Hotels and Models

 Ellie was dropped off soon after seven. Despite her friend Sofia having tonsillitis, Elle was hale and hearty and requested two cartons of fruit shakes and a bacon sandwich for breakfast. We walked her to school in bright sunshine and got caught by a downpour of rain as we returned home.

Thursday morning saw the usual delivery from Ocado. As we had nothing planned today, they turned up early. We then headed to Sainsbury's for the top-up. Sainsbury's seemed to be fairly empty, but the corpses that were there seemed to be devoid of ideas regarding their shopping, and oblivious to the chaos they were causing around them. Somehow, I remained (relatively) calm and resisted the increasing temptation to blast my way through these zombies scattering them to the winds with my trolley. Maybe next week I should take a Katana!

The rest of the morning was spent painting the parts of the model that Ellie will build to illustrate a Tudor house from the time of the Great Fire of London. When, by mid-afternoon, we had collected Ellie from school we started the construction phase. We can now see how it will come together. Ellie, however, ran out of time and will have to do more tomorrow.

I received a phone call from the hotel in which we will celebrate Diane's landmark birthday. We confirmed our room allocation and our preferred times for breakfast and dinner. I must confess that we are both looking forward to this short break.

DNA

 We had very heavy rain overnight. Ellie was dropped off soon after seven and still, the rain was thrashing down. It looked like the walk to school would be rather wet, but first, she needed breakfast. I always ask what she would like and usually, she requests raspberries, melon, cereal, or a ham sandwich. Occasionally she throws a curved ball and I have to make her some eggs. Today was a first, she asked for a bacon sandwich. My heart swelled with pride as she tucked in and completely demolished this gastro breakfast. With proper sustenance on board, she was in a fit state to venture out into the rain with us and make her way to school.

Diane had some blood tests to sort out during the morning. I returned to the computer and started to investigate some of the recent DNA hits that had shown up. At first, progress was slow but I finally made a breakthrough and have managed to document a few of Diane's 2nd and 3rd cousins who were previously unknown.

The afternoon was spent with our books. Being Wednesday, we did not have to collect Ellie from school as she goes to gymnastics in Chichester with a friend.

Ribbit

 It was quite cool but lovely and bright. It was an excellent start to the day as I walked to Zoe's to escort Ellie to school. She was quite excited as she had a stand-in teacher for the remainder of the week. We waited for the class door to open and saw the locum. He looked about 12 years old and was a tall and skinny beanpole of a chap. He had an open and smiley face and the kids seemed delighted to file into the classroom.

We were scheduled to meet with Jane and Trevor for lunch. While Diane pottered and got ready, I spent some of the morning marking up and cutting out the cardboard pieces for the model Ellie has to make for her latest project.

We headed up to Chiddingfold. There was no appreciable traffic and we pulled into the car park alongside Jane and Trevor's car. We met at The Mulberry Inn and were ushered to our table, where we enjoyed a coffee before examining the menu and ordering our lunch. I had a flatbread with pulled pork as a starter. This may have been a mistake. Whilst it was delicious, it was also the size of a very decent pizza... and that was just the starter. For the entrees, both Diane and I selected the rack of ribs. These came slathered in a rich sauce. I do wish they would serve this on the side, instead of on the ribs. The ribs were, despite the sauce, absolutely delicious. 

The meal was just the backdrop to several hours of chat. There was so much to catch up on after all. We hadn't seen each other for a month and wouldn't see each other again for another 10 days! We caught up on the family news and recent get-togethers, on health, on ideas for our forthcoming trip, on future cruise options, and generally on the wonderful trivia of retirement. Eventually, it was time to part ways and head home. The traffic was bit busier but it was stilla good run home.

It had been a lovely few hours.

Models

 There was a gentle start to the day. The sun was strolling lazily towards the horizon, ready to climb into the November sky. The coffee was on, and Jasper was still asleep somewhere upstairs. At the allotted time, I walked to Zoe's and we escorted Ellie to school.

My main distraction today has been the fact that Ellie has to create a model that represents a building from the Great Fire of London. I looked at various models on some websites. I also looked at a couple of YouTube videos. There was nothing that leapt out at me. I started to develop my own ideas of how we might create a model that Ellie could make. Slowly, a design emerged, and after a trip to Hobbycraft, I had a few bits and pieces that would help. After collecting Ellie from school (and completing last night's jigsaw with her) she started on some crafts and I drew some templates for the walls of our Tudor building.

The other main event for the day was a trip to Bognor War Memorial Hospital for Diane's chest X-ray. We were in and out in about 5 minutes, but it is done and we must now await the analysis.

Celebrating

With Diane's landmark birthday approaching and the fact that we will be away for the big day we had arranged for the family to come to us for lunch today. 

I was up early so that I could sear the meat and get into the oven to roast "low and slow" for 5 hours then rest in time for lunch. Several metric tonnes of potatoes were peeled and parboiled in turmeric before being coated in flour and semolina and roasted in ghee. (This was based on a recipe from Nadiya Hussein). All of the other vege was prepared and we were ready to rock.

Kim and Jon arrived first and we had a quiet half-hour with them before Zoe, Darren and Ellie arrived. We chatted and had the odd drink and some nibbles until lunch was ready. We then settled down for the feast. I was delighted with the way it had all turned out. We had a leisurely lunch followed by a chatty afternoon, though Kim, Ellie and I spent much of it working on a jigsaw.

As it got dark and the fireworks started, Kim and Jon had to head home to look after the dogs (who aren't impressed by the bangs). Zoe, Darren and Ellie left soon after and we had a quiet evening in front of the TV.

Journals and books

 Ellie slept well. It was 7 a.m. before she stirred and, after firing up her iPad, we had another 30 minutes of peace and quiet. By that time, I was washed, dressed, and downstairs making coffee. We gave Ellie some breakfast and soon after, Zoe arrived to collect her.

Diane had a quiet day with her sewing patterns.

I spent the morning and early afternoon working on the journal for the 1980s. I had yet to realise just how sparse the raw data was. One year, I only had a single diary entry. As Diane said, we were busy with the girls and our jobs. What I do have, fortunately, is a vast library of photographs from which the years can be re-created... even if the exact days are not quite accurate.

This afternoon, I finished my latest book (75th book of the year) and started on another. The book that I finished had left me on a metaphorical cliff's edge. I must download and read the next in the series.

AirBnB

 Ellie decided that she would stay with us tonight. This was not the plan, but she woke up and asked Zoe if she would collect her in the morning as she would sleep and Nana and Grandpa's tonight. Once we had received our notification we set ourselves for tonight's very welcome visitor.

The morning was fairly quiet. Diane spent the time in her sewing room. She was still working on the pattern that she had developed.

I spent the time in my Study. I had dug out our Wedding Album, having realised that I had never scanned the"official" images. It took a while, but I am very pleased that I now have digital copies of the images taken that day. I also found a copy of the speech I delivered during the reception. It seemed like a perfect time to digitise that too. Slowly the pages of hand-written verses were committed to the computer and will be incorporated in the 1970s' journal.

The afternoon was dedicated to our books until it was time to collect Ellie from the dancing class (held immediately after school). Once back here, she started on homework while I prepared supper.

Damp Squibb

Well, so far, the weather warnings have been pointless. We had a word with the local council and said that we didn't want the forecast high winds nor the torrential rain That is not the weather we are willing to tolerate in West Sussex. The weather was adjusted accordingly, and whilst we had a bit of rain and a stiff breeze, we had benign weather. That's not to say that other parts of the country were spared, but maybe their local councils are less efficient than ours.

I provided my usual school escort service and then headed home to have breakfast and await the Ocado delivery. With the shopping stashed away, we headed for Sainsbury's. We are expecting the whole family on Sunday so we ended up with a very full trolley.

Once the accounts were filed away, we spent the rest of the day with our books.

For dinner, I cooked the first stew of the season. This was very successful, and I will have to do this concoction again.

The Calm

The calm before the storm hasn't been too calm. We have had bright sunshine interspersed with torrential rain showers and blustery winds. Fortunately, it had just stopped raining when I went to walk Ellie to school. 

Diane, meanwhile, had been to the doctor's and was stuck in heavy traffic coming home. It was a fairly quick turnaround as we had to get to the hospital for her second calibration check on her blood monitor. The check went well, but the monitor and the veinous sample differed by a small amount this time. The nurse was satisfied, and the final check (to be done next week) doesn't require a trip to the hospital. We can email the results.

As we got in the car, the heavens opened, and we had a torrential downpour. We had timed it perfectly. We were soon home and had a quiet remainder of the day with a bit of reading, some tidying, and collecting Ellie from school.

Battening Down

It was predominantly dry today. This made a change after the recent rain and the floods that have hit some parts of the area.

I went to collect Ellie and take her to school. Zoe is still unwell and has no voice, so she stayed behind while I did the school drop-off.

Back home, after some breakfast and another armful of caffeine, I decided that we needed to batten down the garden. Storm Ciaran is forecast to hit and cause havoc for a couple of days. With winds forecast to reach 90 mph, it seemed like a good idea to clear the garden furniture. As we no longer have a car in the garage, all of the chairs could be squirrelled away safely.  With the garden clear, the next task was to clean up some stains on the landing carpet, which had been so carefully deposited by Jasper just after we got into bed the other night.

Finally, I was able to return to my journals. My first pass of the 1970s is complete. I will return to it at a later date as I have found some additional text and photos are worthy of inclusion. I then made a start on the 1980s. Again this is sparse, but does include some long entries transcribed from my letters during business trips and notes written when on holiday with the family.

After lunch, we both spent some time with our books before going to meet Ellie from school and take her home.

We have put up a sign on the door "Sorry, No Trick or Treats, please". Children were literally brought onto the estate by the carload in previous years and it was getting a bit silly. They have ruined it for the local kids. What we have done is tell a few families to ignore the sign and knock, as they are welcome.

Slow Progress

There was a lot more rain overnight. Fortunately, by the time I walked around to Zoe's it had stopped. Zoe's voice was still absent without leave, so Ellie and I had a very quiet walk to school. 

All of the rain has caused the Aldingbourne Rife to flood. This has inundated the caravan park near the shops, the Tesco store is shut and its car park under several feet of water, and the flood is spreading. This has caused the Emergency Services to shut the A29 through the area as the water encroaches on an electricity substation. The knock-on effect is that Sainsbury's is closed because nobody can get to it.

After washing our floors this morning (which seems a bit heartless in retrospect) I walked into the village to get my hair cut. The rain held off, but I had to stay alert to dodge any traffic splashing through the puddles. Once home, I returned to the journals for the 1970s. This seems to be grinding very slowly. The latter years of the 1970s were very sparse, in terms of journal entries, but quite busy when I review my photo library. I am struggling with the temptation to write journal entries based on the photos... but they would not be contemporaneous observations.

We dug the soup maker out of the cupboard and made our first soup of the season, for lunch. I was a little apprehensive as I couldn't remember the exact recipes I used last year. I need not have worried. It was excellent - parsnip, red pepper, carrot, butternut squash, sweet potato and onion.

The afternoon was spent with my book while Diane plodded onwards with her sewing pattern.

The Sound of Silence

 I mentioned that Diane and Kathie had been to Chichester on Friday and visited the Cathedral to see the Peace Doves. I failed to mention that, while there, Diane was stopped by a journalist and asked for her views on the exhibit. Well, it turns out that she has been quoted in the local Press. In the article "WATCH: Locals react to Chichester Cathedral peace doves", Sussex World includes: 

Dianne McMenemy said: “It’s an amazing display, it’s very well thought out. You don’t realise that there’s 15,000 doves on there. It really is a sight to see and worth coming down to have a look at if you're in the area.” 

(It is a shame they couldn't spell Diane correctly).

The weather today has ranged from bright sunshine to monsoon-like rains. It was certainly a day to stay indoors. Diane spent the day working on her sewing pattern and finding it quite frustrating.

I returned to the journals. I have arrived, metaphorically, in September 1976. that is the bulk of the '70s complete as entries become more sparse in the latter part of the decade. I have also completed the initial design and style changes required for the '80s, though haven't, as yet, looked at any content.

Ellie phoned this evening. She is back, having had a lovely week at Pete's. She phoned to say hello and to tell us that Zoe had lost her voice. She probably won't go to work tomorrow, but I will pop around to take Ellie to school.

The Early Years

 After the usual cousins' call, I settled back down to the old journals. Meanwhile, Diane returned to her sewing pattern. She is trying to develop a pattern for trousers that can be reused in multiple styles but will fit her perfectly.

It took several hours, but I finished the first pass of the 2000-2004 journal. It has left me with a "to-do" list to document various events that I had not previously mentioned but, in the grand scheme of things, really needed to be addressed.

I then moved on (or should I say back?) to the 1970s. Here, I had sparse entries covering the purchase of our first house, our marriage, and several other events. As I write, I have only got as far as 1974. What it has shown (again) is the value of the photo library that I have developed over the years. Some events are only documented through their photos, there was no accompanying journal entry at the time.

Journalling

Diane's friend Kathie came to visit and after a chat, and some tea, they headed off to spend the day in Chichester.

I made use of the day by returning to my journals and starting on the first pass for the years 2000-2004. These journals are not as copious as the more recent ones. The entries are quite sparse. Indeed, there are some months with no entries at all. I was able, however, to use my photo library to fill in many of the blanks with small collages of relevant photos. It has been very time-consuming and I still have about 6 weeks of 2004 to finish.

I need to think about the overall format of these sparse journals. As they contain multiple years, I must provide a clear separation between entries for each year but do so in a way that looks appropriate.

Jabbed

We were very proud to hear, last night, that Ellie has received a badge and the "Gymnast of the Month" award. That's pretty good considering she's only been going to gymnastics for about 5 weeks.

We had a yellow weather warning in force from 04:00 until midday. The threat was heavy rain. Whilst I did hear some rain overnight, it was dry when I came down this morning and stayed that way for most of the day, though we did have a few showers just to provide some punctuation for the weather.

It was a predictable start with Ocado's delivery and then the raid on Sainsbury's. We parted from the usual regime after that. We had appointments for our Covid jabs so we made our way into Bognor and made ourselves known at the reception desk. We were quite early, but they were hardly overrun! We queued for a few minutes and then after a few questions, the paramedic used us for darts practice. Hopefully, we are now protected against any surge in infections.

We had a quiet afternoon with a bit of reading, Diane did some ironing, and I updated the accounts before updating the software on Condor and my iPad.

Calibration Time, Come On

 Here in Sussex, we don't tolerate rain during the day. It would be too inconvenient, consequently, we arranged to have our allotted rainfall throughout the night. It did overrun, however, and it was probably 9 o'clock before it switched off.

We had an appointment at the hospital. Diane needed her regular blood test and had arranged for the first of three calibration checks on her blood analyser. We had a bit of waiting around as they only had 2 of 3 phlebotomists working today. Once the blood test was done, the appointment with the Anticoag Clinic was almost immediate. The nurse walked Diane through the self-test process and as we watched the result pop up, the lab delivered the hospital's results. They matched perfectly. We have two further calibration checks to complete before the hospital will accept the self-test results as accurate. The next test is scheduled for a week today.

We left the hospital and went into Chichester. I had a cheque (yes, what a quaint idea) to pay in from DVLA. The online app should be able to do this by photographing the cheque, but this failed every time I tried it. I decided I would report this to the Bank. We went through the process with the assistant. It failed again. I gave him the phone. It failed again. I suggested trying it against a dark background (as recommended). After several tries, it worked.

We stopped off for a coffee before returning to the car (picking up a Turner's Steak and Ale pie on the way) and heading home.

Shopping

We had a free day with nothing to constrain our time. We decided to head for Gunwharf Quay in Portsmouth and spend the day looking in the shops and grabbing a bite to eat while we were there. The traffic getting into Portsmouth was dreadful. Some roadworks near the Cathedral were causing a tailback onto the M275. We were in no hurry, so we sat patiently and eventually pulled into the underground car park.

We did a complete circuit of the shopping centre to get an idea of what shops were available. (So often, nowadays, you find town centres and malls with loads of empty units where businesses have moved out or gone bust). We were pleasantly surprised. It was awash with outlets for plenty of brands and had a real buzz. Having scouted the stores we returned to the start point and worked our way around again, this time going into relevant stores to see if we could find a smart autumn jacket for Diane. It was not easy. If you wanted puffer jackets or anoraks of some kind the choice was huge. If you wanted a smart, dressy jacket then you really had to search. W~e were up to the challenge and finally found the ideal jacket in Ted Baker.

With the jacket clutched in our hands, we made our way to get some lunch. The restaurants on the front by the Spinnaker Tower were heaving. We did an about turn and headed across to the quieter part of Gunwharf and settled down at "Loch Fyne". We had a lovely lunch and then strolled back to car and headed home. It had been a nice outing.

Just pottering

 A bit of a grey start to the day but it soon brightened up. We were not intending to go out, so the weather had little impact.

Diane had a phonically scheduled with Pauline so that accounted for the morning. She had another call arranged with Jan Mabbott so that accounted for the late afternoon.

I started the morning by attempting to implement a Plan C for the transfer of data from the blood analyser. My thought was that if I could use the browser to see the reports that it generated, then I could open a terminal window and explore what else was on the device and hopefully find the data. Well Plan C did not work from the MacBook. I then decided to try it from a Windows laptop. Again, no joy. I spent some time with Google but failed to find anything useful. I suspect we are going to have to make do with the reports and records on the device itself.

I returned to the spreadsheet for 2024's accounts. A few more tweaks were made. Any further changes would be gilding the lily. I think it's ready for prime time. Now, I just need to await the New Year.

I prepared the Manzo Piccante for dinner this evening. I think it was a lot better this time. I left the mozzarella until I was almost ready to serve up. This was much more stringy and juicy.

Doing Lunch

We had a very leisurely morning. After reading the news and catching up on social media I returned to the spreadsheet for next year's accounts. A few more tweaks here, a few refinements there, and some formulae optimised, it is approaching readiness.

As it was Darren's birthday last week, Zoe had arranged for lunch at The Black Horse in Binstead. They came with us in the Skoda as it is always a problem parking at The Black Horse. Darren's Mum and stepdad came, as did three of his brothers, two of his nieces and two of his nephews. It was quite a gathering. We had a lovely lunch with lots of laughter and chat. Before we knew it, it was 16:30. We had been shooting the breeze and eating a fine roast for over three hours.

We dropped Zoe and Darren back and then came home. I tried to link Diane's blood analyser to the iPad to look at the data and the reports. This failed miserably. I then tried Plan B by linking it to the MacBook. This was more successful as I could view the reports, but I still couldn't transfer the data. I have had another idea and will try a Plan C tomorrow.

Sentient

There was some heavy rain overnight. (This is the time when rain should be scheduled, rather than during the day). My day started with the cousins' call. There wasn't too much to report, but there was a great deal of banter as usual.

With the call over, I decided to start crafting the accounting spreadsheet for 2024. Each year, this is refined further, and then during the year, I spot additional refinements that can be incorporated in the following version. Today, I started to work through those refinements on the 2024 template. I am already convinced that this is a significant improvement on the 2023 spreadsheet. It's not quite sentient but it is certainly much more automated and much clearer to view and update.

The other long running task for the day was to cook up another batch of curry. A curry base was developed and cooked before a kilo of beef was added with 750ml water and it was allowed to simmer for 4 hours. I had one portion of this for dinner (which was superb) and managed to portion up 6 more to be stored in the freezer for future weeks.