Tuesday 21st July 2026

Woke around 0730 with back pain. Managed to nod back off, though. Got up around 1000. Aki had already cycled to the fishmonger on Essex Road and back by then! She departed for tai chi. Porridged. Vacuumed. Popped out to the GP to pick up a form prior to tomorrow's blood test at the Whittington. Walked over to buy a card for Colin and Trudi's 20th wedding anniversary at the little gift shop on Stroud Green Road. Hooked up with Aki and Gayu outside No.38...went in for our lunch, courtesy of Ben, who was labouring in the kitchen with a potato omelette. We ate outside in the back garden. They showed us plans for the conversion of their house into two flats...they will lose half their rear garden to the new galley kitchen. Phoned ma and pa...Kath picked up. She said that mum's blood test results had come back normal, so she's to concentrate on finishing her course of antibiotics. Ankle still swollen. Aki prepared food ahead of the arrival of our guests. Sabrina and Tom showed up around 1800, as arranged. I don't know them very well...Sabrina is a retired social worker, while Tom worked for the Probation service. They have a profoundly deaf son, who, astonishingly, learned to speak Japanese, and spent four years in Tokyo teaching English as a foreign language! Aki had done a proper Japanese spread with lots of raw fish, scallops, crispy raw vegetables, rice, and soup. Sabrina wolfed it down! Tom didn't seem quite as keen. They had left by 2030...