Strolling along

 There was no hurry to get up today as Zoe had a day off. I wandered down for a coffee and started on the overnight news. It had been cold overnight and we had our first frost of the season. The house was very comfortable, however. The changes to the heating had obviously made a difference.

I wrapped up warmly and walked around to Zoe's to escort Ellie to school and then continued for my usual pre-breakfast walk. It was a lovely morning for walking. The sky was blue, the air was crisp and cold, and the sun elevated the day to "glorious". Once home, I made my breakfast as Diane prepared to go to Pilates in Angmering. 

After I had finished some domestic chores, I grabbed my coat and headed back out. I caught the bus to Bognor and then walked down to the Esplanade. To make a change from last week, I turned westwards and walked up past the pier and on towards West Park.

It was very quiet along the front. There were people about, but not many. I turned around when I reached the West Park Cafe.

Walking back past the pier I went as far as Butlins before turning back and heading to the bus stop.

The bus company really need to get their act together. There was no bus waiting for me. The information said there was a 9 minute wait. I hung around for a few minutes and found the information still said the bus was due in 9 minutes. I pocketed my bus pass and decided to walk home. By the time I walked in the door, I had walked 10 km.

After lunch, we had a quiet hour before it was time to collect Ellie. Immediately after collection time, Zoe and Di had a parent's session with Ellie's teacher. It went very well and Ellie is clearly a well-loved student in the class and is doing very well.

Ribbit

 After an interruption from Jasper, as he deposited his supper on our bedroom floor just after 03:00 this morning, we had a fitful end to our night's sleep. I was started when the alarm went off and I had to leap down the stairs to greet Ellie as she was dropped off. She was wonderfully chirpy as she burst into the house. Again, she was all ready; she was washed, dressed, her hair was done, and she had finished her breakfast. All we had to do was entertain her until it was time for school. Whereas some of the country was under an onslaught of snow, we just had some light rain. 

After dropping Ellie off, I headed out for my pre-breakfast walk. I did a couple of large loops of the estate and then headed home for breakfast.

I had some admin to clear before I got down to anything else. We hope the kids come for lunch on Sunday, so I have been considering the possible menus. I think I have decided on pork... and that means crackling. We love crackling and there may not be sufficient on the joint so I contacted a local butcher, however, he couldn't provide any rind. I headed to our local farm shop and spoke to the butcher there. He said they process the pigs on Wednesday morning - and suggested I ring them and ask them to put some rind aside and collect it tomorrow or Thursday.

While I was at the farm shop, I asked about beef short ribs. The butcher explained that he had some that had been prepared for a customer who never turned up to collect them. I leapt at the chance and bought a couple of kg of these ribs to put in the freezer.

After lunch, we had some Kindle time before I went to collect Ellie.

Beating the Rain

It was an early start this morning. Ellie was dropped off and was already dressed, her hair was done, and she had had breakfast. There was little for us to do besides keep her entertained until it was time to head to school. We dropped her at the classroom and then I headed off for a walk as Diane headed home. I managed a couple of miles before heading back for breakfast.

After some breakfast and consuming the overnight news, I did some domestic admin and then, seeing that rain was due in an an hour or so, I headed out for another walk. This was longer than the earlier effort and took in a couple of roads that I hadn't previously walked along. I was out for about an hour and arrived home before the rain started... but only just. The rain, though not heavy, has continued all afternoon.

I dug out the soup maker. We tend to use it a lot during the winter months. Today seemed like the ideal time to start. I chopped onion, sweet potato, red pepper, carrot, garlic, and parsnip. I added a handful of lentils, then topped it up with vegetable stock.  Twenty-five minutes later we had a lovely thick, creamy soup.

After lunch, we retired to the lounge with our Kindles. We had numerous interrupts as various deliveries arrived at the door and as the clock ticked towards 16:00, Diane went to collect Ellie from school and take her home.

Gallery

 For some bizarre but unknown reason, I had a dreadful night's sleep. As a result, I was up early to recharge my caffeine stream. Diane shuffled down some time later and we had a quiet breakfast. I prepared vegetables and some chicken thighs so that they could snuggle in the base of the slow cooker for the day. A casserole would make a nice change from the usual Sunday roast.

Diane did some pottering in the garden before the weather breaks (tomorrow). I took the opportunity to go for a walk but didn't manage to go as far as planned as my coffee intake clearly surpassed my bladder's ability to retain it.

Zoe called. She wanted some help putting up a gallery wall of photos. She had already done much of the work but wanted help and advice for some differently-sized pictures. I popped home to get my double-sided nano-tape. It is far easier to use and get the positioning right than using clips or screws. 

Back home we settled down for some Kindle time in the Orangery for the rest of the afternoon.

Oldies who Lunch

 I checked my watch.  It was 06:30. I turned over, intending to have another 15 or 20 minutes in bed. At ten to the hour, I got up and wandered downstairs to make coffee. It was remarkably light and that was when I checked my watch and saw that my 15 or 20 minutes had turned into an hour and 20 minutes. That was a result!

I had my usual call with the cousins. The chat was typically wide-ranging and fun. We covered everything from Butlins to the rules that forced pregnant women out of the Navy in the early 70's. With the call over, I managed a quick walk before Diane and I hopped in the car and headed up to the barren wastes of Surrey. We were due to meet with Jan and John at "The Refectory", on the outskirts of Godalming.

We had a very pleasant journey up through the countryside, marvelling at the autumn colours and surprised by how little traffic there was. We arrived early and settled in with a coffee before Jan and John arrived. We went through the usual "organ recital" (discussion of aches, pains, health conditions, and so forth) before moving on to the latest news from the respective families. The food was excellent. Di and I both started with the parsnip and apple soup (accompanied by delicious sourdough bread). Di then chose a steak sandwich from the "Lite Bites" menu. This was a misnomer as it was large enough to feed a family and had to be wheeled to us on a trolley. (No it didn't). I chose the fish pie which was served with peas and beans and was delightful. We are due back at the restaurant, next weekend to meet up with cousin Ellen.

We had a good. journey home - the only brief delay was for a wedding party in Petworth. (We hadn't brought a present, so we didn't stop). Once home, we settled down with a cup of tea and our Kindles and enjoyed a quiet evening reading and watching TV.

Charity Walk

 Ellie was awake at 06:30 and came in to check that it was ok to switch on her devices (the Wifi is scheduled to reactivate for her devices at 06:30). That gave us another 20 minutes in bed. We were all up soon after as Diane had to get Ellie ready and get ready herself for Cardiac Rehab. 

Ellie could wear her own clothes (as opposed to her school uniform) today. It was "Children in Need" day. We dropped her at the classroom and wished her good luck. She had a sponsored walk around the school playground scheduled for mid-morning. She seemed a little apprehensive, but we had no doubt she would do well. 

Diane headed home so that she could drive to the Community Centre for her Rehab session. I headed off for my pre-breakfast walk. Back home, I finished breakfast and then set about my mid-month habit of checking all of the utility meters. I then updated the accounts and then got on with some domestic chores. Once Di was back, I had made her a cup of tea and we discussed her session, I headed out for another walk with the intention of posting a Birthday card and picking up a card for Di's forthcoming Birthday. I was out for about an hour and thought how lucky we had been for the past few weeks of dry weather. I see that the weather is expected to break by the end of the weekend.

After lunch, there was Kindle time until it was time to collect Ellie from school. I stopped off at the park so Ellie could let off some more steam. It turns out that she managed 11 laps in her first walk, but then did another walk where she managed 19 laps. I'll have to raid the bank to pay the sponsorship.

Back home, Zoe joined us and we all had dinner together. They have just left.

Grandpa's Curry

There was no hurry to get up this morning. In fact, I managed to lie in until 07:10. By then, however, coffee was singing its siren song. When the time came, I wandered around to Zoe's for the school walk and then set off for my pre-breakfast exercise.

Back home, with breakfast finished, I completed the week's shopping list and, when Di was ready, we headed to Sainsbury's. Considering the time, I was expecting it to be busy, but I suspect there was a problem with the Zombie bus as the aisles seemed free of the usual shuffling imbeciles that arrive mid-morning on Thursdays.

Home and unpacked, we grabbed some lunch before retiring to the Orangery for some reading. I read for about an hour, then set off for another walk in the bright November sunshine. I've started a new audiobook, but am not convinced that I will stick with it. I'll give a few more sessions before I decide.

By the time I arrived home, it was time to collect Ellie from the after-school Craft Club. She came home and started to tell us about fossils, crystals, and volcanoes. Meanwhile, I was preparing what she calls "Grandpa's Curry" for her dinner. Once that was underway, I started on our sticky chicken pieces with sweet potato fries and beans. I think we all ate our fill.

Ellie is staying with us overnight.

Beaches

 It was another day where there was no need to get up early Despite this, I was making my first coffee before seven. As school time approached, I walked around to Zoe's to participate in the walk to school. Once Ellie was safely in class, I headed off for my pre-breakfast walk.

Diane headed off to Angmering for her Pilates session. I finished my porridge and reading the news then decided that the weather was looking quite promising. I grabbed my jacket and my bus pass and caught the bus to Bognor Regis.

I walked down to the beach and then turned eastwards. Though people were walking along the promenade, it was not busy. My biggest issue was that  I could not get my AirPods to play my Audiobook. I walked on in silence.

I headed up past Butlins, The Lobster Pot, and the Sommerly Estate. There, I turned back and headed back towards the town.

I stopped at The Lobster Pot and sat down with a coffee. I enjoyed the peace as I watched the world go by.

I finally stirred myself and continued the walk back to the bus stop and then rode home.

Diane arrived back soon after me. I grabbed some lunch and then settled in the Orangery for some Kindle time.

Cat food

We were up early to greet Ellie when she was dropped off. She was perky despite the cold and cough she was fighting. It was a lovely bright and clear morning as we walked Ellie to school. Diane went home and I headed off for a short walk before returning for breakfast.

I had some admin to clear after breakfast. Diane was heading to the shops to pick up various clothing items appropriate for the cooling weather. I was still finishing my admin when Lottie arrived to do some cleaning for us. I left her to it and headed off for a walk. I paused at the village and popped into the barbershop for a trim. With my hair scattered across the barbershop floor, I headed back out to continue my walk.

As it was so bright and sunny, the Orangery warmed up nicely. We settled down for some Kindle time until it was time to collect Ellie. I left Di in the warm and went to the school. It may have been chilly, and the North wind was quite cutting, but Ellie wasn't interested in wearing a coat. As soon as we arrived home, she raided the fridge. 

After an incident at the store, Zoe was delayed leaving work. In the end, Ellie was getting worried that her kitten, Bo, wasn't being fed on time. Di walked her home so Ellie could attend to the cat.

All Change

 A fairly usual start to the day, but thankfully not an early one. After coffee and overnight news, I wandered around to Zoe's to join the walk to school. After the drop-off, I continued for my pre-breakfast walk.

After breakfast, most of the morning was spent bringing the accounts up to date and then returning to the research I started yesterday regarding home printers for Zoe. In the end, I think I found the ideal solution... so that is Christmas sorted!

It is a case of "all change" today. Our neighbours, Trudy and Ian, moved out and new neighbours moved in. Needless to say, it didn't go smoothly. Though the exchange was due to happen at lunchtime, it was late afternoon before the conveyancer condescended to tell them the money had been exchanged. Because of the delay, we invited Trudy and Ian in for coffee while they waited. They went back to wait in the shell that was their house, and we settled down for some Kindle time.

Late in the afternoon, I headed out for a second walk of the day. I wasn't really in the mood for it, but I'm glad I forced myself. As I returned home I met our new neighbours - Sandra and Laurie. They seemed very nice and I gave them a bottle of Prosecco to welcome them.

A Quiet Sunday

 There was no need to get up early and I managed to stay in bed until 07:45. It had been cool overnight, but the house was comfortable warm as I settled down in my pj's to drink my first coffee and read the overnight news. Diane came down a little while later and we enjoyed a very leisurely breakfast.

I spent an hour or so doing some research into printers and iPad keyboards. I have an excellent iPad keyboard, but Diane's one is clunky and sub-optimal. I would like to get one the same as mine, but they have been "Sold Out" for months now.  As for the printer, I was looking for an alternative device for ~Zoe as hers is, frankly, useless. For both the keyboard and printer, I have narrowed it down (with the help of AI) but still need to make the final choice.

Diane cracked on with a pile of ironing. 

I headed out for a walk. I had no specific route in mind but found myself on the old highway to Shripney. As usual, with the exception of crossing the bypass, it was delightfully quiet and I was able to become engrossed in my latest audiobook. This book is an early offering from Ian Rankin (who wrote the Rebus novels - though this isn't related to Rebus).

It was a very pleasant hour or so.

After getting home and having some lunch, we settled in the orangery for some Kindle time.

Having finished dinner, we just checked "SeeSaw" to find that Ellie's Volcano Project has earned 25 house points and the teacher commented that she can't wait to show the video to the class. That will put her in a good standing for the upcoming "Parents' Evening".

Piccadilly Circus

 I was awake early, even though getting up was unnecessary. By seven, I was downstairs making coffee and settling down with the overnight emails and news. I had my usual call with the cousins which included various discussions of remote islands and volcanoes. This was triggered by my mention of Ellie's volcano project.

When the call was finished I returned to the MacBook and continued with the compilation and editing of Ellie's video. It took several passes to get it right and to mute some of the background comments from myself and Diane. My thought of adding background music was vetoed. Eventually, it was finished and uploaded to Google Drive; the file was too big to be uploaded to the school's "SeeSaw" system, but I could upload a link to the Google Drive instance. With that done, I sent a copy of the link to Zoe, Kim, Pete, and Jane.

After a bite to eat, I had to go to the shops and get more cat litter. The traffic when exiting the shopping centre was dreadful and what should have been a quick round trip took a surprising 30 minutes. When I arrived home, I quickly changed and headed out for a short walk. We were expecting ~Kim, so I couldn't be out for too long.

Kim stopped in on her way home from having her Covid jab. We had a lovely hour or so with her, hearing about her course, her commute, and even her iPad. I gave her a hand to get the Apple Pencil working so that she could use it for drawing diagrams. Sue and Trevor Taylor dropped by while Kim was still with us, though she didn't stay for much longer. They had been to Southampton to see Alan who was doing another drumming residency on P&O's Iona. We heard all of their latest news. Jean is enjoying herself at the care home; Kevin has remarried and they attended the wedding; their caravan holiday doing the North Coast 500; and, of course, no conversation in our age group can be completed without the health update (or Organ Recital, as I recently heard it described). Just as Sue and Trevor were preparing to leave, Zoe turned up. The afternoon had been like Piccadilly Circus.

As soon as everyone had left, I got on with dinner and, when that was done, Di settled down with "Strictly" as I wrote this.

Lights, Camera, Action!

 There was no need to get up too early, Ellie was leaving from home this morning. After my first coffee and a quick spin through the news, I grabbed the videos that I had recorded yesterday showing Ellie describing how to make a volcano. I needed to start editing them down to a consumable length and it is so long since I have edited video that I needed a bit of a refresher and some practise.

I went around to Zoe's and walked with them to school then headed out for a walk before returning for breakfast. A removals van was sitting outside our house as Trudy and Ian started the move that will complete on Monday. 

Diane went to her Cardiac Rehab and while she was gone, I returned to the video editing. It took me an hour or two, but the unfinished video stream is looking good. It still required additional video clips to show the eventual eruption of the video, but that would have to wait until Ellie finished school.

After lunch, I took a walk to the village to return some of additional devices EE had sent. Once home we had some Kindle time before collecting Ellie from school.

With Ellie back home with us, we returned to the volcano project. I filmed as Ellie explained how the mixture of bicarbonate, washing up liquid, and water was poured into the volcano. Then we made a mixture of red food colouring and white vinegar. This was poured into the volcano and we stood back as the chemical reaction began and "lava" bubbled out of the crater and down the sides of the volcano. It was very successful, and now I just need to splice the video onto this morning's video and then go through and tidy it up... and maybe add some background music.

G-Force

I was up early ready for Zoe to drop Ellie off. Ellie wasn't well, so she wasn't going to school. G-Force would be in charge for the day.

Diane had an appointment at the hairdresser, so Grandpa took the lead. Ellie and I decided to spend the morning making a volcano for her school project. Grandpa started with some sheets of A3 paper to develop a prototype. Once I had seen how it could work we set up with sheets of card and Ellie created a series of videos to talk through each stage of the build. There is still some more work to be done, but we have to wait until the paint has dried on the slopes of the volcano. We will return to this tomorrow.

When Di got back, we had some lunch before I took the opportunity to go for a walk. Soon after I got back, Zoe arrived and took Ellie home. I think she is well enough to go back to school tomorrow.

Off Sick

We were up early this morning so the deli could be dropped off on Zoe‘s way to work. Ellie had woken up with a sore throat and was feeling a bit sorry for herself. She’d had some medicine and was ready to go to school but we wrote a note for the teacher so that she could contact us if Ellie needed to come home.

I went for a walk before coming home for breakfast while Di came straight back so that she could get ready to go off to Pilates. After breakfast, I decided to move the smart Wi-Fi hub that I installed yesterday and put it in Ellie‘s bedroom on top of the wardrobe. This was a major piece of work because the wardrobe needed to be moved so that I could find a plug socket it took a lot of shifting and shoving, but eventually, it was all done and the smart Wi-Fi Unit is now providing a strong signal across Ellie‘s bedroom and indeed all of upstairs.

I had ordered some new pyjamas from Marks & Spencer, and they would be delivered to the Shripney store at lunchtime. I packaged up the old broken smart Wi-Fi unit, set off to the post office to return it, and then walked up into Shripney to collect my new pyjamas and some chicken pieces for the freezer. What with the walk after school and the walk to Shripney and back by lunchtime I had covered well over 10 km. and that has brought my total so far for November to over 25 miles.

After lunch I settled down in the Orangery to read for a while within about half an hour, I received a call from the school to say that Ellie really needed to come home so I went to collect her and we looked after her until Zoe finished work and she went home.

In the evening, we joined up with the Sonning Crew (plus Ken) and took the bus into Chichester. It was the end of an era as Trudy and Ian would be moving on Monday so it was the last time that we would have a chance to get together for a meal. We went to the Turkish restaurant Reina Kitchen. I think from previous experience people had learnt the lesson, the best dishes at the restaurant were from the grill. I must say that the food was excellent. I had their special which included sheesh lamb, chicken, and Adana. Di chose the lamb chops which were the best she’d ever had. Again from experience, we knew that we had to get the 9 o’clock bus home if we missed that the next one wouldn’t be for another hour. We timed it just right. For old people like us, 9 o’clock is plenty late enough.

Brake!

 There was no need to wake up early today. Zoe had a day off, so Ellie would not be dropped off. I wandered around in time to join the walk to school. I didn't go for a walk immediately after the school drop-off, I headed home for breakfast.

After breakfast, I took the car to the dealer. Two weeks ago, the service pointed out that the brake fluid needed to be changed, as did the spark plugs. They didn't have the parts at the time, so today was the first convenient opportunity for us. Dropping the car off, I plugged my AirPods into my ears and walked home via the old highway from Shripney to North Bersted.

Back home, I returned to the accounts. I completed the transfer of funds to the ISA and then updated the master spreadsheet. With that done, I updated the MacOS on my MacBook and then spent some time checking the settings on all my Apple devices to try and remedy an occasional problem with syncing messages.

A message came through. The car was ready. I grabbed some lunch, then set off to walk back to the car dealer. It was a lovely temperature for walking, but still grey and dry. When I got home, I found the EE Smart WiFi had been delivered. In fact, they had delivered two! I configured one of them, then settled down in the Orangery with my Kindle.

Back to school

 We were up early so that Ellie could be dropped off on Zoe's drive to work. She was a little subdued for a few minutes, but quickly snapped out of it. We took Ellie to school as usual, and then Di went home, while I headed off for a short walk before breakfast.

After breakfast, I started on some domestic chores while Di pottered upstairs. After I finished and the floors had dried out, I settled down with the accounts. I decided that I was going to move some funds from one savings account to an ISA. I hadn't realised what a faff that could be. I ended up moving the funds from one bank's savings account to its current account; from there I moved it to another bank's current account, and then to that bank's ISA account. They don't make it easy!

I headed out for another walk. My audiobook was playing as I wandered one of my frequently used routes.  It seemed remarkably quiet considering it was dry and mild. However, I like it when it's quiet.

We had an afternoon with our Kindles before Diane went off to collect Ellie and take her straight home to await Zoe.

Wrong

 We had a lazy start to the day. It was grey, dry, and slightly cooler than the last few days. After breakfast and wandering through the news and social media, I decided to install the replacement "Smart WiFi Plus" that EE had sent. I unpacked the box and realised that they had not sent the WiFi Plus unit but had sent a "Smart Hybrid Connect". I already have one of these and do not need another. I phoned them. Having selected the correct sequence of menu options, I was informed that I was in a queue and could expect to wait 45 minutes. Whoopee-do! I finally got through to a human from the Newcastle call centre. He was very nice, but couldn't help me. He would transfer me to the technical department. I was on hold for a further 20 minutes before a call handler picked up and we, hopefully, resolved the situation. A new Smart WiFi Plus is being sent and a bag for the return of the "Smart Hybrid Connect". That was 75 minutes of my Sunday gone in a flash.

Di wanted the leaves cleared from the front and back garden. We have a machine for that. I grabbed the leaf vacuum and worked my way around the front garden and then the back. The leaves were sucked up and shredded into a fine powder. It didn't take too long as the dry weather had stopped the leaves from being all mushy.

With the gardens clear (until the next windy day), I headed out for my walk. I wandered further than usual down a couple of the roads while listening to my audiobook. It's nice linking up a few more lines on my mental map of the area. It was cool, but it was pleasant weather for walking. By avoiding the main roads, it was amazing how quiet it was.

Once home, I settled in the Orangery for some Kindle time before stirring myself to prepare dinner.

12K

This is a momentous blog post. It is the twelve thousandth entry in this blog since I started it in 2004. It's a shame that there isn't something of huge importance to report or discuss!

Ellie slept well overnight. I was up well before she emerged, and Zoe came to collect her soon after eight o'clock.

After I finished breakfast, I started to unpack a self-assembly bedroom unit for Ellie's room. Di, meanwhile was getting ready for an appointment at the hospital. I laid out all of the components and checked the inventory. It wasn't quite as straightforward as some I have built recently. This is because they hadn't numbered each part, so they had to be identified by the pre-drilled hole positions. When I had everything ready to start assembly, it was time to head to the hospital.

The appointment was at Worthing Hospital rather than St Richard's in Chichester. Because of the parking problems, I dread visits to Worthing but having said that, there were no problems today. In fact, it was remarkably quiet. We found our way to the correct department and I waited while Diane had her check-up. She got a clean bill of health. When we had finished in the department we stopped off in Costa for a coffee before driving home.

Once home, I returned to the assembly of the unit for Ellie's bedroom. It went together quite easily, with the exception of the doors. The hinges were a bit fiddly, but eventually, they clicked into place. The unit now sits at the end of her bed and holds the TV. (The TV gets its signal via the Amazon Firestick over WiFi so I have created a schedule whereby the WiFi switches off at 20:30 and doesn't reactivate until 06:30 - this is the same schedule used for her iPad).

With the unit in place, I set off for a walk. I managed about a 5.5 km loop before settling down in the Orangery for Kindle time.

Chancellor

 I was up first, followed 45 minutes later by Diane. Ellie remained in bed but picked up her iPad to watch some YouTube videos. By the time I had finished my morning ablutions, Zoe had arrived to collect Ellie. 

My morning was spent sorting out the TV we had decided to install in Ellie's bedroom. The Firestick was working downstairs, but would it still get a signal in the bedroom? To make sure, I thought I would install a WiFi extender upstairs. Unfortunately, the extender wouldn't pair with the router so I then spent an hour on the phone with EE and they eventually agreed to send me a replacement. As it happened, the TV was able to pick up a signal anyway. With that working, the next issue was to find a suitable unit on which it could sit. We didn't have anything suitable so I spent time online and ordered a suitable unit that should be delivered by the end of the day.

Zoe brought Ellie back at lunchtime. She was feeling under the weather, so a quiet afternoon would do her good. I headed out for a walk.

I looped around the lake and Willows Edge, then up Berry Lane to North Bersted Street. I then headed across the bypass and down to Shripney, before turning back and retracing my steps. As I walked back, I passed the field with some old horses and the pen with the goats. As I approached, I could hear a donkey baying. I couldn't help but think of our Chancellor of the Exchequer.

Once home, I joined in the quiet afternoon - though this started with Ellie wanting to make a sweet concoction from melted marshmallows and Rice Crispies. It was messy and had the texture of Gorilla Glue. It was, however, quite tasty... even if Ellie didn't have more than a teaspoonful.

145

There was no need for the alarm clock this morning. Ellie was spending the day with a friend at a local pumpkin farm and wouldn't be dropped off until mid-afternoon. We had a quiet breakfast before heading to Sainsbury's for the weekly shop.  We had the usual issue with Zombies blocking the aisles, but being Halloween, it was to be expected.

Once back home, Diane set about a pile of ironing. I went out for a walk. I was out for an hour or so and finally finished the Jason Bourne audiobook I have been listening to. I started a new one. This new audiobook is from the "Bosch" stable by Michael Connelly. When I arrived home, I had completed over 145 km this month - that's 90 miles. I was very pleased with the amount of exercise I have managed this month.

Mid-afternoon, Ellie was dropped off by Tammy. She was only here briefly before I gave her dinner, and another friend and her mum arrived to take her out "Trick or Treating". She'll be back soon and will be staying with us overnight.

Space

 Zoe had the day off, so Ellie was at home today. We had a lazy start to the day.

Once all of the morning ablutions and minor chores were complete, we donned our jackets and headed to the bus stop. We were going into space. Lift-off was uneventful and flight through to Chichester was remarkably quick and we did not experience any periods of weightlessness. Getting off the lander at the Sea of Cattle Markets, we made our way across the cratered landscape (damned potholes) to the Cathedral.

The Cathedral (where Gustav Holst is buried) is currently exhibiting Mars. This, like the previous exhibit of the Moon, is a 7m orb with detailed photos of every aspect of the planet which have been stitched together and rotates slowly in the nave.

It was a brilliant display. We had planned to visit yesterday with Ellie, but she said she wasn't interested.

(It was clear that the photos were taken part way through the process as they hadn't yet coated it in chocolate).

We left the Cathedral via the cloisters and made our way to South Street to find the new "Piccolino's" restaurant. I used to eat at their branch in Bristol and found them to be very good. This branch opens next week so we will have to give it a try.

We wandered back via Crew Clothing (where we were waylaid and only able to leave once we had selected a bag of new apparel) before stopping at Cote Brasserie for lunch.

Back home by early afternoon, we settled down with our Kindles for a while. Before it got too dark, I headed out for walk and then returned to my book in the Orangery.

Staying In

I was up early to greet Ellie, who cycled around with Zoe driving as an escort. There was no rush to get ready for school, no hurry to get out, just a relaxed breakfast and start to the day. We had planned to go to Chichester with Ellie, but said she wasn't interested so we stayed put.

During the morning I got on with some admin and then scanned some documents. Ellie was up in her room reading, and Di was pottering about prior to Lottie's arrival. Just after Lottie arrived, Ellie and I set out for some fresh air. Ellie rode her bike, and I walked. We made our way around to the postbox to mail some birthday cards. We then looped back around by the lake and stopped at the park for Ellie to let off some steam.

Leaving the park, we looped back around the lake again and this time stopped at another park where Ellie played on the climbing apparatus and balance beams.

We headed back home for some lunch. Ellie wanted to watch the TV in the Orangery. I hadn't used this TV since we installed the new router. I had to reset the network settings to get it working, but it was soon providing YouTube Kids to keep Ellie happy.

We all spent most of the afternoon in the Orangery until Zoe came to collect Ellie just before five o'clock.

Repair

 It is half term week. Ellie had a sleepover with Ariana last night and as a result, we didn't have to get up early for the drop-off. In fact, it was about nine o'clock before she was dropped off. The weather was mild, dry, and very grey. We had to hope that it would stay that way. We had an outing planned.

We picked up Ellie's friend, Neve, and headed up through Chichester to Singleton to spend the day at the Weald and Downland Museum. Our first challenge was to find a car parking place. All the car parks near the entrance were full so I dropped Di and the girls off, went to find the overflow car park, and then hiked back about 19 miles to meet them.

For those not familiar with the Weald and Downland Museum, it is an outdoor museum where historic houses, barns, mills, and shelters have been rebuilt in a vast parkland setting. A trail of shadow boxes had been placed around the park with letters hidden inside. The girls wanted to find these boxes and then form a word from the revealed letters. This ensured that we did make our way around all of the exhibits.

After a comfort break, we headed past the lake to the old mill where a miller was showing how wheat was ground.

The Museum is the home of "The Repair Shop" which has been a popular TV show where craftsfolk repair old family heirlooms. (They ask you not to photograph the Repair Shop "to keep it as a surprise" which is pretty daft as the credits for the programme clearly identify the Museum as its location). 

As it approached midday, we headed for the restaurant and sat down for some lunch. By arriving early, we had no difficulty finding a seat and ordering our meals. By the time we left, families were queueing out of the door. Also by the time we left, it had started to rain. It was a fine drizzly rain, almost as if we were in the cloud itself. It didn't take long to get us thoroughly soaked. We headed up the hill and looked at the various houses and barns as we walked.

As we walked down one steep path, Ellie noticed a chap lying on the ground. She and Diane went over to check he was all right. Neve and I saw them disappear and went after them. The chap (who was a big unit) had slipped in the mud and twisted his (recently replaced) knee. We stayed with him until he was comfortable enough to try and get up, then helped him onto a bench where he could rest until venturing onwards We did offer to get and get help, but he declined.

We continued the quest for the next shadow box. I think the girls were quite surprised when they saw the conditions that people lived in. They were intrigued by the beds and the toilet facilities... and how dark the homes were (though I did point out they would have had candles or maybe even oil lamps - even if they didn't have WiFi and YouTube).

We stopped at one house where an Apothecary was allowing the children to make some potions. We had to wait for a while, but Ellie and Neve managed to create a potion made of black pepper, coffee beans, lavender, sage, and various other ingredients This all had to be mashed down in a mortar and pestle. Then the finished potion was wrapped in muslin and tied with twine. The girls both brought home their prized potion.

We moved on to the market square and then back to the restaurant for a drink and a slice of cake, and to dry off a bit. While we were there, we worked out the word that was formed by all of the letters shown in the shadow boxes. It was "Bonfire". We submitted the answer when we went across to the shop.

When it was finally time to leave and head home, I left the girls in the shop and started my hike back to the car. It was pointless for all of us to get wet again, so I brought the car around to the entrance and collected them there.

It didn't take too long to get home. We dropped the girls off at Zoe's and then came home where we settled down for a quiet evening.

Fall Back

 In theory, we got an extra hour in bed as the clocks went back last night. The theory is all very fine but doesn't necessarily apply to my body clock which insisted that I woke at the usual time. I managed to stay in bed for a little while but as I started to fidget, I decided to get up rather than disturb Diane. An hour or so later, she emerged and we settled down to breakfast and the overnight news.

It was while we were reading the news that we heard a huge bang and Diane went to check what had happened. An Audi S3 car, driving past our house had been t-boned by an Audi Q3 SUV coming up the Boulevard. Fortunately, nobody was hurt but the A3 was severely damaged. The Q3 driver hadn't even tried to turn the wheels and just ploughed into the A3. It all seemed a bit dodgy when the brother of the SUV driver turned up and offered to pay cash for the A3 there and then. After the exchange of details and lots of photos, the Q3 drove off, leaving the elderly couple with the A3 to wait for recovery. (The police were not interested as nobody was hurt). After a while, I took them a cup of tea and they commented that they thought she was on the phone and were hoping their dashcam footage would show what had happened.

After some domestic chores, I went out for a gentle walk. I managed about 4km without too much discomfort, though my knee did give me a few wobbles. I stuck fairly close to home, looping around the lake and through Willows Edge. The sun was bright and the temperature was very comfortable in the mid-teens. It was ideal walking weather.

After lunch, I noticed that our crash victims had obviously been collected and the car removed. We settled down for some Kindle time before I started preparation for tonight's dinner.

Lie in

 I slept particularly well last night and treated myself to a long lie-in. It was nearly 07:20 before I emerged and fired up the coffee maker. I caught up on the overnight news and then, once Di had come down, I treated myself to some breakfast and prepared for the call with the Empson cousins.

The Zoom call followed the usual pattern of banter and news combined with various discussions about issues, plans, and family. It all seemed to come to an end so quickly. 

During the morning Di and I walked into the village. She had a birthday present and a card to post and collected her latest batch of meds. We took it gently, but even still I found my knee was quite unstable. I decided that I wouldn't venture back out once we got home.

We had some Kindle time after lunch before Di started on some Goldwork and went to cook up a new batch of curry. I must say that the few "on the fly" tweaks that I made to my usual recipe were very successful and the finished article was delicious. Better still, I have three further portions tucked away in the freezer for the next few weeks.

Kneedless

 I was up early for Ellie's drop-off. She has a new bike so she cycled around to us (with Zoe driving alongside). She exploded into the house and couldn't wait to cycle to school... but had to tolerate having breakfast, getting washed and dressed, and waiting for the clock to tick around to 08:30. Considering it is a big bike, she cycled very well. Leaving her in class, I walked the bike back home (I wasn't going to chance leaving it in the school bike shed) and locked it away in the garage.

Di went off to the Cardiac Rehab session. I had my breakfast and then went out for a gentle walk. Unfortunately, my knee discomfort is getting worse. It isn't painful, but is quite unstable.

I sent a message to Jane to see how she was feeling. She was ok - though her local Sainsbury's had reorganised some of the shelves and that had put her blood pressure up.

Much of the rest of the day was spent with our Kindles until it was time for me to collect Ellie. She was only with us for about an hour until Pete came to collect her for the weekend.

Monitoring

We received a call from Trevor. Jane had been suffering from some heart discomfort. She spent much of yesterday at the Royal Berks Hospital, having blood tests, ECGs and so forth. Eventually, she was allowed home but will have to wear a monitor for a few days. It was a worry... but it was good to hear from her today and hear that she's feeling more stable and her blood pressure has lowered.

I was up early to greet Ellie when she was dropped off. She was very chatty and chirpy and eager to get to school. We walked her around at 08:30 and left her as she ran into class. I went for a short, gentle walk. Unfortunately, my knee was still proving troublesome.

Diane had an appointment for her annual MOT at the doctor's surgery. When she got back, we headed off to Sainsbury's for the weekly shop.

After lunch, we had some Kindle time. I finished the first of the Chichester mysteries and must say that it was an excellent book. I have just started on the second book. (At this time, there are only two in the series).

Mid-afternoon, I went out for another walk. Again, I kept a gentle pace and limited my distance to monitor the impact. My knee was still unstable but by reducing the pace and distance, it wasn't too bad. So far this month, I have walked over 75 miles.

Joints

 I was up early, though there was no pressing need to greet the day. After some coffee and a romp through the news, I walked around to Zoe's and joined the walk to school. Back home, I settled down for breakfast as Diane collected her things and headed off to Angmering for her Pilates session.

I completed some admin and then headed off for a walk. The rough plan was to take a long zig-zag route around the neighbourhood. My audiobook played in my ears as I deliberately avoided any noisy roads. Unfortunately, as I approached the farthest point, my knee started to trouble me. It wasn't too painful, but it was uncomfortable and I was concerned that it might be the start of something more unpleasant. It wasn't the joint itself, it seemed to be the ligament at the front of the knee. I slowed my pace and took a direct route home. Once I was back and just pottering around the house, the discomfort disappeared. I decided to try a shorter walk later in the day.

After lunch, we settled down for some Kindle time. My current Kindle book is "police procedural" (as the Americans call it) which takes place in and around Chichester. This makes the book seem quite real as the author includes local roads, sites, villages, and landscapes.

Di headed off to join Zoe and collect Ellie from school. I used this as an opportunity to take a short walk. It was clear that the knee was still giving trouble so I only managed a single lap of the lake.

Service

I was up early so that Ellie could be dropped off. She burst into the house like a tornado - a tornado wearing one boot and one fluffy slipper! After a cuddle with Grandpa, she charged upstairs to greet Nana. We had a busy morning so I had my breakfast before the school run.

As soon as we were back from school, I took the car around to the local dealer for its annual service and MOT. I walked back through the misty morning sunshine and then settled down for a quick coffee. As I enjoyed the caffeine infusion, the doorbell rang. The chap from Flash Trash Recycling was standing there, 30 minutes earlier than scheduled. I opened up the garage and they started to load their truck with all of the detritus we had sorted at the weekend. After a few minutes, we could actually see the garage floor again.

Next on the agenda was to steam clean the floors before lunch.

We had some Kindle time after lunch and as the time rolled around to the end of the school day, it started to rain. As I left to collect Ellie, I received a text informing me that the car was ready. I continued to school and brought Ellie home. Then I turned around and headed back to the Skoda garage. As I walked, the rain got heavier and heavier. By the time I arrived, I was soaked to the skin and was still dripping by the time I arrived home. I was so wet I had to change.

Out for Lunch

I waited until I heard Ellie switch on the iPad before getting up. It was just before 07:00 and was a further 20-30 minutes before Ellie and Diane came down to join me. Ellie had slept well, was in a chirpy mood, and was eager to get to school. I walked her around to the classroom and then set off for my pre-breakfast walk. The weather was mild and dry, but quite overcast.

The usual domestic chores followed breakfast, and then we prepared to head out and meet with Jane and Trevor for lunch. We drove up through Duncton, Petworth, Northchapel, Chiddingfold, and Milford and pulled into the car park of The Refectory. The restaurant had not yet opened so we sat by the open fire and had a quiet coffee while waiting for Jane and Trevor. Soon after they arrived we went through to our table. I was amazed by how busy it became in the restaurant, considering it was a Monday lunchtime. They only seemed to have a skeleton staff on duty so service was particularly slow... even if the food was very good. Jane had a delicious-looking shoulder of lamb while the rest of us chose pork and leek sausages on mashed potatoes with onion gravy. It was a simple dish, but quite delicious.

We chatted over all the recent news and discussed various forthcoming trips that we have planned. We were going to discuss excursions for our 2025 cruise but hadn't had time to review them in advance. That will have to be an exercise for another day. We had to bid adieu at 14:30 so that we could be home in time to collect Ellie from after-school drama club. We had an excellent run back but were surprised by the amount of rain that we drove into en route. By the time we got home, it was quite foul.

We collected Ellie from school and took her straight home to Zoe (who had come home early with a stinking cold).

Slow Hand

 I was up just before 07:00, Ellie was just waking up, but she stayed in her room for another hour and came down with Nana. The weather was dreadful, with high winds and driving rain. We all had breakfast and soon after Zoe came to collect Ellie so they could snuggle up on the sofa and have a movie morning before Zoe had to head back to work for the afternoon's management meeting.

It may have been 09:30, but I started preparing a beef stew for dinner. I used the "slow cook" feature on the Instant Pot. I set it on high and fired it up for nearly seven hours.

My first task was to check the code I'd written during lockdown to see if it supported the feature my colleague queried. It did. I wrote back confirming that it was supported and suggested that he should send me a suitable code snippet that I could test if he was having trouble.

With that done, Diane and I headed out to the garage and sorted through the detritus. We have a disposal chap visiting on Tuesday and it would be sensible to sort things out in advance. This didn't take us as long as we had expected.

Zoe brought Ellie back to us after lunch. She has spent the afternoon pottering about watching YouTube, doing some crafts with Nana, playing hotels with Nana and Grandpa, and doing some Maths with Nana. She will be staying with us overnight again.

Dinner taught me that the Instant Pot slow cook feature isn't as good as a proper slow cooker. I had to finish the meal off in a conventional oven.

Bandit Country

 There was torrential rain first thing and we had a drive ahead of us... but not for an hour or two. Coffee and breakfast were the first items on the day's agenda. I presented myself at the cousins' Zoom call and we had an interesting 40 minutes, even though some of the usual attendees were absent.

I had an email from an old Starfleet friend. He was asking if the cross-referencing software I wrote during lockdown supported a particular feature. I couldn't remember. I sent him a holding reply, promising I would check tomorrow.

With the call over and the email on hold, we grabbed our gear, ready to hit the King's highways. By this time, the rain had stopped and the sun was out. We had a remarkably clear run to the bandit country of Odiham. It was nice meeting Jan and John for the first time in several months. During this time, he has been particularly unwell and spent a great deal of time shuttling back and forth between hospitals, doctors, and specialists. There still seems to be no definitive diagnosis, but at least he has a plan moving forward. Beyond his health, we also heard about their river cruise through the Dordogne. It was a first for them and as we expected, they absolutely loved it and have already booked another for next year.

We went to the Lord Derby for lunch. This is just off the M3 junction between Odiham and Hook. We have been there before, but it has changed hands several times since. It was clearly very popular and we settled down in a quiet spot. Over the continuing conversation, we managed to get some drinks and order our lunch. It was simple fare, but delicious. John chose a lamb shank, Di and Jan went for the fish pie (which came out at a temperature approaching the surface of the sun), and I chose simple fish and chips. As I said, simple fare, but very tasty.

We headed back to Jand and John's for an hour or so before heading home. We had to get back before 18:00 as we were expecting Ellie, who would be staying overnight. I also wanted to get back before it got too dark because, stupidly, I had left home in my sunglasses and left my ordinary glasses in the kitchen.

Ellie was dropped a little later than planned but she went up to bed almost immediately. Having said that, she was still awake when we came up to bed at ten o'clock. 

Star the Work

I was up and about before Ellie surfaced. She had slept well and was bright, bubbly, and ready to rock. Diane had to prepare for her post-rehab exercise session so I took Ellie to school. She disappeared into class, and I took a short walk before breakfast. By the time I got home, Diane had already left.

I had some admin to clear and a few domestic chores to complete and was just finishing up as Diane arrived home. It was time to go for a proper walk. There was no need for a jacket as the sun was out and the sky was clear. I strode out and zig-zagged around the neighbourhood. An hour later I arrived home, with another 6 km under my belt... this took me over 100 km for October.

After lunch, we settled down for some Kindle time until I could collect Ellie. She bounced out of class bearing the Headmistress's Award badge and the Star of the Week award. She has done really well and we have made sure she knows how proud we are of her.

Once home and changed, Diane took Ellie to Sainsbury's. They have a clothing sale, and Di wanted to get some additional gear for her to keep at our house.

Lunching

 It was another alarm-free start to the day. Having said that, I was wide awake by 06:30 and up 10 minutes later. Coffee and online news greeted the day before I completed my ablutions and headed around to Zoe's for the school walk. I didn't indulge in an early walk after the drop-off. We had things to do.

Back home, I had breakfast and between us we completed the shopping list. The plan was to shop early and raid Sainsbury's before the Zombie bus dropped off its weekly load. This worked well and we cleared the shops by 10:15.

We were meeting David, one of my football friends, and Elaine, his young lady for lunch. David lost his wife to cancer last year and Elaine is also widowed. The two met at a Warner's resort and have been together for a little while now. We met up with them at The Lobster Pot. The sun was shining and it was lovely and warm as we sat outside above the beach. We chatted about our respective lives and experiences and found plenty of common touchpoints. It was a really pleasant lunchtime. We have resolved to meet up again when Elaine is next up here with David. (She lives in Devon).

Back home we had an hour or so before collecting Ellie. We started on our Kindles but I ducked out after a while so that I could get my daily walk completed before Ellie finished. She is staying with us overnight.

Assembly

 Another lazy start as Zoe had another day off. I had my usual coffee and at the scheduled hour walked around to participate in the school walk. Once Ellie was in class, Zoe headed home and I went off for my pre-breakfast walk. It was only two and a half km, but it triggered the appetite for a bowl of porridge.

Soon after I got back, Diane headed off to Angmering for her Pilates session. After a few domestic chores, I put my mind to the assembly of some nice side tables that Diane had ordered for the Orangery. It didn't take too long, but we now have a nice side table at each end of each of the sofas. With that done, I headed out for another walk. By this time, the sun was out and it was about 18C. I shouldn't have taken a jacket, but did and as a result, I was baking by the time I got home.

We had a call from Zoe. She was giving us all the latest news about the kitten, Bo. Once she was finished, we managed to get some Kindle time until Di left to collect Ellie from school.

Results

There was no need to get up early. Zoe had a day off, so I wandered around in time to take Ellie to school. Zoe would normally come along for the walk but was decidedly under the weather so she stayed put and Ellie and I walked together. Leaving her in the classroom, I headed off for a short walk before heading home for breakfast.

Much of the morning was spent doing admin. While I tapped away at the keyboard, Di did some ironing and Lottie arrived to help with some cleaning upstairs. When I finished, I left the girls to it and headed out for another walk. I didn't go too far today, but it was nice to stir up the bloodstream and listen to some more of my current audiobook.

Talking of the bloodstream, I was pleased to receive the results of yesterday's blood tests. All key markers had improved in the last 6 months, and only one is out of the recommended range. 

We both had some Kindle time this afternoon before Diane headed off to collect Ellie from school. There's great excitement at Zoe's. She and Ellie are currently "looking after" a 12-week-old kitten. Needless to say, Ellie loves it even if he is sleeping most of the day at present.

An Armful

 We were up early to greet Ellie as she was dropped off. She was in a bubbly mood and exploded into the house, greeted Grandpa and ran upstairs to get Nana. When the clock ticked around to 08:30, I took her to school and left her in the classroom before going on for a few laps of the lake (walking, not swimming) before breakfast.

Mid-morning, I grabbed my shoes and waterproof coat as I had an appointment at the Doctor's surgery. Despite the promises of the weather forecast, it was still raining. I told myself that it was only water and decided to walk there. I arrived in plenty of time and waited until the phlebotamist was ready for me. I was only having a blood test to check on things like sugar and cholesterol levels. I was in and out within a few minutes and started on the walk back. The rain had stopped, so I added an extra loop onto the more direct loop.

The afternoon was spent with our Kindles, though Diane went to collect Ellie after her Drama Club and took her straight home.

Repeat

 After a poor night's sleep, I wandered downstairs for a coffee soon after seven. Di followed me down at eight. We had a quiet and leisurely breakfast before we set about the day.

For me, the first items on the agenda were administrative. Zoe now has her replacement bank account and card so I had to transfer the balance of her old account back to her. While dealing with finances, I also updated our accounts. I then had some domestic chores as Diane started on her schedule of work which focused on blitzing the Orangery. We now have so much detritus in the garage that we need to get the skip man in to clear it in a single load.

I headed off for a walk. I selected an Ian Ranking "Rebus" novel as my audiobook, but realised that I had heard it before, but forgot to mark it as "Finished". I'll have to select another book before my next walk.

Back home, the radiator that I recently purchased for the Orangery had kicked into life and was taking the edge of the cool day. After lunch, while not warm, it was comfortable enough to have some Kindle time before I started on the Sunday roast.

E~llie has been with Pete at the weekend but is home now. She just knocked on our door because she wanted a cuddle from Grandpa and Nana. That is something we can always accommodate.

Jabbed

 We had a very leisurely start to the day. There was no hurry to do anything, though I did have my weekly Zoom call with my cousins. This was fun, as usual, and Tim, who was clearly suffering from a cold, flu, or Covid, got no sympathy whatsoever. In fact, he was teased mercilessly - as is only right in such circumstances.

After the call, we had to head downtown. We had appointments for our Covid jabs. This turned into a bit of a palaver. The centre normally can accommodate 250 jabs in the morning and 250 in the afternoon. However, maintenance work had reduced the usable space in half so we were queued around the surgery and down the stairs. The centralised booking system had not taken the reduced capacity into account. In fact, they had left the system open for too long and the centre actually had 900 people booked in for the day. They were trying their best, but it was chaotic.

When we got home, the rain that had plagued the start of the morning had stopped and the sun had shown its face. More rain was forecast so I thought I'd make the most of the dry spell and take a walk. By the time I arrived back home, I was within 10 minutes of the end of my latest audiobook. I grabbed some lunch and settled down to listen to the end. I must now select my next audiobook before I start my next walk.

With the audiobook finished, I switched over to the Kindle for a quiet afternoon.  We had some torrential rain for a while, which made me grateful that I hadn't gone to watch Bognor Football Club's game. This had been a plan for a while, but I was concerned the rain may set in - boy! was I right.

Organising

The alarm was set for an early start. Ellie was dropped off at 06:45 and was already washed, dressed, fed, and ready for school. There was nothing for us to do until it was time for the walk to school. We both walked her around to the classroom and made sure that her Stone Age girl project was handed over in one piece.

Once back home, I settled down for breakfast while Diane got her bits together and headed off to the local community centre for her post-rehab cardiac exercises. I spent the time while Di was out finishing breakfast, reading the news, and updating the accounts. Once she got back, I headed out for a nice walk in the sunshine.  I have now walked almost 60 km since the 1st of the month.

The feedback from this week's Band of Brothers' Lunch was such that I had to suggest some dates for a further lunch in the spring. I sent out some suggested dates and have already had positive responses. ~I guess I will have to start organising again!

After lunch, we both had some Kindle time before I went to collect Ellie from school. She came back for a snack before Pete came to collect her for the weekend.

Carpet cleaning

 We were expecting an early start - but not quite as early as things turned out. Just after 2 a.m. Jasper leapt off the bed and promptly vomited over our bedroom floor. We cleaned up the mess and went back to bed. Fortunately, there were no further interrupts before the alarm went off and I had to get up to greet Ellie as she was dropped off.

It had been very wet overnight and had only just stopped raining when it was time to take Ellie to school. I walked her to class and then had a short walk before going home for breakfast. with our weekly shopping list committed to the phone, we headed off to Sainsbury's. We were lucky. Arriving early we managed to complete the raid before the Zombie bus arrived to disgorge its Apocalypse.

Back home, with the shopping stashed, I sat down to do the accounts and check up on various bits of Admin and then went around with the carpet cleaner to sort out the various stain left by Jasper last night.

After lunch, we had some Kindle time before we had to capture Jasper so that Di could take him to the Vet for his annual jabs. I had to stay behind so that I could collect Ellie, so I headed out for a few loops of the lake before the end of the school day.

Ellie got changed when she got home, and then she finished her project on the Stone Age girl. We managed to get it all submitted online.

Stroll On

 There was no need to get up early. Zoe wasn't starting work until nine. I had a coffee and read the news before strolling around to make the walk to school with Ellie. Once she was in class, I set off for a short pre-breakfast walk.

Back home I settled down for breakfast as Diane left for her Pilates session in Angmering. I had plenty admin to clear first thing but then I set off for a longer walk. I headed off to North Bersted Street and walked across the bypass and onto Shripney. I turned back when I arrived at the A29.

Diane got back at lunchtime and after we had grabbed a bite to eat we sat down for some Kindle time.

I collected Ellie from school and took her to the park to run off some energy. Once home, she worked (with Nana) on her Stone Age girl project.

Meet up

 Though it was Zoe's day off, she had to go into the store early to provide a couple of hours of cover. As a result, we had the early drop-off for Ellie. As the weather was particularly wet (though not actually raining), I walked with her to school as she rode her bike.

Back home, I had some breakfast and then Diane took me along to Bognor railway station. I settled down with my Kindle to pass the next couple of hours as I headed for Victoria. AT Victoria, I asked Google Maps to guide me and set off walking to my destination.

I passed Buckingham Palace and took this photo to show Ellie. As I crossed the road into Green Park, it started to rain but it never really amounted to much. Turning onto Regents Street I headed for Piccadilly Circus and then looped up Shaftesbury Avenue for a while before turning again and heading for D'Arblay Street and "Vasco and Pierro's Pavillion Restaurant".

Paul, who owns the restaurant and used to go to St Columba's, had given us a table in the glass booth at the back of the restaurant. Mike and Brian were already there and the others drifted in over the next 30 minutes... Charlie, Richard, Max, and Peter. They had come from Cardiff, Northumberland, Cambridgeshire, Hertfordshire, London, and Sussex.

Conversation wasn't an issue as we flipped into reminiscence mode and related and retold stories from our times together in the 1960s and 70s. I was also able to catch up on the health of my oldest friends. We had a lovely lunch. I chose a goat's cheese and tomato starter followed by a Scaloppini Milanese with salad, and finished with some lemon cake with apricots. As usual, the meal was fantastic, and Paul and his staff looked after us brilliantly.

As the clock ticked towards 16:00, we settled up and headed out. Some were destined for a local pub, but I decided to head back to the station. I was lucky, there was a train due to leave in 5 minutes and I found a comfortable seat and settled back down with my Kindle. The train arrived back in Bognor on the dot of 18:21, and Diane was waiting outside. It had been a brilliant day and the messages I have received since are asking for it to become a more regular occurrence (currently it's annual). 

AI

 We were up and about early so that Ellie could be dropped off on Zoe’s way to work. The pre-school activities followed the usual pattern. We dropped her off (clutching a huge bag of Harvest Festival goodies) and then headed home for breakfast.

Ellie has a project to complete regarding a Stone Age girl and what she might wear. She has already started on this and is doing a very good job. It got me thinking, however. Could I get AI to generate an image of just such a girl? I searched around and found “Bing Create” from Microsoft. I gave it a verbal description “Generate a young Stone Age girl, wearing a necklace of teeth and bones, with a pouch over her shoulder”.

This is one of the images it generated. I was not sure her skincare regime matched what was available in the Stone Age, but I must say that I was impressed.

Once I had completed my morning admin, I headed out for a walk before the forecast rain. As it happened, there was no rain so there was no particular hurry.

Once back, Diane and I set off for the Doctors' Surgery for our annual Flu jab. Kim was also due to have her jab, so she stopped in to see us on her way home. She wasn't here for too long, but it was nice to have a chat and catch up on her progress at University.

We had some Kindle time before collecting Ellie from school and taking her straight home to Zoe's ready for Zoe to finish work.

Annoying

 It's annoying to wake up early when there is no pressing need to greet the day. I wandered down the stairs soon after seven. Coffee was first on the agenda with a side order of tea for Diane. I read the overnight news and checked the weather. The forecast suggested some light rain mid-morning then nothing significant until late afternoon. This was my cue.

I headed out for a walk, a new audiobook was getting started as I headed around the lake, through the dark side and back towards the path behind the school. Ultimately, I decided to turn left and head down North Bersted Street and across the bypass before continuing to Shripney.

It was a lovely walk. It wasn't too cold, and wasn't too warm - it was ideal walking weather. The fine rain never materialised as I marched on. I do like this route as there are some lovely little cottages and houses along the way.

When I reached the junction with the A29, I turned around and retraced my steps. I like the peace and solitude of this route, whereas the alternative would have been cursed by the continuous sound of the traffic.

Diane has spent much of the day switching from her summer to her winter wardrobe. I provided regular infusions of tea, but otherwise left her to it. I spent some time with my Kindle before starting to prepare dinner.

It's very noticeable that the sun's daylight shift seems to be ending earlier and earlier. I suppose Night will be claiming overtime before long.

Fraud

 I had my usual Zoom call with the cousins after a leisurely start to the day. There was not a lot to report other than the failed development and marketing of "Brexit Chess" that Tim had tried. He had developed the game and managed the production run... but only managed to sell sufficient units to lose significant money.  It did make me chuckle (not the financial loss, which as a socialist you would expect, but the whole venture).

I managed to head out for a walk, stopping at the Pharmacy to collect Diane's prescription on the way past. Bladder pressure prevented me from going as far as I would have liked, but at least I managed some exercise.

While enjoying some Kindle time this afternoon (I have just finished another audiobook during my walk) I received a call from Zoe. Without revealing too much, I can report that her Credit Card had been used fraudulently. This appears to have been happening (in small amounts) for about a year. What brought it to a head was the perpetrators getting greedy. Santander called Zoe to say there was suspicious activity... and it all kicked off. Santander is hopeful the money can be refunded, but in the meantime, the bank of Mum and Dad has to provide cover. 

Outing

Ellie had stayed with us overnight. She was awake early, but at least we didn't have to get up. When we finally did emerge, I made coffee and tea and prepared an apple juice. Ellie's class had an out today so the dress code was fairly relaxed... but had to be warm.

After dropping Ellie at school we headed back for breakfast and the opportunity to read the news. After a suitable pause, I headed out for a walk grasping my old router so that I could drop it at the Post Office and return it to EE. I was out for about an hour and demolished a bit more of the current audiobook.

After lunch, we had some Kindle time before heading out to collect Ellie from school. Ellie wanted to go to the park, but Diane went straight home as she had to prepare to take Jasper to the Vet. Ellie played for a while but was very good and came immediately when I called "time'". As we were walking back, Ellie told me about her outing to Butser Hill Farm. She really enjoyed it and had the opportunity to make stone-age jewellery, make some pots, and even start a fire by rubbing sticks together.

Once home, she decided she wanted to go to the Vet with Diane (and Jasper). Off they went, and Diane dropped her home at Zoe's on the way back.

Stone Age

 There was no pressing need to get going this morning. After a leisurely coffee, I wandered around to Zoe's to accompany the girls on the school run. Then, with Ellie safely in class, I headed off for a walk before breakfast.

We were expecting delivery of a new radiator during the morning and the timeslot was a 4-hour window (which wasn't very helpful). We had shopping to fetch so in the end, we asked Ian if he would accept the parcel if it arrived while we were out. We headed off to Sainsbury's where we faced a Zombie Apocalypse. I can understand how people suddenly lose it and go berserk. I somehow managed to complete the shop without ramming anyone, but did at one point say quite loudly, "I'm going to get out of the way because nobody else has the manners to do so".

FedEx arrived soon after we got home and our new radiator was swiftly unpacked and set up. It has many nice features, but at the moment I am concentrating on the "Frost" setting which will fire it up if the temperature drops overnight. I'll worry about the other settings as we go.

I took another walk after lunch and then settled down until it was time to collect Ellie. She was full of the joys of Spring (yes, I know it's Autumn). Back home she worked with Nana on a project to show how a stone age girl might dress. I helped out with some drawings of teeth that she could form out of clay and then found some illustrations of stone-age clothing. As I write they are in Nana's study working to make a model they can dress.

I was pleased to receive a call yesterday evening from "Sir" Richard. He confirmed that as long as the water from the recent flooding downstream from Bedford had subsided around his home, he would be coming to the Band of Brothers lunch on Tuesday. I was sad to hear, however, that he was unexpectedly single after his wife walked out. I decided to take no chances and locked Diane in the Orangery; I never forget what a lucky man I really am.

Quiet Night In

 Diane didn't sleep well last night and decided she was too weary to attempt Pilates today. After my first coffee, I wandered around to Zoe's to join the walk to school. Leaving Ellie in the classroom, I set out to do a loop of the lake before breakfast.

We had a quiet morning. I was looking at the latest information from Skoda and generally pottering online. After some lunch and some Kindle time, I headed back out for another walk. This time I went much further but in so doing, got caught in the rain. I was soaked by the time I arrived home.

We have a quiet night-in planned for tonight after two nights on the tiles.

Two in a Row

 

I walked around to Zoe's to accompany her and Ellie on the school run. Then, instead of going straight home, headed off on a short walk before breakfast. It was a little grey, but it wasn't cold. 

I wandered through the estate and looped back past the lake as I dodged numerous dog walkers and pram pushers. I wasn't out for long, but it was a nice set-up for breakfast.

Diane had an appointment at the dentist, so headed into Chichester, leaving Jasper in charge. We had arranged for Lottie, the nice lady who cleans for Zoe, to come in and help us. Today was her first visit and, with Diane out, it was left to Jasper and I to pass on all the various messages as she arrived and got started. She was an absolute delight and did a superb job. We just hope that we can get a regular weekly slot in her schedule.

We hope to make more use of the Orangery in the Winter months than we have in the past. With this in mind, I spent some time researching electric radiators (we already have underfloor electric heating, but it isn't really man enough for the job by itself). I finally selected a radiator that I hope will be suitable and have ordered that. If it turns out to be successful, I will order a second one; one for each end of the room.

After some Kindle time in the afternoon, I headed out for another walk while Diane washed her hair, ready to go back out this evening. Yes, that's right, two nights in a row. You'd almost think we had a life!

We headed for Southampton. The traffic was very slow around Portsmouth, but we arrived in plenty of time. We had tickets to see Frank Skinner at the Mayflower Theatre. We arrived just after the doors opened and made our way to the bar, where sat down with a coffee and Dine got chatting to a lady (ex-Nurse) who was a fellow "Strictly" fan. They expounded on the rights and wrongs of various aspects of the show and its dancers while I drank my coffee.

In the auditorium, our seats were in the 5th row and afforded us a brilliant view. The show started with a warm-up comedian called Steve Hall. Though we had never heard of him, he was very funny and had been around for about 20 years or so. There was a brief interval at the end of his set, and then Frank Skinner came on to rapturous applause. His show would probably have given a maiden aunt an attack of the vapours but did seem to stay on just inside a fine line. I must say that we laughed solidly for the next 90 minutes or so. 

We filed out of the theatre and back to the car. Google seemed to choose a strange route to guide us home, suggesting we would arrive at 22:45. The route was quite good and avoided the roadworks on the M27... and we arrived home on the dot of 22:45. It's a clever little system.

That's better

 We had an early start with Ellie. It followed the usual pattern: run up to see Nana, come down for breakfast (with Nana) and watch the iPad, go up to wash, do teeth, and dress, then come down and twiddle thumbs until it is time to head off to school.

Having dropped her off at the classroom, I walked a couple of laps of the lake before heading home for breakfast. I started to clear the kitchen, ready to steam clean the floors, when the phone rang. It was Ross and he was on his way. Most of the morning was spent with him as he investigated the underfloor heating system. The problem turned out to be a superfluous valve that was left over from the original heating system. By latching this open, everything burst into life and performed as required. He then checked various settings and asked for the original documentation for the heating manifold. This revealed that the flow/return valves for the underfloor heating had not been set correctly, so the system wasn't balanced. He reset all of these and with a job well done, left us to it. I switched all of the settings to the automatic schedules I had developed yesterday and left it to do its own thing.

After lunch, we managed some Kindle time before preparing for our trip to Guildford. We headed out along the King's highways and arrived in the car park behind G-Live spot on the time predicted by Google Maps. Jane and Trevor were waiting and together we walked across to Zizzi's for dinner. We had a lovely meal and caught up on all our collective news and gossip. After a "Nduja & Garlic Bombe (a huge garlic dough ball filled with 'nduja), I somehow resisted the temptation of a pizza and selected a plate of Wagyu Meatballs with pasta in an Arrabbiata sauce. I must say it was delicious - but a huge garlic overload!

We left the restaurant and crossed the road to G-Live where we settled down for a couple of hours with Sandi Toksvig.

As usual, she was great fun as she expounded on writing and her love of books (the more obscure, the better). Not only were we thoroughly entertained, but we were also informed and educated. (We were given a copy of her latest book as part of the ticket price).

The second half of the programme included her quiz - the winner received a pencil and bottle of water; and a question and answer session with the audience. It was all over too quickly and we filed out and made our way to the car park where we said our goodbyes and headed off into the night.

We arrived home soon after 23:00 and found the house nice and toasty - the heating had done its job. It had been a good day!

Diagnostics, Schedules, and Mirroring

I was pleasantly surprised to find it was 07:30 before I woke up. This was a positive lie-in for me! There was nothing startling on the day's agenda so we had a gentle start and leisurely breakfast.

I received an email from Ross, the heating engineer, asking several questions and offering to visit on Monday evening. I emptied the man cave to access the various pumps and manifolds. I then went through a diagnostic process that would illustrate the current problem and answer the questions posed. All the thermostats were lowered to the point that no heating zone was calling for heat - and the boiler was quiescent. Then I boosted the required temperature in one zone. Heat was requested, the valves started to open, the pump was on, and the boiler fired up for all of 30 seconds. Indicators implied the heating was on, but no heat arrived at the valve to warm the room. There is clearly a problem with the controller for the underfloor heating and how it communicates with the boiler. We need to schedule a visit from Ross (Monday is out, because so are we).

With the diagnostics complete, I spent some time setting up the heating schedules for each zone within the house. In the old days, this was a fiddly process performed by pressing buttons on each individual thermostat. Now I was able to use that app on my phone and set up my "Q3" heating schedules for each room. To make life even easier, I used the new iPhone mirroring feature and programmed the app from my MacBook using the keyboard and mouse. Most satisfactory! All of the schedules are ready to be instigated as soon as the heating is fixed.

I managed to go for a walk, though it was cut short by the surfeit of coffee I had consumed over breakfast.

After lunch, the Orangery had warmed sufficiently (through the warmth of the sun, not the heating) for us to sit out there and enjoy Kindle time.

Alarmed

 There was no need for an alarm this morning. Nothing would encourage us to get out of bed until we were good and ready. Murphy's Law came into play. By 06:00 I was wide awake and by 06:30 I was getting fidgety. So at 06:31, I was in the kitchen making coffee before settling down to read the news.

Diane came down at a more civilized 08:00 as I went up to shower and dress. It being Saturday, I had my call with the cousins. This was the usual 40 minutes of banter and teasing. Despite rumours, it seems that Tim's recent trip to Corfu had not been paid for by Party Donors.

The rest of the morning was filled with troubleshooting the TV Soundbar - which is now working, the TV network link - which is now working, and the underfloor central heating - which does not appear to be working. In the end, I took various photos and sent them to my pet heating engineer so that he could come up with a solution before the temperatures drop too far.

I had ordered some clothing from M&S and they texted to let me know it was ready for collection at our local store. This seemed like the perfect opportunity for a walk. I grabbed an empty rucksack, plugged my AirPods into my ears and set off. I was out for about an hour, covering some 6 km. This took me over the 80 km mark for the month (so that's over 50 miles)... and I only started after the first 10 days or so. I was feeling smug.

While I was walking, Diane was pottering in the front garden.

The afternoon saw some Kindle time and then I cooked up a batch of curry for the next few weeks.

Fixed

We had a very long chat with Kim last night. She had had a day off and was just walking home from a meeting with a friend. She brought us up to date with all of the comings and goings during her first few days at Uni. This week was the induction week. Classes start properly next week.

We were up early so that Ellie could be dropped off. We had the usual start with breakfast, ablutions, and then some quiet time before we took I took her off to school. As the forecast suggested that we would have showers throughout the day, I decided to take a longer walk home before sitting down for breakfast. There were various domestic chores to clear first thing, but then I was able to get back out to continue my earlier walk. 

Back home we had some Kindle time. The doorbell rang. It was the postman with my replacement broadband router. I spent the rest of the afternoon installing and then connecting all my various to the router. The only problem I had was with the control unit for the new central heating boiler. This took several attempts and a call to Ross (our tame engineer). He suggested powering down and resetting the boiler and the control unit.  It was a great relief to see it all burst back into life.

Busted

 Ellie was dropped off early this morning. She was in a chirpy mood and having demolished her breakfast and completed her ablutions, we took her off to school. We returned for a quiet breakfast before cracking on with the dealings of the day.

The weather was mixed. Heavy showers were separated by bright warm sunshine. In one dry spell, I headed out for a walk clutching some cards for posting and with my audiobook stuck in my ears. I was stopped on the walk by a neighbour asking whether she could listen to audiobooks on her phone. I explained that was what I was doing and described how it all worked. I returned to my walk and stopped in at the Barbershop for a haircut. Moving on, I dropped into the Chemist to collect Di's prescription, then headed home. I saw an engineer from Openreach just around the corner from home. I asked if there was a problem as I was expecting an Openreach visit this afternoon. He was doing an installation but was the engineer due to visit me this afternoon. He suggested I try to switch in a new Ethernet cable while I was waiting.

I arrived home and tried the suggested swap. Ping, the router burst back into life. The problem was solved.

Oh no, it wasn't.

Within 5 minutes it crashed again. Nothing would coax it back into life. While I struggled to come up with a solution, Diane headed off to the hairdresser.

The Openreach engineer arrived. He tried a number of diagnostic tests which showed the service itself was still up and running. His conclusion was that the router was busted had failed and needed to be replaced. I called EE and they are sending out a new router... meanwhile, we are still relying on tethering our devices to our phones.