Friday 26th June 2026

Woke around 0730...very warm and humid already. Sat up in bed for an hour or so. Got up and porridged whilst catching up with the highlights of Turkey v USA. Wandered across to Waitrose to do a shop...found the shaded sides of the streets as I made my way. Popped into Selby's to see what they had in the way of electric fans...really liked the Dyson Cool Air, but at £250 it would have to be a bit of a treat! Aki cooked Korean pancakes of lunch. Aki decided the fan would be a good investment, so sent me back out into the afternoon heat...only to discover that Selbys had sold out! Popped into Morrisons to buy some consolatory ice cream, only to find that their freezers had packed up! Put together a salad Nicoise for dinner. Watched France v Norway...an easy 4-1 win for the impressive French, though the Norwegians had rested more than half the team...no Erling Haaland to bother the French back four. Watched Later With Jools...intriguing Newcastle based jazz band, Knats, who profess to have invented Geordie jazz...OK, though their sound is a little old fashioned; really enjoyed the mesmeric Angine de Potrine, and Arlo Parks' new material...

Thursday 25th June 2026

Woke around 0730. Sat up in bed and doom scrolled for a while before managing to nod back off. Got up around 0900. Porridged. Caught up with some World Cup highlights via the iPlayer. Put lunch together. Very warm...30C outside, but felt warmer as very humid today. Worked up a sweat vacuuming and dusting in the living-room. Managed to get hold of the RoofPro chap...doesn't sound as though they can come and do the necessary works next week...may have to live through a few more thunder storms before then! Meat balls and pasta for dinner. Aki headed off to Book Club meet at No.120. I popped in next door to have a word with Sush and let him know the roofer's plans. Returned home to watch Germany v Ecuador...great result for the South Americans, who won 2-1...they would have been going home otherwise. Aki back in time for kick off in the Japan v Sweden match...it was 0-0 at half time, when she sloped off to bed. I stayed up and watched them fight out a 1-1 draw...both go through to the knock out stages...

Wednesday 24th June 2026

Woke around 0900. Got up and porridged. Too hot for Aki to consider cycling over to Rowing Club. Pottered about...tried to get some clarity on RoofPro's repair suggestion to pass on to the neighbour. Wanted to sort out the Registration of Power of Attorney forms that Kath had passed me at the weekend, but I don't have the pertinent account numbers...emailed father in the hope of progressing things a little, but think I'll have to get in touch with NBS directly...wish I'd popped in on them last week...hadn't realised they were next door to the Co-op on Darras Hall Broadway, though I must have walked past dozens of times! Aki made hummus. I popped out into the wall of heat to buy bread...tried to walk in the shaded bits of the street. Came home to find Aki putting lunch together. Aki pan fried cod for dinner, with freekah and fried vegetables, followed by a Magnum each! Watched Canada go down to a 2-1 defeat to Switzerland. Showered. Stayed up to watch Scotland's dismal display against Brazil...they are hanging on to a third place qualification place, but only by their finger nails...

Tuesday 23rd June 2026

Woken around 0300 by a violent thunder storm...the rain hammered down on our leaky roof for over an hour. Woke around 0930 and made tea. Porridged. The damp patch in the back bedroom not looking worse, but my damp meter readings are up 5%. At a bit of a loss as to what to do...the roofer has quoted us £2,000 to add a layer of membrane to the parapet with No.5. Aki cycled off to tai chi...already 25C out there! I caught up with my blog at the laptop, and listened to some music the while. I ventured out into the temperatures to do a bit of a shop at Waitrose. Bumped into Lynne from upstairs...she'd had a great time in Madagascar. I promised to send her details of a couple more roofers I'd come across on the Which? website...told her we were having our own roofing problems. I was surprised to learn that her back bedroom ceiling hadn't let in any water during last night's deluge! Came home and put some lunch together. Enjoyed a Magnum for afters! Had to venture back out again...got some sparkling water from Tesco across the road...we'll be needing that...it's 32C this afternoon! Warmed up the chicken de-frosted chicken cacciatore for dinner. Settled down to watch England v Ghana...a rather dull hour and a half ensued as Ghana sat back and England failed to break through the ranks of yellow shirts. It was too hot to go to bed, so stayed up and watched the Panama v Croatia game...though I nodded off for most of it, despite it being way more exciting than the England game! Got to bed after 0100...

Monday 22nd June 2026

Got up and packed. Stripped the bed. Breakfasted downstairs with ma and pa. Kath turned up with a load of shopping...we thought she was in bed listening to the radio she'd left on! Starmer announced he was to resign as Prime Minister, paving the way for Andy Burnham. Prepared some lunch...Jim joined us. Mum came rushing in to announce that Andy Burnham had resigned! Said our farewells, and Jim drove us to Callerton Parkway to catch the train into town. Got to Central Station in good time to climb aboard the 1427 to Kings Cross. Got into London at 1745, 15 minutes behind schedule due to delayed trains in front of ours. Noticeably hotter in London...caught a No.91 bus back to Holloway. Dropped our bags off, and walked down to Xian Impression for dinner. Back home to catch the end of the Argentina v Austria game. Watched the final episode of "Get Back" before settling down to watch France defeat a plucky Iraq before shower and bed...

Sunday 21st June 2026

Delivered dad's Father's Day card, featuring his children reading "Dagga". I addressed the envelope to J H Hagga, 12 Plumpff View, Lollybrod. Aki drew the King of Lollybrod on the stamp. Breakfasted. Aki and I walked down to Darras to do a bit of shopping...had our coffee at Davidson's, as Number 9 was full. Walked back to High View in the sunshine. Lunch out in the garden. Jim and Emma showed up...Emma had gone for a half-hour run! Watched a bit of the tennis from Queen's...won by Argentine, Cerundolo...a new face on the scene. Prepared and cooked chicken for dinner...Aki reprised her no famous harissa potatoes. I stayed up to watch Cape Verde take on Uruguay...astonishingly the islanders scored first, but it was 2-1 to Uruguay by the time I retired for the night, unable to keep my eyes open for the second half...

Saturday 20th June 2026

Woke early again with back ache. Got up and pottered about a bit until porridge. Aki and wandered down to the shops at Darras Hall to buy some bits and pieces for lunch and dinner. Enjoyed a coffee at Number 9. Walked back up Whinfell Road to prepare lunch...eaten in the garden, as it was another fine day. Watched a bit of tennis from Queen's with mum. Aki cooked salmon for dinner, with harissa potatoes. I stayed up to watch the Netherlands thrash Sweden 5-1...they are looking good!