Sanders Blog

Sunday, 23rd June, 2024

Lovely morning. Warm and sunny. Breakfast with the doors open. Doesn’t lovely weather make you feel better about your life, Dear Reader? Gives a sort of optimism and hope for the future.

Eight years ago today, I was feeling fairly hopeless. The Brexit Vote was lost – narrowly but lost. I found it hard to comprehend. I thought it was madness. What were they thinking? Well, what emerged was they thought Brexit was going to radically change their lives. It was the poorer, less educated, Working Class who thought leaving Europe would bring a Land of Milk & Honey as the snake-oil salesmen, Johnson & Farage, promised them for their vote. It was nonsense then and it is nonsense now.

The better off and better educated largely voted Remain because it was obvious that leaving our closest and largest trading Bloc would be ruinous and so it is proving. The Fishermen were the first to realise they had been duped as they lost their markets for so much of their catch. The Farmers, who voted in droves to Leave, suddenly found that they would lose all the EU Agricultural Subsidies that they had survived on. Why couldn’t they see that coming before they voted? Supply Chains for Just-in-Time processes have been terribly disrupted. Time-sensitive products like flowers, foodstuffs have been made incredibly more difficult and, therefore, more expensive.

On the day, the vote was 51.9% for Leave to 48.1% to Remain. It was very close even then. I haven’t changed my mind but many who voted Leave have changed their minds. The sentiment is completely reversed to 40% Leave – 60% Remain. Their regret is palpable and no wonder.

How could Brexit make up for living in the North? How could it provide the manual labourers with little educational attainment and few skills a better life. Getting their country back was an empty gesture and those who pedalled it have largely paid for it. Labour will inherit this disenchantment and will have to tack back towards Europe.

It may take two or three parliaments but it will happen. Labour can’t say it openly now but, if they want growth in our Economy, they will have to re-join the Single Market and the Customs Union. That will be more than half way to re-joining the EU and who knows what else ….?

Monday, 24th June, 2024

Very humid start to the day. We are up early because a couple of builders are arriving to do some jobs for us. Already my friends from Yorkshire have contacted me to say it is very hot …. for North Yorkshire. They’re going to reach 25C in Ilkley today. How will they cope? Typical on a day when we could enjoy the garden that we’ve got builders raking out and repointing the base of the house where it meets the patio. It’s going to be lovely all week for us but we expect the builders to be here at least three days.

Breakfast at the moment is Muesli. I’ve never really been a fan of it before. The commercial stuff is so sweet but it is too hot for porridge so chef makes makes her own mix.

I still have the rolled oats of porridge plus plump, Californian sultanas, flaked coconut, flaked almonds and crushed hazel nuts all soaked in ice cold, skimmed milk. It’s absolutely delicious and gets me through to Supper. Well, I eat fruit during the day – bananas, cherries, grapes, melon – and I drink lots of almond milk, tea and coffee.

Going to Athens in a few weeks. Let’s hope Gatwick doesn’t catch Manchester’s disease. All those people had their flights cancelled because of a power outage. The ones who got away on a flight were only able to take cabin luggage. Hold luggage was left behind. That’s where our latest trend would pay off. Paying extra for seats with Speedy Boarding, Fast Track Security and 2 carry-on bags each, one of which is a suitcase, makes life so much more enjoyable and relaxed. We still took too many clothes.

Athens will be screaming hot. August is a time that many Greeks decamp to the islands where they hope it will be a bit cooler. Water becomes ever more important. We will enjoy a slightly quieter city because of that. The hotel is cool all the time so we can always retreat there if needed. I love Athens and I love the heat so it’s a win all round.

While we are there, we might take a ferry to a near-ish island of Aegina. Never been there and it would be nice to see somewhere new. Looks interesting. What do you think, Dear Reader?

Tuesday, 25th June, 2024

It’s 10.00 am and the day is lovely – blue sky, strong sun, 24C/75F. My friends from Yorkshire have already contacted me to say they have the same. The builders are back and are continuing to work on repairing resettlement problems that we have allowed to remain but now think movement of our new-build house has ceased. I expect them to be here for at least one and maybe two more days.

I always find workmen in the house a bit difficult. How much do you take an interest in them and how much do you just let them get on with what they are doing? How much of your normal activities can you continue and how much do you need to retreat behind a door. I try to make them welcome, offer them coffee, check they know what is required and then go to my Office out of their way. It means that I can indulge myself in reading and writing for a while without interruption although I do have this on in the background.

Because I am so exciting, I do find the Post Office Inquiry intermittently gripping. Today, they are grilling the Horizon Software Designer – an IT expert who knew it was open to outside manipulation. It will be crucial evidence. While I am following this, I am reading my emails, checking my Texts and Whatsapps and preparing pieces for my Blog. I am also reading every newspaper on my newsfeed.

The Times has a piece on the trend for Tactical Voting. The election itself is as much about getting the Tories out as it is about positively choosing someone else. Choosing anyone but the Tories is a thing. MEN sent me a piece about Red Wall disaffection. It featured the old Heywood and Middleton and the new Blackley and Middleton South constituencies. The new constituency is being fought by the long time sitting MP, Graham Stringer.

Clearly there is wide spread disillusion with Tories and Labour will take the seat but I was amused to read the two examples of discontent cited. One man said, All the time I’ve lived here, this tree outside my house has been growing and no one had come to cut it back. Another couple said, We have lived in Langley for 40 years and it has gone right down hill. Anyone who knew Langley 40 years ago will know there was no hill for it to go down. It was at the bottom then.

There will be some areas which will become even more extreme in their desperation – Bolton, for example, but the Red Wall are largely regretting their support for Brexit and the Tories. What were they really expecting – a Faragist land of milk and honey?

I was expecting a warm day and, at 1.00 pm the temperature has reached 29C /84F. One of our builders is sweating in the Kitchen. He used to work in Athens and lived in Corfu (small world) but he’s still suffering. I’m lapping it up out in the garden although I’d rather be in Kamares right now.

I snatched this photo from the live feed filming the harbour as the ferry approached. I remember the buzz of excitement that the movement of people and vehicles on an otherwise remote Greek island can produce. I would like to taste it one more time. How about you, Dear Reader?

Wednesday, 26th June, 2024

We didn’t fall below 18C/65F all night. I didn’t sleep well although not for that reason. By 9.00 am, it was 24C/75F and as I write at mid day, we are just going over 29C/84F. I’ve spent the morning watering and chef has been harvesting vegetables for Supper.

From fork to plate in 50 meters. You can’t do much better than that, Dear Reader. It’s always nice when the effort pays off. I’ve been working on my local street for two or three years, cutting the grass verges, planting and maintaining the flowers in the bed cut out in the grass. I buy some plants and grow the rest from seed. It takes a bit of time but keeps me active and occupied and in touch with the community.

This morning, a distinguished looking chap who introduced himself as Dudley called at my door this morning to thank me for all the work I was doing. He told me he was the chairman of the Development Management Committee. I told him that I did it as much for myself as for anyone else but it was nice to have my efforts recognised. Dudley was quite obviously a Tory voter and would not be comfortable in my company. He hadn’t heard the BBC R4 Today programme this morning which featured our constituency and showed that a lifetime of Conservative rule would be brought to an end next week. In my view, it will remain in Labour hands for at least 10 years and, quite possibly 15. By that stage, I will be 88 and so gaga that I won’t know the difference.

Did you watch the England match last night, Dear Reader? It was so awful, you could need no more persuasion to vote for a change. England’s finest were providing the same display I have seen almost every year since 1966. Only my friend, Kevin, saw it in a positive light and he is already gaga.

Thursday, 27th June, 2024

Incredibly hot and humid night although I slept much better. Out early this morning. Went to collect a couple of pairs of reading glasses I had ordered. I hardly wear distance glasses nowadays apart from when I’m driving. Even then, I can be half way through a journey before I realise I’m not wearing them.

I don’t like to go anywhere without my reading glasses so I now have 5 pairs because I’m always breaking, crushing, sitting on these flimsy things. I like half moon glasses because I think they make me look more intelligent than I am. I have a pair permanently in the car, a pair in the bedroom (Don’t ask?) and a pair in the Office. I have a pair in the Travel Bag and a backup pair. Two pairs of glasses this morning cost me just £90 and Specsavers gave a 50%-off voucher for another pair of glasses. I know an old lady who will use that this week.

I love talking to people and I’m not shy. I was served by a young girl who brought my new glasses to a desk where I had to try them on. As we sat opposite each other with nothing but reading glasses in common, I used my normal ice breaker: How old are you? She was called Emily and she was 21 years old. She had gone to Littlehampton Academy which she quite liked and then gone on to the local College to study Acting. Her great ambition was to be a famous actress. (Not going to happen.) and she was working in Specsavers in the meantime. She wasn’t sure who she would vote for in the General Election (She wasn’t even quite sure when it was or who the candidates were.) but it would be anybody other the Conservatives.

Emily thought that whoever she voted for, she would be well into her 70s before she could retire. I thanked her and left her with: Vote Labour. Lovely girl but I wondered if I was that ignorant and naïve when I was 21. I was certainly vulnerable but … We went on to the beach which is close by. The tide was completely out which made it an interesting scene. A few people had actually walked all the way and were swimming.

Felt the warmth, smelt the sea air and then left to do our Sainsbury’s shop. When we got home, my friend from North Yorkshire contacted me to say he was thinking of setting up a virtual College reunion group on Whatsapp. He’s called it Old Friends 69/72 Bookends which is a reference to the years we we at College combined with a quote from a contemporary Paul Simon song:

Time it was
And what a time it was
It was a time of innocence
A time of confidences

Long ago, it must be
I have a photograph
Preserve your memories
They’re all that’s left you

Paul Simon – Bookends

Actually, pathetic, old man that I am, reading those lyrics again made me really sad.

Friday, 28th June, 2024

A little cooler and a little less sunny this morning, We haven’t had enough rain to encourage grass to grow. I may not need to mow today. In fact, Met. Office forecasts suggest we will be lucky to get any rain at all until this time next week.

We don’t live in Florida or Athens but solar power still has a lot to offer in free energy. We already know that the only way we will be able to drive very soon will be using electric vehicles. A North of England company are making a success of selling solar charging units for car batteries. It is a brilliant way to park throughout the day in a workplace and allow the sunlight to trickle charge your vehicle for the drive home.

This innovation in South Korea features a solar panel covered cycle track down the centre of a motorway. The electricity generated is sent to Service Stations for charging cars.

This morning’s news was of a real breakthrough in electric car charging and range. Range has long been the great barrier for me. Just driving to the North of England is a 260 mile distance which, currently would be on the outer edge of possible under one charge. To go on holiday through France and Italy would need multiple charges. If a full charge takes 2 – 3 hours in a service station, the whole thing becomes impossible. Fast charge as in this UK innovation will really change that.

I drive a self-charge hybrid which has massively improved my mpg but most of my weekly trips are 5 – 10 miles which is bad for fuel consumption and could easily be done on electricity. That’s why I’m going to buy a plug-in hybrid. It will allow me to do most of my day to day driving on electric entirely but I will not have to worry if I want to drive 3-400 miles in a day on occasions. In the old days, I used to drive Calais to Ancona non-stop in a 15 hr trip of 900 miles. Whichever car I buy, I doubt I’ll be doing that again.

Saturday, 29th June, 2024

Gloriously warm and sunny morning. The grass is green. The sky is blue. The sun is out. Where are you, Dear Reader? Hope you are having a lovely day as well.

Drove up to Highdown Gardens yesterday evening. It really is only about 5 mins from our house. It is a municipal garden now but was created by Sir Frederick Claude Stern at the turn of the last century during a period when expeditions were going to China and the Himalayas collecting rare and interesting plants. It is a popular walking place with locals but it is also the site of a posh hotel and restaurant.

Many of the original plants from the early collections are in the garden today, particularly one of my favourites – paeonies. I don’t know if you are familiar with them, Dear Reader but their reputation says they are exotic and difficult to grow. Once established, the received view is that they are very difficult to successfully move. We grew them and moved them very successfully in Yorkshire and fell in love with their beauty.

Just by chance, our next door neighbour came back from shopping yesterday and presented us with these, gorgeous paeonies from the florists. They are gracing our Lounge right now …. the flowers not the neighbours. Wouldn’t let them in.

Talk about not letting neighbours in, there was an incredible piece of circularity of experience in the Greek Newspapers this morning. You probably saw it yourself, Dear Reader. Sifnos is the island where we bought a field and built a house. We were aware of the sensitivity of incomers buying up land. It has clearly become more intense over the years since we sold up. The circularity comes from the fact that the article quotes Alkmini Paka, Professor of Architecture at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki where we were staying just a couple of weeks ago. I enjoy coincidences like that.

Sunday, 16th June, 2024

Beautiful morning. Just 26C/79F at 8.30 am (Greek) as we went up to the rooftop for Breakfast looking down over the Thermaic Gulf.

Breakfast is becoming a problem. I just can’t eat much more of it. Bacon & Scrambled Egg is a delightful novelty for the first day or two but, by now, my body is saying, Enough! Of course, breakfast for many Greeks is a cheap, dry bread-ring covered in sesame seeds bought from a street vendor’s barrow. In that case, I could do without breakfast at all.

You wouldn’t think these girls know what any kind of breakfast is. I am never going to be as skinny as these two. They are my neighbours Dee (at No. 2), Lecturer in English and Michelle (at No. 3), Copywriter. They are both in their 50s, both have had kids, both have gyms in their garages and both run everywhere. They both say they eat like horses and they both definitely drink a lot but ….

They are on a Hen-Do in Malaga this weekend leaving their husbands at home to look after the houses and mow the lawns. They Whatsapp’d me this photo around midnight last night just to make me feel old and fat and tired and …. Some other neighbours, John & Jill, Whatsapp’d me this morning to ask if they can park on our drive until we get back. They have a skip on theirs while the garden is redesigned. I replied to them totally in Greek to make them work for it. It is lovely to have such nice neighbours.

Monday, 17th June, 2024

Lovely morning. We’re forecast to touch 34C/93F today. We are being incredibly lucky to enjoy such lovely weather. Sunny, hot and a bit sweaty when we want it with an ice-cold, air-conditioned Suite to retreat to when we don’t.

Lovely evening. We’ve eaten so much that we didn’t bother with Supper last night. We just shared a bottle of wine and some nibbles on the balcony before watching the England match. I bet you were watching it as well, Dear Reader. I must admit, it was a bit boring and, of course, it didn’t start here until 10.00 pm and finished at midnight. After all the walking, the heat and a bottle of wine, I was really tired.

While watching the match in Northern Greece, I was talking to my friend in Northern Yorkshire. He wanted to know if I could get it in Bongo Bongo Land. I illustrated it with a photo of my Laptop and iPad and asked him if he had electricity in Yorkshire. Apparently, he has a number of youths in the garden pedalling furiously to power the generator.

I am better at reading Greek than speaking it. I’m less good at that as we get further away from our life in Greece. Walked past this group of old ladies with a stall in the shade. One thrust a leaflet into my hand and said, Welcome.

It takes a lot of Greek words to say a little. I’ve had to enlist assistance by downloading a clever app on my phone. Taking a photo of text in any language leads to it reproducing the photo in English. Just brilliant.

This leaflet was about abuse of the Elderly. I didn’t like to tell them that I’ve been abusing the elderly for years.

Last year we were the only English voices at the hotel. This year, there are quite a few. I met an old guy in the lift. I have two icebreakers in the lift:

1. Where are you from?
2. How old are you?

Both subtle questions as you will acknowledge, Dear Reader. The old guy with a stick and little hair was …. 73! He came from Sunny Scunny. As we quickly guessed, he was from Scunthorpe. What shocked me was … he won a scholarship for Harrogate Grammar. He was there just before I went to Ripon. Strange world!

Tuesday, 18th June, 2024

Well, Dear Reader, you will be pleased to read that we are home safely from our adventure. Last night was a delightful one even though it was our last night for now. I met this alcoholic on my balcony. I’m going to make her my wine taster.

Lovely meal out yesterday evening and then packing for an early off today. Up at 6.00 am and breakfast at 7.00 am. Checkout as the desk called us a taxi for the airport. Straight up to the Executive Lounge for coffee and newspapers. Flight arrived on time.

We were first on – as usual – and settled into our seats at the front of the plane. It always amazes me that some people turn up and sit where they want and then look surprised when they are moved to the seat on their ticket/Boarding Pass. Saw that twice on our flight.

Anyway, the flight went smoothly and we were soon in Gatwick Airport feeling, Has that all happened? I don’t know if it occurs to you but, as I drove back home, I find myself thinking, Just 4 hrs ago I was walking around in Northern Greece. Shuttle to the Long Stay Carpark and then 50 mins home where the temperature was a warm 25C although not a match for the 37C we had left.

The garden had survived and we lifted our first Early Potatoes for Supper with roast Salmon with Pest topping. travelling is always tiring and nothing will get done until tomorrow. In Greek Time, I am writing this at 8.30 pm. Here I am writing it at 6.30 pm while chef cooks Supper.

Wednesday, 19th June, 2024

Woke up early – 5.00 am (UK) and listened to the radio which sent me back to sleep. Didn’t get up until 7.30 am. Lovely, warm and sunny day but we have to go shopping and have Dentist appointments too. They’re all in the Dental Plan and, the older I get, the less deterioration I have with my teeth. Thought it would be the other way round. I was so used to all the elderly complaining about their dentures in my youth that I thought it would be my fate too. Anyway, this morning’s appointment at Calm & Gentle was just a quick check-up producing no work which is pleasing.

Outside in the garden today, we are reaching a gentle, 25C compared with the more savage 37C that we left yesterday. I am desperately watering everything because we’ve gone from a wet May to a bone dry June. When we first went to Greece back in 1981, it was the intense heat that attracted us. Now, we try to take things a bit more carefully.

On our first visit to Sifnos over 40 years ago, this grey-haired senior citizen was a gangly youth, riding his motorbike too fast, chewing gum, ostentatiously wearing his gold necklaces, looking totally disinterested in everything but girls as youth are want to do. We nicknamed him Cool and that stuck for the rest of his days. He was part of the large and influential Boulis family who ran restaurants, owned hotels and farmed the land. Cool had three jobs. He farmed animals – goats, etc, waited on tables in the restaurant and he also served as a rope catcher in the harbour.

Kamares Harbour spends large sections of its time in the serenity of blue skies and warm sunshine. There are few boats or people around. When the ferry arrives, all hell is let loose. Men have to be on the dock to collect the ropes thrown down from the ferry and loop them over the mooring bollards – in choppy seas this is quite a hazardous operation. It would usually require two men to be present each time a ferry docked. Of course, they couldn’t be there all day – there might only be one ferry on some days so Giannis/Cool would leave it until the last minute and then charge down the mountain from his farm on a motor bike and arrive just in time to meet the boat. He would be paid a sum for being always available.

Over the years, we saw young Cool turn from youth to married man with children and responsibilities but this week, we heard that he had gone. He did have a heart attack some years ago while we were there and it seems this latest one has finished him. Heart attacks on remote Greek islands are so often fatal because of slow communication links and poor island facilities.

Islanders joke that when you have a heart attack, you die because it takes 50 mins for a helicopter to arrive from Athens and 50 mins for it to get you back there but the real trouble starts then – assuming you’re still alive. The traffic in Athens is so bad that it takes an age to get an ambulance from the airport to the hospital. If you survive all that, you probably didn’t have a heart attack in the first place.

It is one of the things which decided for us that time had come to depart. The medical facilities on the island are rudimentary and, as we got older, we realised it wasn’t sustainable.

Thursday, 20th June, 2024

Another lovely morning, windless, warm and sunny. The garden is looking good and I hope to enjoy it later. And there should be much later because today is Summer Solstice and The Longest Day. When you’re young, you long for the next day. When you’re old … ah, never let tomorrow come. Don’t stop thinking about tomorrow.

Don’t stop thinking about tomorrow
Don’t stop, it’ll soon be here
It’ll be here better than before
Yesterday’s gone, yesterday’s gone ….

This is a young person’s song, a song of optimism and future dreams. Am I depressing you, Dear Reader? Nil Desperandum. I’m going out to order a couple of pairs of reading glasses. Go mad with me!

I’m all in favour of political protest and some radical approaches to social change … like the Suffragettes .. but risking damage to hugely significant historical sites is off limits even for me. This goes beyond protest.

It’s hard to believe the political news at the moment. I always expected Labour to oust these Tory lunatics but it looks like they’ll do more than just blow the doors off. Our local candidate is so far ahead of the oldest Tory MP in the house that he will be collecting his pension in a couple of weeks. The whole of the South Coast is going to turn red. Joy of Joys! To make matters even better, interest rates are holding while inflation has fallen to 2%. Most of my investments are making 3 x that rate and will do for another year. It’s been a long time coming.

We live in an EU microcosm in our road. Lots of lovely expats from Europe. Have you noticed how people who come from abroad to live here are pejoratively referred to as immigrants whereas Brits who go to live abroad are fluffily called expats. Well our lovely German/Australian expat, Dee, went back to Munchen, Germany for her Dad’s 96th birthday and brought us back some European chocolates. Unfortunately, I’m not allowed to eat them but my Manager will scoff the lot in very short time.

I was talking to Dee about the election. I have some great chat-up lines. It turns out that, although she’s been in UK for more than 20 years, married a Brit, had a child, lectured English in a UK college, paid UK taxes all that time, she is not allowed to vote in the UK election. She can pay taxes to the state but has no say in how they are spent. When Labour are swept to power and start to widen the franchise to allow 16 year olds to vote, I am going to push them to allow people like Dee a vote as well. It is disgraceful that she hasn’t got it now unlike all those who have left years ago to live in Spain and can have a postal vote without argument.

Friday, 21st June, 2024

Lovely, warm night with a beautiful, full moon. Were you watching, Dear Reader? The Summer Solstice and June’s Strawberry Moon coincided for the first time in nearly 70 years. Pity the England team didn’t take the hint.

These are lovely times. Very warm – we reached 25C again yesterday – and a time for sleeping on the bed not in it. First thing I do in the morning when I come down to Breakfast – well chef is juicing my oranges, making my tea and making sure the day starts correctly – the first thing I do is go out into the garden and check all is well.

We have a couple of beautiful blackbirds who have been serenading us from the rooftops each evening searching feverishly through the newly watered soil in our raised beds for worms.

Thirteen years ago, we were getting to grips with Mediterranean gardening in the intense sunshine of a Greek Summer. Our Lemon Trees were fruiting well and we produced Courgettes, Peppers and Potatoes. We even had a crop of Green Beans.

Nipped down to the beach this morning as we had a parcel to return nearby. It was hot, sunny and almost deserted. You always get one cluttering it up, don’t you.

Saturday, 22nd June, 2024

Do I seem weather obsessed to you, Dear Reader? Maybe I am. Gardeners definitely are. Our local Pick Your Own farm which is 2 mins away has a big banner up on its website saying most crops are delayed because of the wet Spring.

It certainly was. I can see from previous Blog records how far behind some plants are this year. Having said that, the weather really organised itself well this week. Yesterday was gorgeously hot and sunny. Over night, we had really sustained rain and, this morning, it is hot and sunny again. Couldn’t ask for more.

For the last few years in Greece, we experienced lots of heatwaves. The hottest we personally experienced coincided with a trip to Athens. We had travelled from our island home to the city to search and buy tiles for the outside of our house. I can see us even now arriving in Piraeus from the ferry and the temperature showing 41.6C/107F. If you’ve never felt that heat, I can tell you that it’s almost impossible to walk and, the older you get, the more dangerous it is.

A decade ago I was arguing that Greece was so totally reliant on Tourism that it was dangerous in a world of Climate Change. Greece doesn’t sell sophistication but simplicity. Greece doesn’t sell Haute Cuisine but simple, Mediterranean cooking. Greece doesn’t even sell ease of travel and access and but retreat and isolation from the busy world. What Greece does sell is guaranteed sunshine and warm, dry weather in the Summer months … unlike UK and many other parts of Northern Europe.

The European Commission paper on the Consequences of Climate Change points out exactly this and suggests Greece, Spain, Portugal, South of France will have to shift their offerings to Winter to survive. If they do, it will be old people like me who they will be catering for. I think they will have to change their economic model altogether.

Sunday, 9th June, 2024

On this glorious day, we will be spending it putting the house & garden to bed ready for going away – setting up automatic routines such as watering, lighting, monitoring, etc.. My Under-Gardener has been set on trimming the hedge before completing the packing. We don’t fly until tomorrow evening but like to get everything done beforehand.

The news about Dr. Michael Moseley is not good as rather expected. His body has been found not far from the beach where he set off to walk back to his house on the Dodecanese island of Symi. The fragility of life is so shocking. Delaying things, denying things, ignoring things in the brevity that is a life is utterly foolish. Act while you can. Don’t be afraid of breaking eggs. Paradise is full of omelettes.

Looking forward to our return to The Electra Palace Hotel, Thessaloniki. We are off tomorrow and that is a few weeks later than last year which explains why the temperatures are so much hotter. We have a nice suite overlooking the Platea Aristotelous and the Thermaikos Gulf with its wonderful sunsets. The hotel has an indoor and an outdoor pool as well as a Gym. What more could one need?

Monday, 10th June, 2024

Lovely day as the world was freshened up by a good rainfall over night. Blue sky now although not as warm as I’d expect June to be. Before we prepare to leave, we have a handyman firm coming first thing to quote us for a list of about 10 jobs needed for smartening up. The rain has meant that I don’t need to water before leaving so just getting travelling things together is all we have to do.

My Butler has a travel bag specifically designated to be stored in a cupboard in which essential items are kept – Passports, Euros, Plug Adaptors, etc. plus a tick-off list of jobs that must be completed before we drive off to the airport. It is a quick and reassuring process.

I wanted to tell you something that happened to me yesterday, Dear Reader. I was in the Gym, watching a fairly pappy film on Amazon Prime called: I’ll Find You. It is set in 1930s Poland where Jews are starting to feel the persecution of the Right Wing populace. Hitler is already a thing and the world is allowing the forward creep of Naziism. You might even see some parallels with current times. It has been distracting me while I exercise. Nothing more … until something happened.

Forgive me if I have written some of this before but it is relevant. In 1967, my Grandfather gave me a wind-up gramophone with a pack of steel needles and a collection of 78 vinyl records which featured Operatic Arias and included Handel’s Largo which, when I played it, hit me like a dagger to the heart. I was 16 years old, going to discos, meeting girls and listening to the Moody Blues: Go Now on Pirate Radio. Suddenly, I realised there was an art form out there I knew nothing about – Classical Music, Opera. I determined that I should learn about it although that was put on hold while I was away at College.

In the mid-1970s, rudderless and lost, I was fervently going for self education. I did a Literature Degree in the evenings while I taught during the day. I did a Masters Research Degree after that. At the same time, I was buying Art books to learn about the History of Art. I was buying cassettes of Classical Music and playing them on a battery-powered cassette player during the Power Strikes. I bought a monthly Discovering Opera magazine that introduced me to a number of Operas and composers/librettists accompanied by an exemplary cassette each month. I was shutting out the real world while cramming my head with learning of the cultural world.

Of course, we all have to let the real world in eventually but, by then, I was well on the way to a new understanding of the culture I had missed. My wife bought me a copy of Handel’s Largo which you will already know, Dear Reader, is the opening Aria of Handel’s opera, Xerxes. I played it constantly on a loop, driving everyone else mad.

Yesterday, I was in the Gym watching this nondescript film set in 1938 Poland and a young lad started to sing. He was pitch perfect and his song was … Handel’s Largo. I felt the emotions of more than 50 years well up in my chest. Fortunately, I was on the exercise bike as I found myself sobbing uncontrollably. I could do nothing as the waves of the 1960s and 1970s crashed over me. It is astonishing that music can do this but also wonderful in its power and evocativeness.

It has left me with a deep sadness. Ridiculous, I know, but I am travelling to Gatwick with a burden of unresolved sadness deep inside. This is no way to go on a trip. Get a grip!

Tuesday, 11th June, 2024

Travelling in the early hours has real benefits but it had a surprisingly chilly downside this morning. Could not believe Gatwick carpark at midnight. It felt freezing – actually 7C/45F – but in June?

The airport was very quiet and we went through Security and passport control in less than three minutes. Unfortunately, the Executive Lounge – Flight Lounge – wasn’t as clever and we have noted the importance of booking a better one earlier next time.

When we flew to Greece from Manchester for the first time in 1980, the flight time was 4.5 hrs.. Today, the flight time from London to Thessaloniki was just 3.0 hrs.. We flew on time and arrived on time. Off the plane in minutes and out to a taxi. Check-in time at our hotel is 3.00 pm.. We arrived at 11.30 am and were shown straight to our Suite on the top floor overlooking the bay.

House wine and chocolates on the table. TV welcome in the Lounge and the Bedroom. We showered, changed and went down to the Executive Lounge which caters for Suite holders. Everything is ‘free’ whenever you want. We asked for Club Sandwiches, Smoked Salmon Bagels, Greek Salad plus red and white wine. It was delightful.

Out on the Balcony of our Suite, the temperature had hit 37C/99F and the view was wonderful. We watched Politics Live on BBC2 as we would at home, discussed the Tories disastrous position then opened a local bottle of Kretikos white wine and …. the rest is history and oblivion.

Health warnings are being put out tonight about the effect of the extreme temperatures on health and well being. We are experienced in these things but, as a liitle old lady told me a few months ago, she struggled with temperatures as she got older. Mind you, she also dyed her grey hair blonde so everyone is different. I will easily complete my exercise routine today but we will walk out to restaurants this evening and then catch up on some sleep before embracing a new day tomorrow.

Wednesday, 12th June, 2024

Having not slept for two days, didn’t wake up until 7.00 am (5.00 am UK) this morning. My phone says the temperature outside is only 28C/82F. It looks delicious. Strangely, overnight they have begun to install a sandpit/beach in the centre of Aristotle Square.

After a shower and a cup of tea, we’ve got the normal, hotel dilemma. We never eat Breakfast at home. In a hotel, it feels like an illicit treat and something you’ve paid for and shouldn’t waste. Your body says, You don’t need it. Your head says, You’re on holiday and you’ve paid for it. Go for it. The head almost always wins. It will today. The buffet breakfast is wonderful here and covers everything you could expect and a lot more.

Breakfast finished and now, drinking coffee on the balcony and regretting eating breakfast. Have to go out for a long walk to work off …. breakfast. With the temperature already at 30C by 9.30 am and forecast to be around 37C/99F for most of the day, we are going to have to be careful. With my new hat on, we are going to explore the restaurant district for Supper tonight but I was rather enchanted by last night’s venue. Lovely people!

Today is the annual Reunion of the men who were in the pioneering year of my all-girls training college. It will be held in Leeds in a chilly 15C/59F. I’m sure the camaraderie will be warmer. I received a Whatsapp in the middle of the night here from my old friend, JohnR to say he would convey my best wishes to the merry band. My friend, Kevin, will video-conference me between Leeds – Thessaloniki so that I can participate at a distance. There is no substitute for hugging people but it is the next, best thing.

To men of a certain age …. lets say, in their 70s – Françoise Hardy, French pop singer and fashion muse, was the previous generation’s Bridget Bardot. I must admit, she didn’t really do it for me although her voice was rather seductive but she did for many young men. Anyway, it is a sign of the times that it is reported this morning she has died at the age of 80 having been diagnosed with Lymphatic Cancer 10 years ago. 80!

Thursday, 13th June, 2024

We are 2 hours ahead of UK time here and, although our phones and watches change immediately, it always takes a few days to adjust the body clock. The temperature over night didn’t fall below 27C/81F and we were out in the Square eating ice cream at 1.am. I set my phone radio to come on at 6.00 am (Greek Time) but we stayed in bed until 7.00 this morning. We are forecast to be a little cooler today peaking at just 35C/95F.

Back in Brighton, yesterday, the scorching Summer just went on. It is such a difficult time for UK holiday resorts in particular where suddenly everywhere looks like Wales and UK residents generally have trouble in raising their soggy spirits. It is incredible this year and not even that warm. This time last year we were in baking hot sunshine in Sussex. Apparently, the Met.Office are blaming it on the Gulf Stream.

Yesterday, I missed the Reunion of the small, male cohort from my year at Training College. Actually, there were only about 6 originals present and the numbers were padded out by the year immediately after us. It is testament to our time that so many have already died. A number are too ill and/or incapacitated to travel so that an already small band of brothers is rapidly disappearing rather like the D-Day members in France recently.

My friend, Kevin, was there and kindly kept me up to speed. I have to say, the photos always make it look old and staid which isn’t too inviting.

Yesterday, I reported that the centre of classical Aristotle Square was being turned into a sandpit/beach. Wrong. Today we’ve learned that the installation is actually a Beach Volley Ball Court for an important tournament at the weekend. We can watch from our balcony. Now you wish you’d come don’t you, Dear Reader?

We are really enjoying this hotel. The staff are wonderful and can’t do enough for us. We had Room Service last night while we watched the Leaders Interview and the food was wonderful. Angus Beef Burgers with a Caesar Salad and a bottle of House Red was served up for us in our Suite as we watched the debate and the quality was wonderful.

Friday, 14th June, 2024

Yesterday was incredibly humid and sticky. It made walking hard work and drinking essential. Unfortunately, it ought not be alcoholic. I always tend to forget that. I am drinking too much I know and I’m going to have to have a spell of abstinence …. when I get home.

We have done lots of lovely things here already but the highlight was a new restaurant for Supper. We did walk for a couple of very draining hours yesterday and it was then that we found a new street full of restaurants. The menus are posted outside and you can soon tell from them how progressive they are.

Having spent more than 40 years eating out in Greece, there are very few surprises, very few ‘new’ dishes we haven’t tried and cooked ourselves. Last night we had the most wonderful starter of Μπάλες μάραθου/Fennel Burgers with a mustard & yoghurt dip.

Incredibly cheap to eat out here. Last night we ordered two starters, two main courses of Lamb Shank, a half litre of House Red and a half litre of House White. We were absolutely stuffed and the restaurant sent over ice cream & biscuits and glasses of Limoncello (Lemon Liqueur) and the bill was just €48.00/£40.00. Even so, it was quite hard to walk home.

This morning the Beach Volleyball Tournament in Aristotelous Square beneath our balcony is under way. Girls in minute bikinis are entertaining the early spectators. My wife has decided that she urgently needs to go shopping.

Actually, we rapidly walked past sports girls in thongs and on to the Cultural Centre – the old Port where warehouses that once stored tobacco, corn, etc., now house a Digital Dali Exhibition, A History of Greek Fashion Exhibition and an Exhibition of Female Photography.

This is Greece. It is all fairly basic … but they are trying and you have to give them credit.

Saturday, 15th June, 2024

A little cooler this morning – just 26C/79F – so we had breakfast on the terrace. It is much more comfortable for the old people now the heatwave has moderated.

Just checked the cameras at home in Sussex and … it’s raining. At least the plants will be happy. Going out for a walk down the coastal path this morning. Before that, I have to accompany my wife to the Supermarket for some sun tan lotion.

Just a few 100 metres from the hotel is a really well stock if small supermarket but before that, we come across this:

It is still a feature of Greek cities like Athens and Thessaloniki to find poor people begging to get by. This old lady is a widow and probably survives on the bare minimum of government support. It is testament to how common this is that few even notice her as she pretends to sleep at the road crossing where people naturally congregate.

We went out for a 2hr return walk down the coast road just as the temperature reached 32C/90F. I was saturated by the time we got back and, as we re-entered the hotel for a shower and change, one of my Yorkshire friend was contacting me to exercise caution. They had been reading a national newspaper report about tourist fatalities during the heatwave. I must admit, I would never consider myself a tourist in Greece nowadays and we generally know how far we can push it. Anyway, there are so many sportsmen dying in their late 50s and early 60s at the moment that I feel incredibly lucky to have got this far.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Sunday, 26th May, 2024

Lovely day of sunshine and high, fleecy, white clouds. Having setup our new iPads, we are taking one of the old iPads up to Surrey for P who has smashed the screen of hers. I’m trading one in for around £300.00 and we are forgoing the £300.00 we could get for the second one by giving it to P.

The drive up on a Bank Holiday weekend could have been a nightmare but it proved remarkably easy. It is a beautiful route through trees and wild flowers, through farm land and natural vegetation.

P’s original iPad had a cracked screen which was dangerous to use but was going to cost £200.00 to fix. Better to help out so that’s what we did today. It took about half an hour to copy old to new and wipe old clean. That went in the bin and the new one was tried out immediately.

Just to test the new iPad was identical to the original, we walked P through her normal routines. She is 86 and partially sighted so her determination to keep up with technology is admirable. I know lots of old, wrinklies who are scared of smart phones never mind iPads. She likes to Facetime/Video Link her daughter in Florida each day so I needed to check that it worked.

Florida is 5 hrs behind us but it was 11.30 am in UK so she tried it and it worked. A bleary-eyed, half asleep face appeared in the darkness of her bedroom to confirm it had worked although, I have to say, she did sound a bit grumpy. I don’t know why.

At least I know P can do the things she wants to on a good quality machine. It may well become increasingly a lifeline to the real world as she becomes tied to her home by frailty and other conditions. At least C is back to good health and happy with the world.

Of course, yesterday afternoon was lit up by Man. Utd. winning the F.A. Cup and destroying their Manchester rivals. Today it’s all about Leeds Utd.’s attempt to bounce back into the Premier League.

Monday, 27th May, 2024

Nice day but it is a Bank Holiday. Hate Bank Holidays. Well, there are no Banks anymore and it just means more people are milling around instead of being imprisoned in schools and places of work, leaving the world to the young at heart like me. I’m going to argue for Bank Holidays to move on line like the banks.

I wonder if I’m too late for someone to put that in their manifesto. After all, if you can work out something as mad as the Tories Teenage Dads’ Army on the back of a fag packet in an afternoon, you could definitely abolish Bank Holidays. Since the election was called in the rain on Thursday and Sunak went into Wales not knowing they had been knocked out of the football championship and was photographed in front of an Exit sign and then went on to Northern Ireland to be photographed in front of the Titanic Museum.

The Tory MPs must have that sinking feeling. Certainly the electorate have. Polling this weekend puts Labour on 44% and Tories on 23%. If we can just get the Reform racists into full stride and the perfect storm will be on. With a few more seats picked up in Scotland, we will be home and dry. (What does that mean?)

What do you think about electric cars, Dear Reader? Mine is hybrid and I’m very happy with it. I can drive 500 + miles a day across Europe and not worry. The thing is that the majority of my journeys in Retirement are under 20 miles. It would be useful to have a plug-in electric to do those journeys as an additional facility. What do you think about a cheap and cheerful, bug-eyed all electric in garish yellow so they can see us coming?

I want to introduce to one of my current favourites in the garden – a Houttuynia cordata ‘Chameleon’.

It is incredibly easy to grow – well at least down here it is. It is wonderfully colourful and vigorous and keeps going from the last frost until the first frost – sort of March to November. It grows and thickens out rapidly, can be dug up and split with individual pieces potted on to make as many ‘free’ plants as you like. And it looks spectacular in the sunshine. Its flowers are negligible but the leaves really compensate.

Tuesday, 28th May, 2024

Rain over night. Dry and warm now. A morning of newspapers and political speeches … and tidying the Office. Good speech from Rachael Reeves, Labour’s Shadow Chancellor and former Bank of England executive. She spoke at the Rolls Royce establishment in Derby – just a stone’s throw from where I was born.

Ironically, a property was featured in The Times yesterday in my home village of Repton. It is a beautiful house Designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens in 1907 and sits in just under 5 acres. The price is a mere £3.5 million which seems quite modest now.

In the 1970s, I used to almost live in the Manchester Business School on Oxford Road. It seemed quite a go-ahead place springing out of shabby surroundings. This morning, I read in the M.E.N. that it was the centre of police activity as students were barricading the exam centre at Manchester University in pro-Palestinian protests.

It is good to see Gen.Z getting involved in political campaigning again. They have been far too quiet for too long.

Ironically, Delta Polling issued a recent piece of research on changing views about rejoining the European Union. Unsurprisingly, every age group other than mine would vote overwhelmingly to Rejoin Europe and it is embarrassing that the wrinklies can’t see it. It does tie in with the Labour Party’s desire to expand the franchise to include 16 years olds. This is the way we will get , modern and more relevant policies introduced.

We Boomers have to resist this downward drift of aging as long as possible and keep our eyes on the Future. I’m hoping that I will be well into my 80s before any thought of the Tories return will be even mooted.

Wednesday, 29th May, 2024

Lovely, warm and sunny morning. My wife is preparing everything for a trip abroad … and that means she is preparing me. New clothes. Haircut. Travel documents, Euros …. oh, god!! All I’m interested in is the General Election at the moment. Well, on reflection, not all I’m interested in but …

The panicking Tories suddenly try to buy the grey/blue-rinse vote with a Triple Lock ‘Plus’ wheeze that will save each pensioner literally 28p per week and then near as dammit propose to reintroduce conscription which is universally derided and the next day a major YouGove Poll shows the gap actually widening when all experience teaches us that polls tighten over the campaign. You couldn’t write it better.

Down to the beach this morning, forgetting it was Half Term. Quite a lot of Kids but managed to avoid most of them. Lovely and warm on the seaside with no wind and plenty of sunshine. The smell of the ozone is wonderful.

There has been some talk of a staycation revival but it won’t persuade me. I am going to Europe at the very least. Two trips to Greece – June and August – plus a drive through France and Italy in July. Who knows where we will go afterwards. We live near a coastal town and we recognise it is less dynamic than it was. Even Brighton can look fairly shabby. I drive past groups of tourists and think, Could you not find somewhere better?

There have been quite a few newspaper articles recently highlighting the dilapidation of North Wales coastal towns – places where I was taken on holiday. Rhyl, Prestatyn and Llandudno have been particularly highlighted. Rhyl was called ‘Manchester-on-Sea’ and described as “one of the most disgusting seaside towns on Earth.” As a child, I was taken to Colwyn Bay and Abergele. I went once to Anglesey and even that is now more seriously threatened than ever with a nuclear power station. Not my choice of relaxing sunshine spot particularly as it rains so much.

Thursday, 30th May, 2024

Up at 5.00 am. Why? Because my wife couldn’t sleep, obviously. It was warm and grey. By 5.30 am, she was back in bed sleeping and I was wide awake and drinking coffee. Well, I don’t need a lot of sleep anyway. Going out for blood tests this morning prior to meeting the oncologist next week. It is a PSA and Testosterone test to reveal how successful my radiotherapy has been. A little nervous about it but there is nothing I can do. The testosterone is working but who knows about the prostate?

Can you remember what you were doing 15 years ago, Dear Reader? Were you busy? Happier or Sadder? Richer or Poorer? How much has gone under the bridge in the last 15 years? In this week, 15 years ago, we were just about to put our stop-gap property that we had bought to free up capital to fund our Greek house build on the market with the intention of moving South. When I consider how much has happened since then it is quite amazing and suggests that there is so much more to come before our 90s.

It will be 40 years ago this summer that we bought my favourite house set in an acre of garden which was itself set in a Conservation Area. Helme in Meltham was a delightful place to live and I could have happily stayed there forever but it is important to move on and to gain new experiences. We were there for 16 years and that is long enough to get stuck. Our Greek plans forced our hand and I look back without regret.

If you’d spent a few years doing this in your own designed home on a Greek island, Dear Reader, you wouldn’t regret it either. Everyone should have that experience in their timeline. It was a wonderful time which I would never change.

The houses are just markers in time. It is what came between that is important and I use these markers to help me reflect on my past. I spent time talking to an old College friend yesterday. We first met 55 years ago and haven’t had much contact in between. It is amazing how easy it is to bridge that gulf of time and place. We pick up fairly comfortably although our lives have diverged markedly. I suppose that’s why we became friends in the first place.

Friday, 31st May, 2024

Good Morning, Dear Reader …. and it is a good morning even though it is the last day of May 2024. My Dresser is currently obsessed with clothes and making sure everything is washed and ironed prior to packing for travel.

My obsession is gardening. Even though things are about two weeks late this year, Green Beans and Potatoes are flowering. Yes, I know, Hold the Front Page. To gardeners, these are signs of health and fruitfulness even though the flowers themselves are fairly insignificant.

Looked at closely and in isolation, these tiny flowers become beautiful in their own right. More importantly, they mean lots of produce to come soon. They also mean I can go away and not worry about them. They will just carry on carrying on happily in the sunshine.

It’s Friday so I will be cutting the neighbourhood lawns and, because it has been a strange season so far, I will be spraying them with Iron Sulphate (FeSO4) to give them a green-up boost. The plants we put in are coming into strong bloom and the area is looking cared for.

Some people wonder why I do it. You may wonder that, Dear Reader. Actually, it is an example of enlightened self interest. It does cost me a few hundred pounds a year but I enjoy exercising and being out in the sunshine with a sense of purpose. I like to drive into my street and think, Yes, this looks good. and I want my neighbours to do the same. They are grateful for my efforts and you never know when I might need their support. It is a win all round.

We’ve had great news this morning from our local newspaper – Sussex Express – which tells us that Labour are strong favourites to take both Worthing seats according to latest polling which also suggests Chichester will desert the Tories for the first time in 100 years. In our constituency, we will be sweeping away the Father of the House. Peter Bottomley is 79 and was first elected in 1975. Time for a change. Time for Dr Beccy Cooper.

Saturday, 1st June, 2024

JUNE!!! Time moves on. Hold it there. Summer has started. Lovely weather. Optimism. Grass thickening. Garden growing. Starting to flower well. Promising to ‘fruit’ well. Looking lovely. Demanding attention.

European trips about to begin. Movement, travel, challenge, foreign road signs, restaurants, cooking, people. Romance languages of Greece, France, Italy, Spain to listen to, to struggle with, to attempt to embrace.

Friends in the North to visit soon. Memories. Friendship. Grimy, stone buildings. Moorland space. Sheep. Rain & cold. Warm feelings. Rosy memories.

Sorry, Dear Reader. Don’t know what happened there. Suddenly fell into a stream of consciousness. Still, it’s good to do different things at times isn’t it. If you can’t do them in your 70s, when can you? My wife woke up this morning and said, We should be spending money. We should be travelling and spending money. I must admit, I thought we were but she thinks we are saving too much and not enjoying it enough. It’s going to take some effort to turn that super-tanker round in my mindset but I will think about it.

Don’t like to rain on your parade, introduce a note of realism into this euphoria of sunshine but there are less than three weeks until we start to go downhill. Two weeks on Thursday is the Summer Solstice, the Longest Day. From that point on, daylight gradually shortens, growing time is reduced, Winter draws on. We start to look for sunshine elsewhere in the world.

This morning, we are looking for problems. We have been in this house for 8 years. Even two, old codgers, would find it difficult to keep a new house looking ‘good as new’ over that period of normal living. We have always practised high level maintenance.

Pristine is the word my wife uses for how she wants her house so guess what happens. The house is kept pristine. This morning, we are doing a building check. Anything which is not pristine will be listed, recorded and addressed. Quite a bit of it will be dealt with by her – grubby finger-marks on the wall or door will be painted out, a peeling garage door step will be stripped, sanded and repainted but not by me. somethings will need outside help. We have an excellent multi-job, repair firm who we’ve used before.

Outside, some baseline repointing is needed after new patio flags have been laid and old ones pressure washed. My wife could do that but it would take her quite a while and who would cook my Supper? Some mastic grouting in one shower room needs replacing. A couple of soft-close kitchen cabinet hinges need replacing. Nothing is major but a list of these jobs aggregate to make less than pristine so have to be fixed.

An update for those who are as daft as me about politics and I’ve just been talking to my neighbour who says, They’re all the same as each other, John. I don’t normally beat women up but I made an exception this time. Labour will be different. There may be no money but they will give it to the more deserving. Hopefully, they will give your money to me. I am more deserving. The big prediction for my constituency which has been Tory for 100 years is Labour chance of winning = 70% / Tory chance of winning = 30%. I was looking at a red wall, Manchester constituency and in M24, Labour chance of winning = 66% / Tory chance of winning = 14% and Reform = 12% chance of winning. It’s all going the Left way.

Sunday, 19th May, 2024

Beautiful morning – warm and sunny. The garden looks and feels lovely …. which is more than can be said for me. My wife’s lifelong ambition – largely achieved – has been to humiliate me.

This morning she had another go. Now well into my 70s, as she regularly points out, this morning she showed me how much my hair is thinning on top and increasingly showing grey. In my defence, I haven’t had an easy year and my body has been under attack. My hair has reacted to that stress. That’s my defence. Anyway, if you look closely, she has a few flecks of grey in her hair now as well.

Off to France in a couple of days if you fancy joining us, Dear Reader. Be nice to get out and wave the passport about again. Driving through the tunnel is something we have done so many times over the past 30 years since it was opened. To think I was only 43 and had lots of hair when it started!

Yet another trip to the Plant Centre this morning. The final purchase of the Summer is Sweet Basil seedlings which we will pot up, grow on and turn into Pesto as well as use in salads. Should have grown it from seed myself but didn’t get round to it. Always magical that these little things grow into such huge plants.

Monday, 20th May, 2024

Gorgeous morning. Looking forward to France tomorrow. The philosopher, Kierkegaard, said:

Life can only be understood backwards, but it must be lived forwards …

I exemplify that observation. It is absolutely essential to understand and not deny one’s history even though we can only move forward in our lives. The trick is to integrate past, present and future so that we use our experience to progress. We cannot deny our past. We cannot airbrush it out not least because it lives indelibly inside us. My sister, Ruth, talks about not being interested in her past but you can bet she will celebrate her 77th birthday on Thursday just as she celebrated her 50th wedding anniversary and the birthdays of her children and grandchildren. These are signposts through her history and they are important calibrations of her lifetime.

The Blog helps me record and understand past, present and future. It is essentially me, my life in all its trivialities but it is informed by all the successes and tragedies that any 73 year old will have acquired and of all the people and places that have informed and intersected with my life.

Today, I had to go out and buy additional hosepiping so that I can now reach 200 meters as I water flowerbeds up and down my road. In my lifetime, we had a huge garden in my childhood home which Dad used to grow vegetables. When I married, I bought a house surrounded by an acre of garden in which I enjoyed growing vegetables. Clearly, I was using the experience of my childhood.

In our Greek home we had 4 acres of olive trees, fruit trees and vegetable growing areas. I loved the challenge of learning to grow things in that climate. We were taught to cultivate the shaded side of the house and create dust bowls which could be planted into and would hold the precious water rather than just let it evaporate in the intense sunshine.

Moving forward, it is time to look at the latest edition of the Apple iPads which were released last week. I have been dedicated to staying up to date, never becoming an old fogey and out of touch with the present future. I’ve had my iPad Pro for 5 years. We should not expect more than that of tablets or computers. It will cost me about £1500.00 and then I will have to buy a keyboard cover (£250.00) and a new iPad Air (£800.00) for Pauline. So, keeping up is expensive and yet £2,500.00 over 5 years is very reasonable.

Tuesday, 21st May, 2024

Up at 5.00 am on a warm and sunny morning. Out before 6.00 am and en route to the tunnel. Became increasingly overcast as we drove. The drive takes about 2 hours joining the M23, M25, M26, M20. At that time, it was all pretty quiet. The drive was relaxing and enjoyable. Listened to BBC R4 Today as usual. Before we knew it, we were there about 40 mins early.

The roads had been quiet and the Terminal was empty apart from a group of noisy school kids excitedly anticipating their trip day out.

We arrived in France about an hour earlier than expected. Off to Auchan and then Cité Europe where Pauline bought 3 pairs of shoes, some cooking pans and equipment and I bought £500.00 of wine to get me through June. We did a shop of things that are only done well en France: Saucisson, Fromages, Charcuterie, etc.. I bought pink Fizz for my friends and neighbours and we went outside to see the rain had begun to fall. It may have been wet but it was deliciously warm.

Drive back to the Tunnel Terminal. Our return time was confirmed and we sat in the car listening to political podcasts. Amazing how time flies when you’re occupied.

We were soon down to customs and Check-in in the rain. So few people doing the crossing. Not like full season. They check nothing nowadays. I was able to bring well over my allocation across without problem.

Home by 4.00 pm and I was restacking my wine racks while chef put together a lovely buffet supper of Confit Duck, Garlic Sausage, Cheese and biscuits plus salad. Going on a diet tomorrow. I’ve shared my wine with my friends. I always want to share my experiences with them too. Life is about sharing, isn’t it, Dear Reader?

Wednesday, 22nd May, 2024

Went to bed very tired last night. Probably more the wine tasting than the driving and the early start yesterday. Up at 7.00 am this morning to quite a grey start and it had obviously rained over night.

Racked my wine purchases. Each bottle costs about half the price it would be in the UK. It is better to buy quality wines under these circumstances. A £20.00 bottle of wine for £10.00 in France makes the journey well worth while. About 70 bottles each saving £10.00 per bottle is simple maths when you calculate the journey cost of around £150.00. Of course, I would have done it anyway just for the enjoyment and the quality food products we also bought like this delicious, white asparagus.

Driving back yesterday, the car provides me with lots of information like the speed limit and the speed I’m doing. I took this photo on my drive but, normally, the road speed sign will have been scanned and placed before me. My speed is set which is what (ACC) Adaptive Cruise Control means and whether I have Lane Keep Assist (LKAS) set, the miles I have to go, whether I’m driving on electric (EV) with the green line or petrol fuel.

So, I’m driving back on the M25 monitoring reasonably heavy traffic, all the information coming on three screens in the car and listening to a political podcast about the Tories chance of winning the upcoming election. And then the dreaded happened. A warning symbol popped up accompanied by a warning chime which meant a tyre or tyres’ pressure had fallen below the set rate.

Middle of the M25, rain starting to fall, 70mph with lots of spray from lorries in front was not a time I wanted to stop and check the tyres unless forced to. I monitored the balance of the car as I drove and it didn’t seem compromised so I completed the final 50 miles with this symbol dominating the display. Our tyres should be 35 psi – front and 32 psi – rear. This morning we checked the pressures and one tyre was just 0.5 psi down. In previous years we wouldn’t have even been aware of that for months. It dominated my mind throughout my drive back.

A calmer, more relaxed day today. PMQs to watch and the gripping dismantling of Paula Vennells, the former boss of the Post Office by a barrister in the Inquiry. I love it. Mind you, there are lots of weird things that I love. Still got to do my Gym routine. And now and at last ….a General Election on July 4th! WooHoo!!!

Thursday, 23rd May, 2024

Lovely, warm and sunny day. Good day for a birthday. Happy Birthday to my old sister, Ruth. Sunset Strip – 77 – today. We wish her a lovely day.

Up early to shop for garden products and to fill the car. Petrol has gone up again to 145.7 per litre or £6.63 per gallon. Can you imagine it? Inflation has generally come down but is predicted to rise again soon which is one reason why Sunak has called an early election. Things will definitely get worse as the year develops.

It was about the most inept presentation of a Prime Minister announcing a General Election that I have ever seen. He held all the cards. He could have presented from inside No 10. He could have presented outside this morning in the sunshine.

Instead, he chose to drown outside last night while being drowned out by protesters playing the Blair Election theme – Things Can Only Get Better. It’s going to be a fascinating 6 weeks. Got a Greek trip before that.

Thessaloniki is warming up. Walking in warm sunshine and hearing Greek voices, smelling Greek smells, being pampered by our hotel staff and eating Greek food – just bliss. Must contact my Northern friends and arrange a trip up there. Particularly, I must contact my friend in Royton who I haven’t spoken to for a while.

I wonder if this sort of thing affects you or is it just me, Dear Reader? I have no particular interest in competitive swimming in general or David Wilkie in particular but I remember him from the Olympics as a remarkably fit, young man. He died this week of cancer at the ripe old age of 70! Now 50 years ago, we would be thinking that he had lived a reasonable term but current expectations are that this is a life cut short. A man who has been super fit for much of his life is dead three years younger than me. As I say, it may only be me but I find such cases incredibly unsettling.

Friday, 24th May, 2024

Lovely, sunny morning. We are driving up to Surrey to see how P&C are. We have to be there in time to take them to a medical appointment for C. Yesterday I was horribly tired all day. Had to drag myself around and force myself to do things. I was so tired and had to beat myself up so hard that it made me emotional. It is something that has been happening to me since my cancer treatment.

I was so upset with myself yesterday that my wife did some research – something I’ve been avoiding. She found that it is quite normal for people who have undergone radiotherapy in general and men who have suffered prostate cancer in particular to suffer extreme fatigue during the treatment, increasing after the treatment and lasting up to a year before improving.

I hate the feeling of failure. It is my belligerent character which militates to fight it. I have reduced my exercise since the treatment. I still do my Gym routine but the 10 miles a day I was doing has ben reduced to 5 miles a day. Since the start of the year, I have only failed to achieve my target on an average of one day a month but it is still a big reduction. I was pleased to read that I am doing exactly what medics advise and forcing myself to continue exercising and walking in particular.

In Surrey, we are visiting P&C (aged 86 & 87) to take them to a doctor’s appointment. While they did, we visited a retirement development in the centre of West Byfleet. It is ideal for them – Independence with Community. Restaurants, shops, gymnasium and swimming pool all integrated. Easy access to trains to London plus buses and taxis anywhere they want to go. You can sell your house and then buy or rent an apartment. What’s not to like?

This afternoon, I ordered a new iPad Air and an iPad Pro from Apple UK. They tell us that they will be delivered ‘free’ by tomorrow afternoon. It won’t be ‘free’, of course. They have cost me £2447.00 but at least we will get new machines. We will next need to order new ones when we are 78, Dear Reader.

Saturday, 25th May, 2024

Glorious day which reached 22C/70F in the afternoon. I’m going to be doing I.T. and gardening. The new iPads are being delivered at Lunchtime – less than 24 hrs after they were ordered. Love it.

Now I’ve got to copy across everything from two, old machines to the two new ones. I then have to clean up the originals and return them to factory settings. Mine will then go off to Apple as a trade-in for about £300.00. The other will be taken up to Surrey to replace P’s broken iPad.

The warm sunshine will be replaced by rain over night both of which will be welcomed by the garden plants. The potatoes are doing really well and should be ready in July. The carrots and beetroot are looking fine and will be ready in the Autumn.

I took the risk of early planting with Green Beans and it is paying off. There is no chance of frost down here until November at the earliest so we can expect a good crop. I’ve got Basil seedlings in my cold frames and they will go out in mid-June. Looking forward to lots of sunshine to power them on. Just think, I will be harvesting all of this produce under a Labour Government …. a Labour Government. What Joy!!

Sunday, 12th May, 2024

When am I going to get rid of this bloody Covid? I know I am rather immuno-compromised since radiotherapy but it’s starting to get me down. For the 9th consecutive day, I have tested strongly positive for Covid whereas my wife, who is obviously a much more resilient character is now clear. I do still feel under the weather – rasping cough, runny nose, tired all the time with aching limbs. At least I’m forcing myself to complete my Gym routine each day and only missed two days at the start of the infection.

Went to bed at 9.30 pm last night. It is unheard of but I was feeling exhausted. I slept as well. The temperature didn’t fall below 17C/63F last night and I slept on top of the bedclothes with the window open. During the day, the garden has reached a lovely 26C/79F.

When we woke, Pauline had been in a dream about a Gite in the Dordogne where we stayed for a month one July. But which July? Quite astonishing how time fades away in the memory …. but not with a Blog. First thing after Breakfast I was able to pinpoint a month driving around France & Italy in July 2017.

In July 2018, we rented a Gite in Saint-Sauveur, a quaint village outside Bergerac. When we got there, we found the girl who owned it was from Warrington and had worked in Oldham for years.

The weather was glorious throughout our month’s stay, we got to travel around and visit lots of local markets, visited my cousin who had a Gite business not far away and do lots of walking. Happy times before Covid.

Today, in spite of being terribly ill, Dear Reader, I am being roped into cleaning the stone lintels of our windows which have become rather stained over the last 8 years. Having seen how the magic potion can so successfully clean the patio, my Housekeeper has decided to use it on stone lintels prior to cleaning all the white windows and doors. Unfortunately, I am the only one stupid enough to go up a ladder and the only one who can reached the difficult bits. I’m going to have that as my epitaph, Dear Reader: He was the only one able to reach the difficult bits! Could be worse, I suppose.

Monday, 13th May, 2024

Suddenly garden time has arrived … about a week later than last year. I maintain the public lawns and beds of our street. I try to keep everything lush, green and striped and then plant out bright, repeating colours in the flower beds. I grow plants from seed and then buy some from local Nurseries. My own sowings will need another couple of weeks before they go out.

Today, I’ve bought huge batches of Marigolds and Osteospurmums. They are brightly coloured, hardy and flower all Summer with the minimum of attention.

I have used these plants for years and only learnt today that they are from the same genus – Calendula. These warm, bright colours will echo each other along each side of our street and give it a ‘corporate’ look.

It is just a month until we fly to Thessaloniki but I am so pleased to avoid this cattle market of the past. Over the decades, the hot, sweaty nights we have queued in Greek airports to Check-in while trying to guess which Gates it will go from only to find them switched at the last minute. Easyjet contacted me today to say I could Check-in online. We have Speedy Boarding with 1 x large carry-on cabin bag + 1 x small carry-on cabin bag each which is plenty for us. We just go straight through Security and down to our Executive Lounge before boarding. The whole process is relaxing. Boarding Passes are printed out. Life is comparatively so straightforward these days.

No sooner had I written that than I turned to the first story on the Daily Telegraph where all my confidence was punctured immediately. I don’t think that will affect June but we are using them again in August. Let’s hope they have settled by then.

Tuesday, 14th May, 2024

I’m still testing positive for Covid after two weeks. All Kissing is still banned, you’ll be devastated to hear, Dear Reader. Had to cancel my dentist appointment tomorrow. So, there is an upside. My friend, Kevin, is completing his Starvation/Purge prior to another colonoscopy this afternoon in Leeds. He ate his last meal yesterday lunchtime and had to wake up at 6.00 am this morning to take his next enema. I phoned him at 5.55 am this morning to his surprise. He’s not a morning person. He definitely isn’t now! He’s a very, very empty person.

We had a bit of rain over night and everything is fresh, clean and sweet-smelling this morning in the warm air. It reminds me of that morning feeling everyday on the island in Greece – walking out onto the terrace with the rising sun, the warm enveloping air, the sounds of a donkey braying away across the valley and the cockerel calling out to corral its hareem and all the time the orchestra of cicadas builds in the olive trees to the heat at the peak of the day. But the evening sun going down across the sea reflects the glory of the day and moderates the baking heat ready to start all over again the next morning.

In the garden today we are planting out blocks of seed grown carrots. Just for fun, we have chosen a rainbow coloured variety. In the end, they’re just carrots but the colours are attractive on the plate. Some beetroot, some lettuce – Red Little Gem is what we eat about three times a week -will also go in to join the early potatoes and the green beans.

I love this time in the garden – so full of optimism and promise. In about 8 weeks, we will be cutting lettuces and picking green beans, harvesting and freezing herbs and making pesto for the winter. The effort put in really does feel worth it.

Wednesday, 15th May, 2024

Half way through May already. I have been feeling absolutely awful since late April. At times I thought I was just being lazy. At other times I thought I was depressed. Yesterday, reading an article in a local newspaper, I suddenly realised that I was reading about things which were happening to me that I thought were totally unrelated.

I’ve been suffering with all-pervasive fatigue for over 3 weeks. My joints have been aching to the point of ‘cracking’. Every day I’ve had to set myself tasks to get through and then force myself to complete them. My Gym routine has been an absolute nightmare to get through. I’ve had to tell my head each day to get on with it, to get through it. I just thought I was being bone-idle.

At the same time, my favourite drink – coffee – was leaving a dead, dry taste in my mouth. My other favourite drink – wine – was tasting like acid. I actually poured some bottles away thinking they were ‘corked’. I have been feeling sick after eating. I have had a cold and continuous dry cough. I’ve had loss of appetite and changed bowel movements. I felt a bit reassured when the National Bowel Cancer Screening Programme found I was clear because my changes had raised concerns.

Suddenly yesterday, I read of the new FLiRT variant which has come from America and is now surging across UK and all my symptoms are brought together in this infection. At least I know I am not going mad. Pleased to hear that my friend, Kevin, got the all-clear (to coin a phrase) from his colonoscopy yesterday and now won’t need another for 3 years.

Going to force myself to Valet the car this morning in this wonderfully warm sunshine. I need it to be looking and feeling good because I’ve just booked a short trip to France next week in the hope of giving myself a boost. Don’t have to isolate now after 5 days of infection although I still won’t be doing too much kissing.

Thursday, 16th May, 2024

Finally, Dear Reader, after almost three, consecutive weeks, I have tested Covid-free. 💋💋 I’ve already informed the neighbours that I am available for kissing again. I’ve asked them to form an orderly queue. Fortunately, I’ve already delivered my wife to the Beautician’s where she will spend the next couple of hours having a complete face renovation so I’m free for a while.

It’s warm and raining this morning so all the seedlings are being watered in. Perfect growing weather. The garden smells wonderful and the air is full of birdsong. We have a resident blackbird who fills the sky with the most beautiful music. The fresh, new growth of greens in many shades would do credit to the Garden of Eden.

One of my more intelligent girls who missed an extended education because of pregnancy and family problems Whatsapp‘d me last night to say she had just completed her Degree at Manchester Metropolitan Uni. I was the first person she’d told, which was nice of her. Isn’t it great when people get there in the end. She’s 45 with three kids and a career as a Teaching Assistant in Oldham but she didn’t give up.

I really believe you can achieve most ambitions if you are prepared to keep going. You do need a bit of personal obsession – something I know quite a bit about. Doggedness, never letting the bone go can get you to most ambitions. It can make you annoying at times but you have to shake that off, keep your head down and keep going.

As the season for European travel approaches, I am having to check we have enough Euros in our travel store. I don’t like to use my Credit or Debit card abroad if I can avoid it. I prefer to fix my exchange rate rather than leave it to the bank at a time of their choosing.

It is totally different in UK though. I never have any cash apart from a £1.00 coin in my key ring holder for a supermarket trolley. I don’t bother carrying physical credit/debit cards any more. I was reading this article the other day which was saying that about 50% of us now never carry a wallet anymore.

Everything is contained within my Google Digital Wallet on my phone. I can pay out anything from a £1.00 to £50,000.00 or more with a single swipe of my mobile and tell it which Credit or Bank card I want it to use. I don’t have to remember account or pin numbers. It does it all for me. My Digital Wallet also contains Store Cards and Travel Passes. My Executive Lounge Card and my Boarding Passes are in there as well.

I love this advance in digital technology. I want to live another 100 years to see how it advances. Do you get post? We never get anything worthwhile now. Medical communications come straight to apps on our phones. Appointment letters are the same. I can’t think of a single thing where the hard copy was not preceded by a digital one. As the old people die off, non-digital methods will become irrelevant. Someone should tell the European Billionaire who is bidding to buy the Post Office. His investment will have a very short life time unless, of course, he is buying Parcel Force. Did you know you can pay a cheque into your Bank Account without leaving your home – just scan it in on your Mobile through your Banking App. This is how it should be.

The rain has stopped. The sun is out. The Garden is warm and sunny. As Eliot, quoting Julian of Norwich, says:

And all shall be well and
All manner of thing shall be well

T.S. Eliot – Little Gidding – 1942

The nearest thing, Dear Reader, that I will ever get towards a religious spirit.

Friday, 17th May, 2024

Gorgeously sunny and warm morning. I’m celebrating by driving my wife to the Hairdresser’s. Parking is so difficult that it’s more reasonable for me to take her and pick her back up later. Beauty Clinic yesterday (£80.00) and Hairdresser today (£50.00). I’m keeping a close eye on her, Dear Reader. She says it is nothing compared to the hundreds I will spend on wine next week … and I’m finding that quite hard to argue against. Anybody got any good ideas?

After the hairdressers, the beautiful day has been given over to self-appointed public duties. All the lawns along the roadside are cut for the weekend and, today, we planted up all the cut-out flower beds in the lawns with plants I’ve been growing from seed in my coldframes.

After all the work of the day, I was out on my feet. It is a great feeling. When you’re retired, to find an activity to completely tire you out is a sign of success. Supper was Tuna Steaks griddled outside in the garden with green beans and a chilled glass of Bordeaux red. Hard to beat. Hope you are enjoying your Friday as much as me, Dear Reader.

Saturday, 18th May, 2024

One of those days when I had hoped for rain. I went to bed with forecasts guaranteeing substantial rain throughout Saturday and woke up to find everything had changed. It means I will be out with hosepipes and watering cans watering in all the carefully planted flowers from yesterday. Instead of sitting back and watching the rain, I will have to give over an hour or two to manual labour.

We have the most lovely neighbours. Lots of Whatsapp thanks from them this morning. One rang the bell this morning with a bunch of flowers. She said she came home from work last night and thought how wonderful the area looked.

Our neighbour in the house behind ours unexpectedly dropped in yesterday. He retired recently from a London City property developers and has moved to his villa just North of Alicante with his wife and son. Their house here has been Sold Subject to Contract for months but it will finally go through in the next couple of months. Wonder who will be arriving.

After 8 years here, the trees along our street are finally starting to grow into their looks. I have to confess that, until today, I wasn’t sure what trees they were. Today, using the Google Lens app on my phone, I established that they are Tilia Cordata better known as small-leaved Lime trees or Linden Trees.

In their new season’s growth, they are delicious and have been chosen to not grow too high. Unfortunately, they develop quite a thick canopy which stops rain and sunlight reaching the flower bed below which makes growing rather more challenging.

It is my littlest sister, Caroline’s 62 birthday today. I can’t believe it. When I left home, she was just 7 years old and tiny. She lives in Ireland and messaged me today that she is celebrating by hiking down the Derrynane mass path along the peninsula by the sea. She is a football fanatic and a Derby County supporter so she is already celebrating their promotion.

Sunday, 5th May, 2024

I was feeling better yesterday although Pauline is not feeling at all well. Did another Covid test after the one two days ago and I genuinely though I might be clear. Absolutely not. Starkly infected so confined to the garden. Had lovely, sympathetic and supportive Whatsapps from Kevin, Julie and John.

I am part of the Left Wing family and have been since teenage days – my reaction to Daily Telegraph, Tory voting parents. My reaction to Roman Catholicism. My academic life has been informed by left wing analysis based in Marxist Dialectical Materialism, a method for the empirical study of social processes in terms of interrelations, development, and transformation. In the 1980s, it was the dominant analytical tool of Historical analysis.

Convention seems to hold that we move Right as we age. I have fought convention like so many educated Boomers and have held true to the Left Wing view of politics and the world. Although we were happy to take a Labour Government – an absence of Tories – the Blair Government never quite did it for us.

Now, after 14 years of the most horrendous Right Wingery, we are on the cusp of a return to sanity and socially directed policies. Policies which serve all the people not just a few. This weekend is a time to celebrate before getting on with the fight to ensure victory later in the year. If that victory comes, it is unlikely to be for one term of 5 years. The Tories are going to be in the wilderness for 10 years at least after this debacle – maybe 15. I could be 88 by the time I let a Tory back in.

It’s not been the most brilliant weekend in Greece but today is Easter Sunday and we wish our Greek friends, Καλό Πάσχα – Happy Easter. They will have been singing and dancing and feasting on spit roast lamb. We will be joining up with them soon to relax in the sun and drink in the culture and atmosphere we have loved for the past 45 years.

Feeling quite emotional tonight as I review the loss of the years. So many things loved and lost over the years. I always believe they can be regained if I am determined enough. We have to go back to Sifnos.

Monday, 6th May, 2024

Talk about things lost over the years, I thought Covid was one of them and isolation was another. I have them both at the moment and I don’t like it.

Today it is cool and …. raining but I just had to get out for a while or I would have gone mad. As you can see, the beach was packed out as it always is on a sunny, Bank Holiday Monday. Back home for porridge and then a Gym session. I know, I’m just so rocknroll.

Talking to College friends this morning, I am constantly amazed how many have or have had cancer and how much older than me so many are – something I didn’t realise at the time. Just as Keith Lowery was buried at the weekend after dying of prostate cancer, I learnt today that DaveW from Bolton – who I’m shocked to find is 75 – has cancer and DaveRoberts from Rochdale has been treated for cancer. My old friend, John R is 76 this year I think. I really was the baby at College.

Tuesday, 7th May, 2024

Gorgeous morning …. and I’ve still got Covid. Tested positive again this morning and so did my co-pilot. Grounded for a while longer. Don’t actually feel too bad just a light, flu-like condition but I’m obviously such a poor specimen that I haven’t thrown it off yet. As we move into the afternoon and work in the garden, the temperature has already hit 22C/70F and feels delicious.

Just heard from my Greek friend, Martini, that she has Covid now. I think we all must have just been unlucky to hit a new wave of infection. On the plus side, we’ve both heard from the Bowel Cancer Screening Programme that all is fine and neither needs a follow up.

Labour will win the next election and one of my political heroes, Professor John Curtice, tells us that the large majority of Labour voters and particularly those returning to Labour from the Tories want to re-enter European membership. They realise at last that Leaving was lunacy and harmful to their welfare and the welfare of UK.

I have long been a Euro enthusiast. I’m one of the few people who watches the Euro News channel on Sky. I have always believed that the Leave vote was mindless nonsense and so it is being revealed.

It is so easy to appeal to the mindless, xenophobic minority who like to trot out the racist, lunatic phrases. Stop the Boats! / We’re Full! / Migrants Out / No Asylum Seekers. You’d be amazed how many of those people profess to be Christians and believe in the parable of the Good Samaritan. And yet they can’t see the connection. Little Englanders have to be reminded of their European heritage. They will go to a European country for their holidays and some will complain about all the foreigners there. We are a very dim people.

Wednesday, 8th May, 2024

A warm but grey start to the day but we know the sun isn’t far off. Tested positive for covid again this morning. It’s going to be a long week. The order of the day will include gardening. My cold frames are bursting at the seams with seedlings pushing up towards the sun.

Second week of May is always the sort of time that gardeners start to feel the itch. On the edge of early because of the weather but on the edge of late because we want things to plant out and establish quickly.

The South Coast does us some favours because it almost guarantees an absence of frost which is the gardener’s mortal enemy. I am going to plant out Green Bean plants this morning. They are pushing against the glass frame tops. It is probably about a week early but I should get away with it. My friend, Julie, in North Yorkshire will need to wait at least two more weeks before hers go outside.

I will sow a succession of Green Bean plants because we eat so many of them. Picking them fresh from the bush in your garden is so much nicer than flying them over from Kenya and it is so easy to do. If you were to cut a cross-section of me, I would probably be made up of Green Beans and Tomatoes.

It’s 10.00 am and the sun is out. It’s going to be a good day. Outside, BT Openreach are installing additional fibre cable to serve superfast broadband to new customers. I’ve had it virtually since the day we moved in 8 years ago. Before we came from Surrey, I had written to BT and to our Builders to suggest that the ducting infrastructure was built in to the design. Initially, I had a polite brush-off but soon after we moved in, I found that the require piping had been installed and the cabling came soon after.

My broadband speed went from 32 mbps to 1000 mbps over an afternoon. Nowadays, everything loads instantly even though everything from TVs, iPads, Computers, watches, Gym equipment, Security Cameras, Car apps connects to the net and makes demands on it. Even our House Phone comes over the net now. All copper wires from the last century are gone. I’ve always believed that it is important to fully embrace change. I have to have the latest. Apple is releasing new iPads next week and I will be looking to upgrade ours soon after. I’m hoping this edition will become far closer to a laptop than it currently is. I’d like to get an emulator to put my MS Windows software on it.

Really feeling out of sorts with my body today. Everything is too much effort. I can’t eat or drink. Everything tastes weird. I haven’t been able to drink coffee for a few days now because it tastes dry and lifeless. Wine has tasted like battery acid. As soon as I start to eat, I feel full. I’m having to beat myself up to get my Gym routine done and it is hurting. And at 1.00 pm this afternoon, the sky is cloudless blue and the sun is hot. I should be out in the garden enjoying it. Can you tell I’m feeling sorry for myself? Well, thanks for your sympathy!

Thursday, 9th May, 2024

Gorgeous morning. A morning to celebrate being alive. I received an In Memoriam card from my friend up in Leeds remembering our College, football team friend from 50 years ago who died recently of Prostate Cancer. It is a shock every time I hear such news. There but for the grace of fate go I. It is something of a Titanic moment … the heart will go on. I, certainly, will not go quietly. I am definitely a trouble maker.

Testing again tomorrow but don’t feel brilliant. Still, lots to do and can’t afford to waste such a lovely day. I was going get a company in to clean the patio. I’m not a very practical person and I like watching people work for me but, conscience got the better of me and I ordered enough cleaning fluid to cover 150 sq. mtrs. plus a pump sprayer and set my wife on using it. She has managed quite well and the stone is coming up like new.

The stone flags are York stone quarried not far from where I used to live in the North and the cleaning fluid comes from a small company just 10 miles away from my current home even though I bought it on Amazon. I like that sort of thing – items with relevance and meaning. After 4 hrs, I will spray off the cleaner (not my wife) and all should be good.

I can touch, taste, smell 50 years ago with amazing clarity. I can hear the raucous, naive laughter of my Geordie football friend reaching down across those years. In just the same way, I am shocked that it is 15 years to the day since we sat down and selected 3 estate agents to come and value our Huddersfield house as we prepared to put it up for sale and to look for a property in the South of England. That span of 15 years both feels very short and incredibly packed with life events. Time is a strange thing, Dear Reader.

Friday, 10th May, 2024

The 10th of May could have been a wonderful day, Dear Reader, but all things are still on hold because I’m still testing positive for Covid. When will it end? All kissing is off … for now.

Still, the weather is rather nice. We’re touching 24C/75F, the sun is out and I am still alive. I’m going to cut all the lawns in our street, plant out some green bean plants and sow more. My patio cleaner has done such a good job that I am thinking of keeping her on for a while.

It turned out to be such a simple, cost effective plan that I won’t need a contractor for a few years to come.

I love this time of year when everything is rushing ahead like mad. No time to lose. This morning, the Green Bean plants are just luxuriating in the sunshine. The ground is warm and moist, the sunshine is hot and overhead. What more could they want? They haven’t got Covid! My friends Kevin and Julie are both feeling rather down about life. They’re going to have to taste my Green Beans.

Saturday, 11th May, 2024

Oh, what a perfect day. I wish you could spend it with me, Dear Reader. Chef is making Bread. The sun is shining warmly outside. There is no hint of a breeze. The French Beans are standing erect to the sky. The day is promising everything.

This was last night as the Northern Lights visited our garden. This is not something you see very often on the South Coast. A harbinger of good things to come.

Mind you, in just over a month, we are going back to sunny Thessaloniki in Northern Greece. This was Thessaloniki centre yesterday as bad weather sweeps across Greece. I notice Jet2 have cancelled flights from Manchester to the Greek Islands today because of the weather. Almost unprecedented.

The garden is a delight. As we reach 27C/81F this afternoon, it is beginning to feel like my sort of climate. Someone said the other day that they could cope with hot weather less as they became older. When I say that, take me out and shoot me.

We’ve nipped out to the Garden Centre The pots are being planted up this afternoon by the under-gardener and the garden should be brighter for it.

A glass of chilled white wine with Supper under the stars – griddled chicken and salad. Life could be worse although, of course, it could be better. Making it better is in our own hands. I will do that. Trust me, Dear Reader.

Sunday, 28th April, 2024

It’s raining. Plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose. On this day a decade ago, I had two tasks. We were in our Greek home and I was going through the complex of routines in preparation for selling it – speaking to the Notary and visiting our Accountant, cultivating our Bank officials and having coffee with people who could potentially smooth our path.

I loved whiling away the hours drinking and talking problems/tactics through. After coffee on this day in 2014, we drove up to our favourite Supermarket in Apollonia – you can see it below. It doesn’t get much more rock-n-roll than that. The island Tesco – I’m sure you can see it Dear Reader. We were shopping for chicken, bell-peppers, onions and mushrooms.

I am cooking again today. It just happens to be … chicken, bell-peppers, onions and mushrooms. The circularity of life’s events always interests and amuses me with some, notable exceptions. Up in the North on Friday, one of my College associates is being buried. It seems to be happening with worrying frequency now. One year below me, he was always an ebullient Geordie. Like so many, he stayed to live and work around Ripon. My friend has told me that wearing College ties is the order of the day. That won’t be happening. Never had one anyway.

Monday, 29th April, 2024

Nearly the end of April already. Absolutely gorgeous morning. A morning to die for …. but I won’t. In fact, I’m doing all I can to avoid it. And I know you want to hear this, Dear Reader: this morning is National Bowel Screening Test.

I love the instruction to Squeeze to Open. Seems a bit personal. Anyway, my bowel has always been one of my best features. I will have to request the next one because I will be too old for an automatic one. Always a bit of a shock when I forward book appointments. This morning, I recorded today’s event on my online calendar and asked it to repeat the same event every two years into the future. I also told it to alert me 2 months before every second year so I can apply for the test. Whizzing across the calendar years to check it has recorded correctly, I stop at April 2026 (I will be 75.) and April 2028 (I will be 77.) and life rushes on.

Purely by chance, I was sent a photo of my favourite café that I featured yesterday but which was photographed last night. How magical a Greek island can seem at night time! Must go back. It is one of the two things I have to see again.

I know it is pathetic but I am still suffering the after effects of my cancer treatment and it is driving me mad. It has lowered my immunity and I am constantly sniffling on the edge of a cold. I am also tired all the time. Although I am still doing a couple of hours in the Gym each day, every minute of it is an effort whereas it used to be a joy. I am really struggling to do all the other activities I would normally do.

It has been worrying me for quite a while but help may be at hand. I had a scan recently and I have blood tests coming up – all things to quieten the worried well – but it appears that I have a low red blood cell count which is a consequence of radiotherapy and a symptom of Anaemia. I hope that’s all it is because it should then be easily treatable.

Tuesday, 30th April, 2024

April is dying but … it’s only Tuesday. This is turning out to be a very long week. M flew back to Tampa yesterday. She was upgraded to Business Class which, normally, would be a good move but she found herself sitting next to Nigel Farage. That’s enough to upset anyone although M is a very calm, people-person. Anyway, she got through the ordeal in time to be reunited with K who is celebrating a scary birthday.

Today, he is 59. Yes, I know he looks a lot older and that was years ago but we can’t all look young, can we Dear Reader?

I am struggling at the moment. I wrote about feeling tired all the time well, last night, Man-Flu hit me. Haven’t had anything like that for years. I really am a typical man when I do get it. Going to need a lot of TLC over the next 24 hrs. We’ve been discussing it and have come to the conclusion it might be as a result of my covid booster. I had SpikeVax (formally Moderna) and side effects do include shivering, chills, fatigue, joint pain. I really don’t know if I will manage my Gym session today. I will be furious with myself if I fail.

I was asked by one of my little sisters if I could provide some photos of our Grandparents – Mum’s parents. While I was going through my archive – where I keep the incriminating evidence on anyone I have ever met – I found this photo of our family home in the village of Repton taken in the big snow of 1955. Haven’t seen weather like that since. The house was built by my Grandfather and Great Grandfather in their burgeoning builders’ business, Sanders & Son.

My Dad died when I was 14 and Mum was left to juggle a family of 7 kids alone. Her one real joy was to go out ‘dancing’ and I was press ganged to be her +1. Haven’t seen this photo from 1967 since it was taken although I do remember how excruciating I found the experience. I never danced again.

Wednesday, 1st May, 2024

May again! Happy new month, Dear Reader. Don’t look back. April 2024 is sliding away on the conveyor belt of time. Sorry to whinge but I’m still feeling lifeless and terrible. I didn’t manage my Gym routine yesterday. Even my head was struggling to say I wanted to. Anyway, a higher power banned me from exercise and I was grateful for the excuse.

Whatever has suddenly hit me is extremely powerful and has not only sapped all my energy and made my muscles feel like they have given up but it given me a terrible headache, sore mouth, aching ears, feeling of overheating alternating with shivering. As I do my morning tasks, I think it is better than yesterday but still quite a long way to go. Hopefully back to normal by Friday.

We chose to major on herbs in cooking to cut down on salt which raises the blood pressure. It’s like all these changes, difficult at first but soon becomes the new routine. Now, if something is over seasoned, I can’t eat it. A lot of the herbs we use are of Mediterranean origin and particularly, Oregano, Basil, Sage, Thyme, Rosemary. Even Parsley came from Greece. The wet Winter has not helped them and I’ve had to replace quite a few. If I can stir myself, I am going out to the Garden Centre for a collection of replacement plants.

It’s been a difficult start to the year for Garden Centres with a very wet Spring. They have been receiving deliveries of plants from Holland and are visibly straining at the leash to sell them. Suddenly, the warm, dry weather has arrived and you can feel the release.

All is not well in the garden for plant sellers and buyers. As we drove in, a huge pantechnicon from Holland had parked up loaded with plants for the Centre to stock up and sell on. It is probably the last one to make it before today’s changes. Starting today, all fresh European plant and animal products being imported to the UK must be checked directly for diseases at the British border. This includes milk, meat – and flowers. Dutch flower and plant exporters expect days-long delays and believe that British consumers will soon have to pay more. These are some more of the benefits of Brexit.

We had 19C/66F yesterday in the garden and already at 10.30 am it is reading 20C/68F. We might break the magic 22C/70F barrier today.

Thursday, 2nd May, 2024

Oh what a night. It really was. Four hours of pyrotechnics. I never go to bed early but yesterday was an exception because I was feeling so awful. Lemsip and bed at 10.00 pm. Of course, I would choose the one night when the weather made sleep difficult. From Midnight until 4 in the morning, the bedroom was repeatedly lit up by huge flashes of lightning followed by rolling claps of thunder and intense bursts of rain. It was impossible to sleep through – although it was pointed out that I missed the first two hours being dead to the world. Well, I don’t know if I’ve told you but I’ve not been well.

When I got up, I found that the storm had really been quite severe but confined to the south. Damaged buildings on the beach side. Trains out of service because lines were down. Local media and even Sky featured stories and pictures about it. Outside our house, the world looked wonderfully fresh and clean with no damage at all. The sky was still grey.

The first duty after Breakfast was to go out and vote. We only had a Police & Crime Commissioner to elect today. We drove down to the Community Centre which was also being used for an exercise class and a Mother & Baby meeting. In fact, as we went in, I did have a chat with one baby about which way he was going to vote but he hadn’t decided. Sainsburys shopping and Fish Shop visit. Going to try to get a Gym session done today. Could be a big day tomorrow.

Friday, 3rd May, 2024

Didn’t sleep well, listened to the post election results/analysis which BBC R4 do so well. The results were pure humiliation of the Tories although there is no real sense that Sunak will be moved against. I was interested to find what effect the lunatic fringe led by Galloway would have in Rochdale. It was minimal with the barmy, WPB Party taking 2 seats off Labour who still held a huge overall control.

In our Town, Labour gained control of Adur and held Worthing. Up in North Yorkshire where Sunak’s own seat is, the new Mayor was taken by Labour which sends out an uncomfortable message to the little chap. Is it me or are Mayors looking younger?

It is ironic that just as I am beginning to feel a bit better, Pauline has woken feeling unwell and decided to test for Covid. Of course I did the same and ….. we both have Covid. Having gone all these years without a sign of it, we both tested positive this morning. Now, I understand why I felt like I’d hit a brick wall.

This rather changes plans. Pauline did a covid test because she was having a blood test this morning – now cancelled. I tested because … I did as I was told. Kevin wanted me to be in Leeds this afternoon for a funeral of one of our College friends. I certainly wasn’t well enough for that before this test.

Saturday, 4th May, 2024

Absolutely glorious day on which I really feel better … or at least better until I start doing things. My wife is really unwell today so, clearly, I infected her and she is on a recovery lag. Her reward is to have things that are prohibited normally but will cheer her up.

She is permanently skinny and doesn’t weigh much more than when we got married which is annoying. She loves carbohydrates but doesn’t indulge herself in order to help me. Today, she will have her forbidden favourites to cheer her up. Crumpets with morning coffee – or, in her case, water because that’s all she drinks and then Jacket Potato for Supper. For her, nirvana on a plate!

Hot sunshine and blue sky is just right for being outside in the garden. The beach will be far too busy and there is a rugby tournament going on at the Sports ground down the road with cars parked everywhere. When you’re free to go out every day, why would you choose a Bank Holiday weekend? I’ve been to the garden centre again this morning but most bedding plants are still being held back because of this unusual start to the season. I’m going to do some preparation work today because we can’t wait much longer.

My old friend, JohnR, is out in South Korea again with his wife visiting an Andy Warhol exhibition. You couldn’t get much more not Yorkshire than that. So admirable!

Spent a wonderful day in the garden in really hot sunshine. Lunch outside was just a bowl of the very best, Greek olive oil and homemade ‘dipping’ bread with an ice cold bottle of Sauvignon Blanc. What more could any man ask for? Oh, what a perfect day. I wish I could spend it with you, Dear Reader.

Supper in the garden this evening – Kalamari & Salad with Garlic Sauce. Dream on, Dear Reader. You should have been here. My joy would have beeen transmitted to you. It was magnified as we followed the local elections. First Andy Burnham in Manchester was given a 3rd term and then Sadiq Khan in London was given the same. Finally, against all the odds, Andy Street, totemic Tory mayor in the West Midlands, has been defeated by Labour. The Tories are totally gone. Praise the Lord … if you believe in him/her.

Sunday, 21st April, 2024

If nothing else, you have to admit 800 weeks at 7 times a week of absolute drivel is at least impressive for its persistence. It has far outlasted my expectations and, having come this far, it is difficult to give up now. Sorry. The next celebration will be at Week 832 or 16 full years. Set your diaries and calendars. I’ll have to organise a Blog Party. Of course, you, Dear Reader, will be the prime guest.

My friend, Kevin, is out on his 5th trip to Benidorm this year. Declining his kind invitations each time, we are planning trips to Thessaloniki in Northern Greece and to Athens + islands on a second trip. When we started our Greek flights back in 1981, we were relatively poor and we had big, self-imposed responsibilities. We had a large mortgage, a car loan, a savings and investment programme for the future, private healthcare insurance and holidays were done on the cheap.

I always booked the cheapest flights I could find. Price was the primary decider. As a consequence, we were always flying at unsocial hours with less trustworthy airlines and landing at difficult times with hours to wait for connections. Monarch Airlines was a popular one but I wasn’t beyond booking Lithuanian Airlines if needs be. We certainly had some hairy experiences.

I remember using a flight seat bucket shop seller – Avro who usually sold me Dan Air or Airtours flights. They were always from Manchester to Athens and left late on Friday night after school, getting to Athens around 3.00 am with time to get a cheap bus ride down to Piraeus to buy the cheapest ferry tickets to an island where we booked simple hotels for next to nothing. We had fantastic experiences and it makes the luxury of our travel these days all the more sweet. We really appreciate not having to do things on the cheap now.

This morning, we have been forward booking airport Lounges. In the 1980s, we slept on beach mats on the airports’ floors. These days, our bank gives us ‘free’ access to dozens of Airport Executive Lounges. We tend to fly from Gatwick North these days and there are 5 different Lounges that our membership entitles us to.

Ten years ago, we could just turn up, wave our membership cards and walk straight in. These days, we a have learnt that it pays to pre-book and reserve a space. Non-members are charged £38.00 each for a 3 hr stay but there are so many prepared to do that it makes our pre-book fee of £5.00 well worth it. Of all the 5 possible Lounges in the North Terminal, only 2 still have availability when we want to be there.

Monday, 22nd April, 2024

Nice, sunny morning and I’m off to Shoreham-by-Sea, a delightful, small coastal town about 10 miles away to attend an appointment at Southlands Hospital. I am having an ultrasound scan although I’m not completely clear which part of me is being scanned. Hope it’s one of my best bits. I’ve been given the appointment by my GP following a recent blood test.

Got to get a chunk of my Gym work done before I go or I will be under pressure later in the day. This is one of my personality problems. It has to be done and I don’t feel comfortable until it is.

Talking about the NHS and doctors’ appointments, it’s almost impossible to believe this world – this NHS – existed. Less than 20 years ago. There is no better argument for voting for Labour.

I’m pleased to report that I had more difficulty working out the parking ticket machine this morning than I did with my scan. Why are NHS carparks so difficult to navigate? Fortunately, I was seen right on time and within 30 mins was given the immediate all-clear by the radiologist which was a relief but …. thank you all for asking.

Tuesday, 23rd April, 2024

Went out early this morning to a small, old and fairly linear village of Yapton which is on the road to the seaside town of Bognor Regis. I was going to speak to them about an invitation I have received for a Winter Covid booster because of my recent cancer treatment.

Never been to Yapton before even though it is only 15 mins drive away. As you can see, it is a pleasant but old and a bit down-at-heel village with a Co-op, a chip shop, a village hall and a pub.

What they did have was a fantastic, old fashioned Butcher’s shop where I bought thick, back bacon and pork ribs to go with artisan pork sausages to make my ‘world famous’ Cassoulet. When I say, world famous, I mean I have famously cooked it in a number of places around the world. We will serve it for Supper and you are invited, Dear Reader. You’re very welcome.

Are you old, Dear Reader? Am I? New research suggests the age at which ‘old’ kicks in is increasing. A recently published piece of research showed that when participants who were born in 1911 were 65 years old, they said the beginning of old age was 71. However, participants born in 1956 said old age begins at 74, on average, when they were 65. Recently, participants at age 74 said old age started at 76.8. For me, Dear Reader, old age begins when I meet my destiny.

Wednesday, 24th April, 2024

A bright and sunny morning but not one to be swimming in the sea. Clothes are definitely required this morning. Well, the cassoulet supper went down really well last night. You should have been here, Dear Reader.

Had to drive an elderly lady to town this morning. She wanted to go to M&S on the sea front. We parked in Waitrose carpark and walked through the town down along the linear, pop-up market stalls which appear on Wednesdays and then down the more trendy Warwick Lane with its cascade of Restaurants, informal eateries, bars and cafes. It didn’t feel terribly warm this morning although plenty of people were drinking coffee outside at the pavement tables.

The elderly lady was chauffeured back after a successful although reasonably cheap shopping trip and I got her home in time for Prime Minister’s Questions. Her cup runneth over … particularly after she settled down to order another £200.00’s worth of Summer clothes online from Lands End.

Had a weirdly unsettling dream last night that fed into an old insecurity of mine. I don’t know if this will mean anything to readers but I’ve always had a strange feeling of vulnerability in houses. We build a sense of security within the frail walls of our homes when there is little between us as we sleep and the cold winds of the streets chasing along outside. Although I came from a comfortable, middle class, family home as a child, I experienced some fairly dilapidated rented accommodation as a student and as a young teacher.

The property above, behind the sandwich shed which used to be a hairdressers, was where I paid £5.00 per week for 2 rooms – the two windows downstairs on the right of the smaller photo below – when I started teaching. It was horrible but all I could get at the time. The little photo below is taken from the property sale site when it was valued at over £300,000 and the 2nd most expensive property in the street which tells you a lot about the other houses.

I have had this recurring dream across my life ever since, where my subconscious seems to liken poor housing to the fragility of camping which I also hated. I am definitely someone who needs his creature comforts and the certainty of 4, well constructed walls around me. Last night the insecurity of my student flat morphed into the horrendous property I rented in my early teaching years and presented itself like an out-of-body experience where I watched a young couple enter a rented room with huge gaps in the walls and damp on the floors and yet they seemed oblivious to it and were intent on enjoying their new found freedom. I woke up feeling shaky and unclean.

This syndrome really establishes why I like new build, latest-standards homes with the best insulation, the most efficient heating and air conditioning, quality, modern materials built to exacting standards.

Thursday, 25th April, 2024

Lovely evening in our Marina yesterday which boded well for today. Currently, it is a nice morning of cloud and sunshine.

Went to Sainsburys and was shocked to find the Chicken Breasts were security protected. In Sainsburys!! I know that Lidl has manned gun towers on the roof but shop lifters at Sainsburys!

Times must be hard. Certainly prices of some things are soaring for different reasons. Brexit-broken supply chains play a part but climate change has also had a significant effect on olive oil and coffee beans. I’m currently trying to find some new coffee beans because I am bored with my current ones. These three bags of coffee beans to try out cost £21.50 which is 50% more than I was paying 2 years ago. Olive oil is more than double the price 2 years ago.

I drink quite a lot – maybe too much – coffee each day. I cannot drink it unsweetened. I use sweeteners. I haven’t used sugar since the early 1970s. In cooking, we use Splenda powder and for many years, I have used Sweetex tablets in drinks at a rate of 3 per cup. Recently, there have been doubts raised about the effects of artificial sweeteners on our gut health so I’ve decided to monitor my intake. Over today, I drank a total of 17 drinks and included 33 Sweetex tablets. Is that too many? Probably. It may well be a bit to late for me but it will be interesting to see if I can kick the habit after all these years

Supposed to have had a discussion with my GP about Monday’s scan results but it has been postponed and I am booked for a phone review next week. Suggests the initial radiographer’s observations were accurate and there is no great need for concern.

Friday, 26th April, 2024

Out early to a high street branch of a Private Investment Bank to increase our investments in the new tax year. We went in during the first week after April 6th but it was under such pressure that we have had to wait two weeks for an appointment. This morning, we were there for 9.00 am and seen fairly promptly.

In July last year, I managed to invest in a 2 year fixed rate bond at 6.05% and two, 2 year fixed rate ISAs at 5.35%. These investments were taken out at a time when inflation (CPI) was 6.4%. At that time, I expected inflation to fall and wrote so in my Blog. With 14 months still on that fixed rate, we have been able to put in a second year’s 2 x £20,000 under the 5.35% ISA wrapper. Inflation (CPI) is currently 3.2% and expected to fall to around 2% in the next few months. So, even at this point, our investments have gone from small earnings deficit to comparably large earnings surplus over the 10 months so far.

Inflation rates are absolutely critical to earnings and savings rates. In March 2023, inflation (CPI) was 10.1%. Our Teachers Pensions are uprated by CPI each year. It used to be RPI inflation rate at one time but deliberately reduced by the Tories to CPI which doesn’t include housing/mortgage costs. Ten years of 10.1% inflation would totally wipe out anyone’s savings over that time. The same would double our Teachers Pension.

Although it is a pittance and one of the worst State Pensions in Europe, the Triple Lock increase on State Pensions has seen it increase by 60% over the past 12 years. We rather treat it like pocket money and can’t imagine how someone could actually live on it but, for the first time for many years, our investments will have earned more than our joint state pensions and will continue to do so next year as well which feels rather nice after years of almost no earnings at all.

Just to emphasise that money isn’t everything and to remind me of my mortality, the postman delivered two packages when we got home. The National Bowel Cancer Tests arrived for the last time automatically. In two years time when it would be next due, I will be 75 and will have to specifically request it. Of course, I will do so …. if I’m still alive.

Saturday, 27th April, 2024

My Mum, Catherine, Lily Coghlan born on August 22nd, 1923 died 16 years ago today. It is still shocking how times recede in the memory and need to be regularly revived and commemorated. This photo is of her in 1936 aged 13, three years before war broke out. She is in Brighton with her Dad in the seaside town where Grandad Coghlan was born. It is ironic that I now live 10 miles away from where they were photographed 87 years ago.

Lovely, sunny morning. A jobs morning. Chef is baking bread and making strawberry jam. She buys packs of frozen strawberries from Sainsburys and the flavour they produce is of Summer whatever the time of year. This is one of the few occasions in the kitchen where sugar is allowed/required.

I am going to pressure wash the drive on this lovely, warm morning. This is how the jobs list is allocated according to gender.

Fifteen years ago this week, we were tidying up our garden in Quarry Court, Huddersfield in preparation for putting the property up for sale prior to setting off on our drive to our Greek house. Quite liked that garden.