Friday 9th October 2026

 

Aki up with alarm at 0700 to ready herself for Rowing Club. I got up as she was preparing to cycle off. Porridged. Walked down to Highbury Fields to buy bread from the Dusty Knuckle van, then enjoyed a latte at Le Maison. Sat outside...it was a bit windy! Walked home via Waitrose. Aki back for lunch. Shared a fresh quiche I'd bought at Le Maison, with a bit of salad and a slice of fresh bread. Did an hour or so's work at the laptop. At around 1700 I was overtaken by one of my bouts of agonising constipation...spent the next 10 hours sitting on the loo, though my bad hernia repair made sitting so uncomfortable, I had to stand half the time. Tried lying down for a bit, but the pain was so discomfiting, I gave up and stood propped up against a wall until finally relief came at about 0300, when I finally got to bed!!!

Thursday 8th October 2026

Aki up at 0700 to ready herself for a work meeting in Camden. In the event, it was changed to an online Teams meeting, so she didn't have to leave the comfort of home. She brought me a mug of tea at about 0830. I read in bed for a bit. Got up and porridged. Did a little work at the laptop. I put together a ham and egg salad lunch. The sun came out in the afternoon, so we took our constitutional up Highgate Hill. Got a bus back toward Waitrose from outside Lauderdale House, and did a shop. Didn't think we'd bought much, but the bill was over £40! I cooked a chicken one-pot dinner with giant couscous and cabbage. Watched Richard E.Grant get himself banished from the castle in "The Traitors". What a plonker! Made for a very entertaining "Traitors Uncloaked" afterward. Bath and bed...

Wednesday 7th October 2026

Woke around 0730. Aki got up to ready herself for Rowing Club, but it started raining, so she stayed home. She brought me a mug of tea in bed. Got up and porridged. Did a bit of work at the laptop finishing off the Moat inspections job. Warmed up the chicken and vegetable soup for lunch. Started work on another valuation exercise, this time for Worthing Homes. Will have to drive down there early next week. Managed another couple of hours at the laptop. Read some "Dagga". Cooked dinner...pork meatballs with n'duja and mozzarella. Headed for Stoke Newington in the car. Had tickets to see "A Mirror"...my interest piqued only due to the fact that I've volunteered to act in a couple of short pieces the Writer's Group are preparing in response to the piece. However, the writing was sharp and darkly funny, and the performances from all concerned were excellent...really enjoyed it. Sat next to Simona...she's thinking of auditioning for one of next season's plays, as her Moving Parts theatre company are not working on anything new in 2027. Gave Kathleen from No.49 a lift home, as she'd been working FOH this evening. 

Tuesday 6th October 2026

Woke around 0730 after a relatively good night's sleep, for a change. Porridged in bed. Got up and readied myself for work...inspections out Chelmsford way again. Picked up a coffee at Manor House, then headed up the M11, then across country on the A120. Ended up in Great Leighs, a few miles north of Chelmsford. Some of the tenants here had been written to, but no-one was in, so I didn't get an internal. Drove over the Great Dunmow for inspections on an extensive new build development, then headed for Ongar, stopping off in High Roding for lunch at a farm that was clearly diversifying. The cafe there was good...enjoyed ham, egg and chips, and a mug of tea before driving on to Ongar. Kath phoned to say that she had had to pull mother out of the bath again yesterday. She's going to try to get some extra help from Occupational Health. Got home around 1515. Aki not in...she'd gone to Crouch End for an eye test at SpecSavers. She came home to report that, although not urgent, she had decided to book a cataract op. Aki put together a little Japanese feast for dinner, to mark the anniversary of the death of her mother. She lit a candle and struck the gong in the makeshift shrine above the bookcase. Watched 49Up. Bath and bed...

Monday 5th October 2026

Woke around 0400...took a couple of hours to nod back off again!!! Woke again at 0845. Read in bed for a bit...Aki brought me a mug of tea. Got up and porridged. Did an hour or so's work at the laptop. Made pesto with basil from the back garden. Slung a ham salad together for lunch, then we walked down to Angel for the exercise, and because Aki wanted to buy nuts from Sainsburys. Caught a No.153 bus back to Holloway with our prize. Early dinner...ravioli with the homemade pesto sauce. I headed off into town to see Graham Fellow's 2006 road movie, "It's Nice Up North". Aki stayed home for a JCUK zoom meeting. Spotted Graham in the darkened auditorium and went to give him a hug before finding a seat. The movie had been shot by Graham's friend, the photographer Martin Parr, who had died suddenly last December, and the movie was preceded by a short film Graham had made to pay tribute to him. The film itself was infused with the usual ramshackle charm of everything Graham does in his comic character role of John Shuttleworth, and basically saw him and Martin on the Isles of Shetland seeking out whether people were friendlier the further north you travelled. There was a brief Q&A with Graham at the end. Graham introduced me to the comic, Alan Francis, and we had a brief chat about the state of the acting profession, before I left for home. Ambled up through Soho, which was very busy for a Monday night, and caught a bus from Tottenham Court Road...

Sunday 4th October 2026

Woke around 0600. Managed to eventually nod off again...woke to alarm at 0800. Got up and porridged before strapping my guitar to my back and heading off for Camden Town on the bus. Picked up a coffee from Pret, then walked up Parkway. Ten pupils turned up today. Worked on chord progressions and substitutions in the key of Em. Retired to the cafe afterward. Liz mentioned that she plays ukulele at The Lamb on Holloway Road every Monday night...we'll have to go down to take a look. Picked up a tray of sushi from World Foods, then caught a bus home. Ate my lunch at the dining table...Aki lunching at the cafe next door to the Rowing Club. Aki back mid afternoon. Early dinner...ate the last of the cooked chicken with the kedgeree and some vegetables, then hopped on a No.91 bus with our instruments and headed for The Shaftesbury for our monthly session. Had a bit of an audience in the back room on this ocassion...a couple of Italian friends of George and Katherine, a couple with a young family, and three people who were trying to have a chat whilst eating their Sunday roast! By the time we finished, it had gone 2000. Walked back home in the company of Ben from No.38...he and his family are in the throes of consulting Islington Council's Planners about converting their house into two flat units. Hope they are more competent than the Parking Department! Watched some of 49Up before early bath and bed...

Saturday 3rd October 2026

Woke at 0730...got up and made the porridge, as I'd forgotten to make it last night. Went back to bed. Aki woke me at 0930 with a mug of tea. Margaret brought round a sachet of mouse poison bait and a chocolate mini egg! She has spotted him in her kitchen too! We walked to Highbury Fields for a coffee and a light lunch at Le Maison...it was rammed. Walked back up to Waitrose to do a shop, then back home. Watched 42Up. Warmed up some defrosted fish stew for dinner, which I served up with lentils and green beans. Nowt on telly...tried watching "Legally Blonde", which someone had recommended as being very funny...it barely raised a titter...gave up after half-an-hour. Early bath and bed...