Back to work

 No. Not really. There is, however, a buzz that retirees experience on the first day after a Bank Holiday. That buzz says to you "Not my problem anymore. Let's go back to sleep".

The Gorse Fox went round to Zoe's to meet her and Ellie before school. Ellie lost her second front tooth over the weekend. It doesn't seem to trouble her in the least. She was ready and eager to get to school so the Gorse Fox performed his usual security escort to the classroom door. (It is not so much that she needs a security detail, it is more that everyone else does when she is hyped up and ready to learn).

Back home, suitable caffeinated and filled with toast and honey, the Gorse Fox and Diane planned a quick trip to the charity shop to deliver some clothes and shoes. This was to be followed by a stop at the pet store to collect some cat litter. The former task was completed, but the latter failed. They had none. Back home, the Gorse Fox checked another local branch. They had some but it couldn't be reserved without using their Click and Collect service. The Gorse Fox logged on and tried to buy two bags. He was denied. Their system said they had none in stock. He hopped in the car and drove to Chichester, marched to the back of the shop and picked up two of the bags they didn't have. Sorted.

Much of the rest of the day has been focused on the 2011 blog extract and preparing it for printing.

Pseudonyms

 The Gorse Fox has decided that in most cases, there is no real need to hide people behind their pseudonyms any more. From now on, most people will be identified with their real names.

Print Ready

 The Silver Vixen had a poor night's sleep last night. As soon as the Gorse Fox was awake, he snuck downstairs and tried to keep Jasper quiet while enjoying his first morning coffee.

The Silver Vixen spent the morning pottering in the bedrooms. The Gorse Fox returned to his editing. By the end of the day he had completed the re-edit of 2010 and now has 3 years' worth of extracts ready to send to the printer.

The Gorse Fox isn't saying it has been quiet today, but the front door is still chained and bolted. The weather has been mixed. We have had the odd shower, but much of the day has been sunny and bright. The Orangery was the ideal place to make the most of this.

Printer

 It was 05:30. The Gorse Fox was wide awake. A cursory check of the plumbing made no difference. He tried to relax and drop back off to sleep. His brain, however, had gone into overdrive - how should he prepare the potatoes for dinner this evening? - has he checked the page headers for the blog extracts? - why is Jasper already up and about? Is that the first heavy aeroplane en route to Gatwick this morning? That's how it continued until, giving up, he grabbed his Kindle and started to read. This is how it continued until 06:45 when he got up and made his first coffee of the day and started reading the news.

Once the day had started properly and the Silver Vixen was up and about, the Gorse Fox returned to his study. The 2006 extract had been sent for publishing/printing last night and this morning, the 2007 extract was also sent off for processing. 2008 is stacked up and ready to go but 2009 needed a further pass through the editing process. That has occupied much of the day.

The Silver Vixen has been pottering in the garden throughout the day. Some old faux ivy has been removed from the trellis by the garage so that it can be replaced with black-eyed Susies.

Honesty

 It is so nice to see honesty in action. On Friday we took Ellie's scooter to the school when we collected her. She grabbed it as soon as we were off the premises and scooted off towards the park. She discarded the scooter and headed for the swings. Meanwhile, the Gorse Fox and Zoe were still trying to catch up. After twenty minutes or so, we called Ellie and headed home. The scooter was forgotten. Another school kid noticed it and took it home. His mother put it on FaceAche and Zoe was alerted. The scooter has been retrieved. There is Peace on Earth (well, this little bit).

Under Pressure

 The Gorse Fox's morning started with the (now traditional) cousins' call. Simon, from Australia, joined for the first time in several weeks. The banter was well up to scratch. Tim the Red reported that he and his wife Joan had been out dropping leaflets for their local Labour candidate. The Gorse Fox resisted the jibe. He did, however, leave the call briefly (several minutes later). When he returned he explained that he had been distracted by the commotion outside as the Labour candidate was being tarred and feathered.

The weather was glorious. The Silver Vixen was eager to get into the back garden. There was some serious pottering to be done. Particularly as her Buddha mask had fallen and smashed during the night. (No doubt it will reincarnate as hardcore in a future existence). The Gorse Fox went out to provide some help in retrieving all the bits of Buddha, then grabbed the jetwash to clean the patio and the paths.

The rest of the day has been spent on the journals. The Gorse Fox now has 3 years that are "print ready".

The keys tap on

After the morning school escort duties and some breakfast, the Gorse Fox completed some domestic duties before returning to the study. The Silver Vixen was pottering in the bedroom and in her sewing room.

Finally, the editing of 2006 was completed and a print-ready file was created. Then, the Gorse Fox returned to 2007 and did a final pass before creating another print-ready file. This is easy to say in two sentences, but practically it has taken most of the day.

Urban-cub had her "talent-team" interview with a new potential employer. This seemed to go very well and she is being lined up to speak to the Regional Head. It all sounds very positive and the possible salary sounds more than adequate. Our collective fingers are crossed.

Done

 The Gorse Fox has finished the first pass of editing the 2006 blog. My goodness it was tedious - both as an exercise and in some of its content. He is now halfway through a second pass trying to eliminate many overtly political rants. The page count is rapidly dropping.

Other than that, we have had a fairly typical Thursday. Ocado delivered (but late because the previous delivery had been delayed by a customer's inability to open her electric gates). Then we had a quick whizz around Sainsbury's.

The Gorse Fox has also performed daily security escort duties to and from school.

Delete

 There is very little to report. In our self-imposed semi-isolation, the only exceptions have been the Gorse Fox's security escort duties for Ellie's walk to and from school. The Silver Vixen spent the morning in her sewing room and the Gorse Fox has spent the balance of the day editing and deleting extracts from old blogs. 2006 is now under 400 pages... but November and December still need to be processed.

Coaches

 According to this evening’s “One Show” a new initiative has been launched to get more people to become football coaches. It seems to the Gorse Fox that should be as simple as removing their teeth and installing rows of seats.

Gorgeous

 It has been a gorgeous day, here on the South Coast. The sky has remained cloudless but a cool breeze dusted the day. The Gorse Fox started the day with his escort duty for Ellie's walk to school with Urban-cub. Then it was back home for breakfast.

The Silver Vixen spent much of the day sorting out her wardrobe and swapping winter and summer wear. The Gorse Fox returned to his editing. Analysis of the 2006 blog extract tells the Gorse Fox that he had developed a pathological hatred for the government of the day and particularly the execrable John Prescott. As he edits, he is having to remove huge tracts of text which, though accurate, have no part to play in a family journal. The raw text (processed up to the end of August so far) stands at well over 400 pages still. There's a long way to go in those final few months!

Cousteau-cub popped in briefly at lunchtime. She was on her way back from the doctor's surgery, so stopped to say hello and deliver a 3-dimensional card for the Silver Vixen. She didn't stop long as we are all very conscious of keeping the Silver Vixen free of any infections that could delay her treatment.

Gorse Fox went along with Urban-cub to collect Ellie and her friend Theo. They were having an after-school playdate.

Strange

 Somehow it seems strange. We are used to Ellie being dropped off soon after 07:00 several days of the week.  Not this week. With Urban-cub at home, we can get up when we wake up and have a quiet coffee before the Gorse Fox wanders around the corner to provide an escort on the walk to school. This goes a stage further. We are not required to do the school pick-up either, this week.

Silver Vixen spent the morning on the phone with her friend Marilyn while the Gorse Fox continued working on the journals. He certainly had a bee in his bonnet regarding the execrable, incompetent, bloviated John Prescott in the year 2006!

This afternoon we had a Zoom call with a German chap, Jens. This had been set up by the Gorse Fox's cousin Ellen. Jens has had the same operation and implant that the Silver Vixen awaits. The idea of the call was to chat with him about his experiences and the aftermath. The call went really well and the Gorse Fox thinks it reinforced the decision that the Silver Vixen had made regarding the particular type of implant and also eased any concerns regarding the immediate and long-term aftercare.

Nada

 There really is nothing of importance to report. We had a very quiet day. The Silver Vixen spent several hours on the phone with her friend Pauline. Urban-cub, Darren, and Ellie went to Sidlesham to meet with Darren's brother Lee for lunch. He has a role that Urban-cub can fulfil (in VIP Events Management) until she gets a new job. No doubt we will hear more of this in the immediate future.

This afternoon the Silver Vixen has been reading in the warmth of the Orangery while the Gorse Fox has started editing and formatting the extracts from 2006.

Family Visit

 It seems like a long time since we have seen the Silver Vixen's sister, Denise, and even longer since we have seen her brother, Paul. Today they escaped from the Midlands of Cambridgeshire and Buckinghamshire to come and spend the day with us.

They arrived before midday and we Urban-cub turned up with Ellie soon after. We had great fun catching up with all the family news before Urban-cub had to leave so Ellie could get to a play date with classmate Theo.

Lunch was the curry that the Gorse Fox cooked yesterday. It went down very well.

After a very leisurely lunch, we decided to stroll around the locale and then stop at Urban-cub's to say hello to Darren.

Back home, we carried on chatting and going through old family photos

We also caught up on the "hen-do" and various events leading up to Emma's wedding.

It was a lovely day and it was a shame to see them leave mid-evening. 

Curry

The Gorse Fox was up and about soon after 07:00. News was consumed along with coffee and then he went around to Urban-cub to join Ellie's school escort service. It was during this that Urban-cub revealed that she had handed in her resignation from her current job. The stress has been ridiculous and it was beginning to affect her health. Enough was enough. After dropping Ellie, the Gorse Fox brought her home to tell the Silver Vixen - who heaved a sigh of relief.

Much of the afternoon has been spent preparing a curry We have the Silver Vixen's brother and sister visiting us tomorrow so it seemed sensible to prepare something special. The Gorse Fox started on this at 13:00 and has just decanted it at 18:00. Hopefully, it will mature overnight.

Meanwhile, the Gorse Fox is remiss in not reporting Ellie's loss of her first front tooth yesterday. She was so excited... and delighted to report, this morning, that the tooth fairy had been.

Cheek

 The Gorse Fox thought he was being scammed. A text arrived saying payment had been declined on his debit card and details would follow from another number. They did. Should he reply? He never replies to phone numbers in unsolicited text messages. He looked up the bank's Fraud Department's phone number and called them. Just as he finished traversing the menus and got put through to a call handler, the call dropped. He would call back later.

A minute or two later he received a call from the bank's fraud department. We went through some mutual questioning to ensure we were both who we claimed to be. We then looked at the declined transaction. It was right that they should have declined it. It was part of an elaborate scam by an Insurance Company called "Go Assist" purporting to be an appliance maintenance contractor. You phone them, as the Gorse Fox did last year, and they dispatch an independent contractor to fix the problem. They charge you an extortionate sum and give you a year's cover for that device. They also set up a recurring payment on your debit card to take another year's cover on the anniversary of the first. The Gorse Fox asked for his card to be cancelled and a new one sent out.

The Gorse Fox also phoned "Go Assist" and gave them a dressing down, demanding that his details were removed from their systems and that if he had any further attempts to debit his account he would report it as fraud. He wonders how many people are caught out like this and pay these premiums unwittingly.

Chichester

 After sorting Ellie out and taking her to school, we returned to have some breakfast. The Silver Vixen wanted to go to the shops to get a birthday present for a niece. The obvious choice was Chichester, so soon after 10:00 we parked at the Cattle Market and strolled into town.

The first stop was our favourite jeweller. Jasper had caught the Silver Vixen's necklace and broken the chain. It was too fine to be mended. It had to be replaced. He had just the thing and we left clutching a bag with the replacement chain. W then hit a couple of shops before finding Pandora. There, the Silver Vixen found just what she was looking for.

Back home, we had a quiet hour or two before the Gorse Fox went to collect Ellie and bring her back via the park. She is staying with us tonight.

(Editing has been continuing and the printed book has revealed several modifications that must be retro-fitted to the files created so far).

Don't Cry Out Loud

We heard this evening that the Elkie Brooks concert we were due to attend on Friday, has been postponed. Apparently, due to illness, the concert will be rescheduled for October. 

This is the 3rd time we have been scheduled to see Elkie Brooks and the concert has been postponed. Never mind, hopefully, she will make a swift and full recovery.

Sample

 Ellie was (unexpectedly) with us overnight. Urban-cub had a change of plans requiring her to work an early shift. As it happens, that worked in her favour as she had an unannounced Council food inspection which she passed with flying colours.

After dropping Ellie at school, the Gorse Fox took the Silver Vixen to the hairdresser and then stopped at the chemist to collect her prescription. He also arranged for them to deliver the prescriptions in the future. The sour-faced lady behind the counter seemed very put out by this request and grudgingly filled in our details.

Guess what? The Gas man came! In fact, he was here on the dot of midday. He also did the most thorough boiler service we have ever had. In an attempt to upsell, he also tried to convince the Gorse Fox that we should consider upgrading to a more efficient boiler. This is more relevant because the current push from Westminster is likely to ban the sale of gas boilers before too long. The Gorse Fox will research this and see if it is worth the expenditure... but we won't be getting it from British Gas!

The postman delivered today's mail. The sample blog extract from 2010 had been printed and bound. The question was, is the quality adequate?

Yes, it was. The Silver Vixen was very impressed and the Gorse Fox was delighted. There was no "bleed" of the photos from one side of the page to the other. The text was crisp and clear, and the layout looked really good.

Now that the Gorse Fox has had a chance to review it in detail, he has made a few notes that he will retrospectively apply to the extracts that he has already processed. He will also edit the extraction program so that the few remaining extracts are easier to handle.

Twas on the Monday Morning...

Actually, it wasn't. Or rather, it started well...

At 07:30 British Gas sent a message to confirm that the Gas man cometh.

This was fine. This was expected. He was due to perform the annual service this afternoon, sometime between 12:00 and 18:00. The Gorse Fox cleared the relevant section of the garage so that he could access the boiler.

At 14:00 British Gas sent a message to confirm that the Gas man cometh.

He still hadn't arrived at 15:00, so the Silver Vixen had to collect Ellie from school by herself.

At 16:00 British Gas sent a message to confirm that the Gas man cometh. 

At 16:30 British Gas phoned to tell us that the Gas man couldn't be bothered. Would we like to re-book?

Somehow the Gorse Fox managed to maintain decorum. He has agreed that the Gas man better cometh tomorrow afternoon. 

Locked in

The Gorse Fox is not saying that it has been quiet, but the front door hasn't been unlocked since last night. The Silver Vixen has spent part of the day pottering and then reading in the Orangery. The Gorse Fox has been editing again.

What became clear was that 2007 involved a large number of individual blog posts. Many could have been combined. As the editing process continues, the Gorse Fox is condensing these posts. This, however, takes a lot of time and effort. Even after 4-5 hours he has only just started on the May posts.

The dearth of watchable TV(*) on BBC or ITV has forced the Silver Vixen and Gorse Fox to make better use of the various streaming services. Last night we discover The Chelsea Detective on Acorn TV. This was a very good and very watchable program. We look forward to further episodes.

(*) Watchable TV means that it isn't "gritty", it isn't political, and it doesn't pander to those impressed by bad manners, shouting, and threats. It is just enjoyable and may make you smile or better still, laugh.

Even quieter

 Almost nothing of note to report. The cousins' call went ahead as usual but there was no real news - just banter.

The Silver Vixen has been doing bits of laundry and some sewing.

The Gorse Fox has been editing old blog extracts. What became clear during this process, was that the subtle nicknames he gave to people or places were sometimes too subtle. Now, 15-16 years on, he has forgotten the real names or locations behind some of the nicknames. Doh!

Quiet

 It has been quiet, so quiet.

The weather has been grey and wet and we had nothing specific planned. The Silver Vixen spent the time in her sewing room going through all of the documents that she has received from the hospital and trying to extract the nuggets that were important,

The Gorse Fox has been finishing the editorial work on the 2008 blog extract. On completion, he recognised certain patterns of activity that he could shortcut by re-writing part of the extraction program. 10 minutes of coding later, he re-ran the extract for the next year.

Other than that - Nada, Nothing.

Not Shy but Retiring

 The started as a typical Thursday. Ocado arrived with the main delivery and then we popped to Sainsbury's for the top-up.

At lunchtime, we met with Jane, Trevor, Urban-cub, and Ellie at The Oystercatcher. The plan was to have some lunch and then return home for some tea and cake. Now that Trevor has retired, arranging things for during the day is easier.

Service was incredibly slow, but Ellie behaved impeccably throughout. She was a bundle of joy as she chuckled, laughed, and teased.

As time wore on, glaciers melted, continents drifted apart, and black holes consumed stars Trevor retrieved Ellie's Birthday present from the car to keep her occupied until the next course arrived.

To be fair, the food was excellent. We all enjoyed our various selections... and now that we are retired (well, not Urban-cub but she was on holiday) the long wait was not an issue.

We returned home and were soon joined by Darren. The kettle went on, then went on again, and continued to go on for a couple of hours. We had a lovely time and it was a shame when it all broke up.

Wisdom

 In January 1972, T. Vincent Learson (Chairman of IBM) sent a note to all managers. The note was to be followed up with posters for all employees…

Business Ecology

Bureaucracy is your worst enemy because it:

POISONS the mind

STIFLES the spirit

POLLUTES self-motivation, and finally

KILLS the individual

This is as true today as it was in 1972. What a shame that Starfleet never learned that lesson.

Stormy Wednesday

 Somehow "Stormy Wednesday" doesn't have the same ring to it as "Stormy Monday". The morning followed the forecast and was bright and sunny. Soon after lunch, though, the wind picked up and blew furiously across the coastal plain. Garden furniture was redistributed around the garden and a huge tarpaulin blew into our garden from the neighbour's patio. The Gorse Fox passed it back to him as he explained, apologetically, that it had been tied down but was no match for the wind.

Knowing the forecast, we stayed in. The Silver Vixen sat in Orangery, reading, while the Gorse Fox retired to the study to continue editing and formatting the 2008 blog extract. We have just finished dinner and are settling down for the evening. The wind has died down and hopefully, it too will have a quiet evening.

Arundel

 It had been planned for a few weeks. Arundel Castle holds its annual tulip festival at this time of year. The weather, however, was looking a bit threatening. Forecasts, however, suggested that the rain would hold off until the early afternoon.

We met up with Cousteau-cub at the gates of the castle. Urban-cub and Ellie were originally due to join us. Ellie had banged her head yesterday and was still a little under the weather so they stayed at home. As we bought our tickets we were warned that the tulips were not yet at their best and it might be several more days before they peaked. We decided to go ahead anyway.

We strolled, slowly, through the walled gardens passing the imposing walls of the Castle itself. Trees were in blossom and painted splashes of colour against the grass and granite backdrop.

Once in the walled garden, we were surprised that it was quite quiet and it wasn't too difficult to take pictures of features.

Whilst the tulips may not be out yet, we still had a wonderful sweep of white daffodils circling the lawn and carpeting the area in front of the Cathedral.

We wandered back and forth, examining the views from every possible aspect. It really is a lovely spot and well worth the entrance fee.

Leaving the walled gardens we visited the Fitzalan Chapel. This private chapel is where the Fitzalan-Howard ancestors have been interred since the 1500s. It was the first time we had explored the chapel and was quite intriguing.

We strolled back towards the Castle and made our way up to the restaurant for a coffee and snack. As we left, it was starting to spit with rain. We headed back to the cars and returned home. As we got in, the heavens opened. We had timed it to perfection.

Sales

 The Gorse Fox was up before 7:00. No particular reason - just wide awake and needing a coffee. It was an hour or so before the Silver Vixen emerged, but even then we spent time wandering through the online newspapers and munching on toast.

Mid-morning, the Gorse Fox got a message from Old Bill. He was interested in the Air Fryer that the Gorse Fox had been discussing the other day. Could they come and see it? Well, of course, they could. Old Bill and Lady Penelope arrived soon after 11:00 and the Gorse Fox took them through the (sales patter) features and functions of the Air Fryer (and made a cup of tea). We sat and chatted over the tea. It seems fairly clear that they will order the Air Fryer as a result of the visit.

The Silver Vixen sat and read in the Orangery this afternoon while the Gorse Fox edited blog extracts before starting dinner. For dinner he had decided on chicken, cooked in the pressure cooker, with potato rostis. The problem was that he had no muslin or cheesecloth to squeeze the shredded potato dry. He tried using pressure in a fine sieve. This did a fair job, but not as well as the muslin would have done. The air fryer cooked the rostis, and they were quite tasty. In the future, however, the Gorse Fox will make them thinner. That might make them a bit more crispy.

Er what?

 The Gorse Fox has just seen a headline in the Apple News aggregator:

“Bottom Painting Shopping List”

He hadn’t realised that that was a “thing”. He assumes it is the next step after tattoos.

Easter

 Happy and Peaceful Easter to you all. May your spirit be suffused with peace and contentment and may you and your loved ones be happy and healthy for another year.

We have had a fairly quiet Easter with the Silver Vixen pottering in the garden and the Gorse Fox tapping at his keyboard. When Urband-cub called to say that Ellie was home, we popped around to spend an hour with them and see Ellie for the first time in over a week. The Gorse Fox cannot express how much he misses her when she isn't around. (Even if she can drive him to distraction at times).

This afternoon we had a long video call with Cousin Ellen. Her experience with Canada's "Heart Valve Voice" was an asset that we had to mine for the Silver Vixen's upcoming procedure. It was an interesting 90 minutes and confirmed that the Silver Vixen was on the right path with her planned treatment.

Slap and Fiddle

 It has been a gorgeous day here on the South Coast. The Gorse Fox started with his usual cousins' call on Zoom. Young Tim revealed he would be visiting Granada and the environs next week. The Gorse Fox dug out his journal from 2006 and sent him the synopsis of our trip and also the link to the photos from the trip. Hopefully, they will have fun and enjoy it as much as we did.

The Silver Vixen girded her loins (if you are allowed to do such things nowadays) and headed out to potter in the garden. The Gorse Fox retrieved the decorating materials and finally fiddled managed to remove the pelmet and Venetian blind. This meant that he could slap a second coat of paint on most of the walls, and a first coat on the window wall.

While the paint was drying, the Gorse Fox got started on a beef curry. This is based on a recipe from Nadiya Hussain... with a few tweaks. It takes a good hour to prepare the sauce and then, adding the beef, cooks for a further 3-4 hours. It is rich and sumptuous... and made enough for 4 separate meals.

Once the curry was on the go, the Gorse Fox was able to return to the painting. A final coat was applied to the window wall and a bit of touching up was completed. Masking tape was removed and the wall furniture re-installed. Done!

Gra Pao

 It was a gentle start to the day. The sun was up and the sky was clear but for a few dabs of cloud left by a cherub's paintbrush.

Our plan was to pop into Chichester for a bit of shopping and then to meet up with the Sonning Crew for lunch. Chichester seemed quiet. Maybe people were making the most of a long weekend and the good weather. We found our way to Lakeland, in North Street. The Gorse Fox wanted a butcher's steel so that he could better hone his kitchen knives. While in the shop he noticed a couple viewing and debating the display of air fryers. He chipped in with his experience and spent 10 minutes with them. He suspects they left the shop clutching a nice new appliance.

We wandered back to Giggling Squid. It was the first time that the whole Crew had been out together since last July because of Old Bill's health troubles. With everything on the mend, it was great to get back together. As usual, the discussions were far ranging - health, cars, Falmouth, air fryers, mandolins, grandchildren, children, and so forth. Before we knew it a few hours had leaked from the continuum and we were full of fine Thai food (Red Thai Curry for the Silver Vixen, and Chicken Gra Pao for the Gorse Fox).

Back home, it's been a quiet afternoon. We made the most of the Orangery (with the doors open for the first time this year). Then the Gorse Fox retired to the study to index the 2009 blog extract.

Flat

The morning was occupied with the usual shopping experiences. This was, again, less enjoyable than usual. Possibly it was the hordes of zombies shuffling around Sainsbury's, or it could have been busier because of the run-up to a holiday weekend. Either way, they didn't consult with us to make sure it would not be an inconvenience. Absolutely no consideration!

Once home the Gorse Fox attacked the downstairs cloakroom with masking tape. He removed the mirrors and other wall furniture then headed to the garage to get the paintbrushes and rollers. Well, that was the theory. In practice, access to the shelf with the painting tools demands that the car is moved. The car hasn't been touched for weeks. The battery was flat. Fortunately, Two Hats had a jump kit. This allowed us to start the car and the Gorse Fox left it running for a while to allow the alternator to put some charge in the battery.

Painting tools were recovered and the painting started. It was fiddly but didn't take too long. There is one more wall to finish when the Gorse Fox can work out how to remove the Venetian blind (the usual hinged unit is there, but the hinge is obscured by a snap-on pelmet - the snap-on pelmet won't snap off). For the sake of his sanity, he has left it for another day.

The car is back in the garage on a trickle charge.

Matching

 The Gorse Fox forgot to report that the Silver Vixen’s cousin, Jon is getting married to his lovely partner, Caroline this summer. It’s nice to have positive some family news and a wedding that we should be able to attend. (The Gorse Fox’s cousin, Michael, is getting married to Emily in May, but the Silver Vixen’s impending procedure prevents our attendance).

In the stands

 The original plan for today had been the completion of the decorating. The Silver Vixen, however, wanted to meet up with her cronies after their Pilates session. The Gorse Fox drove her across and then went on to watch the football.

It was frustrating watching the game (from the virtual stands), but not participating. The Gorse Fox had fun chatting with the ref., Gary, and acting as VAR for any contentious decisions. While the game was in progress, his phone rang. It was Michael (from the South of France). He was phoning to check on the Silver Vixen and wish her luck for the next few weeks. What a nice gesture.

Once home, we had some lunch and the Silver Vixen buried herself in her book in the Orangery while the Gorse Fox returned to editing the 2009 blog extracts. It was while doing this that he realised how much more useful these would be if the Gorse Fox created an index of significant events throughout the year. He has now returned to the start of 2009 to provide the relevant markup.

Really?

 So we learn today that a woman has complained to Sainsbury’s over the “Big DaddY Steak”. She says it is sexist and demands that the rename it. The Gorse Fox demands that she grows up and stops being so utterly pathetic.

Books

 There is a reason that the Gorse Fox has been editing and formatting old blog extracts. He has concluded that the cubs and Ellie will never be bothered to look at PDF files. However, sometime in the future, some descendants may be interested in their ancestors and may wonder what life was like in the late 20th and early 21st Centuries. The Gorse Fox would love to have a written record from his ancestors. He is now looking at getting these (heavily edited and corrected - the Gorse Fox apologises for all of the typos) blog extracts printed.

Investigating print options, the Gorse Fox found a number of possible organisations, but on examination, these were likely to cost over 100 GBP per volume. Online he noticed that many people were using "lulu.com" to print the Family Tree books. He decided to investigate. He is impressed. He has managed to commission a 248-page book with a hard-back cover for about 20 GBP. He is treating this as a draft so that he can see the quality and whether he needs to wind up any of the production choices. It seems that the worst (or is it, best) scenario would still be less than 50 GBP.

It should take about 10 days, so the Gorse Fox waits with interest.

Loos in White Satin

 The Silver Vixen wanted the downstairs loo decorated. The Gorse Fox, after 2 trips (so far) to Wickes, has spent the morning cleaning, sanding, caulking, and eventually painting the woodwork. It’s looking very crisp.

The walls can wait for tomorrow.

All keyed up

 The Gorse Fox used to have a small, foldable keyboard that he could connect to his phone. In years gone by, he would often use this to blog from the train or a hotel. Said keyboard is long-defunct. It was, however, very useful and, because of its size, very portable.

Today he received, thanks to Mr Amazon, a replacement. When folded, this is about the length of his phone, and slightly wider.

With the magic of hinges, it unfolds and provides a usable keyboard which will pair with up to three separate devices... for example, iPhone, iPad, and Android tablet.

The battery provides up to 90 hours of continuous use, and in sleep mode will last for 200 days.

When it has finished charging, the Gorse Fox will give it a try.

Out

It has been a lovely day. The sun shone and the sky was blue. There was, however, a chilly breeze which took the edge off things. The Silver Vixen wanted to do some shopping and as she is not really meant to drive at present, the Gorse Fox was happy to accompany her.

We worked through her list, popping into one shop or another as we progressed through Chichester. The Gorse Fox took the opportunity to book a table for lunch at The Ivy as we wandered by. Eventually, the shopping bags were full and the list was exhausted. 

We made our way back to The Ivy. We were seated in the area they call the conservatory. It was bright and airy and afforded a view across the whole establishment.

The Gorse Fox started with a smoked haddock and salmon fishcake, but the Silver Vixen skipped the starters. She then had the Salmon as a main dish while the Gorse Fox went for pasta with goose, lamb, and duck ragu. Both dishes were excellent. The Silver Vixen then finished off with some frozen berries with yoghurt sorbet.

A perfect lunch.

Eh? or is it AI?

 The Gorse Fox now has links to some of the recent Artificial Intelligence (AI) systems. Controversy rages over whether they are a threat and whether they are accurate. The Gorse Fox decided he would try them and see whether they were useful. Over the past week, he has used ChatGPT, Google's Bard, and an app for the iPhone called Perpexity. So far they seem pretty good, but only time will tell.

Nada

 Absolutely nothing to report.

The Silver Vixen has been pottering and the Gorse Fox has been working on the 2009 blog extract. In a nutshell, that summarises the day.

Diversion

 We heard this morning that Sue and Trevor had a slow drive home last night. A car was on its roof between Bognor and LA. The Police were turning people around and redirecting them up the A29 to Fontwell. 

Visitors

The day was very quiet. This was in honour of the Gorse Fox's brother-in-law, Trevor. Today is the first day of his retirement. As such, it should be treated with a hushed reverence - and a check that he isn't yet bored, and isn't yet getting under Jane's feet.

The Silver Vixen pottered and the Gorse Fox started editing the 2009 blog extract. This was how we filled the day until about 16:00. That was when Sue and Trevor (yes, that's a different Trevor) arrived.

We had arranged this catch-up a little while ago. We hadn't seen them since before Christmas, so there was plenty of family news from both sides. We had some tea and biscuits while we chatted and then ordered an Indian takeaway for delivery. While we awaited the fine foods of the Indian sub-continent, the Gorse Fox cooked some salmon, new potatoes, and peas for the Silver Vixen. (She has given up on Indian food). As usual, when we order from Habib, the food was superb and there was plenty of it.

We retired to the lounge and continued our wide-ranging chat. We covered grandchildren, phonics as a way of learning to read, ecclesiastical music, basketball, football, and church politics. It was a stimulating evening. They left for home at about 22:30 and after a brief wind-down, we went to bed.

Hunkering down

 The Gorse Fox started the day with a coffee and his usual escort duty for Ellie's walk to school. The forecast high winds hadn't reached a crescendo, but it was certainly blustery.

Back home, after some breakfast, the Gorse Fox and Silver Vixen went about their plans for the day. Plan A had been a shopping trip to Chichester. However, the weather forecast suggested this would be a stupid idea. Said trip can wait until Monday. We turned to Plan B.

The Silver Vixen wanted to write to Mrs Tiggywinkle and the Gorse Fox wanted to return to the 2010 blog extract. That is, pretty much, how the day played out.

After school, Urban-cub brought Ellie to see us. She will be with Pistol Pete for the next week, so we wanted to see her and say goodbye.

Doors are now locked and bolted and we have hunkered down.

Hair today, Gone today

 After a long lie-in until 07:10, the Gorse Fox stumbled down the stairs to be greeted by Jasper's overnight bowel movements. This would not be the Gorse Fox's first choice for the day. With everything cleaned up, the Gorse Fox finally got the chance to wind up the coffee machine and cajole it into dispensing the life-giving fluid that kick-starts the day.

After the usual school escort duty, the Gorse Fox settled down for some breakfast and then to await the usual shopping delivery. This was a little later than usual. It's not a problem in its own right but the knock-on impact is that we hit Sainsbury's when the Zombies are shopping. The Gorse Fox found this immensely frustrating this morning as they shuffled about, blocking aisles, and forming barricades of trolleys so that they could grunt at each other. Somehow the Gorse Fox retained his outward equanimity, even if he had been rolling his eyes and muttering Anglo-Saxon expletives under his breath. He will have to look for his double-headed axe and tuck that away among the shopping bags for next week.

Next on the agenda was a long overdue haircut. Greeted like an old friend, he was ushered to the chair and ministered to until he was satisfied. Perhaps a little shorter than usual, but a good job.

The rest of the day has been spent editing the blog extracts from 2010. In this case, the Gorse Fox was concentrating on our first trip to Thailand and the start of another project at the BBC.

Birthday

 Today is Ellie's sixth birthday. Soon after eight we called to wish her a Happy Birthday... Pete had beaten us to it, and Cousteau-cub was next in line after us. The Gorse Fox wandered round to clamber over the presents and escort her to school.

The Silver Vixen did not go to Pilates, and the Gorse Fox missed football. She wanted to go and see the Cardia Rehab specialist who runs sessions at the local community centre on Wednesdays. The Gorse Fox kept her company.

This afternoon, after Ellie was collected from school we took her our presents (just to add briefly to the chaos). Once they had been opened, we brought them back home with us so that she had some to play with when she is here.

The rest of the day has been spent working on the 2010 blog extract, and the Silver Vixen has been reading through all of the documents she was given yesterday.

Appointment

The Gorse Fox was up early. He wanted to clear the bathroom as soon as possible and ensure Ellie was awake and ready for a 7:00 pickup. The Silver Vixen had an appointment at Southampton General Hospital and Ellie was going to get ready for school back home. Once Ellie had left with Darren we got on with breakfast and the Gorse Fox prepared the timer for Jasper's lunch.

We had a good run across to Soton but the route chosen by the SatNav through the city was sub-optimal. A different route will be used in future visits. Despite the problems with the route, we arrived early. (But what else would you expect?) Making our way through the huge hospital we found our way to pathology for blood tests, then X-ray for a chest X-ray, and finally cardio for ECG and Echo. We then saw the consultant. We had been warned to allow 4 hours but were finished well before that. Now we just need to wait for a date.

Back home, it has been a quiet afternoon. The Silver Vixen has phoned and updated all of the people who needed it. We have just finished dinner and will have a quiet evening in front of the TV.

Back to the past

 There was no need to set the alarm. Ellie was at home and Urban-cub was not going to work until later. The Gorse Fox wandered around the corner to meet them and escort them to school.

Back home, it was time for coffee and some toast before the Gorse Fox grabbed the spot cleaner to deal with several marks left by Jasper over the weekend. Fortunately, they cleaned up nicely. The rest of the morning was spent editing the blog extract for 2011. It's almost finished; there's just one week to process. Meanwhile, the Silver Vixen was doing some ironing for Ellie and then wrapping her presents in preparation for Wednesday.

We had a quiet hour after lunch and then the Gorse Fox went to collect Ellie from school and take her to the park to let off steam before bringing her home. She's getting ready for bed as the Gorse Fox writes this, and will be staying with us overnight.

Who cares?

The clocks changed overnight. In theory, we lost an hour of sleep. The Gorse Fox had already said he would not be available for football and so there was no incentive to get up. Who cares? In fact, it was 8:45 BST that saw the Gorse Fox wander down to make some coffee.

 What was on the agenda? Nothing. Nada.

We had a very leisurely breakfast and then the Gorse Fox retired to the study to file all of the photos from yesterday and then to get on with the editing of the 2011 blog extracts. 

That's been about it for the day, though the Eng;land-vs-Ukraine football is being recorded as the Gorse Fox writes and we will watch it later. A semblance of normality returns in the morning.

Party Time

 

Today has been dedicated to Ellie's birthday party. We had all of the food, the party bags, and the decorations all ready to go. What we hadn't yet done was fill the 3d number 6 with balloons. The Gorse Fox set about blowing up 40 balloons of different sizes. He forgot that we have a pump, and did it all manually. He could have saved his breath.

Though he managed the inflation, Urban-cub arrived in time to actually stick the balloons in place.

After lunch, we loaded the car and headed for the community centre. Ellie's support staff included: Urban-cub, Darren, Cousteau-cub, the Coventry Hobbit, the Silver Vixen and the Gorse Fox. Bag by bag the cars were emptied and the kitchen was filled. Tables were laid out in the hall and decorations and posters were put up.  The Gorse Fox was presented with another bag of balloons. These were bigger. Again, he blew them up manually and Ellie ferried them across the hall to where they were needed.

Barbie arrived. Yes, you heard correctly. Urban-cub had hired an entertainer to create a "Barbie Party". She turned out to be brilliant, managing to keep thirty excited kids (boys and girls) entertained and engaged for a couple of hours.

The "cake lady" arrived. The cake had to follow the "Barbie" theme and she had done a marvellous job. It would be a shame to cut it at the end of the afternoon. (She did advise us on the best way to cut and portion it.

They sang. They danced. They played games. They charged about. Nobody seemed to get upset. It just worked.

Meanwhile, in the kitchen, we prepared the party food: sausage rolls, mini sausages, crisps, quavers, carrot sticks, cucumber sticks, red pepper strips, celery, pizza, fish and chip cones, and goodness alone knows what else.

All the while we kept the kettle boiling and provided teas and coffees for the adults who were trapped around walls whilst their kids had fun. 

Finally, it was time to cut the cake. Barbie asked everyone to gather around and Urban-cub lit the 6 candles. One candle ignited one of the decorative lights and involved some speedy intervention to ensure that things didn't become even more exciting.

Ellie blew out the candles and there was a rousing chorus of "Happy Birthday". We took the cake to the kitchen and portioned half of it for the kids. Portioning meant slicing the back of the cake off. This left Barbie (the cake, not the entertainer) looking as if she was wearing a hospital gown that hadn't been fastened.

Enough remained for the cake to be taken home.

Once the kids left, it was all hands to the pump. We had to get everything tidied away and taken home. With the Silver Vixen, Cousteau-cub, the Coventry Hobbit, Urban-cub, Darren and the Gorse Fox it didn't take long and we were driving away 40 minutes later.

Darren was threatening to barbecue for the helpers and they headed to Urban-cub's. The Silver Vixen and Gorse Fox went home and locked the door. It was a very quiet evening.

3D

 Urban-cub was due at the Regional Centre so Ellie was dropped off soon after 7:00. We followed the usual protocol but just as we were about to leave for school, Ellie announced that she wasn't happy with the Velcro fasteners on her shoes. The Silver Vixen swung into action and some double-sided tape was employed to control the Velcro fastening. Then Ellie was unhappy that the emblem on the shoe strap was no longer in the middle of her foot when she did the straps up tightly. The Gorse Fox was bereft. How could he go on when the emblem needed to be more central?

Ellie went to school with asymmetric shoe straps.

During the morning we had to collect the groceries for tomorrow's birthday party. Ellie is 6 next week and tomorrow we have a party for her class. Well, the Gorse Fox says "her class" but having been presented with 8 crates of food when we arrived at Tesco, the Gorse Fox suspects that Urban-cub has also invited all of the parents and relations of Ellie's class, along with 2 Brigades from the British Army, and a complete squadron from the Royal Air Force.

Once Ellie had been collected from school and we had managed to smuggle her into the house through various tunnels we had dug through the mountains of party food, we sat down and encouraged her to do her homework.

Urban-cub called in. We had a 3D model of the number 6 to create. This was a kit that required patience and a hot-melt glue gun. It must have taken us the best part of an hour, but eventually, the frame was made and tomorrow it will be filled with balloons. It goes without saying that the Gorse Fox teased Ellie that we had the wrong number and it was a 9. She rolled her eyes (Grandpa was so proud) and pointed out that it was upside down.

Normality

 Today has returned to a degree of normality. Ellie was dropped off and we took her to school. It was a school trip to Amberley Museum today so she (and the rest of the class) were very excited.

Back home we had the usual shopping deliveries and top-up shops but then everything quietened down. After lunch, we sat in the Orangery to enjoy the war sunshine but, by the time we had to collect Ellie, it had deteriorated to torrential rain. The Gorse Fox insisted that the Silver Vixen stayed put, and went to collect Ellie by himself.

Urban-cub finished at 15:30 and dropped off to collect Ellie on her way through. The Silver Vixen then took the opportunity to call Cousteau-cub and see how they had enjoyed their trip to Edinburgh. It was clear that they had enjoyed it immensely and would return in a heartbeat. (Mind you, they were very lucky with the weather).

Quite Interesting

 We were up and about as soon as the alarm went off. Ellie was expected soon after 07:00 and the Silver Vixen had things to do. Ellie was duly dropped off and the usual start to the morning was executed to completion and the classroom door.

Back home, we grabbed our stuff and climbed into the car to whizz around to the station. We caught the 09:29 train heading for London. A quick change at Clapham Junction and a few stops on the Overground saw us deposited at Shepherds Bush. 

We wandered across the road and made our way towards the Westfield Shopping Centre. After checking the menus at a number of restaurants, we decided on "Busanda" a Bangkok-Thai restaurant. The Silver Vixen had a green curry with coconut rice, and the Gorse Fox had chicken Pad Thai. These were washed down with suitable glasses of wine and then followed by deep-fried banana-filled spring rolls, coated in toffee sauce. It was a delicious lunch and would set us up for the afternoon. 

We still had some time to kill, so took a stroll around the Westfield Mall.

From Westfield, we made our way to TV Centre and joined the queue. We had (guaranteed) tickets to see the filming of QI. The queue was epic, but the production staff saw that we had guaranteed tickets and shifted us to a different queue. We still had a good hour to wait in the queue and were thankful that it wasn't raining. That would have been miserable.

Eventually, the doors were opened and the queue started to move. We were ushered into the Studio and made our way to the seats. We were right at the back, directly in front of the set. It was a very good spot and there were plenty of monitors showing what the cameras were recording, so there was no excuse regarding visibility. It was clear that they were running late and when they were ready to start the floor manager and Sandi Toksvig both apologised for the delay.

The panellists were introduced - Judy Love, Kiri Pritchard-McLean (a Welsh comedian), Gyles Brandreth, and Alan Davies. The biggest cheer went up for Gyles. It was clear that it was going to be a good show!

So it was. The recording took about 90 minutes and was hilarious. Clearly, much will be cut for TV consumption but seeing the whole show was brilliant and was certainly worth the trip. The recording was the penultimate episode of the "U" series and was titled "Unsavoury". 

As we shuffled out at the end, the Gorse Fox asked one of the production staff if they would record the final episode tonight. She said they would. They had a further recording in a couple of hours.

We made our way back to Westfield for a drink and a snack and to let the worst of the rush hour finish. Finally, we grabbed the train to Clapham and the 19:12 to Bognor Regis. We pulled into the station just before 21:00. It had been a fabulous day, but it was nice to be home!

Counting...

 We had a fairly usual start to the morning. The Gorse Fox was up first, washed, dressed and ready to greet Ellie when she was dropped off soon after 07:00. Then we followed the time-honoured procedure that took us from breakfast through to the school gates.

Back home the first task was to ensure we were set for tomorrow. Train tickets had to be purchased (which, incidentally were £11 more expensive than they were last night when the Gorse Fox checked). He also needed to check on the car parking at the station. This has proved problematic before as he had to have an account with the right parking App. The problem was that he couldn't remember which one. He got to the bottom of this and then found he could pre-book and pre-pay online. This was the perfect solution. No faffing was needed in the morning.

With admin out of the way, the Gorse Fox returned to the blog extracts. He is now processing 2011. This filled most of the free moments remaining.

The phone rang. It was Southampton General Hospital (Cardiac Unit). They have now got in touch and requested the pleasure of the Silver Vixen's company next Tuesday for various tests and a meeting with the consultant. Finally, things are starting to move.

We collected Ellie from school, as usual. While the Gorse Fox prepared dinner, Ellie and the Silver Vixen started to prepare the party bags for the coming weekend's festivities.

Urban-cub managed to get away a little early and has just collected Ellie.

Meanwhile, Cousteau-cub and the Coventry Hobbit are celebrating their 10th Wedding Anniversary with a short break in Edinburgh. The Gorse Fox has had various messages from her and they are clearly loving Edinburgh - and have had lovely weather today.

Tea and a Chat

 We had a quiet start to the day. Urban cub had a day off, so Ellie was at home and the Gorse Fox just wandered around to escort them to school at the appropriate time. Urban-cub is looking after Cousteau-cub's two dogs for a few days, while she and the Coventry Hobbit have a short break in Edinburgh to celebrate their 10th Wedding Anniversary. The dogs were well-behaved when the Gorse Fox arrived and, whilst eager to come to school, they settled down quietly as we left.

The Gorse Fox settled down with the household accounts after breakfast. When they had been brought up to date, he returned to editing the 2012 blog extracts. On re-reading these he is reminded of what a torrid time those last couple of years before retirement had been. At one stage he was involved in four projects for the same financial institution. Each demanded his full attention for the whole week. He had forgotten how much he despised the client organisation and, indeed, that whole Finance business sector.

After lunch, we went across to see Old Bill and Lady Penelope. They had invited us in for a cup of tea and a chat. It was lovely to see them and great to see how well he is progressing after the health scares of last year. His hair is growing back well now and he has that spark behind the eyes that had been missing for so long. They are off to Coventry tomorrow. If all goes well, they will come back with a new car. That will add to the spark.

Urban-cub texted. She wants a copy of the Gorse Fox's curry recipe. Ellie won't eat any of her curries but likes Grandpas's. Grandpa will, clearly, have to write it down!

Bench

The Gorse Fox benched himself for today's football. Originally he wasn't sure if the cubs would arrange anything for the Silver Vixen but as it happens, due to work commitments, there was nothing special arranged for Mother's Day.

The Gorse Fox and Silver Vixen had a quiet day at home. The former working on his blog extracts, the latter sorting out some sewing projects.

Freezer Section

The Gorse Fox emerged at 07:15. He was rested and ready to hit the day. Coffee went some way towards heightening his readiness.

The cousins' call was the first order of the day. As Simon and Sarah have just returned from a trip to Buenos Aires, Tierra del Fuego, and the Antarctic, most of the call was devoted to hearing about their trip. It certainly sounds as if they had an absolute blast. The Gorse Fox is not convinced that the Silver Vixen would ever be tempted by such an adventure, but it sounds brilliant.

Call over, the Gorse Fox returned to his editing of blog extracts. Today he managed to finish 2013 and found that his new month-by-month approach, whilst slower, was more thorough. It has taken most of the day, but he is pleased with the outcome.

While the Gorse Fox was tapping away at the keyboard, the Silver Vixen has been working in her sewing room. She needs to stop now as she must wait for a hem to drop before it can be finished in the morning. (Yes, as if the Gorse Fox knows what she means!)

Snivelling thug

The Gorse Fox was delighted to see that the International Criminal Court has issued a warrant for the arrest of Vladimir Putin for the war crimes perpetrated upon Ukraine. Even if no arrest is ever made, it is a great moment in human history that this snivelling little knuckle-dragging thug has been recognised for what he is, and now receives the official opprobrium of civilised society, and will be so recorded in human history.

Star of the Week

The Gorse Fox was awake soon after 06:00. He was expecting Ellie to wander in and ask the time. She didn't. In fact, it was 06:50 before she emerged. How civilised. 

It was Red Nose Day so the children were allowed to attend school in their own choice of clothes, rather than school uniform. Ellie made the most of this but did keep the "red" theme going. We took her around to school where her classmates were all dressed in red-themed outfits.

We returned home for some breakfast and more coffee. Then, the Silver Vixen attacked Ellie's ironing pile, while the Gorse Fox retired to the study. His objective was to refine the code that extracts the blog posts and then reprocess 2013. That done, he started to work through the year, month by month.

He had forgotten what a foul year that had been, working with RBS and NatWest and the Starfleet outsourcing crew. The only (and he means ONLY) saving grace was the opportunity to spend time in Edinburgh. Looking back, what is most satisfying is the fact that everything he warned of came to pass. Eventually, the arrogance of RBS/NatWest and the misplaced certainty of the Starfleet outsourcing thugs managed to completely fail. The Gorse Fox may not have been perfect, but he wasn't stupid, and his advice and warnings were ignored.

We collected Ellie from school and let her play in the park, making the most of the warm Spring sunshine, before heading home. Back home, she loaded up with snacks before Urban-Cub arrived to collect her. She's at Pistol Pete's this weekend.

Rockin' and Rollin'

 Ellie woke us with the news that her light had already turned yellow. The Gorse Fox acknowledged this and told her she could watch her iPad. She trotted back to her bedroom and the Gorse Fox grabbed 20 minutes more in bed.

Once the morning protocol was complete and Ellie delivered to school without incident, the Gorse Fox returned for breakfast and more coffee. This was followed by the usual Ocado delivery and the top-up at Sainsbury's. Once all of the shopping was packed away the Gorse Fox retired to the study.

The frustrations of the past few days, centred around MS Word, fell away as the Gorse Fox switched to a master document with sub-documents. This worked perfectly and provided the basis for several hours of editing and formatting. 2014 is now complete and 2013 is underway. We are rockin' and rollin'.

Urban-cub had a day off today. This meant that she could collect Ellie from school and give her dinner. She is working an early shift in the morning, so Ellie will still be sleeping here overnight.

Homework

It was a cold night. A thick frost had coated the Orangery roof, but the house was pleasantly warm. We had some breakfast and the Gorse Fox wandered around to collect Urban-Cub and Ellie and walk with them to school.

Being Wednesday, the Silver Vixen had Pilates and the Gorse Fox had football. Because of all of the roadworks, it took a while to get across to Angmering and Worthing and we resolved to find an alternate route home.

The football session was good with none of the troublemakers playing today. The Gorse Fox isn't sure of the final score but thinks there was only one goal in it. He managed to score a goal, driving the ball low and hard into the bottom corner. He was ribbed that "the only reason that went in was that everyone was looking up in the sky expecting it to be one of your usual shots".

Collecting the Silver Vixen, we came back via the A27. The Gorse Fox isn't sure it was quicker, but at least we kept moving the whole time.

After lunch, we had a quiet hour or so before collecting Ellie. Once she was home, we sat down with her to make sure her maths homework was completed. Then, after dinner, we played "hide and seek" with rubber Easter eggs and then "teachers" with the Gorse Fox as a student!

Master

Ellie was dropped off by Darren, soon after 7:00. Urban-Cub had been called in to cover for an employee whose wife was giving birth. Pretty inconsiderate really. She could have waited.

Once Ellie was here, the usual choreography kicked in until we walked her around to school.

Home saw some breakfast and some chores before the Gorse Fox retired to the study. He has finished editing each of the quarters of 2014. The objective was to roll these sub-documents into a master document for the year. That may have been the objective, but so far it has failed. Checking with our good friend, Google, it sees that there is a view that master documents with sub-documents are prone to errors. One comment was "if you are not having problems with master documents yet, just wait, you will". This is not good news..., particularly when you realise that we could do this faultlessly using DCF/GML, 40 years ago.

The Gorse Fox has not (yet) given up. He has a couple of further ideas to try.

Morning Chorus

 For some unknown reason, Jasper decided to start singing at the top of his voice at about 05:30 this morning. This did not endear him to either the Silver Vixen or the Gorse Fox. In fact, with assistance from the Silver Vixen, he may have taken a flying lesson.

We stayed put. In fact, it was 07:15 before the Gorse Fox launched into the day. As usual, he went around the corner to escort Ellie to school, then returned for further caffeine and some toast. The Silver Vixen settled into a morning feeding the washing machine, or hanging up the laundry. The Gorse Fox vacuumed all the floors and settled back at the computer.

The editing of extracted blog posts was more complex today. There were a number of long chat transcripts from Cousteau-cub's time in Thailand that needed a great deal of attention to format correctly. In addition, there was the residual issue of file size (assuming this was the root of yesterday's problem). The Gorse Fox has now created a master document which embeds a document for each 3-month section of the year. This seems to be working well.

In passing, the blog extract that was the focus today was the period covering the Gorse Fox's retirement. He was quite choked when he re-read the various thankyou notes he was sent at the time.

Size isn't everything

 The Gorse Fox emerged soon after 07:10. There was no hurry today, but he was wide awake. As football was planned, only a single coffee was permitted. It was, however, enjoyed!

The Gorse Fox left soon after 09:00 and headed to Ford. The car park was already filling up but he was early enough to get a space. One by one the "lads" arrived and were allocated to their teams and we kicked off 4-v-5 at 10:00. The Gorse Fox was playing on the team with 4 players (he always makes sure that he plays on the team that is disadvantaged). By halftime, we were (somehow) 3-2 ahead. The Gorse Fox had hit the crossbar and both posts (and several passing satellites), but not scored a goal. In the second half, we redoubled our efforts and though the opposition started to score more freely, we managed to stay ahead. In fact, the Gorse Fox scored 4 goals, and we ended up winning 9-7.

This afternoon the Gorse Fox returned to the formatting and editing of the 2014 blog extract. Well, eventually. To start with, the file he had worked on yesterday wouldn't open. MS Word just sat and sulked. In the end, the Gorse Fox ran the extract again - this time in 3-month chunks. His thinking was that storage or the retrieval of all the embedded web images may be the problem. Three-month chunks seem to have worked. January through to the end of March has now been processed successfully.

For dinner tonight the Gorse Fox roasted some salmon and made a mixture of potato cubes, bacon, roasted red pepper, and onion. This proved to be a delightful accompaniment to the salmon (and salad). 

The Gorse Fox will make this again.

Reminiscing

 After the usual cousins' call this morning, the Gorse Fox returned to his task of editing, formatting, and, frankly, reminiscing as he worked through the 2015 and initial months of the 2014 blog extracts. He must admit that it has occupied the whole day, but has been a joy to review as it surfaced one memory after another.

The Gorse Fox looks forward to completing 2014 as it was a transformative year when the Gorse Fox worked for 6 months with Starfleet, then had his first 6 months of retirement.

Cousins

 

With the weather that was reported during the week, the Gorse Fox decided that he should show his northern cousins what life is like here on the south coast.

As they shivered in Kent, Norfolk, and Derbyshire, he sat and sweltered in his polo shirt in front of the white sandy beaches of Bognor Regis.

Fairly calm

 It has been a fairly calm and quiet day. Ellie was dropped off soon after 7:00 and we gave her breakfast, got her washed and dressed, and took her around to school.

Back home it was time for (more) coffee and some breakfast before the Gorse Fox went to his study to complete the accounts for the week. Once that was done, he returned to the formatting and editing of the blog extracts.

Lunchtime saw a trip to get some cat litter (who says pensioners can't have fun?), pick up an order from Next, and raid M&S for a steak pie for tonight's dinner. Back home, we had a quiet couple of hours before collecting Ellie.

Ellie had started on some geography homework last night. As she would be with Pete over the weekend, we were determined that she should get the homework finished before she left. There were no arguments from her, she just got stuck in. She, with the help of the Silver Vixen, had designed a poster to respond to all of the questions being asked. Bit by bit, the answers appeared on the poster and it was finally finished. The Gorse Fox created a video of the finished article and uploaded the homework to the 'SeeSaw" site. 

Pete came along to collect Ellie and left the Silver Vixen to a quiet evening with the Gorse Fox.

Little Star

 The Gorse Fox is impressed.

There is a website called "Twinkl" which provides educational material for parents and teachers. The Gorse Fox has been a subscriber for a couple of years. Yesterday he needed some material to support Ellie's latest Geography homework. He searched the site, filtering for her age group, and found just the material he wanted. It was only when he printed it and we started to review the information that he realised that they had spelt Edinburgh incorrectly on their map. The Gorse Fox left a feedback message. Within a few hours, they had responded, thanking him for his input, and correcting the source material.

Very impressive.

Things that make you go, Errr?

 The Gorse Fox was up before 7:00 as Ellie was due to be dropped off soon after. We went through the standard procedures and the Gorse Fox walked her to the school. We then had the usual Thursday delivery from Ocado and the top-up shop at Sainsbury's.

During the morning, the Gorse Fox received a message from Trevor. "How can I back up a conversation from Messages on the iPhone?" The Gorse Fox immediately thought it should be simple and set about trying it on his own iPhone. Well, it isn't simple. This falls under the category of "things that make you go Errr". If you have an Apple infrastructure then the messages can be captured on a MacBook or iMac without any effort. If you don't and rely on Windows, it isn't so easy. In fact, you need to install an app and use that to capture your Messages conversations and then save them as a PDF, CSV, or print them. These apps are fairly expensive unless this is something you wish to do on a regular basis. The Gorse Fox has provided Trevor with the information and now we wait to see what he will choose.

The Gorse Fox picked Ellie up after school and took her home. The Silver Vixen then helped her with her Geography homework while the Gorse Fox prepared "Grandpa's Curry" for dinner. Urban-Cub has just been along to collect her, but we will see her again just after 7:00 tomorrow morning.

Wintery

 There was snow overnight. By the time we awoke, however, the rain had swept in and washed it away. Across the Downs, north of Chichester, it had settled, but our coastal strip was clear.

Ellie woke at 6:05 but went back to her room when the Gorse Fox explained there was a further 25 minutes before she could play in the bedroom. She finally emerged and jumped onto our bed at 6:50. That's acceptable. We followed the usual morning protocol and Ellie was "ready to rock" at 8:30. The Gorse Fox insisted the Silver Vixen stay put as it was cold and damp. She didn't argue, and Elli and the Gorse Fox wandered around to school.

The Silver Vixen had not slept well. She decided that Pilates was a non-starter today, and went back to bed. The Gorse Fox headed across to Worthing for the usual football. It was a hard game. The teams were unbalanced, and the Gorse Fox's orange team had to feed off scraps as they were under constant pressure. The final score was about 7-5 against us, but at least the Gorse Fox scored a good goal.

When he got home, soaked to skin still from the game, Cousteau-Cub was there. She had been to Bognor Regis and stopped in on her way home. She stayed with us for a chat and a bite of lunch.

The Gorse Fox was weary from the morning's football, so we had a quiet afternoon in the lounge until it was time to collect Ellie. Again, the Gorse Fox insisted that the Silver Vixen stayed put, in the warm, and he went to collect Ellie by himself. Ellie burst into the house and wanted something to eat - as she always does. By the time she had had a snack and got changed, she only had a few minutes to start her homework before Urban-Cub arrived to collect her.

Nostalgia

 Some heavy rain clattered against the front of the house in the early morning. By the time we got up, however, the rain had lessened to almost nothing. The Gorse Fox went around to escort Ellie to school. Then came home for breakfast.

The Silver Vixen had a busy day planned. Firstly, she had an appointment with the dentist and hygienist, in Chichester. When she got back, she had time for a cup of tea, then headed out to the hairdresser. As soon as she returned, she went with Urban-Cub and Ellie to look at the hall that we have booked for Ellie's upcoming Birthday Party.

The Gorse Fox spent the bulk of the day in the study. He has finished editing the 2017 blog extract and has now made a start on the 2016 extract. It is very time-consuming but makes it really interesting reading, and reviewing each year.

Just editing

Ellie woke at 6:10 but settled in her room until the Gorse Fox leapt from under the duvet at 6:50. From that point onwards, the morning progressed as usual until Ellie was at school. 

Back home we both had breakfast and then the Silver Vixen popped around to the pharmacy to collect her prescription while the Gorse Fox finished reading the news and vacuumed the stairs. After that, the Gorse Fox retired to his study and spent much of the day formatting and editing the first 8 months of the 2016 blog extract.

We collect Ellie from school at the usual time and, while she was waiting for Urban Cub to collect her she tried to eat us out of house and home.

Scam Alert

 As the Gorse Fox drove back from football, yesterday, he received a text message, ostensibly for "Pay". In a worrying alert, it said: "Apple pay was suspended on your device, to continue using please re-activate by visiting: xxxxx".

Now, the Gorse Fox uses Apple PAy extensively, so the initial thought was "What is going on?" His first actual reaction, however, was to go and have a shower - he was, after all, on his way back from football! Once presentable, he fired up Google and searched for the text from the message. Sure enough, there have been plenty of incidents of a scam based on this, or very similar, wording. His conclusion is that it is an attempted scam or phishing attack, No action is needed,

(He will, however, take actual plastic credit cards with him next time he shops, just in case).

Honours even

 Despite having no particular reason to wake early, the Gorse Fox was up and about well before 7:00 this morning. He crept downstairs, grabbed a coffee, and settled down with the overnight news. The Silver Vixen wandered down, an hour or so later. 

The Gorse Fox had football this morning. One player had dropped out through illness, so we had a 5-v-4 game. The previous owners of the indoor arena have just sold up. The Gorse Fox had the opportunity to meet the new owner, Katy, this morning. The Gorse Fox lead the yellow team of 4. We conceded our first goal within a few seconds, due to a mix-up between Peter and our goalie, Danny. It was hard work, having a 1-man deficit, but by halftime, we were honours-even at 4-4. We had the opportunity to change personnel during the break but decided to leave things as they were. The second half was hard work but again ended even. The final score was 8-8, and the Gorse Fox was pleased to have contributed 3 of the yellow team's goals.

Back home, and showered, the Gorse Fox spent a couple of hours finishing the editing of the 2017 blog extract and starting on the 2016 blog extract. Then he headed for the kitchen to start on dinner: chicken, roast potatoes, and salad.

Urban-Cub brought Ellie around just as we were clearing up from dinner. Ellie will be staying with us overnight as Urban-cub has an early start tomorrow.

Halfway

The Gorse Fox took his first caffeine infusion soon after 7:00. He had slept well, but was now wide awake and raring to go. His coffee accompanied the ritual reading of the news aggregators and social media. Then, as the Silver Vixen appeared, he prepared for the cousins' call. The photographic backdrop this week was a view of the River Sid (taken last week). The call was the usual mix of laughter and random banter.

After the call, the Gorse Fox returned to his blog extract for 2017. This is slowly being knocked into shape. What a momentous year that was. The most memorable event was the birth of Ellie.  It seems incredible that it was almost 6 years ago that she first showed her smiling face, and has been a source of joy ever since.

We had planned to meet up with J&T for lunch. They had been in Christchurch for a few days, so the plan was to meet them about halfway, on the route home. The Gorse Fox had booked a table at "The Hiltonbury Farmhouse" at Chandlers Ford. This was a good spot for them to break their journey and was only a 50-minute drive for us.

It was a charming pub/restaurant just off Hursley Road at Chandlers Ford. It had a good menu and some very good write-ups on TripAdvisor. We arrived a few minutes early and had just ordered a coffee when J&T turned up. It turns out that the hotel at which they stayed in Christchurch was one the Gorse Fox has considered a few times for a short break away. We now have a recommendation to encourage us!

We ordered our food and, though the service was a little slow, the food was excellent. The slowness didn't trouble us. We were likely to be chatting all afternoon. In fact, we were. It was well after 16:00 before we left but we had a good run home, arriving in time to feed Jasper and settle in for a quiet evening.

Mythical Creatures

 Yesterday was "Book Day" but today is the day when the school celebrate the event. This meant that Ellie woke up early, very excited, and at 6:09 asked Grandpa how long it was until she could play in her room. Grandpa explained that a further 21 minutes had to tick by before her light would turn yellow and she could play. Ten minutes later, Ellie reappeared. "How long is it now, Grandpa?" He explained that a further 10 minutes or so had to expire. She pottered back to her room. On the dot of 6:30, she presented herself at the bedside. "My light has turned yellow. Can I watch the iPad?" and so the day began.

Urban-cub turned up just after 7:00. She has a day off, after a very late night at the store yesterday. She had come to help Ellie get ready for the book day. The theme being Mythical Creatures, she was dressed as a fairy, complete with wings, when she went off to school. Halfway there she decided she wanted her bobble hat (despite having told the Gorse Fox she didn't want it because it would spoil her hair). Urban-cub turned around and went back for the bobble hat. (What a good job we are only a couple of hundred metres from the school). Ellie was happy, now. The drop-off went to plan.

The Silver Vixen went around to see Urban-cub during the morning. They had to plan Ellie's upcoming Birthday party. The Gorse Foix left them to it. He stayed home and worked on the 2017 extract of the blog. That has taken most of the day and will need a few more hours of effort to complete it.

Not quite

 The Gorse Fox was up and about soon after 7:00 and had a quiet coffee before the Silver Vixen came down. He popped around the corner to take Ellie to school at the usual time then returned to have some breakfast. 

It's Thursday, so Ocado delivered - but after phoning to check it was all right, arrived nice and early. The Gorse Fox managed the Sainsbury's top-up on his own as the Silver Vixen was expecting a delivery. It was all over and done within 30 minutes  - though, to be fair, there wasn't a lot to get.

Much of the rest of the day was spent making up a big batch of curry base gravy, steaming some chicken, and cooking some rice. As Ellie seems to enjoy "Grandpa's Curry", it seemed like a good menu choice for this evening. We did manage to get an hour or so in the Orangery to enjoy the sunshine and rattle through some chapters of our respective books.

The Gorse Fox stopped off with Ellie at the park on the way back from school, but once she was home the Silver Vixen helped her prepare a mask for tomorrow's school celebration of books containing mythical creatures. Once that was finished, she did some reading with her. Then Ellie turned to the Gorse Fox to do some phonics, and when he messed about, she threatened to send him to the "Head Mischief". How perfectly apt.

Politeness

 Ellie wandered into our bedroom just before 6:30. "How long before my light turns yellow, Grandpa?" The Gorse Fox grabbed her for a cuddle and asked if she had slept well. She had. "Your light will turn yellow in a minute or two" he explained and she turned to go. Then stopped. She turned and asked, "Did you sleep well, Grandpa?" As his heart melted, he replied in the affirmative and she returned to her bedroom until it was time to get up. Politeness at that time of day is something to be cherished.

We had the usual pre-school protocol to complete but left in plenty of time to deliver her to school.

Once home, and prepared, we headed off. The Gorse Fox dropped the Silver Vixen at Angmering for Pilates and then drove on to Worthing for football.

The first look at the teams was not promising.  The Gorse Fox thought it would be a hard game, but not impossible. He was right. In fact, his yellow team drew first blood with a goal from the Gorse Fox. He also had several further strikes on target, which were (unfortunately) saved. The final score was 6-4 in our favour and even though the Gorse Fox had not really been in the mood, he thoroughly enjoyed the game.

After lunch, the Silver Vixen had a medical appointment and the Gorse Fox stayed home with his book. The Silver Vixen was home in time for us to collect Ellie from school. She really wanted to stop at the park, but it was bitterly cold. The Gorse Fox sent the Silver Vixen home and took Ellie to the park for fifteen minutes. He was glad to get home into the warm when her time was up.

Urban-Cub collected Ellie soon after 16:00. She will be at home tonight, so the Gorse Fox and Silver Vixen have a night off.

Carpet Decoration

 We are deeply fond of our cat, Jasper. The Gorse Fox needs to make that clear from the start. There is, however, something deeply unsettling about walking into the lounge, first thing in the morning, to spot cat vomit on the carpet. There is something even more unsettling to realise that you nearly stood in another pile of cat vomit when you went to open the shutters. (the Gorse Fox is relieved that he had put his slippers on). Dealing with this would have to wait. Ellie was up and about and we had to get her fed, washed, dressed, and ready for school.

It was only after we returned from school and had consumed our own breakfast that the Gorse Fox fired up the spot cleaner to try and clean the carpets. It was only a partial success. It does not take a magnifying glass to spot the stain that has remained on the carpet.

Not having an Ocado order last week, nor doing a Sainsbury's top-up, we were running low. The Gorse Fox prepared a shopping list and we raided Sainsbury's. It didn't take too long and it was only meant as a stop-gap until Thursday, but we still managed three bag fulls and a bill that amounted to more than 60p.

After a bite of lunch, we had a quiet hour with our books until we had to collect Ellie. She was in good form once she had gotten over our refusal to let her go to the park(it was too cold). She hadn't been home long before Urban Cub came to collect her for supper, prior to dropping her back with us overnight.