Tuesday 5th October 2021

Fitful night's sleep. Woken about 0300 by the sound of rain hammering the bedroom roof above my head...went on for about two hours...never heard anything like it! Got up at 0800. No sign of the flooding I expected when I opened the living-room shutters. Some flooding reported in west London, though. Aki called to say her mum showing signs of decline this morning. She was able to stay with her in her room for longer than usual, and keep an eye on her. I worked at the computer until lunch time. Popped out for some milk, and bought some takeaway lunch at Girasole. Wandered past the petrol station, which has been re-fuelled. Small queue developing in the street. Aki called during lunch. She's been trying to prepare some text and photos in memory of her mum if and when the time arrives. Got a bit tearful, but it's good that she's there to guide her mum through it, should it come to that. Did some guitar practise, then a bit more work at the computer screen. 

Headed off for Stoke Newington in the motor around 1715. Very slow getting through Finsbury Park for some reason. I've only got 50 miles worth of petrol left. Got to Stoke Newington in good time, and was lucky to find a parking space on Alkham Road. Picked up a bottle of water and some tissues at the corner shop. About 10 people turned up for the audition for The Court Must Have a Queen, including Martin South, who I had last seen giving his Hamlet at the old Tower Theatre forty years ago! He made an excellent Henry VIII, and Simona and I agreed on that, and a chap called Nick Hall to play Cromwell. It was great to be in a little rehearsal room with a bunch of actors mucking about. There was a rather strange chap called Stephan, dressed in black with a fifties beatnik style hat and glasses who wanted to have a go at Cromwell. He played him as if he were Peter Sellars in Dr. Strangelove...I nearly got a fit of the giggles. Drove home via Sainsburys at Manor House, someone having mentioned that they were opening for petrol at night rather than during the day to avoid clashing queues with the store. But they had run out of fuel...I tried the BP garage at the top of Hornsey Rise, but they were dry, as was the petrol station behind our flat, which had had some at lunchtime! Missed my chance...only got 40 miles worth left now! Spoke to Louise on the phone...she wanted to know how Aki was getting on, so I updated her. I asked how her flat purchase was going, and she said she had decided to pull out, as she felt on second viewing that the flat was way too small. But then her landlady rang, who has been renting her flat out to Lou while she and her fella sailed around Britain; they have decided to sell up, so Louise is going to buy the flat off her. All's well that ends well! Read some Rachel Cooke before bath and bed...