Friday 4th April 2025

Woke around 0800. Aki already up readying herself for Rowing Club. Made tea. Porridged. Aki cycled off. I set about sorting out my clothes…need a clear out…also did some washing, and hung it out to dry in the backyard…warmest day of the year so far! Made lunch on Aki’s return. We ventured into town. Aki keen to look into buying a new computer before the end of the tax year…she went for an iMac Mini after lengthy conversations with the staff. I bought jeans in the Levi shop on Long Acre...Aki bought a bucket hat and a bum bag. Walked down to Trafalgar Square to get a No.91 bus home. Cooked meatballs with mushrooms, and red pesto for dinner…with linguine. Watched a bit of telly before bath and bed.

Thursday 3rd April 2025

Woke around 0730. Wished Aki a happy 68th birthday…had left her a card and some posh chocolates on the dining table. I popped out to buy croissant for breakfast, which we enjoyed with frothy coffee. Walked Aki down to Upper Street to meet Tammy outside Ottolenghi’s…Tammy was treating Aki to a birthday brunch. I strolled on to the dentist…they could find no record of my previous visit, which I confessed must have been about 10 years ago, as I hated dentists! They put me on a waiting list. 

Caught a No.19 bus from Islington Green to Tottenham Court Road. Had soup in Foyle’s cafe, and read some Dickens. Walked across to Covent Garden and bought a shirt jacket in Muji, then had a browse in Agnes B, and Paul Smith, around the corner. Walked down to Trafalgar Square and hopped on a No.91 back to Holloway. Popped into Waitrose to buy milk. Aki back when I got home…the Birthday badge on the card I’d bought her had prompted the waitress at Ottolenghi’s to bring out a small birthday cake in her honour! 

I told her she should wear it every day. Ventured out for an early dinner at the Great Indian in the company of Helen and Martin. They’d recently returned from a sojourn in Australia, visiting their daughter, who’s working for a big vineyard concern near Melbourne, then touring south-eastern Australia, ending up in Sydney. We shared five different meat and vegetable choices, plus rice and roti…it was very good! Repaired to the North Nineteen for a beer before going home for an early bath and bed…

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.