Thursday 27th August 2026

Woke at 0530 with roof fret! Can't say I really got back to sleep again. Got up around 0830 and brought a mug of tea and my porridge up to the study, and sat in front of my laptop for a while, trying to put some early morning thoughts about the roofing project into words...emailed them to Lynne and Aki. Spoke to the GP in a bid to arrange a meeting about the blood pressure measurements I'd taken a couple of weeks ago...no-one available until the back end of September! Set in motion an application for discounted Visitor Parking vouchers...going to need a fistful once the roofing repair works get under way. Wandered down to The Broadway and bought a takeaway coffee...sat on the bench outside the Co-op before heading in to buy orange juice and pasta. Walked back to High View. Put lunch together. Jim and Emma showed up...they'd come back a day early so Emma could get to see her GP for back pain. They drove over to Wallsend. Mary Doughty came over to catch up with mum and dad following yesterday's funeral and wake for Christine Robinson, from No.8. I made her coffee, and we sat out in the back garden. Cooked up a marinara sauce for dinner, served up with pasta, and garlic bread supplied by Jim...five of us at the dining table this evening. Watched a bit of telly in the company of mum and dad. 

Wednesday 26th August 2026

 

Woke around 0600 with roof fret! Dozed fitfully until alarm at 0800. Got up and descended to make tea. Breakfasted alone at the dining table. Ma and pa eventually showed up. I drove down to The Broadway for a 1000 appointment with the NBS...picked up a coffee from Elkwater on the way. I was in NBS for over half-an-hour, but got forms for both ma and pa signed...Kath needs to sign too, so will have to send her down when she gets back from Scandinavia. Picked up some milk from the Co-op and headed back to High View. Heated up some lentil soup for an early lunch, then drove ma and pa to Brokenfield for a funerary service at the Northumberland Woodland Burial Ground, a few miles north of Morpeth. Nice building, and classy humanist service...but not many people in attendance...maybe 15 of us altogether. I didn't know the deceased, nor her two sons, though mum and dad vaguely knew them, since they moved in two doors down back in 1978. Dad couldn't hear a word the 'minister' said, and the air conditioning was cold and loud...it was like sitting in a wind! Had a chat with the Russells from No.11 High View, and David Caldwell, who grew up at No.26 across the road. Drove ma and pa back to High View, they having decided not to attend the wake at Ponteland Golf Club. Sat out in the garden with tea and biscuits instead. Warmed up a readymade lasagne for dinner. Spent the rest of the evening trying to sort out roofers...our preferred roofer for the butterfly roof replacement had left me a message stating that he'd be happy to take cash, thus saving us the VAT element. Spoke to Six about him...he hasn't actually used him yet, but is in the process of finalising a job spec with him...Six says a number of acquaintances have used him and have been satisfied with the quality of the work. Spoke to Aki and Lynne...it throws a spanner in the works...how dodgy does it make the guy? Or do we just say we are happy to pay the VAT...otherwise we'd compromise our right to legal redress should anything go awry! The nightmare continues...

Tuesday 25th August 2026

Woke around 0730. Sat up and read a little before nodding back off for a bit. Got up around 0845 and descended for breakfast in the dining room...no sign of ma and pa. They eventually materialised. I took a walk down to The Broadway. Coffee at Number 9, and read some Murakami, before shopping for orange juice in the Co-op and walking back to High View. Put lunch together. Dad insistent that he cut back some of the foliage around the house, in order to create a fire break! He's become obsessed with the notion that his house could go up in smoke in the hot weather...despite my pointing out that there probably wouldn't be any more hot weather this side of June 2027! However, his efforts with the trimmer were cut short when he managed to electrocute himself...he'd evidently cut through the cable at some point in the ancient past, and had cobbled together a repair that exposed the wiring. He wanted to wrap it in electrical tape...so I drove down to the village to buy a proper junction box to cover everything up with. Warmed up some of the bolognese sauce I'd made yesterday for dinner...with papardelle and vegetables. Plum crumble for afters. Spent half-an-hour looking over the refreshed quotes for the roofing works. It looks as though Aki and I are going to have to fork out about £18,000!!! All very depressing!

Monday 24th August 2026

Woke around 0300 with roof fret! Took a couple of hours to nod back off again, despite my going through the Live8 Poem several times! Got up at 0845. Breakfasted at the dining table with mum. Dad slow to appear this morning...I think he tired himself out pruning shrubs yesterday afternoon! I watered the tomatoes. Spoke to Sergii from RoofPro, on the phone...nice chap. He promised to come back to me this afternoon or tomorrow, so am hoping to get some progress on our much needed roof repairs. Showered. Glorious morning. Walked down to The Broadway for a coffee at Elkwater, and bought some sherry in the Co-op before heading back to High View. Put a simple lunch together...poached eggs and bacon. Drove down to Waitrose to get some odds and ends mid-afternoon. Cooked up a bolognese sauce...most destined for the freezer. Had the remains of the Propa pies...didn't dare heat them up a third time, so served them at room temperature with chips, gravy and green beans...all too cold for Margaret, and dad didn't eat much of his portion of the pork pie. Watched some telly before heading to bed...

Sunday 23rd August 2026

Woke around 0745. Sat up in bed for a bit listening to Lambchop, then descended for breakfast at the dining table, where I was eventually joined by mother and father. Dad insisted on venturing out into the garden to gather more plums to put on his porridge. Nice day for it. I watered the tomatoes...and noticed the greenhouse sliding door was off it's tracks! Dad reckoned it wasn't needed at this time of year...fair enough! Walked down to Elkwater for a coffee...they had a bloke inside strumming guitar and singing! Fortunately I was able to get a seat outside! Bought up mum's supply of Rennies from the Co-op and walked back up to High View. Prepared pizza for lunch with a potato salad. Dad reckoned it wasn't cooked! Yawn! Roasted a bunch of tomatoes, as the supply is getting to be a bit overwhelming. Found father on his hands and knees sawing away at the base of a shrub by the kitchen doors! Helped him wrestle it out from behind some woodwork, then cut it all up so it would fit in the waste bin. Put a simple chicken curry together for dinner, with packet rice, and fried vegetables...though I managed to tip a bit too much chilli into the veg...made things a bit too hot for mum! Watched the final of The Piano...two extraordinarily moving performances, from a young autistic lad who taught himself to play by ear, and a lass who had suffered meningitis as a child which had resulted in her having her legs, and more importantly, her fingers, amputated!!! What an inspiration! We were in tears in the living-room! Stayed up to watch the Kevin Keegan tribute on MOTD2, as Newcastle took on Liverpool...our neighbour gave away a penalty in the 90th minute, which resulted in the Magpies dropping two points!

Saturday 22nd August 2026

 

Woke around 0500. Took a while to nod back off...went through A Poem for Live8 a couple of times in my half sleep! When we next awoke, it was 0945! Got up and breakfasted at the dining table with ma and pa. Watered the tomatoes. Aki and I walked down to The Broadway. Coffee at Number 9. Found ma and pa working in the garden when we got back. Put some lunch together...soup with extra chicken and vegetables. Aki packed and said her farewells, and I drove her to the Central Station, there still being closures on the Metro due to engineering works. I then parked up on Barrack Road...paid for my parking using the PayByPhone app...walked in to town to buy some treats in Fenwick's Food Hall. Town pretty busy. Addicts shouting at each other on Northumberland Street! Walked back to the car, suddenly realising that I hadn't input the registration number of dad's car on the app...I'd paid to park my Golf!!! No sign of a ticket, so think I got away with it! Drove to Dobbies in Ponteland to buy a fish pie for dinner, then on to Waitrose to buy some odds and ends. Sat in the car listening to the dying minutes of the Ipswich v Sunderland game...it was heading for a respectable 1-1 draw until Ipswich scored in the final minute!!! Drove back to High View to find father pruning the plants on the patio. I put a plum tart tatin together, and bunged the fish pie in the oven. Washed up. Watched a bit of telly. Stayed the course and watched the first MOTD of the season...the punters are as annoying as ever, but I was keen to get a handle on new players featuring for each team. Bedtime was somewhat delayed by my finding four or five sizeable moths in my bedroom! Had to capture each one in an upturned glass, and chuck 'em out the bathroom window!!!

Friday 21st August 2026

Woke around 0700...sat up in bed to relieve the back pain, and managed to doze back off for a little while. Got up and breakfasted at the dining table. Dad in very musical form this morning, for some reason...he sang at the top of his voice as he stewed some plums to spread on his porridge! We had to close the dining room door! Put some washing in. Helped Aki water the tomatoes in the greenhouse...no sign of Ratty. Aki and I walked down to The Broadway to buy bread at Davidson's, and enjoy a coffee at Number 9...service was painfully slow! Thank God it wasn't busy!!! Nice but dim staff in there. Walked back to High View to put some lunch together...Aki vacuumed downstairs. Managed to persuade the auld folks to climb into the Passat and head out with us to Sunderland. The traffic was dire...worse than London! Took about an hour to get to Roker. Wound our way down onto the seafront. Managed to drop mum and dad off at the door to the newly opened Elephant Rock Cafe, almost on the beach, north of Roker Rocks and the lighthouse. It was small, and neatly done, but really nowt to write home about. Enjoyed a cuppa, and shared a slice of cake between us, before heading back along the windy seafront to the car. Drove across town to Sheepfolds, and popped our heads in at Propa Pies, Si King's pop-up style pie and mash shop. Ordered three pies, and took them back to High View to have for dinner. Avoided the painful route we'd come, and instead dived beneath the Tyne via the Tyne Tunnel. The pie and mash was very tasty...the gravy even more so...delicious! Plum crumble and custard for afters. Watched a bit of telly before bed...