Friday 12th September 2025

Woke around 0900. Belly painful after yesterday’s walking. Numbness in my heels for some bizarre reason. Got up…Aki had made tea. Porridged at the dining table. Aki departed for town…meeting up with Tammy for lunch and art at the National Gallery. Listened to music and did a bit of doom scrolling. Made a tuna salad for lunch. Aki returned around 1500, dodging the showers. Abdominal pain showing no signs of retreating. Kath phoned from High View to pass on the news that dad had signed a contract to have his novel published...on further examination, this turned out to be via vanity publishing house, Austin MacCauley, who were stinging him for £4,000 for the privilege! Dad seems happy with the prospect...I just hope he's not counting on getting any of his money back. Aki had bought some Greek style pork shoulder for dinner, which we ate with black beans, rice and vegetables. Watched "Sing Street"...a third rate coming of age movie surrounding a young Dublin schoolboy who finds escape from a traumatic school and home life through forming a band with some random school mates...not a patch on either "Once", nor "The Commitments"...

Thursday 11th September 2025

Slept through until 0800…a sign of progress at long last! Got up and made tea. Porridged at the computer. Finished filing my phone photo collection. Aki made soup for lunch. Took a semi-shower in the bath tub. Aki went out to fulfil a dental appointment…I followed shortly thereafter to attend the GP surgery. The nurse removed my wound dressing. She seemed to think it was healing well, but applied a new dressing, suggesting I come back on Monday. Walked up to Tesco and bought some odds and ends. By the time I got home my belly felt painful. Aki was back when I got in…her dental application had gone to plan. She cooked dinner…ravioli with a tomato sauce, before heading off to No.120 for Book Club. 

Wednesday 10th September 2025

Managed to sleep through until 0545. Had to get up to use the facilities…it remains an agonising manoeuvre, which sets my day up very negatively. Made tea and sat at the computer for a bit. Aki got up at 0800. Porridged at the dining table. Feel very tired this morning…could happily sleep standing up, but for the risk of falling over! Aki cycled off to Rowing Club, hoping to dodge the showers. Watched a panto on YouTube which had been produced at the Old Vic about 20 years ago, and screened on ITV…pinching ideas for audience participation. Aki back for lunch. She put an egg and halloumi salad together. Sat about working on moving photos about on my iCloud apps. Aki warmed up the remains of the salmon and couscous meal we'd had the other night, for dinner. Watched the new Mitchell and Webb sketch show on C4...the production values are very high...beautifully lit and shot, but the material is patchy...though we very much enjoyed the airport security gate staff!!! Felt generally a bit more comfortable for most of the day, though getting pain in the abdomen again come the evening. Hope tomorrow's appointment with the nurse moves things on in a positive direction...

Tuesday 9th September 2025

Woke around 0515…dozed until 0600…my back too uncomfortable to sustain a much needed lie-in. Got up and made tea. Sat at the computer for a bit before porridging. Aki got up around 0830. Listened to music and tried to nod off at the dining table. Put a chicken salad lunch together. Aki cycled off to Clerkenwell to look at tiles…we’ve decided to abandon the shower tray commission, and instead go for wedi board and a large, quartered, non-slip tile. It hailed while she was out and about! She returned home via Waitrose. Pasta and a tomato sauce with meatballs for dinner. Cheese and biscuits for afters. Watched England thrash Serbia. In much discomfort this evening…not looking forward to trying to lie down in bed…

Monday 8th September 2025

Managed to sleep through until 0500. Too uncomfortable to stay in bed so got up and made tea, and sat at the computer. Nodded off a bit in the chair. Belly remains very sore. Can’t help feeling that I’ve popped my stitches every time I’m forced to engage my stomach muscles! Porridged and downed my opioids for breakfast. Sat about trying to make the hours go faster, with little success. Aki made lunch. I phoned the GP…made an appointment with the nurse to have my dressing removed on Thursday. Aki made a dal to have with a defrosted chicken korma for dinner. Filled an hour or so by downloading Amazon’s photo storage app…unlimited storage means I can start deleting photos currently stored on my iPhone…

Sunday 7th September 2025

Woke around 0215 in great discomfort…very painful having to utilise my stomach muscles to get out of bed. Sat at the computer for a bit, killing time, before nodding off fitfully in the office chair. Couldn’t face going back to bed so killed time reading the BBC website on the iPad. Porridged at 0830 so as to take an opioid. Aki got up around 0900. I sat at the dining table for the rest of the morning trying not to move. Aki cycled off to Rowing Club. I prepared lunch before she returned…had mine on my own as I needed to take my opioid with food. Now in constant pain…feel as if I’ve been run through with a Samurai sword! Somehow got through a long afternoon. Aki cooked salmon for dinner. Kath FaceTimed from High View where they were marking mum and dad’s 68th wedding anniversary with chicken tikka masala. Listened to the US Open tennis final between Alcaraz and Sinner…start delayed by security checks as Trump decided to show up…

Saturday 6th September 2025

Woke around 0245 needing the loo…absolute agony rolling out of bed. Walked around the living room for a bit, too terrified to try and lie down again! Sat at the computer and did a bit of work reconciling the Rapunzel script…managed to nod off for a bit a couple of times, in the chair. Aki appeared around 0945. Feeling in constant discomfort now. Aki prepared a late brunch. Sat about waiting in vain for the dreaded bowel movement!!! Aki persuaded me into bed before she cycled off into town to run a couple of errands. Managed to get a couple of hours sleep. She brought me tea and a fruit salad once she’d returned, all of which I managed to consume whilst lying in a prone position! Dozed until dinner time…Aki cooked a tasty pork stir fry. Managed a bowel movement at last. Got back into bed and got some shut-eye…

Friday 5th September 2025

Woke at 0215 needing the loo...very painful rolling out of bed. Managed to get back to sleep, though...slept through to 0815. Aki already up readying herself for Rowing Club. I got up and porridged as she cycled off. Listened to the radio and exercised by walking around the living-room a few times, as if in the prison yard. The painkillers don't seem to be doing much, though I guess there's an argument that things would be worse if I didn't take them...one of them is an opioid...if I run out I can probably get some off the drug dealer on the street outside the front door! Sat at the computer for a bit to work on LPAs for dad...emailed him some queries. Also emailed Will, saying he could stand down as my executor, having recently drawn up a fresh will. Aki back for lunch. She cycled off afterward to her hairdresser on Essex Road. I had a doze in bed and listened to 6Music. Very painful getting out of bed to sit at the dinner table. Still no sign of a bowel movement…constipation on top of this would probably finish me off! Aki warmed up Spanish chicken pie from freezer, served up with plenty of vegetables. Started reading the panto script…it’s not very good…if Sorrel wanted to direct a traditional panto she really could have chosen a trad panto storyline…Dick Whittington, Cinderella, Mother Goose. Very tired by 2300…rolled into bed, an act that is becoming increasingly painful!!!

Thursday 4th September 2025

Woke at 0245 with uncomfortable back pain…had to get up and do some stretches. Doesn’t bode well for my hernia op recovery!!! Managed another couple of hours sleep eventually. Aki drove me to the Whittington for 0700. Surprised to find so many people on the waiting area…there weren’t enough seats, and the reception desk hadn’t opened! Got my name called around 0730 and walked in to the treatment centre. A couple of Filipino nurses took my details ahead of a visit from the Indian anaesthetist. 

The surgeon, Dr Rama, also introduced himself and explained I would be having open surgery, which involves pushing the hernia back in and sewing up the hole! I’m first up. Anaesthetic involved the usual general anaesthetic. They took me down to theatre at 0800 on foot. They decided not to add a spinal anaesthetic, as it meant keeping me in overnight, though they numbed the belly with a local. Came round at about 1100 and was wheeled back up to recovery. Given tea and a marmalade sandwich, which I had to make myself. Passed water, as instructed…got message from Aki saying new furniture had been delivered, and old furniture taken away…Tom from No.99 took the armchair. 

Aki came to get me in the car. New furniture looks great…parked myself in the armchair for the rest of the afternoon. Downed my painkillers, but feeling sore, especially when I cough! Kept myself hydrated. Aki cooked a chicken and mushroom broth for dinner. Managed to stay awake until The Ten. Can't bath, as I'm not to get the dressing wet, so climbed painfully into bed around 2300. Don't know if it's the fact of the earlier cough, or that the anaesthetics are wearing off, but the wound is very sore, especially when engaging the surrounding musculature in getting into or out of a chair, or into and out of bed...hoping I haven't coughed the stitches out!

Wednesday 3rd September 2025

Got up around 0800 and made tea. Porridged. The Ebay auction on the sofa ended without a sale, so I crossed the road to the British Heart Foundation second hand furniture store, and they agreed to come by to collect it tomorrow. They wouldn't take the armchair, as they reckoned the re-upholstery job invalidated any fire safety certification. I put it on Gumtree for £0 in the hope that someone would turn up to take it away. Spoke to the Bolton-based bespoke shower tray people...looks like we are going to go with them...slightly less sophisticated than the Woking bunch, but considerably cheaper. Did some gardening out front ahead of my incapacitation, and Aki moved her plant pots to one side to facilitate the exit/entry of various bits of furniture over the next day or two. Moved the sofa over to the other side of the room just in case the new one turns up tomorrow before the old one has been shipped out! Made a chicken salad lunch. Did some exercising. Signed up to Freecycle and stuck the armchair on there in the hope that someone would get back to me today. Cooked Jamie Oliver's meatball traybake for dinner, with tagliatelle. Spent most of the evening trying to get someone interested in taking the armchair off our hands for free...got some interest from the Denizens...see what happens. Back causing me some gip…I overdid it today on the chores! Early bath and bed...set the alarm for 0530…

Tuesday 2nd September 2025

Woke at 0745. Got up and made myself tea. Ebay auction of the armchair ended last night with no bids…messaged a bloke on Gumtree who had offered £100 a couple of weeks ago saying he could have it for £75…getting desperate now! Aki cycled off to the fishmongers before returning to cook omelette for lunch. I did the vacuuming. I walked across to Morrison’s and then Waitrose to do a small shop for ingredients for tomorrow night’s dinner. Did my exercises. Aki made poke bowls for dinner with sashimi and rice. Kath phoned just as we were about to sit down to eat...she'd taken dad to the eye hospital for pre-cataract procedures, and he'd had to put eye drops in, which had made everything blurry. Hopefully he'll get procedured within the month! Nowt on telly. Early bath and bed...

Monday 1st September 2025

Slept through until 0900. Got up and porridged. Invoiced Savills for the work I’d done in August. Aki popped out to the dentist…they ordered her a new bespoke retainer. Kath FaceTimed from High View. Dad at eye hospital tomorrow. Lunched on tinned fish and salad. We took a walk up Camden Road to Bread by Bike, to buy bread, and bought some pasta in the Italian deli. Managed to miss the rain. Walked home via Tufnell Park Road. Aki cooked a mushroom risotto for dinner. Watched a bit of telly…not much of interest on though. Bath and bed…

Sunday 31st August 2025

Woke around 0800 after a good night's sleep. Got up and made tea. Did some exercises...my back hurting a bit after yesterday's car journey. Aki got up and picked tomatoes out front before doing a little work at the computer. I cooked breakfast. Drove over to Stamford Hill and parked up…walked down to the river and along the towpath to the Rowing Club. They were holding a regatta. Caught up with a few club members, and walked the length of the course. I’ve never found it a particularly invigorating spectacle, but I enjoyed an ice cream. We headed for Waitrose in Holloway to do a shop before they closed. Cooked a roast chicken dinner. Nowt on telly. Early bath and bed…