Nice try

Ellie was dropped off soon after 07:00, so it was an early start. She was hungry all day and just kept grazing. It's a good job she is so active!

My phone pinged from an unfamiliar number

"Dad save this new number"  was the text.

I may be paranoid, but we have 2 children, so which child was it? (I was suspicious)

"Who is this?" I replied.

There was a very long pause.

"Your eldest and favourite" was the eventual reply.

Nah! I can't see my elder child changing her phone number - though she may well change her phone.

"Because there is a scam going around at present... what is your middle name (sorry I'm paranoid)." I responded. 

Believe it or not, that seemed to end the conversation. The phone number is now blocked. Beware.

Once the scam was dealt with, we completed the week's shopping list and headed for Sainsbury's. Ellie was in charge of the trolley and the zapper. So we hustled here and there, filled the trolley with all that we would need for the next week and headed home.

I strolled into the village to get my hair cut and offered to take Ellie to the park, but she wasn't interested. She just wanted to spend time with Nana. As a result, she did some reading and practised her times tables.

This evening we walked back into the village with Trudy and Ian. We went to the new Indian Restaurant "Hungry the Jungle". We had a lovely meal from a menu that was quite different from the usual fare. The staff were charming (if a little overwhelmed) and the food was excellent. I had some garlic prawns to start and was surprised at the size of the portion. It was really big enough for two. I followed this with  Chicken Chetinad (which I had never previously heard of). This was lovely tender chicken in a rich masala. Ian, however, hit paydirt with the Chicken Shashlick which came on a sizzling plate and was a mountain of chicken on top of a pile of onions, peppers, and so forth. The portion was so large that he ended up sharing it with us.

We were home just before 21:00 and had a quiet hour in front of the TV before coming up to bed.

Orangery

It was a little cooler this morning, but still bright and sunny. We did get some cloud cover on and off throughout the day, but at least we didn't get any rain.

Today was our 51st Wedding Anniversary. They have been wonderful years and I hope for 51 more. She has been a saint, putting up with me for so long. She is my best friend, my inspiration, my love, and we have such fun... though at some point we may have to grow up.

We had to pop out during the morning. There was a box to take to the Charity Shop, and we had to pick up some vouchers from Next. As we arrived home, we found Matt was just unloading his equipment to complete the cleaning of the Orangery. His wife was with him to hold the ladder and pass the equipment back and forth. They were with us for several hours as they cleaned the roof glass, the vinyl, and the gutters. It does look very smart now that it is finished.

I had a nice long chat with Kim this afternoon. She had called back to wish us a Happy Anniversary and to discuss the research we had both done into the choice of laptop for her upcoming university course. We finally agreed on a MacBook and at the end of the chat, I ordered one - a clone of my own. It should arrive in a couple of weeks.

Lie in

 After the excitement of yesterday's events, it was nice to have a lie-in this morning. I was still up before 08:00, but it was nice to get the extra 45 minutes or so!

The morning was filled with small jobs around the house. These included Di preparing the latest box of items for the charity shop, and several bags of clothes for the dump. I was pleased to find that our new roll-on suitcases fit inside our big suitcases. This solves a storage problem that I had been puzzling over.

I went for a walk just before lunch. I strolled around the lake then up to North Bersted Street where I looped down across the bypass and along towards Shripney. Once I had gone as far as I wanted, I spun around and retraced my steps. I was out for about an hour and enjoyed a chunk of my latest audiobook. Back home, I whipped up a salad wrap with mackerel for lunch and then settled down for some Kindle time.

Dark Zeppelin

 Now, that's a title you weren't expecting!

The day started with my usual call with the cousins. It was fairly subdued for some reason, but we heard the latest family news and they wanted to hear about our holiday in Turkey. (Needless to say, a picture of the view from the vill provided the backdrop to the Zoom call).

The rest of the morning was filled with bits and pieces... one of which was to fit huge linked cable ties around a pillar by the front door so Di could train a rampant fuschia up by the door. It took a little longer than expected but is already a lot tidier.

The afternoon saw us heading west along the M27 and through miles of roadworks. We had booked an early dinner (or was it a late lunch) at The Old Forge in Otterbourne. It is a gastro pub that I have passed hundreds of times when travelling to and from IBM at Hursley, but it was the first time I had stopped. Being mid-afternoon, it was very quiet and, to start with, we had the restaurant to ourselves. The menu was not huge (by some standards) but it had some wonderful choices. I started with Crispy Squid and then went on to half a rotisserie chicken with a tasty glaze and a chipotle sauce. Di chose the sirloin steak. We were both very pleased with our choices - they were simple but beautifully done. We finished off with some sorbet which came with a chewy chocolate cookie. It had been a good place to stop, and we may suggest it for our next meet-up with Jane and Trevor (as it seems to be about 45 miles from us, and the same from them).

From Otterboourne we moved on to the Winchester Science Centre.

The car park was almost empty and we could choose a convenient spot before walking along to the entrance. We had hoped to get into the building and see what events were planned and whether there was anything suitable for Ellie. It was closed, however, and not due to open the doors until 18:30. We waited in the warm evening sunshine, chatting with other visitors until,, finally, the doors opened and we were allowed in. 

We picked up a small brochure and chatted to the receptionist before entering the main exhibition space where could wander around until the doors to the Planetarium were opened.

At the allotted time, the doors were opened and we took our seats. We were almost lying down in the chairs as they were designed such that you looked up into the huge dome. We were there to celebrate 50+ years since the release of Pink Floyd's "Dark Side of the Moon".

The lights went down and a visually stunning show flashed onto the dome as the music embraced you from every direction. The show illustrated the tracks as they progressed with views from space interspersed with incredible graphics. If visual displays similar to this had been available in the 70s, nobody would have needed LSD to blow their mind! The show followed the course of the original album, so it was all over in about 45 minutes. The audience was stunned at first, then erupted into applause before filing out.

We returned to reception and checked in for the second event of the evening - 50+ years of Led Zeppelin. Again, we had a wait while the Dark Siders left and Zep-heads arrived. It was noticeable that there were very few people under 60 in either audience - those who were there were in for an education! We filed in for the second show. Again, the light went down and as the dome lit up with some incredible graphics, the thunder of a Led Zeppelin track split the silence. I wasn't sure what to expect but we got tracks from many different stages of their career - "In the Morning", "Whole Lotta Love", Immigrant Song", "Black Dog", "Stairway to Heaven", "D'yer Maker", "Kashmir", and finished off with "Ramble On". (There were several other songs, but I can't remember what they were). Again the show lasted for about 45 minutes or so, and while the music was wonderful and penetrated right through you, I thought the graphics were a bit hit-and-miss.  Some were brilliant, but others were a little underwhelming. The final light-cycle chase during "Ramble On" was spectacular.

Before we knew it, the evening was done.  If you ever see these events advertised at your local Planetarium - don't hesitate to book your tickets and go!

We filed out to the car and hit the motorway. We had a fairly clear run and were home just after 22:30. It had been a brilliant day!

G-Force

G-Force was in action again today. I was up early so that Ellie could be dropped off soon after 07:00. She looked half-asleep when she came through the door. I asked if she wanted a cuddle - she did, but only with Nana. I sent her upstairs and left them to it. It was another half hour before they came down for breakfast.

I spent part of the morning catching up on the accounts while Diane and Ellie were up in the sewing room finishing the cushions. When Ellie had completed the cushions, she then played quietly in her room before coming downstairs and reading in the lounge. She was reading an encyclopaedia and doing some maths in a puzzle book. 

I took the opportunity to take a walk and post a birthday card. I started a new audiobook as I went. It seems quite good so far.

After lunch, Ellie decided to play doctors. Diane and I were confined to our ward (the Orangery) and blessed with various treatments at her hands. Zoe picked her up just after 16:00. She is off to Pete's for the weekend.

Battery

Ellie decided, yesterday evening, that she wanted to sleep here overnight. Zoe dropped her off and Di took her straight up to get ready for bed. She was asleep by 20:00 and slept through until about 07:30 this morning. I had been up and about for about 30 minutes by the time she came down.

After breakfast, Diane oversaw Ellie's ablutions, and when she was ready, I took her with me to go to Sainsbury's for a quick top-up. We saw Zoe while we were there.  Once we were back home, Ellie joined Di in the sewing room and they started a little project to make a patchwork cushion. Ellie did very well and the project is well underway.

I spent several hours looking at my laptop for a laptop. Kim is off to University in September and I said I would provide her a laptop. Battery life was one of the requirements she had mentioned. The obvious answer is a MacBook, but a Windows 11 system is likely to be more compatible with the University's apps. I have found some possible candidate systems, but each of them has some drawbacks, according to the reviews.

Ellie and I went out for a walk this afternoon. We didn't go too far, but we had a chat as we walked and she pointed out the homes of several of her school friends. 

Darren collected Ellie late afternoon, but she will be back first thing tomorrow.

Slime

 I managed to have a lie-in. It was 07:00 before I got up and staggered down the stairs for coffee. We had had rain overnight, but it was drying up when I opened the blinds.

Di bought me a set of intelligent scales, as an anniversary present. I set up the accompanying App and linked it to the scales. I was pleased that it calibrated exactly against our old mechanical scales. After a few moments, it reported weight, BMI, body fat, subcutaneous fat, skeletal muscle metabolic age, visceral fat, and several other statistics. I was impressed with how comprehensive the report was, and pleased to see that it shared this data with the Apple Health app.

During the morning, I cleared the slimy blanket weed from the rill. Di had sprinkled a weed killer on it and after 24 hours it had turned into a foamy slime. I used a net to scoop it all out and left it to dry before adding it to the green waste bin.

Diane headed off to the hairdresser's late morning. While she was gone, I ploughed through much of the post-holiday ironing. I then headed up to the study to spend some more time fiddling with the Apple Music library. There is a fair way to go to refresh my whole library, but I think it is worth the effort.

We both managed a little Kindle-time this afternoon.

Sounds, Streams, and Music

 For some reason, I was again awake early. I got up soon after 06:30 and started the day with a coffee and the overnight news. While I was reading some articles discussing music streaming, it occurred to me that I could switch my current music service from Amazon Music Unlimited to Apple Music.

The idea seemed straightforward enough. It wasn't quite as easy as I expected. The new service fired up and allowed me to download and stream music, but I found it remarkably difficult to incorporate my existing library of ripped CDs. Eventually, I got it to work, but it did take several hours. The next job was to extend the family sharing so that Diane could get access to the music from her iPhone and iPad.

This exercise has taken most of the day, and there is more to do over the next few days. I must say the sound quality seems very good.

Zoned Out

 My body decided that I had slipped back to Turkey overnight. As a result, I woke at 6:45 (Turkish time) which, unfortunately, was 4:45 here in the UK. I lay still for a while, but by 6:15 I had to get going. Coffee was consumed and the news was perused. Despite my attempt not to disturb Diane, she was up soon after 7. 

My morning was taken up with a list of administrative trivia which included writing some reviews for our central heating chap. With that done, I then had the excitement of writing a post-holiday shopping list. Mid morning the chap who cleaned our driveway and patios came around to clean the outside of the Orangery. He brought his wife with him, to hold the ladder and then got stuck in. Firstly, he cleaned out the gutters - which turned out to be full of various airborne detritus. Once the gutters were done, he set about the glass and vinyl. It's looking very good, but he will have to return next week to try and get at the inaccessible area of the roof, from our upstairs windows.

I did the Sainsbury's run this afternoon. It was remarkably quiet in-store, so I was in and out quite quickly.

After a fabulously warm, sunny day and given the early start, I suspect it be a quiet evening followed by an early night.

Home thoughts from... home

 My word, it's good to be sleeping in our own bed. We both slept really well, but being a man of habit, I awoke at 6:45 without any prompting from my alarm (which was switched off). Once awake I was worried that I would fidget and disturb Di, so I snuck downstairs for my first coffee of the day and to make a list of the various items of admin I would have to address during the day.

Di emerged an hour or so later, but it became clear that she had a return of her "gastric stress". This would keep her close to home throughout the day. In turn, this meant that I would have to be trusted to go and fetch Jasper from the cattery, by myself! This event turned into an epic as the gridlock around Chichester and towards the coast turned the 8-mile journey into a 65-minute drive. The run back was much quicker and I was home in 12 minutes! Jasper has soon settled back into the swing of things and is patrolling the house and grounds as I write this.

One of the features of our TV is called "Ambient Mode" which allows an image to be displayed when the TV is idle. I have tried this before but never really achieved the result that I wanted. Today I made a concerted effort to display one of the images from our Turkey trip. It took a lot of fiddling about, but I succeeded and we now have the panorama that was visible from the villa in Kalkan as a piece of artwork when the TV is not in use. Very satisfying.

We had been invited to Zoe's for a BBQ this afternoon. This would not have been sensible, given Di's discomfort, so I popped around to say hello and drop off some cards that had been sent to us for her Birthday. I didn't stay for too long.

Di has spent most of the day catching up on the holiday laundry. The washing machine provided sterling service throughout the day and as it has been so warm, the washing dried quickly. 

Happy Returns

It is Zoe's birthday (we celebrated the birthday over the last two evenings) and our final morning in Kalkan. We were awake early and by 07:15, I had everything packed and ready to go and was making my first coffee of the day. I stood on the patio to watch the nun poke its head above the mountains just to the east of us, it was a wonderful site seeing the rays as they spread down through the valley to the sea.

As the time ticked around towards 08:00, everyone was up and it was all hands to the pump as the villa was given a good clean and tidy, and luggage started to accumulate in the lounge. My little digital scales did sterling work ensuring all bags were well within their weight limits. We had to check out of the villa by 10:00 but were able to store our luggage in the annexe until the airport transfer.

We called a couple of taxis to take us down into town for the last time. Unfortunately, Diane managed to leave her phone in the back of the taxi when we went down to the old town. This caused a bit of a panic. We contacted our tame taxi driver, Mohammed, and he contacted his mate who actually drove the taxi that we came down in and 15 minutes later he turned up at the taxi rank and the phone was recovered thank goodness. 

We stopped for breakfast and some drinks at Café Merkez down in the old town. From our seats we could see a purveyor of fine leather goods across the street. When we had finished our drinks, Diane and I wandered across and we bought an early anniversary present… I even managed to haggle a better price as it was for our 51st Anniversary.

We returned to the taxi rank and took a ride back up to the villa. We retrieved our luggage and awaited our airport transport. A 16-seat Mercedes Sprinter turned up and was soon loaded.  The transfer started at 12:45 and wove its way through the mountains back to Dalaman. We arrived at the airport by 14:40 and everything went through smoothly. They seemed very security conscious as we actually had to go through several separate security scans as we made our way to the gate. The plane took off on time and landed about 30 minutes early. Gatwick was at its most benign. Passport control was very quick and baggage collection was no more than about 5 minutes. We left the terminal and Darren's friend appeared with his minibus to collect us. Everything ran like clockwork.

(I should point out that Kim and Jon were on a different flight from us and were due a bit later. They planned to get the train back to Chichester).

Back home we all said one last Happy Birthday to Zoe and bid our farewells. We walked around the corner, made a cup of tea, and started unpacking. This would have gone smoothly if the combination on Diane's suitcase hadn't refused to open or even bet rest. In the end, I had to resort to some tin-snips to cut the zip tags off so the contents could be accessed.

We've just dropped into bed... and it is so nice to be back in our own bed.

Last Day

Today is the last full day here in Kalkan. I was up at seven and, unusually, Di was the next one up… followed by Kim. Late night’s dirty stop-outs didn’t get back until about 23:30 and certain people were a little hungover (not Ellie or Broadie!!!). It took another 90 minutes before everyone had emerged this morning.

There was no firm plan for the day. Kim and Jon went off their motorbike. They were heading for town and planning to get some lunch. The rest of us stayed by the pool - in my case, tucked in the shade. It was a very relaxing day, despite the heat which reached the mid-30s again and stayed very intense until about 16:00.

I wandered around the grounds taking a few photos to remember the wonderful views that greet us every morning. I was also nabbed to be the subject of several photos (just to prove I was here). Late in the afternoon Darren, Zoe, and Ellie headed down to the town to get some shopping for tonight’s dinner. Tammy and Broadie also went down for some ice cream and last-minute shopping - and bearing in mind I haven’t seen Millie for several hours, I suspect she has gone to the town also.

Once the intensity of the sun had waned, I hit the pool for a few lengths. It was delightful after such a hot day. When I had showered, I started packing in preparation for tomorrow.

We have a large BBQ planned for tonight and it may well include 1.5kg of prawns that I bought yesterday (and kept in the freezer).

Power Cut?

We were given advanced warning that the power was likely to be switched off between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. This meant that we had to come up with a plan for the day as no power meant no air-conditioning and no water. The first alteration came when I decided to forego my morning swim as I didn’t want to be caught without a shower. Kim, Jon, Millie and Darren decided to take the boat across to the Mahal Beach Club. Di and I decided to have a quiet morning at the villa and then head down to the old town for a mooch around. Zoe, Tammy, Ellie and Broadie elected to stay at the villa.

We summoned Mohammed, our tame taxi driver, and he took us to the old town. We roamed down to the harbour and wandered along past the boats and restaurants along to the local beach. 

We swung around and headed back, stopping for a snack down at “Aubergine” overlooking the marina. Di had baklava for the first time and absolutely loved it, chased down with a coffee. I forced myself to have a beer so that I remained hydrated in the hot sun. (It was about 34C and humid again today).

I must say that the old town and particularly the area down by the marina is absolutely gorgeous. We zigzagged up from the marina, up through the old town going up one alley down another it was hard work (as it’s very steep), but it was absolutely gorgeous.

We stopped for lunch at Chata Restaurant where we sat on the roof terrace and chatted to a family from Nottingham. We had a wonderful hour chatting, eating and drinking. Di had a beef sandwich which was an open baguette with onions mushrooms and a whole cow on top. I had a pizza and again managed to maintain my hydration levels with a further infusion of beer.

We continued our exploration of the old town and stopped at a couple of shops. At one, we got a nice outfit for Ellie, and I bought a nice t-shirt. 

We headed back to the taxi rank and then up to the villa. It turns out that the power had remained on all day… and Zoe, Tammy, Ellie, and Broadie had enjoyed a nice quiet day at the villa. Soon after we got back (and I had a swim) all the others arrived back. They too had enjoyed an excellent day at the beach club.

This evening Zoe, Darren, Tammy and the kids have gone into town for dinner. The rest of us are just chillin' back at the villa.

Up late

We all slept late after last night’s excursion to the old town. My alarm went off at 06:45 because I forgot to switch it off last night (that was not popular). I went back to sleep for an hour then wandered out to patio to read the news, drink some coffee, and have a swim. Again, Kim was first to join me, followed a while later by Ellie.

It was clearly going to be another hot day. The forecast suggested 34C. During the morning, Zoe, Di and Tammy headed down to the shops for necessary supplies.

Kim, Jon, and Millie headed off to a local beach club for a few hours. Ellie was feeling a bit down, possibly because of the slight heat rash she had on her legs. Zoe called a taxi and popped down to the pharmacy for some liquid Piriton (children’s). Within 20 minutes, Ellie was back to her usual self. She and Broadie spent a fair bit of time in the air-conditioned lounge. The temperatures were in the mid-30s and with the humidity it felt like 39C (according to the local weather app) so hiding inside made sense.

The intensity of the heat died down by 16:00 and somehow all 10 of us ended up in the pool. Kim taught Ellie and Broadie to snorkel and they practised up and down the pool.

Some of the crew (no names, no pack drill) are heading back into town for a bit of a boogie this evening. It will come as no surprise that the more mature of us will be staying put).

Ten

After an excellent BBQ last night, we spent much of the evening educating Millie on proper music. To be fair, she was a quick learner and Spotify enabled her to add Cream, Santana, Led Zeppelin, and The Doors to her playlists. Di and I left them to it and went to bed soon after 22:30.

Darren and Zoe stayed up into the early hours, waiting for Tammy and her son, Broadie, to arrive. There had been a mix-up over her transfer from the airport so, in the end, she took a taxi and arrived here just before 02:00. So now we are ten!

I was awake early and by 07:00 I was making coffee and heading to a lounger near the pool. As I read the overnight news, Kim emerged. She and Jon had decided to head off early to visit a ruin some 25 miles away, and then spend time at the beach. They were gone before anyone else emerged. I had my morning swim and realised I was being watched by Broadie, who was standing on his balcony. Despite their late night, Tammy and Broadie were the next to come down… and then slowly, everyone else appeared.

It was more humid today and the temperatures hovered between 34 and 35C. I sat in my shaded corner, and over the day was joined by Kim, Jon, Diane, and the kids when they needed some relief from the sun. The kids actually spent a lot of the afternoon inside in the air-conditioned lounge. Everyone else was quite quiet - I think the heat was getting to them.

This evening we shut up the villa and took a couple of taxis down to the old town. We wandered the streets looking for a suitable restaurant for dinner. We stopped at one place for a drink, but on reading their restaurant menu, decided to try elsewhere. In the end, we retraced our steps and took the next road, closer to the harbour. 

This was much more lively and had a larger selection of restaurants. We chose one and they settled us down. We had some drinks while choosing from the extensive menu. The food was exquisite. Between us, we had pizza (for Ellie), shashlik, mixed grill, lamb chops, fajitas, halloumi, and who knows what else. It was wonderful and the staff were charming and made a real fuss of “princess” Ellie. Despite our best efforts, it was nearly 10 p.m. before we arrived back at the villa… and the kids seemed to have gained a second wind. 

It really was a lovely evening and we must return to the old town for a look around during the day.

Peaceful Start

There is something very satisfying about being the first up, grabbing a coffee and sitting by the pool while reading the news. Kim came out to join me after about half an hour, but she too sat down for a quiet read. With my catch-up complete, I dropped into the pool and swam some lengths before towelling off and grabbing a second coffee.

Over the next 90 minutes, everyone else emerged. I was surprised to see Diane as she had a dreadful night’s sleep, but she was up and about. Breakfast was a casual affair. Most helped themselves, but I did scrambled eggs and bacon for Jon, bacon for Darren, and had fried eggs and bacon myself. The morning saw a local transformer blow meaning we had a power cut for much of the morning.

Ellie spent much of the morning in the pool with various adults to accompany her. The rest sat chatting, reading or listening to music. Kim had her iPad with her - this was my old iPad. The Logitech keyboard wouldn’t pair with it, so I spent about 45 minutes trying to sort it out. Eventually, it burst into life and seems to be fine now. (I seem to remember having a similar problem on Diane’s old iPad once - and it took a while to fix also).

The local maintenance man turned up at lunchtime. The toilet seat in our en suite was all lopsided, so he fixed that, and then put up a hook for us to hang towels. Soon after he left the power came back on… not that we had missed it during the morning.

After lunch, Kim and Jon headed off on the motorbike. The aim was to have a look around and stop for something to eat. At the same time, Zoe, Ellie, Darren, and Millie took a taxi down to the town to get some shopping. Diane took the opportunity to go back to bed for a nap. I stayed on the terrace in a shaded spot and had Kindle time until everyone returned. When everyone returned there was a huge selection of meats and salmon for the BBQ... and the odd bottle of wine and can of beer.

Ellie got a bit overtired and had a grizzly half-hour late afternoon. She settled and went into the air-conditioned lounge for some quiet time on her iPad. I took the opportunity to have another swim.

A BBQ is planned for this evening.

Lengths

 It was good to get to bed last night and we slept well, though I did have to switch off the air conditioning as it was getting too cold. I snuck out of bed before eight and found that Millie was already sitting by the pool. I dived into the pool and spent a pleasant 30 minutes ploughing up and down. Slowly, everyone else emerged and started a quiet day by, or in, the pool.

I settled down with my book, having found a shady spot with a pleasant cooling breeze. The temperature was in the low 30s but seemed quite intense.  I stayed put in the shade all day whilst others made the most of the sun. Ellie spent the whole day in the pool or being basted with sun cream. It was beautifully relaxing and I think we all enjoyed it.

Darren and Jon went down into town for some "supplies" this morning. Jon was driving the motorbike and Darren clung to his back. They managed to have a look around the town and gather various beers and bottles of wine.

As the peak of the heat died away, I returned to the pool for some more lengths. It's been a long time since I've been swimming and it was such a pleasure to be back in the water.

We decided to get the evening dinner delivered. This was a lengthy process of getting agreement on what everyone wanted to eat and then finding a restaurant that could cater for the various choices.

Travelling

We were up early, but having stayed in Gatwick overnight, it wasn’t as early as it might have been. We met up with Zoe, Ellie, Darren and Millie in reception and then made our way through to the terminal.

It was a good job we were there early as the queue was already building and there was only one check-in clerk. It took about 30 minutes to drop the bags and head for security. We had pre-ordered the Fast-track security line so didn’t have to join the long queue that had formed. As we went through, Zoe was recognised by a chap she used to work with when she was on Security. She had a quick chat as we made our way through.

Once airside we looked for somewhere to grab breakfast and ended up at Nando’s. Di and I managed to get a lovely porridge with blueberries and bananas, while others went for poached eggs or sausage buns. By the time we had finished, we had to head straight to the gate. We were bussed out to the plane (which I hate) and were soon settled in our seats. Because of Air Traffic problems across Europe, we took off an hour late. It was a very comfortable flight in a brand-new A321NEO. Ellie was very excited as it was her first flight but settled down with her iPad once the novelty had worn off.

We landed at 16:25 (local time) so it was about three and a half hours flight. By 17:00 we had cleared passport control and got our bags. The driver was waiting for us and we were soon loaded into the minibus and on our way. It took about an hour and 40 minutes to get to the Villa - which is stunning. Jon and Kim had arrived this morning and made the most of the location during the day. We shipped all of our bags and cases up to the villa and allocated the rooms.

Ellie went straight to the pool and while Di, Zoe and Millie headed for the supermarket (by taxi, because we are on a hill that would give Norgay Tensing pause for thought) I changed and joined Ellie in the pool.

The plan is to finish the day with a BBQ.

The Gathering

I woke to another glorious day. Coffee was beckoning and I was wide awake... there was only one thing to do and so I went to the kitchen and started the day.

The morning was fairly relaxed as we had completed most of our packing. We shuffled the odd items between cases and debated whether we had too much or not enough. Ian rang the bell to wish us "Godspeed" and to gather keys to allow his careful overwatch during our absence. Zoe sent through a boarding card to be printed for Darren's daughter, Millie.

After lunch, we finished shutting up the house and headed around to Zoe's where the Gathering would begin. Zoe and Darren were there with Millie and Ellie was playing with a friend around the corner. We swept her up and by 14:15 the taxi had arrived. It was a 9-seater minibus with plenty of luggage space (which was just as well). Paul, the driver, was a friend of Darren's. By 15:30 we were at Gatwick and checking into our hotel. Zoe had done us proud and we had an executive suite and they had a family room.

We took our luggage to our rooms and then met in the Executive Lounge for a soft drink. At 17:00 we went to the restaurant and settled down for a meal. We deliberately ate early as Ellie was with us, and frankly, Di and I usually eat early anyway. 

Halfway through the meal, Kim and Jon turned up. They are flying on ahead of us, leaving tonight, but had time for a quick drink and a chat before checking in for their flight.

We are back in our room now and have agreed to meet up at 07:30 in reception, ready to begin the journey.

It begins

I always feel as if a holiday has started as we drive away from the Cattery. I was so relaxed this morning that I didn't wake up until 07:45... that's not like me at all. It was warm and sunny again, and the temperature hovered in the high 20s. The yellow weather warning for thunderstorms has amounted to nothing so far, though the weather map shows some heavy storms north of here.

Zoe had received another missive from DPD. The second part of yesterday's delivery would arrive late morning. I duly walked around and settled with my Kindle to await the knock. It was on the dot of midday when he arrived and we manhandled the box into the hallway, and I headed home.

Back home, Diane has been refining her packing and I have been helping by weighing each new configuration of each suitcase. We finally have everything packed and each case is within the weight limit. Success! Meanwhile, I have been trying to find the best configuration for my rucksack. I'm a little confused by the fact that my camera seems to trigger the Magsafe iPhone charger. I need to keep them well away from each other. I also downloaded a few films or TV Episodes to watch on my iPad (whether I will, is another matter).

We had a nice Facetime call from Ellie this evening. I think we are all looking forward to seeing her tomorrow, after 2 weeks away. 

Spa break

It has been another lovely warm day with temperatures in the high 20s and plenty of sunshine. It was humid, however, so felt less comfortable than yesterday. I was just finishing breakfast when Zoe called from work. DPD had just announced they were about to deliver something, so I wandered around to wait for the delivery which arrived about 30 minutes later.

As soon as I got back, we had to get Jasper from under the bed and take him off to the Cattery for his spa break with the Cat Whisperer. We dropped him off and headed home, knowing that he would be well cared for while away. Once home, with no Jasper to worry about, we got the suitcases out. The rest of the afternoon was spent sorting out the packing and spreading it between the various bags to ensure none of them exceeded the weight limit. (I could have put everything in one case, but it would have been too heavy). 

Calm

 It has been a gorgeous day with temperatures hovering around 30C.

There was very little on the agenda today. After breakfast and a few chores, we made our way to Sainsbury's to pick a few bits to see us through the week and ensure we would have food in stock when we return from holiday.

In general, it was a very calm day. It was too hot to sit in the Orangery this afternoon so I spent my Kindle time in the cool of the lounge. Diane, however, was pottering in the garden until late afternoon.

Just stuff

 We have had a bitty day. It has been hot and sunny and we had all the doors and windows open from first thing. Jasper had wandered in and out, sheltering in the cool of the front bedroom when the heat got too much for him.

Diane was due to have a phone consultation this morning but the call never came. It turns out they were having problems with their phones at the surgery. Consultation has been re-booked face-to-face.

As it was such a nice day, Diane ploughed through the washing and soon had it drying on the line. She then cleared a pile of ironing.

I spent the morning doing admin. While doing this, I'm pleased to report that Royal Mail condescended to collect the parcel I had contracted them to take on Saturday. We also had the chap turn up to try and sort out the slight blemishes we found on the new sofas. I'm pleased to report that he did a splendid job and was soon on his way.

As an aside, I have ensured my battery packs are fully charged, and have started to collect all the cables and adapters we might need while away.

Pete shared a stunning photo of Ellie sitting on the beach at sunset. It set me off, again:

My Grandpa wrote a poem,
Especially for me;
I'd been sitting on the beach with Dad,
Looking out to sea.

We'd spent the day at Cheddar Gorge,
And deep in Wookie Hole;
But now the sun was setting,
and the sky was blue and gold.

Check-in

 We heard, late last night, that Paul and Cathy had arrived safely in Paris, though he said it had been quite an adventure!

I was up at my usual time quaffing my first coffee of the day and reading the news. Di emerged a while later and we enjoyed a quiet breakfast. My first task after breakfast was to rebook my Royal Mail collection - let's see if they can be bothered to collect tomorrow, as scheduled.

I'm always a bit twitchy about the cellular roaming costs when abroad. I spent some time reviewing some packages. As we both have up-to-date iPhones we can use eSIMs. In the end, I ordered an eSIM for each of us from Jetpac. I installed these alongside our existing eSIMs and can activate them when we arrive in Turkey. The package I have selected gives us 15GB. It seemed like a pretty good deal.

The new cabin bags which we ordered yesterday turned up at lunchtime. They seem ideal and I am confident that we will have no problems with our packing. We were "invited" to Zoe's to see her packing plans and give them the "ok". We took one of the new cases along as an exemplar. She is going to order one as a standby.

The next few hours were spent on the Wizz Air website trying to check in. Their site is, to put it politely, user-hostile. I made a mistake part way through the process and pressed the "Modify Data" button and it allowed me to return to where the error was... but wouldn't allow me to modify the incorrect field. I had to cancel everything, log back in and start again. The second time around, I managed to get further into the process where it asked for contact details for each of the travellers. It rejected my details saying the phone number given was already associated with another customer (it was probably me - one with my middle name and one without)... now the question was how to get around this. A service call "Hushed" allows you to have additional phone numbers so I signed up and claimed a new number. By this point, Wizz had timed out and logged me out. I was losing the will to live. I started again... and finally managed to get the check-in process completed and then printed the boarding passes. Then, of course, I had to go through the whole process again for the return journey... because it doesn't remember what you had just entered for the outbound flight.

I think a quiet evening is required... in a dark room with a wet towel over my head.

Not so cheap flights

We heard yesterday evening that the Eurostar that Paul and Catthy were planning to use to get to Parid had been cancelled. They were scrabbling around for alternatives. I suggested Eurostar to Brussels and then a train from Brussels to Paris. In the end, Lel managed to get them on a BA flight to Lyon, and Mark booked them tickets from Lyon to Paris by train. 

I was awake early. Coffee was calling and who am I to ignore its siren call. Being Saturday, I had the usual Zoom call with my cousins. This was lively today, all but one agreeing how dreadful the Olympic opening ceremony had been. The chat went back and forth over several topics but seemed mainly focused on sports.

After the call, I settled down to look at social media, then remembered that I was planning to upgrade our luggage allowance for the forthcoming trip. I went online. The price had increased from £44 to £58 in the last couple of days. I then realised that though we had return tickets, this needed to be paid in each direction. Not going to happen!

I reviewed the rules for the existing baggage allowance. I realised (belatedly) that we actually had a fairly good allowance, spread over three small suitcases. I explained all of this to Di and we retrieved our various roll-on cases from the wardrobe and the loft. Each one was measured. Each one met the dimensions in height, width, or depth. None conformed to all three... and these "low-cost carriers" can be devils for finding ways to charge you extra. We settled down with Amazon and spent a couple of hours reviewing cabin bags that would conform - and were of sufficient quality to survive. It was remarkable how many claimed to conform to the measurements but the customer comments pointed out that they didn't and were oversized. We finally found bags that should fit the bill and ordered one each.

I haven't yet heard whether Paul and Cathy made it to Paris, but hopefully, they are in their hotel getting ready for their first events.

Royal Mail was meant to collect a package to return to Sky today. They confirmed it in an email - collection between 11:09 and 15:09, but obviously couldn't be bothered as it's still sitting by the door waiting for them at 18:05.

Sport

 We had a much brighter and warmer day today. Di had a planned phone call with Pauline (which was likely to run for hours). I had some admin to complete and then I looked at the latest news that most of the Olympic coverage was available on Discovery+ Premium. We have a D+ account - but to add Premium would be an extra £6.99 a month. I phoned EE... and an hour later I changed our existing package to include the sports channels and removed the Sky Cinema channels. As a result, we will pay £1 per month less than before. Seemed like a good deal as we never watch the Sky Cinema offerings. It should (have been) be active within 30 minutes.

I switched on the TV and tried to access the new channels. Nada. I would return to this, but first Di and I walked into the village so that she could collect her latest prescription. It was a pleasant walk in the warm (but not hot) sunshine.

I returned to the problem of getting the sports channels activated. I managed to get them on the iPad, but couldn't ripple it through to the TVs. I phoned EE again. After about an hour or so and discussions with 3 specialists, they decided to push a software update to our box. Finally, everything clicked and the sports channels burst into life. 

I heard from Trevor - they had watched an episode of Ted Lasso. That was enough to encourage them to subscribe to Apple TV. Quite right too.

Family

 It was a dull, drizzly start to the day. I checked the routes on Google Maps and we set off for the bandit country of Berkshire. Though it's not a long distance, it is always a tedious drive and takes considerably longer than you would expect. Never mind, visiting Jane and Trevor's always makes it worthwhile.

Today's visit was a family get-together. Paul and Cathy flew in yesterday and this was an opportunity for us all to meet up. It is several years since we have seen them so we had plenty to catch up on... and, of course, Jane and Trevor laid on a feast for our lunch. We heard about Andrew, in the run-up to his finals and his worrying trip to the ER the night before Paul and Cathy left for the airport. We hear about Laura and her recent change of jobs which means working much closer to home. Last but not least we heard about Michael and Emily and their good news - with a baby due in December. With Paul and Cathy's impending Grandparenthood, they will have some adjustments to make.

Tomorrow they are off to Richmond to look at some of the Ted Lasso locations. On Saturday they have an early start on Eurostar to get to Paris for the Olympics. (They are not participating - in their advancing years, that would be too much to expect - they're just spectating at various events throughout the week).

The afternoon seemed to fly by and too soon it was time to leave. We left in peak rush hour, but despite this, had a very good run home.

Preparation

 There was no hurry to get up this morning. I was irritated, therefore, when my bladder demanded attention at 07:00. Plumbing under control, I wandered downstairs for some coffee and to settle down with the overnight news.

When breakfast was over and we had cleared away (the staff had the day off), we went to Sainsbury's for our weekly shop. I checked, while there, whether they needed advanced notice for Foreign Exchange to Turkish Lira. It appears not. It is one of their standard currencies. We completed the shop without hindrance from the usual zombies and morons. Wednesday is clearly a better day to shop.

For the last few days, our dashcam has been hanging loose. The glue had failed - as it does in hot weather -  but fortunately I had a spare mounting plate. After cleaning the window with acetone, I fixed the new mount and checked the camera alignment. All is well and our trips can be recorded once more.

After lunch, the focus turned to our forthcoming trip. The cabin bag I ordered yesterday arrived and Di wants to check whether she should get something similar. We were discussing the dining options for our arrival as we would be hungry but not eager to cook. Darren has sent more information regarding the location and accommodation. It is clear that there are plenty of restaurants in the town, and you can also have food delivered. I'm sure we'll check out these options in the next few days.

Quiet

As we went to bed, I managed to finish my 100th book of the year.  The excitement of yesterday was too much for Jasper - he slept through and we had an undisturbed night. It was nearly 07:30 when I finally woke up and we made the most of a day with no firm plans by doing very little.

We have realised that the size limits for cabin baggage for our forthcoming trip are far smaller than any of our existing bags. I spent time on Amazon looking for a suitable replacement and it should arrive tomorrow.

The afternoon was spent with our Kindles.

(I bet you are relieved there are no rhymes today!)

Oh What a Night

 I’ve found the switch within my brain
That makes it start to rhyme
It’s off for now, My brain’s at rest
Until another time

I wrote those lines as I went to bed last night. It was meant to be a night where the sleep was not interrupted by a buzzing brain. Well maybe the brain didn't buzz, but Jasper did. We couldn't leave him with food overnight, so he was hungry. Oh boy, did he let us know he wasn't happy... the switch in the brain flicked back:

We didn’t feed the cat last night
He’s going to the vet
He’s hungry so he’s prowling
And hasn’t settled yet

He wanders round and round room
And climbs up on the bed
Then wanders right across my wife
And settles on her head

He’s having anaesthetic
At least he’ll have a nap
Then we’ll go and fetch him
A woozy drugged-up chap.

So we got up early to get Jasper to the vet at 09:00. We left him in their care and went home for breakfast. By mid-morning we had received a call. Jasper's blood test had shown a low potassium level and that would mean the anaesthetic would be a risk as he is such an old cat. Today's dental treatment would have to wait and Jasper will have to take supplements for the next few weeks. We went and collected him and he's back with us, roaming around and checking we haven't changed anything while he was away.

The rest of the day has been quiet while Jasper slept off last night's wandering.

Friends

 I had a disturbed night. By 4 this morning, I had checked the plumbing and determined that it was working  and I should complete the night in the land of nod - no such luck:

I can't believe it's 4 a.m

And I should be asleep

Instead, I'm writing silly rhymes

Instead of counting sheep.

I need to find my brain's rhyming switch, it's driving me to distraction. Anyway, by 6 I had drifted back to a fitful doze and managed to stay put until 7.

We had a quiet morning before going out to lunch. We were meeting up with Jane and Trevor, and Carol and Ian (who we met on the River Cruise). We pottered along through the Sussex and Surrey countryside and met at "The Refectory" in Milford (near Godalming). It was a huge old barn that had been converted into an extensive restaurant. It was a bit big to be considered charming, but it certainly was impressive.

We pulled into the car park just behind Jane and Trevor and wandered inside. We were shown to our table and sat chatting until Carol and Ian arrived. It was lovely to see them again. They are such a sociable and interesting couple. We settled down to catch up on everyone's news and plans and tucked into a wonderful (and generous) Sunday Roast while we chatted. Time seemed to whistle by as plates were whisked away and desserts placed in front of us. Then we enjoyed some teas and coffees before finally settling the bill after some three and half hours. We had such a good time that we agreed to meet up again in a few months. (Meanwhile, we'll see Jane and Trevor later this week).

We had a lovely run back in the afternoon sunshine and then settled down with our books for a while.

Rhymes

It was a quiet start to the day. Though Jasper had been a pain during the night, he left us alone and it was 07:20 before I woke.

Once suitably caffeinated and with a backdrop of Koh Haa, I joined the weekly call with my cousins. It wasn't as frantic as usual (maybe because Sarah didn't have her grandchildren nearby). We discussed computer resilience after the worldwide outages caused by Cloudflare and went on to chat about family holidays.

I went back to the kitchen after the call. Something someone had said flicked the "rhyme" switch in my brain. While Di went upstairs for a shower, I started to write:

My Grandpa wrote a poem
I think it’s rather good
It’s all about a walk we did
And picnicked in the wood

We took with us a rucksack
It was bursting at the seams
Full of pies, and fizzy drinks,
And lots of custard creams

We put a blanket on the ground
And laid out all the treats
The ground was damp and we soon wished
We’d brought some comfy seats

Tiny woodland creatures
Watched us having lunch
And they wondered what we’d leave
So they could have a munch.

The sky grew dark as clouds rolled in
We packed away our stuff
The wind soon rustled in the trees
The weather got quite rough

We headed back the way we came
Racing to our car
The rain was clearly on its way
It wasn’t very far.

We were soaked when we got home
It really was a pain
We hadn’t made it to the car
When it began to rain

It’s always fun to venture out
Even in the rain
I can’t wait until we go
A-picnicking again.

With that done, I sent the poem to Ellie.... but my brain was still in gear. I wrote another but decided it was not appropriate for Ellie:

Mary had a little lamb

Whose fleece was white as snow

She fed it lots of laxatives

To see if it would go.

It poo’d across the farmer’s field

And all across the yard

It really caused a dreadful stink

And cleanup was quite hard

Oh well... that exhausted the time to rhyme and after some admin and some lunch, we settled down for some Kindle time.

Last Day

It is the last day of the school year for Ellie. She was at home, and Zoe had a 9 a.m. start, so we didn't have to set an alarm. I wandered around to do the school walk, and clutching presents for the teachers, dropped Ellie at the classroom.

After some breakfast, I headed to Chichester. I wanted to speak to someone at Nationwide. I had a standing order meant to credit a new ISA each month. The money was being taken from the account but didn't appear to arrive in the intended ISA. I spoke to a very helpful lady in the bank. The money, she confirmed, was being deducted from the account but it was going into an old ISA. At least the money was still in one of my accounts. After a chat, I was happy with the situation and headed back home.

After lunch, we had our usual Kindle time but I had to give up in the Orangery - it was too hot. I moved into the lounge which seemed delightfully cool in comparison.

At the end of the school day, we went along to collect Ellie and she munched her way through various snacks and drinks until Pete arrived to collect her to stay with him for the next couple of weeks.

Fire TV

 I was in the bathroom before Ellie woke and came in to see Nana. We had a fairly leisurely start to the morning but still walked her to school on time.

Back home, we had some breakfast and then pottered off to Sainsbury's for our weekly shopping. Even though the Zombie bus had not yet deposited its contents, there seemed to be a significant number of morons shuffling around the aisles. Despite this, we managed to complete the trip in a sensible time and I managed to avoid ramming anyone or yelling at them. I was quite pleased with myself.

We had some Kindle time after lunch but Amazon delivered a package just as I was getting into my latest book. I unpacked the package and installed a new "Alexa" in our Orangery, then installed an Amazon Fire TV stick in the Orangery's TV. This installed easily, but again I had to sign back in and enable all of our streaming services. By the time this was done, I had to collect Ellie from school. We stopped off at the park on the way home but didn't stay for long as she was getting quite flushed as she ran about in the heat.

ZOe has been along to collect her and they are going out for a meal this evening.

TV Again

 I was up soon after 07:00. Zoe has a day off so there was no drop-off. I wandered around the corner for the school run. Ellie was in a great mood and buzzing to get into school and get started. She had even been doing some schoolwork prior to the walk.

Back home, Diane had an appointment at the hairdresser. I waited at home for the arrival of an engineer from EE to look at the EETV system that has had the occasional glitch during programmes... particularly on the BBC! I described the problem to him and he checked the routers and signals. He then suggested connecting with a wired connection rather than WiFi. Funny that, that's what I had suggested when talking to the techie at the support centre two weeks ago. We performed a reset on the box and connected a direct ethernet cable.

Time will tell whether it has worked. So far, I can confirm that the picture quality has improved. I can also confirm that it took me quite a while to reconnect all of the various streaming services.

We had a quiet afternoon with our Kindles, enjoying the comfort of the new sofas.

We are expecting Ellie soon. She will be staying with us overnight.

What degrees?

 I wandered downstairs soon after 07:00. Zoe wasn't due to start until 09:00 so Ellie would not be dropped off. I made my first coffee and settled down with the news. The phone rang. I took it on the iPad and realised it was Facetime and Ellie was calling. "Grandpa, what degrees is it today? I need to decide between my leggings and shorts for PE." I blinked for a moment as I absorbed the greeting. "Good morning, Ellie. Did you sleep well?" I responded, meanwhile, I looked up today's "degrees" which is Ellie's description of the weather forecast.  Having brought her up to date with the news from the Bersted Met Office, she explained that "Mummy is still asleep." While we were talking, Diane came downstairs and took over the call. It must have been 20 minutes or more before Ellie hung up. (We later found out that she then called her friend Maddie, and they got ready for school together over Facetime). The joys of this connected world!

When I was home from the school run I cleared the old IKEA POANG chairs and footstool from the Orangery and settled down with some admin until the new sofas arrived. The delivery was very slick. We had paid for their premium service. They unloaded the boxes and brought the sofas into the Orangery where they assembled them and tested the electronics. All of the delivery detritus and boxes were gathered up and put back in the truck and they drove off into the sunset (well, rain actually). 

It was only after they left that Diane's eagle eyes spotted a small, faint stain on one armrest of each sofa. I called customer services and explained the problem. The assistant sent me a link and asked me to upload photos of the problem and then call back. I did this and talked it through with a new assistant. They are sending out an "operative" to clean and remove the stain. If that doesn't work to our satisfaction then I am to call back. Seems fair.

We had Ellie with us for dinner again this afternoon. Zoe was finishing at 18:00.

Hang Over

I was up early, forgetting Ellie was not being dropped off this morning. I settled down with my iPad and a coffee and was surprised when Diane came down soon after. I had obviously woken her when I got going. At the allotted time, I walked to Zoe's and prepared for the school walk. Ellie was clearly exhausted from the weekend, and despite nearly 12 hours of sleep, was almost catatonic. When we got to school it became clear that most of the kids were in a similar state having stayed up late to watch the Euros Final.

Back home, my main task for the morning was to clear the Orangery and then steam clean the floors in readiness for the new furniture, due tomorrow. This went quite well as it was dry outside and I could move everything out onto the patio, Rain was, however, forecast. Halfway through, I had to refill the water reservoir on the steam mop. That's where things went awry. The internal hose came away from the fill cap. It took me a good 15 minutes of fiddling with tweezers to finally capture the hose and reconnect it. I finished the floor without further problems and had just brought all the furniture back inside as the rain started. (it was like "range anxiety" when driving an EV... would I beat the drain - or in my case rain).

We had some Kindle time this afternoon and, when we had collected Ellie from school, so did she (though it didn't last long). She's been doing some homework with Nana while I prepared dinner. Zoe should be along to collect her before long.

Build up

 We had a gentle start to the day. I came down first for some coffee and to read the news; Di came down a bit later.

After seeing something on Facebook, my brain clicked into gear and started to think about a program for producing timelines from a database. I spent several hours looking at simple options using Excel, and other tools but couldn't find an existing solution that fitted my requirements. What requirements? you may ask. Well, there's the rub. There are no real requirements, it was purely a mental exercise with no "real world" pressing need. After a couple of hours, I gave up - other than designing the underlying database. I can feel the need to write some code soon. Whether it has anything to do with this or not is a different matter, but I need to write some code.

We had a quiet afternoon with our books so that we were chilled and ready for the excitement of the England vs. Spain final of the Euros.

Crane

 For some reason, we both woke up early. Di managed to stay in bed longer but I only managed to stay put until about 07:00. I came down for coffee and read the news online until Diane emerged.

I had the usual call with my cousins. It was quieter than usual - maybe because Tim had to drop off early. Having said that, Sarah had her usual background conversations with her grandchildren which stopped everyone else from talking. She should learn about the mute button - I even use it when Jasper is mewling.

After some admin with the accounts, I went to the garden to place the ornamental cranes (or are they storks?) for Diane's approval. Once everything was agreed, I hammered in the anchors and they now guard the rill.

Most of the rest of the day has been spent with our Kindles. It was interesting to hear from Zoe that Ellie has taken to hers, and was reading it when she woke up this morning. I'm glad she's getting interested in reading as it broadens the vocabulary and the imagination so much. Indeed your reading age in relation to your actual age is a key determinant of IQ. The more you read in your early years, the higher your IQ is likely to be.

Report

 It was wet overnight but was drying up by the time I went downstairs. After an initial coffee and a shower, I wandered around to Zoe's to provide my usual school escort service.

Once home and breakfasted I returned to a problem that has recurred on EETV. It randomly stops, and sometimes the only button that works is "Off". This is irritating at the best of times, but with the final of the Euros coming up, it does focus the mind. (Having said that, we can watch it through the aerial without any problem... so we have a Plan B). I called EE and asked to be transferred to my chap at the Newcastle Tech Centre (as he had instructed). I was promptly told that they couldn't do that. I was very patient and explained my problem (again) to this new agent. She soon gave up and said she would send an engineer. It will be Wednesday next week, but at least it is scheduled.

With little faith in the engineer, I decided to return to the problem myself. I measured the WiFi signal strength at various points around the TVs. It was not as strong as I expected so I moved one of the Mesh repeaters. I also noticed that my old Mesh was still competing in that corner of the room. I eliminated it by powering down all of the old Mesh repeaters. Now I have a strong WiFi signal by the TV and we will wait and see if it makes a difference.

Zoe phoned after collecting Ellie from school. Ellie had brought her end-of-year report home.  Zoe read it out to us and we were all absolutely delighted with her performance.

The Morning After

 I went around to Zoe's to join them on the walk to school. Ellie had stayed up to see the first half of yesterday's Euros Semi-Final between The Netherlands and England. In fact, she phoned us when Harry Kane scored his penalty to say how excited she was. Half time was bedtime. When she came downstairs this morning she asked who had won. Zoe told her and she replied, "Really, Mum?". She can be as sceptical as the rest of us!

The kids were quite subdued at the school gates. I suspect that most of them stayed up to see the whole game and were now suffering from the late night. I think the teachers will have a quiet day. After the school run, I went home for breakfast and Zoe went home for the first of several days off. She has decided to order a Kindle so that she doesn't have to cart a load of books around on holiday.

I wandered into the village to get my hair cut. They have a new barber and I'm not convinced he did as good a job as the others I had before. It's not too bad; certainly nothing a balaclava can't hide. I stopped off in the pharmacy to collect a prescription for Di, on the way home.

The rest of the day has revolved around some admin, reviewing and editing of the Home Computing Guide, and some Kindle time. 

Insurance

 I was up and pottering in the bathroom before Ellie emerged this morning. She always seems to sleep well when she's here. We went through the usual breakfast, ablutions, and dress protocol and then headed to school.

Back home, I was pleased to see an email from Oak Furnitureland confirming they had actioned the refund and it should be back in our account in a couple of days. We then completed the weekly shopping list and set off to Sainsbury's. Again, Zombie-free Wednesday was a perfect shopping experience and we were back home in 45 minutes.

The next major activity was to respond to a prompt from the Bank regarding our Travel Insurance. This is due to expire next month and, as the Bank has changed its Insurer, I had to go through a long call to renew. The age-related supplement was easy enough, but the pre-existing conditions and medications took quite a long while. Eventually, we arrived at the price. There should be cover for a heart attack induced by their quote.

Di gave the Orangery a spring clean while I was completing the admin. I returned to the Home Computing Guide and updated a few more diagrams and some more of the text. I also printed the document so that I could give it a good read and mark up any further editing that was necessary.

After lunch, we had some Kindle time. We didn't have to collect Ellie today, as Zoe was finishing early, so we read through until it was time to find Jasper and take him to the Vet. As you would expect, he had hidden in the most inaccessible spot under our bed. We had to take all of the storage boxes out and then use a broom to push him through to the other side. Once he was in his carrier he settled fairly well and we whisked him to the surgery. We weren't there for more than about 15 minutes, but Jasper had a mani/pedi (claws clipped), and had his teeth checked. The Vet commented that he seems to be a very healthy cat.

Wet

 It has been a very wet day since about 9 o'clock. It was dry for the school walk this morning but went downhill from there. I was lucky that it dried up when it was time to collect Ellie, but it started to rain again as soon as we got home.

The first job on my agenda was to review the energy tariffs. Our existing tariff is due to expire next month and it was time to see if I could find a better deal. After a bit of hunting around I found a new deal with E.On and it looks as if it will save me £30 per month.

I returned to the issue of diagrams. Having ditched the idea of Visio I looked at LucidChart again. I have used this in the past. I signed up for their 7-day trial but after 30 minutes, I decided it wasn't what I wanted and cancelled it. I then decided to look for an iPad app. This was looking promising and, in the end, I downloaded and tried a couple. I have now ditched one but kept FlowDia and paid for the full licenses (£9.99) which is a one-off payment that was less than the monthly subscription for Lucid. That seems like a result.

Jasper has a feeding station. This is a wooden platform onto which we put his food bowls and water bowl. It was constructed to stop him from chasing his bowl around the kitchen and under the chairs where he could get to it. It was looking a bit tired and grubby so I sanded it down and gave it a coat of the paint we used for the coffee table. It looks very smart.

(Just as an aside, I noticed today that this blog has now been read over 1,024,000 times).

License

Despite a poor night's sleep, I was up early so Ellie could be dropped off. Darren announced that she was complaining of a sore throat and that her tummy hurt. We ignored this, and within ten minutes she was her usual self. We dropped her off at school and then returned for breakfast.

The first order of the day was to check the latest Oak Furniturelan sales. Sure enough, the sofa we bought yesterday had dropped by £200 overnight. I phoned the store (as the sales agent had suggested) and he confirmed that he would contact the accounts department and get the difference refunded. That was a good start to the day.

I mentioned that I had acquired a Visio license to allow me to do diagramming through a browser using my favourite diagramming tool. Well, try as I may I couldn't get it to work. I phoned Microsoft customer support and was connected to an agent in India. She listened patiently to my description of the problem and proceeded to prompt me through a number of hoops for the next hour or so. Each hoop ended up back. where I had started. I was no further forward and when the line dropped, I decided that enough was enough and I cancelled the license. (She asked at one point if she could remotely connect to my system! You won't be surprised to hear that I declined).

Next on the agenda was a trip to B&Q for some grey paint. With the new sofas on order, we decided that the coffee table needed tidying up. I sanded down the old wood finish and painted it with grey paint (which will go nicely with the sofas and the blinds). I'm very pleased with the outcode.

We collected Ellie from school and she stayed with us for dinner. Originally she was going to stay the night, but Zoe's shifts changed so she went home. We had some post-prandial Kindle time before settling down in front of the TV.

Metaphors

 After a comfort break at 05:00, I slept through until 07:30. That's what comes with a clean conscience. Once up and about and suitably caffeinated, Di and I headed to Hedge End. Our destination was Oak Furnitureland. Diane had seen a sofa that she wanted to replace the IKEA chairs that we currently use in the Orangery.  Our objective was to find out if the said sofas were as comfortable as they looked.

Hedge End was an absolute Zoo. There were cars everywhere... and yet there were plenty of parking spaces in the car parks. We drove through and found a convenient spot without any problems. We entered the shop and were pounced upon by a salesman. Having sent him packing we found the suite that Diane had set her heart on. It was perfect. We sat on it and checked its suitability. Perfect.  W~e decided to go ahead and summoned the sales drone to take the order. All seems to be well and we should get delivery in about 10 days.

Coming home we were stuck in traffic. In a metaphor for the new Government, we sat watching a 4-lane motorway reduced to a single lane while there was no work progressing in the closed lanes. It reminded me of the Portugal-France match in the Euros... where Portugal did all the work, but France ended up as victors.

Finally, back home, we managed some Kindle time before I started on dinner.

Bits and Pieces

 I was awake early, but a trip to the bathroom to relieve the bladder pressure allowed me to stay in bed until 7:30. That was a good result.

I had my usual call with cousins and allowed Tim to crow over the Election results without too many responses. It was actually quite good fun, and to be fair, he was gracious in victory.

The rest of the morning was spent completing various items of admin... firstly Ellie's Premium Bonds, then the accounts. I helped Diane set up or refresh her online banking app so that she could complete her Premium Bond donation to Ellie. I then subscribed to the Microsoft Visio plan that allows me to use Visio through a browser. Having said that, the login has not yet burst into life.

The reason I subscribed to Visio was to update my online guide to our computer systems. I have updated much of the text, but not the diagrams, so far. I will try to log in tomorrow and update the diagrams accordingly.

Democracy

The trouble with democracy is that sometimes you do not get the outcome that you would like. After yesterday's elections, we have a Labour Government with a large majority. Whatever my perception of this result, they are now the Government of the UK and I would make the following observations...

• I hope they do a good job for the country.
• I hope that, for once, they manage our finances sensibly.
• I hope that, for once,  they do not leave office with higher levels of unemployment than when they entered.
• I hope they do not allow the Trades Unions to hold the country to ransom by weakening the strike laws.
• I hope that they treat legal immigrants with sensitivity.
• I hope that they are kind to people who are unable to work through illness or disability but are ruthless with those who can't be bothered to work.
• I hope that they put an end to two-tier policing and treat everyone equally, be they farmers, Muslims, veterans, or whatever.
• I hope they put an end to the misogyny of "trans" rights, which disenfranchises women.
• I hope they invest in the UK's defence, as it has never been more important.
• I hope they genuinely do something about the NHS - but fear that all they will do is pour more money into a bucket with a hole in it.
• I hope they will put the country and families ahead of trendy ideals and apply a sense check to some of the policies espoused by the glitterati.

I want the UK to benefit from its government... so Good Luck to them.

A Decade, Really?

 It is a day of celebration. Indeed our American cousins get rather over-excited, but I'm flattered that they make so much fuss to celebrate the anniversary of my retirement. It's 10 years ago today that I dropped out of the rat race and I have never looked back. I miss many of my colleagues and some of my clients but I do not miss the work, the lost nights, the lost weekends, the pointless conference calls, and being away from home so much. Having said that, that was what paid for a comfortable retirement.

I was up early to start the celebrations by greeting Ellie as she was dropped off. I made her a festive breakfast of strawberries and cherries with a marmite crumpet to follow. Once she was washed and dressed, she continued the celebration with some cheerleading in the lounge until it was time for school. 

We dropped her at the classroom door and headed straight to the Polling Station to cast our vote. We are pessimistic about the result, but we have done our bit. 

Back home we settled down for breakfast and then we popped to the pharmacy and then M&S. There were a few bits to collect. Once home, I returned to the Excel program that I wrote last week to find the best meeting point for a group of people. I decided to add some code so that it calculates the distance for each person to travel to get to the calculated meeting point. It took a little longer than expected to get the code working and I still have an anomaly when two sets of people live within a couple of miles of each other. I will return to that another day.

While I was faffing with Excel, Di was tidying up some shrubs in the front garden.

The afternoon saw the usual Kindle time before we went to collect Ellie from school. Plans have changed. She was due to stay with us overnight, but Darren is no longer needed in Folkestone, so he can drop her off as usual.

Meanwhile, I must return to my retirement... there's so much to do!

Roll me away

 We were up in time for Ellie's drop-off. She turned up on roller skates and informed me that she was going to wear them on the way to school. After some breakfast, she went to wash and dress and then came back down to do some reading with Grandpa before school.

Once we were back from the school run and had munched our way through breakfast we prepared for a trip to the shops. We made a radical change to the weekly trip. It wasn't just that we shopped on Wednesday, it was the fact that we had an M&S chaser. We love the Southern Fried chicken tenders that they sell, and we were running low. Whilst in the store I picked up a Korean salad and noodle bowl for my lunch. The Korean bowl was delicious and I will certainly have that again.

Back from the shops, there was some traditional admin to complete. Finally, we managed to get some Kindle time. I did, however, cut it short so that I could return to the guide I was writing for our EETV setup. I finished that just in time to collect Ellie from school.

Ellie was full of beans when she got in but has just been collected by Zoe.

TV Guide

We were up early so that Ellie could be dropped off. Getting up early wasn't an issue as Jasper had enjoyed a crazy 15 minutes soon after 5 a.m. and we were both dozing for the rest of the night.

Ellie had her breakfast and then went to wash and dress. Once she was ready she headed to the lounge to spend some time listening to music and dancing. I hid in the kitchen and read the news. Once E~llie had been dropped off at school, we returned home for breakfast.

The morning was spent doing admin. One outstanding item was to get the central heating controls working from Diane's phone. I spent an hour reading background data so that I could reset the password on the control unit. Finally, with an idea of what was needed, I fired up the app on Di' phone. Bang! It worked the first time and all my research had been unnecessary.

After lunch, I started to write a guide on using the TV now that we have EETV in control. This was predominantly for Diane's benefit so that she could control things when I was not available. 

After some Kindle time, I went to collect Ellie and had the opportunity to go into class and see the work she had been doing. It was impressive how much they have done and it was nice to see a chart showing how many points the children had earned through the year. Ellie was well into the top half... but a fair way from the top. As we left, we met up with Zoe who had managed to leave work early. 

Surely Not

I was awake at 04:30 and delighted to see I had more than two hours before I needed to get up. At 06:45 the alarm went off and scared seven bells out of me. My heart was still pounding as I reached the bathroom to begin my ablutions. Ellie, meanwhile, hadn't even woken up until 07:00 and I was washed, dressed, had her breakfast prepared, had emptied the dishwasher, and was halfway through my first coffee by the time she was dropped off.

Once she was dropped off at school, we had our breakfast and prepared for the day. I had two main tasks on my list for the day. Firstly, I wanted to complete the proper activation of Discovery+ on the EETV system. The second was to pay for the new heating controls and contract for a maintenance service.

The activation of Discovery+ was a problem. I tried again but, again, ended up in a loop. I phoned the helpline and they admitted that I was doing everything correctly but they (Discovery) clearly have a problem with the Safari browser on Apple devices. "Can you download a different browser?" asked the rep. "Not a chance" I replied. I ran upstairs and fired up the Windows laptop. Nothing happened. The battery had run out. I plugged it in and started again. This time I managed to log in and access the correct system using the "Edge" browser. The whole activation worked the first time, as advertised. I was a happy bunny. It is bizarre, however,  that in this day and age, we have to resort to this antique operating system to complete the activation.

I then set about the invoice for the completion of the heating controls. That got paid and I then followed up by requesting the maintenance service and setting up the monthly payment... which worked out roughly half the price of the old British Gas contract.

Di went along to the surgery this afternoon for the second dose of her shingles vaccine. We then settled down for some kindle time until it was time to collect Ellie. When she was back here with us, we got her to complete some of her outstanding homework until Zoe came to collect her.