Wednesday 12th July 2023

Alarm at 0730. Got up and made tea. Porridged. Did some work at the computer. Put a packed lunch together. Headed northward on inspections. Did some internals in Houghton Regis, then headed up the M1, stopping off at Toddington Service station. Ate my lunch in the car, and picked up a coffee. Drove on to Kempston, and Great Denham, near Bedford, then turned for home. Got home around 1800. Vince came down to talk about what he had discovered in relation to our mystery leak...he'd cut away some more of the stud partition backing on to the shower, and reckoned it was drying out OK. He also isolated the boiler to see if the pressure would drop, which would indicate a problem with the boiler rather than the radiator pipework. Ate pasta with crab pate and prawns, and cherry tomatoes...it wasn't a great success...should have bought crab meat. Finished off the nectarine frangipane tart, with creme fraiche. Watched Today at Wimbledon.

Tuesday 11th July 2023

Alarm at 0730. Dozed to the radio until 0815. Got up and porridged. Took Aki a mug of tea. Booked hotel in Cardiff for work next week. Made a packed lunch. Did some work at the computer before setting out eastward on inspections. Broke at noon for a pre-arranged meet up with Carol Holt, who I'd bumped into at the RA a couple of weeks ago, at a cafe in Leyton. Had a coffee and a quick catch up...she's just filmed a Nintendo advert, and is still working, though now collecting her state pension (we'd been in several shows together at the New Vic in Stoke in the late 80s). She occassionally pops down to Hastings to see Shelly and Rob...we promised to meet up for a longer catch up at some point in the not too distant future....she went off to play tennis, while I got back to work. Stopped to have lunch in the car at a little lake on Wanstead Flats. Inspections took me to East Ham and Plaistow, before ending the working day in Hackney. Got home around 1830. Watched a bit of tennis. Aki cooked a fish curry, which we ate with dal and rice. 

Monday 10th July 2023

Woke around 0900. Aki brought me a mug of tea. Gas boiler needed re-filling again...the mystery leak seems to be getting worse...don't know if Vince is planning to turn up today to start digging the floor up! Got up and porridged. Did a little work, mixed in with some Wimbledon. Broke to make a ham salad lunch. Decided to take up the linoleum in the lobby near the bathroom, in the hope that it might reveal a bit more about the mystery leak. Chipped away at it with a hammer and cold chisel. Can't say we gained any further knowledge. Had to refill the boiler again, though...it's leaking like a sieve. Vince popped round and had another look. He isolated the under-floor heating system...if we have further loss of pressure, then we can count out a leak in the under-floor pipework, at least. He promised to return on Wednesday morning and do some more investigative works....see what happens. I cooked an aubergine and green lentil stew which we had with bulgar wheat...it was far tastier than I expected! Watched Carlos beat Matteo to reach his first quarter-final. Helped Lynne move some of her discarded carpet about...she's had it all taken up today, and it had been left on the garden path, but she has a new fridge being delivered tomorrow, so we had to move it all on to the street outside the church! 

Sunday 9th July 2023

Woke around 0900. Aki got up and made lemon tea. Read in bed for awhile before Aki cooked a late brunch. Took a Sunday constitutional up Highgate Hill for a coffee outside Lauderdale House. There was an exhibition of Storm Thorgerson limited edition prints in the gallery, which we very much enjoyed perusing. He worked a lot with Pink Floyd, designing a couple of seminal album covers, notably "Wish You Were Here", and "Division Bell". He died in 2013. Wandered back down the hill...popped into Aldi to buy some bits and pieces. Aki wanted ready rolled puff pastry to try her hand at a nectarine and cardamom tart. Got back to the flat just as it started to rain. Watched a bit of tennis while Aki prepared to bake her tart. Borrowed the next door neighbour's ladder and had a go at the wisteria which has gone a bit mad of late. Gave it a bit of a trim! Warmed up the remainder of the chicken and rhubarb curry, which we had with dal and rice, followed by Aki's burnt tart...tasted great though, with a bit of cream to soften it up. More tennis before News and shower...

Saturday 8th July 2023

Woke at 0745. Got up and made tea. Porridged. Got ourselves readied for the drive to Wrecclesham to visit Pete Glanville and his gals. Set off at 1000...sat nav suggested a 90 minute drive, traffic permitting, but we hadn't planned for the closure of the westbound M3 at J4. We came off the M25 well before hitting the traffic jam for the M3 turn off, and headed for Camberley via the A30. Stopped to use the facilities at Bagshot Garden Centre, just as a brief thunderstorm swept in. Sat in traffic for about half-an-hour on the M3, all alternative routes looking pretty snarled up. Got to Wrecclesham at 1300, parked up, and popped into the Co-op store opposite Pete and Marigold's house. Pete was hanging over his garden gate looking out for us. We'd bought the girls some Magnum choc ices for the freezer. We hadn't seen them for about three years...Tansey is now 4, Eliza 8, and Iris 11 and due to start secondary school in September. They got stuck into their Magnums! Marigold had made lunch...a tasty asparagus tart, with mayonnaise potatoes and a mixed salad. The house is c1970, and Pete reckons it was owned by the church to house staff...there's a little row of four of them. They are quite pokey inside, but bigger than the two-bed flat they were living in in Bounds Green, and there's a decent sized garden. Pete seems to be enjoying his new post as CEO of Farnham Maltings...they seem to have their fingers in many pies, and produce quite a lot of small scale touring theatre across the south-east region. Marigold is hoping to re-start her drama therapy career once Tansey starts pre-school in the autumn...they have a lot of mouths to feed. We left around 1645 and drove home. Got in around 1845. Cooked up a mushroom and anchovy sauce which we had with wholemeal tagliatelle. Watched a bit of tennis...Katie Boulter failed to put up much of a fight against the Wimbledon Champion...

Friday 7th July 2023

Aki up early to ready herself for Rowing Club. She brought me a mug of tea. I got up after she'd cycled off, and porridged. Worked at the computer for the morning. Aki returned having had a dizzy spell in the heat of the morning. Broke at 1330 to make lunch. Watched a bit of tennis in the afternoon. Aki made a Salade Nicoise for dinner, and we had trifle for afters, that I'd bought in Waitrose yesterday. Watched Andy Murray go out, swiftly followed to the exits by Cam Norrie, and Liam Broady...no British men left in the competition. 

Thursday 6th July 2023

Alarm at 0730. Aki had made me a Happy 2nd Anniversary card...with two pieces of toast on the front, toasting the occassion. I gave her the card I'd bought yesterday in Waitrose in Whetstone...which featured two slices of toast toasting the occassion! Porridged, then threw a packed lunch together before heading west to pick up Seb in Kilburn. Had to pop in to his flat to use the facilities...and mistook his flat mate for his girlfriend, which was a trifle embarrassing. Drove on to the Roundwood Estate in Harlesden, where we split up and knocked on doors in two 50s era blocks of flats...some were in appalling condition internally, one in particular where an ageing Asian fella was obviously unable to cope with looking after himself, let alone is disabled wife! The place would benefit from a gutting! Broke for lunch...parked up at Tescos in Harlesden...glamorous! Returned to the Roundwood Estate for a short afternoon session. Between us we got into about 40 units, which is a good haul. Dropped Seb back home, then drove back to N7. Got home in good time. Didi a little work at the computer, before walking Aki round to Osteria Tufo for our anniversary dinner. Burrata to start, followed by a very tasty spinach and mushroom lasagne. Aki had monkfish stew with pasta. We shared a tiramisu for afters, and walked home to watch the Murray v Tsitsipas match. It was postponed with Murray leading by 2 sets to 1.