Week 806

Sunday, 2nd June, 2024

Glorious morning as we advance into June. Hot and sunny with cloudless, blue skies. Nice preparation for our Greek trip. The garden really looks lovely and healthy and under control.

Dad in 1930

Didn’t sleep very well last night. Put the radio on at 5.00 am to hear reports about D-Day which is celebrated on Thursday. For some reason, I found myself thinking about my Dad, Eric Richard Sanders, who died in 1965 when I was just 14. I have to admit, I didn’t really know him well and have few, personal memories of him. (*) His sudden death at the age of 49 sticks in my memory with great clarity and small vignettes approach me but it is always a bit of a shock that I should not know a man who I lived with for my first 14 years.

I suppose there are two explanations of this. Firstly, Dad had been brought up in quite a remote and rather austere home without his mother who was ‘sectioned’ after childbirth with what we might now see as extreme post-natal depression. She never came out of the Pastures Mental Asylum and died there aged 62. For a long time, Dad would go and visit her each week … and then each month. It meant that he didn’t really develop a tactile nature and I don’t remember him ever hugging me. He was a private man who didn’t talk to the children much. Quite Victorian in that sense like the upbringing he had come from.

Dad went to Burton Grammar School where I later attended. Although he left in 1931, there were a couple of teachers still there who taught him. I had big boots to fill.

Dad – 1939?

He was an excellent leader and rugby player. He was remembered as a man’s man. His grandfather – my Great Grandfather – had started a Joinery business in our village. I think they made coffins at one point. It was eventually established as Sanders & Son, Builders. Dad was trained and expected to go in to the business and eventually take it over. I was also expected to follow him and was sent to do ‘O’ Level Civil Engineering at Night School. I hated it and would have hated even more going into the Building Management business so it was fortunate that I was too young when he died.

Before that, of course, World War Two intervened. Dad was a natural to go into the Royal Engineers which he did soon becoming a Captain and eventually leaving as an Acting Major. He was in the desert in Palestine building bridges and supervising men to do construction. He always told us that he lost a lot of his hair because of the intense heat out there. He told stories about cooking eggs & bacon on screaming hot Jeep bonnets and he brought home a love of Camp Coffee which my Mother hated.

Major Sanders (Acting) – 1945

He came home to the family business and to marry. I’m not sure quite when but he came home from war in 1945 and my eldest sister, Ruth, was born in 1947. Dad’s wife – Ruth’s Mum – died in childbirth so his life was once more in turmoil. Fortunately (for me), my Mum had moved down from London to take up an Art teaching post in Burton Girls High School and moved to live in my village. She met newly available Dad and they were married in 1949. I came along in 1951.

He had Architect, Estimator and Civil Engineering training and, as Grandad aged, Dad increasingly took over the Business. He had about 30 or so men working for him with separate departments – Joiners, Painters, Plumbers, Bricklayers (funny but I don’t remember electricians) and, of course, general labourers. He seemed very good at leading teams of men.

Last Photo – 1964
Architects Meeting

The business did fairly well but I know he found it stressful. He grew it from small scale local work to building streets of houses. My Mother was constantly urging him on to take bigger projects which he thought were riskier. In his mid 40s, that stress caught up with him. He developed a duodenal ulcer which gave him considerable pain but which nowadays would easily be sorted out. And then, when he was 48, he started to suffer Angina. Eventually, he was taken into hospital where I went to see him. It was an agonising meeting. We had barely talked at home and found conversation in a hospital room almost impossible. I was up for trials to play Rugby for Staffordshire. I wanted him to watch me. It would have been the first time he had ever watched me.

He dismissed Bob & I because it was obvious how excruciating the conversation was and he was putting us out of our misery. The next night, Mum was called urgently to the hospital and he had had a heart attack and gone. I can remember the evening as clearly as if it was yesterday. In the current day, he would have been fitted with a stent, prescribed statins and lived another 40 years … but that was then and we will have similar regrets about cancer treatment advances when I’m gone.

(*) I caveat everything I record here with my incomplete memory. There may be those who will challenge the facts and I welcome them to correct me. Memory can play strange tricks on old minds.

It’s been a glorious day here, Dear Reader. Pity you couldn’t make it. You’ve missed a treat. However, we’ve got no rain forecast for at least a week now so there are still plenty of chances before we fly to Greece.

Monday, 3rd June, 2024

Lovely days just go on. Hot and humid today. The next week is projected to deliver absolutely no rain so watering will be exercising me. The past few days have been glorious in the garden. Met Office figures released today show the UK had its warmest May and warmest Spring since records dating back to 1884 began.

We are going to Thessaloniki soon so I am monitoring the weather. It’s looking great. My sort of weather. Very hot and sunny is perfect for me. You will hear the old and wrinkly, blue-rinse brigade complaining about it being too cold in Winter and too hot in Summer but I just love hot, hot, hotter. 34C/93F is absolutely perfect.

We’ve just booked our maintenance men to come and do some property repairs after we come back from holiday. In this week in 2011, my maintenance woman was hard at work repainting our Greek property. Construction work, painting, repointing, dry stone walling, plastering, etc. are part of her passion – anything to keep her properties ‘pristine’. I am quite happy to let her indulge her passions.

Tuesday, 4th June, 2024

Very warm and humid but overcast. From the one of the wettest Springs for 40 years, West Sussex is forecast to almost be a desert for the month of June. Not great news for gardeners.

Asian Hornet – Honey Bee Killer.

Talking about gardeners and particularly those down here on the South Coast, the news has recently featured the discovery of 3 queen Asian Hornets which survived the Winter down here. They have come across the Channel for some years in the Summer but thought extinguished by Winter temperatures. Last Winter, we hardly used the central heating at all and the Hornets survived to breed and increase. Beautiful though they are, they are predators of our own Honey Bees which are essential to pollination.

Basic Economics teaches us that Currencies are heavily influenced by interest rates. Interest rates are difficult things for those who need to borrow money – mortgages, loans, etc. – but can be very positive for those who want to invest money – Savings Rates, Bonds, Currencies, etc.. It is nice to be on the positive side for a change. Savings rates and Bond rates are rewarding me now and interests rate diversity will help my position on Currency Exchange for a change.

The European Central Bank are predicted to cut interest rates on Thursday. This will make the EU a less attractive place to invest money and push down the value of the Euro. Pound-Euro exchange rate will strengthen in favour of the Pound Sterling. Time to buy a few thousand euros for future use.

The sun is out. The temperature is reaching 22C/70F. I am going out to water and feed all the front lawns and flower beds. What are you going to do, Dear Reader?

Wednesday, 5th June, 2024

Lovely day … to go to Lidl. I go there to buy Almond Milk. Theirs is the nicest and the cheapest. At least I managed to buy a couple of cases of it which will get me through the month.

Lidl is next to the beach so we carried on to the fishing jetty and walked in the sunshine. Looks quiet here but, as we left, hoards of school kids were arriving in noisy crocodiles for their post-SATs outing. It was very high tide and the beach was punctuated with warning signs of Dangerous Tides.

Suitcases have to be prepared. We have more suitcases than two people could ever want. I’m not sure why but my Valet just likes buying suitcases. Once again, we are not putting luggage in the hold. I love not having to wait anxiously around a luggage carousel in the airport. I have bought airline seats that include a large and a standard carry-on bag each which is plenty for us in the hot weather.

Just as the Valet is organising clothes to be packed for going away, I am preparing the vital communications apparatus for travel – smartphones, iPads, Laptop, Kindle, watches. All need chargers, VPN software to allow us to access Bank Accounts, UK TV: BBC, ITV, Sky, Netflix to keep in touch with the Election and download newspapers and to pick up a film. The Virtual Private Network I recommend which allows me to appear as if I am in London while I am sitting in Northern Greece is ExpressVPN. It works brilliantly and keeps everything secure.

Thursday, 6th June, 2024

Lovely, warm morning. On TV News, D-Day celebrations are running in the background. I’m not sure why but even as a Historian whose birth was in the immediate wake of World War Two, I find it difficult to acknowledge. I really don’t know why and feel a sense of shame in that difficulty. This morning it took the strains of Elgar’s Enigma Variations: Nimrod to catch my emotions and bring tears to my eyes. How powerful is music!

I’m having coffee with royalty this morning …. well, vicariously. Our neighbours were invited to Highgrove this week and brought back this present for us. Well, it is organic.

I’m going to mount the bag (I might have to rephrase that.) in the window with our Vote Labour poster.

How do you suit hats, Dear Reader? Do you wear them well? I have to admit that they don’t look good on me. What does? The temperatures forecast for Thessaloniki when I am there are 35C – 32C / 95F – 90F every day. It is not the hottest I have known but it will be HOT. I need a hat. They don’t suit me but needs must. My Dresser has ordered this hat from M&S. That’s OK.

The world is full of reunions today. D-Day is front and centre this morning but I will miss the College reunion of those 20+ young men who pioneered our College. We felt like a ‘Band’ of Brothers because of our minority inside a majority of girls. It is on Wednesday when I will be away. My friends will Video-Call me from the reunion to kindly include me. I will raise a glass of Retsina to them from a place in the sun. This is going to be a year of reunions.

Friday, 7th June, 2024

Gorgeous, gorgeous day. Blue sky; hot sun. Not quite Greek yet but lovely all the same. Greece is in the news at the moment because a TV doctor has gone missing on Symi Island which is part of the Dodecanese group.

Around 30 years ago, we rented a house up in the Hora behind a church. The island was interesting although very steep and without many cars to rent. The big surprise was that at 6.00 am every morning, the church bells were rung and not quietly. I was definitely up early to embrace the day on that trip.

Symi is particularly known for the 384 huge stone steps up to the Hora/ Chorio. They are wide steps to accommodate donkeys. For a donkey like me, it was hard work. It is known as the Kali Strata which literally means Good Way but, when you’ve climbed it every day for weeks, it doesn’t feel so good. I had to take my Bag-Carrier with me. This photo has been on the wall of every house ever since.

Had a phone call from my Oncologist yesterday afternoon. I was on the treadmill and out of breath when he called. I wasn’t expecting it. I had a face-to-face appointment today but not now. The news was good … I think. The blood test showed my PSA to be ‘normal’ and my testosterone to be that of a 25 year old. I will be tested again in 3 months and given a full MRI scan to rule out any chance that the cancer has migrated. I think I am happy with that.

Saturday, 8th June, 2024

Very warm with cloud and sun. All our neighbours are away. One side have gone to Germany for a Father’s 97th birthday. At the back, they’ve been in Spain since October. The other side has just come back from Dubai on a conference week. Across the road, they are just preparing to go to Dubai on a family holiday. We are still here. Custodians of the road … but not for long. We fly to Thessaloniki in a few days so I am trying to make sure the garden survives without me. I’ve mowed the street lawns and today I’m going to weed & feed them. On Sunday, I’ve decided to forgo a trip to church and I will feed and water all the plants. So a busy few days prior to going away.

Best Man

I don’t want you to have nightmares but this image is the face of the Best Man (Orwellian Double Speak) at my wedding almost 46 years ago. I have renamed him Kapability Kevin because, in old age, he tells me that he has discovered gardening. You will know the famous, 18th century garden designer Capability Brown.

Today it is Orwell & Kafka day across BBC Radio 4. It is 75 years ago that George Orwell published the dystopian novel, 1984. Today, Radio 4 is dominated by readings and analysis of the novel. I know I am odd but I find it gripping.

In the novel, Winston Smith is living in a controlled State under the surveillance of the Thought Police where the political order so dominates everyday life that independent thought is a crime, love is forbidden, and language seems to say the opposite of what one has normally come to expect. Under this oppression, Winston tries to rebel by putting down his private thoughts in a Diary. Today, it would be a Blog if he could keep it private. In it he tries to assert words which the State has bent the reality of.

In his diary, he records his first thought: Down with Big Brother! To compound such a heinous thoughtcrime, he begins a liaison with a pretty young woman, a member of the Anti-Sex League, named Julia. He has sex with her but, of course, Julia is a rebel from the waist down only and betrays him (It was ever thus!) to The Thought Police.

At this point, the thinking reader examines themself and their own world in terms of Winston Smith and the Totalitarian State of 1984. Why do I write a Blog? Why do I vehemently oppose the Right Wing who long for a ‘strong leader’ to control the State? Have I been betrayed? Only you, Dear Reader, can answer those questions. You are on the outside looking in to my Life.

About John Sanders

Ex-teacher and Grecophile. Born 6/4/1951. B.A. Eng. Lit & M.A. History of Ideas. Taught English & ICT.
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