Wednesday 2nd April 2025

 

Woke at 0600 and dozed for an hour or so. Got up and brought tea back to bed. Read some “Rudge”. Aki cycled off to Rowing Club. I did my exercises then headed into town…took our unwanted egg poacher round to the charity shop…bumped into Sechs from No.29 and alerted him to the fact that I’d put my guitar on Gumtree…might be a useful upgrade for Oti. Headed for Leicester Square and repaired to Foyles for a coffee and some Dickens. Bought an introduction to Astronomy…in the hope of an educational retirement. Walked up to Uniqlo and bought a couple of cheap tees, then made my way to Hoka in Covent Garden…I’d read an article recommending their hiking boots, so thought I’d buy a pair in the hope of a fit and healthy retirement! Bought Aki some posh birthday chocolates, then jumped on a No.91 bus back to Holloway for a late lunch. Aki was back and had had hers. Sat about listening to music before preparing dinner...warmed up the remainder of the fish stew, with added pancetta, fried potatoes, and broccoli. Watched an intriguing programme that followed the restoration of the ship’s cabin in which Ernest Shackleton died in 1922. Early bath. I stayed up to watch MOTD.

Tuesday 1st April 2025

Woke around 0700. Got up and brought tea back to bed. Read for a bit. Porridged. Got the ladder out of the garden shed and climbed onto the roof to clean the skylight. It appears Sush has added a large overhanging pitched roof to their first floor back addition…it ain’t pretty! It looks like a rural bus stop! It turns out it was his response to a leaking flat roof…and it adds a little storage for some of his building gear. Aki not pleased, as we can see it from our office. Tokiko arrived for lunch…and to pick up some purchases Aki had made on her behalf back in the Motherland. Aki put together a tasty salad Nicoise, and I made a quick dessert. Pottered about in the afternoon. Advertised my Takamine electro-acoustic guitar on Gumtree…see if I get any nibbles. Aki made Japanese style chicken and rice filled omelettes for dinner…and used her new cabbage slicer to good effect…my new favourite meal. Nowt on telly…early bath and bed…

Monday 31st March 2025

Woke around 0700. Got up and made tea, and got back into bed. Read for a while. Got up and porridged. Did my exercises. Aki sorted out some bits and pieces for the tip, which we loaded into the car. Just as we were about to depart, Vince happened by with news that his 97 year old mother, who lived at No.43, had passed away a week or so ago…the family have Italian roots, and her ashes are to be taken to a mountain top monastery in Amalfi, where they will be interred next to Vince’s father’s. Late lunch after returning from the tip. Walked to Stoke Newington in the sunshine on the off-chance that Aki’s missing spectacles might be in the damaged backpack we’d returned to Know & Love on Saturday…the bag was found to be empty. We marched on to the Tower theatre to check beneath the seats we’d sat in on Saturday afternoon. No luck there either, and nothing had been handed in at the box office. Caught buses back to Holloway and did a little shop in Waitrose. Fried up some venison meatballs for dinner, smothered in arrabiata sauce, and linguine. Finished cleaning up my Takamine guitar, and put a new set of strings on, prior to trying to sell it. Hoping to get £300 for it…

Sunday 30th March 2025

Woke at 0730…the clocks having gone forward. Aki got up to ready herself for Rowing Club. She brought me a mug of tea. Got up and porridged. Nice sunny morning…opted to cycle to Stoke Newington. Had to blow up my bike tyres first, it bring some months since I got me leg over! Got to the theatre in time…bought coffee from the cafe opposite. There were about 8 of us for the director’s workshop…lead by Simona, with help from Lande Belo, and Dan Usztan. Varying experience among us would be directors, but I thought a couple of the young ladies showed great promise…see what happens. Broke at 1245…cycled down to the River Lea and joined Aki and her crew for lunch at the cafe next door to the Rowing Club. Cycled home via Stamford Hill and Finsbury Park…the experience rendered very unpleasant by the appalling state of our roads. Watched Manchester City dump Bournemouth out of the FA Cup. Phoned mum to wish her a happy Mother’s Day…Kath and Jim were there, and they were sitting out in the garden enjoying some sunshine. Knocked together a fish and black bean stew…wasn’t very good, but filled a hole. Aki spent most of the evening vainly searching for the new prescription glasses she’d commissioned while in Tokyo…they didn’t last long! Bath and bed…

Saturday 29th March 2025

Woke around 0530...which was an improvement on the previous night. Dozed until Aki got up around 0730. Read some "Barnaby Rudge" in bed with a mug of tea. Peanut butter on toast for breakfast. Did some exercises, and some voice work. Prepared bubble and squeak for lunch, with poached eggs. Walked to Stoke Newington in my new trainers. Popped into the gift shop on Church Street to complain about the backpack Aki had bought from them a year ago...one of the shoulder straps had frayed and split apart...bit rubbish! We happened to find the shop owner on duty, and she very graciously gave us our money back, no questions asked. She admired my Keith Haring t-shirt, and told us she’d met him while working in NY back in the day. Had tickets for the matinee of "Shakespeare in Love" at the Tower. It was a sellout. David Taylor had done a fine job, as per usual, though the audience seemed rather subdued…only myself and a woman a couple of rows behind me seemed to be picking up on the clever use of Shakespearean text in Lee Hall’s smart script. There were definitely some ringers in the cast…Will and Viola were making their Tower debuts, but were clearly accomplished actors of a calibre rarely seen in other productions…where does David source his actors? Tried to find a table at Rasa afterwards, but they were booked up…went home and had lemon chicken curry, rice and vegetables instead. Watched some FA Cup football before bath and bed.

Friday 28th March 2025

Despite the unnaturally long day yesterday, I woke around 0330…couldn’t really get back to sleep properly after that. My left knee giving me gip after the 14 hour flight! Aki got up at 0645 to wash her hair…she brought me a large mug of English tea! Breakfasted on iced coffee overnight oats once Kath had gotten up. Aki cycled off to site in Haringey. I drove Kath and her baggage to Kings Cross station’s drop off point, then drove to Waitrose to do a hefty shop. Aki was home when I got back. Finished off the last of the pasta we’d had for dinner last night, smothered in an arrabbiata sauce, for lunch. Read some "Barnaby Rudge". Made dinner...confit duck legs, with roast potatoes, vegetables, and a port wine sauce. Nowt on telly. Very weary. Opted for another early bath and bed...

Thursday 27th March 2025

Alarm at 0630. We forced ourselves out of our beds, made coffee, finished packing, and headed for Shinagawa station. Got to Haneda airport in good time to check in. Got through security, and went in search of breakfast...not much on offer. Made do with an egg and mushroom sandwich, and a coffee. Our flight took off on time at 0950. The 6,000 mile journey took us over the Arctic Circle, and I got some great views of the ice sheets of northern Greenland from my window seat. Watched a couple of movies...an astonishing performance from Joaquin Phoenix in "Joker", and caught "Dune Part II", having seen Part I about four years ago at the Screen on the Green. It passed the time. Finished "Orbital" and started "Barnaby Rudge". 

Landed at Heathrow around 1500 and made our way through Border Control to Baggage Reclaim, then trudged through the endless airport corridors to the Underground station. Hopped on a Piccadilly Line train to Kings Cross, and then took a cab to the front door. We were struck by how dirty the streets of London are, and how scruffy the populace are! Welcome back to Broken Britain. I popped out to Tesco to get some bits and pieces for dinner. Aki and I unpacked, while Kath changed into her jimjams before having a bath. It was a very long and exhausting day...I got to bed at 2200, meaning I’d had a 24 hour waking day, with maybe 30 minutes sleep on the plane.