Training Day

 I was up at my normal time. There was no reason for an early start, but my body clock intervened, and I was downstairs drinking coffee well before seven. I worked through the overnight emails, the news, and the social media before Diane stirred. I showered, dressed, made some breakfast and then prepared for my call with the cousins. There were several cousins missing, but we still had a quorum. We had a good chat covering various aspects of the geo-political situation, the passing out of Maggie's grandson at Plymouth, and were just about to talk about the family history book when the Zoom call expired.

I changed my footwear and put on a jacket (needlessly) and headed for the training ground where Ellie was doing her football training with the boys. She has already improved. She has more confidence and is getting involved. The coaches were very supportive, and it was clear that they boosted her confidence. She is the only girl in the team, but she is starting to hold her own. (She's certainly as quick as any of the boys). It was clear that she really put in the effort, and it was plain to see that she was quite flushed from the exertion by the end of the session. Unfortunately, she will miss next Saturday's training  (as she is going away with a friend), but she should be there on Tuesday.

Once I was back home, I cracked on with some admin that filled the remainder of the morning. I grabbed some lunch, and then Di and I retired to the Orangery with our Kindles for the afternoon.

Upper Sixth

 The early part of the morning followed the usual pattern. Maybe the only variation was that I dressed up a little more than usual... and dug out my school Alumni tie (which I didn't end up wearing). We walked across to Zoe's and collected Ellie for the walk to school.

Once home (there was no walk today), I gathered my things and climbed into the car for the drive up to St Albans, and my old school. The roads were wonderfully benign, and there were no delays as I cruised along the A27, A3, and even the M25. Trips like that can lull you into a false sense of euphoria. I arrived at St Columba's College at 11:00. It had taken me 2 hours for the 100-mile trip. As I walked out of the car park, passing one of the technology blocks, I was greeted by the head of the sixth form and taken in to meet some of the 47 other speakers, grab a Danish, and a cup of coffee.

We had been invited to speak at an "Inspiration Day" for the sixth form students. We represented a wide spectrum of careers and industries, and the students could pick and choose. Some sessions had 10 attendees, others only a single interested student. I had two students in my session, "At the Codeface", which talked about the trajectory that my career took and what was interesting and stimulating about such a career. I also touched on the impact of AI, containerisation, outsourcing, and cloud computing.

It seemed to go down well, but the time flew by. After the talk, there was a buffet lunch for the speakers and students, and I got the opportunity to chat with a number of students who hadn't been at my talk. The questions they asked were insightful and made me think about changes I would make to the presentation should I have to deliver it again.

I said my goodbyes and got back on the road at 14:00. This morning's travel euphoria soon wore off as Google announced various delays... 19 minutes, 9 minutes, 6 minutes, and so it continued. This morning's 2 hours turned into 3 hours by the time I approached home. A glass of rum and a glass of Doom Bar were the perfect antidote.

Health

 I was up soon after six. Ellie was being dropped off at 6:30, but I had woken early and decided a coffee would kick-start the day. E~llie burst into the house and, after a cuddle, went upstairs to torment Nana. The next hour or so followed the time-honoured pattern, and we walked Ellie to school as usual. Di headed home, and I set off on my walk. The sun was shining, but some angry clouds were gathering. By the time I started on my third lap, I was concerned that I would get wet, but fortunately, the rain held off.

Once home, I found that we were boxed in by tradesmen's vans. Di had already asked them to move one, but it wasn't until I got home that they condescended to get out of the way. 

After some breakfast, we finished the shopping list and headed to Sainsbury's. Zoe, incidentally, has now invoked the private medical cover that she gets through work. She immediately got a Zoom consultation, and the Consultant has ordered an MRI. We are just waiting for a date. At least things are moving.

The Sainsbury's trip (and stop at M&S and B&Q) took a while, so no sooner were we home than we had to grab some lunch before going to collect Ellie for her weekly appointment in Chichester. We dropped her off, then went for a coffee where Di read her Kindle, and I reviewed my slides for tomorrow's Inspiration Day at St Columba's. While we were drinking our coffee, Di received a call from The Nuffield to set up the first of a series of appointments to get her ready for the knee replacement. It is amazing how quickly this works once you are in the system.

Spring Lunch - Attrition

Ellie had slept here overnight, so there was no need to get up for 6:30. We all got up and got ready at a leisurely pace, then walked Ellie to school. Di then gave me a lift to the station, and I grabbed the 09:26 to Victoria. 

I had arranged the spring lunch for the Band of Brothers. This was booked for The Betjeman Arms at St Pancras. Originally, I booked a table for 7. At one stage, the attendee list grew to 8, but I held my nerve with a booking for 7. In the last 24 hours, Charlie has had to drop out because of a hospital appointment.. While I was on the train, I had two further drop-outs due to health issues. I suggested on WhatsApp that I could change the venue to a phone booth, as the numbers dropped.

I arrived at Victoria and dropped down to the tube, taking the Victoria line to St Pancras. In our carriage, we had the usual entertainment of a "Peace and Love" preacher shouting his philosophy, then breaking into a tap dance every so often. In true English style, nobody batted an eyelid. He gave up and moved to another carriage at the next stop. Arriving at St Pancras, I walked through the various walkways and tunnels to get to the mainline station. I was 45 minutes early, so I had a slow wander around before presenting myself at the Betjeman Arms.

Andrew Mower arrived soon after I sat down, then Brian, and finally, Mike. We then sat and chatted for a couple of hours over lunch and some beers. We talked about everything from holidays to health and our families. In between, we had the usual school reminisces and general life updates. It was a lovely couple of hours (with some very good food).

As we left, I looked out of the windows and guessed there was a quicker way back to the tube. Sure enough, I walked out of the nearest exit, crossed the road, and dropped straight down to the platform. It was so much quicker and saved about 10 minutes of weaving through the walkways. I was soon back at Victoria and managed to get on the 16:05 train back to Bognor Regis, where Di was waiting in the car to drive me home. (It's lovely having such an accommodating chauffeuse.)

Training

 A normal start to the day. The sun was up, but it had been cold overnight. There were some overnight automated tasks that I had scheduled, and they didn't work. This meant a little bit of debugging with my morning coffee. I think I have cracked it, and will test again overnight tonight.

We walked to Zoe's to collect Ellie for school, only to hear that she had left her cardigan in the park last night. Grandpa turned around and headed for the park. The cardigan was hanging in the fence (so it hadn't got wet or damp), and it was soon on its way back to Zoe's to be hung up ready for use. We dropped Ellie at school, then went back home for breakfast. There was no walk this morning as I had a load of minor activities to complete.

Di drove to Yapton to see Ian and Trudy (who used to be our next-door neighbours). A parcel had been delivered for them, so we said we would drop it in. I left Di to it.

After lunch, we had some Kindle time until we had to collect Ellie. We took her home to Zoe, but Ellie has decided she wants to sleep at our house tonight, rather than get up early in the morning. 

Ellie had dinner with Zoe, but came to us afterwards, and I walked with her and Oscar to the football training session. 

She is the only girl in the group, but she seemed to enjoy it and certainly participated throughout the hour. They had various ball skills exercises and team exercises. She seemed to enjoy it and did well. She is asking to carry on for now.

The session finished at 19:00, and we headed home. As I write this, she is upstairs having a bath and getting ready for bed.

Knees Up

A certain degree of normality returned this morning. I had the alarm set for 6:30, and ten minutes later, Zoe arrived with Ellie.  She obviously went straight upstairs to get into bed with Nana. We soon clicked into the old pattern of activity and were ready to walk Ellie to school at 8:30.

Di headed home, and I went for my morning walk. It was very chilly to start with, but I soon warmed up. Once home, I grabbed some breakfast and then spent a morning doing some admin and refactoring several parts of my financial spreadsheet.

Di, meanwhile, was getting her information together for an afternoon appointment at the hospital. We drove to the Nuffield and were seen by a charming Consultant. He reviewed Di's description of the problem and her previous medical background. Then he showed her X-Rays and explained what was visible. He talked through the options, and she decided that the full knee replacement was the sensible option. That's it. The die is cast. We just have to wait for a date, but that is likely to be 2-3 months hence.

After some Kindle time, I left Di to rest while I went to collect Ellie from Athletics. It appears she has a "meet" on Wednesday afternoon, but we have no real details yet.

Rain and Drizzle

I was up soon after seven (another lazy start). Though it was grey, it was dry, but that was not destined to last. By the time Diane came down for breakfast, the rain and drizzle had started and lasted most of the day.

I didn't have any firm plans for the day, but decided that I would spend some time filing the photos from the holiday. This wasn't so much a filing exercise as a cross-referencing task. I went through 471 photos and processed the facial recognition. The computer identified the faces, and in many cases allocated the correct names. This, however, is a job that requires a human eye to ensure everything is correct. It took several hours in all, but it was very satisfying to complete the job.

Though I sent the presentation off to St Columba's yesterday, I ran through the slides again. I will probably do this several more times throughout the week.

I heard from cousin Paul this afternoon. He is coming to London in June on his way through to Poland. We have arranged to meet up for lunch while he is here. We also hope to hear more about Laura and the fact that she has a baby due in November.  The family must be very excited.

GPS

I managed another lay-in. It was nearly seven before I stumbled to the kitchen and made some coffee. There was no hurry. The day started with the usual reading, and when Di emerged, I went to shower and prepare for my morning call with the cousins.

We had a couple of absentees this week, but the call was fun. We heard about Tim's holiday in Calahonda, and the trials and tribulations of the Australian contingent as they drain their pools for the coming winter. (There was very little sympathy expressed by the gallery.)

I went to Zoe's. She has recently switched to EE for her mobile phone, broadband, and TV. She hasn't, however, installed the equipment. I went to help out. The new Smart Hub 7 installed very easily, then it was a matter of reconnecting and testing everything. The WiFi Mesh was soon active, but the security system took a little bit longer. We reset each device, and they burst into life. Finally, we installed the EE TV mini box. This took longer than everything else. Not because it was difficult, but because we had to type in the 96-letter password using a TV remote and an on-screen keyboard. (Ok, it may not have been 96 letters - but it seemed like it.) It finally burst into life and gave Zoe a quick breakdown of how it works. With everybody happy, I headed back home.

Last night, I sent an email to the Cat Whisperer to ask if he had any availability during the summer months. This morning, he responded with a few dates, so I immediately booked Jasper for a week in August. I'm not sure whether we'll do anything, but at least Jasper gets a holiday. We are a little constrained until Diane has seen the Consultant on Monday, regarding a knee replacement. We don't know when it is likely to be done or the recovery time. Once we know, we may book several days away.

I had problems during our river cruise with the software that adds GPS tags to the photos from my camera. I spent a while this afternoon trying to get to the bottom of this. Well, I did, and I didn't. I managed to apply all the GPS tags to the photos... but never worked out why it didn't work while we were away.

Disrupted

Firstly, I should point out that I had a brilliant night's sleep. Indeed, it was halfway through the morning, at 06:45, that I awoke and leapt into action. Being so late, I got washed and dressed immediately before joining Diane downstairs.

Normally, we would walk to Zoe's to collect Ellie for school. Today, I left that to Diane. I had to wait for the chap to arrive and take the car away to be valeted. He ended up being delayed by some early morning light rain (though it doesn't affect the washing of the car, he does try to ensure the upholstery doesn't get wet. The car was taken at 09:00. I had a short walk before returning for some serious admin. Diane, meanwhile, headed off to the local community centre for her cardiac rehab session.

Once she was home, Di spent several hours sorting the wardrobes and the sealed packs of summer clothes. I stayed well clear. I didn't want to end up in a vacuum bag stuffed under the bed.

We had some Kindle time after lunch and went to collect Ellie from her dance class at the appropriate hour. She was very pleased to have been presented with the "Star of the Week" for Maths. I will have to laminate this award for her to go with all of the others.

Why?

 My day started when, at 05:00, I decided that I was wide awake and beginning to fidget. I can't even blame it on Jasper, who had remained silent throughout the night. I snuck downstairs, made a coffee and read the overnight news and the social media. A couple of hours later, Di emerged seeking a life-affirming cup of tea.

We walked to Zoe's to collect Ellie for school. Again, she was in a buoyant and happy frame of mind, which set the foundation for the day. We dropped her off at the school, and both headed home. There was no walk for me this morning. I had admin and chores to clear, and Di had a hair appointment scheduled.

Soon after Di left, Lottie turned up. As usual, she was chatty (and great fun). That, however, was not letting me finish my presentation for the school "Inspiration Day". I managed to squirrel myself away and go back through the slides. I think it is finished. I will sleep on it tonight, then dispatch it to St Columba's in the morning.

Di had confirmation of her appointment with the knee specialist for Monday. So that is now nailed in the calendar.

We had to collect Ellie from school an hour earlier than usual. She has special dispensation to finish early on Thursday during the Athletics Season so that she can attend her weekly appointment that would otherwise clash with the athletics training on Mondays. The advantage this gives us is that, while we miss Kindle time, we also miss rush hour.

Stretching my legs

 We had a disturbed night. Jasper seemed intent on practising his chants in preparation for the World Cup. Several times during the night, Diane had to tell him to shut up. The last time was just before 06:00, by which time I had given up, and I went downstairs for some coffee. At the appropriate hour, we both walked to Zoe's to collect Ellie for school. She seemed to be in a particularly buoyant mood this morning - and that always lifts the day. We dropped Ellie at school, and as Di went home, I set off on my first walk since we returned from Germany. It was a lovely, bright, sunny morning and an absolute pleasure to be out and about. It took me a few minutes to re-sync my brain with the audiobook I had been listening to before the holiday, but I was soon back in the swing of things.

After some breakfast and another coffee, we headed for Sainsbury's. As Di has a hair appointment on Thursday, we thought we would take a risk and shop today instead. As far as we can tell, we did no damage to the fabric of the Universe with our brazen disregard for standard operating procedures.

I had a bit of a blitz cleaning the inside of the car. It is astonishing how stuff accumulates in the various trays and cubby holes. It was an interesting archaeological exercise, and I was surprised by how much I found and how old some of it was (in some cases, it had followed us from previous cars).

I met our new neighbour while I was fiddling about. She seems quite delightful. She has moved into the area from Bournemouth and is currently having some work done around the house, and has a conservatory planned. I gave her a welcome bottle of wine, just to be neighbourly.

We had some Kindle time during the afternoon, then went to collect Ellie from football. We took her home, where Zoe was chatting to the chap who owns the local car valeting company. Still on a roll from my earlier archaeological trawl through the car, I booked an appointment for him to valet the car. I'm not quite sure what came over me.

(My cold is a lot better, but I have a residual cough that is driving me mad, and I have no doubt that it's driving Di mad also.)

Improving

 Despite the cold I have been fighting, I slept really well last night. I was even able to have a lie-in, not rising until 6:45. I was feeling better than yesterday, but decided to forego my morning walk. We did, however, walk to Zooe's to collect Ellie and take her to school. Zoe is actually going to try to do a few hours of work in the store today. Let's hope she doesn't overdo it.

During the morning, Di took Jasper to the vet. She was gone for longer than usual. Apparently, it was very busy after the Bank Holiday. I got on with some domestic chores, then settled down with the accounts. I was pleased that our energy provider has reduced our monthly direct debit by £40. The only "unknown" is the charge from "Muddy Boots", who sorted out the irrigation last week. I'm sure they'll make contact in the next day or so.

We had a few things to sort out after lunch, so we didn't manage any Kindle time.

We've just finished a very disappointing dinner of pork loin steaks and salad. The salad was fine - even I can't mess that up - but the pork loin steak was like a chunk of old leather. It's a shame, because I have a crib sheet that tells me the ideal time and temperature for these steaks, and this is the first time it has been proven inadequate.

Rough

I had a very poor night’s sleep and have woken up with a gravelly throat and voice that would make Barry White sound like Tiny Tim. I was up at 6:16 and sat quietly with my coffee until Di came down at 8:00.

I started on some post-vacation admin, which kept me going until we had to leave to collect Jasper from the cat whisperer. As usual, he has been well cared for, and with last Friday being his birthday, Mark even gave him some presents (though no cake). Jasper was very vocal during the drive home, and as soon as he leapt from his carrier, he went to his bowl and tucked into the food we had put down.

With Jasper home, Di continued to wade through the pile of laundry from the holiday. I went to Sainsbury’s to get some fresh fruit to last us until we do a proper shopping trip on Thursday.

The afternoon saw us enjoying the warmth in the Orangery while pretending to read our Kindles. In my case, I didn’t bother; my head felt as if it were full of cotton wool and concentration on a book was not feasible.

Returning

Some guests had a very early start to the day. We were lucky and needed to have our bags outside our cabin by 8:15 and be ready to leave at 9:15. I had woken early, and this meant it was no trouble for us. We went down to breakfast to say farewell to Shakilah and Nina, who had looked after us so well throughout the week. 

We gathered in the lounge to await the coach. We were whisked across country to Frankfurt and had a trouble-free check-in for our flight. We grabbed a bite to eat while we waited to be called. The plane was loaded quickly, and we were able to depart on time. We had a very smooth flight, landing 40 minutes early. Heathrow Terminal 2 was a slick operation, and we were out with our driver within 30 minutes of landing.

We had a comfortable ride back home, arriving at 16:30. Within a few minutes, Zoe had spotted we were home, so came to see us, and Ellie soon followed. Unpacking is virtually complete.

Looking back over the week, I must conclude that the Moselle is a stunningly beautiful river with some fairytale towns and castles. River cruising is wonderfully relaxing. The boat is so smooth that you don't feel as if you are in motion, but rather that the world is moving past you. We met some lovely people on the cruise; others, however, were "meh!" They didn't trouble us, except as the source of jokes.

We were delighted, on our return, to find that Hannah and Ewan had been good to their word and had laid the replacement irrigation pipes for the back garden and extended them to the front. What's more, they have done an excellent job and hidden all the pipework.