s a gardening day as the weather is encouraging so much growth everywhere.

I am troubled by my life now that my Blog is so hard to write. On one side, everything is going along quite normally although monotonously and, on the other, the future is turbulent and uncertain. How can I resolve this? I am trying desperately to look to the future with travel plans but it is all hypothetical.

The French will allow fully vaccinated people in but we will need evidence of a negative PCR test taken within 72 hours of departure, or an antigen test within 48 hours of departure. Of course, these are available but at quite a cost both in terms of travel and payment. The most rapid and certain test costs around £110.00 per person which is quite steep for a few days away.

What this will mean is that younger ones who are reluctant to be vaccinated will be penalised. Something reported this morning might give them pause for thought. Hollyoaks tends to have a younger audience although I know some wrinklies watch it. Last night a 28-year-old actress from the soap was rushed to hospital with some severe Covid symptoms. She is on oxygen support and was suffering from excruciating skin pain. 

Of course, new Covid cases increased by 50,000 in the past week which is a 46% increase and UK has more new Covid infections than the whole of the EU put together so they may harden their stance to our entry as Merkel is requesting. For that reason alone, it is a bit risky to book anything yet.

Just to add to the joy, our mobile phone charges, which are significant when we travel, will increase hugely as roaming charges are being reintroduced because of BREXIT!! I use my mobile phone for lots of things abroad not least to stream BBC Radio 4 and the Parliament Channel through the media centre in our car as we travel further south into Europe and the DAB & FM signals disappear. This will become an increasingly expensive luxury. 

The skies have cleared and hot sunshine poured through as we gardened. Just met our new neighbours from across the road. EU nationals, Philippo & Christina are from Parma in Italy. Beautiful place and lovely ham. We have been there many times en route to Greece and back. 

We stayed at the Holiday Inn Express, Parma just off the Autostrada del Sole. I’m not a fan of Elvis but the Manager there was christened Elvis and the hotel proudly advertised it. Really must get to know our neighbours better!

Saturday, 3rd July, 2021

Weather’s a bit depressing this morning – warm but grey. Still, life could be worse. Nice things still happen. I’m losing weight and having new clothes ordered for me. Pauline loves buying things. Actually, I don’t wear clothes very often but there may come a time … Early out to buy fruit – apricots, peaches, cherries – and the sun has come out. It is warm on our faces as we walk.

Never been to America although I always thought I should. I know Pauline has been reluctant but, now, she has an incentive with members of her family living there for the next 18 months. They are in Tampa, Florida which could be interesting. My boyhood friend, Jonathan, has lived in Boston, Massachusetts since the early 1970s and I would like to see him again. Currently, we just communicate occasionally by email. His sister, an early girlfriend of mine, lives in Canada. Can you imagine seeing someone again that you haven’t seen for almost 50 years. It will be fascinating. Jonathan was always the polar opposite of me – scientific and not sporty, not really physical at all and certainly not a literature reader or political. He was scientific, didn’t go to University but went straight into industry and made a real success of it.

Of course, Florida and Massachusetts are almost a continent apart and we would have to fly between the two but it would make an interesting early winter trip. November would probably be the time we would look to travel which may be just too late for Boston’s Fall but that’s not a problem. Would just be lovely to catch up with my Past again.

The Blog is still limping on while Bloggers that I’ve been following for years are falling all around me. Bart Simpson from Paros ceased some time ago. The Skiathan followed into the abyss. Now the Symi Dream boys are no more. Even the Democracy Street lecturer in Corfu writes only very occasionally. Anyway, I write for myself as much as anything else so it will continue. I’m really enjoying Dominic Cummings two Blogs – Dominic Cummings Blog & Dominic Cummings Substack and Professor Chris Grey’s Brexit Blog is a delight each Friday.

Sunday, 20th June, 2021

Going away, going away … When will we be going away? Every time you go away … On this day of low cloud and darkness on the south coast, the sun centres of Europe are strangely quiet and largely deserted.

The UK coastal centres seem to be increasingly popular in contrast. Unfortunately, the sunshine is often missing. We walked through Worthing town centre yesterday and then right back along the beach path. It wasn’t hot and it wasn’t sunny. Plenty of people were dressed for the Mediterranean and wandering aimlessly, looking for the missing link – sunshine.https://www.youtube.com/embed/EImVucJO7Ok?feature=oembed

Twelve years ago today, I heard that my old friend, Nigel had become a Budhist monk. I don’t know why but I was shocked. Nigel was always alternative. When I was with him, he introduced me to Leonard Cohen another (temporary) budhist. Since then he has re-entered the real world, remarried, developed an artistic career and appears to be enjoying life. We have written to each other and, maybe, we will meet up.

I’m not sure how much we would have in common. I’m not sure how much we ever had in common. I liked being challenged by people from backgrounds I had no experience of before. Nigel’s ‘alternative’ was interesting, often bewildering and difficult for me.

What really brings me up short is the gradual aging process. Because we live with ourselves in real-time, we tend not to notice the small changes. Suddenly seeing someone from my past with their accumulation of ‘small changes’ brings one up short and forces self-appraisal. I am old. I look old. I am getting older. Time is running out until we go away for good. Must exercise to stave it off. Lots of experiences to come. Happy Sunday.

Well, the sun has come out. The temperature has struggled up to 22C/70F and I’ve just staggered out of the gym after 2¼ hrs workout. I am starting to break some personal bests with 65 miles covered in the past 7 days and 250 miles in the past 28 days. I’m really feeling a lot better after that. Younger? No! Fitter? Definitely.

Monday, 21st June, 2021

Summer Solstice. Longest Day. Start of Summer. Heavy Rain. What is happening?

Have to wish Harry – Pauline’s cousin’s husband happy 85th birthday today. Haven’t seen them for a couple of years. We must call in this October.

I don’t know why we’ve moved home so many times. I do know that I’ve always been trying to escape my rural village childhood and have never felt rooted enough to one place. Perhaps I’ve been running away. Often people like to stay close to friends or relatives. For me, I think, it isn’t until I’ve left an area that something or someone pops up who I miss.

I did find that I missed Yorkshire when I moved to Surrey. It was the stark, moors landscape and dry-stone walls that had dominated my drive to work each day and become ingrained in my sensibility. Moorland landscape, sheep and Beethoven’s Pastoral Symphony are hard to beat at times although so much rain gives me pause for thought.

I do like to go back and visit my friends in the North. I keep in contact with lots of people from my past but it tends to be on my terms. The Greek interlude contributed to that distancing and encouraging long range contact. I know I’m not alone in this. Others like to reach out but control the contact. Maybe, I attract people similar to myself.

Moving south has been equally challenging. The first step was Surrey near Pauline’s family. It was intended as a stepping off point for driving to Greece but I didn’t enjoy apartment living and I didn’t really enjoy the intensity of bustling Surrey life. Moving further south to the coast has suited me. It is attractive, more relaxing and has wonderful facilities within easy reach although I still don’t feel anything other than dwelling without belonging.

We have always tended to see our properties as investments just as much as homes. Investment in them has always had one eye on re-sale values. Overall, that has paid off. The property I was least happy about certainly gave us the best return by almost doubling its value in 5 years. It looks as if we may have hit a sweet spot down here at this point in development.

The pandemic has seen people flooding out of crowded urban areas into rural and coastal communities. The Sunday Observer had an article examining this yesterday. Prices are rising 14.2% a year in countryside locations on average compared with less than 7% in urban areas but the biggest percentage increases of up to 30% were in Broxtowe in Nottinghamshire, around Lancaster, in Arun in West Sussex and Amber Valley in Derbyshire. We live in Arun in West Sussex and have certainly been amazed at the heat in the property market. This morning, a property across the field from us went on the market for £10 million. Mind you, it has got an indoor swimming pool and a tennis court.

Of course, these valuations are only meaningful if one is prepared to cash in and move. To really capitalise, it would mean us moving back to the North where prices are so much lower. Would we exchange the weather and facilities for that? What neither of us is prepared to admit is that this could be our last property. It is tantamount to admitting defeat and things even worse than that.

Tuesday, 22nd June, 2021

Another grey morning. Not warm either. Going out to town to collect some orders. Not a day for walking on the beach.

In Summer 1966, I was 15 years old and had been smoking experimentally for about a year – on the school bus, in town with friends, never near authority. In Summer 1966, I went to Ireland on the day England won the World Cup. We sailed Holyhead – Dun Laoghaire. When we got to Dublin, my juvenile mind was excited to find how cheap Irish cigarettes were. I bought a packet of the local, Sweet Afton brand.

Even then, cigarette manufacturers were well aware of the toxic nature of their products and tried to disguise it by marketing them under healthy titles. Woodbine (Honeysuckle)  –  was popular. Gold Leaf conveyed a wealth of nature. Sweet Afton in Ireland was named after the Burns poem singing the praises of the pure waters of the Afton River in Scotland. They were very cheap but they made me terribly sick for days. Pity it didn’t put me off smoking sooner. I saw them advertised yesterday and felt pleased that I haven’t smoked for more than 35 years.

Maybe it’s because I’ve turned 70 but these past few months have been like a roller coaster ride of highs and lows which I haven’t experienced for years and haven’t found easy to cope with. Reaching back to 1966 feels such a long way away and yet also quite close. There is an enormity to Life and Death, to People and Loss that I struggle to get to grips with.

I am fighting to control it and to maximise the delightful parts while minimising the harsh sadnesses like Janus the god of beginnings, transitions and endings, of life & death. I am currently facing both ways. Janus was the god of gates & doors between what was and what is to come.

Facing the immediate future, I have booked 5 nights in the North in October 17^th – 22^nd which will give us more flexibility to visit and catch up. Something to look forward to.

Regular readers of the Blog will know that I brought a seed pod of a Canarian tree back from Tenerife about 3 years ago. I boiled the seeds and sowed them. They germinated with great success and I potted the seedlings up. They grew into trees of some 5ft tall. I couldn’t justify a potted forest in the conservatory windows so just one was nurtured through two winters. It grew too tall to come in last winter and appeared to die in the cold spell. On the off chance, I fed and watered it a couple of months ago and ….. shoots appeared. It just goes to show that anything has potential for being revived if we are only prepared to give it a chance.

Oh, Delonix Regia, I thought I’d lost you. Now you are back. Grow old with me and I will take much more care of you. I must look for a good, protective blanket for this winter.

Wednesday, 23rd June, 2021

A nice and sunny morning. We have cancelled deliveries and are going shopping in Sainsburys early. Then I can cut the lawns and Pauline could harvest, prepare and freeze herbs from the garden. It will be nice to see the sun after a few days absence and to cook outside again. On this day in 2018, we were setting off to drive to the Dordogne for a month in the sun and to buy up a red wine lake. Now alcohol is banned.

I am doing just over 2 hrs of exercise a day and have done for the past 132 consecutive days. Once I’m in the pattern, it is harder to not do it than just complete my regime. It is actually giving me pleasure and encouraging me to watch a lot more films than I could have ever anticipated. An interesting article entitled Experimental Gerontology in The Times this morning by a Professor in the Centre for Health and Ageing at the University of Wales.

His central thesis is that a man in his late sixties can cut his biological age by up to 20 years through exercise alone. On average a man’s maximum attainable heart rate declines by about one beat a minute each year after the age of 30. About 90g of muscle is lost each year from the age of 40, meaning that a man in his seventies who does no exercise typically has a third less muscle than a 25-year-old. Regular exercise in older age and cutting out spam burgers can really turn back the clock. I, for one, am prepared to listen.

The word Patron is French for Boss. Patronise can mean to do business with although it can also mean to treat in a way that betrays a feeling of superiority. The two are obviously linked as the Boss deals with subordinates with an air of superiority. I can be bossy. I can be insensitive. I am obviously superior but, to call me patronising, is very hurtful. I was called patronising the other day because I described the facts about the North of England. Pointing out facts can never be patronising unless they are manufactured to establish a falsely superior position.

Now this Tory, Brexiter government really is patronising. Levelling up? In words only! Reports out yesterday say Barnsley Hospital in South Yorkshire is struggling to find beds for patients. This is the Red Wall! Vaccination and healthcare provision in the south means we have virtually no Covid cases and yet this is the headline in the MEN last night.

A friend of ours who is Deputy Head at one, large Oldham school has more than 30% of the pupil population isolating because of Covid today. Right across Greater Manchester the stats are not good. What are the Tories doing to help them? Words are cheap!

Anyway, can you imagine, dear reader, anyone actually ascribing such a description as patronising to someone as gentle as me? I bet they were a Brexit voter!

Thursday, 24th June, 2021

Lovely day yesterday. Good, warm sunny weather which helped. The garden ended up looking good after mowing, strimming, and sweeping and a long exercise session saw me lose another few pounds.

Trip to Sainsbury’s which meant using my shopping app and Google Pay on my phone. Made me feel part of the real world again. Had a ‘fraud’ query from our bank this morning because we have used the online services so little in the past 12 months. We have to have new cards which would be welcome anyway.

Found photos of old friends from exactly 50 years ago. Lovely to see them again. This is from an Art trip to London in the sunshine.

This morning is warm and sunny again but we are off to the Dentist for the first time in over a year. Not looking forward to it. Let you know later how it goes. …. Well, it was painful as the probe dug into my gums and I was admonished by the beautiful Persian lady for substandard oral hygiene. After signing up for £450.00 annual contracts, I have to see the hygienist again tomorrow morning. What get-out clause can I find this time?

Just 9 years ago, I was working quite happily in my Greek Office without a care in the world. So much has happened since then. In 9 more years, I will be almost 80. How can this be?

I’ve resolved to start my book. The book I’ve been promising myself for the past decade. It will be loosely based around my life story. I’ve been doing it for years in my Blog. Now, I am going to try to use certain important, traumatic, emotional, ecstatic events of mine and project them onto a central character. 

You may find this strange but it is exactly how my sense of motivation works. The impetus to start has been triggered by a new piece of software that will make the construction of the book enjoyable. I can already ‘see’ the process in my mind’s eye.

I have had my work produced in book form before. Over 30 years ago, I wrote R.H. Tawney and the Medieval Tradition for my research Masters Degree. It had to be professionally printed, bound and gold-tooled. It took almost 2 years of research and writing to get to this stage and it was all done in the evenings after work.

I must say that the process was long and painful and the finished product didn’t give me the feeling of joy that I had expected. I did feel that, at least, I hadn’t let myself down and I was pleased to have achieved the M.A. but I almost never referred to it or mentioned it afterward. It had no relevance to my professional career and didn’t help it one bit. It just helped me feel better about myself. I would have felt even better if I had gone on to the Doctorate but it seemed too self-indulgent and over demanding.

When we sold up in Greece I created a sales website to advertise the house. It involved dozens of photos and lots of information about the suppliers who had contributed to its construction. As we were leaving for the last time, I thought a permanent record of the journey to and from Greece along with a record of the land purchase and the property we built would be a nice thing to look back on. I used all the data I had to create a book. I did it online and had it printed and sent to me. It is a lovely memory.

Just staggered out of the gym at 3.00 pm and the sun has gone. I am shattered, wet and a little dejected. My shirt weighs more than I do at this stage. Time for a shower!

Friday, 25th June, 2021

Grey and damp start to the day. Woken to news of travel to the sun delayed even further. I’ve got a huge spot erupting on the side of my face like some love-sick teenager. What is happening to me? Am I regressing?

Had a phone call from a Spanish Estate Agent / Currency FX supplier yesterday asking if I was ready to proceed with property viewing. Daft question really and he admitted he knew the answer already. Nothing will happen until we can travel out. Ten years ago this morning, I was waving at you from the beach car park in Φάρος (Lighthouse) in 32C/90F of heat.

It was great to have our own car on the island because so few rentals featured air-conditioning. Today, you would be hard pressed to find 5 tourists on that beach and the islanders will be devastated by the UK government’s failure to allow Brits out there just as they will be worried by Europe’s attempt to keep Brits out. At least it may provide them with some compensation although it won’t really make up for 2 seasons without income.

I was thinking about Pocahontas overnight. Strange nightmare or what? When we first started going to Greece, it was a cheap, student, back-packing ‘hippy’ destination. Rooms were cheap, meals out were incredibly cheap and charter flights were very cheap. Gradually, the Greeks tried to develop and mature their tourist offering for the more affluent traveller. We matured with it. Who knows where it will go back to after the pandemic. Who knows where any of us will go back to after the pandemic.

Back to the Hygienist at lunchtime. If the Blog fails to materialise after this, it will be because I have been arrested for serious assault on a Hygienist. Those probes they stick in my gums are excruciating for a little person like me. Calm & Gentle they call it as they calmly torture my mouth. What I really need is the peace & love of the hippy style.

Saturday, 26th June, 2021

Lovely blue sky and sunshine this morning. The lawns are bright, vibrant green set against the pure blue of the sky but they need cutting again already. That is the highlight of the day! That and walking down to the surgery to collect repeat prescriptions. What is life becoming? Leaves me feeling a bit flat.

Well, I survived half an hour with the Hygienist but not her forward plan for me. She wants 2 x 1hr sessions with me immediately at a cost of 2 x £190.00 plus 3 x 30 mins sessions over 12 months at a cost of 3 x £95.00. Cost of being tortured by a Hygienist – £665.00. This is in addition to an annual dentistry plan. I swallowed quite hard when I was able to and said I would think about it. I can’t imagine an hour with a Hygienist at all never mind 2 in a fortnight.

Three years ago today, I was in the market of the small, southern French village of St. Sauveur. It is just outside the city of Bergerac on the banks of the Dordogne. We were buying fish from the mobile shop that turned up twice a week. The temperature was very hot – 32C/90F – and we were delighted to find swordfish steaks (Steaks d’Espadon) for the grill. I love the struggle with alternative languages and cultures. I like to be challenged and taken out of my comfort zone. It is enlivening and I miss it.

Just 49 years ago this summer, I arrived in Oldham. I still don’t know why. I need to ask someone! I really knew nothing about the place and yet I spent most of my life there. This photo posted yesterday is from exactly that time. By the look of it, I am History although I am still determined to be Present & Future! My kiss & tell book will be sensational. Forward purchases will be welcome soon!

Sunday, 13th June, 2021

Well, the Blog, like me, is staggering on to Week 651. That represents 12½ years of my life and we will see if it can quietly stagger to year 13. I will never be able to compete with my hero, Tony Benn, and his lifelong records nor will it be as significant. It will gently fade away with me.

The sky is blue and completely clear. The sun is strong and already warm. At 7.30 am, the temperature is 19C/66F and is forecast to reach 27C – 29C/81F – 84F during the day. I’m going in the gym now at 8.00 am before it gets a bit too hot. My orange juice, freshly squeezed and gorgeous, tasted slightly better this morning. My wife informed me that we had won the Lottery. The huge sum of £51.00 will not change my life but it will cover Pauline’s Beauty treatment later in the week. Fortunately, I don’t need anything.

The fairly meaningless replacements for the European Health Insurance Cards, the GHIC, arrived very swiftly yesterday. We requested them on-line and they have only taken a few days to come. What the hell we are going to do with them and how long it will be before we need them, goodness only knows. Some of the papers including the mouthpiece of the Tory Party – The Sunday Telegraph – are running a front-page report today that restrictions could be in place until next Spring when we will be 71!

Experiencing strange connections of people-places-times at the moment. A girl I taught and last saw circa 40 years ago was in contact with me yesterday. She was born in Oldham but now lives in Bournemouth and she and her family spent last Friday in Southampton walking in exactly the same places, photographing exactly the same sights that I had done the day before. I know this is not earth-shattering but that co-incidental link, that invisible thread across time and place is what fascinates and moves me.

I suspect that I would not be alive now if the events of 36 years ago hadn’t occurred. I was smoking 40 cigarettes each day. I know I have written about it before but I like to remind myself. I had given up the strong, acrid French tobacco in Gauloises cigarettes but 2 packets of anything was a lot and would cost me at least £23.00 per day at current rates. Sitting, delivering an M.A. paper one evening at Huddersfield University, I absent-mindedly lit a cigarette in my mouth but set fire to the filter instead of the tobacco. Anyone who has done that will know the acrid taste produced. It revolted me and I never smoked another cigarette nor did I suffer withdrawals in spite of having tried and failed to quit many times.

This week will also feature another life-threatening/life-saving event that I acknowledge annually. Healthier and wealthier is a good place to be. Now I will try to survive my gym session. My film today was Waiting for the Barbarians with the brilliant Mark Rylance. It is based on a novel by the literary titan and Nobel prizewinner, J.M. Coetze, and is a political allegory that deals with the savagery of colonialism. It invokes an anti-imperialist analogy to white supremacy through human history. Not an easy watch.

I have survived a hot and sweaty 2¼ hr session and emerged, blinking into strong sunlight as the temperature in our back garden hits 30C/86F. That was it for today. Relaxing in the sun. Griddled Tuna steaks with green bean & asparagus salad and iced, sparkling water. Really tired now. Just about enough energy to watch highlights of the England match. Won’t be running to the bar for Last Orders that’s for certain.

Monday, 14th June, 2021

We are only one week away from the Summer Solstice and Longest Day. Monday morning, 8.00 am, clear blue sky, strong sunshine, 22C/70F – a long, day empty as the sky lies ahead. What to do?

One answer is easy – put out the bins, do my weekly INR test, drink my orange juice, perform the Rapid Antigen Covid test, reply to people who have contacted me in another life. Submerge myself in everyday life ….

My INR test result is near perfect. The Covid test is perfectly negative. My orange juice is delicious. I will complete my exercise regime and find jobs around the garden. And yet …what is it all for?

When you are old and grey and full of sleep,
And nodding by the fire, take down this book,
And slowly read, and dream of the soft look
Your eyes had once, and of their shadows deep;

How many loved your moments of glad grace,
And loved your beauty with love false or true,
But one man loved the pilgrim soul in you,
And loved the sorrows of your changing face;

When You Are Old’ (1892) by W.B.Yeats

I lead a number of lives. There is my day to day which I record in the Blog. There is the fantasy life that I suspect most of us have but few of us talk about. For me it is fed by literature, the arts of drama, poetry and music and then there is a political, intellectual life that informs and analyses the world around us. These days, I am reduced to discussing, debating, arguing with old ‘friends’/associates. It has even extended my understanding of people who I knew in my past but haven’t seen for so many years.

Peter Holgate for example and the well-travelled, John Morris have re-appeared since I retired and proved interesting examples of the error of my tendency to erase the past. I follow and have quite a few followers on Twitter. I ‘talk’ to politicians, barristers, journalists throughout the day in this alternative world. I try hard to keep them apart and the Blog rarely features these political debates if I can help it.

There is the world of Bloggers that I follow avidly – Dominic Cummings Blog, Professor Chris Grey’s Brexit Blog can be riveting reads at times. I follow Greek Blogs like Keep Talking Greece which keeps me up to date. However, occasionally, on mornings like this one, I wake and ask myself, Why?

Although a 4 week delay to release of Covid restrictions is baked-in to the system, Twitter is convinced that will not be the end. This from an epidemiologist this morning:

No chance they’ll relax further in 4 weeks’ time. That will be at the peak of the current wave of cases. Essentially this means no change of further relaxation til at least mid-August

Even a government minister has said this morning that 4 weeks may not be enough. That would scupper even our Greek trip.

Just been phoned by the Oxford University research team to say they want to come round this afternoon. We will host them in the garden where it is 27C/81F….. Lovely girl arrived for a pint of blood. Ex-teacher doing a long day testing old souls like me. Tempted her with a glass of white wine. She has two more calls to make before home. What a job!

Tuesday, 15th June, 2021

I take Warfarin or rat poison every day of my life and have done since 22^nd January 2009. Many would say that rat poison is totally appropriate for me. It prevents my blood from clotting during the heartbeat cycle and, therefore, creating a stroke or heart attack. It is no big deal and I test my clotting rate once a week with my home INR machine.

What I am sensitive to is cutting myself, internal bruising and blood tests. Yesterday evening, I did a blood test and an hour after the young lady tester had left, I was still bleeding. I had my hand wrapped in an old tea towel to absorb the drips and protect the furniture. On days like this, I don’t volunteer to play the piano.

On days like this, one can feel the life drain out of one, the love of life swiftly follows leaving the body empty and unfeeling. And so it goes. Life’s blood, Love’s blood drains away into the earth. Dispersed and not accounted for. And so it goes

The day is hot and sunny again. We need ice! Our fridge/freezer came with the new house. It doesn’t have an integrated water/ice dispenser that we would have chosen. We are receiving an ice-making machine from a Brighton company today.

If we are going to be stuck here this summer and it looks as if we will be, we have decided to augment our patio furniture with a dining table and chairs. We’ve ordered them but so have a lot of other people.

Wednesday, 16th June, 2021

Up at 6.00 am this morning to a hot and sunny start. Quite a few things to fit in and Pauline is going for an early Beauty treatment. Even at this time it is 17C/63F and humid.

Another glorious, hot, sunny but humid day yesterday. We went for a drive down the coast which was busy with tourists on the beaches, in the cafes and on the roads. We drove through Worthing, Lancing, Shoreham by Sea, Brighton, Rottingdean and Saltdean.

Two days before my 6^th birthday in 1957, the Queen and Prince Philip were escorted round Repton School by the Archbishop of Canterbury who had formerly been Head of the school. The Queen was opening a new wing and simultaneously considering a placement for Prince Charles who, ultimately, went to Gordonstoun. The whole village turned out to greet her and this photo includes my maternal Grandfather in his trademark bow tie on the back right.

Grandad James, Joseph, Jeremiah Coghlan was of Irish Catholic heritage but born in Brighton coincidentally just 10 miles from where I now live. When Bob & I were 3-4 years old, Grandad took us to Bognor Regis, Brighton where he rode a huge, white horse on the beach and through the waves to remind himself of his days in the WW1 Cavalry Regiment.

He particularly loved Rottingdean and Saltdean just further on from Brighton and took us in an open-top bus ride there and back. A memory of 1955. Can you imagine it? It is strange how somethings fade completely and others, so long ago, burn inside one’s memory for ever. Sometimes the stick-dry and wrinkly benefits of people from the past flicker into flame and start to burn in the tinder of those memories. Sometimes the winds of change just blow them out.

All of this is clear in my pre- 5 yr old’s memory. I remember being allowed to eat pork pie and baked beans for tea for the first time. Trashy but Paradise! Mum was not happy to hear of that when we got back to Repton.

There was a time when I loved all those foods that were forbidden at home. I even know of people who like crisp sandwiches. Can you believe it? Carbohydrate filled with carbohydrate. Guaranteed for weight gain. All of these things are forbidden by me now. It is different when the prohibition is self-applied. Well, it is for me. My character automatically rebels against any authority and I refuse to be beaten!

I’ve had a nagging toothache for about three weeks now. It isn’t terrible and is very unusual for me but it has forced us to address the search for a new Dental practice. We have finally decided on Calm & Gentle ,Rustington and have taken out contracts and made opening appointments for next week.

I have been allocated to this lovely lady who is said to be the most calm and gentle of the staff. I am led to understand that she also supplies glasses of red wine for nervous patients like me. She sounds my sort of girl. There can be genuine benefits in pain.

Glorious day which has hovered around 27C/81F throughout. The sun is intense and strong and I am beginning to look like a refugee from the sub-continent.https://www.youtube.com/embed/90mnNUi__yg?feature=oembed

As I conclude this with last night’s sunset in East Preston, it fills me with a huge and swelling feeling of loss that can probably never be reclaimed. Life falling inexorably into a sinking ball of fire. Dying in the sun…

Thursday, 17th June, 2021

A warm and humid night. The temperature didn’t fall below 17C/63F although we had some welcome rain. It is going to be a muggy but overcast day for us. There is light sunshine and we’ve reached 22C/70F but feels very downbeat after yesterday.

Visited our favourite Green Grocers in Rustington yesterday for bunches of delicious asparagus. When I get addicted/committed, I find it hard to let go.

A friend sent me this a couple of days ago and kindly included a memory jogger. This photo is of almost exactly 50 years ago. There is not so much about the scene to age it. The hair styles maybe. Of course, re-meeting the people would certainly move time on. I wasn’t on this trip but just one glance at the faces and I am transported to those days. I must admit I had forgotten four of the characters but Nigel, Chris and Christine were part of my circle.

What this photo does emphasise is the painful loss through time. The lightness, the freedom, the insecurity celebrated as absence of responsibility are all left back there in the sunset of those 50 years ago. We are all heavier now – some of us much heavier – weighed down by the experiences of the years, carrying the responsibilities of our situations as our lives have matured.

It is fascinating to find that so many of our cohort have reached out to reconnect particularly since retirement and especially spurred on by arriving at 70 years old. They appear to have found real enjoyment in reopening the past. I have found it much harder in reality.

Move on just 9 years from this and on 17^th June, 1980 I all but ended my life on this bend in Oldham, Lancashire of all places. Regular and long serving readers of the Blog may turn away and stifle a yawn at this point. I know I do it every year but this is my record and the event was so almost terminal for me – falling through the sunset into eternal darkness – I feel it just as necessary to annually observe  as I do deaths of other friends and relatives.

I was so lucky. So lucky to be hit by a car and badly injured, so lucky to be recuperating for the best part of a year, so lucky to have lost almost two years out of my career, so lucky to be alive. I could have died and not been able to say, Goodbye. The really strange thing about this is that I remember almost nothing about it. Unlike the events of 50 years ago, the event a decade later was never presented to me in any coherent fashion. Anything I really pretend to remember was retold to me later in recovery.

Friday, 18th June, 2021

Heavy rain this morning. The whole world looks fresh and clean. Wonder what this one will bring. Certainly, I will be exercising in the gym and not out on the roads today.

Strange day in prospect. We had just filled the car with enough fuel to drive approximately 500 miles when we received a call from Honda to say that there was a recall on our Hybrid CRV to cover an issue with the fuel pump. Could we book our car in for the upgrade but it would need to be low on fuel at the time? Consequently, we have done trips to Southampton, Brighton, Worthing and all points in between to get rid of 460 miles from the tank. This morning, it is going in at 8.30 am for the upgrade.

The roads are awash with the night’s rain and the fuel light comes on as we drive but a cup of coffee and Honda’s wi-fi see us through the 40 mins wait.

Yesterday, this ex-college, young man proudly announced that he had completed the last 2 of the 214 ‘Wainright’ peaks in the Lake District. He said it had taken him 7 years. Today, it was announced that this young woman below had just broken the record by completing the full 214 peaks in just 6 days.

Although leaving Greece 7 years ago was painful, a year later we felt fully vindicated when these headlines started appearing:

We managed to avoid the financial hit and/or long wait for Greek property price recovery. Even now, we would still be waiting and the pandemic would have meant us leaving our property empty and untended for 18 months. So, pain is tempered by relief. We still have vague hopes of returning at the end of August but that hope is increasingly feint.

Saturday, 19th June, 2021

Rather overcast and cool this morning. Definitely not one for sea swimming. Pity really because I could shown off my new haircut. I had it done by one of my favourite barbers yesterday. Have to pose in the mirror instead! My wife is going for her 3^rd attempt at getting the right hairdresser in 6 weeks on Thursday. It appears to be a very difficult task. I have been urging her to go back to Sassoon’s in London and I think she will if this one doesn’t turn out to be ‘acceptable’.

There were some reasons for optimism yesterday if not particularly in the football. The revival of liberal England is definitely a reason to be hopeful.  The Lib.Dem. by-election win in a previously ‘safe’ Tory seat sends out a strong message to both Left and Right. This was the first solidly ‘Remain’ seat to be contested and it sent a message to the Labour Party that Embrace Brexit is not a winning message. It also sent just as strong a message out to the Tories that to concentrate on the Red Wall, less educated, less affluent, less liberal demographic is to desert their core support. The two parties are almost having to swap places.

This book is going to be on my reading list. Always liked Gillian Tett. One to take to the beach. The demise of the DUP in Northern Ireland and the lost Brexit vote allied to Johnson’s hopeless Withdrawal Agreement/NI Protocol is proving an almost unstoppable force towards Irish Reunion. Who needs the I.R.A. when you’ve got the Tories?

On the downside: A new wave of infections is definitely under way in England, says Prof Adam Finn of the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation. It does not bode well for summer travel. The Greeks still expect mask wearing indoors and out and have a night time curfew from Midnight to 5.00 am. This is not the way to enjoy a holiday and certainly not if the weather is warm and sunny.

Over 90% of the UK’s infection increase is Delta (Indian) variant whereas France and Germany have around 2%. New cases are now increasing exponentially in Russia, China, Mexico, Argentina & Brazil.

Despite this, I’m feeling much more optimistic today. I don’t know why. I’ve just been checking our Easyjet flights which are 58 days away. At least now we can cancel without loss right up to the day before. We can change dates without additional cost and, currently, there is so little demand that next year’s tickets would cost us less than half this year’s. Newspaper headline this morning: UK holiday costs more than Europe as demand grows.

Sunday, 6th June, 2021

Well, there certainly ain’t no sunshine today. Warm but overcast. So emphasises the difference sunshine makes to one’s life. It sort of links the everyday mundanities into a coherent whole … but you don’t always get want you want!

 The Agente Immobiliario in Aguilas, Spain contacted me yesterday while I was out and our hotel in Athens also emailed me about our rolled-over Summer booking. It is so frustrating that I can’t do anything about either at the moment.

Our island of Sifnos has installed another webcam which pans (after a long time) up the valley and towards our house. It is almost too painful to watch because we know every inch of every road, beach & pathway. We recognise old friends as they drive or walk down to the port. We can monitor the new developments that have taken place since we were last there. Hope falls on stony ground.

Did an hour in the gym and then an hour walking in the emerging sunshine. Lovely and warm on our faces one way and on our backs returning. Only 21C/70F. Quite tired now. My recovery rate does not seem to be improving fast enough. I am only 70 after all.

Monday, 7th June, 2021

Our local beach is fringed with rows of Beach Huts – white sheds. I remember my childhood holidays often included a beach hut so we could spend the day down at the beach and catering for the family of kids. I must admit, those experiences coloured my judgement and I saw them as outmoded features of a bygone age. The Sunday Observer had a report yesterday about the value of these ‘sheds’.

The headline was:

The trend for UK holidays has pushed prices for the UK’s 20,000 candy-coloured seaside cabins through the roof.

and the article featured some ‘sheds’ on the beach in Essex which were bought for £10,500.00 4 years ago and are now on the market for £48,500.00. Some on the North Norfolk coast resort of Wells-next-the Sea, Pauline’s old, family home, are going for just under £100,000.00. Mind you, it is known as Chelsea-on-Sea.

John Ridley posted a photo of his house in North Yorkshire. He bought it from new in 1980. I find it hard to conceive of staying in one place for over 40 years. In that time, we have bought and sold 8 properties and speculated to accumulate. I am one of those that Theresa May sneered at as citizens of nowhere or Erewhon as Samuel Butler entitled his famous novel.

We are going out to shop today. Our region has almost no Covid infections. We feel very comfortable out and about although we are still wearing masks. Might go for a walk on the beach later particularly now the kids are back in school.

The beach was a lonely place today. Children back at school and sea mist down on the horizon. The tide was almost in and lapping gently around the rocks. Perhaps I should take a few more risks like Christine Dagg celebrating her 70th birthday with a first-time Glider experience.

An hour in the gym and an hour out walking has left me tired but feeling I’ve fulfilled my commitment. The day has ended with gorgeous, hot sunshine.

Tuesday, 8th June, 2021

Sea mist start to the day again but it presages a hot and sunny one later. Humidity is rising. Looking for pinpricks of light in the gloom, I applied to replace our expiring EHIC cards for the new, GHIC ones. This is more in hope than expectation but hope is all we have. The Global Health Insurance Card reminds us of Brexit but we’ll use it for now.

As soon as travel is freed up, we need to be ready. Hopefully, European and Transatlantic travel will become a possibility again and we can escape this gloom. The application was a fairly simple, on-line affair which took about 5 minutes and promises to deliver our new cards with 10 working days. I.T really has made life so much more simple.

Pauline’s old school friend, who moved out to live on Gozo two or three years ago, messaged me this morning to say it was 28C/83F and very sunny there this morning. I immediately wanted to jump on a plane but it is just not possible currently.

I’ve decided we can’t just wait around for things to happen. We need to get out. We’ve decided to drive down to Southampton for the day and the weather looks like it is genuinely improving over the next few days. We’ve only been to Southampton once since we got here. It’s only about an hour’s drive away as is a lovely city of ancient and modern contrasts. It has the nearest IKEA to our home although one is currently under construction about 10 miles away now.

Sainsbury’s and Parcelforce deliveries will keep me at home this morning so a hard stint in the gym will be my initial exercise. It’s 9.20 am and all sea mist burnt off revealing clear, blue sky and strong sunshine. A hot walk will be this afternoon’s activity.

Of course, talk about ‘heat’ is all relative. In 2013, this was the scene around our house shortly after we had employed workers to clear the grounds.

I then went on to employ a little goblin for ‘free’ to spray weed killer on the residual areas so that the grounds – a number of acres – remained clear until we left in October. The sun is so strong that nothing regrows without watering during the summer months.

Well, today went on to reach 25C/77F and I did 2 hrs straight in the gym and then ruined it all by drinking a bottle of wine. I’ve been driven to it by demons. Our region has 21 cases of Covid infection. Sky News is reporting that Greater Manchester is being advised to minimise travel out of the region and that there is concern at a ‘very serious’ Conwy county cluster. It is hard to see what the connection is but there must be something.

Wednesday, 9th June, 2021

A blue, cloudless sky with hot sunshine this morning. It is 19C/66F at 9.00 am but forecast to get somewhere near 25C/77F later. However, it all feels a bit aimless. I am looking for work to do to keep me sane. The garden will need watering. We are having a delivery of fish – just two sides of salmon of about 4kg.  I will need to prepare the car for the drive tomorrow. I will punish myself with another, hard, 2-hr workout in the gym.

Last night, we were casting round for something to watch on TV. The recent BAFTA winner, I May Destroy You, was downloadable from SKY. I felt like I had moved into a parallel universe from the start. Even so, I watched the first 3 episodes but it didn’t get any easier. I tried to give it a genuine chance but the events were so out of my experience that jumping the credibility gap was to0 much.

I was much more gripped by Newsnight on BBC2 and the discussion of the Northern Ireland Protocol. It was clear from the start that Johnson blithely signed the ‘Deal’ knowing that it sold Ireland, the fishing industry and the City of London Financial hegemony down the river in order to say he had got Brexit done and to win an election while arrogantly believing he could renege on it all later and just carry on as if nothing had happened. He actually appeared on camera telling the Irish traders exactly that. Now, it has come back to haunt him and Biden will be forced to sort it out.

Talking about dodgy dealing, the Memory Box threw up a strange record this morning which illustrates completely the dodginess of the Greeks. For the first 10 years of using our Greek house, we didn’t fully understand the supply of services. Electricity, particularly, was extremely cheap.

Then, when we were thinking of selling, we found out why. We had been living on Agricultural Electricity rates for all those years which was strictly illegal but encouraged by our Greek friends as a good way to cheat the system. Greeks are never happier than when cheating the state system. In order to formalise our supply for the purposes of selling, we had to jump through all sorts of hoops and feign ignorance about the rules over previous years. Even the Δημόσια Επιχείρηση Ηλεκτρισμού (Electricity Office) man had to be bribed with bottles of whisky. What strange, invigorating times.

Thursday, 10th June, 2021

Up early on a warm and humid but overcast morning. Orange juice and tea and then straight into the gym where I did a hard 2hrs workout being urged on by a voice in my head. That voice congratulated me on having lost 3 st since my birthday 9 weeks ago. Shower and change and then off to Southampton – a 49 mile/1hr drive. Actually, the traffic was heavy and it took us a little bit longer.

Down at the port, the activity was minimal. A TUI Cruise ship and a Carnival one but little going on. Not much action on the Red Funnel, Isle of White ferry either.

Southampton itself didn’t look so exciting as it can do in hot sunshine. The pandemic has clearly had a big effect on travel and trade. IKEA was very quiet. The streets were distinctly underused. The Leonardo Royal Hotel Southampton Grand Harbour looked far from grand and the Marco Pierre White restaurant inside was closed.

There is a jarring of old and new in the architecture which isn’t handled as well as some cities.

All the mood music seems to be for a stay on relaxation of Covid restrictions which is not good news but, when you see the Red List of rapidly increasing infection rates, it becomes clear why. They are largely concentrated in the North of England in general and Greater Manchester in particular.

RED LIST 

The 25 areas placed on Delta variant watchlist are revealed below as this strain is said to be ‘60% more infectious’ than the original:

However, local lock downs have generally proved unsuccessful so it will probably make sense to continue a blanket policy until the R-Rate, which many consider to be between 2.5 – 2.8, is brought below 1.0 again.

Friday, 11th June, 2021

Another morning of Mizzle (mist & drizzle) just as Cornwall is experiencing as well. It reflects my feelings exactly. Very warm, humid night. Nothing much on the horizon today unless you include a trip to Tesco this morning. I have been completing this Blog for 650 weeks of my life but I am beginning to wonder if I can carry on with it.

In the gym, I’ve been watching a terribly harrowing film called 1917 directed by Sam Mendes. It is a true story and deals with people dying without the support of their loved ones. The concept is so unbelievably sad that I found it almost impossible to watch. Not being able to say, Goodbye, has to be one of the worst things in the world.

When we were researching places in Sussex to buy houses, we looked at Horsham. It is rather more expensive because of its easier commuter links and we were attracted by its café culture with excellent restaurants and shops. It was a choice between that and proximity to the beach and, ultimately, the latter won out.

Horsham isn’t far away if we want its facilities but an easy walk to the beach is far more appealing. We had a quick drive to Horsham this afternoon and quickly realised that we made the right decision.

Saturday, 12th June, 2021

Blue sky, sunshine and real warmth. Everything is set for a lovely few days but they feel empty. Never needed friends more than now. My travel app tells me that we have 65 days until we fly to Athens. Will it happen? Who knows? If travel restrictions are eased by mid-July, we will try a French trip but the 3^rd Wave of infection, which is surely starting, may extend the shut down even further. This morning, it is reported that British Airways is to put thousands of its staff back on full-time furlough which is an ominous sign. It’s really feeling like imprisonment and that things are getting worse not better.

Highlights of the day: early trip to Sainsburys followed by lawn mowing and patio cleaning. What more could anyone want? A hot and sweaty gym session is coming and then … ???

Inflation is coming but there is so little opportunity for safe savings products at the moment. I’m constantly searching for other possibilities. Reading the Manchester Evening News last night, this appeared.

Manchester Waters transforms a former 26 acre dockland site located between the residential neighbourhood of Castlefield and Salford Quays into a first-class city-living development. Buying ‘off-plan, the apartments start from £124,995 and could ‘expect’ a return of 6% outside capital appreciation. Looks like an exciting proposition that might be worth investigating.

Exactly a year ago today, I snapped this little chap in Tesco carpark. I wonder if he is still alive. Will we be this time next year?

For someone who hadn’t watched a film – even a piece of fiction for absolutely years until 12 months ago, I now escape into unreality at every possibility. Tells you something about how I’m viewing my life. I do two hours in the gym each day and almost watch a full film each time. I subscribe to Amazon Prime, Netflix, Sky Cinema, Film 4, as well as having BBCiPlayer and ITV Hub.

I can’t decide whether I choose sad films to suit my mood or sad films create my mood. Whatever, sadness seems to pervade the atmosphere at the moment. I am fixated on Ireland currently. Today, I was watching a British/IRA conflict film called ’71. It is my history. The year 1971 was a critical almost momentous year for me but the Irish conflict was just a back drop at the time, a feature on television news.

In retrospect, I should have taken it more seriously. There were a lot of things I should have taken more seriously but youth can never be told. In age, it appears too late. In the film, the young soldier on his virgin mission in Belfast gets in to trouble, is deserted by his friends and forced to fend for himself. Although it makes him stronger, it also breaks him inside. His trust in people is destroyed. It is a cruel lesson for a good person and a shaming lesson for mankind.

Sunday, 30th May, 2021

Summer was back across the country yesterday. Wall to wall sunshine and 23C/74F. Even late in the evening, people were sitting out with friends. We had a trip to the Garden Centre and started to ‘dress’ our extended patio area with pots of colour.

We will have to rig up some automatic watering system when we go away but at least they will provide some interest for a few weeks. Geraniums which I love because my Mother hated them and Impatiens which we all used to know as the house plant, Busy Lizzie, but are now developed for long-lasting and tough garden plants.

Having spent years doing extensive gardening and, particularly, vegetable growing, we bought this property with minimal garden because we expected to be travelling a lot. Now, we feel a bit frustrated. A trip to the Garden Centre is agony because we want one of everything but have nowhere to put anything.

I raked and fed the lawns. We enjoyed an afternoon of intense sun. Our one meal of the day was Roast Salmon with pesto crust, Tomato & Basil salad and Asparagus. It is plenty for me. I’ve now lost all my pre-Covid weight gain and I’m into new territory. It’s a lovely feeling.

Caught a recent recording of A Place in the Country this afternoon which featured West Sussex and our village of Angmering. The area was presented in a very attractive light. West Sussex is officially the sunniest county in the UK and the price of an average house is currently £570,000.00. Property is in great demand down here and sells within days of it going on the market.

A cheering piece of news arrived in the post this morning. Pauline and I try to support the Oxford University and ONS Statistics Survey by entertaining a researcher once each month to provide a swab test and now a blood sample. We are being tested for Covid infection and now anti-bodies in our blood sample which help us fight off the virus. Today we both had negative virus samples but, more importantly, positive anti-body readings.

We live in the local government district of Arun which contains the towns of Arundel, Bognor Regis and Littlehampton, and takes its name from the River Arun, which runs through the centre of the district into the sea. Arun now has only 6 Covid infection cases and we feel very safe. I was reading in the MEN yesterday that:

Coronavirus infection rates have gone up in every borough in Greater Manchester except Bolton, the latest figures show. In Oldham the number of cases has trebled week-on-week, while it’s doubled in Wigan and more than doubled in Salford.

150 people tested positive for Covid in Bury and Rochdale recorded 165 coronavirus cases …

These are quite worrying statistics and may well result in control relaxation being slowed.

Monday, 31st May, 2021

Yesterday the weather replayed 23C/74F with long periods sunshine. We went back to the Garden Centre but it was packed with long queues snaking out of sight, waiting for the cashiers. We didn’t stay. It will all quieten down on Tuesday. Apparently, it’s Bank Holiday today. Apart from not meaning much to the Retired, I never really liked them as they encourage crowds in places that are usually comfortably quiet.

We went out for our first hour’s walking in the sunshine.  We are so lucky to have lovely countryside on our doorstep and be within minutes of several beaches. It is so long since we were serious gardeners that I am beginning to forget the names of so many plants we grew in the past. I used to pride myself on knowing all the ‘official’ Latin names. Now I struggle to remember even their common ones.

This wonderful shrub/tree is Ceanothus. In this photo, it looks more purple than blue but Ceanothus is one of the most wonderful electric blue colours in nature. I grew it in Yorkshire but it was never more than a low-growing bush. Here the shrubs can be found growing wild and as full tree size. This one is just on the roadside and looks spectacular.

We had coffee in the garden sunshine and I burnt my neck. Brilliant! Our second walk was through the cooler and shadier woodland on the fringe of our Development. Haven’t been that way for a while and it was lovely to see all the changes the last few weeks have made to the trees and bushes. The bird song was incredible and we met the fat, brown rabbit eating out again. We seem to have so many robins around us. Must have been a good winter for them to survive.

M&K are back from America for about 3 weeks so we are going to drive up and see them probably at the end of this week. It will be nice to give the car a chance to stretch its legs and us to see some new scenery. We have been imprisoned for too long. It is good to reacquaint ourselves with people we haven’t seen for quite a long time.

Really do feel a bit lost at the moment and at a loose end. I have always woken up with a plan for the day in my head, things I need to achieve, actions I need to take. I am really suffering from a lack of that at the moment. I feel like I’m not in control of events and that is not an enjoyable sensation at all. I am continuing to deal with diet and exercise although warm sunshine is more conducive to relaxation, socialising and wine drinking. Must stay strong and believe the sacrifice will be worth it.

The Christian faith constantly reminds me why I rejected it. Been watching the Long Lost Family series and it emphasises why women of my youth so often were parted from their babies because of the ‘scandal’ of illegitimate pregnancy and the view of it as immoral within organised religion. At the weekend, The Times featured Ann Keen, a Labour MP, who got pregnant at 17 and was despatched by her family to a religious order, Moral Welfare Association just over the Welsh border from Chester. There she gave birth in 1967 and she was given an episiotomy but refused any pain relief to teach her a lesson. Her parents insisted that she give up her baby for adoption and was told it would be taken on day 10. She woke on day 7 to find her baby gone. This was the Christian spirit of our youth.

Memory Box produced a photo of our garden in Quarry Court, Huddersfield from 16 years ago and a shot from the Kafenion in Apollonia 8 years ago in 2013. Lovely memories to reflect on.

Pauline has just taken a self-administered Rapid Antigen Test 3 days after her trip to Milton Keynes and it has proved negative so all is well. We are going to trim hedges and lawns before going out on a walk in this beautiful weather. The temperature has reached a pleasant 24C/75F and the sun has been extremely strong. We are giving serious consideration to installing air conditioning in the Lounge and the bedrooms because this trend is unlikely to be reversed in our lifetimes. Our house is built for high insulation energy efficiency not to keep cool.

Tuesday, 1st June, 2021

June already. Life is running away. The weather outside is glorious and was 17C/63F at 7.00 am but the atmosphere in my head feels like a rather depressed cloud. The optimism of recent weeks is closing down. French travel was shut down a couple of days ago. UK conditions look as if they will remain for some time longer. Any foreign travel is set with draconian conditions.

This morning, the BBC-R4-Today was interviewing Beach Hut owners on Frinton Beach and doing that typical, media vox pop trick of just featuring the views they need for the occasion. As one woman who has used her hut every year for 30 years said, I’ve got my mug of tea. I’ve had my bacon sandwich and the sun is out. Who needs Portugal or Spain when you’ve got this? I wanted to throw my orange juice at the radio. She obviously hadn’t experienced the joy of European travel for many years and almost certainly voted for Brexit.

My favourite style of cooking is definitely Mediterranean. I love all the fresh ingredients. I particularly love Pesto – on Salad, on Fish in fact almost anywhere. Originally from the wonderful, Italian town of Genoa, Pesto traces its name to the Italian word “pestare,” which means “to crush or pound”. It is made from Basil leaves crushed with Pine Nuts, Garlic, Parmesan Cheese and Olive Oil. Italians would make their Pesto freshly but most British people’s experience of it will have been from a jar. I can tell you, there is no comparison. They are like comparing freshly squeezed orange juice with a can of Fanta.

We have long tried to avoid eating any processed food. Pauline makes Pesto and freezes it in batches which works extremely well. We grow the Basil in the garden and have a continuing production process throughout the Summer. That process has begun again and yesterday’s weather was perfect for encouraging Basil. These plants will be ready for a first harvest in about 3 weeks and will continue to perform until September. The Pesto produced will be more than enough for a year.

Our neighbours who moved last week have called back round to see us. Pat has a recurrence of his cancer which has now moved, ominously, to his Lymph Nodes. He is going to begin his Chemotherapy at Brighton Hospital later in the week and is clearly feeling rather fragile. Who can blame him? He will have 12 sessions of treatment and he is already saying that, if he feels awful after the early ones, he will stop attending and prepare to die. I can’t even imagine being in that position. Pauline’s friend, Christine, was widowed when her husband’s Melanoma, which they both thought had been caught early, reappeared and killed him at the ridiculous age of 62.

I love hot sun. That’s one reason why I loved living in Greece. I tan easily without burning … or I did. I wonder if it is my aging skin but I seem to be burning more easily at the moment. I must be more careful. We know so many older people suffering from Melanomas. I want to Live … I think! Anyway, with people back at work this morning, we are going to the beach ourselves for a while.

I’m completing this at 5.00 pm as the sun is still shining and the temperature is 26C/79F. The entire garden has been watered and is glistening bright green with health and vitality. I wish the same could be said for me.

Wednesday, 2nd June, 2021

Another beautiful but empty and aimless day. A long warm day yesterday that peaked at 26C/79F. On this day last year, it was even hotter. It is Half Term and children were out with parents enjoying the beach. To be honest, there was plenty of room for everyone because the tide was fully out. We walked for an hour in the sunshine.

I was surprised to see how many were swimming. The Life Guards’ noticeboard said the water was 13C/55F which sounds far too cold for me. The David Lloyd outdoor pool used to be maintained at a minimum of 20C/68F and that was only just acceptable. Still, kids don’t even seem to notice. They certainly wouldn’t have read the latest bathing water quality report out yesterday which told us that UK has the dirtiest waters in the whole of Europe.

This little chap was happy in his own world, fantasising some part of a game he had invented for himself in the middle of boggy sand with a world of sky above him. We walked for an hour and he was still alone with his world when we left the beach. Life can be rather like that at times.

By 8.00 pm, it was still 26C/79F so we nipped back to the sea to watch the sunset. It was busy everywhere. People were out keeping cool. The Tapas Bars were packed with people sitting outside in the warm air.

The big events today include a trip to Asda to refuel the car for a drive North on Friday and a return to the Garden Centre to buy a new Parasol for the garden. All life is here!

Thursday, 3rd June, 2021

Another lovely day. Normally, I would expect to feel lifted but I remain flat. I associate good weather with travel, enjoyment, good food and wine, the sounds of foreign languages, the challenge of foreign words on road signs, menus, newspapers. There is currently none of that. I apologise to regular Blog readers but I am finding it hard to dig my way out of this slough of despond.https://www.youtube.com/embed/kn1gcjuhlhg?feature=oembed

This is the mood music for the day – Stjepan Hauser on cello playing the Adagio in G minor by Tomaso Albinoni.

Sunshine, neat and tidy garden. Birds singing and flowers flowering. Lounging on a settee in the garden with my iPad, smartphone, chilled red wine and nibbles. What more could one man want. Well, it’s not doing it for me at the moment. There are bigger things in life but it is a real struggle. Still committed to no alcohol and controlled calorie intake. Still forcing myself to complete my exercise routine. I’ve walked/jogged 59 miles in the last 7 days and 220 miles in the last 28 days. It takes every ounce of my determination. Sunny outside but ain’t no sunshine. The last few days have been particularly difficult for some reason but I refuse to give up!

Honda arrived at the house at 7.40 am to take our car for service. Two years old and we’ve only done 8,000 miles. At my current rate, I could have jogged more than 5000 of those in the past two years. That’s another thing. I love driving. I can drive all day and be really happy, especially if I am in some, strange country on foreign roads with real challenges to follow signposts and speed limits and searching for interesting restaurants and hotels. None of that even in prospect at the moment so I can’t escape the mood. They will deliver the car back home but we will probably walk round to collect it earlier.

Watched the Keir Starmer – Piers Morgan interview today. He came over as extremely likeable and very damaged by his childhood. It is a very sad but grittily determined story of triumph over adversity. If you missed it, really worth downloading at …

Other items of interest – to me at least – include the news that our house has increased its value by £140,000 over the 5 years we have been in it. Sounds a lot but is, actually, about half the increase our Surrey apartment put on in exactly the same time length. Really illustrates how location makes such a difference. However, the pandemic is encouraging people to move out of crowded, urban areas towards the coast and the countryside so prices may well be lagging that process.

Newsnight on BBC2 last night featured an artist from my past. Bridget Reilly is 90 and still working. She looks good and sounds lucid and vital. She has a new exhibition at the Lightbox Gallery which is a couple of miles from where I used to live in Woking.

Friday, 4th June, 2021

Another lovely, warm morning but won’t have to water the garden because we have some light rain. Driving Northwards today. Hope the M25 will be kind to us. The car was serviced yesterday so it will be interesting to see if there is much difference in the setup. At least Honda gave it a full valet service before delivering it back to us.

BT have switched us to digital phone connection this morning. They told us it would happen. We no longer need the copper wires of old. We have had to plug our house phone into the Hub/Router and all calls will be delivered over the internet from now on. They didn’t really give us a choice although I was happy to do it.

It does mean that our new, digital phones, and I ordered a set of 5, will connect to Alexa and allow us to voice-dial numbers and send/receive texts like a mobile service. This arrangement brings us so in line with our mobile services which I already put through our broadband connection while in the house that a separate number is almost pointless. BT say all customers will be moved to this service over the next few months.

The Fish Market have delivered 6 lovely, fat Sea Bass packed in ice. They are so big that one will feed two of us easily. They are from the Mediterranean sea and that is as close as we’re going to get for a while. The news is that even Portugal is being removed and Greek islands, which had hoped to be made available, have not been included at all.

It is going to be a very lean time for the tourist industry at home or away. Even Wales is looking at possible tightening. There is a concentration of the Indian variant in Llandudno, Llandudno Junction and Penrhyn Bay. I know the Greeks were panicking already and this could tip them over the edge. Two years of little or no income. We have flights and hotel rolled over from last year for time in Athens towards the end of August. It looks like we may be pushing that back until at least September and maybe even November. Certainly, the airports and hotels around them are looking at another barren Summer.

I signed up to the Professionals networking site, Linkedin, nearly 20 years ago. I used it only sporadically and, although retired for 12 years now, I’ve never withdrawn from it. Occasionally, they contact me offering me a list of jobs. Today, they’ve really hit the jackpot.

Can’t imagine anyone better equipped to teach Relationships and Sex Education than me? Well, apart from almost any other member of the human race!

Saturday, 5th June, 2021

Woke up at 6.00 am to another warm and sunny morning – 17C/63F. Couldn’t be bothered getting up. That is not me but I could not be bothered. Didn’t get up until 8.00 am. Then the day kicks in and everyday jobs need doing but I am performing them without enthusiasm.

Quite a difficult drive up to Surrey yesterday. The rain stayed much longer than forecast and the M25 was terrible. Long, slow-moving queues. At least it was one of those moments when the self-drive facilities on the car come into full use. Setting an automatic speed means the car moves forward when the one in front does and stays a regulation distance from it, breaking automatically when the one in front breaks. Lane-keeping means exactly that – the car is kept within its lane automatically. This is exactly what one needs on the M25.

We arrived in time for Lunch and it was nice to see them after such a long time although Pauline has been talking with Amanda in America and P&C in Surrey by FaceTime on her iPad about twice a week if not more.

I stuck to my diet and only ate a banana which I had brought with me. To drink? Just a glass of iced Shloer. There are some things of which I just can’t let go.

I am a gadgets man. I love a technical challenge. The digital phones arrived this morning. I’ve already set 3 of them up as well as done an hour’s walk in beautiful, hot sunshine, mowed and edged all the lawns and swept up after Pauline’s hedge trimming. Just 22C/70F this afternoon and a bit sultry.

These phones, I find, actually work with our existing network of 5 cordless handsets so we will have 10 now which means we could put one in almost every room excluding the toilets. The new, digital handsets allow us to make calls to two different numbers at the same time or make a call and receive a separate call at the same time. We receive voicemail like a mobile service and can send & receive text messages. Junk calls can be blocked at the touch of a button.

Two of the five new phones I ordered didn’t arrive. I’ve just phoned BT and they are giving them to me for free because of the inconvenience. I like BT.

Sunday, 23rd May, 2021

The morning started off sunny and bright at 6.00 am. By 9.00 am, it is grey and dull. Certainly not the warmth one might expect of late May. Even Sifnos has been suffering some unusually cold, wet and windy days.

Sifnos came to my Breakfast table this morning. A girl I used to flirt with outrageously, even though she is gay, contacted me on Instagram. Anna is a lovely girl/woman from Northern Greece who had settled on our Cycladic island and worked in a restaurant we used regularly in the summer months. Her English was broken but quite good and she had a lovely sense of humour. In the Winter, she runs a walking business taking off-season tourists on hikes around the island. Using the Sifnos-Hiking account, Anna Graikou sent me best wishes and the memories came flooding back to warm the morning.

I am the last person to ask about ‘pop’ music but a name sprang out at me from a girl who I was at College with. She was asking about Atomic Rooster. I don’t remember them for their music or their appearance but the words in the name are the sort of thing I don’t forget. They appeared at college in 1971. Looking at this, it certainly puts my college hairstyle into perspective! End of memory.

Must publicly wish my oldest sister, Ruth, a happy 74^th birthday in case she forgets her date of birth. Well, at her age, anything is possible.

Just finished 2 full hours in the gym and I am quite tired. I really am trying hard and pushing myself. I like targets and stats.. These are my current ones:

	Daily Average Paces	Distance in Miles
Last Week	15,431	56
Last 28 days	13,823	201
Last 12 months	11,692	2,204

At the same time, I am trying to restrict my calorie intake to about 1200 per day. My fitness app. tells me I am using 2,706 per day split almost equally between active & resting calories. I’ve gone through the constantly tired stage now and I’m in to the addictive part that feeds in to my personality. Now, I can’t let go.

Monday, 24th May, 2021

Sunday evenings involve watching Call the Midwife. Pauline really enjoys it. She taught childcare and is fascinated by the development of knowledge over the 1950s/60s. I watch it in support but it almost always upsets me. The dire living conditions of the poor in London Docklands tears at my heart but it is the joy of parents at the birth of new born children which makes me so sad, sometimes to the point of tears, having missed out myself. 

Growing old can be scary especially for the childless. We fit in to that category but I don’t believe for one minute that we should have done otherwise as an old-age insurance policy. Who will be there at the end? Who will tell others of our demise? Will it be instant as in a heart attack or long and slow requiring care and support. None of us know and that is the problem. My wife has always refused to even acknowledge the possibility of dying. I am actually quite blasé about it. As long as I leave the world without too many open questions, without unfulfilled and burning ambitions, then I am happy to go and without ceremony. I would rather it was not long and painful but I realise I have no choice. I don’t care about a funeral. A heavy duty bin bag will suffice.

The poet, Robert Browning’s poem, Rabbi ben Ezra, in 1864 included the lines:

Grow old along with me
The best is yet to be

The opening lines are quoted in a 1978 film and were picked up by John Lennon for his last song – Grow Old With Me written for Yoko Ono ironically just before he was assassinated. 

Grow old along with me
The best is yet to be
When our time has come
We will be as onehttps://www.youtube.com/embed/BzsoxBjjU0g?feature=oembed

Of course, in the end, childless couples are left with just one. Now that is a scary prospect. My mother had the comfort of believing she would be reunited with her loved ones in another life. I do not. It is one of the reasons I am so pleased that I have managed to reunite Pauline with her friends. She is going to stay over night with Blondie on Thursday and I really hope they both enjoy it.

Tuesday, 25th May, 2021

Although it is a beautifully sunny morning, the days are feeling very empty and rather without optimism. Feeling a bit dead inside. I am desperate to get away but to where? There has to be more to life than this! I don’t know why but I can’t summon up enthusiasm for anything. I feel that I am constantly punishing myself with exercise and dieting but all the future rewards are moving further away. I’m even seeing the aging of my body made more visible by the day. My legs are starting to develop knots and lumps probably because of all the exercise but are making me feel even older than I did.

I can hardly listen to the news or read the newspapers anymore. I am desperate to travel and feel actually unwanted here, rejected. Today we learn that France is considering even tougher restrictions for UK travellers due to the Indian variant and I really don’t want the hastle of quarantine after my return. There has to be more to life than this!

I think I will go to see Friends in the North from my past. My old flatmate, Nigel, is an artist with some reputation. He has a gallery on the East Coast and it would be nice to visit and see my old friend again. His ex-wife is also an old friend of mine and lives in the same town. Might even look her up as well. She takes photographs and exhibits them.

Would love to see John Ridley while I’m up there and, maybe, even make my peace with Kevin & Christine after all this time. It really is a chance to reconnect and not feel isolated any more. I have kept that period shut and bolted for so long like a long, distant pain which it is time to heal. If I can’t do it now, I will never be able to. John and Kevin & Chris all live in North Yorkshire. It will be nice to drive up there.

It is so long since I was in North Yorkshire. I was always abroad when things were going on. I have only returned to Ripon once in the whole of my married life and that was for about 20 mins. I don’t even know if I can do it now but I really ought to steel myself. Of course, we will also visit our friends in Greater Manchester, in Shaw, Oldham, Marsden and Helme. It feels so long since we saw them. Let’s hope some still want to see us. We will be up in October as usual but, as things are, we may make a much earlier, additional trip as well even though this morning’s news that parts of this area are shutting down again is not encouraging.

Wednesday, 26th May, 2021

Didn’t sleep last night. Walked at least 50 years. Feels like something huge has happened. Absolutely exhausted this morning but there is a lot to do. Pauline is going for another facial in Rustington. I am the chauffeur. I’ve had tooth ache for 2 -3 days. First time for about 15 years. Unfortunately, because of the pandemic, I haven’t been to the dentist for more than 12 months and, now, our Dental Practice has closed down.

We are going to look at a new one this morning. Of course, I am very fragile and need careful handling. The Calm & Gentle Dentist in Rustington sounds just right but I want to check her out first. Does she look calm and will she be gentle? These will be the questions I need to satisfy myself in before signing up to an annual contract. The basic 12 month contract is just over £200.00 per person for twice yearly inspection, cleaning and polishing, twice yearly hygienist treatments and all x-rays.

Tomorrow will be a fascinating day. Have to get Pauline to the station for about 6.30 am as she sets off to visit her old friend in Milton Keynes. Blondie sounds absolutely delightful and is very keen to reunite with Pauline. That is lovely but I will be home alone over Thursday and Friday. I will sleep alone for the first time for around 40 years. I have absolutely no idea how I will react. I am fairly self-sufficient. I can wash and dress myself. I can cook and I know how to switch on the TV for United in the Europa Cup final in the evening. I spend quite a lot of time reading and writing alone but I know someone is always within earshot if I need a drink, etc.. I don’t think for one minute I will sleep. I am alcohol-free for 7 weeks so I can’t induce sleep. I’ll probably just write until I keel over on the desk.

In this week in 2010, we were just getting round to having our Greek kitchen tiled. We had spent a few days in Athens sourcing the tiles and a nice, Greek man was coming to do the job. So we didn’t get in the way, we left for a local resort, Platys Gialos on the south of the island. It was still May but we thought we should test the water temperature for swimming.

It was another month until we were swimming happily every day until we left in October. I think we have had 5 new cars since then but the time and place feel even further away than that.

I received some security advice from a former reader the other day. This evening a CCTV security installer arrived. We don’t really see much crime around here but we have been talking about surveillance of the property linked to our smart phones and tablets for quite a while.

At the risk of boring you, Dear Reader, I refer back to happier, more normal times. Just 5 years ago, we were having Lunch (What is Lunch?) with P&C and Amanda at the Hand & Spear gastro pub/hotel in sunny Weybridge. I recorded what we had to eat and that is the most distant part of this: Roast Pigeon with Beetroot and Beetroot Jus for our starter followed by slow roasted Lamb with Celeriac Fondant accompanied by a bottle of chilled, white wine. Sociability plus haut cuisine is now gone.

Thursday, 27th May, 2021

A huge, bright moon overnight drawing the past away. Up at 5.30 am on this absolutely beautiful morning to ferry Pauline to her train. It is a ridiculously long and awkward journey just to get to Milton Keynes. She will go via Gatwick Airport and change at Clapham Junction in a 3hr journey. I will definitely drive her there next time.

She has prepared as much as she can to get me through the next couple of days. I’ve been taught how to use the dishwasher. I’ve rehearsed how to use my credit card in emergencies. My fresh orange juice for breakfast tomorrow has been squeezed and stored in the fridge. What more can I want? Don’t answer that!

Pauline is reuniting with friends and I need to as well.  I’ve driven home to start my Blog and will then spend 2 hard hours in the gym.

Our lovely, across-the-road neighbours came over to say goodbye to us yesterday morning. Pat is 83 and June 81. They are both very active although Pat is now suffering badly with cancer which has spread into his Lymph glands. In the 5 years we have been here, they have been friendly and kind to us and we will miss them.

Actually, we won’t miss them too much because they are only moving about 5 miles away and we will call round to see them when they are settled in. Their Daughter-in-Law is moving to Aberdeen and invited us to stay with her if we go up. I fancy driving to Aberdeen so we will. I hate losing contact with people It feels like something of a bereavement. Still, sometimes it is necessary.

We will not be on Sifnos island for a while but we can get a little bit closer. The island’ s webcam from ‘our’ side of the harbour runs 24hrs a day. The only excitement occurs if a ferry or fuel ship comes in to dock but it is reassuring just to watch the ripples on the water as we did from our verandah. The EU Digital Covid Certificate for travellers entry will not be launched until July. It will make arrangements for travel very rushed this summer.

My Memory Box threw up this image this morning. Rather shocked me. All looks a bit too classical and refined for the people we are now. The gallery house as I tried to create it at the time. We were finalising the sale remotely from my Office in Greece in 2010 prior to flying home for a month to sign the documents and putting our few, remaining effects into storage.

After a lovely morning in the sun and 20C/68F in our back garden, my performance in the gym was not a pretty site today. Plenty of sweat but also lots of salty tears. I am watching a biopic of Marcel Marceau, the famous (Jewish) French mime artist. Certainly I didn’t know that his early manhood life was in Occupied Poland and then Occupied France as the Nazis swept away the Jewry. Marceau’s contribution was to set up a line and smuggle Jewish orphans to the safety of neutral Switzerland. 

There is sadness everywhere. I don’t know why I chose it to watch particularly when I’m on my own. Parents executed in front of children. Children shot in front of parents. True love torn apart by fear and violence. The sadness is deepest in the individual acts of selfless love and bravery.

Even so, the distraction is useful in that my exercise routine is showing real signs of working. I am pushing it hard and seriously restricting my intake. In the past 2 months, I have lost more than 2 stones in weight. It isn’t comfortable but it is pleasing. 

Friday, 28th May, 2021

What a strange night. Isn’t silence disturbing? I deliberately stayed up until midnight and, even then, woke at 3.00 am and again at 5.00 am.. The radio went on at 6.00 am. Normally, we would be up between 6.00 – 7.00 am. Was woken this morning at 7.56 am by my watch buzzing text messages from my wife.

I was and I hadn’t. I was still in bed and I hadn’t remembered to take the orange out of the fridge. Life is hard for a man!

I looked at myself in the mirror. Not a pretty sight and my face and body were showing the signs of too much sun yesterday. Of course, I hadn’t put any sunscreen on. I have a wife to do that …. only I didn’t yesterday. It hasn’t been the best Spring for warm, sunny weather but I took a photo of the fig trees last night after the sun had gone down. They are starting to grow back vigorously now after the savage Autumn pruning. Young fruit are developing everywhere. Let’s hope we have a long, hot Summer and a big harvest. Love, freshly picked figs. They’ll never be as abundant as our Greek garden trees but they are a reasonable substitute.

Really feeling sad and empty this morning. Don’t know what I’m going to do. Feel like doing something dramatic and rash but it wouldn’t help. I’ll just go on punishing myself in the gym. While working out this morning, I am going to indulge myself with Pavarotti in Puccini’s opera Turandot with its most famous aria from the final Act: Nessun Dorma or “None shall sleep.” Could have been written for me last night.https://www.youtube.com/embed/cWc7vYjgnTs?feature=oembed

Wherever we go, I push hard to get the things that we need to make life easier and more enjoyable. That is what I do – push the boundaries as hard as I can to achieve. One of the big requirements of life is fast broadband provision. Whenever we choose a new house, that is one of the first requirements. When we moved to Sussex, I actually lobbied the BT management long before the house was built and told them I wanted superfast fibre broadband straight to our door. I couldn’t see why that would be a problem on a new-build house. Not long after we moved here, I had exactly that, way ahead of most of the country.

Our Greek island provision was the hardest to manage but this little Germanos shop did their absolute best for us and we were able to function well enough to access all our Office documents, Radio & TV and Blog. It was a struggle but that was half the fun of living abroad. Solving difficult problems and achieving long-held dreams.

After a marathon 2½ hrs in the gym, I cleaned the car and unstacked the dishwasher. I even started to examine the washing machine and thought about learning to use it. This is how loneliness and boredom affects people. Put a suit on this afternoon and it nearly fell off me I’ve lost so much weight. When I think I’ve gone as far as I can, I must have some more made.

Saturday, 29th May, 2021

The end of the week, almost the end of the month, end, end, end. Up at 6.00 am and warm but a little overcast. Sainsbury’s delivery at 7.00 am. We are going to the Garden Centre this morning although I’m finding it quite difficult to summon up the enthusiasm. I don’t know what’s happened to my emotions recently. Seem to be all over the place. Everything seems to be touching me off. 

I ‘enjoy’ watching a TV series called Long Lost Family where people who have lost touch with or never met members of their family are helped to search and locate them. Occasionally, those who are found, do not want to reunite and, occasionally, it is already too late because they are have died but the successful ones are emotional and heartening. It is hard to imagine a life of lost connection and meaning, not knowing what could have been. People who are without ‘connection’ feel dissociated and they are constantly searching for something. It must be the ultimate pain.

The most recent series focuses on ‘Foundlings’. These people really have no idea who their parents were or even when they themselves were precisely born. Worst of all, they live with the ultimate sadness that they were discarded unwanted. The first two programmes have featured people who were left on the steps of Churches, Hospitals in bags and boxes. The most recent one featured a woman of 75 who was left on the luggage rack of a train. They are introduced to newspaper cuttings featuring their ‘finding’ all those years before which give them meaning but the ultimate prize is a DNA trace that produces living relatives. The meetings are incredibly emotional affairs.

Pauline had a wonderful reunion with her friend, Christine, who she hadn’t seen since 1973. They fell back in to their relationship as if it had never been lost. They had exchanged Christmas cards each year until recently when Christine’s husband died of cancer and she rather lost the will to do anything social but they had a lovely couple of days.

Both highly trained cooks, Pauline was amused to find Chris was reluctant to cook for her and they were eating M&S meals instead. Next time, I will drive her there and they will include the other two girls of their college quartet. Christine is a mad keen Chelsea fan so I will be texting her tonight as the big match with City is played in Portugal.

Julia posted a picture of her lovely family. It makes me feel horribly old to realise that one was finishing 6th Form and another finishing 5th Year yesterday. They look delightful kids!

Sunday, 16th May, 2021

Woke up at 6.00 am to really heavy rain. We are forecast to be wet all day today. Daren’t go out because I had my hair cut yesterday and don’t want to destroy the style. Looks like we have the poorest weather today. The North of England have a dry morning at least. I’m going to be working in the gym today. Haven’t even put sun cream on this morning. For years I resisted using any. Typical man being careless with my health and reluctant to use cosmetics.

Living in Greece forced me to re-think that and age has now forced me to be really serious. My wife’s Brother-in-Law has had numerous melanomas cut out. Our lovely neighbour has a serious melanoma which has moved into his lymph glands which we know becomes very serious at that stage. I now put this all-day-long, factor 30 sunscreen on each morning. It means I can forget about it for the rest of the day. Feels a bit ‘girly’ but, at 70, I’m confident enough of my sexuality to cope.

In spite of relaxation of the Covid rules, the threat of a new variant is putting the government under pressure to reconsider its timelines. We really are getting stir-crazy. Travelling will be the only way to relieve it. I am desperate to go back to France. I am very desperate to go back to Athens and nothing will stop me going to the North of England in October. The foreign travel requires a Covid-passport of some sort.

For that reason, I have installed the NHS-app on my smartphone. I have resisted it until now but it says upfront, This is not the NHS COVID-19 track & trace app. If it was, I wouldn’t have considered it. However, installing this app on your smartphone or iPad provides access to one’s whole-life medical history. Actually, mine goes back as far as June 17th, 1980 when I had a bad road traffic accident. To a dates/data freak like me, it is 7th heaven. Of course, it also provides an immediate record of our Covid vaccination record which will be recognised/accepted at a number of airports and European borders.

Well, 10.30 am and the rain has stopped, the sun is out and the garden is 13C/55F and feels very pleasant even in shorts. This has allowed me to set up the smoker in the garden to finish off the smoked salmon side which has been 48hrs in preparation.

The side of the salmon is frozen for 24hrs and then cured in salt and herbs for 24 hrs. The final stage is 1 hr cold smoking with apple woodchips.

I can get addicted to smoked salmon but have to ration myself. Anything smoked runs the risk of one ingesting carcinogens so has to be eaten in moderation. Next time we might just eat it at the Gravadlax stage and forgo the smoking.

Monday, 17th May, 2021

Big Day. New reading glasses this morning. Difficult to control the excitement. For years I have looked over half-moon glasses at pupils and staff alike, thinking myself endearing or scary. Today, I will return to ‘normal’, full glasses again. I’ve also got to have a blood test first but I know I will pass that. I’ve got blood. Later we will collect a new train ticket for Pauline. She and her re-found friend have decided to make it a sleepover – if that’s the right term – and she will go on the Thursday and come back on the Friday. I will be Home Alone.

Yesterday, a window of warm sunshine lured us out for a walk. As we got to the furthest point from our house, the heavens opened and my hair was utterly destroyed. Couldn’t do a thing with it. I even had to wring my shorts and tee shirt out.

I have only had the sight in one eye all my life and a fear has been that it made me vulnerable when I got in to fights as I did regularly in my school days being a bit of a bully and when I was playing rugby. Nowadays, I fear cataracts and the, admittedly, limited dangers of their removal. When my Mother-in-Law had her cataracts removed, she was warned that there was a reasonably high risk of complications and loss of sight. That would be catastrophic for me. Fortunately, my recent test showed no deterioration and my long sight has actually improved over the years.

Ten years ago this month, we were cultivating our Greek garden where I was growing Mediterranean vegetables, maintaining our olive trees and picking fresh lemons from our trees. There is something quite magical for an English person to grow and pick citrus fruit. So much Mediterranean cooking uses lemons and their juice but to just pick them from your own tree when you need them is unforgettable.

While I was growing up at Grammar School, the intellectual choice of ‘pop’ music was not the nascent Beatles or Rolling Stones but the poetry and politics of Bob Dylan. I would like to say I loved it but I was young and trying to develop thinking processes. The older lads initiated me in to the Dylan/student culture which culminated in the 1968 student revolution, the Paris riots and General Strike.

The BBC Radio 4 Today programme I wake up to was celebrating Bob Dylan turning 80 this week. A real sign of the times. Revolution aging and tamed although the lingering line still sings to me:

Ah, but I was so much older then
I’m so much younger now …

Bob Dylan – My Back Pages – 1967

There is a real sense in which aging takes us back to to our youth and childhood. The things I complicated in my youth, things I looked for hidden meaning in suddenly reveal themselves as far simpler and more accessible. The joy in simple pleasures becomes so much more obvious and attainable than youthful angst would allow. In age, there is no more reason to pretend. I’m younger than that now.

Turned out to be a lovely, sunny day and much warmer than the North of England at 17C/63F. Had a delightful walk with loud bird song all around as well as a gym workout. Life can be wonderful at times. I’m feeling really optimistic!

Tuesday, 18th May, 2021

Gorgeous morning with blue sky and strong sunshine. Everywhere is flooded in warmth and light. For me too, as if a trigger has been switched, I am flooded with happiness. It is a wonderful feeling of optimism. My reluctance to embrace life has been swept away and I will attack it with a will.

We were up at 6.00 am and already this morning we have had a Sainsbury’s delivery. After writing my Blog, and drinking coffee, I am going to spend the morning outside in the garden. The lawns are growing rapidly now and all need cutting again. I have herbs to plant out and pot up. The hedges need trimming and there are plants to be dead-headed. Later, we’ll go for a walk and I will do a workout in the gym. I am determined to improve.

The Memory Box threw up two images from 2010 at the Greek house this morning. We put our Yorkshire home up for sale in 2009. It was a good, big, 5-bedroomed house in a nice place but it didn’t sell. It was a difficult time for the housing market and it was a year before we had a single viewing. In 2010, I took the decision that we could wait no longer and cut the price. We then set off for our drive to Greece. Of course, just as we drove through Italy, we received a call from our estate agent to say an offer had been tabled for the house.

With our spirits raised, we drove on to Sifnos. Once there and with the internet re-established, all the negotiations were conducted via the net. I was fortunate to have a new computer and scanner in my Greek office and able to provide all the documents necessary. Because we were downsizing, we wanted to sell as much of the furniture as possible. We produced a price list and the family moving in bought virtually everything. It was a great result and put us in a happy position for the next stage.https://www.youtube.com/embed/3Gm5vGyOYmM?feature=oembed

It’s funny how writing about these experiences is cathartic for me, helps me come to terms with them and move on. I love writing. I think I could write an exciting and interesting film script as much about the future as the past. Having kept James Joyce’s, Portrait of an Artist as a Young Man with me since my youth, I think I have one in me. Can’t put it off much longer. Running out of time.

The day has been wonderfully warm and sunny from start to finish. We did all the gardening. A lovely, little lady came and took pints of blood from us for the Oxford Covid survey we are taking part in. This is the anti-body test. We also did the swab test. We sat the testing lady in the sunshine of our back garden where the micro climate gives us a delightful atmosphere. I managed to extract her life story while she was there. At school she was teased about being a boy because her surname was Paul. She was also teased about being French because her first name is Renu. It doesn’t seem to have harmed her. She’s a lovely girl with a beautiful name.

Wednesday, 19th May, 2021

The morning has started off damp but warm. We are told it will get much better as the day progresses. Not a great deal on today so I will be concentrating on exercise and, maybe, a bit of gardening. I heard yesterday that I’d passed Monday’s blood test with flying colours so I will live another week. Also yesterday, I forgot to include my little sister, Caroline, who lives in southern Ireland and was a shocking 59 years old. I hope she had an enjoyable birthday.

Any regular reader of the Blog will know that I am a news junkie. I listen to news, watch news, read news and analyse news, Blog news, Tweet news and post it on Messenger, Facebook and Instagram as the day progresses. I follow local newspapers from places I have lived or meaningfully visited. I believe it is important to keep the cultural identity one forges in life up to date. As you will see below, a couple of recent items really caught my eye.

• The Derby Telegraph
• The Ripon Gazette
• The Chester Chronicle
• The Oldham Chronicle
• The Huddersfield Examiner
• The Littlehampton Gazette
• Sifnos News
• Athens News

In the early 1970s, I was introduced to the city of Chester. I think I had visited it once with my parents who wanted me to understand the history en route to a holiday in Wales. The second time round and with real generosity of spirit, I was taken to the racecourse, on the river where I found I was a natural oarsman, to Sealand Road to watch Chester City draw 0-0 and the shops and bars of the city at Christmas time.

I remember being entranced by ‘exotic’ products I found in one shop and bought my Mum a tin of octopus salad as part of a Christmas present. The moment she saw it, her nose turned up, it went in the pantry and was never seen again. It was a time when the English thought garlic was for smelly-breathed Italians and olive oil was purely medicinal. Nowadays, Octopus salad is high on my list of delicacies and we cook and eat it regularly.

Lovely warm sunshine for our walk and gardening this afternoon. Sun just transforms everything as very few other things do.

Thursday, 20th May, 2021

Feel a bit sad and frustrated this morning. I like to be in control of my life and the decisions that decide how it progresses. My wife would say I am a control-freak. Currently, I feel totally out of control. Others have me in their hands. The general direction of travel is essentially imprisonment at the moment. This vacillating, Tory government are making European travel look like a distant mirage. Keen to view Spanish properties. Desperate to get to France soon. Absolutely determined to fly to Athens later. I can go but with huge penalties. My heart says I refuse to be dominated by anything or anybody. My head says chill. Calm down and wait.

Just to provoke me, conditions today conspire in some sick joke. Outside, it feels cool in the off-sea breeze and the sky is overcast. Strong winds and rain are forecast for later in the day. My Inbox delivers an advert from Superfast Ferries for ‘privileged customers’ offering reductions on early booking. We have made 30 crossings from Ancona in Italy to Patras on the Greek Peloponnese. Having driven 1000 miles to get on the ship, we rewarded ourselves with a Luxury cabin for the 24 hr trip down the Adriatic. Today, a return trip would cost us €1,200.00/£1035.00 which is a hefty but necessary price. I would pay it without thinking if it got me anywhere.

At the same time, my Memory Box throws up photos from this day in 2010. We had been in our Greek house for 6 years and things were working smoothly. We thought life was developing quietly and well. I felt I had just transferred my UK life to the idyll of a small, Greek island. It allowed my wife to continue doing the things she enjoyed in her English home – cooking, making marmalade, etc. and I had my Office, computer, the internet, writing and photography.

Here, my wife is ordering a new fridge-freezer which was delivered to our house roped to the back of a very strong Greek man. I remember its maker was not very inspiringly called Pitsos but it turned out to be excellent.

People and events intervened and we felt compelled to sell and retreat back to our UK home. And so it is now. People and events are pulling the strings.

Friday, 21st May, 2021

Need some warmth from somewhere. Strong, chilly winds are stalking the area. Mediterranean it is not! Been up since 6.00 am and the winds have been strong all night.

Fifty years ago this Autumn at midnight on a very dark and chilly evening, I was hurtling down the motorway from Ripon to West Yorkshire in an old Morris Minor. In the car were Nigel, Kevin and Chris.Tolley? I had no idea where we were going and, largely, neither did they. I had run from the Cottages to the student bar for last orders. They had been extended by an hour after closing time and alcohol had clouded our judgement. We embarked on some madcap scheme to just drive anywhere. I remember things being collected en route like traffic cones and toilet seats and stuffed into the boot. We were really living life on the edge. We ended up in Huddersfield, at Kevin’s request, outside an all-night chip shop opposite the University. It was near where Kevin went to school at Salendine Nook.

It was my first time in Huddersfield. I had not visited any other post-industrial, Northern town in my life. I remember this building pictured below which was just round the bend from the chip shop. It struck me as incredibly modern and forward-looking with its modernist, concrete frieze compared with the buildings of my home village. Actually, it had only been built months before we arrived. We didn’t stay long and were soon on a return trip up the motorway to a Service Station where we all ordered huge, fried Breakfasts and recalled tall tales of the night’s high jinx. Fairly typical student stuff, I suppose, but significant enough for me to remember.

Sign of the times. The Huddersfield Examiner features photos of this structure being torn down exactly 50 years on. The concrete used has been found to be unsafe and the area will be redesigned. Huddersfield is moving on without us. Still our film script is evolving on a different path and, between us, we must make sure the future is good.

I embrace and welcome change. Standing still is never an option. We all have to move forward and extract every ounce of enjoyment from our lives. I was looking at one of the changes that modern life has meant for me echoed by my Bank Account. The modern world of communication is so important. I pay out each month quite a lot to send and receive information. None of us could have ever conceived of this 50 years ago.

	Monthly Cost
Daily copies of The Times on iPad x 2	£  26.00
TV Licence	£  12.00
Sky-Q	£  95.00
Mobile contracts x 2	£111.00
BT Phone/Broadband/Sport	£111.00
Web Site + Blog	£   30.00
	£385.00

£4,620.00 per year on information communication

Went down to the beach this morning just as the tide was receding. Very windy and rather cold.

There was sea foam all over the beach where the angry water had been. That is how life can be. We move forward, leave traces on the beach, recede, move forward ….

Saturday, 22nd May, 2021

This is one of the stranger and longer Blogs of the year. It begins with Socrates goes on to Take That and ends with the North Yorkshire Moors and Witches. They are very unlikely associates. However, it might be interesting to some.

I don’t believe in god. I don’t believe in an after-life. I don’t believe in completely free will. I have long believed in Determinism. When I say long, I remember really annoying my Mum at the Dinner table when I was 18 explaining the 17th Century Philosophy of Baruch Spinoza. Actually, Spinoza did believe in god and that all things were ordained by god denying his creations free will. As a Roman Catholic, denying people the freedom to do right and wrong is not an option. Heaven & Hell are there for a reason – to reward and punish – to morally control society.

Initially found in Socratic dialogue, Determinism is the belief that all human behaviours flow from genetic or environmental factors that, once they have occurred, they are very difficult or impossible to change. For example, a determinist might argue that a person’s genes make him or her anxious, alcoholic, overweight, aggressive, etc. A causal determinist would look for the prior environmental factors leading to murder, suicide, love, betrayal and would be unlikely to lean on concepts like evil and guilt or culpability.

Although my intellect accepts this theory, my spirit fights against it energetically. I have always thought strength of character and determination can effect change. It fits with my character. Bulls in china shops don’t take, No, for an answer. If I want something, I don’t accept failure very easily. I bend every sinew, intellectual or physical, to achieve it. And yet, maybe that whole approach is genetically programmed. It may be in my DNA. We are, after all, just miracles of matter.https://www.youtube.com/embed/AffZUJE7oNw?feature=oembed

Everyone, everyone, can you hear the soldiers coming
Everyone, everyone, every man and every woman
We all fall, in the end we’re just miracles of matter
So come on, let me love you….…This is the life we’ve been given
So open your heart and start loving
We can make a start if we only learn to listen

The Garden – Take that

You may see what sparked this bonkers Blog this morning. This song written and performed by Take That – not a group I would have come across without the coaxing of my wife, perfectly encapsulates the determinist/free-will dilemma in all of us. You can hear the soldiers (of time) coming because We all fall, in the end. We’re just miracles of matter. This is the life we’ve been given. presents the determinist case set against the free will of open your heart…We can make a start if we only learn to listen.

Yes, I know, just dismiss it as the whimpering of a sad, old lunatic. Return to the real world and dismiss this from your mind. I’m going in the gym to exorcise such demons but, before I do, just one more memory of exercise 50 years ago…. And, once again, it started in the Students bar.

It was Summer, 1971 and late – 10.50 pm. I left Byland corner hurriedly and sprinted to the bar. Something unusual was going on. People were gathering in unusual numbers. The Reverend Kent was there. It was as if I had stumbled into a religious meeting. After a couple of quick drinks, Kevin (Why did I listen to him?) said, Shall we go as well? Where, I had no idea. There was a coach outside with a large number of students on it dressed for hiking. I was in jeans, tee shirt and desert boots and a little light headed from two, quick drinks. Kevin & I went to the back of the coach, as usual, and I soon learnt that we were going to be doing the traditional Lyke Wake Walk but in darkness for the first 5 hours.

I had never heard of The Lyke Wake Walk and, by the next morning, I never wanted to hear of it again. It is a complete crossing of the North Yorkshire moors and a distance of, approximately, 40 miles. Kevin had been told that the army had run the entire course in under 5 hours. He suggested that we try to beat it…. while dressed for an evening in the bar and in total darkness. All I remember was the beauty of Fylingdales at night, the total exhaustion as we finished and the huge blisters that lasted over a week. Still, I’m entitled to a certificate officially naming me as a Dirger. The girls were pronounced Witches but I’ve no idea who that applied to.

Sunday, 9th May, 2021

Weak sunshine but quite warm at 16C/61F this morning. Went out for an early walk which I will follow by a hard, gym session. Our regular route takes us through our Development to the wooded perimeter and we noticed a new house with scaffolding up for the past few days. A couple of days ago, an array of solar panels were attached to the roof. We moved in 5 years ago. The Development was completed 18 months later. Most of the later houses had solar panels included because of a change of government policy and subsidies. The back of our house is south-facing and would be ideal for solar power generation.

This morning we noticed the owners in their front garden as we walked. I took the opportunity to speak to them. They were delighted to talk about it and not the least affronted that my first question was about the price. Everything here – 12 panels, storage battery, cabling and smart meters fitted and working for just £8,500.00. Sounds a bargain. The panels supply the storage battery which supplies the house during the day and the National grid during the night which reduces household bills and brings in a small income. Unfortunately, the cost/benefit analysis shows that it would take 11.5 years to break even. At the age of 81, I suspect I won’t be too worried about cheap electricity. I have much more important ambitions to achieve by then!

It is looking rather uncertain for foreign travel at the moment. Spain may have to wait for next Spring. Our first trip will almost certainly be to France. Brexit means I will have to smuggle most of my wine purchase but I’m not drinking at all at the moment so I won’t need too much anyway.

I have a store which would provide me with a bottle each day for 3 years. I know what you’re thinking. Who could manage with just one bottle a day? At this rate, I might just become a White Ribboner. I now preach moderation. We are still holding on to the possibility of our trip to Athens in late August and we will spend some time in the North of England in October.

Monday, 10th May, 2021

Lovely, warm and sunny start to the morning just after 6.00 am. Mondays are always so exciting – INR self test, putting the bins out, exercise. Providing all the services. I need a trip away! Actually, I think I need some excitement and a bit of danger to liven me up.

Instead, I am going to Rustington Specsavers for an eye test and to buy a couple of new pairs of reading glasses. Nothing has changed in my eyesight for years. I have been wearing reading glasses for 15 or so years but my distance has been improving with age and I rarely wear my main glasses at all.  Booked 8.30 am appointments and arrived early. During the pandemic, Rustington, a small town dominated by the wealthy retired, has installed canopies over all the pavements so we don’t have to queue in the rain.

No need for canopies today. Warm sunshine and hardly any wrinklies up yet. Specsavers was fun. I was tested by a lovely, young girl called Shiela who had come from Hong Kong to do a Cambridge University degree 7 years ago but had stayed in UK as the situation on her home island deteriorated. She does return to see her family in the summer but things are getting worse and she’s not sure how long she can continue. She offered to take me with her next time, which was nice. My eyes were unchanged, by the way.

I wanted two, new pairs of reading glasses and the little girl doing that part of the service was from Colorado. I had already chosen my frames and was trying to get an invite to her family home but didn’t make a lot of headway. She was definitely less friendly. There are some very unfriendly people in the world … or is it just me?

While I was out, a message came in on my phone. Love getting messages on my phone. It was from Dr Rob who bought our house in Helme, West Yorkshire over 20 years ago. It had almost an acre of garden and we had spent a fortune on plants. Just before we left, we had put in some small rhododendron plants. Just 21 years later, he sent me a photo via Twitter of a couple of those plants flowering happily.

I have a very selective memory. I always remember plant names. People accuse me of forgetting important events but I remember the genus of the crimson rhododendron was Britannia. I replied to Dr Rob with that information and apologised because we are both vehemently anti-Brexit although it wasn’t conceived of in the 1990s. He replied saying he would have to replace it with a Europa one if available. I have found Rhododendron Europa and have agreed to take it up to him in October when we call in for coffee.

Looks like I’ll have to book at least 4 if not 5 days to fit all our visits in. I want to take a tram ride for the first time to Manchester. Andy Burnham is pledged to extend the tram to Middleton now which ought to sway some voters’ minds when he moves on to lead the Labour Party.

Tuesday, 11th May, 2021

Lovely, lovely morning. Up to sunshine and blue sky. It was presaged by this gorgeous sky over the Marina last night.

Dave Roberts posted this of Rochdale last night which doesn’t bode well for his weather today.

Domestic things going on today include a Sainsbury’s delivery and a fresh fish delivery. Probably go out to the Garden Centre for fresh season’s herbs which no cook could be without.

Pauline is going to be connecting with her, old college friend by phone for the first time since 1973 when they went their different ways. She’s upstairs getting changed for the call. It’s fascinating the difference between the sexes. In these nervous situations, Men tend to think they can busk it and often fail badly. Women pay attention to things that give them confidence and ‘looking good/feeling good about themselves’ is one of those things. I have no doubt that Pauline and her friend, ‘Blondie’ will make a great success of it because they both really want to. The next stage will be for them to meet in person.

This time 12 years ago, we were retired and preparing to drive off to Greece for the Summer. We had two, major concerns: Pauline’s lovely Mum who was 96 years old and struggling and selling our Huddersfield house. Just up the road from Mum-in-Law’s flat was this newly appointed care home. We didn’t tell her but went for a visit to check it out. I got the shock of my life.

As we were shown round, a woman recognised me. I recognised her. She was our former Head of Governors, Ellen Brierly. I didn’t know the context of why she was there but it soon became apparent. She started spouting miles of educational language and I listened respectfully. Suddenly, I began to realise that she was using all the right words but in all the wrong order. Nothing she said made sense. She kept saying, It is nice to see you again. When I said, I had to move on with my tour, her old face crumpled and she expressed disappointment. I was rescued by a nurse/orderly coming in, taking Ellen by the arm and saying, Shall I read the newspaper to you? Another one whispered that Ellen was suffering badly with Dementia. Ellen lived another year sinking slowly into oblivion. Pauline’s Mum lived another year but stayed in her flat and was sharp as a button right up to the end.

Wednesday, 12th May, 2021

Pleasant morning but I’ve woken up aching all over. Yesterday, I really pushed myself in the gym and I’m paying for it this morning. Woke up in the middle of the night aching and found it hard to get back to sleep. As a consequence, didn’t get up until 7.00 am. Outside it is 13C/55F and weakly sunny but is forecast to be a pleasant day. Going to do a bit of gardening potting up the herbs that we bought yesterday – Sage, Thyme, Oregano and Rosemary. Bit early for Basil which we use on salads and to make pesto. Don’t know why but I can’t seem to get in to it as much this year.

My wife is unhappy with the results of her first haircut in 6 months. She went to her usual hairdresser but thought the cut was poor. When we were in the North, she went to Vidal Sassoon in Manchester and later in Leeds.

There isn’t one here without her going to London. I wanted her to go to the salon in Covent Garden but she’s found a Sassoon-trained stylist near us and is going to have her second cut in a week there on Thursday morning.If that doesn’t work, we are off to the city. The International Creative Director who charges £320.00 (sharp intake of breath) per cut in Covent Garden was a young trainee in Manchester when Pauline first went there.

Memory Box is painful today. On this day in 2010, we drove in baking sunshine down to Vathi Bay for Lunch at one of our favourite tavernas, Okeanida – The Wave.

Thursday, 13th May, 2021

As expected, it is wet this morning. Yesterday, I managed to rake, cut and feed the lawns and my neighbour’s. The rain this morning is just in time to water the feed granules in. Have woken up to bits of seagull strewn across the beautifully striped grass but no body – must have been just a skirmish.

Pauline is off for her second haircut. I am kicking my heels at home. Actually, I am in the gym punishing myself as any self-respecting lapsed Catholic should be doing! Ironic to see rain today because it has been so warm that I have designated it officially the start of shorts & Teeshirt season which will, hopefully, last well in to October. No clothes for 6 months!

It is more than a year since we last went to the David Lloyd Health Club. Because we have constructed our own gym with high quality equipment, we don’t miss their apparatus. We do miss meeting nice people a little but we especially miss swimming in the heated outdoor pool which we used all year round. For more than 20 years, we have discussed a pool in the back garden at various houses. Not a huge pool, of course, but one which is becoming increasingly popular from Endless Pools. An outlet has been established in our local Garden Centre Business Park. We called in yesterday.https://www.youtube.com/embed/WQ5dIrGA6pg?feature=oembed

An endless pool is only about 12ft long and contains a powerful motor which creates a current of water strong enough to keep the most powerful swimmer static but afloat. The full exercise is possible without ever having advanced along the pool at all. There are seats at one end for a jacuzzi and a motorised canopy to keep out the rain. Effectively, only one person can swim at a time but that doesn’t really matter, because, if one drowns the other is on hand to sign the death certificate.

The cost, including installation would be around £50,000.00 which is a lot of money and cost effectiveness has to be considered. Even if it was used for an hour a day, every day for 10 years, it is still quite expensive. Ten years membership of the Health Club for two people would only cost about £20,000.00. Assuming the Covid threat goes away, it might be better to just take up our membership again exclusively for swimming but so many people around us are installing Living-Room-sized Hot Tub / Jacuzzis that we thought we might just go one better.https://www.youtube.com/embed/BlCbWrkt7SY?feature=oembed

I don’t know anything about Ed Sheeran although I have heard of him but I came across this with Bocelli and really enjoyed it. Thought I’d store it here.

Friday, 14th May, 2021

Up early for Sainsbury’s delivery. Rained over night and quite overcast this morning. Domestic life continues with another side of salmon being prepared and cured for smoking. We are going out to a pottery store which specialises in huge, garden pots which we passed on the road to Gatwick Airport. With foreign travel increasingly looking difficult, pots may remain viable for the summer this year and our expanded garden patio is looking a bit bleak so pots and plants will soften it.

Fortunately, Pauline was delighted with her 2^nd haircut yesterday. That’s saved some cash! It looks nice and it isn’t far from home so it makes life easier. The thought of a train into London every time was a bit daunting. She’s also arranged to meet her closest college friend for the first time since 1973. Her friend is widowed and very keen to meet up which is nice. She sounds a really lovely lady.

Anyway, Pauline is getting a train to Milton Keynes quite early in the morning on May 27^th. We were surprised how difficult it is to get there. Just driving, which wouldn’t be fun for her alone because it involves the M25 + M1, is a 2.5 hr journey. The train involves a change at Clapham Common and takes just over 3 hrs. To make it worthwhile, she will leave before 7.00 am and not get back until after 9.00 pm. Still, it sounds like it will be a lovely reunion and, hopefully, a continuing relationship beyond texting or Christmas cards. Perhaps, next time, I will drive her and meet the ‘girls’ myself.

I‘ve always wanted to drive to the south coast of the Greek Peloponnese. Especially, it would be lovely to stay in Kalamata which is famous for the best, Greek olive oil. The whole region has the most wonderful, all year-round climate. So many ambitions have got to be achieved soon when your 70 already. I read Greek newspapers most days to keep up with the country I’ve spent so much time in. An article this morning in Kathimerini featured a luxury residential development for the over-65s.

It has all the fitness services – gyms/indoor and outdoor pools, integrated Spa/Massage/Beauty Treatment – that one could want to stay alive for decades to enjoy the experience plus luxury restaurants for those reluctant cooks and cleaning services. Properties include wifi, satellite tv, etc. and are set in olive groves and citrus gardens.
(Price on Application)

So often the saying that Life isn’t a rehearsal has impacted my life. Everything I do feels like a rehearsal all the time. Next time I will do it differently. Next time I will do it better. Next time I will succeed. It is so hard to realise that we write our own film script. It doesn’t just happen to us. Why does it take so long, until the age of 70, to realise that seizing the day is so important? The rehearsal is over and real time is here!

Saturday, 15th May, 2021

What a poor day. Grey skies and feeling cold. I don’t think we are getting much above 13C/55F in mid-May. A year ago, temperatures were nearer 22C/70F and we were on the beaches of the south coast.

We went out to buy things for the garden yesterday. First to a pot seller where we splashed out about £150.00 on 6 largish pots. Not quite sure what will go in them yet. We came back and visited our local garden centre of bags of soil and grit in readiness for planting them up.

I don’t quite seem to have the enthusiasm for gardening that I have had in recent years. I don’t really know why although it might have something to do with my strict diet and exercise regime. I seem to be tired all the time. But I am losing weight which is spurring me on. My mistake was marrying a fantastic cook. Our meal yesterday was griddled swordfish steaks with wonderful asparagus spears. How can one avoid eating too much? I really should have married someone who couldn’t cook at all. Now, I would be nibbling the occasional sandwich and looking stick-thin.

I heard of someone described as a gym bunny the other day. You would never describe me as a bunny anything ever! However, I am improving. Thought for the Day this morning had this aphorism: It never rains roses. If you want more roses, you have to plant them yourself. I am trying hard to plant roses with the faith that they will eventually flower.

Had a stream of Direct Messenger contacts flying around this morning. Currently it is the best way to stay in touch with people who are distantly located. This morning it was my cousin in the south of France and my brother in Maidenhead intervening in my orange juice & coffee. Yesterday, it was a girl from college, who I haven’t seen for nearly 50 years, sending me an animated-gif. My mind struggles to get to grips with the significance of time and space but it is fun.

I record, tabulate, Calendar, Blog all the events of my life. Many people find it weird, amusing, sad but I can’t help it. I love to be able to recall events that my memory only hazily brings back. Sometime, without my records, I find that I have totally redesigned an event so that it has little relation to what actually happened. This morning, the memory box reminded me that just 3 years ago today, we were checking in to the Valencia Palace Hotel for what turned out to be a lovely, short break. It actually feels so much longer ago.https://www.youtube.com/embed/NGorjBVag0I?feature=oembed

I found myself listening to Leonard Cohen yesterday. It is sad almost mournful sense of loss that permeates his songs. It certainly reminds me of my old friend, Nigel, who is an artist in North Yorkshire. It doesn’t help. I cry a lot anyway. I was interested and rather reassured listening to Gary Lineker this morning describing how he cries when he’s happy and he cries when he’s sad. Thank goodness I am not the only one. It is not a weakness but a strength. Pretending to be strong when you’re not is a weakness.