Wednesday 5th July 2023

Alarm at 0730. Got up and porridged. Put a packed lunch together. Aki cycled off to Rowing Club. I headed back north, visiting properties in Finchley and High Barnet, where I stopped to find a coffee and eat my lunch. Then headed up the M1 to Dunstable, doing internals in a couple of blocks of flats, before ending the working day in Houghton Regis. Drove back down the M1, stopping off at London Gateway services on the way home. Got in around 1830. Aki had bought cannelloni stuffed with ricotta and spinach, and made a tomato sauce to go with it. Watched tennis for most of the evening. 

Tuesday 4th July 2023

Alarm at 0730. Dozed until around 0815. Got up and porridged. Sat at the computer for a bit, then prepared a packed lunch and set off northward. Stopped in Manor House for petrol and popped in to Sainsburys. Inspections in Haringey, Muswell Hill, and Friern Barnet, then struck out for Borehamwood. Popped in to Tesco there to use the facilities, then lunched in the car in the car park at Aberford Park. Ended the day on a fairly modern housing estate in Houghton Regis, near Dunstable. Packed in around 1630 as it had started to rain. Drove back down the M1, stopping off at London Gateway services on the way. Got in around 1830. Aki had warmed up the chicken and rhubarb curry, and made a dal to go with it. Sat and ate it on our laps in front of the telly, watching Dan Evans try but fail to turn his delayed first round match around. He put up a good fight, though. 

Monday 3rd July 2023

Woke around 0700. Got up and made tea, then sat at the computer working. Porridged. Broke at 1115. Set off to Whittington Hospital for an appointment with the Imaging Department. It started raining as I walked along Windsor Road, so caught a bus from outside Sainsbury's, which meant I got to the hospital a little early. The scan failed to find anything, other than a harmless cyst on my left testicle! Walked home. Aki had made a chicken salad lunch. Vince turned up to take a look at our mysterious leak...he was recommended by Kathleen and Andrew at No.49. He is a retired electrician, but seems to have experience in digging up concrete floors in the search for leaky plumbing. Soon after he'd departed, Dave from No.17 showed up with his thermal imaging camera. We'd turned the central heating on so that we could divine the rough positions of any pipework under the concrete floor adjoining the damp patch. Will pass the images on to Vince to see what he thinks. Aki cooked a tasty carbonara for dinner, and we finished off the last chocolate muffin. Watched a bit of tennis from Wimbledon. 

Sunday 2nd July 2023

Woke around 0930. Hauled ourselves out of bed. Aki cooked breakfast. Walked over to Waitrose and did a little shop. Had a simple fruit salad for lunch. Aki did a little gardening out front. FaceTimed ma and pa. Dad struggling a bit with his hip, but soldiering on. I made a basil and parsley oil, and a tahini and yoghurt sauce. Put together a burrata salad for starters, with the basil oil drizzled over it...very tasty. Pan fried hake with cous-cous and charred green vegetables, and sat it on the tahini sauce. Cheese and biscuits to follow. Watched a bit of telly...a documentary about the legacy of TV art sensation Bob Ross ("The Joy of Painting"), and his son's fight for the Bob Ross brand name after Bob died in the mid-90s. 

Saturday 1st July 2023

Woken around 0630 by the sound of conversation outside the bedroom window...sounds as though someone had turned up at the church and was prepping for a wedding...or a funeral, or something. Got up around 0900. Had cornflakes for breakfast...we'd brought two little mini boxes back from the B'n B we'd stopped in at Llangollen last week. Decided to venture east to investigate a Japanese Market Festival that was taking place in Dalston. Took a No. 263 bus to Highbury & Islington, then caught the Overground two stops to Dalston Kingsland. Walked up to Shacklewell Lane. The festival had been crammed into a very small space fronting the old Factory, which is now a cafe with pop up arty shops...the woman running the Festival has a vintage kimono shop on site...it was uncomfortably busy. We stayed and watched the rather amateur Chindon Yeah's, a band of flamboyantly costumed female 'musicians'...they paraded around the factory space a couple of times, leaving a smile on everyone's faces. We walked up Stoke Newington High Street, stopping for a coffee, and Aki bought a pair of summery slacks from the Retro Vintage clothes shop.

We lunched at Cafe Z...I had yumurta with feta and sucuk. Very tasty. Bumped into Stephanie in there...she was sat reading a play she was interested in auditioning for at the Tower. We caught a No.106 bus back to Finsbury park, and bought some groceries at the Turkish shop on Seven Sisters Road. Had ourselves a light dinner...I put together a ham and mozzarella salad. Walked up to the North Nineteen to see Rollo and Louis play some blues. Ben and Gayu from No.38 were already there, as was Lynne from upstairs, who had brought the dogs, Ziggy and Boston. The boys played "Walkin' the Dog" in their honour! A few of Rollo's harmonica pupils turned up, and there was a brief harmonica jam involving about five of them...a cacophony of harmonica players! Got home around 0015!

Friday 30th June 2023

Alarm at 0730. Aki up and at 'em...it's Rowing Club today...nice day for it. I got up around 0815 and porridged. Made myself a packed lunch and headed south of the river. Stopped off at M&S in Charlton, and grabbed a coffee from the Costa next door, then spent the rest of the day in various parts of Lewisham, Deptford and New Cross, mostly. Ate my lunch in the car at the Sainsbury's car park near New Cross Gate station. No internals required today, but kept having to get out of the car as much of the stock was high-rise, which necessitates my photographing all four elevations. There were a couple of 26-storey monsters! So it all took rather longer than I'd hoped. It was gone 1800 when I finished in Bermondsey. Got stuck in gridlock on the approach road to Tower bridge...something amiss. I turned around shortly after an ambulance overtook the stationary line of traffic, and ventured into Southwark, crossing the river at Blackfriars. Got home around 1945. Aki had cooked a chicken and rhubarb curry, which we ate with rice, dal, and chapatis. Can't say the rhubarb added much to the mix, surprisingly. Had to do another hour at the computer after dinner. Watched a bit of telly...a showing of the very first episode of "The Fast Show"...great stuff! Paul Whitehouse looks about 12 years old!!! 

Thursday 29th June 2023

Alarm at 0730. Dozed until 0800 or so...got up and porridged, and threw a packed lunch together. Ventured northward today, with inspections in Crouch End, East Barnet and Cockfosters, before heading for Borehamwood. Had my lunch in Tesco's Borehamwood branch car park. Spent the afternoon on a 90s era housing estate knocking on doors. Got in to a reasonable number. Knocked off at 1715 and drove home. Aki pan fried salmon fillets for dinner, which we had with potatoes and vegetables. Raspberry spoom for afters. Had to work at the computer for an hour or so after dinner. Watched a bit of telly before bath and bed...