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.

Four for Dinner

We had another lazy start as Zoe wasn't due at work until 9 am. I walked around in the pouring rain to provide the school escort service before diverting off to enjoy my morning walk. The rain was relentless as I clocked off the miles. At least my waterproof gear kept me dry, and my audiobook kept me entertained.

Di had already gone to her Pilates session by the time I arrived home. I settled down for breakfast and to get on with some admin. One of the important items on the list of admin was to capture the IMEI and other details of our new phones. This was something I had forgotten to do when the phones first arrived. Admin occupied most of the morning, though I did manage some editing of last year's journal before I stopped for lunch.

The afternoon was fairly quiet. We sat in the lounge with our Kindles until it was time to collect Elli from after-school football. Needless to say, the heavens opened just as I was getting ready, so I quickly changed into wet-weather gear and headed back out. I have noticed that my hat isn't as waterproof as it implied, so I have ordered some nanospray from Germany to improve its ability to shed water.

When Ellie got back, she and Nana worked on her "room in a box" project. They managed to finish it, so Ellie will take it to school tomorrow. 

Zoe arrived from work. She and Ellie were staying for dinner, but left as we finished clearing up.

Warning Lights

Zoe had a late start, so I didn't have to get up too early. I wandered around to her house and joined the walk to school before diverting off for my morning walk. It was a mild morning, and every now and then, the sun popped up to show its face. I was quite hot by the time I arrived home.

I had to move the car as we thought Kim might pop in (she didn't). As I started the engine, there was a cascade of error messages and lights across the dashboard. I powered off, then restarted the engine. Again, there was a cascade of warnings, but fewer than last time. This was not good news. I took the car to the dealer and explained the problem. Their engineer is away, moving house. There was nothing they could do immediately. They did suggest it may be an ABS sensor, and I should monitor it and book the car in, should it not rectify. I started the engine. Everything was completely normal, with no warnings. Typical. I drove home, resolving to check again later.

Back home, I made us some tea and then went to edit some more of last year's journal before lunch. After lunch, I got involved with the project Ellie had been working on with Nana. A door and some windows needed to be cut out of the shoe box. As this involved a sharp knife, I was deemed expendable. With that done, I settled down with my Kindle until it was time to collect Ellie from school.

With Ellie back with us, she sat down with Nana and continued to work on her project. Zoe was due soon after five, and they worked right through til her arrival. They were staying with us for dinner this evening so that they could eat and then use our hot water for a bath and shower. (The heating/hot water is still not working).

With everyone fed and clean, Zoe and Ellie drove home and we locked up. That was it for the night.

Feeling Hot

I was up early for Ellie's drop-off. She went straight upstairs to get into bed with Nana and go back to sleep. I eventually woke her at 7:30. Once she was fed and watered, washed and dressed, we took her along to school. It was spitting with rain, and I hadn't dressed for it, so I skipped the early morning walk and went home for breakfast.

I spent most of the morning editing last year's journal. I managed to complete the period that encompassed out Canaries cruise. Taking that as a good breakpoint, I set off for my proper morning walk. By this point, it had dried up, but I took a hat and some gloves, just in case. I was out for just over an hour. Once home, I made us both some tea and prepared some lunch.

I returned to the study and resumed editing the journal. After an hour, I again bookmarked where I had reached and went to the lounge for some Kindle time. It was while I was reading that Zoe phoned Diane. "Could we step in and take Ellie to her appointment in Chichester, after school?" Of course, we could, but why? Well, it seems that an articulated lorry had pulled into the yard behind the store and its trailer had caught fire. The Fire Brigade were called, and Zoe hit the "evacuate" button for the store. The Firemen admitted that if they had been 5 minutes later, then the store itself would almost certainly have caught fire.

I collected Ellie from school, and we took her to her appointment in Chichester. While she was there, I got a call from Zoe to say that everything was under control and she was just leaving. She would be home in time for us to drop Ellie off on the way through.

We dropped Ellie off, then went home. We've just finished dinner and are planning on a quiet evening.

Journal

It was gone seven before I pottered downstairs. I had enjoyed a wonderful night's sleep and been entertained by some bizarre dreams. They seemed important at the time, but now, when I come to write about them, they have faded from memory. We enjoyed a pleasant breakfast together as we consumed the overnight news and checked "the socials".

I headed to my study. It was time to return to the editing of last year's journal. I had become distracted by family tree stuff and lost sight of the journal. I worked on it for an hour or two and then went for my walk. As I looped by the lake, I passed Chris and Maureen chatting with John and Liz. I waved and marched on. As I started the second lap, they were still there, so I waved again and told them I had a further lap to complete before I finished. I saw them again on my final stretch, but they were out walking by then, and there was no sign of John and Liz.

It was lunchtime when I arrived home. I finished the remains of last night's curry in a wholemeal wrap, then returned to the study. I was well into September by this point, and we were about to embark on our cruise. I edited for a further hour or so, then settled in the lounge with Diane and our Kindles.

I switched off the Kindle and returned to the kitchen to finish cooking tonight's dinner (chicken, new potatoes, carrots, carrot and swede mash, and courgettes). We have finished eating, and everything is cleared away. I foresee an evening with Netflix or Amazon Prime.

The Press

 It was a typical start to a Saturday morning. After consuming some news and some caffeine, I went to wash and dress before sitting down to breakfast while chatting with the Empson cousins on the weekly Zoom call.

After the call, I dug into some family tree research. I took the time to subscribe to "Newspapera.com", which provides a searchable archive of newspapers stretching back hundreds of years, though it isn't complete as publications are still being ingested. My first focus was on the Empsons, as they had stimulated the idea of updating the Family Book. I managed to find a couple of relevant articles very quickly. I should have been more disciplined and searched person-by-person, but I started to skip around through the families. I have found a number of press articles and downloaded them for later.

Late morning, I set off for my walk. It was dry but quite grey. It was, however, a very pleasant temperature for walking, and I enjoyed a pleasant 75 minutes marching around the neighbourhood to the accompaniment of my audiobook.

When I arrived home, Di was having a blitz in the kitchen. Old spice jars were being emptied and ditched, drawers were being reorganised, and everything was cleaned within an inch of its life.

After some lunch, we settled down for some Kindle time before I started preparing dinner. Everything is cleared away now, and we will probably watch a couple of films this evening.

Boiler

I enjoyed a lazy start, not rising until 07:00. Di was up soon after as she had a Cardiac Rehab class this morning (the first since last March). The weather forecast looked mixed, so I erred on the pessimistic side and dressed in my waterproofs before walking to Zoe's. Her heating was still not working, but she had managed to warm the house with a couple of fan heaters.

We walked (or should I say chased) Ellie to school. She seemed to be particularly eager this morning. We dropped her off at the classroom, and I headed off for my walk. I was beginning to regret the waterproofs as it was getting quite warm under all those layers. Then, a sharp shower struck, and my choice was justified. There were several further showers before I finished my route, so I may have arrived home hot, but at least I was dry.

Just as I finished breakfast, Kim dropped in. Unfortunately, I couldn't hang about, so I left her chatting with Di. I had to get to Zoe's so that I could be there when Ross (the heating engineer) arrived to give a quote for replacing the boiler. He took a look at the installation and the flue before examining the existing boiler. He said he would be happy to change it, but didn't feel that was necessary. He diagnosed the current problem, and we managed to restart the boiler temporarily. We have agreed to have a full strip-down service and replace any parts necessary.

Back home, having explained to Di what had been agreed, I went to my study. I revisited the problem that I had experienced with FBC earlier in the week. I bit the bullet and bought a new license. Everything burst into life, and I am now ready to develop a new version of the family book I had developed for the Empson cousins. I just need to wait for the latest updates from Sam.

We had a quiet afternoon with our Kindles. I managed to finish another book (The Shadow of the Northern Lights, by Satu Rämö) and prepare the next one, ready for bedtime tonight.

Very, Very Wet

We were delighted to be woken just after 02:00 by Jasper yowling for more food. I had put out the usual ration of supper, which he had cleared and licked the bowl clean. He was yowling, waiting for the breakfast bowl to open. In the end, I got up and circumvented the timer. As the lid opened, he dived straight in. We didn't hear another murmur from him. It didn't mean, however, that I was able to drop back off to sleep. At best, I dozed.

I was up just before 07:00. I needed coffee to kick-start the day. I was reading the overnight news when I was conscious of a lot of crashing and banging from outside. I felt quite smug as I realised it was the refuse collectors emptying our bins and I had remembered to put them out last night. The clattering from the refuse truck woke Di, and she pottered down for a cup of tea. Just as I went up for my morning ablutions, Zoe messaged us. Her heating had failed, and she had no hot water. Could she shower here after dropping Ellie at school? Of course, she could.

Waterproofs were an absolute necessity today. I sloshed my way to Zoe's to join the walk school, then continued around my usual route for the morning walk. By the time I arrived home an hour later, my outer layer was drenched, but I was dry underneath. I started a new audiobook on the walk. This is another of the Alex Delaware novels by Jonathan Kellerman. It seems intriguing so far, but there is a long way to go. (Interestingly, I received an email from Audible to reveal that I had listened to 34 books last year; in total, this consumed 268 hours).

Once home, with breakfast finished, we completed the shopping list and headed for Sainsbury's for our weekly outing. It was lunchtime by the time we had arrived home and unpacked. We had a quiet hour in the lounge before I set off through the rain to collect Ellie. Once home, Ellie and Nana sat on the floor and worked on a project for school. They are making a room in a shoe box.

With Zoe's heating failing for a 3rd time this week, I contacted Ross, the heating engineer who replaced all of our heating system. I have asked him to call and provide a quote for replacing Zoe's system, which, frankly, has caused problems since day one.

Very Dry

 Ellie was dropped off at her usual time. She was already dressed, and her hair had been styled for the day. After some breakfast, she settled down to do some puzzles and some colouring. At the last minute, she realised she had left her reading book at home, so we had to divert on the way to school in order to collect it. Dropping her off at the classroom, I set off for my walk. (Diane was off to Pilates for the morning).

It was a cold morning, but it was crystal clear, and it was a pleasure to be out. My walk followed the normal route, and my audiobook chatted on until the book was finished just after I arrived home. I grabbed some breakfast and then spent much of the rest of the morning working through a pile of ironing.

Di arrived home just as I was preparing some lunch. She had enjoyed a good session even if her friend Pauline seemed a little put-out by Di's ongoing knee problem. We spent a quiet afternoon with our Kindles until it was time to collect Ellie from football. Di went around to the school with Zoe, and they took Ellie home. 

We have just finished dinner and expect to have a quiet evening.

Very Wet

I woke up to the sound of heavy rain. It had set in for much of the day. I had my usual coffee and read the news (using Apple News+) before going up for my shower. As the clock ticked by, I donned my waterproofs and made my way around to Zoe's to join the walk to school. It was a matter of weaving past the puddles and avoiding the splashes from passing cars. 

Leaving Ellie as she walked into class, I set off on my customary walk. The rain hadn't let up, and I was very glad of the waterproofs. My hat kept the rain off my glasses as I followed my usual route around the estate. Unfortunately, the hat isn't quite as waterproof as advertised, but it soon dries off in the cloak cupboard. My audiobook kept me company on the walk, and I am now about 90 minutes from the end. I stripped off as soon as I got home. The trousers were hung in the bathroom, and the jacket started in the Orangery, but I moved it to the cloak cupboard.

After having breakfast and a quick browse through social media, we went over to see Chris and Maureen for some coffee and biscuits. As usual, they were immensely hospitable, and we had a lovely couple of hours chatting about all and sundry.

Back home, we had some lunch and then settled briefly in the lounge. It was still raining, though not as heavily. I climbed back into my waterproofs and went across to collect Ellie. She stayed with us until Zoe came to collect her, which meant that we had dinner a little later than usual.

The forecast for the rest of the week is for rain, rain, and rain. I suspect my waterproofs will be getting a lot of wear.

Bits and bobs

 I was up early to greet Ellie when she was dropped off. She had only just woken up and was a bit spaced out still. After a cuddle, she went up to torment Nana. Once we had completed the normal pre-school tasks, we set off to walk Ellie to school. It was a lot milder today, and it was dry. We dropped her off, and while Di headed home, I set off for my usual walk.

After breakfast, Di took a specimen to the vet for testing, while I got on with some chores and some admin. With that cleared, I returned to the study to take another look at the issue I have with the new Family Book Creator. I wondered if my old serial number would work, and having tracked it down, I plugged it in. It just sat there and ignored me. Pah!

After lunch, we had some Kindle time before going to collect Ellie from school and take her back home. Zoe was waiting for her to whisk her off to her Monday appointment. We went home and had some time with the iPads before I prepared dinner.

Ki had a big exam today. We heard from her just before dinner. She feels pretty positive about the outcome. I guess we will hear soon.

A Calm Day

I was up just before seven.  It was grey, but dry. The frost that we had seen last night was all gone, and the temperature had soared to a heady 5 °C. I took Diane a cup of tea in bed, and I settled down with a coffee and the overnight news. Once Di had come downstairs and settled with her iPad, I set off for my morning walk. Rain was forecast for later, so I planned to make the most of the dry morning.

An hour or so later, I was home and tucking into breakfast as I read the social media. It was while I was reading that I remembered the subscription for the Daily Telegraph, and, realising I would lose access to it this week, started thinking about alternatives. This has been a theme to which I have returned several times during the day. One solution that I found was a system called "PressReader". I can get access to this through my West Sussex Library membership. This seemed to give me access to read the paper (and indeed, many more). The interface seemed a little clunky, but I'm sure I can manage that. Later in the day, I looked at my Apple Family Plan and realised I could add News+ to the plan. This would give me access to the Telegraph, the Times, and many other papers. Better still, the articles are displayed in the News+ aggregator, and the subscription extends to Di, Zoe, and Kim.

Much of the rest of the day was spent with my Kindle until it was time to prepare dinner. We had half a side of salmon on a bed of stir-fried vegetables and egg noodles. It really was rather excellent and wasn't too filling.

Dash dash, dash dash dash, dot dash dot, dot dot dot, dot

I had an excellent night's sleep, but I was still up early. I took Di a cup of tea and then settled downstairs with my coffee and the morning news. Once Di had come down, I went for my shower and then, having prepared breakfast, went to join the weekly Zoom call with my Empson cousins. The UK contingent exchanged cold-weather anecdotes from the week, while Simon (in Victoria) sat in his study wearing a coat, bobble hat, scarf and gloves. The temperature in Victoria was 42 °C, and he explained he was dressed in solidarity with us. Soon after the call finished, I received a message from Sam. She was interested in updating the Empson Family Tree book and inquired about creating a hardback version. I said that I was happy to make the updates, if she could provide the data, and also pointed to Lulu.com as the company I use to create the back books. I left it with her.

I took the opportunity to go for a walk. Di wanted to return a parcel to Amazon, so I stopped off at the Post Office. She also had some meds to collect, so I stopped at the Chemist. I carried on with my walk, back past the Jubilee Hall, and then round the estate.

When I arrived home, I thought more about Sam's request. It was a trigger for me to install the latest updates for Family Tree Maker (FTM) and Family Book Creator (FBC). Both were downloaded and installed. There seems to be a licensing problem with FBC, so I have written to the author. In the meantime, I connected up with Ancestry and checked some of the latest hints that it has provided.

Di was pottering upstairs in her sewing room. I took the opportunity to take all of the Christmas decorations back out to the garage, where they will nestle until next Christmas. I then managed to get some Kindle time.

We ate dinner at our usual time, interrupted by a call from Ellie, who had got herself into a bit of a state. She was horrified to hear that we were going out and she couldn't come to us overnight. Di finally calmed her down.

We set off for Chichester. We had an evening at the theatre planned.

We arrived at the Chichester Festival Theatre in plenty of time and settled down for a coffee. At the next table sat John Horne and his wife, Sheila. They live in Pagham. John and I used to play football on Sunday mornings, until I gave up. It was nice to see him and have a chat.

We had excellent seats in the theatre, which was absolutely packed. The play was an adaptation of an Inspector Morse story, "House of Ghosts", with Tom Chambers playing the lead role. I'm not really a theatre person, but I did enjoy the play and admit that I hadn't guessed the conclusion.

The theatre is putting on an adaptation of "Death on the Nile" in a couple of weeks, so we grabbed tickets for that while we were there.

The play finished at 21:50, and by 22:00 we were on our way home. We had been smart enough to park the car near the exit rather than near the theatre. This saved us considerable time. We were home soon after ten, and having set up Jasper's overnight food, came up to bed.

Helping Out

The storms that hit the country overnight (Storm Goretti) skirted our area. We had strong winds throughout the evening and a lot of rain, but when I got up this morning, the rain had stopped, and the wind had eased.  Having seen photos of the storm in the West Country, we have to be thankful.

Zoe had a 09:00 start, so there was no need to get up early. I met up with them in time to join the walk to school and then set off on my morning walk. I completed my current audiobook during the first circuit and dropped straight into another. It was a nice walk, though the wind made it a bit nippy, and there was rain in the air.

While I was walking, ~Diane went to see the nurse who runs the Cardiac Rehab sessions. As she hasn't been for a while, she wanted to check that she could restart the sessions without a referral and that they could accommodate the exercises she has been given for her knee. Fortunately, she said that it would not be a problem, and she is aiming to restart next Friday.

After some breakfast, Di started on some chores and some admin. I cleared some of my own admin, then set about a challenge posed by my school friend, Michael. I summarised the challenge as:

Michael is chairman of the residents committee for a block of apartments. He would like to set up an email account for the committee members such that there is only one address for people to contact, but any of the authorised members can access and respond to the emails. This is all voluntary work, so he needs a service that is free of charge. 

I then set about trying to help. I was looking for a free solution that would give him and the committee a common repository for them to conduct their business and for residents to contact them. After hunting about, I concluded that a solution based on Outlook or on Google Groups was probably the easiest for them to set up and use. What's more, both solutions are free. I then set up a test model for each solution. Michael plans to arrange a phonecall one evening next week for the committee to discuss this with me.

After lunch, I managed some Kindle time until it was potentially time to collect Ellie. The question was whether she had managed to get into the after-school dance class. There had been some confusion, and it was left "if you don't hear from me, she is going to the dance session".  The trouble with that is that people can get too busy and forget. Rather than take a chance, I went to the school, and she assured me she was going dancing. I went home. The joining instructions for the dance class said the class finished at 16:00, but the pickup time was 16:15. I arrived just before 16:15, and Ellie was the only child left. ll the others had been collected at 16:00.

Ellie came back to us until Zoe came by to collect her.

Wet

Ellie was dropped off early again this morning. She was surprisingly alert, and after a quick cuddle, went upstairs to torment Nana. After she finished breakfast, and she had completed her ablutions, she announced that she needed her School Councillor badge. She and I walked back to find the badge so she could finish her school preparations. I dropped her off at the classroom and went straight home.

There was no time for a morning walk. We had to get Jasper back to the vet this morning.  It took a few minutes to find his latest hiding place, but we managed to drop him into his carrier without any fuss. We were back home by about 10:00, and the vet had promised to phone with the test results later in the day. (The results were fine, and he seems to have no underlying conditions other than old age).

Net on the morning's agenda was a raid on Sainsbury's. It didn't seem too busy while we were there, and we managed to complete our shopping fairly quickly. When we arrived home, Lottie was in full swing cleaning downstairs. We dumped the shopping bags in the kitchen and then got out of her way.

After a light lunch, I changed into my wet-weather gear and went out for a walk. The rain had set in and became more intense throughout the afternoon. I seemed to be the only person stupid enough to be out walking in the rain, and when I arrived home, managed a 20-minute break before going back out with ~Di to collect Ellie from school. We got a call from Zoe to say she had just arrived home, so we took Ellie straight home.

Back in the comfort of dry clothes, in our own home, we settled down for some Kindle time. I managed to finish another book before heading to the kitchen to prepare dinner.

Black Ice

 The temperature overnight had obviously warmed up in the light rain we had experienced. Then, before dawn, the rain died away, and the temperatures dropped. This was a very good recipe for black ice.

Ellie was dropped off at 6:35 but was still barely conscious. I sent her upstairs to get into bed with Nana, where she fell asleep. We left her until 7:30 before disturbing her. The normal morning process was followed, and Ellie and I left for school at 8:30. Ellie promptly slipped on some black ice and ended up on the pavement. From then on, she held on to my hand all the way to school. When we arrived, we saw several children who had fallen on the ice. I left Ellie as she marched into class, and I set off on my walk. I was very cautious at first, but it soon became clear that my usual route was fairly safe. 

By the time I arrived home, Diane had already left to go to Pilates in Angmering. I settled down with a bowl of porridge, a coffee, and the overnight news. With breakfast cleared away, I took some of the Christmas detritus out to the garage. The rest will have to wait until Di has finished wrapping it up and squirrelling it away in the correct boxes. I then cracked on and cleared the outstanding ironing (most of which was mine, anyway).

With chores out of the way, I returned to editing the 2025 blog entries for the journal. I managed to complete all of July by the time I stopped for lunch. Di arrived home just as I finished preparing lunch. We chatted over our snack, then I retired to the lounge with my Kindle. Di went out to the Orangery and finished squirrelling the Christmas decorations away in the storage crates. I went to collect Ellie from after-school football practice and took her home before returning to the lounge and my Kindle for 30 minutes.

Dinner is now finished, and the dishwasher is in control of the crockery.

Batteries

I had an early start. I was up and about, ready to greet Ellie when she was dropped off at 6:35. It had been a bitterly cold night. Marham, in Norfolk, saw temperatures of -12.5 °C; even here, near the south coast, the temperature dropped to -4 °C. Even at 8:30, when I walked Ellie to school, the temperature was still -4.

I didn't bother with an early walk. Japer was due at the vet, and I wanted to make sure Di didn't have to struggle in the ice. I drove them to the vet and carried Jasper in for his appointment. Then brought them back when it was all over.

I finally went out for my walk. As I walked by the lake, I could see how thick the ice had become. This was probably just as well because I saw 4 or 5 kids playing on the ice at the other side of the island. (I didn't overly worry as the water is only knee deep at present, so if the ice broke they would have got wet, but were not in danger).

I didn't manage to complete my usual circuits. The coffee I had consumed had decided that it hadn't percolated through, so I cut back home. When I got in, Di was taking down more of the Christmas decorations. Once I was comfortable, I stripped the old batteries out of all the lights. We now have a huge collection of defunct batteries to take for recycling. I'll put everything else back in the garage tomorrow.

I headed out for another walk. This time, I routed along the back route to the village and then looped back past the Jubilee Hall and back around the estate.

After lunch, we sat down for some Kindle time. Just after 3, Di went to collect Ellie and take her home to Zoe. I continued with my book.

There is nothing else scheduled for today.

Nose, meet Grindstone

It was the first day of the new term for Ellie. Fortunately, Zoe didn't start work until 9:00, so I didn't have to get up to greet Ellie. I had a gentle start with a good coffee and a wander through the overnight news. It had been a very cold night. The roads and paths were thick with frost, and the temperature was hovering around-2 °C. I donned an extra layer before setting out to join the walk to school. We arrived before the classroom doors had opened, and whilst the kids weren't boisterous, it was clear that they were almost as pleased to be back at school as their parents were to see them off.

I set off on my morning walk. I deviated from the usual route. Not by much, but enough to add another 500m to the walk. My audiobook, "See No Evil" by Sally Rigby, is shaping up nicely. 

The lake was completely frozen over as I walked past. I was out for about an hour before returning for breakfast. 

There was some admin to clear before I got cracking on anything else. With that dealt with, I set about the task of removing the Christmas lights from the front of the house and then taking down the ribbons that displayed all of the cards we had received.

After lunch, I returned to the editing of last year's blog for the journal. Over several episodes during the afternoon, I managed to finish through to the end of last May. One interruption was when I went to collect Ellie from school (it was much too cold and slippery for Di to venture out). Ellie wasn't with us for long. Zoe had managed to get away just after 15:00, so she collected Ellie within a few minutes of us getting back.

The rest of the afternoon has been quiet. Dinner is now finished, and we are winding down for the evening.

Crystal Clear

 It was gone seven before I emerged from under the duvet. It had been a cold night, and the temperature was still -4 °C according to the Alexa Hub. I took Di a tea and suggested she stay in bed and make the most of the last quiet morning we will have for a while. I returned to my coffee and the overnight news.

Once Di had come down and we had eaten breakfast, I headed for the study and returned to the process of editing last year's blog entries for the annual journal. Over the next couple of hours, I worked through from the start of April until the day we went away on the river cruise. That seemed like a good point to stop for a while.

I put on my walking shoes, my hat, and my jacket and set off for my walk. Over the next 75 minutes, I finished my audiobook and started another - the second in the same series. It was a gorgeous day for walking. The sky was crystal clear, and the only blemishes were distant contrails from planes heading off to exotic places. The temperature was still sub-zero, but I was dressed for it, and it was no hardship.

Di was busy in her sewing room when I returned. I took her a tea and made a spot of lunch before returning to the editing of the journal. I really enjoyed going through the write-ups for the river cruise last Spring. It was nice to relive what we did and what we saw; it had been such a lovely trip (and makes me look forward to this year's trip along the Moselle). When I had finished the next tranche of editing, I settled in the lounge with my Kindle and read a few more chapters of my latest book.

At four o'clock, I headed for the kitchen and started on dinner. Tonight we had lamb shanks with roasted potatoes, parsnips and carrots, with some green beans. It looks like we will be having another cold night tonight as the skies are so clear and there is no wind.

Pharmacist

 I was up just before seven. It had been a cold night, and there was a heavy frost on the cars. I was pleased we didn't have to go out first thing. I sat with my coffee and read the overnight news of the moron Trump attacking Venezuela (which just happens to have the largest oil reserves in the world). It is hard to believe that someone like him has his finger on the metaphorical button... when he doesn't seem to have the mental capacity to be embarrassed by his own lies. I feel so deeply sorry for the millions of good Americans being reduced to international pariahs by the leader that most of them didn't vote for.

I had my usual call with the cousins. It was Tim's first appearance after his cruise. over Christmas. He regaled us with stories of the trip, including being asked to witness a wedding and then signing in the place reserved for the Captain! He clearly had ideas above his station.

Later in the morning, I had a scheduled call with the pharmacist from the Surgery. She was phoning to "offer" me statins. My cholesterol is marginally above the range recommended by NICE, all of my other markers are well within range, and some research reveals that I am in the lowest third of cardiovascular risk for men of my age, and my QRISK score is low for someone of my age. After discussions, I agreed with her to hold fire on the statins, but retest in 3-6 months.

I headed off for my belated walk. My audiobook is moving to the conclusion, but there is obviously a twist still to be revealed, as there is over an hour to run, but the murderer has been revealed and captured. I look forward to hearing what happens tomorrow.

When I arrived home, Di was up in her sewing room working on some alterations. I grabbed some lunch and then retired to my study so that I could edit the March blog entries from last year. After that, I had an hour or so of Kindle time before starting on dinner.

Easing In

We are easing into the New Year. There is no need to overdo it. The year is a marathon, not a sprint! Zoe had a day off, so Ellie was at home all day. We could have had a nice long lie-in but for the fact that Di had an appointment with the physio at 08:00. Also, Jasper started yowling just before 07:00, so any ideas of an extra hour in bed were rapidly dispersed.  

Di was back by 08:30, and we had a quiet breakfast as we discussed the outcome of the appointment and wandered through the overnight news. Once breakfast was finished, I completed some admin and then went to the study to process another couple of weeks' blog entries for the 2025 journal.

Late morning, I headed out for my walk. The forecast (light) snow had not put in an appearance. In fact, the skies were crystal clear, and the sun was quite blinding. The conditions were perfect for my walk. I followed my usual route, with a Sally Rigby audiobook playing through the AirPods. There are only a couple more hours or so to go in this book, but it is book one of a new series, and I will certainly keep an eye out for the follow-ons.

Back home, Di was on the phone with Kim. She, too, had spoken with the physio today, so they were comparing their respective experiences. Kim also explained that her next placement from the university is in Totton (Southampton).  This would be almost impossible given the 14-hour shifts and the commute of over an hour each way. She will be speaking with her tutor to see if they can find something more appropriate.

After lunch, I returned to the study and finished editing and processing all of the blog entries for February last year. I then went back through the last couple of months' photos and pumped them through my "photofiler" to ensure that the masters were properly filed and backed up here on-site. While I pottered upstairs, Di was chatting with Denise, catching up on all of her news and her plans. It seems that 2026 will be a big year for her.

We managed a couple of hours of Kindle time before dinner, and have a quiet evening planned.

New Release

So, a New Year has been released into the wild. Again, I will try to track its progress as the days click by. We didn't stay up to greet the new release; we decided that the forces of time could manage that without our supervision or intervention. We went to bed and slept through the excitement. 

I was up early to greet Ellie as she was dropped off at 6:40. She was surprisingly chirpy, given that she had stayed awake to watch the New Year's Eve fireworks. After a cuddle, she charged upstairs to jump into bed with Nana.

I was more interested in breakfast and coffee than my early morning walk. That would have to wait until later in the morning. Once breakfast was cleared away, I set about closing off last year's accounts and launching the accounts for 2026. I then reviewed the material I printed out regarding statins and whether I should consider taking them. I have a discussion scheduled with the pharmacist on Saturday, and I want to ensure I am able to ask the right questions.

By the time I headed out for my walk, the temperature had risen to about 3 °C, positively balmy! I was out for about 75 minutes and assumed that most locals were in bed, hungover. The streets were deserted. When I arrived home, Ellie had her friend Neve playing with her. 

After we had a light lunch, I went to the study and downloaded the whole of the 2025 blog and started editing it, ready to create the new hardback journal for the year. I'm glad I kept such clear notes in previous years. It was just a matter of following the instructions and then working through the daily entries. I managed to complete all of the entries from January and will return to the task tomorrow or at the weekend.

Zoe collected the girls at 15:30, so we managed to get some Kindle time before I started on dinner. As I was preparing dinner, I received a WhatsApp from cousin Paul. He was sharing the news that his daughter Laura and her partner, Marcus, got engaged over the Christmas period. It's lovely to have such joyous family news. Paul also went on to say they had some time in their new place near Montreal, and commented that they had lots of snow and lots of fun. It sounds like a perfect Christmas.

I wish you all peace, happiness, and good health in 2026.