Monday 26th October 2026

Alarm at 0745. Dozed for half an hour then got up to make tea. Gary and Mark showed up. I went up the scaff rig to inspect some dodgy brickwork at second floor level. May need to get the front re-pointed!!! Noticed Lynne's timber window sills are rotten. Pottered about for a bit. Raining again, so trapped in the flat for the morning. Put a sardine salad lunch together. Gary and Mark knocked off early as they had errands to run. We headed into Covent Garden mid-afternoon...to see "Fatherland" at the Garden Cinema. It follows the author Thomas Mann and his daughter as they return to Germany from exile after WWII. Beautifully shot in black and white. Very short for a movie...about an hour and a quarter, but it had emotional heft. Glorious! Caught a No.91 bus back home. I cooked up some tortelloni with a garlic and mushroom sauce. Watched 70Up...rather moving final episode, the director Michael Apted having passed away five years ago. They managed a final interview with Nick, the farmer's lad from Skipton, three days before he died. An amazing document...