Wednesday 6th September 2023

Alarm at 0730. Dozed to R4 for a bit before rising for porridge. Spent the morning in front of the computer. Aki nipped out on her bike to get some bread. Very hot outside. Matt accidentally rang...he'd been out for a run, as he's in training for a 5k cross country jaunt in October...we said we'd come a watch! Sarah is now back home in Northampton, looking for work. Eliza is sitting her final architecture exams today, after which she will be fully qualified! Broke for lunch. Back at the computer for most of the afternoon. Broke to watch the News at Six. Aki cooked up a tasty dinner of pan-fried hake with butter beans in a toothsome sauce. Read more "Dickens" in the evening, as Aki packed her travel bags...she's off to Berlin tomorrow morning! Bath and bed...

Tuesday 5th September 2023

Alarm at 0730. Aki brought me a mug of tea and I read in bed before getting to porridge. Had work to do, so sat in front of the computer all morning. Nipped out before lunch to get some bits and pieces for my chicken lahori recipe, which was on this evening's menu. Nice and warm outside...very summery. Worked at the computer after lunch. Broke every now and then to marinade the chicken legs. Had to eat early, as I needed to attend my weight loss zoom session at 1900. Just made it in time...ate the chicken with basmati rice and boiled vegetables. The zoom session as dull as it usually is, but at least that's another one ticked off. My weight seems to have stabilised around the 77kg mark, and is refusing to budge...I probably need to do more exercise, but it's difficult to fit in when working. Not much on the telly, so read a bit before bed...

Monday 4th September 2023

Alarm at 0730, as Aki wanted to get used to an early start prior to heading for her rowing trip later in the week. I read in bed before rising for porridge. Had intended to do some work today, but put it off, and read instead. Ploughing through Peter Ackroyd's "Dickens" at a rate of knots. What a remarkable rise to fame young Charlie had...he was so famous by the time he'd reached 30, that great crowds followed him about on his trip to America...sort of Beatlemania. At a New York hotel he had to stand in the hallway and shake hands with an endless stream of well-wishers...it took two hours! We took the car to Waitrose late afternoon to do a shop. Aki cooked stir fried pork fillet for dinner. Managed to get through to ma and pa to check up on dad's hospital visit...he has been promised another hip operation, but given no time scale, which is frustrating. Watched a bit of telly before bed...

Sunday 3rd September 2023

Aki up early to ready herself for Rowing Club. I languished in bed reading my Dickens. Got up after Aki had cycled off east, and made myself a simple porridge breakfast. Read some more. Got side-tracked by reading about Joseph Grimaldi, the great clown...Dickens had been a fan, and had edited Joe's memoirs after his early death in 1837. He died alone, a bankrupt alcoholic, in his town house in Southampton Street, but was buried in a churchyard in Pentonville, which has since been renamed Joseph Grimaldi Park...I must have been past it dozens of times without knowing, so I shall have to pay a visit when next in the vicinity. Made lunch before Aki got home. Pottered about, reading mostly. Tried FaceTiming the folks, but no reply. Wandered up to the pub for folk band rehearsal…low turnout, just five of us. Ate the tortelloni we'd bought at the Nag's Head Market yesterday, for dinner. It was very good...ate it with my homemade pizzaiola sauce and vegetables. Watched a bit of telly before bed...

Saturday 2nd September 2023

Woke late and lay in bed reading for a bit before getting up for a hefty brunch. Decided to take a walk, as the weather looked good. Caught a bus to Camden Town, and walked up Parkway, past the first Ladies public lavatory built in London...only after the strenuous campaigning of George Bernard Shaw, apparently! Walked past the Dublin Castle public house, where I and a few pals used to go on Friday nights to dance very drunkenly to the gigging bands...in our surveying suits! The walk took us down onto the footpath of the Regents Canal, and past Lord Snowden's aviary at London Zoo, now used to house gibbons! They stared at us as we passed below. Then it was across Regents Park, and a circumlocution of the boating lake, before we cut down to York Gate and Park Crescent. From thence on to Fitzroy Square, where we stopped outside the former residence of GBS, and ending our expedition in the once famous Fitzroy Tavern with a badly needed glass of lager! Got a bus home. Popped in to the new food court above Nags Head Market...it opened only a couple of weeks ago, but looked sadly empty, though we were a little early for dinner. Bought some tortellini from the Italian food stand, and promised to return for dinner soon. Aki baked hake with tomatoes and cheese for dinner, followed by apple crumble and oat custard. Watched Scorcese's "Cape Fear" on the iPlayer...not one of Martin's greatest, despite the presence of an all-star cast...it had a strangely theatrical feel, unlike the gritty realism of his earlier films. 

Friday 1st September 2023

Very weary this morning after my exertions in the Medway towns. Aki brought me a mug of tea. Got up around 0930. Porridged. Worked at the computer for most of the morning, uploading the photos of the last two days. Broke for lunch, then returned to the computer for a couple of hours before finally breaking for dinner. We warmed up the pork and black bean stew. Kath sent a photo of dad proudly holding the silver birch tree trunk he'd managed to sever from it's roots, like a prize marlin! He's unstoppable...!!! Watched a bit of telly before shower and bed...

Thursday 31st August 2023

Woke around 0815. Hauled myself out of bed to make tea. Showered then descended in the lift to the breakfast room. Managed to get away by 1000. Inspections first off in Gillingham, and neighbouring Rainham, before doubling back toward Walderslade and the south-eastern suburbs of Chatham. Stopped off at the big Sainsbury's store in Hempstead and bought some lunch. My bad hernia repair was giving me a lot of gip by mid-afternoon, so much so I decided to turn for home. Got back around 1830. Aki cooked chicken in a soup with mooli and vegetables, served with rice, for dinner. Then we sauntered over the road to No.38 for the Book Club meet. "Wise Blood" had predictably caused a mixed reaction...Carlos and I describing it as a masterpiece, but the darker side of the tale rather disturbing the more genteel members of the group. We chose "Milkman" by Anna Burns as the next Book Club read. Enjoyed the conviviality, and Ben's chocolate brownie cake and cream!