Sunday 27th September 2026

Fitful night's sleep, for some reason...back giving me a bit of gip, so got up around 0730. Got back into bed with a mug of tea, and read for half-an-hour. Got up and readied myself for guitar class. Aki up by the time I left for Camden Town. Picked up a coffee at Pret on Camden High Road, and read a little Dickens before ambling round the corner to Cecil Sharp House. One or two extra people this week...bloke who sat next to me was good. He let me share his music stand. It was all a bit slow going again today, given the fact that some people are absolute beginners, but I'm enjoying learning a new tune. Half-a-dozen of us sat about in the cafe afterward, and I joined the WhatsApp Group. Headed home to put the chicken in the oven. Aki back from rowing club in time for Sunday roast. I then took a couple of buses to Stoke Newington. George Savona, curating the Poetry Evening, wanted to hear everyone deliver their material. Had to wait my turn, as he was seeing people one-by-one. Had a couple of hours to kill before the show, so wandered up Church Street...bought a chicken salad pot from Whole Foods and went back to the theatre to eat it. Bumped into Sorrel and some of the panto gang, who were having their first read-through this afternoon...they haven't cast a Daddy Bear, so said I'd consider it, and took a copy of the script to read. It's not great...the first half feels very patchy. Daddy Bear doesn't look too exacting, though. See what Aki thinks! Aki turned up around 1840, and took her seat in the studio with Kathleen from No.49. I opened the evening with a delivery of Poem For Live8. Some very enjoyable contributors over the course of the evening...I especially enjoyed renditions of Philip Larkin, John Betjemen, and a piece from Webster's "Duchess of Malfi". I ended the second half with "Now Westlin' Winds"...I dried on the opening line! But got through it, eventually!!! We gave Kathleen a lift home to Sussex Way. Showered and bed...

Saturday 26th September 2026

Slow start this morning. Got up and made tea before porridging. Kath had left a text message last night saying that the boiler at 12 High View had packed up, and they needed the NBS passbook ASAP. I popped over to the Post Office and sent it by Special Delivery...hopefully it'll get there in one piece by Monday lunch time. Also decided to send Kath the NBS Power of Attorney forms so that she could get herself sorted once and for all. Will post them out on Monday. I wandered over to Waitrose after lunch to buy a chicken for tomorrow's roast. Headed for the Harringay Ladder late afternoon...couldn't get on a No.29 bus, as it was packed, so hopped on a bus to Finsbury Park and caught the overground to Hornsey. The train was rammed...must be a gig on at Ally Pally or something! Walked Aki down the New River, which brought us out at the top of Beresford Road. Kearsey and Kieron hosted another dinner party. Shelly, our chauffeur from Sicily, turned up, amongst others. We repaired to the back garden after gnocchi, and ice cream doused in Bourbon! Sat about chatting, though I found myself next to Dee, who is very bright, but is ADHD and then some!!! It gets a bit wearing after a while. Made our escape around 2100, and walked down to the bus stop on Green Lanes to catch a No.29 bus home. 

Friday 25th September 2026

Aki up early to ready herself for rowing club. By the time I got up to make tea, she had cycled off. Brought porridge back to bed with me and read some "Dagga". Katrina texted to say her copy had turned up in the post! I did a little gardening...Margaret turned out to be in her back garden, and joined in with a bit of pruning of the jasmine, so I could get through the gate between our two properties. Did a little out front, too. Aki back for lunch...put together a sardine salad with poached eggs. Headed into town...visited the Photographer's Gallery, and their Japanese Women Photographers 1950-Now exhibition. Some of the more abstract stuff was worth a look, but otherwise nothing much to get excited about. Particularly liked the photo of a hat made out of fish. Then headed for Earlsfield, via Vauxhall...Tami and Franco threw a welcome dinner for Midori and Dan, old chums who have moved into the flat they rent out attached to their house. Sat about in the garden chatting and enjoying some nibbles, then moved inside for a sumptuous Japanese feast that Tami, Midori, and Aki cooked up in the kitchen...it was very impressive...and very tasty! Got home around 2300. Bumped into Sush outside, unloading his van...he and Rebecca are due to fly out to Cyprus for ten days tomorrow, so he didn't want to leave any valuable tools in the van. Managed to get him to tell me where the fusebox for the external consent is, so the roofer can detail around it properly. Had to listen to him burbling on for half-an-hour though before I was able to extricate the information! Aki was in bed by the time I got in...

Thursday 24th September 2026

Woke around 0900. Got up and brought tea back to bed with me, but was interrupted by a call from Matthew at work...inspections needed out Chelmsford way in the coming week. Well, I badly need the cash! Finished Clare Tomalin's biography of Dickens...some interesting stuff in her postscript, detailing his daughter Katey's efforts to right the record in respect of how badly Dickens treated his wife, her mother. She describes him as "a wicked", but wonderful, man! Did a little prep work at the laptop before lunch. Put a ham and egg salad lunch together. Did some mandatory Savills compliance training online. Wandered over to Waitrose to buy some pork fillet for tonight's dinner, taking a long circular walk down to Highbury Fields and back along the way. Aki cooked a pork stir fry with rice noodles for dinner. Watched three episodes of "Widow's Bay" before bath and bed...

Wednesday 23rd September 2026

Woke around 0900. Got up and brought tea back to bed...read my Dickens biography for a bit before rising to porridge. Carried on reading until lunchtime. Message from RoofPro saying they were cancelling tomorrow's work, as they were struggling to put a team together. Not amused! Chicken salad for lunch. Ventured out for an afternoon walk...made our way across to Parliament Hill Fields. Sat on a bench for a bit watching the world go by, then walked down to Gospel Oak station to catch a train back to Upper Holloway. Walked back down the Holloway Road, popping in to Sainsburys on the way. Bumped into Jane outside No.36...she was carrying a bunch of flowers ahead of Carlos's birthday celebrations tomorrow. Aki warmed up the last of the tandoori chicken, which we ate with rice and lentils. Watched "Widow's Bay"...it went back in time to 1702 so no Matthew Rhys in this episode...it's not so funny without him! Bath and bed...

Tuesday 22nd September 2026

Woke around 0400. Managed to nod back off fairly readily. It was gone 0900 when I next came to. Aki still dozing. I got up and made myself tea, and climbed back into bed with Clare Tomalin, or rather, her Dickens biography. Got up and porridged. Sat about reading until lunchtime ...warmed up some lentil soup I'd rescued from the freezer. Tastier than I recalled. Walked over to Tesco at Stroud Green to get some supplies. Cooked a pasta alle Norma for dinner, with one of Aki's homegrown aubergines. Went down well. Watched "Till The Stars Come Down" on the National Theatre At Home streaming device. The Tower are mounting a production of it next spring, and Kathleen from No.49 had seen the National production, and claimed it was hilarious, so it piqued my interest. But the two older men haven't got much to say, though one of them amusingly recreates a Tarzan competition he entered as a youth, but nothing in it for me...a lot of women shouting at each other most of the time. 

Monday 21st September 2026

Woke around 0600. Got up and re-arranged my pillows, and got back into bed...managed to doze until around 0900. Got up and made tea. Aki still feeling a bit rough. I spent all morning in bed reading "Hard-Boiled", determined to get the Murakami finished so that I could drop it off at the Library this afternoon. Finished just in time for lunch. It was a great read...very imaginative...looking forward to seeing the stage adaptation next month. Warmed up Aki's chicken broth for lunch. Walked down to Islington Council Offices on Upper Street, popping the book in at the Central Library on the way. Stopped for a decaf at Coffee Republic...nothing to write home about. I went to LBI enquire as to the whereabouts of half-a-dozen All-Day parking permits I'd ordered three weeks ago...I was given a number, 68, and waited my turn. I raised an eyebrow when, after nearly an hour waiting, number 69 was called! I made a polite protestation and got seen...it seems they can't even get the queue organised with any degree of competence! Suffice to say, my wait was a complete waste of time...nobody around to help in the Parking Department...the guy dealing with me managed to get hold of someone working from home, who was eventually able to track my payment down...but I was sent away empty handed, and told to fill in an Indemnity Form stating it was true that the effing things hadn't turned up in my letterbox. Caught a bus back to Holloway. Popped in to Waitrose to get some odds and ends, then walked home. Aki cooked up the M&S tandoori chicken for dinner, with rice and vegetables. I ventured out...headed for Stoke Newington via two buses, to attend the Tower Theatre AGM. Got there about half-an-hour early...rather than stand about talking nonsense to all and sundry, I popped round to the gelato shop on Church Street for my pudding! Not quite up to Sicilian standards, but went down well...it was rather warmer out than I'd anticipated. The theatre was about half full...which meant only about 50 people had turned up, which I thought was a rather poor turnout. Amanda announced that she would be standing down as AD in December, and Dom, who had played the Dame in last year's panto, would be stepping into the breach! All seemed to be on track financially, and audiences had been well up across the year, most notably for the panto, which Sorrel and Dom are leading again this year.