Category Archives: personal

memes, personal

Unblogged December

Thu 1 Why does one wake up at 05:20? It was clear and starry – well as starry as it gets round here for the light pollution. And why is one still awake at 06:15? I got up, knowing I’d feel smacked on the head later; but knowing if I resumed slumber I’d sleep the morning away and feel smacked on the head anyway. So I figured I’d may as well do something useful.
Fri 2 Two interesting calls with my GP today. Piecing together all sorts of things, she now thinks I didn’t have cellulitis back in October (and of which I still have the remnants), but Erythema Nodosum – which I had as a kid. It all fits, but of course is one of those things which is going to be hard to prove. Luckily she’s actually finding this very interesting – as am I.
Sat 3 Meh! A pretty meh day – grey cold and miserable, so no wonder that’s how I felt. Gave up and retired early to bed to read and try to relax.
Sun 4 Spent the day clearing up the house – and made absolutely no impression on the accumulated silt of 40+ years. Consoled ourselves with roast guinea fowl & roast veg, washed down with a lovely bottle of Greek white, and followed by still warm from the oven apple crumble and cream.
Mon 5 Cometh the gardener. Cometh the pond man to do a winter clean and check over. Remaineth the depression and the work.
Tue 6 Good chat with our lovely GP this morning, mostly about advance care planning, but also checking on my not-cellulitis. But unfortunately (for us) she’s going off on maternity leave next week; she promises to return, but small people do have a habit of changing priorities.
Wed 7 04:30. Bright silvery full moon behind a veil of gossamer cloud skidding across the sky going south. Really pretty and enjoyed for 5 minutes after a trip to the bathroom.
Thu 8 Wow! What a wonderful hard frost; the first of the year I think. Everything is covered in white, and looks really pretty – especially when followed by a glorious sunny morning. Just a shame it’ll have knocked back all the plants.
Fri 9 Had an excellent bottle of more expensive Domaine Maby Libiamo Tavel with dinner; like a really good, full-bodied, Chablis or Macon with a hint of red summer fruits. It went especially well with prawns & mushroom in tomato sauce with linguine. Followed by alcoholic fruit salad. Hic!
Sat 10 Another lovely moonlit night with a heavy frost, followed by an sunny alpine day. It looks beautiful, but it’s bitterly cold. Mind the sunshine does wonders for the mood.
Sun 11 Blimey! What a wonderful hard frost. Everything covered in rime. And today a nice little fog to go with it – not thick, but enough to hold the temperature down. I probably have seen harder frosts, but this must be up there with them. And it didn’t obviously get above freezing all day.
Mon 12 Snow! Late yesterday evening, suddenly there was a decent covering of snow; not a lot, maybe 2cm at most. Although initially it looked pretty, it’s been above freezing for some of the day so the snow is clearing, and the bird bath wasn’t frozen solid.
Tue 13 Oh the fun of taking 3 cats to the vet for their annual jabs & check-up. Always take them fasting in case the vet wants blood from any of them. “But why can’t we have breakfast? We’re hungry kittens.” And then round them up to basket them; you’ll never make a sheepdog! You can always get one. The second, not so easy as she slips past and is hidden – but found. Meanwhile number 3 has become invisible. The house is searched from top to bottom and she’s eventually found in the depths of the shoe cupboard. After that they all three get a clean bill of health despite putting on weight and the vet removes a rather obese monkey from one’s pocket.
Wed 14 A day of … what exactly? Getting little done and the AP Soc online talk this evening cancelled as the speaker is indisposed.
Thu 15 Another day of doing bits and pieces. They have to be done, but it always feels so unproductive. But at least I did cook tea. Mind the cats have it right; they’ve spent the day nested, like Queen Cat.
Queen Cat
Fri 16 No wonder our bedroom has been unusually cold. Noreen realised someone had turned the radiator off. And it wasn’t either of us! Fingers of suspicion are pointing elsewhere. At the same time I discovered the study radiator needs bleeding, but I cannot budge the bleed valve. For that I definitely blame the guy who serviced the heating at the end of May.
Sat 17 Another good Anthony Powell Society social call over Zoom, with a select group from UK and US. What was supposed to be an hour turned into 1¾ hours. Not just an opportunity to chat, but also to raise a glass in Powell’s memory as it’s his birthday in fours days time.
Sun 18 I’ve had a trail camera trained on the garden, timed to work overnight, for the last 3+ years. I unload the memory card most Sundays – it’s usually a sequence of cats and foxes, with the odd squirrel and pigeon at dawn. But for the first time when checking this week’s stills I had 3 shots of a rodent: a rat scurrying across the upper lawn about 2½m from the camera. Luckily there was no cat or fox around at the time.
Mon 19 Rain! We have rain. And wind. And it’s warmer. All the snow is gone, finally. It’s grey; dark; depressing. But we have rain. We need rain.
Tue 20 Started late, but still managed to make leftovers soup in time for lunch. Stock from the end of the lamb casserole and an end of pasta (tomato) sauce. Augmented with onion, garlic, mushrooms and cooking tomatoes. Plus seasoning, sherry and cream. Not fine dining but it went down warmingly well with chunks of bread.
Wed 21 Good to see a couple of friends over the last few days. It’s feeling odd now to have to be worrying about shielding, wearing masks etc., but I’m still at high risk and probably a good candidate for Long Covid – so I’m continuing to be careful. But how I wish it were not thus.
Thu 22 Christmas supermarket delivery this morning, with an earlier slot than our usual which threw out the internal clocks somewhat. Amazingly they got everything right, bar the odd couple of substitutions, and that our Christmas pork and large “free range” chicken both came up on the small side – adequate, but small. Oh and I ordered 1kg of banana shallots, but was sent 2.5kg! I don’t have a problem with this, though it would have been better if I’d not been charged for the extra! But, Duh!
Fri 23 Spent a chunk of the afternoon and evening catching up on writing letters and emails to family and friends. I’m the world’s worst correspondent; if I don’t reply to an email or letter almost immediately it sinks to the bottom of the ocean, never to resurface: I still have one email outstanding from this time last year! The job’s not yet finished, but I’ve broken the back of it, I hope.
Sat 24 A day of odds and sods jobs pre-Christmas – although it doesn’t feel very Christmas-y. I finished all the email writing; just my three “girl” cousins on my mother’s side to go, and that has to be letters, so no point rushing for a few days. I also cooked dinner: the chicken which I spatchcocked and roast with lots of lemon (juice & zest), tarragon, garlic, butter and brandy. Yummy!
Sun 25 Christmas Day. On our own as usual, so we can please ourselves. I was awake and up at a sensible hour (08:30), Noreen surfaced about 90 minutes later. Did nothing until lunch of smoked salmon & cream cheese rolls, washed down with large G&T. Presents in the afternoon included a couple of IOUs for things that hadn’t arrived in the post. Then roast pork, garlic roast potatoes, roast Jerusalem artichokes; sprouts & fennel; stuffing; apple sauce for dinner – this time washed down with a bottle of Champagne. Followed by total lethargy. ZZzzzzz.
Mon 26 Traditional Boxing Day lunch of cold meat, mashed potato, bubble & squeak, pickle. Washed down with a beer. And still we haven’t attacked a Christmas Pudding!
Tue 27 Typical British Bank Holiday weather: cold, grey, windy and damp. So a day largely spent “jellivating”** in between a few odd jobs.
Wed 28 It is November, isn’t it? It’s dark grey, peeing with rain, blowing half a gale, and not very warm. The end of December isn’t usually as dismal as this. Pull up the drawbridge, throw another peasant on the fire, and break open the Christmas Pudding.
Thu 29 This day in 1170 saw the assassination of Thomas Becket, Archbishop of Canterbury, in his own cathedral. Formerly Lord Chancellor, Becket was made archbishop in 1162 despite not already being an ordained priest. Putting the church before the state be became a thorn in the side of Henry II, and spent 6 years exiled in France. He was canonised, as a martyr, in February 1173. Thomas Becket is my patron saint.
Fri 30 There’s a UNICEF advert running on the Smithsonian channel at the moment. It states that a £10 donation could provide live-saving food for a child (by implication in a third world country) for a week. Wouldn’t it be a fucking good idea if we ensured all the kids in this country were properly fed and nourished first? Government: note and action.
Sat 31 The year ends grey, windy and wet. A fitting end, and good riddance, to a fairly crap year. 2023 has to be better, or I suspect the whole country is going to go stark raving squirrelled.^^

** Jellivate (v). To sit around like a lump of mindless jelly, doing nothing and with no inclination to do anything; thumb in bum and mind in neutral.
^^ As in that memorable line from Steptoe and Son: “My old man’s a nutter; he’s gone squirrelled”.

personal

Unblogged November

Tue 1 Another month. Another Prime Minister, but the same old faces round the Cabinet table, although having played musical chairs. And the same old obfuscation, deceit and self-interest.
Wed 2 Definitely much better and taking hardly any painkillers. GP pleased with progress when we talked yesterday, but prescribed a fourth round of antibiotics just to be on the safe side. Cellulitis is a real bugger to get rid of and is prone to recur.
Thu 3 A knackering day of work, trying to catch up on stuff I’ve ignored. How did I ever manage to do this every day?
Fri 4 What is wrong with the universe? It’s Friday. And for once it doesn’t feel like Saturday, but more like Monday or Tuesday – and anonymous ones at that.
Sat 5 Remember, remember the 5th of November, when you can easily flash a demi-singe (which you can’t really afford) up in smoke and scare the bejesus out of every living thing within 5 miles. And all in celebration of a terrorist! When are people going to realise that this is just another conspicuous consumption which does nothing but wreck your finances and the planet?
Sun 6 It’s no wonder we get depressed and suffer from SAD when you look at today. Grey, dark, dismal, wet – I’m not even sure it got properly light all day! Well what do you expect in November?
Mon 7 It’s monthly household finances day – again! And it was one of those where everything was awkward and nothing would reconcile easily. Still at least we’re still solvent, despite splashing money on a new laptop.
Tue 8 Not liking that Elon Musk has made Twitter his private fiefdom. Been exploring Mastodon, which seems the most popular alternative. But it’s impossible to see how the hell it works for the average Joe User. It’s just too convoluted and opaque.
Wed 9 Left on my own for much of the day, as N was out at dawn for check-up at Royal Free Hospital. She wasn’t back until getting on for darkrise. So I had to wear my hearing aids all day (can’t hear the doorbell otherwise), and for once they were not being uncomfortable.
Thu 10 Is it just me (well both of us, actually) or is it bloody cold, even for mid-November. I’m not normally cold – never have been – but I’m definitely feeling colder this year than I remember previous years. I suppose I must be getting old. 😟
Fri 11 I can only think that the people who pick the grocery orders can’t read, can’t see (poor lighting?), or are just slapdash. We order 5 Bramley apples. How many do we get? One! Just one! What use is that, pray?
Sat 12 “Crazy plants! During the summer we bought two small plants of Pineapple Sage, Salvia elegans. It is a sage, but not of the stuffing kind; more of the add it to your Pimms kind. One plant was put into one of the raised beds (about 1m square); the other in a large pot. They’ve gone mad. The one in the raised bed has taken over the whole area, and the potted one is trying to catch up with it. And now, in late autumn, they’re rampant with spikes of bright red flowers.pineapple sage flowers
Sun 13 Awake early, so got up, and left N sleeping until 09:30 gone. Then had to rush round to make ourselves decent and have some breakfast as we were expecting the gardener. But the gardner didn’t show, and as usual didn’t bother to tell us! Gah!
Mon 14 What a wonderful misty/foggy morning; in fact its been like this most of the night. It isn’t very thick, visibiliy probably 2-300m – not really quite dense enough! I love fog; and I remember enjoying foggy mornings as a kid – mind they were thick then and nastily smoggy — but they were great at muffling the sound. And that’s part of what makes fog so mystical and magical.
Tue 15 Afternoon trip to the dentist for check-up and hygienist. First time I’ve worn shoes & socks in 6 weeks. Pleasantly surprised at how well the feet survived – nowhere nearly as uncomfortable as I expected, although I had acquired a pair of soft shoes. Definite progress.
Wed 16 Squirrel antics. There’s a tray hanging under the birds seed feeder to catch debris; otherwise pigeons trample the grass to death. Squirrel wants to get on the tray. Up the pole and down the seed feeder – cheeky nibble on the way down. Tray tilts precariously. Rinse and repeat. Until one of the hanging chains detaches. Tray now at 45° angle. Squirrel tries again: down the feeder, but ooops it can’t grip on this tray and falls off. And again. And again.
Thu 17 CT scan this morning. Why is everywhere in every hospital a 5 mile hike from the main entrance, with a single glacially slow lift in the middle? Just as well I arrived 15 minutes early. Once at Imaging, the scan took literally seconds – conjunction of canula and hand took longer than the actual scan! Appointment at 10:00, out the door before 10:30; as it should be.
Fri 18 Actually managed to cook tea tonight – for the first time since mid-September; that’s how bad I’ve been. It was a bit of a trial, especially as I’ve lost some of my touch – but I did it! And we shared a bottle of wine for the first time in 7 weeks. Now to recover the touch etc.
Sat 19 We’ve got a fixed rate, fixed term bond maturing in a couple of weeks time. It’s earning a pathetic amount of interest. But roll it over for a couple of years and we get something approaching a decent rate: almost 5%! Well, that’s before the Chancellor gets his hands on it.
Sun 20 I blame November for another Meh day. Dark, grey, drizzly and not very warm. As observed before, it’s no wonder so many of us have SAD. Light therapy is supposed to be the fix. Not here it isn’t.
Mon 21 Small (5x3cm) bruise in the crook of my right elbow from where I had the catheter inserted for my CT scan last Thursday. Beginning to fade now, but has been all sorts of pretty shades of black, blue, purple, and yellow.bruise
Tue 22 Had a couple of crusts of garlic bread left last night, so they were thrown out on the lawn. Surprisingly nothing purloined them – I can only assume foxes don’t like garlic! – and they were still there this morning. That was until squirrel hopped along!
Wed 23 A very odd light this afternoon: obviously sunshine, but not obviously sunshine; very dark but golden; really showing up to autumnal leaves on our trees. And it was raining, that very fine but persistent rain. So the most magnificent rainbow I’ve seen for many years; really bright with clear colours, although my eyes could only just see the violet. (Photos taken through some rather grubby glass.)sun on trees
rainbow
Thu 24 Saw a brilliant trick for peeling apples quickly using a power tool and a vegetable peeler. For once, not too good to be true; I tried it; it works a treat. With not much practice you can peel an apple in under 5 seconds. OK you still have to core and slice it, but that’s relatively quick. Great if you need to do a lot of apples. Video at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S1hTKfkJtzM
Fri 25 Adnams New England IPA. I’ve had a few small cans in stock for a while – I think it was a one off brew last winter. It’s a curious beverage. A cloudy beer which tastes a cross between very bitterly hopped and (pine) loo cleaner. I don’t mind the cloudiness, but loo cleaner isn’t really my taste. But Adnams do lots of other fab beers: Southwold Bitter, Ghost Ship, Dry Hopped Lager to name but three.
Sat 26 Sat for a long time over dinner with a bottle of good wine and a liqueur. Mostly spent discussing the eccentricities of all our friends’ kids. They’re an interesting bunch; all very different; but all delightful and slightly eccentric in their own way – as are their parents.
Sun 27 While it is lovely to have the Tilly Cat on my desk – stretch, wriggle, chirrup, purr – it does hamper work because she’s almost invariably lying on the papers I need! Find me a cat owner who doesn’t understand this!
Mon 28 About 100 yards up the road, at the bottom of a garden, is a large tree – I think a sycamore – about twice the height of the houses. Right at the very top, on a long straight branch, is a tree rat. Said squirrel then decides to run, full speed, down the branch, in similitudine a ball-bearing down a steep slope.
A few minutes later the Boy Cat was out hunting down by the pond. He sat on the path edge; quite conspicuously white. But there’s a squirrel, scurrying to and fro, not 10 feet in front of him, sure in the belief it was quicker than the cat.
Squirrel athleticism and agility just defies belief.
Tue 29 Zoom meetings can be brilliant, in many ways. But hybrid meetings, with some in a room together and some joined by Zoom, really don’t work. The remote people get excluded, if only because they can never hear the room conversations fully and clearly. And two hours of it is exceptionally painful.
Wed 30 A magnificent golden, autumnal, oak tree (and silver birch) bathed in sunshine this afternoon. The photo really doesn’t do it justice!
rainbow
personal, ramblings

Advent Announcement

Marvin, The Paranoid AndroidToday is the first Sunday in Advent, so it’s that time when I, like many others, would normally be running an Advent Calendar of blog posts. And then for a few days either side of New Year have a series of posts summarising the year past and looking forward to the year to come.

However I’ve decided that this year I’m going to do none of that. I just don’t have the stomach for it this year, and cannot make myself invest the time in something I see as increasingly pointless. What price predictions in this increasingly dystopian world? I’ve also struggled to find a suitable and interesting subject for an Advent Calendar – at least in terms of something that sufficiently captivates me and which is not hemmed in with copyright etc. restrictions.

At the end of the day that’s probably all down to depression, and having the brain frazzled by recent illness.

Life! Don’t talk to me about Life!

Nonetheless my monthly posts are planned to continue through next year. So you’ll still have regular quiz questions, quotes, links to interesting items and my unblogged month. In addition, next year I’m adding, on a single (variable) day each month, an “On This Day” post for 100 years ago – yes, just one day a month something from 1923 that happened on that day.

So, sorry, but whatever the reason, the brain isn’t going to hack it all this year. Hopefully at least the Advent Calendar will return next year.

personal

Unblogged October

Well folks, apologies for the radio silence but most of October has been a complete write-off due to a rather nasty cellulitis infection in both feet and ankles. Not just a bacterial infection making one feel really yeuchy, but so incredibly painful that for several days I couldn’t stand without serious assistance.

Sat 1 I wonder what horrors this month will bring? Last month we had: been ill (twice); death of the Queen; 2 PMs the latest having less clue (or care) than the previous; and a Chancellor the same; mini-budget which wrecked everything except a handout to the richest; £ fell to $1.03; another interest rate rise; promises of fewer environmental controls.
Sun 2 Had horrid indigestion for last week. Feeling rough; totally flattened and unable. Frightened, panicky & depressed – some of the worst I’ve known. Call doctor tomorrow.
Mon 3 A day trying (again) to catch up and organise the junk on my desk; some success, tho’ not enough. But gradually feeling a bit better.
Tue 4 This is getting tedious; not at all a collection of odd and interesting snippets as I’d hoped. Depths of depression today, culminating in meltdown halfway though doing the grocery order: why am I even bothering; what’s the point; I won’t be here by then. I suggested N just put me down; which she declined on the basis that it’s illegal.
Wed 5 Finally a call-back from GP. She’s not very concerned; might just be a nasty viral infection (not Covid). But concerned enough that I’m on 2 week referral for endoscopy – just in case! Bugger, but wise.
Thu 6 Blimey! Talk about a quick response. Hospital called this morning to arrange appointment. And more … I was offered an appointment at o’God o’clock on Sunday morning. At least that’ll get it over with.
Fri 7 Blood taken by nurse at GP’s this morning. Also saw GP: have painful cellulitis in foot = antibiotics. Slept most of the afternoon.
Sat 8 Totally stressed and panicky about tomorrow. Cellulitis f***ing painful; cannot put weight on it without painkillers. Doesn’t bode well for tomorrow.
Sun 9 Full moon which I actually saw was no. 888 since I was born.
Mon 10
to
Wed 26		 And then everything was a write-off. As my GP expressed it, I was quite poorly with the cellulitis in both feet and ankles. Unbelievably painful even with strong painkillers and strong antibiotics. Lucky not to be hospitalised with it; largely due to calm, pragmatic and determined GP.
Thu 27 Finally beginning to surface. Feet still painful, but a lot less so; have to stop every hour or so for a lie down as that’s the most comfortable for the feet. Can walk about home, but not stand for any length of time. Now on third course of antibiotics, and still on the painkillers.
Fri 28 A day feeling dopey. Check-in with GP who is pleased with progress. Still trying to catch-up and build my new big laptop (got fed up with struggling with the old small one which won’t take Windows 11).
Sat 29 Good grief! It isn’t even November and already the BBC are making all their presenters wear a poppy. Gah!
Sun 30 Arrggghhhh!! Yet again we have to bugger around changing the clocks. It really winds me up! We should stay on GMT – it’s our heritage innit! Or at least decide what time zone we want to be in, stay there, and stop wasting time changing everything twice a year. Gah!
Mon 31 It’s the end of October, and still almost every tree is in full green leaf. A few species are already bare, and some are starting to turn autumnal; but many still look as if it is high summer.
amusements, personal

Unblogged September

Thu 1 Blimey! What a day! It’s surprising how much work a new credit card makes, what with activation, PINs, update all the finance apps, insurance etc. – and that’s before you start updating all the places you use a card online. That was just one part of a never ending stream of emails and things needing to be done NOW! How did I manage to do this every day at work?
Fri 2 Poorly pussycat. Not eating; being sick. V.E.T. tomorrow morning.
Sat 3 N takes Boy Cat to the V.E.T. who thinks he has an infection especially as the other 2 also off their food at bit. I stay home because the gardener is coming – but he doesn’t!
Sun 4 A day of deep depression; weepy and struggling to do even the minimum. Even a really nice chicken curry not restorative.
Mon 5 We’re getting a new treasurer for the literary society. So, as I’m the one who brings in most of the money (memberships & shop), I had to dust off and update my finance processes. It’s surprising how much it had changed in only 3 years – so much more being done online.
Tue 6 Rain! We have rain! It absolutely poured down for a large part of the afternoon. But it had stopped by 19:00 when I went to feed the pond fish, and it was actually a nice, warm and fresh evening.
Wed 7 It was another of those instances where you need to do a job, but find you don’t have the necessary materials to hand. In this case, flash drives. Fortunately Mr Amazon came to the rescue with same day delivery.
Thu 8 It’s raining again. For at least the third day in a row. This is most unusual for the first week of September, which is usually dry, sunny, and warm – so much so that we have often taken holiday at this time. Today is our umpty-n-th wedding anniversary; this day in 1979 was indeed dry, sunny, and rather warm, as were the preceding and following few days.
Fri 9 Well what should one do on the day after the death of the Queen? I don’t know, but basically we did bugger all apart from jellivate and studiously ignore the continual morbidness on TV and radio.
Sat 10 Picked an enormous quantity of runner beans. The gardener took half, and we gave some to a neighbour and still have enough for us for tomorrow. That’ll not be the last of them, but they’re beginning to wind down, so maybe only one more picking. Not bad for last year’s plants – yes they’re perennials, not annuals as we always treat them.
Sun 11 Afternoon cookathon. Bread pudding. Salmon (for cold tomorrow). Marinated pork slices for dinner (with jacket potatoes & veg). Alcoholic summer fruit salad for dinner.
Mon 12 Well that certainly needed doing … Comes the gardener to relay half the front path which was in a dangerous state with several lifted slabs due to the encroachment of roots etc.
Tue 13 I really struggle to understand why people are so disorganised. You send out an invitation to a (free) talk, followed by a reminder two weeks beforehand. But at least 20% won’t book until the day before, after you’ve sent out the Zoom link to those who’ve already booked, thus causing extra work.
Wed 14 Guy next door gets a so-called tree surgeon in to cut back my trees on his side of our mutual boundary – which he’s entitled to. But he doesn’t have the courtesy to bother to tell me. Have to get out of pram with said tree surgeon who is straying over our side; and working unsafely; with the wrong tools. And because all the trimmings are technically mine they get thrown over the fence, onto my lawn, for me to clear up, without any “by your leave”. Very not impressed.
Thu 15 I can’t believe* that the queue to walk past a flag covering a box (even if it does contain the mortal remains of the Queen) in Westminster is almost 5 miles long, stretching along the South Bank back to Southwark Park; and that if you join the queue now (about 20:00) you might just get through by sunrise – or is that sunrise on Saturday?
[* Well actually I can believe this because the British people are sufficiently stupid and gullible.]
Fri 16 Day totally disrupted by a supermarket delivery which was 90 minutes after the booked slot. How can they send a driver out with paperwork not having the crate numbers for every delivery? And then apparently do nothing until I ring up to find out what’s happening. We eventually got to have lunch around 14:15, so basically ended up writing off the afternoon as well as the morning.
Sat 17 At last, and sooner than expected … we got our 4th Covid jabs this morning at our local chemist. We were a bit early so had to join a short queue – 5 chairs rather than 5 miles long. They really are good; well organised and efficient; and they automatically deliver our prescriptions at no charge.
Sun 18 Eddie Butler, rugby player and commentator, died a couple of days ago. I bumped into him once, almost literally, maybe 20 years ago on Reading station. I’m a pretty big bloke, but he absolutely dwarfed me.
Mon 19 I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised at it being a weird day, what with ER funeral and all … but I felt really out of sorts all day: cold, miserable, depressed, and totally unable to settle to do anything at all. I am though in awe of the logistics which have gone into the whole of the last 10 days; I know it is all planned out in advance, but there’s so much that can’t be fixed until the time comes – like selecting and training guardsmen to carry the coffin, naval ratings to pull a gun carriage, transport & detailed orders of precedence for dignitaries, rehearsal and final timings. And that bearer party were (at least in what I saw) nigh on faultless – at least two were still teenagers! – and commanded by a young Second Lieutenant, the most junior of junior officers – what responsibility, and deserving of something more that just kudos. Equilibrium partly restored later with cold chicken, sauté potatoes and champagne.
Tue 20 Oh God! Spent the day horizontal and cancelled everything. Vertical hold totally buggered by vertigo. Effectively motion sickness; dizzy and nauseous.
Wed 21 Still flattened, though slightly better. Very annoying, especially as I have a couple of things which I needed to do urgently yesterday.
Thu 22 Managed to be semi-upright. Trying to catch up on that which should have been done in the last few days. Doctor she say want to see me when it happens again; may need ENT referral.
Fri 23 Slowly improving, but still in catch-up and rest mode.
Sat 24 Nice literary society zoom meet at lunchtime with fun discussions about Dornford Yates, George Orwell, Tolkien and others; plus totalitarianism, healthcare, fishing and Scotland. Never let it be said our meetings are dull!
Sun 25 What’s happening? Has everyone died? It is just so quiet around here; even our usually noisy neighbours are pretty quiet. Mind you they can’t say the same for us today; the gardener has been here shredding, mowing and strimming all day!
Mon 26 After a dull, wet and miserable day, some glorious evening sunshine on the top of the silver birch tree. The wild rose has climbed right to the top of the tree and is a riot of bright glowing red hips in the sun. No photo can really do it justice, but here’s a shot!
Click the image for a larger view.
Tue 27 How computers waste time! Spent 2½ hours this morning while N was at the hospital trying to fix several (mostly minor) glitches on her PC. Failed at all but one; and even that took some wrangling.
Wed 28 Well that wasn’t quite as scheduled. I missed Jupiter’s close approach on Monday night, because as usual it was cloudy. But at 04:15 this morning it was an unmissable bright light in the SW sky. I was too asleep to go get binoculars, but impressive all the same.
Thu 29 I’ve had so little alcohol recently that this evening’s half bottle of red left me feeling distinctly unsteady.
Fri 30 It’s flu jab day! I wonder if it’s going to knock me out for 24 hours like it usually does? Luckily I’ve managed to keep the weekend free.
personal, ramblings

What I Did Done

Sometime in early August, Emma Beddington wrote an article in the Guardian under the title Ignore those lists of goals to hit by age 30 – here’s what you should have done by 47.

Well I’m a bit past worrying about either 30 or 47, but it did get me thinking. I wonder what achievements and landmarks I managed in each decade of my life so far? Well here’s a list. It’s all a bit frightening really, when written down like this …

0 to 10

  • Entered the world and was healthy
  • Learnt to read, write, do arithmetic
  • Learnt to ride a bike
  • Learnt to swim
  • Introduced to nudism
  • Introduced to lightweight camping

10 to 20

  • Passed 11+
  • Sung in school choir (including Messiah, Benjamin Britten’s St Nicholas, and HMS Pinafore; also at St Paul’s Cathedral)
  • Scout troop leader
  • Visited the Lake District with school (twice), and Scotland with scouts (twice)
  • School prize for A-levels
  • Went to university to study chemistry
  • Learnt computer programming
  • Played cricket and hockey for school & university
  • Treasurer, and briefly Chairman, of university radio station
  • Broken engagement

20 to 30

  • Somehow got a BA, MSc & PhD
  • Representative on various staff/student committees & similar
  • Resident Tutor
  • Met Prof. Sir George Porter (Nobel Laureate) at Royal Institution
  • Converted to Catholicism and lapsed
  • 3rd XI club cricket captain
  • Learnt to umpire cricket, properly (but never bothered to take the exams)
  • Met my handful of most influential friends
  • Unemployed for 3 months
  • Permanent job (at IBM)
  • School governor
  • Organised a tour for my cricket club
  • Finally moved away from home
  • Got my own rented flat
  • Appendix removed and a summer off work
  • Married

30 to 40

  • Bought the house
  • Got our first cats
  • Organised a tour for a different cricket club
  • Had a summer off work with glandular fever
  • Had an affair

40 to 50

50 to 60

  • Father died
  • Started this blog
  • Retired (from IBM)
  • Silver wedding
  • Conducted the funeral of a friend; gave the eulogy at her husband’s funeral two years later
  • Got a piercing (don’t ask, TMIA)
  • Visited USA
  • Ran five Anthony Powell international conferences
  • Had Sunday Lunch at the Ritz
  • Visited Eton College; and Balliol College, Oxford
  • Met Ian Rankin and Tariq Ali
  • Attended the Service of the Most Noble Order of the Garter in St George’s Chapel, Windsor
  • Diagnosed with Obstructive Sleep Apnoea and Type 2 Diabetes

60 to 70

  • Mother died
  • Became a state registered geriatric
  • Met the Earl of Gowrie; and Lady Antonia Fraser
  • Ran another four Anthony Powell international conferences
  • Had formal dinner (and informal lunch) in Masters Common Room of Eton College
  • Stood down as Secretary & Trustee of Anthony Powell Society after 18 years
  • Involved in founding GP’s patient group; appointed Chairman
  • Published (privately) a book of photographs
  • Bilateral knee replacements
  • Ruby Wedding
  • Attended Buckingham Palace Garden Party

Over 70

  • Appointed to my local council’s Community Review Panel

That includes a number of things I never dreamt I’d do, like visiting Eton College (and drinking their champagne); meeting an Earl who was also a former Cabinet minister; dining at the Ritz; attending a Buckingham Palace Garden Party.

So even if I exclude the things we all do – like reading, writing and losing parents – that’s still a somewhat mind-boggling list for a mediocre grammar school boy!

However I don’t really feel it is exceptional. Mostly because I’ve drifted; I’ve gone where the wind took me; none of this was a pre-planned long-term objective, because I’ve never had a life (or career) plan. I’ve done what was there at the time. If you’d asked me at 11, 18, or even 21, I couldn’t have predicted any of this (except the very obvious). And I find that somewhat scary.

amusements, personal

Unblogged August

Mon 1 Managed to get my monthly update for GP’s patient group members done early this month. Should make things easier later in the week. Far too much to do and to think about at the moment.
Tue 2 This weather is getting too draining. The warmth is fine, but the humidity! According to the forecast it has been around 50-60% humidity all day today (and that’s quite high) but we’re promised more like 90% humidity overnight – but no rain.
Wed 3 Oh the joy! Afternoon spent rewriting a poorly formatted webpage – and working out how to make it format the way I want. I won in the end.
Thu 4 Well that was a job that was long, long overdue: spent the afternoon sitting outside repotting all the houseplants. Almost every one was well pot-bound.
Fri 5 Another joyful trip to the dentist to have the crown I detached last weekend glued back on. Luckily partner (who I’ve not seen before) was able to achieve this – let’s hope it stays that way. Mind you £100 for 15 minutes work!
Sat 6 Oh! Nasty niff in the kitchen. Ah! Dead mouse behind the fridge, trying to hide in the works. I wonder which cat brought that in, and when?
Sun 7 The day to recover the wasp traps and spend the afternoon examining the catch. Answer: a lot of flies, but also … A couple of apparently common wasps (Vespula vulgaris) in one trap – but they have slightly strange markings. In the other trap one definite V. vulgaris and what looks like a solitary (predatory) wasp which I can’t identify. I was going to blog this, but then realised my photos weren’t up to standard. [The stranger turned out to be a male of the solitary bee Lasioglossus calceatum.]
Mon 8 Unexpected bonus visitors at lunchtime: two goldfinches drinking from the birdbath. Haven’t seen any in ages; good to know they’re still around.
Tue 9 Another bonus visitor at lunchtime: a humming-bird hawkmoth stopping by the buddleia. It was around for only a couple of minutes so no chance of getting a photo. Only the second time I’ve seen one here (previously in 2018) and only the third or fourth ever. They’re not rare, but not common; many are immigrants although they do overwinter and breed in the warmer south-west.
Wed 10 Humming-bird hawkmoth was back again at lunchtime having a quick snack from the buddleia. By the time I had a camera and got there of course it had gone. Still an excuse to sit in the sun for 15 minutes hoping it would return.
Thu 11 We’re obviously not playing enough cricket; or morris dancing. We need rain; lots of rain; and there’s none to speak of on the horizon. Our silver birch tree is so dry it looks like autumn, though I suspect it’s nearing the end of life as they live only 35-40 years.
Fri 12 Yet again the council are behind with the recycling (and rubbish) collections, as they have been for some weeks. Having got behind, they’re not catching up but continually slipping part of the next day – rinse and repeat. They say they’re a victim of the shortage of HGV drivers; ie. they don’t pay enough.
Sat 13 Phew! Just too hot again to do anything other than jellivate™. Luckily it’s supposed to be getting cooler after tomorrow, and we may even get some rain next week – but I’ll believe it when I see it.
Sun 14 Two nice rescues from the house last night, tho’ neither especially unusual. Female Southern Oak Bush Cricket and Straw Underwing moth. I know those Southern Oak Bush Crickets walk and jump well, but how do they get any distance with effectively vestigial wings?
Mon 15 Went to collect my new glasses. Nothing special; same rimless frames as before, but a marginally different colour. Fitting done with no fuss in about 15 minutes. I don’t know I’m wearing them. Why can’t everything be this easy?
Tue 16 So much for the rain we were being promised; it amounted to 10 minutes desultory drizzle. But thank heaven it is quite a bit cooler, although still nice and warm. Much rain forecast for tomorrow – well we can hope!
Wed 17 Rain! I thought it would never arrive, but mid-afternoon the heavens opened for an hour or so. In fact it was so heavy at one point I couldn’t see Horsenden Hill about half a mile away (by fastest crow).
Thu 18 Busy day. Good call with doctors’ Practice Manager and then after lunch to see our newest GP: very thorough; good communicator; very pleasant; all round good experience. Why is it that I’m more comfortable with female clinicians – certainly doctors, nurses, physio etc.? Oh, and the gardener was here all day too!
Fri 19 Big branch on our oak tree has cracked; it’s still attached but hanging down on the ground. Crack is too high for us to get to the limb, although we can hopefully trim the lower parts to make it safe temporarily. Yet more cost!
Sat 20 Demoralising is an understatement. I seem to be getting more depressed by the day; less able to make myself do anything meaningful; more wanting to curl up and ignore everything; more weepy. Over the years I’ve tried petty much everything short of psychedelics and electrodes in the brain, and I just don’t seem to be able to crack it. GOK what the winter is going to be like. And yet people see me as functioning.
Sun 21 Over the last week we’ve put quite a few goodies (like a chicken carcass) out for the foxes. So the trail camera has some wonderful pictures of fox demolishing said chicken and similar.
Mon 22 The tree surgeon cometh. He looketh. He speaketh money. Verily we concur. He goeth away with a promise to return on the morrow morn with lad(s) to do the work.
Tue 23 The tree surgeon’s lads arrive (late). The chainsaw revs. Broken oak branch removed. Small defunct cherry tree goes. Remains of very old dying apple tree also gone – thankfully the rambler roses are saved. Job done in about half an hour! I’m sure the guy next door was rejoicing as he thought we were removing all our trees, which he hates. What a shame we disappointed him! Meanwhile the pond guys also started today and worked like Trojans.
Wed 24 Pond nearly finished already. Filled with water; pump running. A few bits to finish off tomorrow. Looks really good. Pix when complete.
Thu 25 Rain! We have rain! By 6 this morning it had clearly been raining well for some time … and it continued to wee it down until lunchtime. So we all got soaked finishing off the pond, and the guys had done and gone by about noon. I can’t believe how quickly, efficiently and professionally they’ve done the whole job – even down to supplying some small fish and waterlilies! Brilliant!
Fri 26 Indulgent pudding: strawberries and cut-up almond croissant with lots of double cream. An Anglo-Frog variant of Eton Mess – except deconstructed.
Sat 27 Tootling round the garden, as one does, we stopped to look at the pond. Lots of little goldfish dashing hither and yon in the sun. And the waterlilies are already growing – one has a leaf on the surface having grown around 15cm in two days! Incredible!
Sun 28 Male blackcap skulking through the shrubs outside our dining room window at lunchtime. Accompanied by our usual selection of blue tits and great tits demolishing the peanuts.
And, as promised, here’s the newly refurbished pond; with all 4 waterlilies now having surfaced!
Mon 29 August Bank Holiday Monday. And it didn’t rain! It looked as if it might rain a couple of times, but nothing happened. Which sort of sums up the day all round.
Tue 30 The enormous pile of crap we accumulated in the front garden is gone. A glorious skip-full of old pond bits, shed detritus, garden crap, miscellaneous metal & electrical recycling, etc. etc. Removed same day by a registered waste company on their truck. Yes, it cost, but job done quickly & efficiently. Result!
Wed 31 A truly “meh” day to end the month. Not feeling great and at every turn there’s yet more that has to be done – including attending to the gardener, who like all gardeners can be a loose cannon if not supervised.
amusements, personal

Unblogged July

Fri 1 Monthly admin day again, and no sooner to clear one set of papers off the desk than two more arrive. Finally got to see some desk about teatime.
Sat 2 In the garden mid-afternoon, and a noise overhead. Looking up there’s a red kite and a gull, quite low, and I’m not sure who was escorting which off the premises. The kite was surprisingly bigger than the gull; absolutely majestic.
Sun 3 I seem to have spent all day writing my Chairman’s monthly update for the doctors’ patient group members – there was a never-ending list of healthcare items this month.
Mon 4 Following last week’s diabetes check-up, doctor and nurse not happy. Increase statins. No alcohol for a week. Hrmph!
Tue 5 I’m writing yet again. Today I’m working on a presentation about the places Anthony Powell lived, which I’ll probably end up giving later in the year.
Wed 6 Blimey. What a day. I’ve lost count of how many members of the government have resigned today – but it is far more than there should be members of the government to start with, which says a lot about our rotten to the core system.
Thu 7 It’s no wonder my PC refused to start this morning, and needed a helpdesk call. Johnson resigning is enough to frighten even inanimate objects, especially as his successor will likely be even more dangerous.
Fri 8 One of the three pupae collected from the garden a couple of weeks ago has hatched into a large “house fly”. Not sure how you get something that size from a small pupa. fly
Sat 9 The day for a haircut. Now really short again. So much more comfortable in this heat. And it’s due to get hotter.
Sun 10 What a good thing there’s nothing pressing to do today. Awake at 04:00 and 07:30. Next I know it’s 11:30! What happened there?
Mon 11 Part of what happened there was that I’d put my back out. Hopefully I’ve managed to settle it down and it is now just muscular. If not I shall have to find me a new osteopath.
Tue 12 It’s coming to something when the experts can’t even vaguely agree. Tonight’s weather: BBC says 1-2% chance of rain at any time tonight; Met Office say 40-50% chance of rain in the 2 hours around midnight. We had a few heavy spots just before 20:00.
Wed 13 This morning, a pile of feathers in the bedroom doorway. Just feathers; oh and a foot. No sign of a bird. No sign of a corpse. Has it been hidden or eaten? Guess we’ll find out when it starts smelling.
Thu 14 I was wondering why my morning fasting blood sugar levels had suddenly dropped about 10 days ago. Looks like it might be the hot weather. Who would have guessed this is a thing?
Fri 15 Another good insect day, after yesterday’s butterflies (which I blogged about). Today a Jersey Tiger Moth. Yes, they’ve spread from Jersey to the south coast (I first saw one in Lyme Regis about 20 years ago) and are gradually moving north. I’ve seen one here most years for the last 6 or 8. They’re absolutely stunning; and quite large. jersey tiger moth
Sat 16 Having bemoaned the lack of the usual butterflies this year, today saw a beautiful red admiral feeding on the buddleia. It was, of course, camera shy.
Sun 17 Saw the Lebanese guy next door this evening – first time in ages, so had a good long chat about everything from the eldest’s career aspirations to his plans to extend the house. His wife and 3 boys are in Lebanon for the summer.
Mon 18 Scorching day! Walking down the garden this evening we disturbed four, yes four, Jersey Tiger moths (red wing morph) in the woodland glade. All flying together; absolutely stunning! There’s something they obviously like here.
Tue 19 In more insect news … this morning an Oak Bush Cricket in the bathroom. Unfortunately N put it outside before I could catch it and work out exactly which species.
Wed 20 A pleasantly cooler day with a refreshing breeze. The last 2 days have been unbearable, but we did have some heavy rain late last evening (not enough though) and it cooled a lot overnight. But still warm enough for a Peacock butterfly on the buddleia at lunchtime.
Thu 21 Annual trip to the optician resulted in new glasses for me: £800 after the 20% discount! N escaped the rape of the credit card. We were there all morning chatting to the young lady dispenser.
Fri 22 I don’t understand supermarket deliveries. You book a 1 hour slot. Often they arrive during the slot; occasionally they’re late; but not infrequently they’re early – like an hour early, as this morning – and catch you on the hop.
Sat 23 Small but successful AP Soc. pub meet over Zoom. While it would be nicer to have real meets, using Zoom does allow those outside London, and especially outside UK, to participate – which is good.
Sun 24 Picked the first crop of runner beans. They’re quite early as they’re last year’s plants which I’ve over-wintered, so got a head start. They were very tasty (cooked & cold) in salad. runner beans
Mon 25 Two afternoons spent making zero progress on my family history: chasing Austens in Kent. Yes, that’s Jane Austen’s family. There are Austens everywhere; all the men seem to be called John, George or William; and they’re everything from baronets & surgeons to AgLabs. Can’t find a link to JA, but that’s hardly surprising given their proliferation.
Tue 26 A day of pushing jelly uphill through treacle with a toothpick. Everything took forever, not helped by being decidedly sleep short.
Wed 27 Sorry guys, I ducked this evening’s meeting. I just couldn’t face the endless waffle, especially knowing who was chairing it.
Thu 28 Oh God! More unnecessary, costly and over-hyped circus acts. Commonwealth Games. Gah!
Fri 29 It happens every week! By the time we get to Friday afternoon I’m firmly convinced it’s Saturday. And I cannot work out why. Guess I’m just going soft in the head.
Sat 30 Uncomfortably warm & sticky to go with a day of depression, anxiety and inability. No wonder I think it’s Sunday.
Sun 31 runner beansToday is the day we put out the wasp traps for the first of this year’s Big Wasp Survey slots. Two traps containing 200ml of lager, at different points of the garden, for 7 days.

As always it’ll be interesting to see what we catch, although I doubt we have any of the specific target species here; more likely to get the commoner ones in early September.

I can’t believe this is the sixth year of Big Wasp Survey!
personal

Unblogged June

Wed 1 Admin all the way to the bottom today – except for cooking prawns & pasta for tea.
Thu 2 It’s ER jubilee weekend. And a nice warm sunny day on which nothing much was done except the supermarket delivery.
Fri 3 Having despatched a juvenile robin the other day, today Rosie cat accounted for a juvenile blue tit. Most unusual for our cats; over the years we’ve had hardly any birds caught, but plenty of rodents.
Sat 4 Almond croissants. Especially good with strawberries and cream.
Sun 5 A typically English damp, grey and chilly bank holiday Sunday, which I made the most of by having a long lie-in.
Mon 6 Against all the odds (like big vet bills and restocking the wine rack) we remain solvent again this month.
Tue 7 ODTAA. Now the electrics are playing up. Downstairs circuits dropped twice in 12 hours. Electrician has been as I couldn’t restore it the first time, but he’ll need to come again and do some more diagnostics – and likely some expensive work!
Wed 8 Telecomms reconfiguration day. Broadband switched by 08:00; easy, but a fiddle to house the new hardware. Awaiting phone port to VoIP – hopefully tomorrow.
Thu 9 “Some days seem to fit together like a stained glass window. A hundred little pieces of different color and mood that, when combined, create a complete picture.” [Maggie Stiefvater, Shiver]
Then again, most days don’t.
Fri 10 What a chaotic day. A collision of supermarket delivery, the electrician, courier delivery, two gangs of bin men, migrating the phone line to VoIP, multiple phone calls & messages … Fortunately pretty much all over in time for late lunch and an afternoon trying to catch up.
Sat 11 The gardener comes. The gardener stays all day. Why is this so disruptive that it’s impossible to concentrate on doing anything else?
Sun 12 Up early and managed to get a lot of work-ish things done before the gardener came hither again. Still the garden is now looking a lot less like a jungle.
Mon 13 A swift! At last. I thought there were none this year. When we came here 41 years ago there were dozens of swifts. They’ve gradually declined and last year there were only 3. So I thought we may have none this year. Delighted they’re still around, however few.
Tue 14 What a lovely day. Shame about my hayfever, which was being a nuisance even indoors and spoiling enjoyment of doing anything outside. And that’s even with taking daily antihistamines since early April. Eye drops & nasal spray helped.
Wed 15 Another very successful AP Soc. conference talk over Zoom. An absolutely super presentation from a young PhD student: professional presentation and excellent content.
Thu 16 Hot, hot weather creates poor water conditions for our remaining (still temporarily housed) goldfish. Looks like we’ve lost all four. Bugger. Sorry, fishes. Mea culpa!
Fri 17 Incapable. Just too hot.
Sat 18 Oh! One of our little fishes survived. Hope we can keep him going while we get the pond refurbished.
Sun 19 Oh f**k! We’re not having a lot of luck at the moment. This evening a heavy le Creuset casserole lid slipped from the worktop, onto the open oven door, smashing the inner glass panel. Luckily only the glass panel appears damaged. What chance we can get a replacement panel? Don’t fancy the hassle or cost of (another) new oven.
Mon 20 It’s tax return time. Afternoon spent making sure I have all the documents I need for both my and N’s tax return. Boring – but then I should be able to fill in the forms quickly.
Tue 21 New oven door arrived. Go to fit it. What? Wrong size?! No? Yes! Stupid bugger here ordered the wrong part. F-U-C-K. (Hopefully right size now on the way.)
Wed 22 A guy came this morning to look at the pond, work out what to do, and give us a quote. Awaiting the quote but is sounds like it won’t be quite as ouchy as I feared – but they can’t do the work until late August at best.
Oh and the oven worketh once more. New glass panel arrived and it took longer to unpack than fit.
Thu 23 An enervating hot and humid day. The predicted thunderstorms didn’t materialise when we needed them, although apparently it was weeing down only 2 miles away.
Fri 24 Why can I not stay awake today? It was even worse than yesterday. I thought I had a reasonably good night, but ended up forcibly sleeping all afternoon – and then waking up depressed. But partly restored by hot baguette and steak.
Sat 25 Another successful AP Soc. Zoom social call. Only 10 of us, majority Americans, but lots of good literary discussion.
Sun 26 Spent a large chunk of the day sitting outside watching the gardener work. ☺
Mon 27 Phew! Got that horrible job done: completed and submitted both our tax returns in under 2 hours. Now we just have to pay the bills!
Tue 28 Our scruffy small lemon tree, which has lived outside for the last 3 years or more, is a mass of bloom. We’ve had 3 fruit from last year and there are still 2 on the bush, already loads of little fruit set this year, and still it flowers.
Wed 29 Why are NHS meetings so awful; and why do people have no clue how to make a point, ask a concise question, listen, and generally behave on a Zoom meeting? I had to give up halfway through tonight’s call as I couldn’t stand any more.
Thu 30 Annual diabetes check-up this morning. To my surprise the nurse isn’t unhappy and we had a long discussion about depression. She thinks I do a lot more than most people and shouldn’t be worrying about the depression and feeling guilty. But I know it could be so much better.