Sunday, 26th October, 2025
Quite a chilly night and we went down to 5C/41F – the coldest this Autumn. I’ll still be walking in shorts and tee shirt as strong sunshine covers our area but the change is noticeable. The house is deliciously warm with sunshine streaming in. No need for central heating yet and off to Canarian sunshine on Saturday.
Even so, we have returned to discussing solar panels again. Wickes, the Builders’ Merchant, have seized the initiative and established a nationwide supply and installation service. Their offering suggests supplying, and fitting 12 x panels plus battery storage with all upfront costs and a 25 year warranty for £8950.00. Under this plan, they suggest a 7 year period to recoup that outlay or almost £1300.00 per annum. Is it worth the disruption? Something to think about and discuss while we are away. In 7 years, I’ll be 81 if I am still alive. (Scream!)
The sad experience from yesterday of the relatively young lady trapped upstairs in a Dementia Home stayed with me all night. I found it harrowing, haunting. It left me trawling through my life, banging on the upstairs window of my past, calling, Help Me! I remember the days when Life was optimistic and positive.
In this week in 2008, I was preparing for my last Ofsted Inspection. All around was heavy snow. Global Warming was a new concept and the climate hadn’t read the reports. A year later in 2009, we had retired and my Mother-in-Law had shingles at the age of 96. It was incredibly painful. We were trying to support her while rejoicing in the knowledge that we were mortgage-free for the first time in our marriage.
The failing bank, Northern Rock, wrote to us to tell us that our borrowings of £270,000 had been paid off. We never borrowed again. Every subsequent property has been bought with cash. Northern Rock no longer exists.
In 2010, we were taking P&C over to have lunch at Ciao Bella in Huddersfield. The restaurant is no longer there. Weird to think that P is now dead and C is in Dementia Care.
A year later, in 2011, we were moving in to our Duplex Apartment in Surrey and starting on the next 5-year plan. In 2012, and as a sign of the inability to let my past go, we were preparing to drive up to Huddersfield to take delivery of our new car. A year later, in 2012, we were organising the payment of a large power bill in Sifnos – emphasising the ongoing responsibility of foreign ownwership.
By 2014, having sold our Greek home, we were out, loking for a new property in Sussex and, a year later, in 2015 we had bought off-plan and were down in Sussex talking to the Developers about our individual requirements. We had to live with garden furniture in the kitchen and a lack of wardrobes in the first year but, by 2016, we had new wardrobes fitted by an Oldham company in every bedroom and we had our Dining Table and chairs at last from Manchester.
By 2017, we were really settled and ensconced in David Lloyd Health Centre where we spent every day using the outdoor pool come rain, cold and shine. We haven’t been back since the pandemic.
By this week in 2018, we were preparing to fly to Tenerife for a month in the sun and spending our first night in Gatwick Sofitel. Guess what we’re preparing to do this week – preparing to fly to Tenerife for a month in the sun and spending our first night in Gatwick Sofitel.
And so it is, just like you said it would be. Life goes easy for me ….. most of the time. And so it is. The shorter story …. But, Dear Reader, through this veil of tears we can never rest on our laurels. Life is constantly in flux and we must prepare ourselves for change. Are you ready?