Saturday 29th August 2026

Woke around 0900. Got up and did a little packing, before descending for tea and cereal. Jim and Emma had gotten back from A&E at around 2315 last night...Emma diagnosed with chronic constipation! Ouch! Jim drove her off to County Durham...where she's due to attend her daughter's hen night! I walked down to The Broadway to buy a couple of items from the Co-op, and enjoyed a coffee on the bench outside the disused church opposite. Got home and put some lunch together. Suddenly realised I had left dad's VirginMoney card in the card reader...rang the Co-op, and they said someone had handed it in...went down in the car once Jim had returned, taking mum with me, who fancied a change of scene. Put some diesel in the motor, then drove down to the village to buy some groceries from Waitrose, and from Dobbies, before heading back to High View. Had time for a cuppa tea with ma and pa before Jim drove me to Callerton Parkway to get the Metro into town. Had plenty of time on the station concourse to hunt for food to eat on the train journey. Caught the 1724 back to KX. Got in about 15 minutes behind schedule for some reason. Aki was entertaining some gals from Rowing Club, so I sauntered up York Way for a lager in the Lincoln Arms, a rather grotty little pub opposite KX station. Then caught a No.91 bus to Holloway. The girls were just winding things up when I got in...Kim, Kearsey, and Ellie. They'd had a good chinwag. from what I could deduce, and Aki tidied up once they'd departed, while I unpacked. Watched MOTD before shower, and bed...

Friday 28th August 2026

Woke at 0530 with rooffret! Managed to get some rather fitful sleep thereafter, but not much! Got up at 0900 and descended for tea and porridge in the company of ma and pa. Spent some time at the laptop doing roof-fretting things. Drove down to Waitrose to do a bit of shopping. Came back to High View and put lunch together. Jim drove Emma off to A&E...she has been suffering with pains in her legs. FaceTimed Aki, who was in Lynne's flat with a bloke from SNK Roofing. Watched a bit of telly with mum...discovered dad outside clearing foliage beneath the living-room window! Went out to assist...ended up up a ladder, chopping bits off of a large shrub that had been allowed to climb up the external wall. Heated up a chicken curry that had been defrosting in the fridge for a couple of days...went down well. Watched a bit of telly before retiring, exhausted! No sign of Jim and Emma...

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!