Spying

I was up at 6:30 and spent the first 10 wakeful minutes dealing with a package that Jasper had so kindly left for us to deal with. With the package disposed of and copious amounts of air freshener deployed, I made my first coffee of the day and settled down with the overnight news. Di was up and about soon after seven.

With our ablutions completed, we headed to Zoe's to take Ellie to school. Once she was safely nestled in class, Di headed home and then off to Pilates, while I took my morning walk. I finished my audiobook during the final lap of my usual route. I was prepared. The next book was dropped into the player, and I started on a new Jonathan Kellerman story.

Back home, I had my breakfast and then updated the accounts before heading to the study to do some more editing of material for the Norwegian Cruise video. Over the next couple of hours, I managed to introduce the material for another 3 or 4 days of the cruise. There is a long way to go. So far, I have not added any transitions or zoom of relevant images. I want to get the raw material constructed first.

After lunch, I received a call from Zoe.  Could I retrieve her sun lounger from her garage so that she could at least sit in the sun? I duly wandered around the corner and got her sorted. I returned home to the Orangery and my Kindle (finishing my latest book), and I started another.

The phone range. It was Zoe again. She was concerned about the petrol station at Sainsbury's and how quickly their stocks are dwindling. Could I go and check the price being advertised by our local Esso station? I headed off and took a photo of their price banner. Their price had increased by several pence per litre during the day. Zoe reported back... and has been asked to coordinate the region's intelligence regarding local fuel prices. That will give her something to do while laid up!

We collected Ellie from football practise and took her home, then we headed home ourselves to have supper and settle for the evening

Sharing

 I was up at 6:30. There was no particular reason for such an early start, but my brain was engaged, and my body was eager to move about. I topped up my caffeine stream and read the overnight news until Diane emerged. After we were both washed and dressed, we walked around to Zoe's to collect Ellie and take her to school. After the school drop, Di returned to Zoe's to see if there was anything that needed doing, while I went off for my usual morning walk.

Once back home, we had breakfast and cracked on with some admin and some chores. Then Diane. went out to the garden to potter for a while, and I returned to my video editing. I must have spent nearly 90 minutes working on a single 4-second clip from the Norwegian cruise. I was trying to overlay a text slug which would identify the location and date of the following clips. I could not construct a clip that fulfilled the image that I had in my head. I decided that enough was enough for today. I will return to this in the days to come.

With the 40+ videos I now have stored in the family video library, I thought it was time to open the library to Jane and Trevor. I have set them up an account and sent them details of how to access the library using Jellyfin. Hopefully, they will find this interesting.

After lunch, we had some Kindle time until we had to collect Ellie. She was in a very chirpy mood as she charged out of class. We took her home to Zoe, while I returned to start on dinner. Di would collect Zoe and Ellie and bring them home to dinner. I constructed a macaroni and meatball dish, which was very popular.

Spring has Sprung

I was up early, and so was the sun (though not quite as early as me.) The sky looked clear, and it promised to be a nice day. In fact, it turned out to be lovely. The skies were blue, and only the occasional contrails of passing jets broke the continuity of the canvas. 

I wandered around to Zoe's to take Ellie to school. Zoe was not going to attempt the walk (quite rightly). She was, however, going to pop into work to sign off on the payroll and enable access for working at home. Diane drove around to take her to Sainsbury's and then went on to the vets. I completed the walk to school with Ellie and then headed out for my walk, arriving home a few minutes after Diane.

The morning was spent on domestic chores, but with them out of the way, I returned to my editing suite. I decided to make a start on the video recalling our cruise to Norway in 2023. This occupied a good few hours and has only covered the first three or four days. There's much yet to do, and it should keep me out of trouble for several days.

We picked Ellie up from school, whipped her home to collect a snack and took her to Chichester for her regular appointment with Hannah. While she was being seen, we sat and read our Kindles in the waiting room. Afterwards, we were astounded by how quickly we managed to carve our way through the late afternoon traffic to get home.

Video Travelogues

 I was up just before seven. Di was awake, so I took her a cup of tea in bed. I settled down with a coffee and the overnight news. It appears that the moron Trump, who wants a Nobel Prize for Peace, has furthered his case by bombing Iran. I'm not sure that I ever held a politician with such contempt as I do Trump.

After my coffee, I had planned an early morning walk. The weather decided that heavy rain should fall. I postponed my walk, and after breakfast, I worked through a pile of ironing while Di had her shower.

It's John's birthday today. I had sent him a video during the week, recalling our short break in Granada. He commented that he had enjoyed it and would like to see one of our trip to Barcelona. I sent him the relevant video, and also another of our trip to Florence. That got me thinking, so I started to compile another video covering last summer's break at the Carlyon Bay Hotel. This took me a few hours, but I was pleased with the finished article, which I subsequently sent on to John.

With Zoe laid up, we will probably need to change things about over the coming weeks. The first step was to transport many of Ellie's school clothes back to Zoe's. Di took them around and then spent a few hours keeping her company. I took the opportunity, as it had dried up, to go for my postponed walk. When I got back, I settled down with a cup of tea and my Kindle until it was time to start on dinner.

Fragments

 Today seems to have existed in fragments. I was up just before seven, and read the news while consuming my first coffee. I had a quiet hour before Diane stirred, and I fired up the kettle for her life-affirming cup of tea. After a shower, I prepared breakfast and got ready for my call with the cousins.

The call followed the usual course, most easily mapped by a bowl of spaghetti dropped on the floor from a great height and then agitated by a kitten with ADHD. What did become evident was that Tim appreciated my write-ups and videos of our trips. He regards me as his travel advisor. This became an issue when he spoke of a trip to Madeira. After the call, I extracted a travelogue of our 2018 trip to Madeira and set it to him. I then started to develop a video of the trip. 

Time overtook me. I had to go to Zoe's, help her shift some stuff around the house, and then take her to work. I left her in the capable hands of her manager, who swore she would not leave the office and would not walk the aisles.

I returned home and realised that the video of Madeira was pointless. I had already made this video. I sent the original video to Tim and deleted the version I had started earlier. This did get me thinking, however, so I took some time to develop a video of our trip to Jersey.

Di had spent much of the day in the garden. She had been tidying up and chatting with passing neighbours. When she had finished, we settled in the Orangery for some Kindle time before dinner.

Strange day

 It turned out to be a strange day. I was up around seven and sat drinking my coffee as I read the news. Diane came down a few minutes later - she had he Cardiac Rehab session this morning, so needed to get breakfast out of the way. I wandered around to Zoe's to join the walk to school and, after dropping Ellie in class, set off for my usual walk while Zoe, who had a day off, headed home.

By the time I arrived home from my walk, Diane was already at the Community Centre for her exercise session. I settled down for some breakfast and skimmed the social media. D~i arrived home, and we chatted while starting on our various admin tasks. These took most of the morning.

It was during our admin session that Zoe turned up. Her knee had "popped", and she wanted a knee brace. Needless to say (did you see what I did there?), we had one, and she went back home. A little while later, she phoned. The GP had told her to go to the hospital and get an X-Ray. I collected her from home and dropped her at the War Memorial Hospital. 

After we had some lunch, we settled in the lounge with our Kindles. I was awaiting the call from Zoe to say she was ready to be collected. As all was quiet, I went to collect Ellie from dance practice. It was while I was waiting for Ellie that Zoe called to say she was ready. Ellie and I hot-footed it to the hospital and collected Zoe, who has a damaged Medial Cruciate Ligament. The doctor tried to sign her off for 6 weeks, but she was having none of that. She intends to work, even if she is confined to the office.

I dropped Ellie and Zoe back home. Ellie is with Pete for the weekend. Zoe intends to rest, but will discuss work with the store manager, Jason, in the morning.

Editing

 Though there was no pressing need, I was up soon after 6:30. Coffee was taken, and the news was consumed. Once Di had come down. I performed my morning ablutions and prepared for my assault on Zoe's. I walked around to Zoe's and joined the girls on their walk to school.

Leaving Ellie in class, I headed off for my morning walk. It was grey, cool, but bright. I enjoyed the hour or so, and finished my latest audiobook and started another. As I arrived home, Diane left to go to the hairdresser's. I tucked into my usual breakfast, and as I finished, Lottoe arrived for her weekly cleaning session. After a brief (well, not so brief) chat, I headed to my study and started to work on the source videos I had received from Alex and Mary Louise. Today, my focus has been on videos featuring my Uncle James and his wife and family. This has taken many hours and still awaits some form of music track, but that must wait until I have improved the video from the original cine data.

After lunch, we settled in the lounge (it was a bit too cool for the Orangery) and read our Kindles. I finished a book and started a new one before we had to go and collect Ellie from school. Once home, she went to her room and spent an hour or two reading her latest school book. Zoe turned up soon after 5 pm and collected Ellie. I started preparing dinner as soon as they had left.

Booking

I was up before the 6:30 alarm (but not by much). Ellie was dropped off, but was barely conscious. She went straight up to Nana and went back to sleep. Jasper decided that sleep was not an option and started to yowl. Ellie was not amused. (Now she knows how we feel.)

The rest of the run-up to school followed the usual pattern, and we dropped her at the classroom door. Di headed home for some breakfast and then to head off to Pilates, while I enjoyed my usual morning walk. This was completed in the warm sunshine for a change.

Di had left for Pilates by the time I arrived home. I grabbed some breakfast and then, after completing the accounts, I set about a stack of ironing. This took the rest of the morning.

After some feedback from Brian, one of the Band of Brothers, we decided to have our Spring Lunch at The Betjeman Arms in St Pancras Station. I booked the venue and sent out the invitations to my distribution list. During the afternoon, I had RSVPs from all of the regulars. I'm hoping for a few responses from the "irregulars", but nothing has come through so far.

Once Di was back from Pilates, we grabbed a quick lunch and then headed off to Sainsbury's for the weekly shop. It may have been a day early, but it was an excellent time to shop. The store was deserted. Once we had arrived home and unloaded and stowed the shopping, we had a quiet hour before I started on dinner. Di, meanwhile, had a telephone call with her friend Pauline.

Sunshine

It seems strange to get up at 6:30 to greet Ellie. It has been a while since I last had to do that. I was suitably delighted by the small package that Jasper had left for me to clear up before I got around to making my coffee. Just as I started the coffee maker, Ellie arrived, gave me a cuddle and headed upstairs to get into bed with Nana. The rest of the morning procedure ran on time, and it was lovely to see sunshine when we left for school.

The sunshine lasted most of the day and certainly made my morning walk enjoyable. Everyone I passed seemed to have a spring in their step, and we exchanged a hearty "Hello" as we passed.

Once home, I tucked into my porridge, then, as Di went up to her sewing room, I went to the study. Di spent much of the day rearranging the sewing room. I helped when a bit of muscle was required. The rest of the day, I spent working on my video editing. Well, actually, it wasn't so much video editing as creating a simple way of creating a common branding for my title pages. I had tried this yesterday, and it wasn't bad. Today, I wanted to refine the process and document the whole thing for the future. I explored several different approaches, and I am now fairly happy that I have found a good method.

We collected Ellie from school and stopped off at the park for a while on the way back. We were not there for long, as Zoe was ready to collect Ellie and take her home. After they had gone, we settled down in the Orangery (which was delightfully warm) for an hour before I started on dinner.

Video

Jasper was noisy again last night, but not quite as noisy as the night before. He woke us both several times through the night and snuggled down on Diane's pillow between his overnight periods of roaming. Ellie seemed to sleep through it all. I was up and about (clearing his overnight deposits) soon after seven. I wrote my blog entry for yesterday while enjoying my first coffee.

We left Ellie to sleep, but once I was dressed, I headed out for a morning walk. This allowed me to get back into my audiobook while strolling around the estate. Once I was home, I had some breakfast, then settled down to do the accounts. Di took Ellie to Bognor to get some new school shoes and to collect her medication on the way back home. It was while she was there that Zoe revealed that she had been hacked at the pub yesterday lunchtime, and her Santander accounts had been emptied. This is the problem with public WiFi, and why I use a VPN when connecting to anything other than my home network.

While Di and Ellie were out, I returned to my video editing. I watched another YouTube presentation and then got stuck into the short video that I was producing as an exercise. One problem that I had on previous exercises was the ability or technique to create a title page that looked like those I had used in the past. I like the idea of some common branding. This was my target for the day. It took me a couple of hours to crack the challenge, but I am now confident that I can reproduce it at will.

Zoe collected Ellie soon after three and took her to Chichester for her Monday appointment. We had a quiet hour in the lounge with our Kindles before I prepared some linguine with prawns in white wine and cream sauce.

The Ageing Process

As my birthday dawned, I realised that the ageing process is not helped by a cat yowling "Happy Birthday" all night. After numerous interruptions to my beauty sleep, I gave up just after 6 am and went downstairs for some coffee. I had a quiet 90 minutes with my coffee and the overnight news before Diane came down. This was the opportunity to start opening all of the Birthday cards that had accumulated over the past week. I must say that I received a great deal of abuse in the cards, but suspect it was well deserved!

I spent much of the morning trying to refresh my video editing skills. This involved watching several YouTube videos and playing with some sample video clips. Much of the general workflow is coming back to me now, but I do have many hours of video to work with.

As lunchtime approached, we drove across to Pagham, where we met up with Kim, Zoe, Ellie and her friend Poppy for lunch at The Lamb. By booking an early table, we had no trouble parking, nor waiting for our meal.

Previous visits had told us what to expect. We were not disappointed. There was a wide selection available for Sunday lunch, and it seemed that everyone chose well. Certainly, all the plates were scraped clean. (Diane and I both chose the roast pork, Kim had some Sea Bream, and Zoe had roast beef).

As we sat and chatted over lunch, the restaurant filled up and got quite noisy (and that wasn't due to Ellie and Poppy).

We had a lovely couple of hours there, and I was immensely blessed with the gifts, cards, and love that I received from everyone. We said our goodbyes and headed home.

The afternoon was spent with our Kindles in the lounge. Late in the afternoon, Zoe called. She was performing the usual school uniform check to ensure that the right items of uniform were (or would be) available throughout the coming week. Ellie asked if she could sleep at our house tonight, so that she wouldn't have to get up early tomorrow. (Tomorrow is an INSET day, so there is no school.)

Unravelling

I slept in until about 07:15. Other than making coffee, the first order of the day was to complete yesterday's blog. That took me longer than expected, and by the time I had finished, Di had come down for a cup of tea to start her day.  

I had the usual call with my cousins. After the news about Andrew Mounbatten-Windsor this week, we had the entirely predictable anti-monarchy diatribe from Chris (who has lived abroad for about 30 years) and Tim. We let them rant and duly ignored them.

With the call out of the way, we headed to the Cattery to collect Jasper. As usual, he had been well cared for, and we had a long chat with Mark. Our route to and from was somewhat circuitous due to the flooding, but we managed without incident. Jasper, however, kindly presented us with a toxic, foul-smelling gift as we got within a mile or so from home. The less said, the better.

Chunks of the day have been spent downloading old cine film (which has been digitised) from Alex & Mary-Louise's NAS. The idea is that when I get time, I will try to clean it up and cut the huge recordings down into manageable chunks. My rule of thumb is that they should be less than 15 minutes, and ideally less than 10.

Sainsbury's kindly delivered our weekly shop at lunchtime. After we had eaten, we retired to the lounge for some Kindle time. 

Zoe has taken Ellie and her friend, Poppy, to see the laser show at Chichester Canal Basin this evening.  I'm sure they'll have a great time. It's a shame, however, that it is drizzling.

Around and About

I was up just before seven. It was our last day in Jersey, but our return flight was not until early evening, so we had a full day. I opened the curtains, and the sea was battering the sea wall beneath us. Someone had obviously topped it up again overnight. At least it wasn't raining, and there was sky to be seen beyond the clouds.

We went down to breakfast. Clearly, the hotel had a lot of new guests in the preceding 24 hours, as the dining room was quite busy by the time we were ready to leave. Alina, the woman in charge of the dining room, came to give us a hug, wished us a safe journey and hoped we would be back. I think that it's fairly certain that we will! We returned to our room (250) and packed our suitcases, then went to reception to check out and to leave our cases with the concierge. It was pointless carting them around with us all day.

We took a walk along the promenade, soaking up the sun and watching some brave souls swimming. We later found out that there was a sauna near the cafe, and the brave swimmers would head straight for the sauna as they came out of the surf.

Near the cafe was a lovely little garden scattered with benches where you could sit and absorb the view. It was very peaceful and an ideal spot for a tranquil coffee in the morning.

We crossed the road to the bus stop and hopped on the 12A into St Helier. We hadn't got a specific plan, but thought we'd mooch around the town for a few hours.

The first order of the visit was to find a little gift to take home for Mark, the Cat Whisperer. We walked along to the main shopping area and found a store that specialised in Jersey produce. The assistant, who was recovering from a personality transplant (clearly she was the donor), helped us select some honey and chocolates. We moved on, zigging and zagging through the streets and squares. 

Approaching midday, we stopped at a cafe for some coffee. This was near the waterfront and was evidently very popular, nestled at the foot of several modern office blocks.

With a fresh shot of caffeine coursing through our veins, we crossed to the waterfront. The view across St Aubin's Bay was excellent, and with the tide out, the vast expanse of sand was very inviting.

We walked along the wall that protected the Marian from the worst of the weather. A strong (and chilly) wind was blowing, and despite the sunshine, it felt cool.

We walked to the end nearest to the Elizabeth Castle. Elizabeth Castle is a large historic fortress built on a tidal island in St Aubin’s Bay by the marina. It's cut off twice a day by the tides. It was built in the 16th Century and named after Queen Elizabeth I, and it was the home of Sir Walter Raleigh during his tenure as Governor of Jersey. It also provided refuge to King Charles I during the Civil War.

It is only open from March through to October, so we were unable to visit. 

We wandered back to the bus station and made our way back to the hotel. The clouds had swept back over the island, and rain was expected. We settled down in the lounge with a sandwich and our Kindles. Our taxi arrived just before five and whisked us to the airport. As we went through the security checks, Diane was stopped, and the honey we had bought for Mark was confiscated as it was over 100ml. That was a shame, particularly as it was thick, not runny honey. We started to walk to the lounge when the security operative chased us down and handed the "honey" back to us, explaining that it was honey at all; it was a honey-scented candle! Well, you wouldn't want to spread that on toast.

Considering how empty the flight to Jersey had been, the return flight was full. We took off a few minutes late and headed north over Guernsey toward Southampton. As we approached the airport, it became obvious that the people who install the potholes in our local roads had been moonlighting and doing the same in our bit of sky. The plane was chucked about all over the place as we descended to terra firma.

Once we had collected the suitcases, we walked through to the car and headed home, where we were greeted by Zoe, a very excited Ellie, and her friend Poppy. We had a mad 15 minutes, and then they left us to relax. It had been a superb few days.

Castle

It was high tide when we woke up this morning. There was a strong wind blowing, and the waves were crashing against the sea wall below. Seaweed and debris were being thrown up onto the promenade and even onto the hotel’s terrace. The forecast suggested that the rain would stop around ten, but that it would remain windy all day. The forecast also seemed to take great pleasure in telling us that the temperature would feel like -4 °C.

We were in no hurry, so we strolled down past the Spa for a leisurely breakfast and sat chatting over our toast, fruit, yoghurt, eggs, bacon, sausage, potatoes and whatever else we fancied. At least we wouldn’t need anything else until dinner. 

We returned to our room and got ourselves ready for today’s adventure. We had decided to visit Gorey on the east coast.

We caught the bus outside the hotel and discovered we could buy a ticket that was valid all the way through, including the change of buses in St Helier. (I wish I had realised this yesterday.) We only had a couple of minutes to wait at the bus station before climbing aboard the No.1, which took us the last leg of the journey. The overnight rain had stopped, but the wind was gusting up to 40mph, and it felt very cold. The forecast suggestion of -4 °C seemed pretty accurate. We climbed off the bus at Gorey Pier and strolled along towards the shops, stopping at a store that specialised in knitwear from Guernsey, Jersey, France and also had a wide range of Barbour clothing. We stood chatting with the proprietor for ages. I think we got her whole life story, from birth in Jersey, childhood in France, and the fact that her mother is Norwegian. Diane kindly bought me a lovely sweater for my birthday before we left the shop.

We found our way to the steps, which took us up to the medieval Mont Orgueil Castle. This was an imposing fortification dating back to the 13th century and built on a rocky outcrop surrounded on three sides by the sea and cliffs. From the battlement, you can see France, just 14 miles away. It had, in fact, been used as a defensive location since the Iron Age. French attacks and sieges during the 13th and 14th centuries led to improvements and a strengthening of the garrison, and a number of improvements and renovations have been made over the years. It was an intriguing place to visit, and we had free rein to wander virtually anywhere we wanted. The battlements and wards were exposed to the biting wind, and whilst they offered some stunning views, they were too cold to linger for long.

We clambered back down the steps (equivalent to 10 flights of stairs) and found our way to a small Cafe where we sat down for a cup of coffee and a slice of millionaire’s shortbread. We lingered for a while, but then hopped on the bus back to St Helier and changed for the bus to St Brelade’s Bay. The whole journey back took about 65 minutes. (I must say that I’m very impressed with the Liberty Buses on Jersey; they seem to run on time, and there is a flat fare for all trips. If a trip requires a transfer and that is within an hour of starting your first trip, the fare can be covered on the first ticket.)

We ditched our outside gear and went down to spend some time in the lounge. Di enjoyed a pot of tea and some fancy cakes, while I enjoyed a glass of beer. We stayed for about an hour, then returned to our room. Like yesterday, the cloud seemed to be breaking up near the horizon, but this afternoon we seem to have gained a rash of surfers braving the cold wind. 

(Unfortunately, the surfers only appear as black dots in the surf in this photo.)

We went down to the lounge for dinner. Today's special was a lovely chunk of cod, grilled and served on a bed of vegetables. We both chose the special, and it was delicious. We finished with some ice cream before returning to our room for the evening.

Tunnels

It rained heavily throughout the night. Either it was high tide or the sea was full when we woke up just before seven. We had a quiet hour or so in our room before going down to breakfast. We are used to having a good breakfast selection when staying at The Victoria, or Carlyon Bay, but they were no match for the breakfast menu here at L’Horizon. We were in no hurry, so we lingered over breakfast.

Because of the intensity of the rain, we decided that a trip to the Jersey War Tunnels would be a good idea (after all, it doesn’t rain in a tunnel). We caught the 12A bus, then the No.8. It was a good job we had dressed in our waterproofs, as we were soaked by the time we had walked to the entrance.

The tunnels were dug out over two years by forced labour. Over 14,000 tons of rock were removed, and the walls were lined with 4,000 tons of concrete. Originally, the tunnel complex was destined to be a munitions barracks, but was repurposed as a main casualty receiving station. At one point in the tour, we stood some 60 metres inside the cliff, and 33 metres below the surface. The tunnels were well worth the visit. Somehow, they managed to personalise the predicament of the Occupied Islanders and brought the story home in a very real fashion.

When we had finished our tour of the tunnels, we went up to the cafe for a coffee and a scone, then made our way down to the bus stop to head into St Helier. We walked to the museum (it was still pouring with rain) to see The Occupation Tapestry, only to find we were at the wrong museum. We did an about turn and headed for the maritime museum. When we arrived, we found it was Pirate Week for the school kids’ half-term holiday. The Tapestry room was infested with loads of kids being entertained by two adults dressed as Captain Jack Sparrow and his sidekick. We ignored them and made our way around each of the tapestry panels. They were quite stunning in their content and their detail. The stitch count worked out to 256 stitches per inch; across the panels, there are over 7.5 million stitches. This photo shows just one of the many panels that were created by each of the participating parishes.

We walked back to the bus station and grabbed the 12A back to the hotel. By the time we arrived, the rain had almost stopped, and there was a break in the clouds to the western end of St Brelade’s Bay. We changed out of our wet weather gear and headed down to the lounge for a drink. By the time we returned to our room, the sun was just visible over the western end of the bay as it sank below the cliffs.

We chatted about dinner and decided to stay put in the hotel again. We chose comfort food tonight. Diane had a shepherd's pie, and I chose their salmon dish of the day. It was hardly haute cuisine, but it was immensely tasty and a perfect end to the day.

A short break

 The alarm went off at 05:00, and we attacked the day with vigour. With a hot drink inside us, we hit the road at 06:15, and by 07:00, we were parking at Southampton Airport. It took a full 2 minutes to walk from the car to the bag drop-off, and a minute or two later, we were sitting in Costa Coffee with another hot drink and a croissant while watching the sun drag itself over the eastern horizon. 

Our plane was only one-third full, and we managed to leave early. 35 minutes later, we touched down in Jersey. It had taken us longer to drive to the airport than it had to fly to the Island.

We grabbed a taxi to take us to the hotel. It only took about 10 minutes, and the driver was eager to hang on and take us on a tour into St Helier. We politely declined as we had not yet got a firm plan for the day.

Though it was only just after nine, our room was already available, and the porter/concierge, Greg, took us to our room and gave us a thumbnail sketch of the Island and most of his life story since leaving his home in Budapest.

The view from our room is superb. The sun was shining, and our balcony was quite sheltered. We stood there admiring the view for a while, then decided to make the most of the conditions and go for a walk along the promenade.

We turned right out of the hotel and walked towards a church. Some beautiful gardens were being lovingly tended by a couple of gardeners. There were also several restaurants and cafes. We stopped for a coffee and took it back to a bench in the gardens where we could drink in both the coffee and the view.

We didn't walk as far as the church because the promenade ended several hundred yards short, and we didn't want to walk along the narrow roadway, as there was no pavement. We turned around and headed back the other way, stopping to chat to one of the locals outside another cafe.

We returned to the hotel and checked the bus times and where the buses stop. We had a 20-minute wait, but caught the 12A bus into St Helier. It was about a 30-minute trip, but once we were there, we found our way to the visitor centre (at the museum), then wandered back through Liberation Square. Liberation Square is a central public square in the heart of St. Helier, close to the harbour, shops, cafés, and Liberty Wharf. 

The sculpture depicts jubilant islanders lifting a Union Jack, symbolising the joy and relief of freedom after years of occupation.

We found an Asian restaurant called Izakaya in Liberty Wharf, where we stopped for some lunch. We both chose the Chicken Katsu burgers and shared a plate of chips. We had chosen well. The burgers were lovely, and they filled the hole left by skipping a proper breakfast as well as providing lunch.

After lunch, we walked up to the main shopping area and zigged and zagged the whole length of the road and those running off and parallel to it. I wouldn't say there was anything that stood out, though there was a large department store called Voisins. 

What did stand out, however, was the covered market that we found behind the main drag, off one of the side streets. The Central Market is a Victorian-era covered market hall right in the heart of St Helier. Though the market itself has roots in the island’s trading culture going back centuries, the current building was largely rebuilt in 1882 in typical Victorian style, with metal and glass architecture that makes it one of Jersey’s architectural gems.

The market reminded me very much of the covered markets we had seen in Spain and the Canary Islands. It had significantly less farm produce (though it did have some), but had more craft,  curios, gifts, bakeries, and patisseries. It was charming.

High cloud had drifted in, and the temperature was dropping. Rain was expected. We made our way back to the bus station and headed back to the hotel.

We spent the last part of the afternoon looking at the maps and guides we had collected during the day, and, of course, read our Kindles. 

This evening, we went down to the lounge bar, rather than the restaurant. We weren't very hungry after the burgers we had for lunch. In the lounge, we settled down, and Di had a sandwich with some applewood-smoked cheese while I ordered a chicken Caesar salad. It was simple, but it was all we needed.

We were back in our room by eight, and I suspect it will be an early night after today's early start.

Starting Grid

 I was up earlier than necessary, but I was wide awake and getting fidgety, and I didn't want to disturb Diane. I sat in the kitchen with a coffee and wrote yesterday's blog post before starting on the overnight news. I then made my to-do list for the day. With a trip planned, I wanted to ensure that I had thought of everything and that everything was in hand.

I checked in for our flights, checked the route to the car park at Southampton Airport, and worked out our timings for an early start. Then, after breakfast, I started to pack and trim, i.e. select items of clothing, then decided against half the items I had selected.

There were several further items on the list, and I worked through these during the morning. I then headed out for my walk, with a detour to the post box en route. The rest of the day was spent refining the packing and then catching up on Kindle time.

We're set.

Family

 Gosh, it was wet. It was raining heavily when we got up, and that was destined to last well into the afternoon. We had a quiet start to the day, but we had an event to attend at lunchtime.

Dressed and presentable, we climbed into the car (though a canoe might have been more appropriate) we headed east. The rain was unrelenting and made the conditions deeply unpleasant. We arrived at Cousin Simon and Marie-Claire's after about 80 minutes, at exactly the same time as Jane and Trevor, and then a minute or two later, Sarah and Lucy arrived. We all gathered in the hallway and shed our coats as we greeted each other, along with Alex, Harry, and James, who were already there. 

As we went through to the lounge, we were greeted by Simon and Marie-Claire and the next hour was spent with everyone circulating and catching up with the latest news from each side of the family. The event was to celebrate the (posthumous) 100th birthday of our twin Dad's, John and Peter. (Sarah and Lucy were Dad's younger brother, James' girls).

It was great to hear how well everyone was doing, and nice to see that everyone was looking fit and well. Marie-Claire had laid on an absolute feast. We queued, buffet-style, to. help ourselves to Dauphinoise potatoes, beans, freshly carved ham, salad, cous cous, and heaven knows what else. 

We then settled around their huge dining table to chat and eat. It was a riotous affair with everyone in great form. Simon showed us some photos of himself guarding His Majesty, the King, at an event earlier in the week. He also went on to explain that his son Charlie is putting himself forward for selection within his regiment for some special duties. Sarah told me how well her gallery exhibition went last week and how nice it was to show alongside Gilia.

Jane had brought the Ancestry book that I had prepared for her birthday. This created a great deal of interest, and Marie-Claire would like me to prepare one for her. I agreed, but asked her to provide me with updates regarding her Charlie, Annabelle, and Lizzie.

We finished the luncheon with the mandatory group photo of the cousins. (Now I would point out that Dad also had a sister, and Angela's boys weren't present, so there are six further cousins missing).

After lunch, we gathered back in the lounge. Seats had been brought through, and the TV had been rigged up to a laptop. For the next hour or so, we watched a collection of old Cine and Video films that Uncle Peter had taken over the years. There were clips from our childhood, from various weddings and holidays, and even some brief clips from our wedding.

From a genealogy perspective, Simon is obsessed with our Irish link, and we discussed getting a genealogist who specialises in Irish records to try and crack the current research block we have. I said I would be more than happy to help.

We carried on chatting until people started to drift away and get back on the road. It was about a quarter to six when we left. The rain had stopped, and the sky was clearing. We had a much better drive home than this morning's adventure. We pulled onto our driveway just before seven and settled down for a quiet evening.

It really had been a superb day.

Lazy Day

Though I was up early, it was a lazy day. It started with coffee and the newsand then breakfast while chatting to cousins on my weekly Zoom call. There was nothing of note during the call, with the possible exception of Rolly announcing he had bought a pop-up sauna. I would have thought that the temperature in Australia was sufficient that a sauna was completely superfluous.

After the call, we prepared all of the gear that had to accompany Jasper on his Spa breaks. Timed feeder, automatic water dispenser, vets' records, feeding regime, and so forth. Once we were ready, Di snuck up on him, and we dropped him into the carrier, but not before he wee'd over the carpet, Di's trainers and my hands. Joy of joys! We loaded the car and drove to the Cat Whisperer's. We avoided the usual route because of the flooding, but the longer route we took seemed quicker than our usual route. Mark welcomed Jasper, and he was soon settled in. We had the usual chat and walked away clutching some chocolates he had given me for my birthday (Mark, that is, not Jasper).

Once home, we had a bite of lunch, and I headed off for a short walk. When I arrived back, we settled in the Orangery for some Kindle time. Though it was very cold outside, the sun had really warmed up the Orangery, and it was gloriously comfortable.

New cousins

 I was up early. Though it was before seven, it was already getting light. What's more, it was dry! I grabbed a morning coffee and read the news before Di Di came downstairs. She had a Cardiac Rehab session this morning, so had already gone by the time I returned from post-school run walk. During my walk, I finished my current audiobook and started another.

After breakfast, I settled down with the accounts before returning to my family tree research. Like yesterday, I picked one of Diane's DNA matches and tried to find the link to my tree. Like yesterday, it was a matter of wading through 4 generations, but I managed to find and document the whole branch of the tree, revealing more distant cousins. It was most satisfying and added a further dozen or more individuals to the family.

Having had a couple of successful hours, I decided to try to locate vital records for my great-grandparents. They hailed from Ireland, and despite a recent new release of Irish records, I could not find anything new.

After lunch, Di settled down with her Kindle. I spent some time trying to work AI magic on some photos. It was fairly successful, and I'm sure I'll return to it in the future. I joined in Kindle time for much of the rest of the afternoon.

Ellie had a Valentine's Disco after school. Di went round to Zoe's to help marshal the girls and shoo them out of the door on time.

Growing Tree

I was up before seven. I sat down with some coffee and my iPad and worked through the overnight news. Di wandered down a while later. She hadn't slept well, and I wondered if it had been some of thespice that was used on the Nando's last night. At the allotted time, I went to join Zoe and Ellie on the walk to school. There was a fine, misty drizzle soaking things more than you would expect. I headed off for my walk as soon as Ellie was safely in class.

Back home, I grabbed some breakfast and a second coffee, then settled down to complete the shopping list. As I was finishing, Lottie arrived, and it was my duty to torment her, as usual. Our trip to Sainsbury's was surprisingly quick. We did notice, however, that there were shortages of some fruits and vegetables. This, apparently, is because of the weather, which has been a problem for distribution, particularly for items imported from Spain.

After some lunch, I buried myself in the study and started to examine some of the recent DNA matches for Diane's side of the family. One set of matches revealed a branch of the family that I hadn't previously examined. After an hour or so, I had added a further 20 individuals to the family tree, each with supporting documents and confirmed by the DNA. 

We managed a little Kindle time before dinner.

Rained Off

 It was dry when we woke up. Bearing in mind the recent weather, that is something to celebrate. There was no hurry this morning as Zoe was on a 9 o'clock start. I walked around the corner to join the trek to school and then, leaving Ellie rushing into class, headed off for my morning walk.

The flooding in the area has left few navigable roads, and they are gridlocked. It would have been pointless Di attempting to get to Angmering for Pilates. She would have spent the whole morning sitting in traffic.

I spent some time on the family tree research and nailed down a few recent DNA matches. One has posed a conundrum which will require some research and a bit of lateral thinking. That's a problem for another day.

After lunch, I returned to an idea I had overnight. This meant trawling through lots of photos and asking AI to do some clever editing. I then started to merge some of these photos onto a single sheet. I achieved a basic version of what I was attempting, but it could do with some serious refinement.

After lunch, we had a bit of Kindle time, then I collected Ellie from football practice. We took her shopping to Matalan for an outfit to wear at the school's Valentine's Disco on Friday... and then we all had dinner at Nando's. While at Matalan, I noticed a sign "£5 and Under Baby Event". I looked around, but in the end I had to ask how many babies they have in stock, as there were none on the shelves - but at that price, they were probably selling well.

(No warning lights in the car today. Fingers are firmly crossed,)

Fixed, I hope

I was up soon after 6:30. Ellie was awake and pottering around in her bedroom. It was dry, for a change, but the forecast suggested that it wouldn't last. We followed the usual morning pattern, and we walked Ellie to school, leaving her in the class once the doors had opened.

I skipped the early walk. I was expecting the chap to come and collect the car, but there was no fixed time. I got on with my breakfast, did some admin, and did a bit of ironing. The chap arrived at 11:00 and took the car away to have a new ABS sensor fitted (needless to say, the car didn't reveal any of the warnings this morning).

Expecting the car to be gone for a couple of hours or more, I put on my shoes and headed out for a walk. I was out for about an hour, and when I returned home, the car was already sitting on the drive. I was amazed at how quickly they had dealt with it. They emailed an invoice and phoned me to confirm what they had done. I was delighted. Hopefully, there will be no further problems (at least from the ABS sensor).

The afternoon followed the usual pattern. We had an hour of Kindle time, and then I went to collect Ellie (it was raining quite heavily, so I told Di to stay put). Ellie buried herself in some snacks to keep her going, and then Zoe turned up to collect her.

Poster girl

 To avoid an early start this morning, Ellie stayed with us overnight. I let her sleep through until 7:30, and even then, she took a while to start functioning normally. We took her along to school, as usual, and then Di went home, and I set off for my walk. I mixed things up a bit by walking the back route into the village so that I could collect Di's meds from the pharmacy when they opened.

Back home, I settled down for some breakfast and to read the social media feeds. I wasn't able to linger for too long, as we had planned to go out for lunch with Jane and Trevor

To the sound of warning chimes and a display of random warning messages, we started our drive to The Refectory at Milford. Fortunately, all the warnings ceased after the first couple of miles, and the car behaved perfectly for the rest of the trip. I will be glad to get this fixed tomorrow.

We had a lovely lunch. Di had chosen a Crispy Beef Asian Salad, while I had a Wild Boar, Pork, and Parsnip pie. We both chose well, though Di would have preferred to have the dressing on the side. The Refectory was packed (probably because people were using up the vouchers we were given at Christmas) and as a result, service was slow. Normally, this doesn't trouble us, but we had to keep an eye on the time so that we could collect Ellie from school.

We were a bit late leaving the restaurant, and it was touch-and-go for the school pickup. We made good time and were on Drayton Lane before the traffic came to a halt. We still had 20 minutes for the last 3 miles. We made it, with 5 minutes to spare.

Ellie had dinner with us and then cracked on with some homework. I helped by showing her how to generate images using AI (Google’s Gemini). We used these images for a poster showing her recent baking exercise when she made some delicious scones

As Zoe has another early start tomorrow, Ellie is again sleeping here overnight.

(Just as an aside, Dad would be 100 years old today. Remarkably, his twin brother would also!)

Boots or Fins

 I was up by seven. For a change, it was dry, but it was incredibly misty. I made my coffee and took a tea to Diane in bed, then I settled down with the newspapers. Many newspapers charge a subscription fee to read them online. I can, however, read. them without a subscription through my local library. The library provides access to many UK, European, and worldwide newspapers through an app called PressReader. This will either display page images from the paper or a list view of all of the articles. It's brilliant.

Once Di had wandered down, I put on my shoes and headed off for a walk. I followed the usual route and, as predicted yesterday, finished one audiobook and started another.

As I walked back past the community football pitches, I noted that there were no games being played. Maybe waterpolo would have been more appropriate, or a swap from football boots to fins.

Once I was home, I enjoyed my usual breakfast, then as Diane went to her sewing room, I went to my study.

I spent much of the rest of the day working on the family tree. Some recent DNA hits opened up a few further areas of research. By the end of the session, I had added a further 18 cousins to the tree. It has been a good day.

Hardback

 It was gone seven before I emerged this morning. The rain was pounding down, but it was already getting light outside. Having taken Di a cup of tea in bed, I enjoyed a coffee while reading the news. Being Saturday, I had the Zoom call with my cousins, so my walk would have to wait (but given the rain, that wasn't a hardship).

The call followed the usual ramblings, though I introduced some of the newspaper clippings that I had gathered during the week. We didn't delve too deeply into the cousin who was fined for stealing a traffic cone, but we did comment on the press report of his sister's wedding. That moved the conversation to a branch of their family that they knew little about. I was able to download a simple summary of the family and share it with them on the call.

Much of the remainder of the morning was spent working through the press clippings and filing them against the correct individuals. I still have a few to go, but I made good progress.

By late morning, the rain had ceased, and the forecast suggested it would remain dry for the remainder of the day. I changed my shoes, put on my jacket and headed out for my daily walk. My AirPods chatted away as I walked, and I am about 5 minutes from the end of my current audiobook. I already have another lined up, so I can seamlessly move on when the current book finishes.

After some lunch, I returned to the family tree research until I was interrupted by the postman. He was delivering my latest printed journal. This distracted me from my research, and I spent a while reading through the finished article.

I must say that I am delighted with the results.

The rest of the afternoon was spent finishing my current Kindle book and starting on a new one. I had finished the first few chapters before stopping to prepare this evening's dinner.

Island hopping

 It had been wet overnight, but had dried up by the time I went down for coffee. The forecast was not good (in fact, we had a Yellow Weather Warning for rain). I took no chances. I dressed in my waterproofs before setting off for Zoe's to join the walk to school. It remained dry and was quite mild. We dropped Ellie in class, then as Zoe headed home, I set off for a walk.

I shook things up this morning. I ignored my normal route. Instead, I walked into the village to post some cards and looped back via the village hall before dropping back down to our estate and completing a couple of laps. It had been an enjoyable walk, and I had avoided the rain, which started about 10 minutes after I got home.

Di was at the Cardiac Rehab session at the Community Centre. She managed to get wet as she walked to the car at the end of the session. We really don't need more rain. North Bersted is almost an island now, with only one route out of the area. All of the others are closed due to flooding. I did ask our local councillor yesterday if there were any mooring spots available in Chichester in case I had to come in by boat. (Strangely, he hasn't replied.)

We had a quiet morning dedicated to admin. This was followed by some lunch and some Kindle time. Di went along to join Zoe as she collected Ellie from school, while I stayed put and did some further genealogy research. This was predominantly based on finding relevant newspaper articles for family members over the years. I suspect I will be doing more of this over the weekend.

Local Wag

 I was up just before seven. It was pouring with rain and had been for several hours. Clearly, today would require the waterproofs. I noticed that a local wag had published several videos of the flooding at Shripney. One featured a ferry, several galleons, and a rib ploughing through the flood waters. Another video featured dolphins, and today's offering featured a submarine surfacing. They were very well done, but hid the real inconvenience the locals are experiencing.

I went to Zoe's and joined the walk to school. As it was raining so heavily, the classrooms were open so that the children could go straight in. I set off on my usual walk. The rain eased off a bit during my first circuit, but returned with vengeance during my second and third laps. You will not be surprised to hear that there were very few walkers this morning.

Once home, I had breakfast and then finished the weekly shopping list. Lottie arrived, and we had the usual banter with her before heading out to Sainsbury's. When we first arrived, we seemed to clash with a bunch of Zombies, but after the first few aisles, they melted away and gave no further trouble. I saw a little old lady looking at the salmon, and she commented on how expensive it was. I told her about my deliveries from Fresh Fish Daily, explaining how much my wife loves salmon. "Oh, you must take care of your wife. A good wife is most important," she explained. I acknowledged that, and as I walked away, she said, "A good husband is important too, but I no longer have one" I said that I was sorry, and she responded, with a twinkle in her eye, "It's all right, I'm not looking for one. You're quite safe." We both chuckled as we parted and continued with our shopping.

When we had finished in Sainsbury's, we popped across to M&S for a couple of bits, then headed home. By this point, it was lunchtime, so once we had packed the shopping away, we grabbed some lunch and a cup of tea.

We had a bit of Kindle time during the early afternoon, but then Di had to take Jasper to the vet for an injection, and I had to meet up with Zoe to go and collect Ellie from school.

We have just had a severe weather alert regarding heavy rain. I'm wondering if there is a market for local countryside river cruises.

Press hound

We had a lazy start. Yesterday's rain had blown away, and it was a lovely, clear morning. Once I was showered and dressed, I went out to check the car with the expectation. that I would have to take it for a drive to clear the warning messages. As it happens, there were none. So I could confidently let Diane take the car to Pilates.

I walked to Zoe's to join the trek to school. I didn't head off for my usual walk, however. I went home for breakfast. I had decided that I would make the most of the morning and walk to Bognor and spend the morning in the library. It was a wonderful morning for walking, and it took me about 40 minutes to get there. I may not have used the shortest route, but I was trying to stick to the quieter side roads so that I could listen to my audiobook in peace.

Once I had arrived at the library, the assistant showed me to the public PCs and helped me get started. I soon registered for my free access to the British Newspaper Archive and spent the next couple of hours searching for articles that referenced various relatives. As I found each article, I downloaded it to the USB drive that I had taken with me. I will process these over the coming days at home.  All in all, I was quite impressed with the service but frustrated by how slow the PCs and their network were.

I packed up my notebook, my USB drive and my library card, and walked home. As I arrived, Di called to say she was just leaving Angmering, and Tim Empson called to ask some questions regarding tracing a relation. I did what I could to help, but fear there is insufficient base information to get to the bottom of his quest.

Emails arrived for the garage that I dealt with yesterday. They forwarded the full diagnostic report, gave me an estimate for the fix, and confirmed the appointment to do the work. I'm very impressed.

We managed some Kindle time in the warmth of the Orangery this afternoon. It was bright, sunny, and pleasantly warm. Di went to meet up with Zoe and collect Ellie from football practice. Zoe was absolutely buzzing. Today was meant to be her day off, but she got a call to say the auditors had arrived to do the store audit. She dropped everything and went to work. At the end of the audit, they had scored 100% with no "advisories". She is delighted, having achieved that two years in a row.

That's Better

It was a very wet night, and it looked as if the rain had set in for the day when I got up. I was up early to greet Ellie, but she ran straight upstairs, got into bed with Nana, and went back to sleep. We left her until 7:30 before waking her. Despite the rain, Diane came on the school walk with us, but went back home afterwards. I set off on my morning walk. The rain pelted down, and I was not surprised when I saw very few walkers.

Once I had returned home and stripped off my waterproofs, I grabbed some breakfast. Then I returned to yesterday's problem regarding the car. I called a local independent specialist. I explained why I was calling, i.e. the problem I was facing with the car, and mentioned the problems I was having with Richmond Skoda in Bognor. He chuckled and then apologised, explaining that there is another Skoda on his forecourt and the owner has also had problems with Richmond. Back to business, he asked where I was and offered to fit me in for fault diagnosis this morning, while I wait! I leapt at the offer and was there within 20 minutes. He plugged in the diagnostic tool, and we then went and sat by the computer to go through the results. The problem turns out to be the front offside ABS speed sensor. I paid for the diagnosis (it was £60 cheaper than Richmond), booked the car in for rectification, and drove home. I was back within an hour of my phone call. Unless anything changes, he will have the problem fixed and back with us (yes, he picks the car up from the house and returns it) a day before Richmond could even start the diagnosis. I am really looking forward to cancelling my appointment with them.

The afternoon followed the usual pattern. We sat in the lounge reading our Kindles until it was time to collect Ellie. As it was still raining, I left Diane at home, collected Ellie and took her home to Zoe so they could get to Chichester for Ellie's dental appointment.

Incandescent

 I was up early to greet Ellie when she was dropped off. Ellie, however, was in too much of a hurry to snuggle up to Nana and ran straight upstairs. Grandpa's greeting would have to wait. Other than that, we followed the usual morning regimen. The only addition was that Ellie was taking some flour, milk, and butter to school so she could make some scones! That's the sort of classwork with real benefits.

Dropping Ellie, I made the most of the dry morning and set off on my walk. I was back before ten and grabbed my breakfast before retiring to the study for some work on the family tree. I was intent on filling in more facts, supported by articles from the press, regarding various close relatives. When I had exhausted the articles that I downloaded at the weekend, I started to think about the regional press. Their archives are held in the British National Archives. I logged on and saw that there were various subscription models. The question I struggled with was "Would I use these archives enough to warrant the subscription?" I concluded that I wouldn't, but wondered if they were accessible through the West Sussex Library Service. They are. You can access them online, but only from a public PC in the library. I'm perfectly happy with that, so I will set aside some time for a trip to the local library.

After lunch, I enjoyed some Kindle time until it was time to collect Ellie from school. We brought her home, and we all tucked into her yummy scones. Zoe arrived to collect her just as we were finishing. We returned to our Kindles. The phone rang. It was the local Skoda dealer. Their only Skoda technician has just decided to take a holiday, and tomorrow's service has to be rearranged. Again. I was incandescent. They play me up every time I book the car in, they shift dates, they don't have the parts, there's always one problem or another. I said to the guy, "Is it safe to drive?" (Laying it on a bit thick). His response was "If you've got breakdown cover, give them a call if you have a problem". That impressed me, not. There's not a lot I can do immediately, so I rebooked the car for next week. Meanwhile, however, I have done some research and have found an independent VW Group specialist near the vet's. I will give them a ring in the morning (the garage, not the vet).

Brackets

 It was very wet outside when I woke up. The rain had been pounding down for a while and continued for several more hours. I decided that there was no need to get wet, as the forecast suggested a dry period towards the end of the morning. I drank my coffee and read the news before making my morning porridge and enjoying a second cup of coffee.

With breakfast over, I went to the study and opened up my genealogy research. I picked a few people at random and delved further into the archives to fill out more details of their lives, where possible. The subscription I took out a few weeks ago gave me access to the newspaper archives, and I was able to add some newsclippings to some of the leaves on the family tree.

I looked up from my research and realised the sun was shining and the rain had stopped. I grabbed my walking shoes, jacket, and AirPods and set off for a walk. After nearly three kilometres, the morning's coffee had created a distraction. I returned home to check the plumbing and then set off again for a second walk. I looped around the estate a couple of times, adding a further four and a half kilometres to my day's total.

After some lunch, I returned to the study to file away some of the press clippings I had found during the morning. I looked up from the computer to see that it was thrashing down with rain again. My walks had been neatly bracketed by the inclement weather.

I managed some Kindle time during the afternoon while Di worked on her sewing project. I managed to complete another book and already have another lined up for bedtime.

Publish and be damned

After a superb night's sleep, I greeted the day just before seven. Though it was still dark, I could see that it was dry and fairly clear, so unlikely to rain. Checking the forecast, I could see my conclusion looked correct. I enjoyed my morning coffee and took a tea to Diane in bed.

After I had showered and dressed, I had my Zoom call with the cousins. It was interesting that Chris, in eastern Turkey, had also had a lot of rain over the last few days, though maybe not as extreme as Devon. The small trickle in the creek by his apartment had swollen in a matter of a few hours until it was over 4 metres deep and swamping the car park. It has subsided now, but has left a thick coating of red mud.

I spent some time reading the social media and then set off for my walk. I headed for the medieval highway to Shripney. I wanted to see if it was passable, as I may need it on Tuesday when I take the car for some attention at the garage. This route would be my preferred way home on foot. I managed to get quite a way before coming across standing water across the road. With more rain forecast for Sunday and Monday, I suspect I will have to select another route.

When I arrived home, Diane was cutting out a pattern for her latest sewing project. I retired to my study and finished the second edit of last year's journal. I uploaded the journal to Lulu.com, then started working on the hardback cover. This takes a lot of effort as I have to edit a saved PDF cover from a previous year. This took me an hour or so, but finally I was able to upload it and finish creating the book. I sent it off for printing, and can expect the finished article in about a week. 

Satisfied with the book, I set out on another walk. I limited myself to two laps of the estate (about 4km). This has taken me to a total of 198km for January (I really should have walked another 2km), but 123 miles for the month is more than adequate. Once home, I settled in the lounge with Diane, and we had some Kindle time until Zoe called for a chat, and I went to prepare dinner.

Do Not Disturb

 It has been an immensely quiet day. I was up soon after 6:30, but there was no particular hurry. I grabbed some coffee and read the overnight news. I have always been sceptical of "news" items in social media, but I must say that it is getting to the point that I always assume them to be false unless I can corroborate them in the grown-up press or media.

I went to Zoe's to accompany them on the walk to school. Leaving Ellie as she walked into class, I set off for my morning walk. I was halfway through my first lap when my audiobook ended. I immediately triggered the next book and enjoyed the rest of the walk with a new storyline and new dramatis personae.

I was surprised to find that Diane had arrived home before me. She was meant to be at Cardiac Rehab. Jackie, who runs it, had come down with the flu and forgotten to let Di know. We sat and chatted while I finished my breakfast. The rest of the morning was occupied with some research for a staff scheduling problem Zoe had raised, and general admin. Di got on with some ironing.

After lunch, we settled down with our Kindles. As the time ticked towards pick-up time for Ellie, the rain started. I told Di to stay put, climbed into my waterproofs and headed off to school (clutching Ellie's umbrella). Her dance lessons finished on time, and she was soon outside sheltering under the brolly as we walked home. She was with us for about an hour before Pete arrived to take her for the weekend.

Pottering

 We had a gentle start to the day. It had been cold overnight, and cars wore a fine layer of frost. I had my morning coffee and wandered through the overnight news before walking to Zoe's to join the trek to school. Leaving Ellie as she walked into class, I strode off for my morning circuits of the estate. My audiobook is drawing to a close (only 20 minutes to run), and I was delighted to find that I had correctly determined the murderer. I look forward to the last 20 minutes to tie up some loose ends.

Once home, I grabbed my breakfast and some more coffee. Because of the problem with the car, we had arranged for Sainsbury's to deliver our shopping this week. This worked out well and saved us a lot of time and any concerns regarding the car.  Once the shopping had been stowed away, I updated the accounts and set off for the village, where I shed my superfluous locks.

Once Lottie had finished her blitz upstairs, Di went up and pottered around. I, similarly, pottered around downstairs until I made lunch. The afternoon was dedicated to Kindle time, where I finished my 13th book of the year.

There's not much else to report.

Nile Fever

 We had another gentle start to the day. Zoe's shifts have been quite benign this week. Before I went to Zoe's, I checked the car as Di was planning to go to Pilates. I switched on and received the whole panoply of warning messages and warning lights. I let the engine run for a few minutes, switched it off and back on. I got the same result. I reported to Di, and she decided she wasn't willing to risk it. I set off for my school walk and pre-breakfast walk.

Back home, after some breakfast, I decided I would try to give the car a run. I dropped Di at the Post Office and drove to Sainsbury's to fill up with petrol. The first kilometre was accompanied by all of the warning bells and alarms, but then they shut down, and the car behaved perfectly for the rest of my trip. I even timed it well enough to collect Di on the way home.

The afternoon saw our usual Kindle interlude before we collected Ellie from the after-school football. Once home, I looked through various websites to find some new walking shoes. My current pair have been very comfortable but has worn down at the heel. I looked at several options but decided to get another pair of my current shoes.

Zoe collected Ellie soon after five, and we had a quick dinner. We had planned an evening out. We drove (without warning messages or alarms) to the Chichester Festival Theatre. We had tickets for Agatha Christie's Death on the Nile.

We had brilliant seats, centre stage, near the back of the theatre. The auditorium was packed. Regular readers will know that I am not a great lover of theatre, generally. This, however, was excellent. It flowed well, was well-crafted, and was immensely professional. If all theatre was like this, I would be tempted to go more frequently.

We were back at the car soon after 22:00 and home well before 22:30. (Again, the car behaved impeccably).

It had been a really enjoyable evening, but after the shenanigans on the Nile, I wonder if our planned river cruise is safe?

Excursions

We had a gentle start to the day. After my morning coffee, I donned my waterproofs and wandered around to Zoe's. The edge of ~Storm Chandra had hit us overnight, and it was raining heavily. We took Ellie to school, and as Zoe left to go to work, I set off for my walk. The rain continued throughout my first lap, but lessened and stopped during the second lap. By the time I finished the third lap and headed home, the clouds were thinning, and it was drying up.

SAGA released the list of available excursions to accompany our spring river cruise. We spent several hours working our way through the options and deciding on our choices. I sent the list on to Trevor, and then booked them.

Talking of Trevor, today is his birthday. I hope he's had a wonderful day and that recognition of his age hasn't hit him too hard.

We collected Ellie from school, and she came back with us until Zoe finished work. She certainly had an appetite tonight. She had all of the usual savoury snacks, several shortbread biscuits, and a plate of egg noodles with frankfurter sausages and raw red peppers. I suspect she'll ask for toast when she gets home.

Ton up

As Ellie stayed overnight, there was no need to get up early. She had set her alarm for seven, but I was making my coffee by the time that went off. She reset the alarm for 7:20 and went back to sleep. It was a bit cooler this morning. Only by a degree or so, but the damp atmosphere made it seem chilly. We dropped Ellie at school, and I set off for my walk.

I arrived home an hour or so later. I checked my watch and found that I had broken the 100 mile mark for the month. Feeling chuffed, I sat down with my breakfast.  Di had a call with her friend Marilyn, so while she chatted on the phone, I started on my second pass through last year's journal. I managed to review the first six months before I started to go boss-eyed.

There were several minor domestic chores to fill the rest of the morning, and after lunch, we settled down for some Kindle time until we had to collect Ellie. We took her straight home to Zoe, who was waiting to whisk her off to Chichester for her appointment.

It was a very quiet day.

Beat the Weather

 I had a pleasant lie-in, not getting up until 07:15. I had to deal with a foul-smelling package that Jasper had graciously left for me in the litter tray, but then I could make some coffee and take Diane a cup of tea. I sat and read the overnight news and was appalled at the latest murder by Trump's Gestapo in Minnesota. Di pottered downstairs, which was the cue for me to get washed and dressed and set off for my morning walk.

It was important to have an early walk. The weather forecast predicted rain by late morning, and I wanted to avoid that if possible. I suspect this was on many of the neighbours' minds as my usual route was quite busy with fellow walkers and dog-walkers. It turned out to be a good decision. By lunchtime, it had started to rain, and it continued, on and off, all afternoon.

When I arrived home and had finished my breakfast, I headed for the study. I returned to editing last year's journal. After an hour or so, I finished the first pass. I will have to go back to the beginning and work through the year once more to ensure I haven't missed anything. At the moment, the journal stands at 263 pages (including the index).

While I was editing, Diane was chatting to Denise on the phone. She had been preparing to shower when the phone rang, so she was sitting on a stool in her dressing gown, chatting away. I took her a cup of tea, and was quite expecting to take her evening meal in several hours. This did not prove to be necessary.

We managed to enjoy some Kindle time during the afternoon. This was interrupted by Ellie (with her "new" phone). She had to send us some messages and also call us. She even popped in to see us and to show us the phone cover she had got. We have managed to lock this phone down. She can take photos, use FaceTime, use the telephone, see maps, and see the weather. Nothing else will work, and communication is limited to the contacts in the phone - and only Zoe can add contacts. It does, however, broadcast its location, so we can keep track of where she is. She will be sleeping here tonight so that she doesn't need to get up early with Zoe.

WiFi

After a superb night's sleep, I wandered downstairs for a coffee at 07:15. Di followed me down about 30 minutes later. Being Saturday, the first scheduled event was the Zoom call with the Empsons. Having told them, last week, that Zoe had bought us this smart kettle that could be controlled by Alexa, they took it in turns to yell, "Alexa, turn on the kettle." How droll!

While the early morning coffee was percolating through, I spent some time reading the social media and looking at some of the astonishing photos and videos from Storm Ingrid and the devastation she was wreaking along the East Devon coastline. 

Finally, I was comfortable and set off for my walk with a new audiobook accompanying me. I passed Ellie on my walk. She was out with some friends and stopped to give me a cuddle before we both marched on. I wasn't out quite as long as usual, but I still managed a pleasant 5km. I hadn't been home for too long when I got a message from Zoe. "Is there anything you can do to improve my WiFi signal?" It appears that she had installed a "smart" bulb in Ellie's bedroom, and Alexa was having trouble staying connected. "Ah ha!", though I. I have just the answer. I used to have 3 BT Whole Home WiFi devices, which create a WiFi mesh across the house. These became redundant when I switched to an EE hub. I grabbed the devices and headed for Zoe's. A little while later, the mesh had been activated, Alexa had been swapped onto the mesh, and Ellie's TV and iPad were also swapped. Success.

I headed home for a quiet afternoon with my Kindle. Upstairs, Diane was sorting out some of her drawers, so she was unlikely to join me.

I started on dinner, and as soon as I had the hob and the oven running and food cooking, Zoe phoned. She was providing a relay between an Apple help desk agent and me while trying to set up an old iPhone for Ellie. The idea is that this would effectively be a dumb phone (providing virtually no apps or access other than location services and telephone calls to known numbers. I was involved as the manager of the family account. Rushing back and forth between the hob and the MacBook, I managed to get the rudimentary account set up, but I have no doubt there will be more to do later.

Charging

 Zoe has another day off, consequently there was no need for me to get up early. I lazed about in bed until 06:50, then wandered downstairs for a coffee. Di was up soon after as she needed to have an early breakfast before heading out for her Cardiac Rehab session. I walked to Zoe's and accompanied Ellie to school. Last night's forecast predicted heavy rain throughout the morning. Clearly, nobody had told the local clouds. Though I was dressed in my waterproofs, they were entirely superfluous.

Leaving Ellie at school, I set off on my morning walk. I followed the newly crafted route that I had used yesterday. It was while I was walking up one of the new diversions that I saw Di drive past and wave. As I arrived at the top of that road, she was parked and waiting for me. Again, the car was spewing out warning messages. I looked at what was happening and assured her that it should be perfectly safe, so she drove the last 200 metres to the Community Centre, and I returned to my walk. By the time I arrived home, I had about 10 minutes to run in my latest audiobook, so I allowed it to finish while making breakfast.

A major task this morning (major, in terms of importance, not time or effort) was to pay the balance for our upcoming river cruise. With that complete, I updated the accounts and then had a chat with Ian regarding the warning lights on the car. I thought he may have a diagnostic probe, but whilst he did have one, he has mislaid it during the house move. He did suggest, however, that our problem was most likely a failing battery. It makes sense to me. I went to Halfords and picked up a battery charger and conditioner. I attached it to our battery and left it to charge and condition for a few hours. I'll have to see if it makes a difference tomorrow.

After lunch, we had some Kindle time in the Orangery. The sun was out, and it had warmed up nicely. Soon after three, the sun had disappeared behind cloud and the temperature was dropping. We moved to the lounge, though Di had to go to Zoe's and join her in collecting Ellie after dance class.

Talking of Zoe, Ross (the heating engineer) called and was able to fit a new pressure sensor to her boiler. She has heating and hot water again, at last.

Lights Out

Theoretically, we had a lazy start to the day. The problem with theories is that they may not hold true. So it was that soon after 6 am, I was wide awake and wandered downstairs for a coffee. I had slept well, but I was wide awake. I read the overnight news and was appalled at the speech from the clown Trump in Davos. In contrast, I was immensely impressed by the 16-minute speech from Canada's Prime Minister, Carney. He is a true statesman. How I wish he were our Prime Minister.

I walked to Zoe and joined the walk to school. Ellie was carrying her project in a plastic bag so that it wouldn't get wet. (Actually, it wasn't raining, so it wasn't a big risk.) I set off for my morning walk, incorporating a couple of diversions to the normal route. I think that I will keep them as part of the route for the future.

I arrived home for breakfast just as Diane was preparing to go to the hairdresser's. I checked the tyre pressures on the car (with the current sensor problem, I wasn't confident that the Tyre Pressure Monitor was reporting correctly. Pressures were just fine, so I went and made my porridge.

Lottie turned up soon after Di left. She got on with the cleaning downstairs, and I went up to my study to do some more editing on last year's journal. I have now completed the first edit through to the end of November. I was about to start on December when Jasper started yowling, then deposited a rather unpleasant package in the litter tray. I was cleaning that up as Diane arrived back.

We had some lunch, and then completed the week's shopping list for a lightning raid on Sainsbury's. I must say that early afternoon on Thursday seemed like a good time. There was no evidence of the usual zombies shuffling up and down the aisles. I dropped Di at Zoe's on the way home so that she could go to collect Ellie from school. Meanwhile, I unpacked the shopping and stashed it away.

We managed an hour of Kindle time before dinner.