Sunday, 24th September, 2023
What a strange night. A warm contrast to the night before. 17C/63F all night. Fitful sleep punctuated by weird dreams. In one, I dreamt I was dreaming. I was absolutely convinced that I woke from a dream, woke my wife and asked her if I could afford to stop working – stop teaching – and retire. Then I woke up and woke my wife to ask her if that conversation had taken place. As I did so, the bubbling realisation of what nonsense I was talking flowed across me. Fortunately, my wife just laughed rather than sending for little men in white coats.
Hard to predict how the day will go after that unsettling start. Watching the morning political discussion and I realise that there are far more weird things across the country. I am almost sane. I love driving. I would always choose car over train but the HS2 project, which I was never in favour of, is becoming a national humiliation.
I/we argued at the time that Northern rail infrastructure badly needs investment and updating. Trans-Pennine travel is terrible. The trains are antiquated. The motorways are horrible almost all the time but definitely at peak times. I’ve never thought that shaving a bit of time off North-South travel was more worthwhile than treating the North of England properly. Of course, hi-speed broadband, video conferencing improvements and home working have all made the HS2 project something of a white elephant. Few people would even consider the boast on the billboard above.
What worries me is that Britain is becoming an insular laughing stock unable to afford and build major infrastructure projects.
Warm and breezy down at the beach today. Perfect weather for the windsurfers. Coffee shops overlooking the sea were crowded with onlookers as the surfers demonstrated their skills.
Monday, 25th September, 2023
Warm & sunny. Lovely blue sky. Went for an early walk around the development and out into the local park. The gardeners had already been by 10.00 am and the area looked cared for.
The walk takes us past our very own Stone Henge and the drift of wild flowers which have created an pleasant edge to the green.
The walk around our streets is a memory of the Past. Some of my readers are not keen to be reminded of past times but I know the past informs the future. All our pasts come back to visit us when we least expect it. Better to meet it head on than to be surprised by an ambush.
There is something satisfying about the village’s naming of our streets after villagers fallen in WW1. Harrison Crescent, Nanson Lane, Maynard Mead, Alexander Avenue, Lagden Gardens all commemorate those from the village who fell a century ago.
Tuesday, 26th September, 2023
Had to go out on a lovely, sunny morning to the Radiotherapy Centre in Preston Park, Brighton. It was quite an enjoyable drive which took 45 mins each way. I have two weeks until my intensive course of treatment begins.
From field to fork or, in this case, garden to kitchen, the Basil plants will soon be looking worse for wear so they are being used this morning. I am cooking a huge pot of Tomato Sauce with basil, garlic and Onions. It will be sectioned into boxes and frozen for use over the winter.
Had contact with my little sister, Cathy this morning. Well, I say little, she is 68 but she will always be little to me and I will always feel responsible for her welfare. She is mad about dogs – particularly ugly breeds of dogs. Sometimes, I think I will always fail to understand people.
I do understand this though. Little Cathy sent me a photo of her leg. She is super fit but has developed a condition called Purpura which is an abnormal build up of blood vessels in the skin and is not curable. It is seen in older people and called senile purpura. I’m not having that said about my little sister! I’m making an appointment with her doctor to put her straight!!
Wednesday, 27th September, 2023
Lovely morning after a warm night – didn’t fall below 17C/63F. Didn’t sleep well. Dreamt of my old friend, Nigel, who I lived with for 3 years at college. He was an Art teacher, Budhist and ran an Art Gallery. He was the first person I met when I arrived at College 54 years ago. I’ve seen him once since 1974. He was 75 yesterday.
I am in the doghouse because one of my wife’s favourite large, serving bowls – white porcelain bought in France – has been chipped probably by me unstacking the dishwasher. It is one of the reasons that I’m not allowed to stack the dishwasher. I tend to cram everything in without any real care. I have spent the last hour trying to find a replacement which is not as easy in UK.
You will be relieved to know, Dear Reader, that I have found something which is thought to be acceptable …. on Amazon and not one but two replacements will be arriving tomorrow.
Next the Fish Delivery arrived. Sides of salmon, bags of Squid Tubes, Frozen Prawns, Slab of fresh Tuna and, for the first time, some portions of Mahi Mahi. I wonder if you’ve ever eaten it. I only tried it in America and it is from the Pacific Ocean. It tastes rather like swordfish which is becoming difficult to buy here at the moment. Mahi Mahi is something of an oxymoron as a ugly-beautiful fish which is rather disturbingly also known as the dolphin fish.
Went out to tile shops for the second time to source the right floor tiles for the downstairs bathroom. We’ve found a good shop, Eurotiles & Bathrooms, who said immediately we could take any tiles home to match up with the tiled walls. They didn’t need any of our details. That is the sort of trader I like and guaranteed my custom. We found exactly the right tiles and now have to engage a tiler to measure up. What really took my interest was the ‘Smart’ (automatic) toilet which is a combine of toilet and Bidet, the functions of which are controlled by remote control. Now that’s what I call a toilet! Just £3,000 including fitting. I’ve got to have one.
Thursday, 28th September, 2023
A grey, warm day. Finding it quite hard to rouse myself to anything. Need to clean the car – can’t be bothered. Need to get some tilers to come and quote for a job in the house. Finding it tiresomely difficult. Have to do my exercise. Too tired! It’s going to be one of those days. I’m looking for a spring to put in my step. Briefly had some banter with JohnR who is preparing to give a talk, Kevin who is having his arm pumped with injections today and Julie who has suffered terrible gales around the house last night and didn’t sleep.
Do you know what cod cheeks are, Dear Reader? No, I didn’t until recently. If you can believe it, they are the actual cheeks of cod fish. Had to go down to the fish merchants by the beach to collect some which have come down from Billingsgate over night.
Cod cheeks are small and very sweet pieces of cod set aside when the main fish is filleted. We ordered a 3Kg box and went to pick it up this morning.
While we are out, the house is cleaned upstairs and down by the robots. They take about an hour each to negotiate the different rooms. All we have to do is leave all the doors open, set the robots off as we go out using our smart phones and leave the alarm off because the robots would trigger the infra red sensors.
While we were down at the beach on this warm morning, I thought I might be able to raise my spirits and reinvigorate myself by walking by the sea. Actually, there was a huge gaggle of school children beachcombing as the tide turned. Came away quite quickly.
Time to go on a real trip!
Friday, 29th September, 2023
Warm and sunny morning. Still feeling rather lethargic and empty. Spirits raised in Sainsburys carpark when I saw a new, Porche Macan in metallic, deep, dark aubergine. I have got to get one. As soon as I got home, I looked up the price and it is incredibly reasonable when compared to a new one of my car. Worth considering … if I can get it through the Management. First question will be, Why do you want to drive at 145 mph? I’m preparing an answer.
I have never really had pets. It wasn’t encouraged at home. It was a busy, full household with little time or space for animals. I was allowed a rabbit at about the age of 7. A hutch was built for it outside in the garden. I fed and watered it and was told to clean it out which I was less assiduous at. After a short time, a lot of little pink, wriggling babies arrived. I was too innocent to ask where from … something of a lifelong weakness. I only had one rabbit so, in retrospect, it must have been immaculate conception which would have appealed to my Catholic Mother.
Very soon after the birth, the babies disappeared and, a few days later, I went outside after breakfast to find my rabbit dead. I had killed my rabbit! I locked myself in the downstairs toilet and cried loudly for hours. The explanation I was given was that the dandelion leaves I had picked from the edges of the garden had been treated with weedkiller and then ingested by the rabbit. There were no more pets in the house until I left home.
When I moved in with Pauline in 1978, she had two, small cats – sisters called Flossie & Jemima. I wasn’t keen on them at all. Cat hairs everywhere. Flossie was long haired and constantly shed hair. I used to terrorise them with the vacuum cleaner. Flossie was a hunter and came back with mice, birds and, once, a young rabbit. She soon took one too many risks and was found dead on the road outside. Her sister lasted longer, was more careful and I (almost) came to like her but she, eventually, suffered the same fate. In both cases there were tears – not mine – followed by formal burials marked by a stick in the back garden.
Jemima died in 1979 but lives on in our Dressing Room. She has been carried around with us from house to house in framed photograph form, I hasten to add. She looks down on Pauline as she does the ironing just as she did in real life. She looks down on me as I get dressed and …. sneers.
Saturday, 30th September, 2023
The last morning of September is an absolutely beautiful one with blue sky and strong sunshine. Bit tired because I didn’t sleep well. I’m really suffering with fluctuating body temperatures at the moment. My weight is increasing again and my emotions are all over the place. Last night in bed, the air conditioning was switched on and off so many times as I cycled from cold to sweating and back. Feeling a bit listless without ideas.
One thing on my mind at the moment is that radiotherapy starts in just over a week. While I wasn’t sleeping at around 4.00 am this morning, BBC World Service ran an article about a very successful NHS trial of radiotherapy for men with prostate cancer. My fairly conventional treatment has involved hormone therapy – about 8 months of it – which has been really unpleasant but looks as if it has been very successful, followed by a month (20 sessions) of targeted radiotherapy.
This carries real risks for the patient of life-changing after-effects but does provide a fantastic rate of survival into the future. Having to attend hospital every weekday for a 4 weeks is demanding on patient and hospital. The new trial has established that the 20 sessions of moderate radiation can be replaced by 5 sessions of more intensive radiation with just the same success rate and no increased risk of after effects. Obviously, this cuts demands on the patient and frees up so much resource for the NHS. They could treat 4 times the number of patients. Looks like I have just suffered too soon.
Lots of signs of Autumn around now although the weather is not one of them. Trees around the Development are showing lots of die-back and grass is growing more slowly. We are still getting temperatures in the low 20Cs so hovering around 70F and with rain at night, flowers continue to bloom.
Paid a plumber loads of money to replace a faulty toilet flush, spring-loaded plunger button. It failed within a week. I ordered two more on Amazon and my wife fitted it in minutes with total success. That’s what a man needs – a wife not a plumber.