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...

Friday 2nd October 2026

Woke around 0730. Bad hernia repair giving me gip after yesterday's drive. Aki up to ready herself for Rowing Club. She brought me a mug of tea. I stayed in bed as long as I could. Porridged. Brought my laptop to bed with me and uploaded yesterday's photos, and wrote up my inspection sheets. Got up and started learning "Bring Me Sunshine" on ukulele, in anticipation of auditioning for the Tower Theatre's 2027 production of "The Good Companions". Aki back for soup for lunch. Sat about for most of the afternoon, though I managed to get an hour's work done before cooking dinner. Made a rice and lentil kedgeree, which I served with meatballs in a tahini sauce. Watched Celebrity Traitors. Amol Rajan was first for the chop! Aki spotted a mouse, which popped out from beneath the dishwasher, and ran back underneath when it heard Aki scream! I joined in, thinking Aki had spotted a large arachnid on my t-shirt! SPrayed the area beneath the dishwasher with peppermint rodent reppellant and went to bed...

Thursday 1st October 2026

Woke around 0700. Got up around 0800. Porridged. Cooked a chicken and vegetable broth. Set off on inspections at 0900...headed for Dagenham, then on to Purfleet. Stopped for lunch in Maldon...sat outside the Queens Head on the Hythe Quay and enjoyed a battered haddock burger and chips! A lot of large sailing boats moored up on the quay...with rigging and everything! Drove on to Great Baddow, and Chelmsford, then turned for home. Got in around 1800. Aki cooked a prawn risotto for dinner. Watched the first episode of Celebrity Traitors...very entertaining. Richard E. Grant was his usual livewire self! Bath and bed...

Wednesday 30th September 2026

Woke around 0330...didn't really manage to get back to sleep properly after that!!! Aki up early to ready herself for Rowing Club, but then decided she didn't feel too good, so stayed home. I lay in bed until about 1030 when I got up for porridge. Cooked Ottolenghi's roast tomato and lemon yoghurt for lunch, which we had with a poached egg, and toast. Did a little work at the laptop after lunch...Aki went back to bed. I cooked up a chicken and mushroom pasta sauce for dinner. Watched the last hour of 28Up...can't get over Neil...a bright and bubbly seven year old, but now a stuttering homeless man, tramping the hills and valleys of the west of Scotland, and living in a battered old caravan. Can't believe it's the same human being!