Tea

 I was up early again. Again, it was just as well, as I had some clearing up to do, thanks to Jasper's ongoing generosity. I had only just finished when Ellie turned up at 6:30. She was still suffering from a cough, but was clearly feeling better than yesterday and had every intention of going to school. After the statutory cuddle, she went up to get into bed with Nana, and I followed her up with a cup of tea before sitting down with the overnight news. When the girls came down, I went to wash and dress and then set off for my daily walk. It was very misty again when I first set off, but it soon cleared as the sun took control.

During the morning, we drove across to Yapton to see Trudy and Ian. Some post had been misdelivered to their old house (next door), and the new owners dropped it off to us. We had a lovely couple of hours with them, catching up on their news and drinking their tea. We also took the opportunity to get them to witness our revised Wills. We have resolved to get a lunch organised for us all sometime soon.

We had a quiet afternoon enjoying the autumn sun in the Orangery. We did get a call from Zoe to say she was just back from A&E. They had diagnosed an infection and loaded her up with some antibiotics, but she does need to see the GP on Friday.

I see that our favourite cruise ship, Arcadia, is being retired from the P&O fleet in 2029 and will be replaced with Cunard's Queen Anne. That could be nice for the future.

Sick-note

 I was up early so that I could greet Ellie when she was dropped off. Unfortunately, I had to start mt day cleaning up after Jasper's generous overnight contributions. I had just finished that and got the kettle boiling for Diane's tea when the front door opened, and Ellie arrived. She wasn't well. She was feeling a bit dizzy, had a slight temperature, and a cough. I agreed with Zoe that we would see how she got on before deciding on whether she would go to school. She didn't. Zoe phoned the absence line, and Ellie went back to bed.

It was very damp and misty when I went out for my walk. Having said that, though it was cool, it wasn't cold, and I was tooo warm in the fleece I had chosen to wear. An hour or so later, I returned home to collect a bag of donations for the school's Harvest Festival assembly and get over to the school nice and early.

The rest of the morning was spent on bits of admin and some ironing. Ellie got herself up and had almost lost her voice. We told her to keep drinking, and by mid-afternoon she could talk, though she was quite husky. She might have a virtual sick note from school, but we were not going to let her waste the day. She settled down with some homework (MyMaths) and did well, coming to check answers every now and again. Then, with Nan's supervision, she started on some extra project work on the subject of Egypt and the Pharaohs.

While she was doing that, I spent some time updating some programs and culling others. It was quite satisfying. I also helped Diane get to grips with ChatGPT so that she could use it to take a picture of a dress pattern and of some material and create an image of the finished article in the material she had selected. It worked remarkably well.

Visitors

I had a bit of a lay-in.  I was still up by 07:00, but there was no need to be lazy and get up any later. After reading the overnight news, I settled down to write some documents using an approach I hadn't tried before. I wrote the document is my Obsidian repository using the simple Markdown language. Then, I used "panic" to convert the documentation to a web page. It should also allow me to create a PDF file from the same source (but I haven't tried that yet). It looks promising, but I'm not going to get carried away until I have tried a few examples and worked out how I will link it all together in the long run.

We were expecting Jan and John, so we had a bit of tidying up to do before they arrived. I also went through the latest version of our Wills with the intention of having them witness our signatures. In the end, we forgot all about that until after they had left.

They turned up just after 11:00, and we sat down for coffee and biscuits while we started catching up on the family news. An hour later, we went across to "The Lamb" at Pagham for lunch. While there, enjoying a wonderful Sunday lunch, we heard all about the trials and tribulations of their recent river cruise. There was nothing wrong with the cruise. The problem was that Jan was taken ill and ended up in hospital. It was a couple of days later that they eventually rejoined the boat further downriver. It appears that the Cruise Director did a fabulous job of getting things sorted out for them, and their insurance company has stepped up to ensure everything was sorted.

Back home, we settled in the Orangery for the afternoon and drank tea, ate some dessert, and chatted about all and sundry. By late afternoon, John was flagging, so they headed off home. I must say that John is not looking as robust as last time we saw him. He is hoping to have a hip replacement, so we hope that reignites his sparkle.

We had a quiet end to the afternoon followed by a quiet evening.

Just Admin

 I was up soon after 6:00. I had slept well, but was wide awake, and my mind was reviewing some of the code I had written yesterday. I snuck downstairs, made a coffee, and opened the laptop. Di wandered down a couple of hours later.

I joined the weekly call with the cousins, and we heard about the cruise that Tim and Sarah had been on with their respective (if not respectable) partners. It certainly sounded nice, but they had concluded that these fly-cruises are too much hassle. In future, they would cruise from UK ports (though that does limit the itineraries).

The rest of the morning was spent on admin. We both had a lot to review and get through, and we were both delighted with some decent wins on the Premium Bonds this month, and I took the opportunity to transfer more money into Diane's ISA. The more we can stick in tax-free savings, the better, even if there are slightly better interest rates for other investments.

I spent the afternoon doing some more coding and tidying up from the testing I had been doing. I think my next bit of work will revolve around improving the accessibility of the documentation. While I was sitting at the MacBook, Di was doing some pruning in the garden and then sat down with her Kindle in the Orangery.

We had dinner at the usual time, while watching the Croatia-vs-England Nations League game, and enjoying one of the best England performances we have seen in a long time. A 0-7 win is a good result.

Pooh!

 I was up at 6:15. I needed to be available for Ellie's drop-off, and was aware of aroma infusing the house. I went downstairs in the dark (a mistake I won't make again) and found that Jasper had been generous with his presents overnight in the litter tray. It took a while to clear this up, and then I awaited Ellie. She arrived, full of the joys of Autumn. We had a chat and cuddle, and then she went upstairs to see Nana. I took some tea up, then returned to the kitchen. 

It was only when Ellie came back down (with the light on) that she spotted the fact that Jasper's generosity had spread to the hallway. He had left a deposit on the doormat which, unfortunately, Zoe had stepped in and spread through the hall as she brought Ellie's clothes through to the kitchen. Out came the pooh bags and the Dettol wipes, and the next 10 minutes were spent cleaning up. The doormat was moved to the back door for treatment later.

After I was washed and dressed, I was preparing to go for a walk when Rllie had a nuclear meltdown. It was all about nothing: whether she had her hoodie, whether her shorts were too tight, and goodness knows what else. As she stomped around and bashed things about, I had to yell at her. I then went to get the missing hoodie and some alternative shorts... she didn't end up bothering with any of them. Zoe ducked back from work and took over. In the end, we got a very sheepish apology and a kiss and cuddle before she headed for school.

I got the hose out to deal with the doormat, and Di got on with some laundry. I also caught up with the accounts for the first time in a week. We were both pleased to see some nice winnings on the Premium Bonds this month. With the accounts in order, I transferred some money into Diane's ISA, and I will transfer some more tomorrow.

I took the opportunity to go out for a walk, but had to cut it short at the 4.5km mark as my bladder was suggesting that my morning coffees had not yet fully drained away.

The rest of the day was spent tidying up some code to manage the automatic extraction of information from this blog into my private blog. By the end of the afternoon, that was finished, tested,  and put into production.

A Pinch and a Punch

 Another month begins. I was up late this morning. It was nearly seven o'clock. Coffee was taken, and the news was read before Diane came down. We had both slept well. It was a good start to the day. Once I was washed and dressed, I headed out for my walk. It was a nice day for walking. The sun was bright (if rather low in the sky), clouds gave the sky some decorative contrast, and the temperature was cool without being cold. I still haven't required a coat for my morning walks... and long may that continue.

Once home, I grabbed breakfast and completed the usual Sainsbury's shopping list. We had to make a stop at the local charity shop on our way to get the shopping. Diane had culled four bags full of clothes and other items that were no longer required. We dropped all this off, then spun around to raid Sainsbury's. We were a bit later than usual and, whilst not busy, the aisles were choked with Zombies and the nearly dead. I reflected on Boudicca's chariot as I entered the melee. I wondered whether scythes could be added to a Sainsbury's trolley and fantasised about charging down the aisles... but I digress.

Back home, Lottie was finishing her session, so I made myself scarce and returned to my latest coding project so that I could stay out of the way. In fact, that has been the focus of the rest of the day for me. Di, meanwhile, has been in the front garden tidying up and weeding. She tells me that there is a task for me so I will have to get on with that in the next day or so.

Anonymity

 Another early start due to an overachieving body clock, rather than any need to get up early. I grabbed my first coffee and sat down with the overnight news. Jasper pestered for a while, but he had been nil by mouth since 04:00 this morning. Eventually, he wandered away. Di managed to sleep in for a while, but once I had heard her stirring, I made he some tea and waited for her to come down.

There was no walk for me this morning. We had to get Jasper to the vet, and I wanted to make sure that I was around to help. We dropped him in the carrier and drove to the vet's. He was there for a scan to try to reveal why he is losing so much weight while eating so well. We left him at the surgery and drove home to await their call.

I took the opportunity to go for a walk, and while out, I posted some cards and collected the prescription meds that Diane had requested. While I was out, we heard from the vet and had to return at 14:00. I just had time to get home and have some lunch before we returned for the latest news on Jasper. It turns out that the old chap has some form of inflamed lymphoma. After a long discussion, Di decided that he would be treated to keep him comfortable, but recognised this is just a temporary reprieve in his final decline.

Back home, I was working some more on the code I was developing. I was surprised I couldn't access one of my servers. When I investigated, I realised that the switch to the new broadband route had effectively anonymised my various systems by ignoring their names and just revealing the address of their networking hardware. Very helpful... NOT! I now have to waste time sorting that out, instead of testing my new code.

Shades

 I was up at my usual time, but left Diane fast asleep. We didn't have Ellie this morning, so we could get on with things at our own pace. Once Di had emerged, I headed out for my morning walk. I was halfway round my first loop when I finished my audiobook (Ironwood, by Michael Connelly). I already had another lined up and leapt from Catalina to Stockholm and Moscow as I started on the next book in the Millennium series.

Though it was quite overcast, it was very warm, and I was quite hot when I arrived home. I settled down for some breakfast and a coffee while Di went up to prepare to meet the day!

When we visited the Weald & Downland Museum last week, Diane mislaid her sunglasses. We tried to phone to see if they had been handed in but couldn't get any answer on the switchboard. She sent an email, but received no response, so we decided to drive up there and ask in person. Sure enough, the glasses had been found, and she was soon reunited with her shades.

We wandered across to the cafe and settled down on the deck overlooking the lake and enjoyed (another) morning coffee as we sat and watched the ducks diving, chattering, and laughing at each other's jokes.

We didn't stay for long and were soon home. Di had some admin to do. Her Driving License is up for renewal, and this meant that she needed to get her government ID verification app installed and working. This didn't take as long as I expected. When I did it a year or so back, it seemed to take forever, but we got Di's sorted in about 20 minutes.

I spent most of the rest of the afternoon writing some code.

Air Freshener

 Neither of us slept well, for some reason that neither of us has determined. I was up just before 6:30 so that I could be ready for Ellie's drop-off. As they arrived, I was just finishing the removal of a rather unpleasant package that Jasper had left us overnight. A lot of air freshener was needed to make the air breathable again!

Whilst Ellie had arrived in her usual chirpy mood, she morphed into a bit of a nightmare after I had left for my walk. None of the anger really made sense, but Nana was still upset by the behaviour when I arrived home.

Diane got on with a couple of loads of washing while I finished my breakfast and then made some phone calls. The first was to EE to ask about the WiFi extenders. Sure enough, they should have been sent, but were missed. The agent assured me that this was now sorted and they should arrive in the next day or two. The next call was to the Insurance company to make sure that the veterinary treatment Jasper is having this week is all covered. It is, so that's a relief.

Di went to meet her friend, Angie, for a light lunch at the Oystercatcher. I spent the time refining some code I had been working on, and then settled down with my Kindle. Di arrived home just before 16:00, and we sat and chatted in the Orangery until it was time for me to start on dinner. I expect we have a quiet evening ahead.

Deliveries

 It was a bit grey this morning, and noticeably dark when I wandered downstairs for my morning coffee. Di was still fast asleep, so I didn't take her a tea. There was no firm plan for the day, but we were expecting a delivery from Sainsbury's.

Around the delivery, I spent some time revisiting the code I had written back in June to extract data from the Skoda. With the help of Gemini Notebook, I developed a small Python stub that injected all of the data into a stream that could be read from a Rexx program. This gave me a lot more flexibility for extracting and reporting information. I'm not sure how I will use it yet, but I have several ideas at the back of my mind.

Di spent much of the day switching her wardrobe, taking the Autumn/Winter collection out of storage, and packing the Spring/Summer collection away. At one stage, I was not convinced there would be room to get into the bedroom to sleep tonight, but somehow it all got squirrelled away somewhere.

After lunch, I took the bull by the horns and installed a new SmartHub-7 broadband router. This is the latest box from EE and includes better tri-band WiFi. It went remarkably smoothly because I renamed the built-in ID to match the old hub and changed the WiFi password to match. Everything just reconnected and worked immediately. The only problem I have encountered was the fact they forgot to send out the replacement WiFi extenders to replace my old ones (which are not compatible). I can make do for now, but will have to call them tomorrow to get it sorted.

A Quiet Day

 It has been a quiet day. I was up before seven, took Di a cup of tea, and settled down with a coffee and the overnight news. Di wandered down at eight, and I went to shower and dress. I had my call with the cousins at nine. The call was sparse today. With Tim and Sarah away on their cruise, it seemed remarkably quiet! 

After the call, I got on with a few chores, then buried myself in the study. I had been struggling with the number of photos in the new library system that had lost their orientation. They needed to be rotated by 90, 180, or 270 degrees. I could find no way to identify them automatically, but came up with the idea of creating 3 separate albums (one for each correction), Then, as I came across any photo that needed to be rotated, I just dropped it into the relevant album. Finally, I wrote some code that examined each of the albums and applied the corrections to each of the photos in the album... and then removed them from the album. It works like a dream, and I have already applied several hundred corrections.

I managed to go out for a walk after lunch, and finished my audiobook within the first 100 metres. I already had another lined up, so I switched to the new one and continued on my way.

Mugged

 Another bright start to the day, and after my initial coffee, I went back to wash and dress and headed out for my morning walk. There seemed to be more dog walkers around and about this morning, but I was happy as I dodged them and listened to the last part of my audiobook. It isn't quite finished, but I suspect there are only 10 minutes or so left.

By the time I got back home, Di and Denise were sorting out their breakfast. I made my porridge and settled down with them as they planned the day. Denis had brought with her a kit which provides two white mugs and a set of paints that you can use to decorate them. Then, the decorated mugs are placed in the oven to bake the paint onto the surface.  This was clearly going to take a while, so while they pottered, got dressed, and prepared everything, I hid in the study and spent the morning coding and refining the photo library. (Most of the coding is finished, and now the main task is verifying that all the images are being reflected properly in the timeline.)

It was ominously quiet downstairs. Clearly, the levels of concentration required while painting were disrupting the usual chat pathways. Now and again, I heard the odd exclamation about how well something was working or how good a particular design was evolving.

I came down to check on progress and make use of the silence to get a word in edgeways! I grabbed some lunch and made them some tea, then retired to the Orangery with my Kindle, while they got on with the painting.

It was early afternoon before the mugs were ready for baking. They were placed in a cold oven; then, with the temperature set at 150 C, they were baked for 30 minutes and left to cool down in the oven.

The rest of the afternoon was spent chatting and gathering Denis's bits together. She left here at about 18:00 (though I didn't check the time) and texted a little while ago to say she had arrived home safely. It was lovely to have her here, and I hope she comes back to stay with us again soon.

Out and About

 Jasper was yelling at 01:15 this morning. In the end, I had to get up. For some reason, the beef he had been eating for weeks was no longer satisfactory, and he wanted the timed feed tray opened so that he could tuck into the turkey. I wandered downstairs, cursed a lot, opened the timed feeder, and went back to bed. I finally emerged from the duvet at my usual time and went down for my coffee. Once Di had emerged, I went to wash and dress and then set off for my morning walk.

By the time I got back, an hour or so later, Denise was also up, and so we made more coffee and warmed some croissants, which we ate with some cheese. Once everything was settled and cleared away, we headed out. Today's venue was the Weald and Downland Museum at Singleton.

We started our tour with a visit to the brick drying sheds, the bakery, and the watermill. The baker and the miller were incredibly interesting as they explained the process and the history of their buildings.

We carried on to the barn that hosts "The Repair Shop". I was amused to see that the sign that advertises the venue is in serious need of repair, as the introductory "The" wouldn't illuminate.

We carried on and looped through the market square and then on to a number of cottages, a schoolroom, and a farm. It was really quite delightful, very peaceful, and the ideal venue for today's trip.

We stopped at the restaurant for a coffee and a sandwich (or slice of cake) and then returned by way of the shop. 

We headed home to ensure we were in before Ellie came out of school. Once she had arrived, she spent the next couple of hours grazing on every food group she could think of. She also, to be fair, came to help me prepare dinner. Zoe turned up soon after 17:00 and took Ellie home. It was timed to perfection, as our dinner was just coming out of the oven and the air fryer as they left.

Honoured Guest

Ellie was dropped off first thing. After the usual cuddle with Nana, she got on with her morning routine before taking herself off to school. I went out for my morning walk and returned just as Di left to collect some meds for Jasper from the vet. She wasn't gone for long, and as soon as she returned, I took the car for a quick raid on Sainsbury's. The rest of the morning was a flurry of domestic chores.

At lunchtime, Denie arrived. She is staying with us for a few days. We settled down to lunch of baguettes, cheeses, and cold meats, spending an hour or so just chatting and catching up. It was also an opportunity to give Denise her birthday present, albeit a few days late.

By the time we had cleared away, it was mid-afternoon, so Di and Denise walked around to Zoe's so they could have a catch-up with her and Ellie, and see Zoe's recently landscaped garden. I stayed at home.

Early evening, we put on our glad rags and headed for the bright lights of Chichester. Avoiding the paparazzi, we snuck into The Giggling Squid for dinner. They have had a major rework of their menu, and the selections were very enticing.

We carried on chatting as we enjoyed the dishes we had selected. We must have been there for about 3 hours before strolling back into the night and heading home.

It had been a very nice evening, and we must return to the Giggling Squid again soon.