Sanders Blog

Sunday, 2nd October, 2022

Warm but very wet opening to the day. Really interesting time in the political sphere at the moment as the Tory Party gets closer to imploding than it ever has in my lifetime and in most lifetimes. There really is a chance that they could be reduced to a rump of under 100 MPs at the next election. Spent the first couple of hours watching Sophie Ridge and Laura Kuenssberg political interviews. Neither were prepared to push their subjects hard enough for my choice. Still too deferential for me.

Actually, I’m quite enjoying a series of foreign language films on Amazon Prime. I’ve just finished a fascinating one  called: The Working Girl / Tu unmérites amour. (You deserve a lover) It is a most unlikely subject for me to watch. It features a girl who is involved in prostitution but wants a real relationship. I don’t know how I got drawn into it but I found myself captivated by the main actress playing the central roll. 

Her name is Hafzia Herzi and she is French / Tunisian / Algerian hence her dark eyes and olive skin. She has the absolutely fascinating mixture of strength and vulnerability and of emotion conveyed through wordless inscrutability.

The backdrop to the film is the Parisian streets which I liked and, being soft, I was pleased to see that she escaped the city and found a type of resolution in love as she left. It was a work in progress like most of life. I think I am becoming more romantic in my old age or, maybe, just becoming a silly, old man. Whatever you do, don’t tell my wife.

Just reviewing my entertainment for the day and I notice it centres around women. The football was a complete write-off with City humiliating United 6 – 3 although it could have been 10 – 0. I think I’m off football.

Monday, 3rd October, 2022

Didn’t sleep well – listening to BBC World Service at 4.30 am and then the Tory U-Turn early on. It helps to push other thoughts aside and concentrate on politics. Did like this graphic tweeted by one wag who found this chalked on the street outside the chancellor’s home:

I actually heard one policy I completely agree with. The Tories are talking about instituting a Central Bank Digital Currency in the UK. This would swiftly bring about the death of cash. The two policies go together and it can’t come soon enough for me. I never have cash. I don’t know how to use coins or even what they look like anymore. I have even stopped using credit cards almost entirely. My phone, iPad and computer are the only things I need for paying, recording and banking. In the Tory’s view, hard money will just quickly die out.

We went out early to Worthing to visit CLOTHES SHOPS!! It was a softly grey but very warm and windless morning. The shopping is on the Beach road along the almost deserted pebble beach.

By the time we walked back to the car, the sun was up, the sky was blue and the walking was delightful.

Tuesday, 4th October, 2022

Woke at 4.30 am. It is so dark. Radio on at 5.00 am for World News. Even downstairs with orange juice and tea at 7.00 am, it is still quite dark outside. I hate this section of the year:

Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

This is Dylan Thomas’ expression of the desire not to give up at approaching death. We must not also. That is exactly why I keep exercising, keep reading, writing, thinking about politics and travel. Body and mind must be exercised continually. I may be flabbier in both than I would like but I am still trying.

These two reprobates popped up yesterday meeting in Kypseli, Athens at Fokionos Negri. I first met them in 1982. The one on the left was a teenager whose father’s hotel I was staying in. The one on the right was part of a duo singing in the Old Captain’s Bar on the island. They were a Simon & Garfunkel tribute band. He was Paul Simon and he even had hair. Oh, how times have changed.

Of course, I was in a tribute band with Kevin in the early 1970s. A brilliant clip of our talents has recently been unearthed and I present them to you now.

Wednesday, 5th October, 2022

Incredibly warm night and even warmer morning. Not a lot of sun around but lovely nonetheless.

It is Pauline’s 71st birthday so I am on best behaviour. On the whole, we don’t celebrate birthdays. Would you celebrate being 71? I left a box of chocolates that I know she likes and this card. Unfortunately, I committed the cliché mistake of leaving the price on the back.

She has celebrated by accompanying me on a 2hr walk. It is so lovely to be out in shorts and tee-shirt in October. Actually, my legs are quite tired today. I have walked almost 4,000 miles this year already so it’s not surprising. We are trying to push old age behind us and to keep it there as long as possible.

My old friend and Cumbrian poet, Norman Nicholson, wrote a wonderful poem about how we anticipate age and respectability in youth and then disavow it in old age:

Rising Five 

I’m rising five” he said
“Not four” and the little coils of hair
Un-clicked themselves upon his head.
His spectacles, brimful of eyes to stare
At me and the meadow, reflected cones of light
Above his toffee-buckled cheeks. He’d been alive
Fifty-six months or perhaps a week more;
Not four
But rising five.

Around him in the field, the cells of spring
Bubbled and doubled; buds unbuttoned; shoot
And stem shook out the creases from their frills,
And every tree was swilled with green.
It was the season after blossoming,
Before the forming of the fruit:
Not May
But rising June.

And in the sky
The dust dissected the tangential light:
Not day
But rising night;
Not now
But rising soon.

The new buds push the old leaves from the bough.
We drop our youth behind us like a boy
Throwing away his toffee-wrappers. We never see the flower,
But only the fruit in the flower; never the fruit,
But only the rot in the fruit. We look for the marriage bed
In the baby’s cradle; we look for the grave in the bed;
Not living
But rising dead.

Norman Nicholson (from Complete Verse, Jonathan Cape, 1999)

I’ve almost forgotten that age before tired legs and bad backs. Still, I’ve got to fit in an hour in the Gym and then husbandly duties …. well making a Birthday meal. Today it will be:

• Hot Olive Bread with Greek Olive Oil and Balsamic Dip
• Fresh Pasta with Frutti de Mare and White Wine & Garlic Butter Sauce
• Mixed Berry Gateaux with Whipped Cream

All sounds very filling and unhelpful to dieters but we are not 71 every day …. unfortunately. The next big gulp is 80. 

Thursday, 6th October, 2022

Incredibly warm night. I woke up at 3.30 am, soaking wet with sweat. I panicked thinking I must be seriously ill. Turned out the temperature was the problem. It was strange because I looked out of the window on a bright moon and a sky full of stars. In October, a clear sky would usually mean low temperatures. Autumn is not the natural time for travelling although the birds think it is. Here they are amassing on the wires of pylons at the Garden Centre deciding which flight path to take.

The warm night gave way to an equally warm and sunny morning. Shopping – Christmas Cakes and Christmas Puddings ingredients on the list. We will never taste them but Pauline’s family will back in Surrey. This weekend will be a hive of industry with cakes baked in the kitchen and puddings steamed outside in the garden for 8 hours at a stretch. They will be transported up to Surrey when we go to collect P&C from Heathrow later in the month.

We are preparing for three months away. The House insurance has been sorted out. The security and maintenance have been dealt with including CCTV, Alarms, Wi-Fi heating and lighting controls. We have four lots of neighbours on observation patrols and with keys. Pauline is dealing with packing and clothes. I am dealing with flights, hotel en route, car hire while we are there, etc.. We have the Tory government shenanigans for trashing the exchange rate and making everything more expensive. It will cost us over £6,000 to hire a car now which is considerably up on what it was when I first looked in late August. Still, it is what it is.

Feeling a little sad this evening. Don’t know why. Maybe it is the dying of the year – Autumn into Winter. New years promise so much but …

Friday, 7th October, 2022

Another incredibly warm night and gloriously warm start to this morning. At 7.00 am, the sky was alive with reflected light and activity from Gatwick.

Didn’t sleep particularly well again and woke at 5.00 am reviewing all the jobs I have to and all the ambitions still to achieve. When I’m thwarted, I don’t give up. It just makes me try even harder to find a way. What I do like doing is out with the old and in with the new. I like getting rid of ‘stuff’. De-cluttering is delightful. Today we booked an early slot at the Recycling Site to take things which I just haven’t used for so long.

A Digital SLR camera which I had bought for me almost 15 years ago by school but haven’t used for the past 5 years at least and a tripod that went it. About 5 lenses and filters which my smartphone can far outdo. A hundred different computer leads and fittings that are now redundant. A laptop that has outlived its usefulness and been replaced long ago.

All of these things go into the back of the car and have to fight for space with the prunings of 2 x 20 ft Fig Trees. I think I’ve observed this before but the staff at the site are unbelievable polite, friendly and helpful. I parked the car, opened up the back and staff leapt up to help direct me to the right areas. One saw all the tree branches and immediately helped me carry them to the skip. Makes me actually want to do the right thing and go back there again.

I’ve been watching these things develop as I’ve been on my walks. Thought I would take a photo today. They look like a cross between peaches and orange eggs. Actually, they are the most beautiful seed capsules of a clematis which is sprawling over someone’s fence.

Saturday, 8th October, 2022

Didn’t sleep well for a second night. Troubled mind. Woke early and it is SO dark! What a gorgeous day has opened. Clear blue sky and strong sunshine. I am garden tidying, walking and making lots of phone calls.

By the way, just found out that the golden eggs are seed pods of the Passion Flower. How could I have made such a mistake about Passion?

Phone my friends in Oldham to arrange visits. Lovely to hear their voices. Immediately keen for us to call round. Can’t wait to drop in and see them. Brian in Royton is celebrating his birthday today. Going to see him and his wife, Val.. Margaret and Little Viv will meet us at a secret location they refuse to confirm too early. All sorts of people to just surprise!

Been talking to car hire companies in Spring Hill, Florida about car rental for three months. Looks like we will use Enterprise. Nobody is cheap but we need to be mobile without being dependent on others.

Booking Flights, Three months car hire and living expenses for three months puts quite a strain on credit card limits. We could pay cash upfront but Mastercard includes protective insurance. I’ve had to phone our personal banking manager to double our credit limit. I talked to a lovely girl from Southend to organise that. Her Dad was a Maths teacher in the 1950s – 70s. The last time I was in Southend was for a job interview back in 1978. I got the job – Assistant Head of English – but didn’t take up the post because I couldn’t find anywhere reasonable to live at the time.

Southend is on the lead into Canvey Island. I’m going to be spending three months in Spring Hill on the edge of Pine Island. I think I know which one I would prefer to spend my winter on.

Sunday, 25th September, 2022

Glorious morning of clear blue sky and strong sunshine. A little cool at just 12C/54F but it will soon warm up. The garden will be starting to take the hint that it is time to consider closing down for the Winter. Lucky Mandy is jetting off to Florida before us. Only 30C/86F but it will do.

I am woken by the radio – BBC R4 – every morning at 6.00 am. On Sundays, the first hour includes a programme by Mark Tully called Something Understood. I am not religious but this programme tries to explore spirituality through various topics of investigation. lt is a focus on different human traits and looks for the ‘God’ in them. lt would not be my focus. l’m interested in people and our similarities and differences.

ln my beginning is my end. ln succession Houses rise and fall, crumble …
ln my beginning is my end. Now the light falls
Across the open field, leaving the deep lane
Shuttered with branches, dark in the afternoon …

T.S. Eliot, Four Quartets Part ll: East Coker

Today, the focus was on Homesickness. I have to say upfront that I have never really felt it although it depends on what you define as ‘home’. I know many people who believe the place of their birth/early development. Many of my friends have returned to or remained in the locality of their origin. lt is a very traditional view of life. For me, Home really is where the Heart is. I could never imagine returning to live in an insular, East Midlands village. I couldn’t escape it quickly enough.

I have enjoyed living in different places in UK and Europe. ln the early stages of each new home, there are moments when I missed the familiarity of the past one and, in our Greek home, there was always the stress of a different language and culture to cope with but that was part of the appeal.

Life is about leaping out into the unknown, the untested, and extending one’s learning. I am constantly looking back to measure what I’ve got compared with what I had. lt is an evaluation process. What I take with me through that journey is a set of values that haven’t changed much since embarking on my own life. Sometimes it is a lonely place to be but loneliness really is the human condition. I feel fortunate to have people who care about me to support me.

Monday, 26th September, 2022

A warm day of sunshine and showers. Did a two hour walk in lovely, hot sunshine but there was a bit of rain either side. Still picked another kilo of tomatoes from the garden. Just can’t stop them at the moment. We are eating them in salads, roasted with garlic and olive oil, turned into a sauce for freezing. Effectively, we are tomatoes! When I planted out just three plants, I didn’t expect a lifetime of fruit.

Pauline is buying me clothes for Autumn/Winter at the moment. Trying them on, I realise that I’ve put on a bit of weight so I am currently on a sharp, weight loss programme which involves no alcohol, eating less and exercising more. I am quite enjoying it.

I don’t care much about clothes, look at clothes or need to buy clothes. Most of the time I don’t even feel the desire to wear many clothes. Only when my wife takes charge do I start to notice what is available. When I was working, I used to buy from Charles Tyrwhitt. One of my current retailers of choice is Brook Taverner but, it’s only clothes after all.

Kevin’s just contacted me to say that the results of his 2nd operation are in and although the polyp was huge, took over an hour to get out and was on the cusp of malignancy, the biopsy proved positive. He’s got to return in 6 months for a check up. So, we’ve both been lucky. It has underlined the importance of being vigilant and not ducking the checks.

Now I’ve got another hour in the Gym if I’m going to lose this weight gain in short order. At least I am enjoying a Spy Thriller called Kleo set in the period of German Unification. It involves a former Stasi spy from East Germany pursuing traitors in the West as the border wall crumbles.

Tuesday, 27th September, 2022

A little cooler last night. Pauline is saying we may have to get a duvet on the bed soon. Up in North Yorkshire, Julie said she had given in and lit the log burning stove. Looks a bit rustic for me but I’m sure it’s cosy. We’ve had log fires/log burning stoves in a number of houses but I’m rather past that now.

They are hard work, can be grubby and a bit smelly and you need a hell of a lot of wood because it burns so quickly. In age, I prefer simple, clean radiators although we are hoping not to need the central heating before we leave for Florida in November.

We’ve opened on to a lovely morning and relatively warm. Some shopping to do and we managed to incorporate a trip down to the beach for a walk. No kids. They’re all in school. No joggers. They’re all at work. No old people. They’re all in Tenerife. We had the place to ourselves under a beautiful, big sky.

I’m hoping for an Indian Summer in the North of England when we go up. It will certainly help because I will still have to do my exercise and would prefer to do it outside.

The day got warmer and sunnier by the minute. Went out on my ‘normal’ walk and met this little chap. We had a good chat before parting ways – up trees/under trees – but I’m sure we’ll meet again.

Wednesday, 28th September, 2022

Another gloriously warm and sunny day. I’ve been walking on my own for a couple of days. Pauline has injured her foot. I’ve been forcing her to pound the footpaths too much. These younger ones just don’t have the stamina anymore. So I’ve been talking to myself and the people walking round inside my head. I’ve also been talking to the wildlife en route.

Yesterday it was a squirrel and today a rabbit. Every day robins come up to chat and you can’t get rid of the magpies. The one downside of replacing the grass with artificial is the loss of birds coming down to feed so I make the most of things on my walk.

With so few weeks to go before we jet off abroad for three months, we are starting to tidy and close down the garden a bit earlier than usual. I’m also continuing to help our neighbours with their lawns. It is lovely to be outside in this wonderful weather.

My regular walk takes me through a mixture of semi-urban and parkland in this rapidly developing community. It can actually look quite attractive in the sunshine.

Had a nightmare this afternoon. Had to go to a clothes shop! Can you imagine it? I never go to clothes shops … EVER for ANYTHING. This is Next in Rustington. Have you ever watched women shopping in clothes stores? Have you ever wanted to commit immediate hara-kiri? Women are so strange.

Thursday, 29th September, 2022

Gorgeous morning. We drove to sunny Bognor Regis – about 20 mins away – for our Covid Booster-4 jab. It We’ve had 3 x Pfizer shots. This one is a double Moderna. It was brilliantly organised and we were in and out in minutes.

We had a short walk on the beach and stared aghast at one of the worst piers in the world. Basically, it is a shed on sticks.

One of the scary things about the Vaccination Centre was that it was full of OLD PEOPLE. I had to queue up with OLD PEOPLE. The problem is I was continually asking myself: Do I look like this?

Actually, the lady nearest the camera had to have a chair at first while she waited but she was born in 1935. She’s definitely had a life well lived. Even so, when I’m her age, I will expect another 14 years minimum.

Friday, 30th September, 2022

Bright and sunny but cool start to the morning. We went down to 6C/43F last night. Did my walk early and then we went shopping. Awful shortage of items and choice in Sainsburys. It is really getting worse. Price rises are very obvious. Pauline pointed out a pack of chicken thighs that were £3.50 and are now £5.50 in a matter of weeks. There were only 2 packs on the shelves. This is becoming the Ceausescu world of consumerism. Soon we will all be queuing for bread.

I’m pleased to say that our Winter Home in Florida was left unscathed by the recent storm and it prompted me to recall when we last had any strong winds at all down here. When we moved, we were told that we wouldn’t see frost or snow but that strong winds off the sea could be quite a feature. I don’t think we have had any this year at all. Probably blow the house down tonight after that!

I’d like to say that I took these photos but I didn’t. They were posted by a local photographer. We live between the South Downs and the sea. It means that our climate is relatively benign with no great swings in conditions. Even so, the Autumn is certainly signalled with cooler nights.

Pleased to say we had no adverse reactions to our Booster jabs. We were told to expect extreme tiredness and lethargy but the worst we have is bruised left arms. I’m going to have my Flu jab in the same arm next week. I’m not going to be armless. We are leaving September behind tonight. It’ll be Half Term soon! Life is flying by and there is so much to do, people to see, places to visit.

Saturday, 1st October, 2022

Happy October if you can stand the pace. You may be in the present and racing towards your future but never forget where you came from. Never forget your past because it never forgets you. You will never see September 2022 again in your lifetime. It is gone!

Onward into that bright, new October. After a warm but very wet night, the morning has broken with real promise. The sun has been bright all day. A very warm walk was followed by community spirited activity. We have spent the afternoon working on the lawns of three busy neighbours – cutting, edging, weed killing, reseeding. After three hours, we are exhausted.

Our Booster-4 jabs are already assimilated into our Covid Travel App which will be needed for travel to the USA soon. This really appeals to me. Jab on Thursday and digitally recognised officially by Friday. I have hardly seen my own doctor – a lovely, German lady – for two years. They have pushed me on to the sexy Romanian one. I haven’t complained but I have finally written to my named doctor with a shopping list of requests.

I will need three months repeat prescription before I go away instead of the standard two months. I have also requested that she save me £2,000 by putting me forward for the colonoscopy in early 2024. I have asked for a Prostate Cancer test when I get back in February after learning that my younger brother has tested positive. Ultimately, my letter looked like a Sainsbury‘s shopping list but it should save us both face to face time.

Sunday, 18th September, 2022

Glorious morning and warmer than the start of yesterday. I am setting out on my 129th 11 mile walk since my hernia operation and my 499th consecutive walk minus one recovery week. Can’t stop now. Kevin is setting out on his bike for the first time since his operation although it will be gingerly done because he is full of metal clips. Julie’s invited me to the South of France but I’ve had to decline on this occasion. Time is tight!

Anybody reading this will think I am slightly mad and certainly obsessed. Guilty! But I’m not alone. Fortunately, Kevin is just as obsessed with exercise and targets.

Chris at No3 goes out each morning at around 5.00 am to run before work. Michelle has turned the Garage into a gym. Jason at No2 has turned his garage into a Gym. Derek & Alex behind our house have turned their garage into a Gym but also go out walking at 5.30 am every day before he sets off for the London train. We are all mad or there is something in the water.

My next door neighbour’s lawn is dying in patches. He asked my advice and I offered to repair it for him … because I am nice like that. Been out to the garden centre this morning to buy grass seed and topsoil to do the job while he is at work next week. Bit of a shock to find Christmas had come early. We’re still picking tomatoes in the garden not thinking about buying Christmas cards.

Actually, we are thinking about Christmas cards because we leave for Florida at the beginning of November so this year I will send out Electronic Cards (with a robin on) to those who can receive them. If you don’t have a PC/Smartphone, you will still get a card posted by our neighbour at the right time. We have to buy, write, address and stamp them before we leave.

The Establishment is going full tilt at the Monarch’s death and shoring up the Line of Succession. Like lambs to the slaughter, the royalists are queueing for ever just to say they’ve queued for ever. It is amazing how the poor and underprivileged worship the rich and privileged. 

Monday, 19th September, 2022

Definitely an Autumnal feel in the early morning air – not cold but with a slight edge. The world is peaceful as the workers enjoy a lie-in. We were out before 9.00 am walking. The silence is deafening. As we walked, we came across this poor thing in the lane by the wood.

I don’t know what the lifespan of a pheasant is but this female looks as if she’s been cut off in her prime. Even the girls are beautiful although not a patch on the Cocks, of course. I don’t think she’s been shot so must have been hit by a car and recently because foxes will soon have her.

My photo-box brought out one from 4 years ago. A long weekend in a very wet and extremely windy Edinburgh with our old friends Bjorn and Anne-Marie. Pauline holding her new book, Digital Crafts. I was able to get my hands on a 3D -Printer for the first time which was fun. Unfortunately, the castle was closed because of strong winds but the flights from Gatwick and back were unaffected. Unbelievable that it is 4 years ago.

Desperately searching Netflix, Amazon Prime and BBC iPlayer for things to watch today. Might be reduced to cleaning the car!

Tuesday, 20th September, 2022

Another lovely day. Warm and sunny. We went out for an early walk because we had Hygienist appointments in the middle of the day.

I absolutely hate visits to the Hygienist and every time I go, I tell him so as I enter his room. It sets the tone for the half hour appointment. He tiptoes around me, cooing supportively, constantly praising how well I am doing and how good my teeth are …. for my age. I know he’s conning me. He knows he’s conning me. Whether he knows I know I’m not sure but I set the tone. Today, I am told that I’m doing very well in my teeth-care and my mouth is that of a much younger man. Which one, he doesn’t say but I’m only there because I am ordered to by my wife who has paid for annual contracts for us both.

We drive home via Sainsburys. I don’t know about you but we always wear masks in shops and our region like so many has seen a rapid rise in infection over the past fortnight. Quite a few masks in the supermarket this morning. We have our Covid Boosters in Bognor Regis next week but have received positive news from the research project we contribute to each month. We both have high resistance through strong anti-bodies measured recently.

We ate in the garden again today. The weather is rather like an Indian Summer, warm, sunny with no breeze. Life in the garden is rather like life in the house but with sunshine. We have superfast internet connection everywhere including in the Gym.

Keeping up with friends. There are so many I find it hard to keep up. Kevin’s idea of humour was sent to me this morning with a Greek sculpture set alongside a copy of Ernest Hemingway’s A Farewell to Arms. My friend, John Morris from College sent a copy of his wedding photo. He married another College girl and the wedding was held in Tong, Bradford. It was in 1973, Tash Coates and Chris Tolley were ushers and John ‘Tash’ Coates can be seen in the background.

Preparing for a Winter when I won’t be at home. Oh, everyone will seem so far away! The Gym needs to be kept frost-free to protect the computer controls of the exercise machines and the TV, the Sky-Q box and the CCTV hub. The wine needs a controlled temperature too. I have taken delivery of a smart socket that will tell me the temperature inside the Gym and turn on & off the oil-filled radiator to prevent cold damage. It arrived yesterday and I kept waking up in the night trying to work out how to connect it up because most people give up and send it back.

I failed last night. I failed first thing this morning. By 10 o’ clock, I suddenly realised that the Bluetooth connection on my phone was connecting with my watch and preventing it connecting with my new socket. Took my watch off and left it in another room for 10 mins and everything went through. I went out to the Dentist in almost a euphoric mood. I’m odd like that!

Wednesday, 21st September, 2022

Gorgeously warm and sunny day all day. Sounds like it was in many areas. Julie, up in North Yorkshire, said it was similar there. We had an early walk and then spent the day doing neighbourly things. Pauline was cutting herbs from the garden and giving them to people nearby. I was mowing their lawns, and we jointly re-seeded our next door neighbour’s lawn while they were out. They have offered to look after our car while we are away for three months so it is the least I could do.

Facebook threw up this memory from exactly 10 years ago today. It just shows how much has changed in the past decade. Of course, we were only 61 then, weren’t we? I had only been retired just over 3 years.

By 4.00 pm, I’m absolutely shattered. We are going to eat griddled Tuna Steaks with Greek Salad out in the garden. Wonder how many more times we will do that this year. Just got 20 mins to work in the Gym before that.

Thursday, 22nd September, 2022

Up early and out walking before 6.30 am. Lovely morning. Warm and emerging bright. The sun was rising over the wood.

My walk takes me through three, different parks and I meet totally different people at that time in the morning. On my way back, 2.00 hrs later, I meet the school children walking to their day. On the footpath a group of obviously Year 7 pupils – girls and boys dressed in pristine new school uniforms, perfectly pressed and spotless – were kneeling in a huddle on the footpath. Illicit drug taking before school? No, they had found a MOTH and were excitedly discussing it. They even showed it to me. How wonderful to be still on the crest of innocence like that. It won’t be for long.

By 10.15 am, we were driving up to Surrey. Mandy is over from Florida so we drove up to see her. Lovely journey of just over an hour and enjoyable weather and views. Traffic was light even on the M25.

We were given a lovely Lunch and talked for about 4 hours. It was good to see her again. The next time we meet will be at Tampa Airport, Florida in the beginning of November.

We have to collect P&C from Gatwick as soon as we get back from the North of England and that will be my urgent focus now. Basically, we have 3 clear days – 17th/19th/20th October – and we have to make arrangements to meet friends in those days. Not far off now.

Friday, 23rd September, 2022

Lovely sight to greet us this morning – strong, wet rain. Haven’t seen that for so long. The garden was dancing. Drove Pauline to the hairdressers because parking is so difficult. Drove home but she was out before I could get anything done. I had to send my lover away. On to Sainsburys which was crowded with OLD PEOPLE and then home for coffee and the Budget.

It is the Budget that will break the Tory Party apart for a long time to come. It rewards the rich, boosts house prices, and shows that the slogan, Levelling Up, was always just that – a slogan. Borrowing is having to be astronomical to pay for the Magic Money Tree economic policy. This has immediately spooked the markets and the currency has fallen off a cliff just as we are about to spend 3 month in USA. It is a crisis akin to Black Wednesday in 1992 when the UK was forced to leave the ERM.

Interest rates will have to rise sharply, This is good for those of us with cash reserves. Ordinarily, rate rises depress house prices but Kwarteng has chosen to boost an already inflated housing market by cutting stamp duty for First Time Buyers up to £425,000. This will put rocket boosters under the bottom of the market and inevitably float the top end into an even higher stratosphere. Our house has increased its market value by 50% in just over 5 years. Where it will go now is anyone’s guess.

Ten years ago today, we were driving back from our Greek home. Ferry from Sifnos and then a couple of nights indulgence in this delicious place – The Poseidon Palace Hotel in Patras on the Peloponnese. Lovely times!

Saturday, 24th September, 2022

There is a hint of Autumn in the air this morning. It’s not cold but it is different. Still out in shorts and tee shirt walking for a couple of hours. Back at home, I am still having to struggle to configure this Wi-Fi thermostat plug to control the heating in the Gym while I am away for 3 months. I can’t afford the temperature to fall below about 11C/52F or it can damage the equipment’s computerised controller boards. I’m quite enjoying solving the problem and I’m almost there … but not quite.

Many friends are preparing for the change of season. My old room mate, Dr. John Ridley has had his last trip of the season in his boat on Ullswater Lake. He sent a photo of himself looking more like the Retiring Sea Captain than ever. When I think of him, it is as a 20 something, fresh-faced and studious young man. Maybe we’ve all changed a bit.

Poor old John Morris has been looking forward to restoring his mobility with a hip replacement. These are the things of old people or, at least, they used to be. John has been thwarted by the emergence of a serious melanoma near the point of operation and his hip replacement has been put on hold. For someone who loves to travel, it has proved very frustrating.

David Roberts, on the other hand, has been getting as much travelling under his belt as he can before winter – cruise around the Med including time in Athens. Now he’s spent the last few weeks in the south of France and travelling down the Canal du Midi. Today he’s in Carcassonne. I am very jealous!

Even Ziggy the cat has come back home for Winter. He has been missing for 6 months from a house on our Development. There have been frantic requests put out in the hope that a resident might find him. You would have thought they would all have given up after 6 months but he was spotted this week and persuaded to go home. Joy all round.

Julie is full of joy. She tells me that her weight loss program has resulted in a pair of jeans 2 sizes smaller than when I last saw her. She is naturally overjoyed and committed to eating lettuce for the rest of her life. Poor girl! Kevin, on the other hand is still full of metal clips but managed to evade Christine’s ire and get out on his bike. He seemed to enjoy it and got home after 13km – which of course isn’t much – without any mishaps.

We will see them all again soon and then jet off to avoid Winter altogether while we annoy Mandy in our Florida Winter Home. Going to visit my friend in Shaw before that. Haven’t seen each other for ages.

Sunday, 11th September, 2022

Glorious morning – warm and sunny with blue skies. Didn’t sleep well but today will be busy so I just need to get on with it. We have insulation installers arriving early tomorrow morning to work on the Gym roof. In preparation, I have to bring down everything stored in the suspended ceiling including lots of empty, plastic storage boxes used for moving, some suitcases, a large fridge for the car, a spare Dining Chair, a box of computer parts (just in case), etc. We all accumulate so much ‘stuff’.

It will be a good occasion to re-address the accumulation of ‘stuff’. I like that sort of thing – throwing away the past and moving on, starting again.

Fortunately, the next week is going to be dry so most of my exercise will be done outside and I can cover all the equipment in sheeting. Yesterday, I was able to watch the cricket from the treadmill which made a refreshing change from all the constitutional whitewash.

Talking of whitewash, just spoken to Kevin who is not looking forward to Monday but has started the process of evacuation and cleansing. I’ve tried to encourage him by pointing out that at least he will lose weight. Not sure it worked.

Lovely walk in Summer sun which reached 24C/75F followed by a meal out in the garden in the perfect evening. Bottle of champagne and fish for our Supper. There are not many things that could improve on life for me. Mandy flies in from Florida tonight and it will be nice to see her but I am preparing to tie up dates for our October trip to the North and even thinking to book Athens for next September. I am looking forward while continuing to enjoy my past.

Monday, 12th September, 2022

Very warm night with clear, moonlit sky. Didn’t drop below 18C/65F overnight and has opened to a gloriously sunny morning. The Gym insulators arrived shortly after 8.00 am and say they should manage it in a day. They seem more interested in my wine collection than the roof.

Pauline booked us in for our Covid Booster jabs in time for travelling to Yorks./Lancs. and meeting lots of people. We are driving 8 miles to sunny Bognor Regis to a concrete box to have our protection boosted for another 6 months or so. We have also booked our ‘Flu’ jabs. It will take us through our Florida trip and give us more confidence in crowded spaces like airports, shopping malls, etc..

Had some banter with Kevin this morning because it is his big day. I ‘m sure everything will go well. It carried on as I walked in 27C/81F of Summer. Meanwhile, Dave Weatherley, in Bolton posted this from his morning walk.

I really don’t miss that sort of weather at all. Haven’t seen Northern mists for years. Love walking round lakes though!

Tuesday, 13th September, 2022

Didn’t sleep … again. Up early and out for a blood test at the surgery. I’m probably dying. No, don’t concern yourself, Dear Reader. We all have to in the end. Kevin’s procedure wasn’t completely conclusive which has annoyed/worried him. He was in surgery for over an hour which is a long time and he is sore and discomfited. I still think he will be alright. Hell, we sound old!

Track for the day … Harking back to a time I barely remember …

Property prices down here are ridiculous. This beach hut sold for £30,000.00 yesterday and our modest house price increase has made us nominal millionaires. The whole thing is crazy! Currently, another circa 1000 new homes are proposed within the Angmering area.

Wednesday, 14th September, 2022

A wet start to the day. Going to be in the Gym this morning … after it has been cleaned. The insulation created a huge amount of white dust. Everything was covered in dust sheets but there is still a lot lingering. I’ve sent my cleaner in there. Meanwhile, I am researching happier things like … Death in Service benefits for teachers.

I have spent 40 mins on the Teachers Pensions website and I’m still not very much clearer. The Unions have been so busy fighting for benefits for same-sex partnerships that heterosexual partnerships seem to have suffered and the whole thing has become muddied and unclear. Certainly, it isn’t easy to claim or to know what one is claiming.

I know you will think I’m mad (What am I saying? You already think I’m mad!) but I am preparing a folder for the filing cabinet marked: In Case of Death. It will contain copies of Birth Certificates, Marriage Certificates, Teachers Pension Logins, Proof of Bank Accounts, Savings and Investment Accounts. I can imagine the panic at the death of a partner and the relief at having everything ready to hand.

Today: John Williams – Theme from Schindler’s List:

As I look outside at the curtain of soft, wetting rain greying out the view, my photo memory store brings up two images from 2009.

This picture taken up to the top of our field and looking down over the house and on to the port of Kamares. On that day, it was 32C/90F as we climbed the land towards the olive & peach trees to photograph the scene.

This second photo is a reminder that we were interlopers – however welcome – in a foreign country. The oak settle, in the house built on a remote Greek island, originated in Oldham Town Hall. The log burner was sourced in a shop in Halifax and the standard lamp was bought in Leeds. The photographs on the walls were of other houses we had lived in in UK. The log baskets were bought from itinerant Gypsies who travelled the Cyclades, making and selling their wares. The photos are back on the walls of our Office now but everything else was left behind to continue its life in others’ hands.

We finished the day in 23C/73F of warm sunshine under blue skies in the garden eating Supper. Lovely end to the day having completed my 11 miles, talked to Kevin who is readjusting to his position and recalling running a marathon in Leeds in 1986 with Jimmy Saville. We all review our past constantly as we prepare for the future. Nothing can be erased or whitewashed out. We learn from it and move forward.

Thursday, 15th September, 2022

A very busy day. Awake since 3.00 am, up at 5.00 am on a warm and dry morning. Still dark. Shorts & tee-shirt on and out for a walk. Quiet, still, silent and beautiful, the morning was delightful. Out for 2 hrs and then back for Orange Juice & Tea before another 30 mins in the Gym.

Shower and on the road by 9.00 am. We are driving to Milton Keynes via M25 +M1. It usually takes 2.5 hrs but today is 3hrs. By the time we arrive, I’ve been awake for 9 hrs and moving for 7 of them. We are going to visit Pauline’s old College friend, Christine. She was widowed 5 years ago when her husband died of Bowel cancer which returned 10 yrs after being declared clear. He was only 62. Christine is a lovely girl who I have taken to immediately.

We talk over coffee and then go out for Lunch which is very pleasant at a local pub.. I never go to pubs but it is Christine’s choice and we indulge her. I feel terribly sorry for her. She is obviously very lonely in spite of having 3 grown up sons nearby. After about 5 hours visit, we have to leave. They agree to meet with other friends from their College days but without me next time. I feel terrible deserting her and leaving her alone on the doorstep but we will have a fight through the M25 rush hour traffic.

The traffic is even worse on the M25 homeward bound but we get there. Pauline prepares a snack of prawns & Salad for Supper while I do another hour in the Gym. While I’ve been out, lots of friends and people I know have been contacting me. I usually respond quickly. Tonight, I do it in my own time.

Friday, 16th September, 2022

Up early on a lovely morning for a Sainsburys Click-&-Collect at 8.00 am. On to Tesco and then Asda for petrol. We really live it up! Still, the sun is shining from a lovely blue sky, the day is warm and enjoyable and I’ve got tasks to complete. What more could you want? A few things but ….

Every day, I read the local newspapers from places I have lived. The Derby Evening News is less often now but the Manchester Evening News and the Huddersfield Examiner are regulars as is the Worthing Argus. I even read the Chester Chronicle for old times sake. Today, an item caught my interest. The milky river.

Goodness knows what the local residents have been tipping in there but the result is quite dramatic.

A week ago in the North, Julie said her tomatoes were coming to an end. Ours are still going strong but a couple of cold nights will probably stop them. They have been a real success. Our friends in the North have done well this year and I’m looking forward to seeing them in October.

Saturday, 17th September, 2022

Coldest night of the Summer/Autumn so far. I was sleeping with a girl who wanted a duvet. Can you believe that? I thought I was hot enough!

The times are obviously moving on. Last week we had sparkling skies at night but didn’t fall below 17C/63F. Last night we had sparkling skies and the temperature fell to 6C/43F. Evening darkness is falling quickly now. The sun sets here at 7.15 pm this weekend and rises at 6.45 am. Just 12.5 hrs of daylight and declining. In Florida, the daylight is just about 12hrs and night time doesn’t fall below 25C/77F. I don’t think anyone will need a duvet there unless they set the air-con too low. Day time temperatures are 32C/90F which will do.

Glorious morning. Been busy already. I’ve been sending Phyllis photographs. She has just got her first smartphone at the ripe old age of 180 and now has to get to grips with Whatsapp. It’s a strange quirk of mobile phone texting that you can send as many texts as you like for ‘free’ within your contract but, as soon as you attach a graphic, they charge you a ‘relative’ fortune. If you use Whatsapp on your mobile phone and attach graphics, everything is completely free.

Lovely sunshine on our walk and the recent rains have halted the early signs of Autumn in the trees. Grass everywhere has grown back even more lushly.

Dave Weatherley in Bolton sent this beautifully Autumnal shot of his local Nature Reserve where he walks most mornings.

Decided that it’s time to prune the Fig trees back. They have grown to an embarrassing height – at least 20 ft – but neither my neighbour behind or the ones at the side had complained. The Brown Turkey Fig fruited well whereas the Versailles Fig didn’t ripen in time. I may have to reconsider them next season.

Sunday, 4th September, 2022

Another lovely warm and sunny day 22C/70F at midday. The garden is still looking very colourful and fruitful. I’m just hoping the nights stay as warm for a while longer. In Greece most things overwintered quite happily. My photo memory bank threw this up today for this day in 2013.

The Callistemon or Bottlebrush flowered perpetually outside our bedroom window. One year later, on this day, we were in Norfolk – Hunstanton, Wells-Next-the Sea and the lavender fields of Heacham.

Today, in sunny Sussex, there is no time to rest. Targets have to be achieved, Tasks completed. I’ve done the 11 mile requirement. Pauline is making Beetroot Chutney – huge Kilner Jars of it. I’ve picked yet more tomatoes. We are currently up to about 8kgs of cherry tomatoes. Don’t know what we are going to do with them all.

I tried to buy a baby in Sainsburys on Friday. A young Mum was pushing a new-born in a shopping trolley. I quietly said to my wife, I’ll have one of those. The young Mum said I could have hers for ‘free’ for a night so she could sleep but my wife banned me.

Just to turn the knife in the wound, Kevin sent me this video of 4 little hooligans who he spent Saturday afternoon with.

Monday, 5th September, 2022

What a night we had! Two hours of sheet lightning and torrential rain. Strangely, not much thunder. By 2.00 am it had passed but this morning there were reports of some areas near us being without power for a while and our walk showed probably why. 

Bits of tree everywhere and a big clear-up to come. At least we got lots of water which will save me a job. Even so, it’s turned out to be a lovely day today. Hot and sunny with 27C/81F. Perfect to enjoy eating outside.

Although, as you know, I have very few friends, Kev sent me this photo of an old friend who I haven’t seen in person for 50 years. He lives in Yorkshire but has a home in France like all right-minded people do. I’m currently on a wine-free month so would have found this red wine-fest a bit difficult. Apparently, they had a boozy lunch in Leeds.

I had a long email from Dr. John who I’m meeting in October and a contact from Dave Weatherly in Bolton who tried to argue that he isn’t ‘old’ at the age of 72. Of course he isn’t!

One of the young lads I mentored at school before I left sent a photo of his new biro as he bemoaned the start of the new term today. I have been retired for 13 years and he is now Head of Department so I didn’t do too badly for him but I wouldn’t swap places for anything. He tells me that all marking and correction (whatever that is) is now done in Green because Red is too daunting for the pupils. I am not of this world!

Tuesday, 6th September, 2022

Night time seems to be the occasion for thunder, lightning and torrential rain at the moment. It was so wet and dramatic, I almost thought I was in Wales which, as everyone knows, only people who can swim are allowed to enter. Last night the house roof, the patio and the car were pressure washed and floodlit for a couple of hours again.

This spectacular shot was posted by a Worthing photographer this morning. Wish I’d been there to see it but I was hiding in the garden.

Out early this morning for our car’s Year 1 Service. We get great service from Honda and have done for the last 40 years. They are at the forefront of customer service. Our car has ‘free’ servicing for 3 years and we can always book it in when we want and have a ‘free’ valet as well.

The service + valet took about 1.5 hrs and we chose to go for a walk instead of sitting around. We live in a former Horticultural area which is fast becoming urbanised but still has large tracts of farmland. This area always reminds me of Northern France and, of course, they are not far apart. We are twinned with the French port of Ouistreham.

Heard from John R., Kevin and Julie this morning all just pottering on with their days. In Retirement, we all have to struggle to stay relevant. Some are better at it than others. Today, we had to meet an insulation installer who is going to fit out our Garage/Gym next week so that we get through any winter without concerns about the temperature of the electronics in the Apparatus and, of course, the all important wine collection!

Wednesday, 7th September, 2022

Nice morning, warm with sunshine. Looking back, things were quite similar on this day last year. Taking Pauline out to the Beautician’s for a Facial. On this day last year, I was doing exactly the same thing.

Last night, we weren’t aware of a storm but just a couple of miles away on the beach, a local photographer captured this lovely shot.

Back in the Here & Now, the political scene has lurched from a joke to the ridiculous. This graphic is currently doing the rounds on Twitter and Whatsapp. I shared it with at least 150 friends and relatives yesterday.

The Gym roof will be started on Monday with the insulation installers coming early. They are the ones who worked on our original home build which is pleasing. We ultimately rejected the spray, expandable foam option and chose this preformed and cut insulation blocks packed between the rafters. The whole job will come in at under £3,000.00 which is less than we’d originally estimated.

Thursday, 8th September, 2022

Heavy rain over night again. Warm and sunny this morning. This is exactly how the world should be organised. Yesterday, Pauline had a ‘Facial’ at the Beautician’s. I have no idea what that means but women do it apparently. She was told that a patch or lesion on her jaw line needed further investigation as a potential carcinoma so we were up early this morning to make an appointment at the surgery.

Like so many surgeries across the country, ours is under constant pressure. Making appointments is a fractious business. At 7.00 am, one can send a message to the surgery and attach photos if needed. I took the photos yesterday and coached Pauline through how to attach them. At 7.00 am, she logged on but the system was ‘CLOSED’. The next choice is to ring the surgery from 8.00 am and, exactly on time she rang to get an immediate recorded message that there were no appointments left.

Put on hold for 35 minutes with that terrible muzak, she finally got through to a receptionist who admitted that they were so under pressure that they had closed all avenues for patients to book online. She was sent a link by text to respond with photos. The website is flashy but the e-service is not.

Received a Direct Message from Chris Dagg last night. It contained a picture which was heavy in symbolism. She wrote:

These are items from our recent celebration, including the cork from the Möet you and Pauline, so generously sent us. The beads represent 50 years , silver, pearl, ruby and gold years plus the pinks and blue for our babies! The goblet with two rings around the stem which don’t come off, carved from one piece of wood.

Nice words!

Friday, 9th September, 2022

Lovely, warm and sporadically sunny day. Out to Lidl to corner the market of Almond Milk … again. Managed to clear the shelves of 16 litres which will last me about 3 weeks. If you haven’t already, go out and try it. It is very healthy and deliciously rewarding.

Back at the ranch, harvest festival production is reaching a peak. In the last few days, Pauline has produced Raspberry, Strawberry and Victoria Plum Jams, Beetroot and Tomato Chutneys, Bottled Cherry Tomatoes with Garlic & Thyme plus a batch of loaves. We’ll never eat it all particularly as we’ll be away for three months.

Typical of the Queen to die. She’s ruined the television schedules for the next fortnight. Not even sport to watch. It will mean Netflix and Amazon Prime will be highly used instead. I am not a fan of science fiction normally but I am currently watching a series of Dramas written by Charlie Brooker under the banner, Black Mirror.

They are set in a Digital Dystopia which is close enough to current IT developments to draw me in. The internet of everything …. Gone Mad. I know people who would hate it and others who are almost there already. The latest Drama features a Dating App which ultimately selects your perfect partner after subjecting you to numerous long and short term encounters and recording your reactions to those relationships. Fascinatingly scary!

My Garmin Connect Exercise App which links my watch to my phone today awarded me the 60-Day Goal Getter Badge. They think I’m a 5 year old winning a gold star. Anyway, I’m already on a 120 day streak so it’s pointless. I quite like getting a badge, though!

Saturday, 10th September, 2022

Lovely morning but feeling a bit sad today. Don’t know why but I knew it when I found myself listening to James Taylor for the first time for ages. Music is the food of sadness and sometimes carries exactly the phrase to destroy me. You just call out my name …

It is quite incredible to remember but it is 16 years since Pauline’s brother, Jack died unexpectedly in hospital of a late diagnosed brain tumour just like our friend, Frank recently. The passage of time in 16 years feels both long and short. I think of what I’ve done in 16 years and it feels quite a long, full period. I think back 16 years to visiting Jack in hospital and it feels like no time at all. I know I get more boring by the day and am often accused of living in the past but I would remind you of Churchill’s observation: The farther backward you can look, the farther forward you can see.

Kevin is going for his next operation on Monday and is clearly rather anxious. I’ve told Chris to prepare his plastic pants in readiness. I’m sure he’ll be fine. Yesterday he wanted to know if I had to wear an oxygen mask. As I told him, I have no memory. One minute I was talking and the next minute naked ladies were dancing past me …

I was talking to Julie yesterday because she has suffered a small stroke, been put on statins which are now found to be harming her liver. She has to go back to controlling cholesterol through diet alone. Actually, that sort of diet is really enjoyable. She lives in a fishing port like I do. She should have access to the very best protein through fresh fish. Oily fish is the best protein one can eat for good cholesterol. (Am I boring you?) I love salmon, tuna, mackerel, kippers all of which are really healthy protein.

Read in the digital copy of our local newspaper – the Worthing Argus – that the longest tunnel in the UK could be built along the congested A27. Wonderful, I thought until I read that it could be ready for construction by 2045! This is scary! I would/will be 94 before they even start building it. My ambition is to drive through it in a new car. You are all welcome to join me! I will not be old!!

Sunday, 28th August, 2022

Began the day at 5.00 am. I know I am obsessive to the point of madness but I don’t ask anyone else to join me. My wife, on the other hand, doesn’t trust me out on my own without much clothing. So it is that by 5,30 am, we are out on the road together for a couple of hours.

Actually, the truth is that I would get lost within a couple of hundred metres if she wasn’t with me as a guide.

 

The walk takes a couple of hours and reveals a capital city wakening up to a new day and a new week.

Cafe/Taverna owners pressure wash the cobbles in a vain attempt to present themselves well. After 2 sweaty hours, and a shower, we leave the hotel by taxi for the airport. The flight will be 20 mins delayed but that is fine. We go straight through security and in to the Goldair Lounge and ate Brunch with wine. As soon as we boarded, I fell asleep and woke up 20 mins before we landed. That’s the way to do it. 

As we were landing, a message from Julie came in with a video clip of a wedding. No luggage to collect. Bus to the Long Stay Carpark and easy drive home. Home by 5.30 pm. Garden a riot of tomatoes and figs. That’s Dinner sorted!

Monday, 29th August, 2022

Lovely morning with warm sunshine. Out in the garden at 7.00 am, I picked another bowl of cherry tomatoes and a few more figs for breakfast. 

They’ll probably be no better than those we buy from Sainsburys but picked freshly from our garden means they taste so much better in your mind.

I’ve been talking to people who I have reconnected with from 50 years ago quite a bit recently. It’s been quite good fun, on the whole, although a few of them have turned out to be a bit of a pain. What has really hit me is that, although they are physically older, the character traits we saw in their 20s are still there in their 70s and, in some cases even more strongly defined than in the past. I just love people. They are so rewarding.

Someone told me recently that I was materialistic. Can you imagine that, Dear Reader? I even went to Lidl today for Unsweetened Almond Milk. You can’t get much more man-of-the-people than that!

Tuesday, 30th August, 2022

Up early-ish on a bright, warm and sunny morning which eventually reach a pleasant 25C/77F. Listening to BBC R4 Today programme to an interview with a Brain Surgeon. He is 71 years old and has been diagnosed with advanced Prostate Cancer which will probably allow him 6 more months of life. He talked about it totally phlegmatically as if it was a tooth that needed removing or hernia repair as he said, Well, I’ve had a good life. I can’t ask more than that.

My immediate reaction was that he was a brave man to face imminent death so calmly. He had even written a book about it. But my next reaction was, 71? Had a good life? No way would I allow myself to resign to that. I would be screaming about it. I’m 71 and have so much more to enjoy. And then I thought of our friend, Frank whose funeral is being held on Thursday in Oldham at the age of 70. My reaction is immediate panic and there is nothing, currently, wrong with me …. as far as I know.

Actually, none of us know how we will face death until it is upon us. In the year I was born, 1951, the Life Expectancy of a UK Man was just 66 years. One year of State Pension and then off the roll. No wonder it was so much more affordable then. Males born in 1841 had an expectancy rate of 40 years. In 2021, Male expectancy is 79 years – a year less than before the Pandemic. Those figures are terrifying enough for me. My ambition is to live long enough to totally empty the entire Teachers’ Pension Scheme.

We have typical gardeners’ problem of everything coming to fruition at once and how to deal with it. The basil has gone mad this year. We could supply the whole street many times over. The tomatoes are all ripening at the same time and we are picking twice a day with so much more than we can eat. Pauline is cooking both together in huge amounts of tomato & basil sauce to be frozen for future use. Unfortunately, we are going to be away so much over the next 6 months that it is debatable when we will have time to eat it.

Wednesday, 31st August, 2022

Very warm night but with a sparklingly clear sky. Today is officially the Last Day of Summer. Enjoy it wherever you are.

We are celebrating by going to Tesco. I have actually done some cooking this morning. We have so many tomatoes that I’ve cooked a dish of Cherry Tomatoes, cubes of Feta Cheese, fresh Oregano from the garden and baby Finger Peppers with Greek Olive Oil. The kitchen smells delicious as they roast gently. We will eat them cold as a salad over the next couple of days.

I’m sorry to go on about inflation but it is currently unavoidable. Scary numbers have been bandied about recently …. 10, 12, possibly 15%. Yesterday, the scariest figure of all was put forward. Goldman Sachs, the Investment Bank, warned that UK inflation could hit 22.4% next year. For those who don’t understand the concept, this means that any wealth held in cash will lose almost ¼ of its value over a year. What that money will buy will be almost ¼ less than now. That would be fine if your assets rose in value accordingly but solid assets like property may well go the other way.

Rising inflation will provoke rising interest rates which will mean mortgages rise which means most people have less money to spend so they will not be able to buy new houses until the price comes down. Consequently, sellers are forced to reduce their prices to attract buyers and so on. Inflation makes all of us poorer apart from those who owe money which becomes less significant over time.

We returned from Athens three days ago so we’ve done a Covid test this morning. Greece currently has a rising infection problem and it was a bit of a concern. Anyway, we are clear and the infection rate in our area has plummeted in the past few weeks so Winter will probably be the next pinch point. Fortunately, we won’t be here so may avoid the crisis. We do have to get our Booster before we fly in November although we both know we have high immunity at the moment from our contribution to the ongoing ONS survey results.

Thursday, 1st September, 2022

A new month and a new season. Hope September is happy for you. Incredibly warm night and bright, sunny day. The Summer is officially over and Autumn begins. Actually, we have been experiencing a premature Autumn for some time because of the drought. Flowers are fading. Leaves are turning colour and falling. Blackberry season is over almost a month early. The times they are a changing …

Nothing brightens the fact that our friend, Frank’s funeral is at Hollinwood Crematorium this afternoon.

I found the whole process incredibly moving particularly by the humanity of the service. It had no religious content at all but members of his friends and family spoke brilliantly. Frank’s brother, a former Oldham GP and Oldham Royal doctor spoke about their humble childhood. His son spoke about the enormous number of activities he took part in and his best friend spoke about their competitiveness particularly in the last 5 years since he retired and they trained on their bikes. Diane, his wife, was inconsolable and who could blame her.

I was shocked at how moved I was and how hard I found it to move on. Frank was younger than me and he was dead. His wife has to continue alone. It is hard to imagine but it is certainly a time when friends are needed more than ever. Maybe, my shock was more for myself as I am older than him. I have communicated with Kevin, Julie and John this morning. They are from a different life and know nothing of Frank but just having them there somehow helps.

Friday, 2nd September, 2022

Yesterday was a difficult and sad one. Confronting death and the consequences of death is not a happy experience. The family’s orations at the Crematorium service really stayed with me all day. Old friends, long since gone were mentioned. Sam, my friend and mentor, who died 15 years ago and whose funeral I attended in St James’ Church, Derker, was cited as an influence on Frank as a pupil as he was on me as a young teacher. I can’t help but dwell on the tide of time flowing before me and of those people leaving, never to be seen again.

Talking about flowing tide, Julie sent me a photo from a boat trip of the North Yorkshire coast she took yesterday when a pod of dolphins accompanied them. I remember our delight in the Aegean some years ago when dolphins dived back and forth through the wash of our little boat, just having fun.

Back in the real world, on a very warm and sultry morning,  we were informed we had won the Lottery last night. The sum of £100.00 will be paid into our bank account this week which will be nice. I’ve been addressing our November trip to Florida. We fly British Airways at 12.30 pm from Gatwick to Tampa. We will stay in the Sofitel the night before so can bag-drop that night and go straight through Security unencumbered in the morning. Pre-planning makes the start to this 9hr flight much more relaxed. With the time difference, we arrive at 17.30 on the day we leave which is helpful for coping with jetlag. Luckily, we have 3 months to acclimatise before returning to UK.

We had some rain over night and this combined with the temperature means the garden is growing vigorously. We are eating tomatoes and figs like there’s no tomorrow and still they’re backing up. Herbs are expanding exponentially but we have no more storage space so they are being left to build up their strength for next season … assuming we’re still alive.

The afternoon was delightfully sunny and quite hot – 27C/80F. We ate Dinner in the garden which is sheltered and south facing. Whatever the sensors say, it felt hotter than 80F. Be nice to have this weather prolonged through September. October in the North is never brilliant and often wet but I will know I’ve got 3 months of Florida to follow as compensation. Got to start booking up Friends meetings dates soon.

Saturday, 3rd September, 2022

Lovely day of warm, still, sunshine which reached 23C/73F. Mr Obsession just completed his 114th consecutive day of walking 11 miles since being in hospital. That’s 1,254 miles in just over 16 weeks. Just hoping all those studies that suggest daily, moderate exercise can stave off Dementia are accurate. What is good for the heart is good for the brain. Never give in!

"You are old, Father William," the young man said,
"And your hair has become very white;
And yet you incessantly stand on your head-
Do you think, at your age, it is right?"

"In my youth," Father William replied to his son,
"I feared it might injure the brain;
But, now that I'm perfectly sure I have none,
Why, I do it again and again."

Lewis Carroll - 1865

Of course, I have to recognise that I am old. I only have to observe those dying around me to know what that means. Stop me if I’m depressing you but I feel the need to set my own life into context. My fear is that, otherwise, it will pass me by unnoticed. Bill Turnbull, someone who I watched and liked, died this week of Prostate Cancer at the age of 66. These things give one pause for thought. When you live with yourself for over 70 years, you don’t always recognise the small and incremental changes taking place in yourself.

I know I have white hairs, wrinkles and excess flesh. I know my face looks lived-in and care worn. If you’ve had as hard a life as me, what can you expect. But I only know these things fleetingly – when I get out of the shower and walk past a mirror, when I have my hair cut, when I get up aching in the morning. Often even then I don’t quite take it in.

It is when I focus on people of my generation that I realise we really are old and it comes home to me. I am old so it is important that I do lots of daft, young things to keep the inevitable at bay as long as possible. What worries me most of all is accepting my age and sitting back to drift into a quiet senility. Let’s take some risks. There will be no chance when we’re dead!

Sunday, 21st August, 2022

Up early for Gatwick North Long Stay Carpark. When we get there nothing has to be done. Number Plate Recognition does it all automatically. … Flight left just 20 mins late and was comfortable. We were in Row-1 which means on & off early. I took a shot of the cockpit while we were on the runway.  Looks like my Office with files and  Post-It notes.

Didn’t realise how lovely not needing to wait for luggage can be. Straight out for a taxi although there was a bit of a queue there. In the centre of Athens and our hotel in just over 30 m ins. Lovely greeting from the hotel staff and a nice suite for our stay. Bottle of wine on the table. Present for Pauline – scented candle – and  everything ready for a happy stay.

Too hot to go out walking so we drank wine on the balcony with some crisps. I did go down to the Gym for an hour or so. Hadn’t really slept much in the past 24 hrs so quite tired.

Went out for Dinner but tiredness and too much wine meant we walked home and went to bed, crashing out immediately and not waking until … 7.30 am. Well it is 5.30 am in UK time.

Monday, 22nd August, 2022

So not up until 7.30 am just in time for the BBC Radio 4 Today programme at 8.00 am/6.00 am. Outside it is already 28C/86F and very humid. Tea and morning housekeeping – checking calendar – Mum’s 99th birthday today – emails, Twitter feed, Bank Account, Covid Survey, etc.. Didn’t really want Breakfast but felt obliged. Now contemplating a lazy -ish first day.

First an 11 mile walk. The route we took last November around the base of the Acropolis in 22C was much harder this morning in 35C. Much harder and busier. Love the sound of cicadas. Takes me back to our Greek home. It is an essential soundtrack to the Mediterranean. The strange thing is that I don’t think I have ever seen a cicada even though they filled the island air with their noise in the baking hot, Greek Summer

Even went in to a dress shop. A dress shop! An actual, physical dress shop!! Not an online order. I went with it and was happy to agree with my wife that the dress was 1. Too big; 2. Too short; 3. Too heavy; 4. Too cheap (looking). Result! Saved 25 Euros!

I’ve been allowed to watch Man. Utd. beat Liverpool tonight. The only problem is that kick off wasn’t until 10.00 pm Greek Time and didn’t finish much before midnight. I am quite happy as a night owl but Pauline isn’t. Her friend, Christine, has been chatting to me during the match and Kevin contacted me to talk about what we’d watched in different countries over 1000 miles apart. Good fun. Like the banter.

Tuesday, 23rd August, 2022

Went to bed at 1.00 am and woken at 6.00 am by my phone. Not a minute to lose when you’re 71! Monitoring the Athens Airport arrivals. Early out in 29C/85F. Actually, it is quite a while since we were here in August. The overnight temperature didn’t fall below 26C/79F. Thank goodness for air conditioning.

We went out for an early walk and went past this Hotel Omiros. It is in Apollonos Street and over 40 years ago, we stayed here on our first trip to Athens when it was called Hotel Aphrodite. Hard to believe we stayed in this budget hotel in 1981.

Aphrodite was a 3* hotel and suited our poor teacher budget in those days. As we became more affluent, we progressed to the 4* Hotel Electra and, in the past 20 years, we’ve been enjoying the 5* Electra Palace graduating from an ordinary room to a suite of rooms. Wherever we’ve been, we have stared out on this, unchanging scene of a huge outcrop of rock on which the Acropolis stands. We know it so well but, 40 years on, suddenly realised that a head emerges from the rock.

It was so humid today that walking was hard. My shirt was so heavy by the time I got back to the hotel that rivulets of water were everywhere – not a pleasant sight! We spent the afternoon in the gym and swimming although all our good work was undone by time spent on the balcony with a lovely, ice cold bottle of Tsantali Makedonikos from Northern Greece.

Really tired today. Had to use mind over matter to get things done. Pauline thinks I’m mad anyway. I am, of course, but in a nice way. Spoke to an old friend of the Blog who we knew in Greece and haven’t seen for almost 10 years now. Tonight we’re going to eat Dinner at an old favourite restaurant – To Paradosiako (Evgenia) We’ll compare it with our new discoveries.

Wednesday, 24th August, 2022

Lovely start to the day. Early and very light breakfast. Out for a walk around the base of the Acropolis.

It is a route I have taken many times but there is always something new to see. Took about 2 hrs. I was soaking by the end of it and needed a shower and a change of clothes. Coffee in our Suite and a chat with the lovely Romanian cleaners. Conversation with Kevin – more serious than the normal banter. Some home truths.

Contacted by John Morris who is my age. He is about to receive a second hip replacement. He is also about to have a second serious melanoma removed and has a serious problem with diabetic retinopathy which meant he lost his driving licence. Also contacted by David Roberts who has Prostate Cancer at my age. He is going with John Ridley to visit John Holden from my year who is living in Sheltered Accommodation. Hearing all of this, I feel incredibly lucky to be in my current position.

Just as we were preparing to sit in the sun with a bottle of wine, thunder & lightning struck again from nowhere. We watched Netflix with our wine. Later I went in the Gym while Pauline swam … until lightning struck the local power distribution unit and rendered half of Athens dead and in darkness. My treadmill jolted instantly to a halt. In the pool, Pauline was left in total darkness. It took 20 mins of darkness before the power came back on. Julie contacted me while I was waiting and I had time to do Wordle and send my result to Mandy in Florida.

Thursday, 25th August, 2022

Had a weird dream last night. Kevin and I talked quite a bit yesterday. Previously, Chris had sent me the August 1972 Wedding photo and Kevin mused on what it would be like to reassemble the people 50 years on. Last night, I was woken by a knock on the door as the cast of Kevin’s wedding photo traipsed through and assembled on the balcony of our Suite

I was not as cool in my reaction as I would have liked. Mind you, nor were they. Still, it was not a normal moment.

An early breakfast this morning before the walk. If I never eat another breakfast for the rest of my life, I will be happy. Never give me bacon & eggs for the next 50 years!

Breakfast is in the rooftop terrace and the buffet has everything known to man plus many things that aren’t. One is encouraged to over eat.

After a session in the Gym/Pool this afternoon, I did my husbandly duty and went clothes shopping for an hour or so. Nothing was chosen. Nothing was bought. Everything ended OK.

We went out to our all time favourite restaurant in Athens and had Moussaka with Peas & Artichokes. White wine and goats cheese to finish. Wonderful. Quite tired tonight. I’ve walked 13 miles which has been quite draining.

Friday, 26th August, 2022

A lovely day which started with a light(er) breakfast overlooking a lovely view of the Acropolis …

…  and advanced to a 2hr walk which took us down through the Plaka to Odos Apostolou Pavlou. We walk on to Monastiraki, Ermou, Mitropoleos and Nikis Street.

The walk takes us just over two hours. Today it was done at 10.00 in the morning in 30C. By the time we’ve finished, my shirt is heavier than me and that’s saying something. A cup of coffee in our hotel suite and then to the basement. Pauline in the Pool and me in the Gym. Just 90 mins now and I’ve fulfilled my commitment for the day. That means I have completed 11 miles walking this morning and I am exhausted. 

Today I’ve had contact with lots of old friends. I’m surprised how happy it makes me. Nigel sent me a photo to prove he’s added to his skills. As I said to him, he never swept our flat in 1971. He pointed out that no one swept our flat in 1971 which I had to acknowledge. 

Julie sent a photo of her first sunflower. North Yorkshire becomes South of France … for a day. Kevin and I exchanged banter about the events of our lives across the past 50 years. He thinks he has expertise in Greek culture. He doesn’t but I’ve let him delude himself. Contact from across the years really moves me although I’m soft like that.

Feel really happy and optimistic tonight. Everything is possible. I’ve always believed it. Life can be so good!

Saturday, 27th August, 2022

Lovely, hot morning. As we walked out around 9.00 am, the temperature was 30C and the battle began. As we walk through narrow, Athenian streets, we enjoy the temporary cool of the shade before emerging in to the furnace again.

We are quite early and many tavernas are touting for the Breakfast business. Under the foot of the Acropolis, traders are setting up their tawdry stalls selling jewellery, fake antiques, busking and begging. What a hard, cheap life! Even so, tourists seem to fall for it every day.

Just as I am tiring and thinking I’m getting to the end, there is Monastiraki and mayhem to negotiate.

When we do get back and have coffee, my legs begin to seize up. I have to move them again soon and go down to the Gym. Pauline swims for 40 mins and I use the treadmill for 90 mins by which time I am dead. Today, I am juggling my phone on the treadmill as Kevin wants to talk.

Back from the Gym, I peel my shirt off and wring it out. The joy of a shower.

Sunday, 14th August, 2022

Unbelievable start to the day. Exactly what we would have expected on a hot, Greek morning. Didn’t fall below 22C/70F last night and we reached 27C/81F very early. We did an early walk. That takes 2 hrs. Met lots of nice regulars en route. Home for coffee and then jobs around the garden including harvesting peppers. There is something really nice about picking, cooking and eating your own produce.

Julie messaged me to say that she was digging early potatoes for her Mum to take home with her. Kevin messaged to say he wasn’t. 

The peppers are being roasted with olive oil and home grown Oregano then eaten cold in a salad with Italian tomatoes from the local farm.

Been having some lovely Text-Banter with Christine, Pauline’s old college friend. She is a Chelsea supporter and they are playing today. It is a lovely thing to do and makes so little demands on one. I’m talking to people in North Yorkshire, Rochdale and Milton Keynes. Pauline is talking to Florida. She always was more exotic than me!

Monday, 15th August, 2022

A hot, sunny, sultry, sweaty day that really saps the energy. Had work in the garden to do in readiness for going away. Will we get any rain. Not today, anyway, so watering is one of the jobs along with trimming the hedge. Later, the 2 hr walk was really mind over matter.

I spend so much time out of doors these days dressed in shorts and tee-shirt but I am rarely bitten even in Greece. Pauline smothers herself in insect repellent but I just can’t be bothered. I may have to change my attitude. I’ve got some really annoying bites recently and they’re driving me mad. At least my latest ONS Survey test came back to say I am positive for antibodies at a higher level. Quite reassuring before the scrum that is Gatwick Airport!

One of the people I have admired for most of my life and who has lived inside my head since the 1960s was born 100 years ago this year. Like me, he was born and brought up in the Midlands. Like me, he was an atheist and, like me, he tended to make the sadness in life inform his writing. Philip Larkin was born in Coventry in 1922. Unfortunately, unlike him, I did not go to Oxford. He went on to be Head Librarian for Hull University. It was a job that allowed him the time and space to be a poet.

I first came across him in Grammar School days but then increased my knowledge while at College with lecturer, David McAndrew and even more when I spent a University year studying 20^th Century Poetry. My tutor there was Larkin’s Publisher and Biographer, Harry Chambers, Founder of the Peterloo Poets Publishing House.

To celebrate Larkin’s centenary, Simon Armitage, the Huddersfield born poet and current Poet Laureate, has been presenting a reappraisal of Larkin on BBC-R4 in Larkin Revisited. What I like about Larkin is the everyday nature of his subject matter from which his intelligence and perception draw out meaning. Today’s choice is from the 1964 collection: Whitsun Weddings.

Talking in Bed
Talking in bed ought to be easiest,
Lying together there goes back so far,
An emblem of two people being honest.
Yet more and more time passes silently.
Outside, the wind’s incomplete unrest
Builds and disperses clouds in the sky,
And dark towns heap up on the horizon.
None of this cares for us. Nothing shows why
At this unique distance from isolation
It becomes still more difficult to find
Words at once true and kind,
Or not untrue and not unkind.

For Larkin, what should be the easiest thing to do such as talking in bed after the most intimate of human intercourse, in reality, becomes still more difficult to find words both honest and kind. The relationship, and he had many, was turning perfunctory and sterile as he feels his life is doing. It is a damning, hopeless, helpless view of life.

Tuesday, 16th August, 2022

The morning has started beautifully. At 7.00 am, gentle, warm and soft, sweet rain began to fall and has now been falling for 2 hrs. How wonderful! This is our first meaningful rain for over 2 months. Looks like I will be in the Gym this morning although warm and wet is a great way to exercise.

I will be trying out one of my pairs of new trainers that were delivered yesterday from Skechers who make the sort that suit me. They are like walking on air.

Yesterday, amid the furore that is breaking about fuel price increases, I received this email from British Gas who supply us with electricity and gas. Lovely people! Always liked Bristish Gas!

I have to go for my 6 monthly eye check-up at the hospital. It involves eye drops and cameras and being driven home by my wife because I can’t see for a couple of hours. I always dread being told, Well, your eyes have deteriorated badly since your last visit and you must inform the DVLA immediately and hand back your Licence. Not being able to drive would be a killer for me but both Julie in Yorkshire and John Morris in the Midlands have suffered this indignity recently. Fortunately, both have subsequently got their licences back but there is no guarantee.

PASSED!!! In fact my eyesight is a little improved. I am one of those weird people whose eyesight improves with age rather than deteriorates. The optical muscles slacken my focal length to a point where I hardly need my glasses at all. That’s a relief!

Wednesday, 17th August, 2022

Warm outside – 22C/70F – but noticeably cooler than over the last couple of weeks. We had some rain yesterday and and are forecast for more today. We will see but it will be very welcome. We are flying to heatwave Athena very soon and we are preparing for that.

Pauline is in charge of packing. Anything other would be a disaster. Because we are only away for 8 days or so, we have decided to avoid as much airport chaos as we can by surviving on ‘Carry-On’ Luggage. Fortunately, we are each allowed two, carry-on bags and clothes for Athens are minimal. You don’t really need much more than shorts and tee-shirts. I can delegate that to the servants.

We will drive to the airport and park. The car park is booked. We have already Checked-in online and printed out our Boarding Passes so going through Security to Airside is all we need to do about 3hrs before Departure. I’ve booked an Executive Lounge to have some comfort while we wait. Because we have no Hold Luggage, we can’t take liquids through security. First stop on Airside will be Boots to buy Aftershave, Toothpaste, etc.

The flight is 3hrs 40 mins – a lot quicker than in the early 1980s when it was well over 4 hrs. We will take the Metro to Syndagma and walk down to our hotel. I have been looking at things to do while we are there.

We are going to take the new, Coastal Tram to Glyfada on the Athenian Riviera. We were last in Glyfada in about 1988. I suspect we might see some changes.

National Inflation hit 10.1% today but what I didn’t realise is that regional inflation is much higher. In Burnley, inflation is 13% and, even in leafy Greater Manchester areas, inflation has been over 12% for some months. Apparently this is because poorer areas tend to spend more on staples like bread, milk, cheese, eggs and ready meals, etc which have increased in price much more than other daily items. I used the BBC personal Inflation Rate Calculator and found our inflation rate was slightly below the national at 9.0% which is heartening.

Thursday, 18th August, 2022

Lovely warm and sunny day after yesterday’s rain. Everything is ‘coming back’, heaving a sigh of relief, putting on a spurt before Autumn. Teachers will hardly believe there are only two weeks left of the Summer holidays. Children will be oblivious for a few days more until parents talk about new, school shoes and uniforms to grow in to. A lovely, little, Polish girl I see on my walk can’t wait to go to ‘Big School’ and it reminds me how excited I was to start Grammar School in September 1962. It was 60 years ago. Where were you then?

A friend sent me this in my Breakfast mail. Almost made me laugh, particularly, HGBM. I sent it to Kevin who is anal enough at the moment. Hope it makes you smile.

Although I’m off to Athens shortly, I’m currently juggling dates for Our Friends in the North. We travel up on October 16th and back on 21st so, effectively, we have 4 full days to fill. I have to be in Oldham for the 18th which is Mother-in-Law’s anniversary. Helpfully, Kevin can do any day. He is disappointed I can’t make the College 50th Reunion but I am in Florida and he says it is too late to relocate all the men in time. Maybe next year.

Here, a couple of days of some rain and the grass is greening up already. The trees take longer to react and premature Autumn is showing in August. Be interesting what the world will look like when we return from Athens. We should have lots more figs and tomatoes to ‘pick’.

Friday, 19th August, 2022

The forecast said, Hot and full sun all day. The weather said, Rain. The weather was right. I was just outside picking tomatoes when the heavens opened and the garden drank again with a huge sigh.

Everything is geared to going away. Refuse is collected on Mondays so we had a trip to the Tip to take our own. It is quick – about 5 miles away – easy and a pleasant service. The workers there are delightful people, keen to advise and help to carry things from cars. This is so different to the service in Surrey and Yorkshire where it was almost inquisitorial.

Returning home to check electrical items to go – 2 x iPad, 2 x smartphone (How could we manage without them?) 1 x Kindle, Shaver, 1 x multi-socket with plug and USB sockets. Make sure iPad is set up with VPN to disguise our Banking apps and access UK media and Netflix. Nothing is ever left to chance. Can you imagine a week away anywhere and not able to access Sky News, BBC Newsnight and BBC R4 Today?

Can you imagine the xenophobic Brexiteers reaction to the latest news from the Health Secretary, Steve Barclay, who is in need of thousands of more workers to deal with the Socia Care crisis. Normally, the jobs would have been filled by European workers with good English but Brexit has persuaded them to go elsewhere. Now, Barclay is exhorting NHS Recruitment Managers to go out to India, Pakistan and the Philippines to seek workers. The sub-continent’s English Language skills are notably lower than those in Europe and their culture is markedly different. The lesson is, Be careful what you wish for!

I can hardly believe I am posting this. Diane is going through a nightmare. If you knew her backstory, you wouldn’t believe how hard this is going to be on her. Hollinwood Crematorium, September 1st. I have been there so many sad times. For those of us who have chosen to shut ourselves off from our past, this is a real wakeup call. Our past will come back to haunt us and rudely fracture our present!

Saturday, 20th August, 2022

A day of warm but intermittent sunshine. Doesn’t matter. The day of travelling is always mad and busy. There are so many things that can’t be done until the last minute and I have to walk 11 miles as well.

We use Easyjet for Greece and BA for USA. We flew one of the first ever Easyjet flights when we needed an emergency flight back from Athens in the late 1980s. It is still the most convenient for Athens particularly if you want to go from Gatwick. We buy the best seats and can carry on a large bag of 15kgs each. Makes you wonder why anyone needs to pay for Hold Luggage. Easyjet go from North Terminal and BA go from South Terminal so we get to know the Airport quite comprehensively.

Today, because we are only taking Carry-on luggage and we’ve payed for Premium Security Lane access, we can nip through to the Executive Lounge without having to get stuck in Bag Drop queues and Bag Check queues and miss out on all that stressy, sweaty mass of people anxiously hopping from foot to foot. The service only costs £5.00 each. Bargain!

We are going at a busy time of year because we have so many things to fit in this year and we know that the Airside concourse will be busy, noisy and smelly. I can’t stand the throat-challenging odour of all those false fragrances being tested and bought in the Duty Free shops that really aren’t duty free.

Actually, the afternoon has been one of pure blue skies and hot sunshine. I just hope there is some rain while we are away. The garden should survive for quite a while …..

Sunday, 7th August, 2022

Screamingly beautiful day of hot sunshine, clear blue skies and pleasure. We did another very hot and long walk. My problem is that I am averaging 11 miles a day for a year. I just can’t back down. Someone told me a few months ago to just let it go. It is not in my nature. I cannot let go. That is what drives me on. 

We drove down to the beach for a while. It was beautiful. There were people on the sands in places and quite a few cooling off in the sea but so much was just empty and available.

I like ’empty and available’. I like to control my relationships. I have spent the past few days talking to old friends across a 50 year divide: John Ridley in Yorkshire and John Morris in the Midlands, Julie and Nigel on the Yorkshire coast and Kevin, Tash and Chris Tolley in Leeds even Kevin Sellers in the most Northern tip of Scotland. The internet, social media and smartphones have made this possible and given me real enjoyment. We all have comparatively so little time left, it seems pointless not to remake these connections now.

After a lovely, warm day of perfect weather which I have tried to use to the full with lots of exercise, trips out and jobs around the garden completed, we cooked and ate our meal outside in the garden – griddled swordfish steaks and homegrown green salad followed by homemade caramel-yoghurt ice cream. The skies are suggesting there will be a repeat performance tomorrow.

Do not go gentle into that good night,
Old age should burn and rave at close of day;
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

Dylan Thomas – 1914-1953

Just writing the words makes me weep but they are such an important reminder to us all that we cannot afford to hold back, to wait, to make excuses. Do it now or forever regret.

Monday, 8th August, 2022

The day has opened hot and sunny … again! In mid afternoon, we are reading 27C/81F and sweaty. Sainsburys by 9.00 am – pointless.

Down to the beach before families descend. It was looking absolutely gorgeous today. The Marina was busy and optimistic.

The sky was reflected in the sea. The sea was warm enough for many to be swimming – not us.

A quick walk in the sunshine and then home. Just in time to pick up messages from Christine thanking me for a celebratory bottle of champagne and sending me a lovely photograph of the past revisited.

August 5th, 1972

Wished David Roberts in Rochdale a happy 71st birthday and talked to John Morris who is suffering with melanoma and the need for a new hip plus his driving licence back after failing a diabetic retinopathy test. I almost feel healthy. My wife says I look beautiful in my 1972 photograph. Of course, she is right. We all look young, optimistic and reasonably happy. I had high hopes for the future.

Back in the here-&-now, going to mow, feed and water the lawn before the hosepipe ban comes into action at the end of the week. After that, I will have to do everything in darkness. Of course, as you will know, everything is more exciting in darkness!

Tuesday, 9th August, 2022

Seems a strange topic for such a beautiful day but time cannot be held back. The theme today is Life and Death.

Though lovers be lost love shall not;
And death shall have no dominion.

Dylan Thomas – 1914-1953

Death is never final. Although I am a committed atheist and have no consolation of a religious afterlife, we all live on in others – in their thoughts, in their memories and their mementoes. We measure our own lives against those who have gone and wonder how much more time we have ourselves.

The news is led today by the death of Olivia Newton John at the tender age of 73. The second half of her life was spent fighting breast cancer. As we are 71, that turns one’s thoughts immediately to self and longevity.

On this day every year, we particularly remember Vivienne, Pauline’s cousin who died 5 years ago having suffered breast cancer years ago and then had cancer return. We think of her husband, Richard, in whose memories she lives on every day. These are not easy things to talk about even from a distance. We all carry images around in our heads of those who have enriched our lives. They bring happiness and sadness in different measures.

Late last night we had a text from a very old friend – a girl who taught in our school in the early 1970s. Frank and Diane were good friends. Frank went to our school as a pupil and then returned as Head of Maths. Diane taught in the craft Block alongside Pauline. They left to open a private school in Shaw and, as we moved south, our only contact has been emails and Christmas cards.

Frank and Diane sold their business and retired around 5 years ago. They moved to Australia briefly before returning to set up home in Uppermill. Frank is a fitness fanatic and a cyclist. He would go on long bike rides and proudly post up his routes.

In mid-June this year, Frank & Diane walked 13 kms and climbed 2,500 ft. Within two weeks, Diane noticed that Frank was walking strangely, his balance deteriorated and he was immediately diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumour. Just 3 weeks on, he is in palliative care in hospital in Bury with Diane sleeping on a camp bed at his side. Their whole lives turned round in really a matter of days.

The fragility of life is stark and terrifying. We have no knowledge or control over its duration. What we can know, however, is that our time and relationships are precious. We should use them and embrace them to the full. We are all a long time dead as Philip Larkin – born on this day 100 years ago – wrote in his poem, Next Please.

Always too eager for future, we
Pick up bad habits of expectancy.
Something is always approaching; every day
Till then we say ….

Only one ship is seeking us, a black-
Sailed unfamiliar, towing at her back
A huge and birdless silence. In her wake
No waters breed or break.

Philip Larkin: 1922 – 1985

Wednesday, 10th August, 2022

I’ve done something right for once. Last year, price inflation was becoming an increasingly obvious event charging down the tunnel of time towards us. I hadn’t specifically identified the price of power but I chose to fix our Tariff for Dual Fuel with British Gas for 2 years. Ours lasts until the last day of 2023. Maybe the market will have settled down by then. We can always hope.

Going to be another scorcher here and I’m more concerned with cooling the house now. Sleeping with air.con. on is so much more comfortable. We are lucky to have a modern property with modern insulation and airflows but it does get quite hot in the Summer.

We have 22C/70F here early on and have reached 32C/90F at peak and staying there until 10.00 pm. We were at Aldi for Almond Milk while I bantered with friends on my phone. Went on to the Greengrocers for gorgeous cherries.

Home for coffee and, of course, we went out walking at the peak temperature. The landscape, pre Hosepipe Ban, is arid. The sometime lake is not a lake.

Really look forward to walking round a lake again. I know I will do it soon as seasons move on automatically.

Had great news this afternoon. Kevin is clear of cancer something which has been hanging over him for a week or two. I’m really pleased for him.

Thursday, 11th August, 2022

Very hot night that hardly fell below 22C/70F. Ironically, I had one of my best sleeps for weeks. I went to bed happy and woke up happy. Strange dreams though. I never normally dream but last night I was walking round a lake in a park and I was eating barbecued spare ribs. What does it mean? I hardly ever eat meat either …

Out early to Sainsburys. At 9.00 am, the temperature is already 26C/79F and forecast to hit 35C/95F. This is my sort of weather and the reason I enjoyed living in Greece so much. In the 1980s, we would walk miles across the island in these temperatures and half naked.

Now, Pauline finds the heat less enjoyable to deal with and mumbles something about hormonal, old ladies. Of course, I am impervious and batter on regardless. Kevin and I are both sun worshippers. I have just wished him a good day on the strength of Golden Wedding celebrations, cancer-free celebrations and Mediterranean weather in Yorkshire. What’s not to like.

Tomorrow is the first day of our hosepipe ban so, officially, I’m reduced to watering cans although I suspect that won’t hold for long. Tonight is August full moon and going to be very hot. This afternoon, I’ve used the hosepipe to clean the car and soak the garden hoping it will last for a while. Good things are coming! I can feel it!

Friday, 12th August, 2022

Oh let these days continue! Up at 6.30 am and 22C/70F. Out walking by 9.00am and 27C/81F. Only 11 miles and it’s easy this early while the energy stocks are high.

Last night was absolutely glorious with warm, balmy air below crystal clear sky floodlit by the full moon. The photo above is not mine but taken by a friend. I should have gone down and taken my own but I was tired and had drunk wine so couldn’t be bothered, I’m ashamed to say.

Julie has her 92 yr old Mum staying with her at the moment and she took her to Bridlington Beach yesterday. It made me laugh when she said, Mum & I bottom right.

Kevin has sent me delightful photos and video clips of his 5oth wedding anniversary which they combined with a grand daughter’s birthday celebration. They all look very happy. What it must be to have grand daughters!

I am walking so much, I spend most of my life in trainers these days. My wardrobe full of formal, leather shoes is left unopened. I’ve walked 3,800 miles in the past 12 months and it is amazing how many pairs of trainers I get through to do that. I ordered another three pairs today which will probably get me through until the end of the year.

Saturday, 13th August, 2022

Our friend, Frank Wilkinson from Oldham is dead. His wife, Diane, informed us today. She has been by his side in a Hospice for a week. It was inevitable but that has made it no easier to understand or cope with. It is such a shock to us all. I have been contacting friends across the North of England with the terrible news. No one can really believe it.

Frank, was younger than me. His wife is much younger than us. He has a brother who is a doctor in Oldham Royal and a younger brother who I used to teach. From super fit to dead in weeks is a lesson to us all. Keep your relationships and affairs right up to date. Never say, I’ll do that in a bit. I’ll get back to them at an easier time. Time will come back to bite us all. Frank & Diane were just down the avenue from us in New York last year. We missed each other by 24 hrs. Now, we will miss each other by a lifetime.

In a week we will be in our favourite Acropolis View Suite in the Electra Palace Hotel. It is incredibly comfortable with all the facilities one could want in a city break. We are there for more than a week which will give us plenty of time to enjoy our favourite city.

It will give us the chance to meet up with old friends, renew acquaintances with long loved places and explore some new ones. We will probably go down to the Athenian Riviera at Glyfada. It is almost 30 years since we were last there. We may do a day trip to a local island like Aegina which is only an hour or so away.

There is something delightful and relaxing about returning to a place you know so well. No time is lost in learning routines, places, sources of pleasure. I know where to look immediately. I know the best places to eat, to swim and to walk. I know where to relax and people watch. Just enjoying the language is a big thing for me. Greek is a challenge and a delight. I need that.

We have to look to expanding our delight every day not closing it down and being scared of the new. Challenging ourselves and taking risks is what life is about and more so as we get older.

Sunday, 31st July, 2022

Up early after a really warm night with air-con on. The sky was clear and starry but gave way to a hot, humid, overcast start to Sunday. Yes, I know what day it is …. mainly because I’ve read the Sunday papers.

The morning starts with a really romantic tryst. Going to the Sussex Love Island otherwise known as the Wick Waste Disposal site. We have to book slots there now so we’ve booked 9.30 on a Sunday morning like the good heathens we are.

I had to move junk on the garage floor up into the garage roof storage when we converted to a Gym/Wine-store/Kitchen. A lot of it is completely redundant so I am finally getting round to throwing it out.

The Home Gym has become integral to my current way of life. The fact that I park the car outside and that storage has had to be rearranged is regrettable but the Gym facilities far outweigh it. I use it less in the Summer but I lose myself in a film and just keep going on the treadmill or the bike which is a better use of my time. I’ve just finished a fantastic but terrifying and harrowing film about an old man who is descending rapidly and deeply into Dementia.

The old man is played quite brilliantly by Anthony Hopkins. A lot of the narrative is seen through the declining man’s eyes and his disintegrating mind. Like him, the viewer is never really sure what is in the Now and what is imagined from his Past. He escapes into opera and classical music. He is intelligent, articulate and well read. In a sense, that makes his decline feel all the further, deeper, more painful. It ends as he is in an expensive, private Care Home which he thinks is his flat, being cared for by a lovely girl who he thinks is his daughter and then he breaks down, crying like a baby for his mother.

You might understand that my time on the treadmill didn’t end well yesterday but I had to watch it. The odds are that I might leave life in this way. I have had a couple of events in my life when I was unsure what was real and what was imagined. Particularly, I had head trauma in my road accident all those years ago which left me slipping in and out of reality for some weeks. I know how scary that can be when the real world only impinges on one’s consciousness for short periods of time and how one dreads slipping away. I’ve told my wife not to put up with me but to put me in to care rapidly if I go this way.

Monday, 1st August, 2022

Already the hours of light are shortening and now it is August. Here, it has started overcast but incredibly humid-hot. It is perfect growing weather. In fact, it is too perfect. Everything is getting out of control. The only thing that is not growing fast is the new, lawn-carpet which just stays looking perfect whatever the weather.

I bought a couple of Bush Cherry Tomato plants and planted them out in the deep beds in early June. The label said they were perfect for containers on the patio so I thought they would do well and not take up too much room in the beds.

They have romped away and we have had to stop them before they block our neighbour’s light. They are more like trees than bushes and are carrying hundreds of small, cherry tomatoes.

I’ve already walked 8 miles today but I am averaging 11 miles a day for a year now so that is my new bench mark. I’m going to do the final 3 miles on the treadmill while watching my next film which is an Anglo-Bulgarian production about a photographer whose beautiful wife leaves him because he is too demanding. He feels as if he is bereaved and sees his wife in every crowd he walks past. He decides he will drive across Europe to track her down … and that is as far as I’ve got.

Tuesday, 2nd August, 2022

A muggy night opens on another warm and humid morning. Quite dull to start. We are up early because we have an electrician arriving early to put a new socket in the kitchen. He is a really nice lad who we’ve used for a while.

Pauline is harvesting and freezing herbs from the garden. The Basil has been so prolific this year that she has sent the electrician home with a big bag of it. She is preparing Dill for the freezer. I grew them all from seed and they have done well. The kitchen is infused with its delicate aroma. At this rate we are going to have to buy another freezer just to store all this stuff.

I have been looking at car hire in Florida. We are going to need one for three months and I started to worry about a problem that was coming up. Many hire companies not only have a minimum age but also have a maximum age of 70.

I’ve found that Budget don’t have that restriction and will rent me an SUV for the 3 months for around £4,000.00 which is excellent. It is all wheel drive like my current car and has Sat.Nav.. I can pick it up from Tampa International Airport and return it there as we fly back to Gatwick.

Wednesday, 3rd August, 2022

We have been contributing to the Zoe Health Study for almost 2 years now. Every month a tester calls and gives us a kit which includes a PCR test and an Antibody test which involves providing a phial of blood. 

As central funding has been reduced, the army of testers has been disposed of and the whole process is going to be run on-line and by post. This morning we did our first one under the new regime.

The kitchen table is our Surgery and we take mouth & nasal swabs followed by the messy job of extracting a phial of blood and dripping it in to a phial. This part takes quite a while and has to be accurately filled. Everything has to be parcelled up with barcodes matching and then taken down to a Priority Post Box to be despatched on the day of testing.

It is quite nice to contribute to a national study of almost a million people but we gain by having our antibodies regularly tested which is reassuring before our next Covid Booster. We also get paid a little bit so what’s not to like? The only problem we will have will come when we are in Florida for 3 months.

Unfortunately, we have hardly seen any rain for two months and local reservoirs are almost dry. This one, a few miles away has almost given up being a reservoir at all.

Our Southern Water supplier has just called a hosepipe ban starting in a couple of weeks. It coincides with the time we will be away so I will have a problem with my automatic watering system. Probably have to set it up to work at 1.00 am every other night while I’m in Athens.

Thursday, 4th August, 2022

Hot, humid and sunny today. This is the time for getting good crops. The figs are wonderful. I gorged on them this morning.

I might regret it tomorrow but I won’t regret these wonderfully sweet and juicy, Italian tomatoes which we ate with basil leaves and olive oil.

Julie’s grand daughter is ending her first year at Oxford University and will be spending the summer staying with a Greek, university friend in Athens. She suggested I might meet up with her while we are there in late August. Wouldn’t that be a bizarre event across the years?

Kevin doesn’t seem to have heard anything from his latest biopsy yet although it is difficult to know if that is a relaxed good sign or just an overloaded service. I must admit I would be agitating loudly by now because it over a week. Still, it has to be left up to him to make his own decision even though my inclination is to help him.

I hate to say I told you so but readers of this Blog will know I told you months ago about the coming inflation tsunami. It is here and will get worse. The Bank of England have warned today that inflation will reach at least 13% and that we will be in recession for more than a year. We know that energy prices are going to stretch everyone but will hit the poor and the elderly most of all. Those living in older properties with inferior insulation will see their bills sky-rocket. I predict that this increasingly difficult economic position will blow the Tory government out of power. Strikes will be a increasing feature of the news and we may even see civil unrest on the streets before things get better. You heard it here first!

Friday, 5th August, 2022

Very hot, sunny but steamy day all day. Made the mistake of setting off for a two hour walk just before mid day. It was hard, sweaty work. It is old boys day today. August 5th seems to be a popular day for a wedding if old friends are anything to go by. Kevin & Christine are celebrating 50 years. Dr John Ridley is on his 44th and John (Tash) Coates has reached 34 today.

Someone who is older than all of us and on his second marriage, Nigel, popped up this morning being interviewed by Radio Humberside for a piece about local artists.

Good to see he is still optimistic and pushing ahead with new ideas even at his great age.

Saturday, 6th August, 2022

Gloriously hot and sunny day. Lovely shopping, wonderful walking and gorgeous gardening all linked by strong sunshine. A hosepipe ban is exactly one week away. Grass areas all along our walk are brown and dry. The comparison with last year is quite stark.

The walk was very hot and dry today and lawns all around show the difference. The forecast for the next two weeks down here is non stop sunshine and temperatures in the upper 20Cs to lower 30Cs. We fly to Athens two weeks today and just hope for a break in the weather here to give things a bit of respite.

Thought you might like the wonder of the Tory Party that will never cease. This is the Essex MP who thought it would be appropriate to take a photo opportunity leaning over a Brain-Dead boy with a Union Jack and a photo of the Queen just before his life support system was switched off. If you can vote for that, you can vote for anything.