Tuesday 29th July 2025

Woke around 0700. Aki up at 0730 to cycle off to Harringay for a site visit. I got back into bed with a cuppa tea. Did some Italian lessons…I can now order pasta and chicken at the restaurant. Read for a bit...finished The Wreck of the Essex...a gruelling first hand account of a shipwreck in the south Pacific...thirst, hunger, enforced cannibalism. It was amazing that anyone survived to tell the tale! Walked over to Waitrose to do a little shop, and collected a pair of troos from the alterations fella on Tollington Way. Came home and put lunch together. Did some pruning of the wisteria out front. We ventured into town to look at sofas in John Lewis’s on Oxford Street…nothing caught our fancy. Walked up through Noho and took a tube train from Warren Street back to Finsbury Park. Cooked pork shoulder for dinner, with sautéed potatoes and plenty of vegetables, followed by Bon Maman salted creme caramels. Watched a bit of telly and did a little ironing ahead of our drive to Suffolk tomorrow. Bath and bed…

Monday 28th July 2025

Woke around 0700...back giving me gip, so had to get up and do some exercises, and lie down on the floor for a bit! Made tea...took Aki hers in bed. Porridged on overnight oats. Packed up the jacket APC had sent me...it's a little too big, and if I'm spending £200 it's gotta fit spot on...so it's going back to France. Walked up to the Whittington in the sunshine for repeat pre-op tests, stopping off at the Italian deli on Holloway Road to buy ravioli for tonight's dinner. The hospital took nasal and armpit swabs, blood, as well as blood pressure...no ECG this time. Walked on up Highgate Hill afterwards. Bought a quiche from Gail's to share with Aki for lunch, and a coffee, and sat in Waterlow Park to drink it. Wandered home via Sainsburys. Put lunch together. Spoke with Kath...arranged to video call later when she's at 12 High View to double check the correct sections of the LPAs I'd sent up had been signed by mum, and David Tanner. Cooked a creamy mushroom sauce to have with the mushroom ravioli at dinner...plus lots of vegetables. FaceTimed Kath...she found the two LPAs had not been kept separate, and it appears that the instructions as to the strict date order of the required signatures wasn't followed. I think I may be able to salvage the Finance & Property LPA, but signatures are missing on an important section of the Health & Welfare LPA...I'll have to reprint the botched pages and re-post to 12 High View for mum and David Tanner to sign properly. Kath is posting the paperwork back to me tomorrow, so I can see what I can use. Watched a bit of telly...nowt much on, though. Bath and bed...

Sunday 27th July 2025

Woke around 0700…got up to use the facilities, then got back into bed. I see from the cast WhatsApp that a few people went clubbing into the early hours after doing the get out last night! Rose and descended to the kitchen to make avocado toast for breakfast. Sat out in the back garden with Colin for a bit before heading for the shower, and packing my stuff into the boot of the car. Took a walk down to the esplanade and had a coffee on the beach, then wandered up to The Connaught on Hove Street to find Alicia, Mim, and Alicia’s fella, James. Had a catch up over a very tasty Sunday roast…the belly pork was melt in the mouth good! Alicia is a Physician Associate, and seems to be enjoying what must be a tough job in a cancer clinic. Eliza has bought a flat in west London with an Irish chap from Cork, who Mim seems a little uncertain of. She’s working for architects Basha-Franklin, based in east London. Sarah is working as a runner for Goldcrest Films in Soho, and living in Bounds Green. She met a fella at work, who lives in Hackney…so Matt and Mim are now living in an empty nest! Mim very generously paid for lunch and we parted company outside the pub. Walked back to Colin and Trudi’s via Portland Road. Said my farewells and set off for north London. The roofer who had visited Lynne this morning g phoned me to say he thought only minor repairs were needed, specifically to the felted valley gutter. We also talked about felting the parapets, the feeling being that re-rendering would only lead to water getting between the brick and render again at some point, especially given the extensive spalling. He mentioned a price of £450!!! Sounds worth a punt, given the thousands involved with the alternative quotes! Got home just as the England v Spain Euros final kicked off. Cagey, rather uninspiring game…but Chloe Kelly came on to work her magic, and fired in the fifth and final penalty which saw the girls retain the trophy! Aki cooked salmon for dinner, with rice, okra, and miso aubergine. Watched The Narrow Road to the Deep North…pretty tough watch. 

Saturday 26th July 2025

Woke around 0800. Got up and made tea, ate porridge. Put together a packed meal for later. Slung my guitar on my back and picked up a No.1 bus to Churchill Square, then a No.47 to Seven Dials for coffee at Gail’s. Walked up Dyke Road to the theatre for an 1130 start. Warmed up and worked a couple of set pieces. Found a bench in the park and ate a sausage roll I’d bought in Gail’s. About 120 in for the matinee…which was somewhat marred by the music from a not too distant reggae festival! Got a taxi back with Colin and Trudi, and picked up my car…headed back to Dyke Park, finding a parking space in front of the cafe. By the time the evening show went up, the reggae festival was in full swing…probably contributing to my forgetting the last line of my new song! Though I think it was more down to sheer exhaustion! Loaded my guitar, guitar stands and costume into the boot of the car after the show. Hung around watching the guys taking the set apart, but decided to head for the digs…need a quiet beer before flaking out! Colin and Trudi still up. Sat about with a glass of lager before hauling myself upstairs to bed…too knackered to shower!

Friday 25th July 2025

Woke around 0630. Got up to use the facilities before getting back to bed. Took an hour or so to drop back off to sleep…next time I woke it was 1000. Got up and descended to rendezvous with Colin and we struck out on foot for the border with Port Slade and brunch in a cafe called Shoreline…no view of the seafront from there though! Walked back in the sunshine along the seafront…quite a lot of new development going on, and numerous landscaping projects to smarten up the front. Walked back to Modena Road to collect my guitar, then headed in to town via the No.1 bus. Got off at Churchill Square and wandered up to Hobgoblin, near the station, to buy some spare plectra, having lost one after last night’s show. Hopped on a No.7 to Seven Dials and bought takeaway food from Gail’s, then walked up Dyke Road to the theatre for a 1545 call. Worked through some bits and pieces, and rehearsed my new song in situ, which helped come the evening show. Alicia spotted me from her perch before curtain up, and came over for a quick chat. She’s working as a doctor in the Cancer Clinic at Eastbourne Hospital, commuting in from Port Slade. She pointed out her fella James, and Charlie’s son Harvey, sat in the auditorium…I gave them a vigorous wave! Show went pretty well…about 150 in, who gave an enthusiastic response at the curtain call. I didn’t see the Hagues afterward, but moves are afoot to meet for lunch on Sunday before I drive home. Caught a bus back into town, transferring to a No.6 at Churchill Square. Sat up with Colin and Trudi for a bit before diving in the shower and heading for a comparatively early night…

Thursday 24th July 2025

Woke before the 0700 alarm. Got up and porridged before putting a packed lunch together. Showered. Headed into town on the No.1 bus, changing for a No.7 to Seven Dials. Had a coffee in Gail’s before walking up to the theatre. Warmed up then worked bits and pieces and some technical sections before breaking for lunch…bought a sandwich from the Park cafe. Ate at the theatre. The dress rehearsal was patchy…and it started to rain, which saw the musicians having to shelter in the gazebo stage left. It was still drizzling by the time we went on for the evening show, but it cleared fairly quickly…show was better than the dress run…about 130 in the audience…partial standing ovation, and enthusiastic feedback. 

Repaired to The Cow in Seven Dials and rewarded myself with a pint of Guinness…bought Tom a lager…cost me over £14!!! Crept away once I’d finished my beer, and walked down Dyke Road to find a bus from Churchill Square. Got back to Colin’s after midnight…they were up drinking and listening to The Stones…Trudi was pretty drunk! Sat up with them for half an hour before hauling myself upstairs to bed, exhausted!

Wednesday 23rd July 2025

Woke around 0745. Got up to make tea…Colin appeared briefly to show me where things were in the kitchen. Took porridge back up to bed and listened to R4 for a bit. Did my exercises. Returned to the kitchen to put together a packed lunch. Sat out in the back garden with Colin and the cats…grey skies threatening rain! Whittington Hospital rang to give me a date of 4th September for the hernia op…got to go back in next week for pre-op tests. Drove to Dyke Park with Colin…was lucky to find one 11 hour max parking space on Port Hall Road…paid £9.10 for a seven hour stay. Found the theatre in the park, behind the Dyke Park cafe. I arrived as the set was being unloaded from the van. The theatre space is great…a horseshoe shaped seating area rising some six steps or so…a bright green astro-turf stage area. Hung around for a bit…bought a coffee in the cafe and watched the gang construct the set. Had my packed lunch at the picnic tables with some of the cast…found the area to be frequented by a rather sleek, grey rat. Worked through various set pieces on the stage. Sound is remarkably clear, much to my surprise. Checked my parking via the app…I assumed there were two and a half hours left, but the app says I’m good until 1122 tomorrow morning…baffled…my £9.10 appears to have bought me 24 hours parking!!! The heavens opened around 1630…the musicians took shelter in a gazebo. Broke at 1815. Wandered down to Seven Dials…the rain came down again which forced us into The Good Companions…ordered a chicken burger. It was pretty ordinary. Got back to Modena Road pretty late but Colin and Trudi still up. Stayed up with them for a little while before collapsing into bed exhausted…