Sunday, 25th June, 2023
Scorching hot morning after very humid night. Still no sign of rain although we could get a little bit on Thursday. Had to go down to Next to return a suit which was ‘rubbish’! On to a Pickup Shop to collect an order from La Redoute for my Butler and then into Worthing to go to M&S for some white shirts.
The coast road was busy, lined with parked cars. As we went in to M&S, one side of the Pier was very quiet.
As we came out with some shirts, the other side of the pier was quite busy. Always shocks us the ‘holiday’ feel this hot weather generates down here. Someone said to me recently that it was so hot that there was no need to go abroad. I love ‘abroad’. I don’t go for a holiday. It takes me out of my ‘comfort zone’ and forces me to come to terms with Language, Culture, Conventions – in fact, everything that goes to make up a Culture. I am not drawn by the tourist ‘must sees’. I am much more into sitting with a cup of coffee or a glass/bottle of wine and watching the world go by. You can learn so much of the milieu that way.
We’ve spent a week in Thessaloniki, a week in Northern France, we are going to Athens for a week in late August and may slot another week in France before that. This morning, I’ve been researching hotels in Napoli. Always wanted to visit. You know what they say, See Naples and Die. I though we could test the theory. Actually, what it really means is Naples is so beautiful that one needn’t look upon anything else after seeing it. We’ll see.
Monday, 26th June, 2023
Lovely, sunny morning. Another gardening day. The French Beans are beginning to ‘fruit’ quite quickly now which is encouraging. Going to re-seed some patches of my neighbours’ garden this morning while they are out at work. Although it will need heavy watering, this temperature should be perfect for quick germination.
I noticed that Northern England has a Weather Alert for strong winds and big hail today. Warned Julie that her strawberries and other allotment vegetables are in danger. Mind you, short of erecting a huge tent, I’m not sure what she can do about it.
I have been praying for rain for some time. As I don’t believe in divine intervention, you won’t be surprised that my prayers have not been answered. We might get a little bit of light rain over night Thursday-Friday but it means, otherwise, I am having to provide it manually myself. It’s very time consuming.
I have never been a natural lover of discotheques or ‘pop’ music. I never liked Elton John’s records. I had been to a few discos to meet girls in my school days but never felt comfortable. I like talking to people and discos are definitely not the places for that. Hot, sweaty, noisy, having to shout to be heard. It really isn’t me. The first disco I walked into at College in 1969 was held in the Drama Room. The first record being played as I walked in was Elton John although I can’t remember what. I had never heard of him although my girlfriend at the time had. I tried to be impressed but failed. I tried to enjoy disco dancing …. but failed.
I don’t listen to or watch ‘pop’ music these days. I have never been to a ‘Pop Concert’ or Festival in my life but I indulged Pauline last night in watching Elton John as he closed the 2023 Glastonbury. The Elton John of 2023 is a bloated, terribly bewigged, queen who sounds rather more a semi-drunken ‘pub singer’ than the giant of popular music he is revered for. And yet, I found it genuinely emotional. I had a tear in my eye for this tableau of my times. Elton John is almost a symbol of all our aging. From slim, hairy youth to bloated, gold-lammied, hirsute, old age, performing for the ‘last time’.
It is time to admit that I only ever bought one vinyl record in my life. It was ….. Cat Stevens: Mathew & Son. I played it loudly at home (the home built by Sanders & Son) and was very disappointed that my Mother loved it. It was fascinating to see a white haired, white bearded Cat Stevens at Glastonbury.
He is equally a symbol of the change in times. Although born in London, he was of Greek Cypriot origin and his real name was Demetre Georgiou. He had to anglicise that to Cat Stevens for the ‘pop’ market in the 1960s-70s but then converted to Islam and felt able to come out publicly as Yusuf Islam. Now, a white haired old man just 2 years older than me. We are all aging and I don’t like it. All lives end in tragedy. Just don’t let it happen too soon!
Tuesday, 27th June, 2023
There is something nice about doing things for nice people, particularly the people who live around us. They are bright, clever, hardworking, enthusiastic people pushing themselves to achieve for their families. They all do significant, well-paid jobs which demand a high level of commitment. They want their street to look good but are cash-rich and time-poor. I don’t need cash but I have time so I’ve voluntarily taken on some garden maintenance work. I can spend hours outside in the sunshine and expend energy at the same time.
Yesterday morning, I was working on my next door neighbours’ lawn re-seeding some faded patches. I raked out the old grass and bent down to pick it up thrusting a sharpened end of a pruned branch straight into my right eye. Only those who have been close to me will know that I was born blind in my left eye so any threat to the other one is panic stations.
I don’t panic often but I have lived my life trying to protect my ‘good’ eye. They tried to stop me playing Rugby and fighting but, as a lad, they were on a loser. However, any threat to my eyesight has been taken seriously immediately. Can’t believe how lucky I have been. Blood from the wound has seeped into the corner of my eye and the flesh around it is quite deeply gashed but I’ll live to fight another day. Always enjoyed fighting.
My Dresser has found me a reasonable suit for my trip to Lancashire. The only thing is that every suit I’ve ever bought ‘off the peg’ has to be adjusted on the arms. I inherited my Dad’s short arms. That didn’t help with the fighting. Just means I have to hit harder. Anyway, the sleeves will need turning up by a couple of inches.
Of course, then we (She) have the job of parcelling up the other suits and sending them back. This means a trip to a ‘ Returns Shop’ – the Co-Op, in this case, near the station which means a forever wait for commuter trains to pass by. Am I impatient? Yes, for so many things and time is diminishing.
On the way back home we learnt that Kirsty & Phil were filming Location, Location, Location in the village. Look forward to watching that one.
Wednesday, 28th June, 2023
A very humid and still morning after a bad night. I’m just not sleeping well, waking at 1.30 am and 3.30 am. Put the radio on and listened to the BBC World Service – a programme about Nuclear Reactors in Japan – which sent me back to sleep. At least the radio works in blocking out the disturbing stream of thoughts …
Last night I watched Newsnight just before bed. Had to turn it off part way through because it upset me so much. The subject was Food Poverty in UK. The programme featured a group of ‘older’ residents in Gateshead. They all ‘survived’ just on a State Pension. How anybody does that goodness knows but these poor people were cutting back on everything and, particularly, food.
One lady only ate every two days. A man had one meal a day and tried to substitute any other food by filling up on coffee and tea. He had dropped from 17st to 11st in one year. One lonely lady said she could no longer have her grandchildren to stay because she couldn’t afford to feed them and when the wider family invited her out to eat, she starved herself for two days to ensure she could afford to contribute. And here I am, a man trying desperately not to eat to much!
This hormone treatment makes me rather more emotional than usual but this really got to me. It is unbearable to think of such hardship. I had paid £200.00 for a fish delivery and these people were right on the edge of survival. The irony is that it has taken so long for people to rumble the Tories. I remember being so angry to hear a Northerner say, I’m voting Tory because they’ve given us so many more foodbanks than Labour would do – as if that was a sign of beneficence. I shouldn’t have been surprised when Tory MPs and Councillors had publicity shots taken of them celebrating the local foodbank.
I went to bed with a tear in my eye and woke up AGAIN at 3.30 am. My damaged eye seems to have developed a bit of infection in spite of the ministrations of my Home Carer. I have got some eyedrops I picked up in Worthing this morning but I may need a stronger antiseptic.
Of course, we’ve got the best part of another year with this government and inflation will be with us throughout that period. The Bank of England forecast an inflation (CPI) rate of 7.2% by September and 5% by year end. That is beginning to look a little optimistic but, even if it is correct, it means that State Pensions and Public Sector workers’ pensions (Teachers) will increase by the September figure. Ironically, I’m expecting to add the equivalent of our joint State Pensions in investment earnings as well. Money makes money. Poverty kills.
This cost of living crisis is killing the Tories. Sunak looked really out of his depth in PMQs this morning. His back benchers were thin on the ground and quiet in support. So many of them are stepping down at the next election. Their polling adviser has told back benchers that if they don’t have a majority of more than 15,000 then they are ‘toast’.
Thursday, 29th June, 2023
Another poor night. What a tormented, weak specimen I am. Woken to flashes of lightning and distant rumbles of thunder at around 4.30 am. The storm didn’t come closer but when we got up before 7.00 am, it had rained which was something to be thankful for. The morning is dry now because, in Sussex, we voted to have rain delivered just over night so that the days are free for ‘playing out’.
Last night, one of the girls – Sharon – whose lawn I have been trying to revive, came over with a large and expensive bouquet of flowers. It made me feel awful because I can’t cope with things like that. I’m definitely a giver not a taker. Even so, they are absolutely lovely. To make myself feel better, I’m going to give her a bottle of champagne and get her Whatsapp contact so that I can send her a photo of the flowers.
The package next to the flowers I took in for another neighbour, Jill, who is away in Calabria, Italy. I Whatsapp-ed her to tell her the sex-toy had arrived. She seemed quite pleased.
News in the political world just gets better day by day:
- The Lords vote down significant sections of the Illegal Migration Bill (Screams of horror from the Daily Fail / Daily Express readers).
- The Commons Privileges Committee releases a secondary report naming a list of the lunatics who supported Johnson even though they knew he had lied and attacked the committee members to try and influence the decision. Threats were issued by people like Mad Nad Dorries, supine Rees-Smugg, (Not so) Priti Patel, etc.. No longer will parliament accept their shenanigans.
- The much vaunted Rwanda migrant plan has been ruled unlawful by the Court of Appeal. Suella Braverman’s dream is crushed and one of Sunak’s 5 pledges is thwarted. At least they can console themselves that the Home Office economic assessment of £169,000.00 per migrant exported will be saved.
Friday, 30th June, 2023
A cooler, fresher day after the humidity of the past month. Last day of June already. Just preparing to go up to Lancashire for a few days. Having my seamstress alter my new suit. Short arms demand shorter sleeves. The trouble it poses is for the 4 buttons and the lining but my worker will manage it!
Don’t you just hate it when a line of communication suddenly breaks down? Makes you feel cut off! We have 5 Sky-Q boxes around the house and one in the Gym. Every morning Breakfast is accompanied by BBC R4 Today. Intelligent, quality analysis of the political and societal scene. We receive it digitally through the Sky -Q box in the Kitchen. It is a routine. This morning, the software failed on the Q-box. Ultimately, I managed to fix it but wonder how Pauline would have done it on her own. Amazing how an ordinary and routine thing can put one out.
Later in the day, our mobile texting service stopped working. Resetting phones, checking EE site for reported faults, reinstalling text apps – all to no avail. Incredibly frustrating. It really gets to me. If there’s a problem, I have to solve it. I have to say that we virtually never have a problem with EE but then we pay quite a lot for the service but you only miss it when it’s gone like so many things. Anyway, in age, I am learning to take it patiently and a long walk in the rain found the problem solved on my return.
You may have noticed that I am fixated on the weather. I have a very good weather app on my phone, another on my iPad and I use the BBC on my computer. It is not just mine but places I visit regularly, places I used to live in, places that friends live in, etc.. BBC weather used to be provided by the government’s Met. Office for years. Recently, they have dropped the Met and taken on a private concern called MeteoGroup. Many people think that was a mistake and the accuracy has been compromised. Certainly, I find my phone app much more targeted and accurate. Yesterday, the BBC Weather site had every area in the country experiencing 7C for the foreseeable future. It looked as if winter had returned. How would I know the best time to walk? At the same time, we were enjoying a sweaty, humid 23C/71F. Anyway, today order is restored. Looks wet in Wales.
To cap a week of breakdowns, the treadmill I bought just under three years ago developed a fault as I tried to balance and tighten the belt. It was beyond my capabilities to fix so we drove down to Shoreham on Sea where JTX – the company we bought it from – are sited. So pleased that we decided to go for the top of the range model because it has been fantastic, comes with an annual service and 3 yr warranty. It cost just a bit more than two subscriptions to David Lloyd Health Club for a year so it has already paid its way. JTX were fantastic and will have an engineer out to repair it on Tuesday.
Until then, I am relying on good, warm weather for outdoor walking plus my static bike and rowing machine. Really need to do more rowing. I’m not good at it!
Saturday, 1st June, 2023
New month, new start, new hope. You know what I mean. All things will go well and all manner of things will go well. Kevin is flying to Spain for the 4th time this year. Our neighbours, John & Jill are flying back from Calabria where they have had a wonderful week. I’m going to …. Lancashire soon.
Today, I have been out in the garden picking the produce of my labours: Courgettes, Ruby Oak-Leaved Lettuce and Green (Yellow) Beans. The Tomatoes were grown by Sainsburys. We’ll be eating these this weekend. They have only travelled 30 mtrs from soil to plate without any chemical treatments. Whatever they are like, we are bound to think they taste better than shop bought. Julie sent me a photo of her first pick of peas this morning. She seemed to be happy with them
My sister, Ruth, and her husband, Kevan, are celebrating their 51st wedding anniversary today. We wish them a happy day and many more to come.
Down here it’s a hot and sultry morning. We haven’t had anywhere near as much rain as we need. Guess what I’m doing … going out for a walk. I really am pleased with my improving fitness again now. I am achieving 9 miles every day for the past week, month and year so I think I’m fighting through the hormone treatment. As someone said the other day, never give up. I won’t!
I am certainly not giving up on Europe and the pendulum is definitely swinging back. At last, all over the media, people are feeling free to observe the Brexit-effect on trade, imports, jobs, travel, education and the finer things of life. I have always believed that it would be reversed eventually and I really think I will live to celebrate the day. You can celebrate it with me, Dear Reader!