Sunday 7th August 2022

Woke around 0830. Aki got up, as she wanted to go rowing, but I languished in bed for a bit, and read some "451". Got up and made porridge. Aki cycled off to Springfield Park. I did a bit of work at the computer, still trying to catch up with last week's work. Aki rang to say she'd stop in the park and have lunch with the rowers at the cafe, so I made my self a little salad with parma ham and avocado toast. Wanted to do a bit of DIY and put the hat rack up in the lobby, but I'd run out of plasterboard rawl plugs. Walked round to the little B&Q mini store in Holloway Road, but they didn't have any, and the DIY shop in Hornsey Road had shut, so I bought some ice cream in Tesco instead! Aki baked trout for dinner. Watched a bit of telly before bath and bed...

Saturday 6th August 2022

Woke around 0830. Left Aki snoring, and did some work at the computer, mug of tea in hand. Aki got up and cooked breakfast. Lovely day, so decided to walk up to the farmer's market at Yerbury school and buy some bread, then walked westward, ending up in Tufnell Park. Had our coffees in a shaded spot in the back yard of the Tufnell Park Tavern. Aki then headed off to Morrisons, and I walked home. Bumped into Dave from No.17...asked him how the new build was looking behind his house...he took me through to show me five terraced 3-storey units going up, at present just the steel frames. It's about 2m from their back garden wall, and their windows will look straight into Dave and Lou's back garden! Came home and put the washing on the line before Aki got back. I did a little more work, and we had a bite to eat...a slice of the fresh loaf, and some Fili cheese we'd bought on our sojourn in west Wales a couple of months back. Lounged about for most of the afternoon...when we went out front to look at the ever expanding wisteria, Lou and Dave walked past, and invited Aki in to take a look at the development abutting their rear boundary. As an invitation to partake of a cold beer was proffered, I followed. Spent a pleasant half hour in their little courtyard chatting about their road trip around Japan in a hired camper van. Came home a warmed up the lasagna for dinner, and watched a bit of telly before bath and bed...

Friday 5th August 2022

Bad night's sleep...woken around 0130 by the extractor fan in the bathroom making a sort of screeching drone-like noise...it went on for about an hour-and-a-half! I eventually got up and shut the bathroom door, then stuck a pillow over my head. The remainder of the night seemed to be taken up with vivid dream sequences...but I couldn't recall much on waking in the morning. The only snippet that resurfaced was as I walked out of a dark pedestrian tunnel into a verdant park, I happened to meet a lady dressed in white coming toward me...she had bare feet, and was holding her white shawl up to her face...when she got within two metres of me, she started walking backwards, maintaining the two metre gap, still holding the shawl to her face, and said "You look like a brown turd". Charming! Alarm at 0730. Went downstairs for breakfast, then packed up and checked out. Needed to get on the road fairly promptly. The inspections took me up the Tawe valley, then across the Heads of the Valley road and down to Porth, near Pontypridd, then on down to Barry. Got held up by a lorry fire just off junction 33 of the M4, so was a little behind schedule by the time I finished in Barry. Drove down to the beach at Barry Island to find some lunch. What a dump it is! Tatty old buildings barely more than shacks, a noisome fairground, and it was heaving. Had to walk the length of the Promenade to find the loos, then bought an uninspiring ham and cheese panini and a chocolate muffin for lunch. I was going to sit on a bench and brave the dive-bombing seagulls, but it was very windy, so I ate in the car in the car park, then set off for the M4 and home. Stopped for a brief rest stop at Reading services, and got home at 1900. Aki had cooked a tasty chicken tagine for dinner.

Thursday 4th August 2022

Woke to alarm at 0730. Got up and made tea, then showered. Decided to skip breakfast, and checked out. Headed for north Swansea, then on to Llanelli. Had lunch at the bistro on St Elli's Bay...fish finger burger with chips. Very nice. A good find, right on Llanelli Beach. Then it was back to Loughor, then Penclawdd on the Gower Peninsula, before doubling back to Gorseinon. Furthest flung stop was Penygroes on the way to Carmarthen...stopped briefly at the service station where the M4 stops and becomes the A48. Headed back to the Morriston area, then Clydach...found myself going past the end of Nigel's street, so turned up there for a quick cuppa tea, but they weren't home...found them up at the new pad doing work on the interior...Nige had been using a plasterboard lift to wedge the plasterboard to the ceiling joists before screwing them in place. Julie seemed very pleased with her new kitchen. I left them to it, and finished my Clydach inspections before heading back to Swansea, and booking in at the City Gates branch of Premier Inn. Sports news on R4 this evening had news that my actor mate Phil's son, Fred Wright, had won a silver medal on his bike at the Commonwealth Games! Dined across the road at Wagammama's...very disappointing. Returned to my room to upload photos etc. Aki rang....she had been helping cook dinner at the Rowing Club, part of their fund raising efforts. 

Wednesday 3rd August 2022

Woke a bit late, so got up and showered, and decided to skip breakfast. Did half an hour's work, but the internet connection is lousy in the hotel. Booked a room in the city centre Premier Inn for tomorrow night. Hopefully, they'll be better connected. Drove round the corner to the Starbucks at the Village Hotel. New parking restrictions there, so had to download an app and register to park. The minimum parking time was one day, which cost me £5.20. Complained to the receptionist, who told me it's free for the first 4 hours!!! She organised a free coffee and a croissant in recompense. Inspections took me up the valley toward Merthyr, and I lunched at a KFC joint on the A465. Then it was back down the valley to Neath, Briton Ferry, and Port Talbot, before ending the day in Winch Wen, and driving back to the hotel. Nige came to pick me up at 1930...Julie had decided to stay home, as she wasn't feeling too good. Nige and I went to Gigi's Chinese, which had got a good write up from Jay Rayner in The Guardian the other day. It's all a bit of a mess on the interior design front, but the food was simple and very tasty. I walked back to the hotel, and did some work. 

Tuesday 2nd August 2022

Woke at 0730. Got up and made tea. Porridge for breakfast. Got my things together, and packed the car, then headed for the M4. Stopped at Leigh Delamere services to pick up a coffee, and a wrap for my lunch. Drove on to Monmouth, then to Abergavenny, stopping at Raglan Castle to eat my lunch. Then it was down to Newport, Risca, and Blackwood. Weather was miserable...very wet, and a lot of spray on the faster roads. Long drive from Blackwood, down the Heads of the Valleys road, to Swansea. Booked in at the Waterfront hotel, my usual port of call. Dined at Rasoi, the Indian in the J Block a short walk from the hotel. Then back to write up my inspection notes, and upload photos. Aki FaceTimed me as I worked...she'd had a chat with her financial adviser, and was going to hold fire on putting her inheritance into shares...see what happens, as things very uncertain at present. 

Monday 1st August 2022

Woke around 0700 so got up and made some tea, and began work writing up some of last week's inspection sheets. Broke for porridge, then ploughed on. Aki had a zoom exercise class at 1000. She made cold noodle salad with a sesame soy sauce for lunch. I needed a lie down mid afternoon, the sheer tedium of filling in inspection form after inspection form felling me shortly after lunch. Aki popped out to the shops. Worked through what was left of my afternoon while Aki went next door to help Margaret find her way around the Emirates website on her new iPad...she's flying out to New Zealand tomorrow. Aubergine parmigiana lasagna for dinner. Had a quiet evening in. Lynne upstairs lost her twin sister today after a long battle with cancer, and had her sister's children over in the evening, so we kept the noise down. Watched a bit of telly..."Better Things" followed by an episode of "Seinfeld" before bath and bed...