Saturday 4th July 2026

Woke around 0830. Got up and made tea...repaired back to bed to watch highlights of the Argentina v Cape Verde game on my phone...astonishingly, Cape Verde came back to equalise to force extra time, went down 2-1, then scored a dazzling equaliser, only to concede an own goal late on...what a journey they've been on! Got up and porridged.  Walked up to Tesco on Stroud Green Road then wandered over to M&S in Finsbury Park to pick up Aki's click and collect dress. Aki made ramen for lunch. Watched some tennis from Wimbledon. The last Brit standing, young Arthur Fery, came through a five set epic to reach the last sixteen, where he'll take on the remarkable Grigor Dimitrov, who looks like a man possessed...he's desperate to exorcise the catastrophe that befell him at Wimbledon last year when he was two sets up on Sinner. Made a tagine with meatballs, couscous and vegetables for dinner. Watched Morocco hammer the Canadians 3-0 to reach the last sixteen, and then France v Paraguay...the Paraguayans never looked like scoring, and came out of it all looking distinctly unprofessional. Good riddance to them...showered and got to bed around 0030.

Friday 3rd July 2026

Got up and watched highlights of last night's games whilst porridging on the sofa. Aki cycled off to Rowing Club. Watched some action from Wimbledon. Aki back in time for lunch. Headed into town...took the overground from Finsbury Park to Blackfriars, and ambled through the crowds to the Tate Modern. 

Got through the first three rooms of the Frida Kahlo exhibition before seeking out Midori and Dan, who texted us to say they were in the Member's Bar. Sat out on the north balcony and had ice cream, a drink, and a catch-up. Descended to the Switch House to take a look at Julio Le Parc's playful light installations. Browsed the Gift Shop before walking slowly to Meson de Philipe in The Cut for a slap up tapas dinner. We were a bit concerned to find three fire engines parked up outside with lights flashing...I asked the Maitre D if they had overdone the caramelised onions...turned out it was the flat above, but all had been successfully sorted, and the engines departed one-by-one. Dan and Midori have arranged to move in to Tami and Franco's granny flat in Earlsfield for a generously low rent. We vowed to come visit once they've settled in. 

Thursday 2nd July 2026

Woke around 0800 with the usual back pain. Got up and made tea. Watched the highlights of the US win over Bosnia...they face Belgium in the last 16, so could well get through to the semi-finals! Porridged. No word from RoofPro about doing the roof repairs next week. Not very encouraging, as it's looking a bit grey out there today. Did some wisteria pruning out front...the sun came out and made it very hot work. Put some lunch together. We ventured in to town. Popped in to John Lewis's on a very busy Oxford Street to look at wall clocks, as Aki's pride and joy has started to falter. Took a look in IKEA too, but couldn't find anything we fancied. Repaired to M&S...Aki wanted to try on a couple of denim dresses, but came away with nothing. Zigzagged our way down toward Piccadilly to buy some items from the Japanese grocery shop, then headed for home. Aki cooked salmon for dinner. Watched Spain defeat Austria to progress to the last 16...

Wednesday 1st July 2026

Woke around 0730 with back pain. Aki got up to ready herself for Rowing Club. She brought me a mug of tea. She'd cycled off by the time I got up. Porridged with Louise before she packed her bags and headed off. Caught up with Lynne...she had asked if Fraser could borrow our car, so I got a bit more detail...he has a couple of hair-dressing jobs up Kings Langley way, ahead of a wedding, and usually borrows Max's car, but he has leant that to someone else on the required date. I said I'd think about it and phone Fraser later. Discussed roofing problems...she's made contact with a couple more roofers in the hope of getting some more quotes in. Watched some tennis from Wimbledon. Aki back for lunch. England kicked off their Round of 32 game with DR Congo at 1700...and were 1-0 down by half time. Djed Spence had a poor game, and things didn't look up until he was replaced by Anthony Gordon, who set up both of Harry Kane's late goals. Kath sent us a rather grim photo of mother's infected right ankle, which has swelled up and looks very angry. The GP reckoned her skin is so thin and dry that it is easily split and open to possible infection. She's been on antibiotics since this morning, so hopefully she can keep on top of things! Warmed up the last of the chicken cacciatore for dinner, with orzo and plenty of vegetables. More tennis from Wimbers. Djokovich was awesome in crushing Tsitsipas. Watched Senegal lose a 2-0 with 5 minutes to go as Belgium came back from the dead...nodded off on the sofa during extra time, only to wake up to find Belgium scoring a winner from the penalty spot...gone midnight when I got to bed!

Tuesday 30th June 2026

 

Reasonably good night's sleep, though plagued by the usual back ache come the morning. Got up around 0900 and descended to find Sylvie preparing the breakfast table in the living-room. Cereal, followed by scrambled egg on toast, followed by whisky marmalade on toast...we got the five star treatment! Took a taxi to Stoke station and boarded a train for Stafford. 

Strolled through Victoria Park and had a browse around the Ancient High House, an impressive four-storey timber framed building on the High Street. Enjoyed lunch in the Soup Kitchen near St Mary's church before heading for the Gatehouse Theatre to see Sean O'Callaghan in "Richard III". Bumped into Howard Jacobson, an actor I'd met during my "Good Golly" run...he was bound for the same venue. James and Anne were awaiting us in the foyer. The production was hamstrung by the decision to set it in 1920s Peaky Blinders land, a pub named The Crown frequented by low class criminals...but since the characters were all aristocratic elite, it really didn't work. Good performances all round...we particularly enjoyed Sean in drag as the hag-like Queen Margaret, widow of the murdered Henry VI, who curses the House of York! Had a brief catch up with Sean in the foyer afterward, before we all parted company...Paul, Sylvie, James and Anne headed back to Stoke, and we wandered around the town centre looking for somewhere to dine. It was all rather underwhelming, so we ended up buying a couple of salad bowls from M&S to eat on the train back to London. Had a quick drink in The Picture House and watched some of the Ivory Coast v Norway game on the big screen, before heading back to the station via Victoria Park. Not surprised to find our train to Euston was delayed by half-an-hour! Sat on Platform 1 and ate our salads, watching the rain pour down on the tracks. Got home around 2130 to find Louise about to retire for the night after a long day at her Arts Admin Conference. Aki showered. I stayed up to watch France demolish Sweden 3-0 before crashing for the night...

Monday 29th June 2026

Woke around 0730 with back ache...lay there for another hour or so trying to ignore the pain. Got up and porridged. Louise departed to meet a chum at The Premises studios in Hackney. Did my exercises. Packed a small bag. Early lunch, then headed for Euston to catch the 1347 to Stoke. Very busy, for some reason, but managed to bag seats. 

Train was 25 minutes late getting into Stafford, so we missed our connection to Stoke, and had to wait around for an hour...walked to the nearby Sainsburys and bought a bottle of wine to give to our hosts. Got to Paul and Sylvie's in Newcastle at around 1730 and sat out in the back garden with a cuppa tea. Aki disappeared into the house to watch Japan v Brazil. It was 1-1 at half-time, when we had to go to dinner...walked round to Basmati. James and Anne were already there. Enjoyed a convivial meal, then we all walked back to Florence Street for a night cap in the back garden. James and Anne left, and we repaired to the living-room. Aki showered and went to bed, but Paul and Sylvie looked up for drinking the night away! Sylvie nodded off on the sofa, and I made my excuses and went to bed...

Sunday 28th June 2026

 

Got up around 0900. Porridged. Aki cycled off to Rowing Club. I took Louise for a wander down Memory Lane...walked down Hornsey Road past The Tollington, Arthur Road where Richard Bealing and John Christie had lived back in the mid-80s, and past the Harvist Estate where Kerry and I had resided on the 11th floor of Hind House. Walked to Highbury Fields, then doubled back to Holloway Road and stopped for coffee at Pierre's. Walked on up the Holloway Road to what is now the London Metropolitan University campus, but was the Polytechnic of North London when we frequented the building...I met Lou on a production of "Twelfth Night" that the PNL Players took to Malta...Lou stage managed the London performances. We had hoped to go in and have a look at the old theatre, but the building was closed for the summer holidays. Walked back home a prepared lunch...Aki back in time to join us. We then hopped on a No.29 bus to Camden Town to go see Ivor Dembina at the Camden Head...I'd bumped into him at Tate Britain a couple of weeks ago, and he had flagged up that he was doing work in progress on a show called "Obituary", which he planned to take to Edinburgh Festival. We found him sitting in the bar with his friend Caroline, and he explained that as we were the only bookings he would give us our money back, but wanted to read us the material he'd put together so far...we refused the money, but acquiesced in attending his reading, which he did in the little upstairs venue. It was an intriguing 40 minutes...it's definitely not in advanced enough shape for an Edinburgh crowd, but he found the afternoon helpful, and we vowed to come see it again once he returned from the Festival. We caught a No.253 bus back to Holloway and walked down to Xian Impression for dinner. Back home to watch the first of the World Cup knockout games, Canada v South Africa...a pretty dull affair, though Canada managed a last gasp winner to go through to the last 16...don't think they'll go much further!