Sunday, 12th January, 2025
Another glorious morning with lots of possibilities and tasks to get through. Strangely, I’m feeling a little sadness, emptiness this morning. Something is missing. Got to force myself through it. Music for this morning is another composer I discovered for the first time in the mid-1970s – Rachmaninov, a Russian émigré after the Revolution and a Romanticist.
Rachmaninov’s Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini formed a backdrop to my Degree studies late into the night. It never fails to move me. Probably a bit self-indulgent and not the best choice for today, I am ineluctably drawn to it. I can see myself bashing away on a blue, manual typewriter at the latest essay only sleeping in the early hours of the morning. Strangely, it was an exciting time. Everything was possible.
Exercise, cleaning the car, confirming the next element of the year’s travel all have to be completed today, writing, newspaper reading, etc.. And so life goes on. Particularly today, I want to make final decisions about the Spanish trip in July. I’ve tied up accomodation and travel for May in France, June in Greece, August in Greece and Yorkshire/Lancashire at least once this year. I’ve just got Spain in July and Tenerife in November to tie down.
Might have found a reasonable property for July. It’s only available for 3 weeks and will cost £4,300 but that’s alright. It has a private pool and is near a beach. It has an outdoor kitchen and one indoors with dishwasher and washing machine. It has a good shower and WiFi – two prerequisites. There are a couple of bedrooms and bathrooms. It is in easy walking distance of the beach and a good supmurcado. It is on the edge of the city so offers plenty of restaurants if we want them.
The property is on the outskirts of Torrevieja and means flying to Alicante. Never been there before so that would be interesting. Incredibly cheap to fly in July. Quite a shock after Greek flight prices. My housekeeper remains to be persuaded. I thinks she considers it is not good enough. I may be back to the seach but I’m determined to get this done very shortly. Got to find the month of November in Tenerife before properties there are snapped up.
Monday, 13th January, 2025
A grey, warmer and dry morning. It’s forecast to be a dry week of above average temperatures so all good. Driving up to Surrey later in the morning so time for an hour or so walking.
Music for this morning is an old favourite. I listened to it so often in my garret that I thought I knew every note. It is Beethoven’s 5th Piano Concerto – Emperor. I dare you to listen to it and not be moved, Dear Reader.
To counter balance, I am reading the Group Chat on Whatsapp of a collection of lads (old men) from my student days. They talk a lot of frivolous, inconsequential rubbish – the sort of thing I imagine people talk in pubs to while away the time. I contribute to the Group Chat occasionally but usually I just sit and chuckle. Yesterday, most of the chat went on in the morning and then everyone was off doing their own thing – actually in the pub, watching the football, meeting family, etc. Yesterday at 4.30 pm, a lad called Chris posted:
We will have it in a orange sauce tonight 😏
Nobody picked that up until 5.00 am this morning when Peter asked:
What, Chris? Duck?
Chris got back almost immediately with:
No, loin of pork. Sorry Pete that was meant for my kids.
And there is retired life for you in a simple exchange. We shuffle along in the mundanities of life. There has to be more to it than that.
As predicted my choice of holiday rental was rejected so the search goes on. As always, it is the balance between price and quality that has to be faced. This property is lovely but cost £6,000 for 3 weeks in July. I think it’s worth it but I wait to be instructed.
After an hour of walking, drove up to Surrey avoiding the motorway. Good journey. An enjoyable drive. M is flying back to Florida next week so we went up to say goodbye and to take her birthday present. The girl who I played Hopscotch with almost 50 years ago will be 60 next week as well. Absolutely incredible and scary. She had been to a funeral of a former colleague who had died aged 75. Now that really is scary and absolutely rivets me to achieving all my ambitions quickly.
Stayed a couple of hours and then drove home the motorway route. It was quiet and easy. Home by 4.00 pm and had a banana to get me through. Then, out for another hour’s walk in falling temeperatures. Dark is still coming so quickly. It always feels later than it is. So by 5.30 pm, I have done my target and there is just time for a shower before Supper. Tonight it is Roast Salmon with Pesto Crust accompanied by Green French Beans and Asparagus Spears – and I’m hungry!
Tuesday, 14th January, 2025
Really enjoyed yesterday. Loved the drive through the Surrey Hills, through Horsham & Dorking – a drive of beautiful fields and trees, of skies and hedgerows and remarkably little traffic. Nice to give the car a run and to spend an hour listening to a political podcast against that backdrop. Half way through its 4th month, the new car has covered just 1500 miles. It can’t wait to stretch its legs with a drive to Yorkshire and to France.
Just as I was thinking back over the trip this morning, this article appeared in The Guardian and I think it is right. Ironically, I walked on Box Hill with my Grandfather in 1956. Scary to think that was nearly 60 yeaars ago. Now I drive past it regularly. M is going back to Florida so we had to see her before she flew.
Set out for a walk on the beach in 5C this morning. The waves were crashing foam on to the shingle and roaring back into the sea as the tide turned. I had my musical choice of the day playing in my head: Mendelssohn – Hebrides Overture (Fingal’s Cave). There is something special about being here. Every day is interesting, exciting, mournful, reflective, thought-provoking.
The light, the breeze, the sky, the clouds, the waves, the colours, the sounds all evoke ever changing experiences. They make a walk always interesting and demand – maybe over demand – to be photographed.
I never fail to feel lifted and invigorated by that walk. Never seem to have time to go in the Beach Cafe & Restaurant although it is an incredibly good place to look out over the sea.
By the time I drove home the temperature had doubled to 10C/50F. Might get my shorts back out this afternoon. Very cosy pockets!
My friend, Kevin, had his car stolen from his drive over night about two weeks ago. He has heard nothing since. I was thinking about the problem that electronic, keyless entry is for security.
As long as I have my key in my pocket, a touch on the door handle and it opens. a press on the petrol flap and it opens, a hand on the bonnet and it lifts, a foot swung under the boot and it opens. For that reason, all is easily available to the teenage cloner.
One solution is to have the car report continuously to your smartphone/iPad. A car tracker will do just that. This one costs £150.00 for a 5-year service which includes 2G wireless communication showing exactly where the vehicle is down to the street and the house on a map. With that, Kevin would have been reunited with his car by now.
Wednesday, 15th January, 2025
A warm night has given way to a warm, grey morning. Sounds like the North will have more sunshine than us today and I thought that had been outlawed by the new Labour government. They are doing so many good things that I’m sure they’ll get round to it eventually. Whether it will be before abolition of the unelected House of Lords and return to EU membership or not I’m unsure. Nice to see, this morning, the bonkers Right Wind media having the wind taken out of their sails by lower inflation figures being reported.
We have been without a dishwasher for 3 WEEKS now. I can’t take much more of it. We ordered a new one immediately the old one failed but the wrong replacement was delivered so we have been waiting. There is still another week to go. I’m not sure my marriage will survive it. I’m resorting to music and humour along with plans for the future to blot out reality. Today’s music is Dvořák Violin Concerto in A minor, Op. 53.
At least I have made my neighbours chuckle as they went to work this morning. I don’t know if you use the Professional Networking site, Linkedin. I joined it as an Educational Professional years ago. I constantly got offers of jobs in schools and other educational institutions. When I retired, I wanted to continue my conversations with people but not be not restrict it to education. You have to list an area of expertise or competence so I described myself as Entertainments Manager. I haven’t been on the platform for quite a while and almost forgotten about it.
Near midnight last night, my lovely neighbour, Michelle – a copywriter – sent me this. She was obviously working late.
On Monday, I reported wanting to spend £6,000.00 on three weeks in a villa on the outskirts of Torrevieja. That was vetoed on price alone not least because I want another month in Tenerife in November. Ultimately. I moved my search to Alicante and an apartment. I think I’ve found one. It is decidedly more modest but has all the facilities
It will cost less than £3,000.00 for a three week stay! It has a shared Pool and a groundfloor shared Gym. It has a washing machine, dishwasher, fully equipped kitchen, two bedrooms and two bathrooms, smart TV with satellite channels including Netflix plus wifi. There a nunber of restaurants and shops within walking distance and a beach. I seriously think it will do. I’ve checked the flight prices to Alicante from Gatwick and they are ridiculously cheap. We will sleep on it tonight and a decision will be made tomorrow morning.
Thursday, 16th January, 2025
A mild night and another mild, grey start. The news over the past couple of days has been about inflation down and growth marginally up in the UK but one thing hit me yesterday from the Manchester Evening News and it is something that has always concerned me.
In the days of Tory government, Universal Benefit was introduced some 15 years ago. It rolled up benefits like income support and working tax credit to support low incomes. What it was intended to do was to encourage increased employment opportunities by not taking profits from commercial companies. It was made to look as if it was helping workers while it was really subsidising employers. As a result, employers could pay less than cost of living wages in the full knowledge that government (You and Me) would subsidise them.
In Rochdale and Oldham, one in 11 adults – about 9 per cent – requires the extra support of the low-income benefit despite being in paid employment.
This was clearly not sustainable nor equitable in the long term but sucessive governments have failed to grasp the nettle and force employers to pay a decent wage. This Labour government has increased the minimum wage and lots of businesses are shrieking but still Universal Credit is paid out. Of course, the North of England is where low pay is most prevalent and where wages have to be subsidised by government support most. The real point here is that 9% of all those requiring income support are in actually in paid work.
That conundrum has to be solved and the solution will be inflationary in the short term which is why no one can face doing it. It is almost as difficult as living without a dishwasher three weeks already. The new one should be delivered and installed a week today. It can’t come a minute too soon. To soothe the savage breast, the music I have chosen today is Brahms Violin Sonata No.1 which is a favourite over the years. I just can’t decide whether it fuels or reflects sadness.
Out for an hour’s walk in the countryside and then I have to take my Housekeeper to the Surgery for a Checkup. We are so lucky with our medical practice. The more people move here, the better it seems to step up to the challenge. Even so, I was looking at Private Health procedures in hospitals near us for future reference:
| Procedure | Local Cost |
| Colonoscopy | £2,500.00 |
| Cataract | £3,500.00 |
| Hip Replacement | £5,000.00 – £10,000.00 |
| Knee Replacement | £5,000.00 – £10,000.00 |
I must admit, I would be reluctant and ashamed to go down that route but the thought of putting life on hold while waiting a year or two for the operation is not really an option I could contemplate unlike those poor people on Universal Credit. I know one or two of my siblings have had to resort to Knee & Hip replacements privately and I understand why.
Friday, 17th January, 2025
A grey, cool morning. Life feels a bit mundane today. I need some sun and I need a dishwasher! I need some sense of purpose. I’ve even put the central heating on. It is 7C/45F outside. According to the World Health Organization, a temperature of 18°C is suitable for healthy people. Our house is currently 21.3C without any heating and it is beginning to feel cold. Am I unhealthy? Don’t answer that, Dear Reader.
Dishwasher will come in 6 days. Thank goodness! Sun will come as soon as I can complete a booking. The Spanish property was thrown into doubt by my fellow traveller so it has been back to the drawing board. In fact, I’m getting a bit fed up of searching. There are so many moving parts to consider. I do so much research and am so cautious before choosing that I can’t decide whether it is experience or aging that is holding me back.
How far is it from the airport now we’ve decided not to drive? How far from the beach? How far from the shops? Has it got all the facilities we require? Does it look fresh and modern or old and tired? Is it value for money. Currently, the property above seems to fit all these concerns. It is just 22 miles from Murcia International Airport and costs £4,200.00 for three weeks. It has all the facilities and looks modern and fresh. Watch this space.
Looks like it might get approval from the negotiator. I have found flights for Murcia International which will be a first. They are so cheap, they are almost being given away.
Saturday, 18th January, 2025
Another grey, cold, winter day. It was relatively warm all night not falling below 6C/43F but suddenly dropped at 7.00 this morning. I am going out to the beach in 2C/36F. I’ve got a new, quilted coat to try out.
People, places and music do it for me. They are the most evocative of memory and emotion. I was reading a Yorkshire newspaper online this morning and it listed so many places from my past that everything flooded across my memory in a rush. Not least, I pictured Castle Hill which is visible from so many places around the area just as was intended.
It encapsulates the power of place and dates back to the Hunters and Gatherers of the Mesolithic age. There appears to have been widespread travel or trade along the river valleys connecting the Yorkshire Wolds, the Peak District and the Mersey & Ribble estuaries. This high place was one of safety. We saw that on Sifnos with its Kastro – a fortified castle on a hill for fighting off invaders.
The current tower is know as the Victoria for obvious reasons having been completed towards the end of Queen Victoria’s reign in 1899 as a memorial but nothing stays the same. Permission was granted in 2022, to build a single-storey above ground restaurant/café/bar including six en-suite bedrooms, public toilets and an exhibition centre. Civilisation evolves even if humans retain their memories of days past.
In keeping with the theme, music today is an old favourite, Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons. Composed 302 years ago, it had been nearly ruined for me by Musak – that awful telephone on-hold filler that pollutes the world. At one time, The Four Seasons was everywhere to the point of death by saturation. Coming back to it this morning was lovely like rediscovering the past afresh.
I read newspapers to keep up with old links. This morning, not only did Castle Hill come up but this article about the small, conservation hamlet of Helme where we lived for almost 20 years came up. It featured an interview with our old friends and neighbours, Tim & Mary. They are about 5 years older than us and have very different interests to us. Tim is into horse racing and ‘pub culture’. He was a solicitor for Kirklees Council. Mary was a mad keen horse rider and very into dogs. Unlike us, they are still in Helme after 45 years.
As they say, you go go travelling to see the world or stand still and let the world come to you. I’m not sure it completely holds but there is a kernel of truth in it. I prefer movement and new horizons as long as I can always come back and revisit. I believe we lose out by staying in once place too long but … each to his own.