Saturday 6th June 2026

Woke at 0230...took a while to get back off to sleep, worrying about the leaking roof! Woke again at 0630 with some back pain, so sat up for an hour or so before nodding back off. Got up around 0930. Porridged. Did some exercises. Early dinner...warmed up a second portion of the moussaka. Headed for Tower Hill via Finsbury Park, and Kings Cross. I bought a sandwich and water at M&S for dinner after the reading. It was raining heavily when I emerged from Tower Hill tube station...I braved the wind and rain and crossed the road to the muster point outside All Hallows By The Tower, picking up a coffee from the Costa shop opposite. We sheltered under a large chestnut tree before filing in to the church as quietly as we could...the Wolf Hall Weekend event was underway in the main body of the church, so we were ushered upstairs to a small ante-room where we got settled before doing a speed run. The punters took a break in the adjoining cafe, allowing us to descend and familiarise ourselves with the rostra, our seating, and the acoustic of the church...there was a lot of natural reverb, which meant having to hit your consonants, and project...skills beyond some of our number, unfortunately. Our reading was preceded by a very interesting talk from a former RSC cast member...the play had been written for and performed by the RSC originally. We attacked the piece with pace, having to battle the acoustic, and the regular rumble of the Circle Line somewhere below our feet. We seemed to go down well. The bulk of the cast wandered across the square for dinner at the Chinese restaurant I'd recommended...I made do with my M&S sandwich and a Bakewell tart, then headed for the Hung Drawn & Quartered for a swift half...but on arrival found my phone, and thus my ability to pay for anything, had died. I hung around briefly to see if any other cast members showed up, then gave up and headed for home, walking up through the city to join the tube system at Liverpool Street. Got home around 2145. Listened to the Ladies singles final on playback...the Polish qualifier was easily beaten by a dominant Meera Andreeva, who lifted her first Grand Slam trophy at the age of nineteen. Briefly FaceTimed Aki...they had enjoyed a gala dinner this evening, ahead of the final morning's rowing tomorrow.

Friday 5th June 2026

Woke around 0630, but managed to nod back off. Woke again around 0745...got up and brought tea back to bed. Rose around 0900 and porridged. Spent another hour or so hand rolling pici...finally used up all the dough! Pottering about, I discovered a 3m long damp patch in the spare bedroom, atop the external wall, and on the ceiling! Great...just one thing after another!!! Early lunch. Listened to Zverev v Mensik in the first of the Men's singles semi-finals from Roland Garros. Did some exercises. Heated up a lamb moussaka for dinner, with lots of vegetables, before heading off to Stoke Newington on public transport. Got to the theatre in good time. Four or five people missing from this evening's run! But it went reasonably well, and we adjourned around 2115...made my way home. Got on a diverted bus, which seemed to go round in a big circle back toward Stoke Newington...got off and caught a bus from Green Lanes, changing at Manor House. FaceTimed Aki in her hotel room. They'd enjoyed today, but tomorrow's trip is under threat, as it's due to rain all day. Watched a bit of telly before retiring for the night...

Thursday 4th June 2026

Woke around 0530. Got up at 0615 and pottered about for a bit. Back actually not too bad, so don't know why I woke so early...seems to be becoming a bit of a thing! Climbed back into bed and sat up for awhile before eventually nodding off. Aki up by the time I awoke again at 0915. Got up and porridged. Did a bit of pruning of the wisteria out front before the rain started, then drove Aki up to Muswell Hill to hook up with her rowing pals...Shelley is driving her and Vicky up to Wroxham for their jolly on the Norfolk Broads. Drove back down to Holloway and dumped some stuff at the tip, then popped in to Waitrose to get provisions. Pizza for lunch, with torchon ham and salad. Listened to the Ladies Singles semi-final from Roland Garros...the Ukrainian Kostyuk v the Russian Andreeva. The match never quite took off as I'd anticipated, the Russian winning comfortably in two sets. The second semi-final between a Polish qualifier, and another Russian, was far more interesting...the qualifier had pocketed a long first set by the time I had to leave for Stoke Newington. Took a bus to Stamford Hill and walked down to Stoke Newington from there, it having stopped raining. This evening's rehearsal was treated as a dress, with a couple of invitees in the audience. Paul's Cromwell coming on a treat, but Tim's Gardiner still all over the shop...and Geoff's Kingston inaudible. It's going to prove a mixed experience for the paying punters on Saturday! I repaired next door to The Axe for a well-earned half of London Black before heading home...Aki sent photos of her base for the next three nights...Sprowston Manor...looks impressive!

Wednesday 3rd June 2026

Woke around 0430, and took a while to get back to sleep. Fitful night from there on in. Aki got up about 0830...I brought tea back to bed before rising around 1000. Porridged. Made, or rather tried, to roll my pici dough, but it was too brittle. Spent an hour or so getting virtually nowhere...lesson learned...buy dried pasta from the supermarket! Aki popped out to Waitrose for bread and leaf salad ahead of lunch. Another wet day out there! I put lunch together. Did some exercises. Tried mixing the chestnut flour dough with a white flour mix in a bid to save the day. Looked and felt better...left it to rest until tomorrow. Early dinner...warmed up Aki's chicken traybake, and added mashed potato. Kevin and Laurence from No.93 knocked us up at 1800, and we all headed off to Kennington to see a play at The White Bear...hadn't seen anything there for about 25 years! What attracted me on this occasion was the fact that the play has been directed by Simon Usher, an old favourite of mine. Partook of some exciting workshops he ran back in the mid 1980s. Got to the venue in good time to sit and have a beer before the show. The play was called "The Name", by a popular Norwegian playwright, John Fosse...it all took place in a living-room, and followed the relationships of family and lovers unable to communicate properly with each other...put across by the spare, absurdist dialogue...it was slight, but very good...John Fosse had evidently been reading his Ionesco. Aki and Laurence delighted in the lines "You never listen to me", repeatedly delivered by the young pregnant girl to her evidently disinterested boyfriend...both Kevin, and I, got the hard stare!

Tuesday 2nd June 2026

Woke around 0430 with numb forearms and hands...a condition I occasionally find myself in of a night, but usually only in one arm, which I've always assumed has been lain upon...obviously not the case this time! Woke again around 0730 with back ache. Sat up and doom-scrolled for a bit. Rose at 0915. Porridged. Raining heavily outside...forecast is for more of the same. Did some exercises. Read through my scenes in "The Mirror & The Light". Vacuumed. Put lunch together once Aki had returned from tai chi. Pottered about doing nothing very much in the afternoon as the occasional thunder storm rolled in. Aki spent most of her afternoon packing ahead of Thursday's rowing trip to the Norfolk Broads. Aki cooked a chicken risotto for dinner. Watched "The Blues Brothers" on the iPlayer...a cult movie of the 80s...what a load of codswallop! I enjoyed the cameos from the likes of James Brown, Ray Charles, and Aretha Franklin, but the film was complete and utter nonsense. Glad I didn't pay to see it when it came out!!!

Monday 1st June 2026

Woke around 0530. Got up at 0600, as my back giving me gip. Did some exercises. Aki rose around 0830 and watered her plants in the front garden. Porridged. Undertook the Imperial College health survey online, ahead of this afternoon's appointment in Belgravia. Popped across the road for some milk from Tescos...Hornsey Road, at southern junction with Seven Sisters Road, taped off by police. It seems there was a stabbing last night at around 2030...that explains the three ambulances that were stacked up outside our flat last night, spraying blue flashing lights into the living room. Broke into Lynne's flat and stuck my head out of her living-room windows in order to do a bit of wisteria pruning. Tidied up the front garden afterward. Aki put lunch together before she headed off to the dentist. I took the Victoria Line into Belgravia for my appointment on the dementia trial. Got to the Light Centre on time and got seen by a young Muslim gal, who took various measurements, a blood test, and a simple cognitive test. She said the blood test would be looking for markers for hereditary dementia, but that I wouldn't be informed either way, as I may be chosen as part of a control group. Walked over to Green Park tube station, via Buckingham Palace, and caught a train back to Finsbury Park. Cooked a prawn and creamy tomato linguine dinner, with vegetables. Watched "Is This Thing On", Bradley Cooper's movie about a bloke who's marriage splits, and he finds himself in downtown New York City looking for distraction...unwilling to hand over $15 to watch some club comedy, he signs up to do a five minute set, which is basically him ruminating on his marriage and where he finds himself...as his nascent stand-up career takes off, his estranged wife happens to see his act in a club when out on a date...and falls back in love with him...it's based on the true story of Liverpudlian comic, John Bishop...found it rather more moving than I was anticipating. A good watch!

Sunday 31st May 2026

Woke with back ache...got up and wandered about a bit before going back to bed and sitting up. Eventually managed to nod back off again. Alarm at 0800. Porridged. Decided to cycle in to Stoke Newington, as the buses I'd normally take aren't running due to the planned Arsenal Champions parade. The streets were already blocked off with barriers and wardens. Made my way around the back streets to Finsbury Park, then zig-zagged down to Clissold Park, which was also getting busy, as the route meets Green Lanes at that point. Got to the theatre in good time...bought a coffee at The Yellow Warbler over the road. We did more blocking on Act 2, then broke for lunch. I ate the remains of yesterday's focaccia sandwich on a shaded bench in Abney Park Cemetery...a pretty constant stream of people in Arsenal shirts went by. We finished blocking, and ran the whole thing...came in at about an hour per Act, but slow going as some of the more amateur amateurs in the cast hadn't properly written up their scripts with entrances and exits etc...what a bunch! How they one or two of them managed to get through the general company audition, I don't know! Repaired to The Axe next door for a swift half with a handful of cast members, before cycling home via a rather circuitous route, trying to avoid the crowds where I could...not too bad, until I got to the entrance of Finsbury Park...had to wend my way through the crowds, and the rubbish strewn streets. Got home in one piece, though. Aki had cooked a chicken traybake with peppers and tomatoes. Ice cream and bounty bar for afters. Watched Michael Portillo in Kyoto before looking out for young Barney Lister on Later With Jools...playing the bongos in the band behind Jessie Ware. He co-wrote and produced her new album, Superbloom. Fcukers were the best act on the show, though...the rest of the acts were rather bland.