Monday 16th January 2023

Woke to alarm at 0730 but too weary to rise before 0830! I made us tea, and porridged while Aki sourced another quote for boiler replacement ...it came in £250 cheaper than the guy we spoke to yesterday, but the guy we spoke to yesterday can install it this Wednesday, so we went with him. I drove off to pick Leon up from Upton Park...traffic in Finsbury Park was at a standstill, so got there about 30 minutes later than usual. Stopped for coffee at Tesco in Barking, and ate lunch on a Council Estate in Plaistow, sitting in the car. Ended the day in a 22-storey tower block in Plaistow, which afforded views of Canary Wharf in the gloaming. Dropped Leon at Plaistow tube station, and turned for home. Aki cooked mushroom and anchovy pasta sauce for dinner, followed by apple crumble and custard. Watched the final two episodes of Jez Butterworth's "Mammals"...intriguing creation, as we suddenly went back in time to 1920s Paris, in the febrile mind of one of the characters, and the final frames consisted of a humungous hump back whale landing in chic west London street! Colin Yates phoned for a brief chat, and to invite us down to Hove for a late Burns supper on 28th...