Poor little mite

Ellie had a bad night. It was well after 22:00 before she settled, and she was awake again by 03:30. She had a raging temperature and felt dreadful. Diane went to deal with her, and it was a couple of hours before she settled back down.  We got what sleep we could.

I was up soon after 07:00 and opened up all the relevant doors and windows in expectation of another blistering day. There was a lovely cool through-draft as I drank my morning coffee and read the news. Diane emerged just after 08:00 and was chatting online with Zoe while she, in turn, tried to inform the school that Ellie wouldn't be in and contact the surgery to get an appointment.

We left Ellie to sleep, but Jasper started yowling and woke her up mid-morning. It was just as well, we had to get her to the surgery for 11:30. It appears that she has an inflamed tonsil and a chest infection. We have been given a course of some antibiotics. Hopefully, that will start to kick in quickly, and she'll start to feel better.

I spent some more time working on Ellie's ancestors. I have now got several more generations in the tree. That got me thinking. Her 10xG-Grandfather is 1 of 4096 grandparents at that generation. He lived in about 1600 when the population of England was about 4 million. This means that on average 1 in 976 members of the population at that time was one of Ellie's relatives. Makes you think!

Zoe finished work at lunchtime and came to collect Ellie. This gave Diane a chance to have a lie down and try to catch up on some sleep. I spent the time in the cool of the lounge reading my Kindle.

We are expecting Ellie later so that she can sleep here tonight. It means that she won't have to be dragged out of bed when Zoe leaves for work.

Further back

Possibly the most significant item today is the fact that it is my tiny sister's (landmark) birthday. Happy Birthday, Jane; I hope you had a wonderful day down there on the beach in Portugal.

I was up soon after 07:00 and opened up the doors into the garden and the windows at the front of the house. The forecast was for a hot day, and I wanted to get a through draft to keep things as cool as possible.

We lingered over a long breakfast while reading the news and social media. It was while reading social media that I saw a comment about large pedigree charts for genealogists. This triggered a thought in the back of my mind and drove me upstairs to try and review what charts I could already generate either my existing tools. Starting with Ellie, as the further descendant I have, I fired up the tools. A pedigree chart running to 40-50 pages was generated. I started to review the way in which it had been formatted and noticed that on her paternal pedigree, I only had about 6 generations. I stopped playing with the charts and decided to have another look at the records to see if I could drive this branch of the tree further back. Several hours later, I had managed to drive her paternal line back to her 9th Great Grandfather, John, born in 1650.

We had a phonically. It was Zoe telling us that Ellie wasn't well. She had a sleepover at a friend's house last night but woke up with a temperature, feeling a bit dizzy, her ear hurt, and she was feeling naff. Calpol was given, and after a suitable delay, some Ibuprofen. She has spent the day on the sofa with her temperature yo-yoing as the Calpol takes effect or wears off. She has decided she wants to sleep with us tonight so that she doesn't have to get up early. Whether she goes to school or not, we will have to decide in the morning.

Oh Yes.

After a brilliant night's sleep, I stumbled downstairs at 7:15 and grabbed my first coffee. Diane was still in the Land of Nod and didn't emerge until just after 08:00.  I had my usual call with the cousins. It wasn't riveting today. Chatty, yes; fun, yes; riveting, no!

I spent some time in the morning bringing the accounts up to date and preparing to transfer some funds from one account to another in time to clear the cruise fees in the next Barclaycard bill. (I always clear the credit card bills in total when they are due.) As I finished, I received (the expected) phone call from Zoe. She had bought a new gas-fuelled BBQ and needed help putting it all together. I grabbed a screwdriver and some wrenches and headed around the corner. Ellie was getting ready to spend much of the rest of the day with her friend Sophia Rose - they were off to the beach by bus. Zoe was on the phone, so I got on with carrying the various components out to the garden, where I could lay them out ready for assembly. Like all such exercises, it took longer than you would expect. Needless to say, there were several components that didn't quite line up and took a stupid amount of time to assemble. In a joint effort (yes, Zoe finished her phone call), we finally managed to complete the assembly and connect the gas bottle. We tested that everything was working; it was. I bade my adieu and headed home.

The afternoon was spent with my Kindle. Diane was pottering in the garden.

I realised that I had come to the end of my last batch of curries. Should I get some ingredients and make another batch? No. I decided it had been a long time since I had last indulged in a takeaway. I logged on to my account at Habib and ordered a Chicken Manchurian for delivery at 17:45.

At 17:45, as I finished dishing up Diane's salmon and chips, the doorbell rang and the nice man from Habib handed me the curry. It was divine. In fact, I have concluded, Oh yes, it is my favourite meal of any type. The problem is that it stops me from trying any other dishes from the menu.

1..2..2

Ellie slept through without a murmur. She was shattered by the time she went to bed last night. We were downstairs clattering around before she emerged. We all had to get going this morning as it was Ellie's Sports Day and we were attending. This meant we had to get our breakfast tucked away and retrieve our picnic chairs (not that the two items are directly related). Zoe arrived in time to do Ellie's hair, and they headed off to school. We followed about 10 minutes later. 

Zoe had grabbed a prime spot by the running track, and we set up our chairs and waited. It was only 8:45, and the fun wouldn't start until 9:30. It was warm but very overcast. Rain wasn't out of the question. We kept our fingers crossed.

Ellie and her class filed out with their chairs, and once all of the classes were ready, the fun began. There were races for the Reception class, for year 1, and for year 2 before it was Ellie's turn.

She ran in an obstacle race, a class relay, and a sprint. She did very well with a 1st and two 2nds. We then had to wait for the very last race of the day, where Ellie was running the first leg of a relay featuring runners from years 3,4,5, and 6. Again, she did well, and she was the first runner to hand over her baton. 

At the end of the event, her "house" Unicorn came last, but she had done her bit and got points in every race.

We left at the end and went home for a well-deserved coffee. Then it was time for lunch and a bit of Kindle time until Ellie needed to be collected from school.

Dinner is over now, Ellie is playing outside until Zoe finishes work at 19:00.

In the Swim

 Ellie left from home this morning as Zoe wasn't scheduled to start until lunchtime. I wandered around to join the parade to school, but then went straight home. No morning walk today. Rain was scheduled, and it was looking a bit threatening. I knew I'd have to go out later, so I deferred my walk until then.

We had a leisurely breakfast and then completed the shopping list for the morning's raid on Sainsbury's. Lottie was running late today, so we had left before she arrived. Sainsbury's seemed to be the centre of a Zombie Apocalypse today, but I managed to remain calm. 

Back home, we unpacked and then as Di chatted to Lottie, I headed out for a walk. This had to include a stop at the Post Office to return a dress to Amazon (one of Diane's, not mine), and then a stop at the pharmacy for Diane's medication.

After a later lunch than usual, we had a few Kindle minutes before collecting Ellie. She will stay with us overnight, but after she had dinner, she was collected by a friend's mum to go swimming at Butlins with Natalie. She will be back later.

Final Production

 I was up early for Ellie. Apparently, she had another disturbed night, but seemed perky enough when she sat down for her morning cuddle. She went up to Nana while I finished my coffee and prepared for their emergence into the day. The usual ritual continued, and we walked Ellie to school. We had the opportunity to go into class with her and review her schoolwork. She is clearly doing well... particularly in Maths and Science. I chatted with the teacher and pointed out that Ellie had a carbon fibre component from an F1 racing car in her bag and that her uncle Jon manufactures them. The teacher was very excited and said she would do a show-and-tell with Ellie.

Di headed home as she was off to Pilates. I went for my usual walk and then came home for breakfast. The rest of the morning was taken up with domestic trivia. Di returned much earlier than usual, and we had some lunch before retiring to the Orangery for some Kindle time. She commented on how much warmer it was in Bognor Regis compared with Angmering.

Di went to collect Ellie from school and bring her back home. Zoe arrived back at the same time. While Zoe and Di chatted in the living room, Ellie and I finished videotaping the experiment we started on Monday. The experiment was not a resounding success, but that's the nature of experimentation. I finished editing the video and uploaded it to her page on the homework website. She's done a good job and comes across confidently on screen.

On the athletics front, Ellie has been selected to represent her year group in the relay during Friday's sports day. She will run the first leg for year 3, handing over to someone from year 4, who in turn will hand over to a runner from year 5, and the anchor leg will be a year 6 runner.

Sleep, perchance to cough!

 That didn't quite go to plan. Ellie and I had a lovely evening, starting with a small science experiment (which I videoed). Then she went out to play for a while with one of her friends, she called me, however, to say there were some older boys throwing sticks and wood at someone's shed, so she was coming home as it was naughty. Quite right. I met her on the route back from the park, and we went home. She got washed and ready for bed, and I wished her goodnight. After a short while, she started to cough. I offered her some cough mixture, but she didn't want it. She tried to settle.

Di arrived home just before 23:00, and as we went up to bed, Ellie's coughing had got worse. It troubled her throughout the night, and none of us got much sleep. When we got up this morning, we decided that Ellie was not going to school. The cough is clearly related to her hay fever, rather than being a chest infection, but she needed rest. As it was Zoe's day off, she came to collect Ellie and look after her.

It was raining. Not heavily. It was more like a drizzle, and I decided to forego my early morning walk in the hope that it would dry up later. We sat and chatted over breakfast, and then I looked for a local plumber who could check a couple of taps that seemed to suffer from low pressure. I've managed to get a chap to respond, and he'll try and take a look next week. 

Come lunchtime, Di had nearly finished some ironing, and I decided it was dry enough to chance a walk. I took a rain jacket, just in case, but it wasn't necessary. Despite how grey and windy it was, it was quite warm. The afternoon was spent in the Orangery with our Kindles and the opportunity for a power-nap to make up for last night.

Hopefully, Ellie is better for the rest and we should be back to normal tomorrow.

Mischief Monday

 I was up early to greet Ellie as she was dropped off. We started the morning with a nice cuddle, and she told me about her weekend with Pete... then went up to see Nana. The important thing we had to do was to get a couple of tablets into Jasper so that he would be calm for his morning appointment with the vet. Despite our best efforts, Jasper was not interested.

We followed the usual morning ritual up until school time. Then, I helped get Jasper into his carrier, and Di set off for the appointment while I took Ellie to school. By the time I returned from my morning walk, Di was home. The vet was hanging on to Jasper and would sort out the tablets alongside the other tests and so forth.

I spent a significant amount of the morning studying the document for the Special Probate Trust we are currently setting up. It is a complex beast, but I think I have finally reached a point of understanding that will allow us to confirm it can proceed. I'm glad I wrote lots of notes!

We had some Kindle time in the afternoon before I went to collect Ellie with Zoe. She would have dinner at home, then Zoe would bring her here for an evening of mischief with Grandpa, while Di, Kim and Zoe go to see Anton and Geo at the King's Theatre in Portsmouth.

The first bit of mischief we indulged in was to create (and video) a scientific experiment to show capillary action. This involved a beaker with some water and red colouring, and a chunk of leek. We now need to. Leave it for a couple of days and record the result.

Quiet day

As the nights drw in, I made the most of the day by leaping into action just after 7:00 (though Jasper had been yowling on and off soince 4:30 - aren't pets a joy?)

There was nothing of importance on the day's agenda. I managed a little bit of genealogy, I changed some master passwords after the recent data breach, and I went out for a walk. It wasn't as hot as it had been over the last few days, but it was a nice temperature for walking. I found a footpath that I suspected would lead me to the old highway to Shripney. I decided to follow it. It was not a great success, It stopped after about 50m. I re-routed and took a totally different walk from that I had had planned.

The afternoon was spent with the Kindle until I started on the prepartion for dinner. We are all done now. It has been a pleasant day.

Solstice

 Well, the sun rose at 4:49 this morning and will not set until 21:20. It is the Summer Solstice, and I was pleased to find that no Druids were dancing around our garden as the sun rose. Realising that we were Druid-free, I went back to sleep and had a lie-in until 07:00.

I had a Zoom call with the cousins. There were only 6 of us today as Sarah was having trouble connecting, Maggie was on a narrowboat somewhere up north, and there were various excuses from other usual attendees. The call seemed a little less lively than usual, but maybe the heat was affecting people.

Diane retired to her sewing. I spent some time on Ancestry, checking recent hints for close relatives. As I had expected, most of them were actually nuggets of information that I had created originally. It is worth checking, though, you never know what might crop up. I then headed off for a walk. It was hot and quite humid, but I kept up a good pace as I looped around the estate and then diverted onto the old highway to Shripney and back. I noticed the goats (in the field by the electrical substation) were huddled in the shade and not as frisky or inquisitive as usual. Evidently, they don't like the heat.

Back home, I grabbed some lunch and then retired to the Orangery for some Kindle time. I had no sooner sat down than it started to spit with rain. I brought the washing in just in time as the spits and spots turned into a ten-minute deluge before drying up as if nothing had happened.

It's a kind of magic

 I was up early to greet Ellie when she was dropped off. Zoe asked if we had a plaster to put on her heel, and it was while she was applying the plaster that she realised she had a rip right across her work trousers. It might have been 06:40, but she had to go back home and change.

Following the usual morning rituals, we got Ellie ready for school. It was a strange day in that Ellie was to be collected at lunchtime.... but more about that in a minute.

I went for my usual walk and was pleased that the latest AudioBook is finally clicking into gear. Its storyline is a little uncomfortable, but it shows promise. I arrived back home after about an hour and settled down for breakfast. 

While reading the social media feeds overnight, I was interested that one was pushing an Artificial Intelligence app to enhance old photos. I looked at the details. It was certainly comprehensive, but I wasn't convinced I needed an app. Wouldn't an AI engine be able to enhance old photos without an app? 

I selected a photo of Mum from back in the 1950s. I then asked ChatGPT, CoPilot, and Gemini if they could restore and enhance old photos. Each AI engine agreed that it could.

I uploaded this photo to ChatGPT and asked it to "restore and enhance" the image.

I waited. It was busy, but promised to get back to me.

After a few minutes, this was the image it had produced. I was stunned. I sent a copy to Jane (my sister). She was stunned. This was truly a kind of magic.

I tried several other photos over the next hour... a wedding photo (Mum and Dad) and a photo of Bert, Diane's dad. They were less successful and not really worthy of keeping, but this one of Mum was enough to convince me of the abilities of AI photo manipulation.

At lunchtime, we collected Ellie from school. We had to take her to a local Academy where her school, Bartons, would compete against 8 other schools in athletics. We dropped her off and wished her luck, promising to return and collect her at 15:00. We headed home for lunch and 30 minutes or so of quiet time before we had to return.

Ellie had done fairly well, finishing 4th in the 50m and 4th or 5th in the 400m. The school, however, had come last in the overall meet. We were very proud of her efforts and the fact that she managed these races despite the 26 °C heat. We brought her home, and then Diane took her to the school's summer fair, before returning just in time for Pete to come and collect her for the weekend.

(I'm still gobsmacked by the AI picture of Mum)

Just Stuff

 With Ellie staying overnight, there was no imperative that would drive me to get up early. I had a pleasant lie-in until 07:00 and then let the day spin out in front of me. We still had the usual rituals, but they started later. We dropped Ellie off at school, Di went home for breakfast, and I went for my morning walk. A new book (The Devil's Fjord) will accompany me for the next 10-11 hours of walking. The first hour has been interesting, but hasn't yet grabbed my attention. There is, however, a great deal of background information that has to lay the foundation for the story.

Once home, we had a quiet breakfast until Lottie (the Whirlwind) arrived to clean upstairs. We, deciding that discretion was the better part of valour, headed off to Sainsbury's for the weekly shop. By the time we got home, Lottie had finished and had left. While we were in Sainsbury's, we met Chris and Maureen, who had just returned from a 4-day break on the Isle of Wight. They obviously enjoyed it and seemed quite taken with the hotel. I have made a mental note of the place and may consider it for a break ourselves.

This afternoon followed a familiar pattern with a bit of Kindle time, and then I went to collect Ellie. She had dinner with us this evening as Zoe isn't yet back from the manager's meeting she had been attending.

Our cruise is still 3 months away, but I managed to find a very good review of the ship on YouTube. We watched that, and I sent a link to Trevor and Jane so they could also view it.

Wills

 I had a more relaxed start to the day. Zoe had a day off, so I could have a coffee, read the news and then walk to Zoe's to join the walk to school. Dropping her at the classroom, I set off for my usual walk. By the time I arrived home, Diane had already left for Pilates. It would be early afternoon before she returned.

I kept my AirPods running while I had breakfast and managed to finish my latest AudioBook. I must say that I thoroughly enjoyed it and am disappointed that it is the last in the series. I will continue, however, to select books by David Hewson as they always seem so well researched and have engaging plot lines.

I managed to clear a pile of ironing during the morning and then settled down with my Kindle after lunch. The doorbell rang. It was the postman delivering the latest incarnation of our Wills. These need to be read through, approved, and signed before sending them back to the Solicitor. There are a few complications that will require a bit of head-scratching to ensure we understand, but that can wait for another day.

Diane arrived home with just enough time to grab some lunch and then join Zoe in collecting Ellie from school. Soon after, we drove them to Chichester, where Ellie had a dental checkup. She got a clean bill of health from Magda, and we dropped them back home.

Ellie is staying overnight with us as Zoe has a manager's meeting tomorrow that requires an early start in the morning.

Vet

 Ellie was a bit more alert when she arrived this morning. She sat and chatted with me before heading upstairs to see Nana. I got on with the usual morning routine until they came back downstairs and started on Ellie's breakfast and her packed lunch. It was clearly going to be a very hot day, so we made sure she was slathered in suncream before we set off to school. We dropped at the classroom and then Di headed home to perform her INR blood test and I set off for my walk.

DI sent off the results of her INR but had a further blood test scheduled for later in the morning. This a "check" test to make sure her INR machine was giving similar results to this performed by the surgery. Fortunately, they were spot on and no further calibration is required.

During the afternoon (after some Kindle time) we had to deal with an appointment at the Vets. Di took Jasper, leaving me behind to collect Ellie. I explained to Ellie that Nana wasn't with me because "Jasper had taken her to the vet". She didn't bat an eyelid. She just looked at me, rolled her eyes, and "Grandpa!"

I may have mentioned it a few days ago, but Ellie has been selected to represent the school in an athletics meet on Friday. Going through her school bag we found another letter from the school asking if she could represent them in a further meet at the beginning of July. I think we should book tickets for the 2036 Olympics... you never know!

Zonked

Ellie must have had a busy weekend. When she was dropped off at 6:35 this morning she was barely awake. I sent her upstairs to get into bed with Nana - and that was where she stayed, asleep, for the next hour.

It was overcast when we walked to school, but it wasn't cold. After dropping Ellie at the classroom door, Di went home for breakfast and I went for my morning walk, following the usual route around the estate a few times.

Again I spent the morning doing bits of research into the radio dashboard options (none found so far) and also some free PDF management software (which doesn't do what I need, so I rejected it). Di spent time on her latest sewing project and I went back to my latest book on the Kindle.

With Zoe now finishing earlier, most days, she was able to collect Ellie from school. Di went along for the walk, but I stayed put. 

Father's Day

 It has been a smashing day, the weather was perfect, and the family came to celebrate Father's Day. What else could I want?

I was up just before 7:00 and was surprised when Diane came down about 20 minutes later. We sat and enjoyed a very leisurely breakfast while reading the overnight news and social media. Kim and Jon, Zoe and Ellie were due later but while Diane pottered I experimented some more with the radio/dashboard project (using Plan C). I am pretty sure this could work, but suspect I would need the chargeable version of the software. At the moment I am not willing to commit to that.

Zoe and Ellie turned up mid-morning. Zoe (with Ellie's inestimable help) was going to prepare and cook lunch for us all. She got stuck in straight away and I hovered nearby in case there was anything she couldn't find. She cooked a huge joint of beef with all the trimmings. Kim and Jon turned up a while later. Kim looked exhausted from her long week (and her fibromyalgia had flared up); she only had one more week to go, and then her University course would finish for the summer.

We settled down for lunch and then after a bit of clearing away and the first dishwasher load underway, Kim and Jon went home to give Kim some time to rest. The rest of us sat out in the sunshine chatting throughout the afternoon. Zoe and Ellie left late in the afternoon and We did some more clearing away and fired up another load in the dishwasher. That was it - all done. It really had been a lovely day and I am blessed to have such a wonderful family.

Another cracker

It has been another cracker of a day. The sun has shone from first thing and it's been pleasantly warm. The forecasts turned out to be as truthful as President Trump's. We didn't have much on the agenda for today (read that as "nothing") so had a quiet breakfast. 

I had my call with the cousins. Cousin Sam joined the call; she had been doing a charity walk last weekend and we were eager to hear the story. It turns out that at 26 miles she was feeling great, but the next section was cross country and by the 33-mile marker she was in trouble. She sat down to change her footwear and as she removed her backpack, felt nauseous. The next thing she knew she was "floating" and was convinced she had been in a car accident and her feet were trapped. Actually, she had passed out and was hallucinating. She was eventually carted off to hospital in the back of an Ambulance. A week later, she has some skin regrowing on her feet, she thinks 3 toenails might survive, and is planning to venture out of the house for the first time. She raised nearly £1000 for her charity so she is well pleased, and is determined to return and complete the last 13 miles of the walk once she has recovered.

Diane was planning to spend the day sewing so I spent some time on the Internet radio project (Plan C). I installed a dashboard on her iPad Mini and downloaded a radio player. I split the screen and had the radio playing while a dashboard showed the time, weather, and latest news feed. It seemed to work well and she used it without a hitch all day.

I headed out for a 90-minute walk then settled down with my Kindle for the afternoon. I completed the book that was in progress, read another, and started a third. It was a very enjoyable afternoon.

After dinner (which we had later than usual because Di lost track of time and didn't have lunch until nearly 16:00) we settled down to watch the first 3 episodes of Bosch: Legacy (the final series).

Cracking

I was up early for Ellie's drop-off. She was already washed, dressed, fed, and ready for school. It was bright and sunny and already warm outside. It looked like the start of a nice day. In fact, it turned out to be an absolute cracker with wall-to-wall blue skies that lasted until early evening. By then it had become very still, had clouded over, and was very humid. I suspect thunder is not too far away.

We dropped Ellie at school and I went for my usual walk before coming home for breakfast. After I had updated the accounts, I settled down for the rest of the morning for some further research and a bit of lateral thinking about this radio project. I just may have found a Plan B, but again that needs more research.

I got a call from Zoe. She had been expecting delivery of some garden furniture and had just been contacted to say they were 10 minutes away. I went around and waited while she came back from work, The delivery arrived. It was on a pallet and stood about 2 metres high packed in its boxes. The driver wheeled the pallet around to her back gate (thank goodness) and left us to it. We stripped the boxes from the pallet and carried them through to the garden. That's where we left them.

Back home, I had some lunch and we settled down for some Kindle time. As the clock ticked through to the end of the school day, we went to collect Ellie and took her straight home. Zoe arrived just as we did and we went straight to the garden and unpacked and assembled the garden furniture. With the furniture in place, we left them to it and came home for a quiet hour before dinner.

Thinking...

 I was up early to greet Ellie. She looked a little sleepy when she arrived, but soon perked up. The school day rituals were performed and suitable spells were cast for the day. It was raining when we set off for school, but the early heavy rain had become little more than an occasional drizzle. `I left Ellie at the classroom door and started on my walk. I managed to avoid the rain while I was out, but it did return later in the morning.

Diane went to the hairdresser and I was left to eat my breakfast in the car of Lottie and Jasper. I retired to my study where I went through some more YouTube tutorials on the Swift language. Having consumed a few more facts and techniques, I shut that down. I had been thinking... a dangerous activity at the best of times. Let me explain.

I bought a radio for Diane. This radio plays radio stations broadcast over the Internet. It is useless. It is incredibly difficult to tune in to the right station and then it seems to lose the stations occasionally. What if I could build an Internet radio? So the rest of the morning was spent defining my requirements and researching possible sources of the components I would need. I have a lot of designing to do before committing to a plant, but it is nice to have a complex project to think about.

Diane arrived back from the hairdresser just as Sainsbury's turned up with our delivery. We stowed all the shopping away and then grabbed some lunch before retiring to the Orangery for Kindle time. Di went to collect Ellie but Zoe had finished early so she was also there.

Bookings

We were able to have another lazy start. Zoe had a day off, so she was managing the morning rituals. I wandered around to join them for the school walk. I then headed off for my pre-breakfast stroll.

After returning home and finishing breakfast, I grabbed 30 minutes on the iMac to examine the issue with the photo filing a bit further. I added more diagnostics to the code and re-ran the tests. Again, I couldn't get it to fail. This is so frustrating.

Mid-morning we headed out on the highway, looking for adventure, or whatever came our way (with apologies to Steppenwolf). We made our way up to "The Refectory" at Milford where we met up with Jane and Trevor for lunch. This was the last time we would get to see them before they head out to Portugal for their Summer Holiday (which incorporates Jane's landmark birthday). As usual, we had a lovely few hours chatting about all and sundry and catching up on the latest news about the families. Lunch itself was delicious, as we have come to expect at The Refectory. Di had their fish pie, and I had their fish and chips. I was completely stuffed by the time I had finished.

We said our goodbyes, wished them a happy holiday/birthday and headed home. We had a very good run I dropped Diane off at Zoe's at 16:30. There was a tentative plan that Zoe, Elli, and Diane might go away together in the summer. They poured over the options and decided on a week in Zante in August. It looks like a nice hotel they have chosen, and being a TUI package, all the transfers are taken care of. It is also an All Inclusive resort so there should be no additional expense.

Ditto

 Today was much like yesterday, though I didn't have to set the alarm to get up early. Zoe had a late start, so I was able the stay in bed for an extra 20 minutes and later, wander around to join the walk to school. Leaving Ellie at the classroom door, I set out for my morning walk (and had a further exposé of the underbelly of Amsterdam, courtesy of my Audiobook).

Back home, I grabbed some breakfast and then returned to my study and the YouTube videos I had been watching on the Swift computer language. So far, it seems fairly straightforward, but I'm only trying to absorb a few lessons at a time. That consumed much of the morning. I followed it with another attempt to crack the anomaly in my photo management routines. I managed to get a "failure" but when I reran the code with a trace, it worked perfectly. Doh! I shall sleep on it and return to the problem on another day.

After lunch, we settled down with our Kindles until it was time to collect Ellie. I left Di in the Orangery and went to the school. Ellie, predictably, wanted to go to the park so we made the usual diversion and I watched as she got involved in a football match with the boys. She then came back to our house for a while before going out to play with Sofia until Zoe collected her.

Code

I was up early to greet Ellie as she burst through the door at 6:35 this morning. Once she had finished breakfast, she ploughed into some homework due later in the week. She rattled through it, though needed a little help with a few words in the text.

We walked her to school and then, as usual, Di went home and I set off for my walk. An hour later I was tucking into my porridge before heading to my study. I mentioned a couple of anomalies encountered when I last processed my photos. I decided to try and see what was going on. I started by adding some code so that my "photo filer" could be run in test mode, only filing photos to a test library. With the test mode tested, I set about refiling many of the photos I had worked with at the weekend. Nada. No anomalies emerged. Everything worked perfectly. Without an identified anomaly, I had nothing to debug. I will have to return to this in the future.

The afternoon saw some quality time spent with the Kindle. Book number 66 was finished and number 67 started. I'm not sure I'm getting through quite as many as last year, but I always have some stacked up and ready to go. From the Kindle, I switched to a new "Rexx Programmer's Reference" which had arrived from Amazon on Saturday. This is a 700+ page second edition of an excellent exposition of my favourite programming language. I skimmed through and, as I always do, I found a few new techniques which I will apply in the future.

Zoe finished in plenty of time to collect Ellie from Athletics Club.

Football

 No, don't worry, I haven't started playing again nor have I been called up for the England team or made manager of Spurs. I'll come to this later.

We had an "easy like Sunday morning" start to the day. We had a leisurely breakfast as we perused the news and then we eventually stirred ourselves into action. Well, action may be an exaggeration. We stirred ourselves. Diane spent some more time laying out and cutting out her sewing pattern. I headed out for a walk. It was a pleasant temperature with just a slight breeze. My new audiobook was chatting away in my ears as I became embroiled in the latest story of the Amsterdam police. This story will accompany me for the next 11 hours of walks.

Back home and after a bite to eat, I settled in the Orangery for some Kindle time until I had to start on dinner.

During the evening we watched the final of the Nations League football. This saw a head-to-head between Spain and Portugal. What a pleasure it was to watch after the dire, boring display from England yesterday. The game ended up, after extra time and penalties, with a win for Portugal.

Forecast

The weather forecast was dire. There was a yellow weather alert from 09:00 to 18:00, warning of thunderstorms, torrential rain, and high winds along the coastal strip. 

I had my usual call with the cousins. Cousin Sam was 15 miles into a 46-mile charity walk, so didn't join the call. The rest of us were wishing her well as we discussed various items of trivia. 

Determined not to be caught out by the rain, I headed for my study and spent the morning processing the photos from the last few weeks. This showed up a few anomalies which I dealt with manually but will have to look at in more detail for the future. Meanwhile, Diane was cutting out some sewing patterns ready to embark on a new project.

Despite the forecast, it was looking dry (though not sunny). I put on my jacket, plugged my AirPods into my ears and set off for a walk. Even the forecast winds were no more than a gentle breeze. I was out for about an hour and enjoyed the nostalgia of the audiobook as it discussed the realities of life in the 1950s. (Alright, I was only a child, but I remember many of the references that litter the book).

Back home, I grabbed some lunch and then settled down for some Kindle time. I had been debating what to prepare for tonight's dinner. Diane was sorted as she always has salmon on Saturday evening, but I was in two minds about whether to order a takeaway curry or cook my own. In the end, I decided to cook my own and combined several recipes to make a very tasty chicken Madras. I also made sufficient quantity to tuck two portions away for future weeks.

We watched a very dull England football match against Andorra before settling for a film to fill the rest of the evening.

(Oh yes, and the weather forecast never really came to anything beyond a 15-minute cloudburst early in the evening).

Crew Eating

 Zoe had the day off, so I was able to have a lie-in until 07:15 when Jasper started to yowl (again). The cat was let out, coffee was made, and I settled down with the overnight news. Di was up before too long and I pottered around the corner to join the walk to school. Leaving Ellie at the classroom, I set off for my morning walk.

About an hour later, wet because of the unexpected shower, I arrived home and made some breakfast. The rest of the morning was consumed with little chores and bits of admin. There was a light to change, there were hinges to oil, there was a boiler service to schedule, and there were accounts to update.

After lunch, we had some quality time with our Kindles. An email arrived - DHL had just delivered my parcel. I mentioned in an earlier post that I had sent my trusty Swiss Army Knife away for refurbishing. The forecast for 6-8 weeks was very pessimistic. It had only been about 3 weeks and here, sitting on the doorstep, was my trusty knife - as good as new... and the Invoice was only £15.60. I was delighted. (The new "backup" knife was put in a box and stored for emergencies, the old knife is now nestling on my belt and order has been restored to the world).

This evening we met up with the Sonning Crew for dinner in Chichester. We parked in South Pallant (we had taken the car because rain was forecast) and then walked along to Côte Brasserie. Trudy and Ian were already there waiting for us and we settled down for several hours of chat and some fine food. (Di and I both had their "Roasted Cornish hake topped with a salad vierge, on petits pois à la Française, smoked bacon velouté and crispy confit potatoes" which was absolutely delicious. Chris now has a "Blue Light Card" which afforded us a 20% discount on the overall bill and that made everything taste a lot better!

It was an enjoyable evening and bid our goodbyes at 21:30 and zipped home. 

Dull

It was a dull day. I had to get up early for Ellie but then the usual routine was followed. It was pouring with rain so Ellie said to Di "Nana, it's too wet for you to come to school, you stay here and Grandpa can take me".  Well, that was that sorted! I dropped her round to the classroom and went straight home. I usually enjoy my morning walks, but there was no need to get wet.

After breakfast, we completed a shopping list and went to Sainsbury's. We seemed to be there for a long time today, but there was no obvious reason. Once everything was packed away we had a chat with Lottie and then made lunch.

After lunch, we had the usual Kindle session until it was pickup time for Ellie. Just as I was ready to walk out the door, Zoe phoned to say she was home and could collect Ellie. I went along anyway so that I could hand over some stuff that she had left this morning.

That's it - a pretty dull day.

Results

Today required another early start. Ellie looked half-asleep when she walked in, but after a cuddle with Grandpa went upstairs to chat with Nana. The usual morning routine kicked into gear. We walked her to school and Di went home for breakfast while I went for my walk. I was feeling lethargic today, so I needed to give myself a stern talking-to to get going. Once I was up to speed and my latest book was playing in my ears, I managed to stay focused for a good hour before returning for breakfast.

Late in the morning, Diane was driving to Angmering to meet with Kathy and give her a birthday present. I took the opportunity (after another stern talk) to go for another walk. I had the excuse that I needed to collect Di's meds from the pharmacy.

After lunch, I settled in the Orangery with my Kindle. Diane soon returned and joined me. Kim contacted us with the news that she passed her OSCE (that was the practical exam with actors) and more importantly achieved 93% on her Anatomy & Physiology exam. That was brilliant news as she had been a bit concerned about the Anatomy & Physical exam.

I went to collect Ellie from school and we stopped off in the park on the way back. Zoe was late tonight as she had a disciplinary issue to handle at work.

Still ticking over

I was up early to greet Ellie as she was dropped off. She charged into the house and threw herself at me. It's a lovely start to the day. After the usual morning protocol, we walked her to school and left her in the classroom. Diane headed home for breakfast, and I went for my morning walk.

Much of the morning was spent on admin tasks, the most important of which was to update the accounts after the holiday. It was nice to find that we had each won small sums on the Premium Bonds.  

AT our last Band of Brothers lunch, we got talking about one of our number who emigrated to the USA. We had heard that he had passed away but I agreed to try and find out something more definitive.  I wrote to his cousin and was delighted to hear back that he was still alive, living in Pennsylvania, and has a number of nephews running his bars for him.

After lunch, Diane had to go to Chichester for a dental appointment (regular checkup). I settled in the lounge with my Kindle and ploughed on towards the end of my current book (I should finish it tonight). I had to go and collect Ellie from school, but unfortunately, it was raining so we skipped the park and came straight home. Did had just arrived back as we approached the house and rushed across to greet her.

Zoe finished early, so Ellie was picked up before 16:00 and we had a quiet 45 minutes before I started on dinner.

Back in the swing

 T Today we are back in the normal swing of things. I was up early and after coffee went to Zoe's to join the walk to school. Ellie seemed a bit spaced out, which was probably exhaustion from the half-term "rest" at Center Parcs.

Leaving her at the classroom, I went straight home. There was no time for a walk - I had to get some breakfast and then go and collect Jasper from the cattery. Diane couldn't come as she was expecting a call from the pharmacist at our surgery for a meds review. As it happens, she could have come because he didn't call until lunchtime (so much for offering a timed appointment). Once Jasper was home, I had to raid Sainsbury's for some fresh vegetables and a few bits and bobs to see us through until our normal shopping day, Thursday.

After lunch (and Di's meds review) we settled down for some precious moments with our Kindles until it was time to collect Ellie from after-school athletics. She was with us for dinner this evening as Zoe wasn't due to finish until 18:00 (though she managed to get away at 17:30).

Run for Home

It was a gorgeous morning when I stumbled out of bed to make some coffee. The sun was lighting up the cliffs and there was a bright blue sky. I wrote my blog for yesterday and finished a bit more of our packing before we went down for breakfast.

I checked the bill - Ooops. I had to point out that they had overcharged by £211. The bill was adjusted and settled. I then started a number of trips back and forth to load the car. We said our goodbyes to Jan and John, set the SatNav and started the journey back to West Sussex. The first sector of the journey saw a very quick run up to Honiton but then we hit the smaller roads as we crossed to Bridport and then Dorchester. We stopped for a coffee and comfort break at Winterbourne Zelston. The next sector toward Bournemouth was a major slowdown and we crawled all the way to the M27 and we watched the SatNav as our ETA kept slipping. In the end, the traffic freed up and we managed to complete the journey in 5 hours (excluding the comfort break) - this was an hour longer than the SatNav's original estimate.

Zoe was at home when we arrived. She had opened up the house and Orangery. She sat with us and chatted about her holiday at Center Parcs and our holiday. I started cooking dinner while she chatted though she didn't stay long.

As we were finishing dinner, Ellie knocked at the door and came in (with her friend, Sophia Rose) to say hello. Once she had left, we locked the door and settled down for a quiet evening.