Thursday 1
Just how is it the beginning of October and we’re three quarters through the year? Another summer been and gone and no tan to show for it.

Friday 2
What a crazy day. Came the gardener. Went he for a medical appointment. He returned, what time we were away getting our Covid and Flu jabs. Just very odd all round.

Saturday 3
An awful day. Got up with a crashing headache, which was not really touched by paracetamol. Felt ropey; everything aching and not working. Spent the afternoon asleep, but didn’t feel very much better for it. I suspect the after-effects of yesterday’s flu jab. Hopefully will clear overnight tonight.

Sunday 4
Feeling a bit better although now the back is playing up – luckily an osteopath appointment tomorrow. Just cannot concentrate on anything, so nothing is getting done. And “her indoors” has reached three score years and fifteen.

Monday 5
Still feeling a bit meh and depressed; cannot concentrate on anything. Sitting outside the osteopath’s waiting to be picked up at dusk I was struck by several things: some pretty cirrus cloud, pink in the setting sun, which didn’t move at all; the number of aircraft going over, at one time I could see seven; and the number of squadrons of gulls and then crows heading off to roost.

Tuesday 6
Two more from yesterday. Why do things get earlier and earlier every year?
First, I spotted the first remembrance poppy (on a municipal sign). (Diamond Geezer spotted them too) It isn’t even Halloween yet and Remembrance Day (yeuch) is still over a month away. At least the BBC haven’t yet imposed poppies on presenters. I agree with Evelyn Waugh who described Remembrance Day as

… a disgusting idea of artificial nonsense and sentimentality. If people have lost sons and fathers, they should think of them whenever the grass is green or Shaftesbury Avenue brightly lighted, not for two minutes on the anniversary of a disgraceful day of national hysteria.

Second (and worse?) was the first fairy light twinkling Christmas tree. OK a slight excuse for this as it was outside a kindergarten. And a report that a local Sainsbury’s is already smothered in Christmas, even before Halloween!

Wednesday 7
We had rain. Proper rain. Steadily for most of the day. And now the rednecks think the hosepipe ban should be lifted. They really do not understand how short of water the country is. Gawdelpus!

Thursday 8
It’s definitely rather cooler today – but no more than average for October. In fact probably not even that low. I remember when I was a teenager by now we would have had several days of frost already this autumn. I wonder if we’ll get any frost this winter?

Saturday 10
Oh bugger! Overnight our silver birch tree has fallen into next door’s garden; and may have taken a limb of the oak tree with it. Tree surgeon supposedly coming early tomorrow to look and maybe do the removal job.
And at lunchtime a small grey/brown, sparrow-sized bird in the garden; looked like a warbler, but by the time I’d got binoculars it had gone. Definitely warbler; but no idea which.

Sunday 11
Cometh the tree surgeons; preceded by the gardener. Looked. Said a figure. And got on with the job. Boy did the three of them work hard. Tree, ivy and lots of rose down and stuffed through their industrial shredder – blimey it was noisy. And they were very diligent about clearing up after themselves. All done and dusted in time for late lunch. So they’re getting a follow-on job. Amongst the tree and ivy there was obviously a squirrel’s nest (but surprisingly no obvious birds nests), as they removed a huge amount of grey fur; it was interesting as it was almost like nylon, rather than soft and downy as I expected.

Monday 12
Awful day. Totally washed out and incapable, physically and mentally. N felt much the same. So we abandoned the plans for the day and just sat around doing nothing.

Tuesday 13
One feels a lot better for a good night’s sleep. That is until the osteopath tries bending your feet behind your ears and leaving the thighs stiff and aching.

Wednesday 14
This evening another excellent, very interesting, and well attended online talk for the literary society, which I host on Zoom.

Thursday 15
Interesting chat with the senior nurse at doctors for my annual diabetes check-up. All basically well controlled (except weight, of course). Blood tests look OK, but computer says I might have liver damage, so I have to talk to GP and have an ultra-sound test – this is new and the nurses don’t understand why it’s being imposed. No I won’t go on Ozempic; I hear of too many side effects, we don’t have enough long-term experience, and there’s rapid weight gain if you come off it. Moreover I won’t have the NHS bullying me. Interestingly the nurse admitted that NHS staff also get bullied from above, and keep having these new checks to do with no explanation.

Friday 16
Only the second time I’ve been into central London since Covid hit. So nice to go to a favourite pub, which is just as good as ever, and have lunch with a friend from US. But the traffic was awful; even worse than I remember it when I was doing the journey regularly 25 years ago; and this on a Friday when everyone works from home!

Saturday 17
Oh bugger! I was going to go to the literary society pub meet at lunchtime, but woke up with what felt like the start of one of my vestibular migraines. So I abandoned and stayed home, gently doing. Fortunately it didn’t develop and by evening I was a lot clearer. So annoying!

Sunday 18
Comes the gardener to finish clearing up all the rose etc. that was cut down last Sunday and left in next door’s garden because he ran out of light! He also cut back the front hedge on next door’s side, which we promised to do for them. Meanwhile yesterday I arranged the tree surgeons for mid-December to finish cutting down and cutting back the other, less urgent, bits that need doing.

Monday 19
It was one of those days when “they” kept rearranging the bread and butter under my feet. Literary society officers demanding (because they can’t think it through for themselves); doctors wanting to rearrange my recently cancelled appointment (and surprised I won’t do next week); vet agitating about Tilly’s samples (so they have to be dropped off); and a trip to the osteopath (who had screwed up his diary, so had to squeeze both of us into one appointment slot). Just what is wrong with the Universe today?

Tuesday 20
Rain! At long last we’ve had some proper rain. It was clearly wet overnight and rained on and off all day. If the forecast is correct this continues for most of the next week, which would be good (even if not enough).

Wednesday 21
Today’s cook-a-thon was “pies”. (1) Chicken, turkey and cauliflower with borlotti beans and mushroom sauce under mashed potato – enough for tonight and tomorrow. (2) Apple with tinned peaches & apricots, plus a couple of tots of peach schnapps, ½ teaspoon almond essence and a dusting of ground cinnamon under a crumble topping – some tonight and several days of breakfasts to come.

Saturday 24
Lunchtime. Around 10 green parakeets sitting in our trees. Plus a jay and two crows around. The crows were obviously upset about something as they arrived like a pair of jet fighters; possibly the parakeets or more likely the jay. Anyway, and I didn’t see this clearly, I think one of the crows got hold of a parakeet and physically removed it, although the parakeet appeared to escape.

Sunday 25
Oh bugger! For the first time in ages I have a filthy cold – which is obviously why I was feeling rubbish yesterday. And today has been pretty much a write off. N is a couple of days ahead of me, and has the bronchitic version. So this is going to scupper plans for the week. Not impressed; and no idea where it came from.

Saturday 31
Yes, I’ve been AWOL for the last week. The aforementioned filthy cold turns out to be Covid. Having avoided it until now, suddenly it appears out of nowhere. Apart from having lost most of my sense of smell and taste, it has really only been like flu. I’m recovering, slowly; my temperature has stayed normal for a couple of days and the cough is going; I’m left with a total lack of energy (physical and mental), little smell or taste, and a headache. I’m just hoping it doesn’t turn into Long Covid.

All round a pretty rubbish month.