Sunday, 23th November, 2025
It always amuses me that, when I move my life abroad for a month or so, I have to establish similar patterns to the ones I have at home. I have watched the Sunday morning political programmes. My Housekeeper is washing bedsheets and drying them in the sunshine. Today is especially hot and sunny. We are 28C/82F. In UK, it is my job to take the Refuse out. We have 3 bins lined up out of site down the blind side of the house – a green one for Recycle, a black one for General Rubbish and a brown one for Gardening Waste.
The Recycle rules are so arcane that I find them too ridiculous to take seriously. Jam jars have to be washed clean whereas Bleach bottles don’t. Different kinds of toothpaste tube are treated differently. I’m a man and cannot be bothered with that. My Housekeeper takes it all so seriously that I joke she wants to wash and iron everything before throwing it away. It’s a nonsense.
Here on Tenerife, I throw away rubbish every morning in communal bins and there is no Recycling at all. You find this on mountainous islands who fill craters with their rubbish for decades until they realise space is finite and rubbish is toxic. In mainland Spain, Recycling Hubs were everywhere and it is nice to have a holiday from it here.
If it wasn’t for people in general and tourists in particular, Tenerife would be beautiful. It has a wonderful climate that allows them to grow so many fascinating plants and so much of their own food. It has a beautiful shoreline, breath-taking mountains and wonderful skies.
Walking today in the hot sunshine has been down and around the busy Marina where Sunday crowds are queueing to get on excursions to watch Dolphins, to go fishing or deep sea diving. Most just want to chug across the water to the always visible island of La Gomera. I will not be joining them.
Monday, 24th November, 2025
Three years ago we were in Florida with high expectations of life. Then life bit back. One day I was walking 10 miles a day. Suddenly I was ill. The next day, I couldn’t walk at all. I had contracted Atypical Pneumonia or Legionnaires Disease. I had to fly home early and went through a month of tests before a successful diagnosis.
Sometimes good can come out of bad, fortune from misfortune. My wife takes medical health incredibly seriously. It was 40 years ago that she insisted I went to my female Doctor to ask for a Prostate check. I regretted it immediately as a finger was inserted unceremoniously but I was pronounced clear. Fifteen years ago, my wife sent me to my male Doctor with the same demand. He said, I get up in the night to pee as well. It means nothing. and he refused me the test. To be honest, I was quite relieved.
Three years ago, on the back of my Legionnaires Disease tests which involved lots of blood and urine samples, my wife casually requested that I be tested for PSA or prostate health. That started a process which undoubtedly saved my life. I was found to have two cancers in my prostate. One was fairly benign and slow growing. The sort which says you will die of something else long before this kills you. The other was an aggressive, fast developing tumour which would have broken out and spread to my bones within the year.
I had 8 months of Hormone Treatment to shrink the prostate and deny the tumour sustenance and a month of Radiotherapy to destroy the tumour – hopefully for good. After my last session on the Radiotherapy bed I was bursting because of the water you have to drink and retain. I thanked the nurses, rushed to the toilet and broke down in floods of tears. It was the most incredibly emotional moment when the dam burst in more ways than one.
I have stayed cancer-free so far. When I go back to UK next week, I will have a PSA blood test – the second this year. It will be followed by a full body MRI scan – the second since the end of my treatment. Hopefully, my Oncology Review will be good news but there is always that niggling doubt. Has it returned? Was a small bit missed? Do I have a natural proclivity to produce cancer? And it is suddenly hitting the news on a regular basis. David Cameron is the latest survivor who was saved by his wife’s insistence. I certainly wouldn’t allow myself to be denied again.
Tuesday, 25th November, 2025
Another cloudless, blue, sunny sky to greet the day in this last week of November. Lovely backdrop against which to live one’s life. Pity you didn’t come with me, Dear Reader. Still, we can’t have everything. Yesterday’s walk took me past the beach, busy with sun worshippers.
Turning back to the mountains, the sky was very different. It is easy to forget how close to Africa we are and yesterday the winds brought the North African coast drifting across the Canarian mountains.
The Sahara sand was gritty in my mouth as I walked and the mountains hazy with the sandy air. The best solution to sand in the mouth, of course, is to rinse it with cold, white wine and my Housekeeper insists on crisps to accompany that.
I am not a fan of crisps but she is and says the ones she is getting here are probably the best she has ever had. Being a Home Economist and cook, she analyses everything she buys. She wants to know what type of potatoes are used and what oil they are cooked in. If it’s not on the packet, I am set to find out on the web.
Not only are these crisps from Mercadona just their own brand but very cheap. They are fried in Olive Oil which impresses my Cook but I can’t find the potato type. Still, even I enjoyed a few.
This island is so reliant on English tourists that you could be forgiven for thinking it was UK in the Sun. So much of the commerce panders to the Brits who want the sunshine and cheap prices – Beer at £1.76 per pint for example – but don’t want to engage with foreign culture like foods and language. The Specials Board at Old Bob’s Meet & Eat proudly advertises Sausage, Mash & Gravy for €9.00. You can’t get more Spanish than that! Well, you can. You could spend your evening in Paddy’s Pub or The Kebab Shop.
Shops here are advertising Black Friday Bargains as if they are on Oldham High Street. I don’t know if you fall for it, Dear Reader, but this old man with an eye for a bargain knows a con when he sees it.
Interesting article in The Times this morning about the nonsense that is Black Friday. The consumer group, Which, have been monitoring prices for months leading up to it and found bargains, as we suspected, are not bargains at all. A large majority of items were cheaper before the sale. John Lewis are one of the worst offenders with Black Friday deals that are no better, and often worse, than prices available at other times of the year.
They feature this robot vacuum cleaner. We have two of exactly this model – one upstairs and one downstairs. It is £50.00 more in the sale than it was prior to it. This is the Farage of consumerism. Do not believe what you are being sold.
Wednesday, 26th November, 2025
A cloudy start to the morning. Actually makes quite a nice change. Still 22C/70F and very comfortable. The North of England was a bone chilling -3/27F over night and even the South Coast went down to 3C/37F.
Most visitors here come for one thing – the weather and when it is underwhelming they look a little sad and lost for things to do. There are two, basic responses. The first is to run for a bar. You actually see people here with a Full English Breakfast and a pint of beer. Can you imagine it? The other response is stoicism. We’ve come to sit on the beach and that’s what we’re going to do, come what may.
My life just continues in its normal pattern. Wake at 5.45 am to listen to BBC Radio 4. Up at 7.00 am for fresh orange juice and tea. Start Blog and talk to friends across the world. Go out for 8 mile walk. Here, I have added a 30 mins swim as well.
Get home in time to watch political programmes at mid day. Today is extra special because of the Budget. Very exciting … although I am aware that to many this is as mad as drinking beer for breakfast. I have been working hard all year to mitigate the effects of today’s Budget on our Finances.
Particularly, I have been sheltering our investments/savings in tax-free units. This has mainly involved moving to ISA wrappings. Over the past few years, we have been able to put 2 x £20,000.00 or £40,000.00 in each year and that is what I’ve been doing. It is well trailed that this will be reduced to 2 x £12,000.00 or £24,000.00 per year from now on.
Apparently, the intention is to nudge us in to investment in stocks & shares. They are risky investments and it is unlikely to work with me. At the age of 74, I don’t have time to wait for a bounce back from a market crash which could take 10 years to recover. I did that in my 30s & 40s but not now. I can’t wait until I’m 84 to access my money.
It is a small world. As I sit on a rock just off the North African coast, I have reordered my prescription back in Angmering, reported my INR reading to the Anti-Coag. Clinic in Worthing and spoken to a lad from Rochdale who is threatening to drop in on me here tomorrow. Dave Roberts is a figure from my long distant past who is on his 5th cruise of the year. He is away from home more than I am. Mind you, if you live in Rochdale, maybe …
Watched the first 3 episodes on iPlayer of the BBC Dramatisation of Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe’s 6 year imprisonment in an Iranian Jail last night. Prisoner 951 is extremely powerful and moving, a drama of unjust separation and longing which the BBC does so well. Can’t wait to watch the final episode tonight although first there is exercise.
Thursday, 27th November, 2025
It is a lovely day. Another lovely day. I should embrace it fully like every other new day but I am feeling sad. It’s my own fault. I am too sensitive or too self indulgent. I’m also really ashamed of myself. I didn’t do my exercise routine yesterday – out of choice. I did a short walk and a swim and that was it.
Instead, I watched the final hour of the Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe story dramatized in Prisoner 951 on iPlayer. It was incredibly moving and upsetting. The obscenity of the Tory government in general and Boris Johnson in particular made me mad but the strength of the beautiful girl locked away for 6 years made me sad. The separation and the longing I found hard to deal with and yet, I always have.
It’s strange and ironic how life comes up to bite when we are most vulnerable. My memory Box chose today to do exactly that. Only a limited number of people will know the sadness of the photo above. It was taken in 1971. Within the next year, the lad on the left was dead of cancer. The lad on the right was embarking on a comfortable career that saw him become a Primary School Headteacher for 30 years. Not sure about Bob’s girlfriend.
Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe was imprisoned in a hell hole and lost 6 years of her life separated from her young daughter purely because the British Government had refused to repay the Iranian Government £400 million which they legally owed. They paid it in the end and she was released but they allowed her suffering to go on so long. Bob, through the whim of Fate had no life at all whereas Peter has prospered and is enjoying a comfortable retirement. These are unbearable disparities that have no explanation in logic.
Today is the 45th Birthday of Martin – my Brother Bob’s son. He has a son aged 45! How old would my daughter be now? Nazanin was separated from her young daughter as her breasts still leaked and then dried up. The pain was intense. It is life changing. Even though she is now reunited with her family, the rebuilding of a life together is painful and slow.
Life is so precious and fades away so quickly. My Memory Box really went for it today and gave me these two photos in Time. On the left is Pauline’s Auntie Florrie who lived in hardship in Oldham all her life. Trying so hard to be her best she presents herself against the severity of the impoverished and fading stonework of Lancashire streets. She was born in 1906 and died in 1995. Thirty years have passed and who thinks of her now other than a glancing moment in an album? On the right is Pauline’s sister who was born in 1937 and died just six months ago. Currently, her memory burns brightly in our eyes but will gently fade if we are allowed to age.
And so it is
Just like you said it should be
We’ll both forget the breeze
Most of the time ….
And so the tears flow.
Friday, 28th November, 2025
Money, Money, Money …. Don’t you just love it? The sun is up, the sky is blue, the day is waiting here for you ….. Woken up much more optimistic today.
The Budget pleased me. The Right Wing media had been speculating and screaming for months about what the Chancellor would do to hurt people. They did few of those things. I was pleased to see the regulation of and tax on Landlords which is long overdue. Having said that, The Landlord Zone itself admitted most of its fears were not realised. I was especially pleased to see that State Pensions per se will not be taxed even though the Tory tax bands are being held for three additional years. That was how the Tories did it and now they complain that Labour are doing the same. Fiscal Drag, as it is known, will cost me money but I accept it with good grace.
I was delighted that my fears over cash ISA’s were addressed. Recognising that older people cannot afford a market crash in stocks & shares, those over 65 can continue to put £20,000.00 per year into a tax shielding ISA whereas the young ones are restricted to the predicted £12,000.00 amount. The sprogs can still save £20,000.00 per year but £8,000.00 of it has to be in Stocks & Shares. So, in April 2006, I can salt away another £40,000.00 assuming I can save it which will largely depend whether I keep this car or change it.
I can’t decide on the Child Benefit Cap. Of course it is right to lift children out of poverty. No child in a relatively rich country like ours should live in poverty. However, I’m not absolutely convinced that I should be subsidising people to have kids. I don’t even like kids! I can see the case for the State safety net to be available if parents of kids fall on hard times but should it go to parents just for being parents?
I have written before that I was born on a bitter-sweet day. It was 1.00 am on April 6th, 1951. It was bitter because, as my Dad never failed to point out, 65 minutes earlier and he would have been able to claim back child tax credit for the whole of the previous year of 1950. Sweet because, although my wife is younger than me, she receives the Old State Pension, I am able to claim the considerably higher, new state pension.
Last year we started to pay a hugely increased tax bill back-dated by two years because our savings and investments had started to pay big dividends after years in the doldrums. We didn’t challenge it but just paid up. It was too difficult to calculate across multiple investments and multiple years. Today, The Teachers’ Pension Scheme, which seems to learn first, have advised us that we are going to have quite a bit of that tax returned for overpayment. I will also have sheltered more cash as well so let’s hope that will bring some more relief.
Saturday, 29th November, 2025
Last full day of the 28 here. I shall miss the warmth. I shall miss the landscape. I shall miss the swimming. I’m looking forward to driving my own car again. I’m looking forward to seeing home again. I’m looking forward to sleeping in my own bed again. Only this morning have I turned my mind seriously to the arrangements for leaving. My Housekeeper has been preparing for quite a while. She hates waste and has been managing and running down food since last weekend.
Today, I’ve booked the taxi, signed out of all my TV accounts – Netflix, Apple TV, Amazon Prime, etc. There was a little scare yesterday when news arrived of a problem with Airbus planes being affected by solar activity but this morning we learnt that it had been solved by a software update and our airline – Easyjet – had completed that process so our flight wouldn’t be affected. We will leave here at 9.30 am tomorrow because we’ve learned that there is some knock-on effect of the new entry/exit system. At least we don’t have bag-drop to go through so we can go straight to the Executive Lounge to hide from the crowds.
The data from the month will be 225 miles walked and 14 hours of swimming done. 56 showers 28 shaves and 28 Blog posts completed. Incalculable hours of political podcasts listened to and newspaper articles read plus one or two bottles of wine opened and emptied. My Travelling Companion reads lots of politics too. She listens to many of the podcasts I do but reads books of Fiction which I never do. Her Kindle is with her all the time and she always has a book on the go.
It is one of the most extraordinarily resilient computers I’ve ever seen. First arrived in UK 15 years ago and, although she has had a number of newer ones all still work fine. When I can’t use my iPad or laptop in the sunshine, the paperwhite screen of the Kindle remains crystal clear. When I struggled to get an internet connection of a Greek island, the Kindle continued to connect and download new books via an inbuilt and free mobile connection that comes with the purchase. It is small enough to put in a bag just like a paperback and it can carry hundreds of such books at a time in its store.
The last time I read a work of Fiction purely for pleasure as opposed to study was back in Primary School. I’ve read lots of books but they have been Faction – History, Politics, Sociology, Philosophy, Biography, etc. More often than not, my books have notes in the margins and circles around passages I need to quote later. In other words, I read with a purpose not just for entertainment or escape.
I was reminded of this at 5.30 am this morning when I listened to the latest News Agents Podcast which centred on Salman Rushdie – a controversial and political author of novels none of which I have read in its entirety. I have read extracts for information but nor for escapist pleasure. Fascinating man who holds quite similar views to me in many ways. The difference is, he has spent the last 35 years under a death sentence although, I suppose we all have in a less dramatic way.