Saturday 21st February 2026

Our good friend, Fran, mentioned that if we were ever going near to Dungeness, she would like to come along.

In addition, we invited her to lunch on Sunday, but as it turned out the weather was to be better on Saturday, so why not combine the two, if she was free?

She was, so a plan was made, she would arrive at ten past nine, we would drive to Dungeness, do some light birding, then come back to Chez Jelltex for dinner.

However, this meant some preparation.

Meat was bought during the week from Preston, so instead of going to the gym, I stayed home while Jools went swimming, seasoned and prepared the beef. Potatoes were peeled, left to soak for an hour, then boiled almost to destruction. Batter for Yorkshire puddings was mixed and left in the fridge for the lactic acid to weaken.

With all that done, we could go out and enjoy nature.

Jools came home at half eight, there was just enough time for breakfast and a brew, and have time to get to Priory to meet Fran off the train.

From there we went up Old Folkestone Road, onto the A20 at Capel, then up the motorway to Hythe, before turning off and once through the town, along the coast road to Dymchurch, New Romney and out onto the otherworldliness of Dungeness, Britain's only designated desert.

Through Lydd, then once we were among the pools left from aggregate extraction, before turning off along the long track to the reserve centre.

Dungeness is dominated by the two now decommissioned nuclear power stations, and rows of pylons and power lines marching across the flat Romney Marsh.

We park, go in and so after paying the parking fee, walk onto the reserve, taking in two hides: one open looking at the main lake, and the second, closed looking at a smaller pool.

There were a huge variety of water fowl to see: Teal, Tufted Ducks, Pochards, Goldeneye, as well as cormorants, gulls, egrets, whilst nearby smaller birds like Chiff chaffs, Long-tailed tits, a kingfisher, Great and Blue tits could be seen.

Cloud was expected, but at first clouds parted and blessed us with sunshine, but the wind was building, and my decision to skip a layer of clothing proved to be misconceived, I grew cold. So, left Fran and Jools to walk to the third hide, while I returned to the covered one, then back to the welcome centre for a coffee and a large cookie, which I ate and drank whilst sipping fresh coffee, sitting in an armchair.

Time was ticking by, so at half twelve we left, driving back, and a second destination scrubbed as it would be half one by the time we got home, and there was dinner to cook. And Fran had to get home in Herne Bay after eating.

Back home back along the coast road in sun, then up to the motorway. We turn off and drive up the Alkham Valley, where the Drellingore winterbourne was flowing well.

Once inside Chez Jelltex, the ovens were fired up, the fat for potatoes heated to sizzling hot, and the beef put in to roast.

Vegetables were prepared while Jools and Fran talked, so I could listen to the football on the radio, whilst first the kitchen, then the rest of the house filled with the smell of roast beef.

Lovely.

It was all done for four, I dish up, so we could eat with radio 5 babbling in the background.

Readers, it was another magnificent meal: lots of vegetables, perfectly cooked meat, pigs in blankets, Yorkshire puddings and lashings of home made gravy.

Sadly, Norwich could not match this magnificence, losing 2-1 at home to Birmingham.

I said I would wash and tidy up if Jools took Fran home, which is what happened. Me listening to the later game while I scrubbed, buffed and dried up.

Once Jools came back, we had a brew and the last of the pistachio cookies bought for her craft group.

Phew: rock and roll.

Friday 20th February 2026

It is Friday again.

I feel better, which is nice, which is why I was up at five, getting dressed, drinking coffee, and doing the bins. So that come six, I could drop Jools off at Oddfellows Hall for her yoga class, then I would go up to Whitfield for some phys.

Traffic was quiet, its half term week after all, so we made it into town safely, then turn round and go up Connaught Hill to the Duke of Yorks and left at the roundabout to Whitfield.

The gym was quiet, so I got on the bike, did my forty minutes, then drove round to Tesco, filled with fuel, and went shopping.

Jools was going to catch a bus after her class, for the eleven minute ride up to Whitfield, to meet me in the car park.

Just who would be waiting?

Tesco was quiet, full of Mother's Day tat, which I don't have to think about now, and go round buying stuff for our last week in Blighty before our first trip of the year next weekend.

I remember most of the stuff, so go and pay, loaded the car and was waiting for a couple of minutes when Jools's bus turned up.

Waiting long?

Not really.

So we went home.

And being half term, the usual traffic jams just were not there, so we arrived home at eight.

We pack the shopping away, have a brew, then breakfast, so that by nine we were nice and relaxed and ready for the rest of the day.

Jools went to the library for her craft and gossip morning. I stayed home, had a shower, shave and so was all lovely and smelling gorgeous when she came back home at quarter past midday.

We have sausage rolls from the butcher for lunch, before driving to Deal for a lecture.

The U3A isn't all about churchcrawling and bridge, they do some stuff to improve our understanding. But this is the first lecture we had been to.

It was about AI, and the host came up from Guildford to deliver us a rather rose-tinted view of AI.

We found a place to park on the sea front, walked through the narrow lanes to the High Street, then down to the Astor Theatre, before taking seats on the back row.

It was free, so there's that.

Should we go to either The Berry or Freed Man? Tempting, but last time we ended up having fish and chips afterwards.

So, we drove home in the gathering gloom, turning up Station Road and arriving home at four, just enough time to make tagine for dinner. The chicken had been marinating since breakfast, so was fragrant. I make a pot of tagine, let it simmer for an hour before grilling the thigh steaks.

As a bonus there was six portions for the freezer, so once cool I packed the boxes away. By then we had eaten, and were stuffed.

I messed up the music quiz, so it goes. But am still in second place going towards the last round of the month.

Blackburn played Preston on the telly, I stayed awake.

And Blackburn scored a last minute winner.

Thursday 19th February 2026

I did feel better after nearly ten hours sleep.

That being said, it some getting up, and as Jools had a swimming session booked, she left me in bed with Cleo, then me struggling with gravity as I peeled myself out of bed.

Once up, I wanted, nay, needed coffee, so went down to make it, and amazingly, it came out perfect, a perfect balance of caffeine and sweetness.

I checked on the world, it was pretty messed up, though would get worse if you name was Andrew and it was your birthday.

Ahem.

It was another dreary day, low cloud and steady drizzle. I failed to take a shot of the day until I had a beer in the evening.

After ten, we drove over to Sandwich Bay to drop off some books on North American birds, butterflies and flowers, as as long as Trump is in power, I don't think we'll be heading back any time soon.

Guys were repairing pot holes in the track leading to the observatory.

There was no one there I knew, so I left the books, filled in a form, and bought some chocolate, and we left.

Back along the partially flooded roads to Whitfield to pick up a new cat basket we had ordered, as in a week the moggies will be going to kitty prison as we jet off for sunshine and orchids.

Finally, we went to see Jen, as cards seems to have died a death, so we had a brew while we talked, before we said goodbye and we came home so I could peel some potatoes for hash later.

The wind and rain continued, so we did little other than stare out the windows, then I prepared the hash and cooked it, so come two, we sat down to a Spanish feast.

Lovely.

I had another small migraine, but nothing to worry about, outside the day faded. And inside Jools watched more of A Handmaidens Tale, which I have no interest in.

No footy on the tellybox, so early to bed, as for a change, I would be physing it on a Friday morning. And we would have to do the bins.

Wednesday 18th February 2026

Life has been pretty stress free for the past eleven months. I have relaxed, slept well, and even been going to the gym.

But my body has been stopping me from going to sleep, cramps when I lay on my left hand side, meaning that I get less than seven or eight hours sleep despite being in bed.

Normally, this happens on just a couple of nights a week, but Tuesday night was the third in a row, and whilst I have one ocular migraine on Tuesday, Wednesday was another matter.

One in the morning and another late in the afternoon meant I was feeling washed out, and on the run to collect Jools at Priory Station, oncoming headlights seemed too bright.

Anyway, as I write this on Thursday morning, after nearly ten hours sleep, I feel better. Certainly better than I did this time yesterday.

Anyway.

Wednesday.

I was going to go with Jools to Bromley when she went to her craft and chat group up there, but when I took her into town for her class, it was so cold. Being tired didn't help, but there was no way was I going to wander the streets up there going to the church, so I bailed. Jools would go on the train, alone, after her class, and I would stay home.

The wind was in the perfect direction to blow the cat flap open, so it was bitterly cold in the kitchen and living room. I should have gone upstairs to the office, but didn't, instead did stuff on the computer until the first migraine hit.

I took to the sofa and sat with my eyes closed for half an hour, and the migraine drifted away. My eyes were achey, and I had a headache.

Not much computing until darkness began to fall, and as I edited some shots, dots appeared before my eyes and the second arrived.

The cold wind was now accompanied by the first of the rain, which made the drive into town to collect Jools at six all the more unpleasant.

However, I got it done, then once Jools had got off the train, she climbed in the car and we drove home, with the rain falling harder and harder.

Supper was pizza and beer, so not much clearing up. I was going to watch the Wolves v Arse game, but I was so tired, so went to bed instead, so missing the dramatic Wolves comeback to draw 2-2.

Please Please Me (1963)

I may have said this before, but I am and always have been a singles guy. In that I don't really listen to albums, nor never really did.

Very few albums are perfect all the way through, I can think of just a handful.

About a decade ago, Danny Baker did a series of shows where he and a few of his friends selected three albums each to be the best in each genre. Over the course of the three or four shows, I had heard maybe one or two.

Even worse than that, I can say I have never heard a Beatles, Bob Dylan, most Rolling Stones, no Creedence Clearwater Revival, Beach Boys, and so on, albums at all.

I planned a decade ago, to listen to a load of classic albums, and then write about them.

And so here we are.

The Beatles literally changed popular music.

That's not a matter up for debate.

Over the course of eight years they released 12 (twelve) albums, each one a step up in ambition and sophistication.

I believe.

They were given to George Martin to produce, and in him they had someone who knew how to use a studio. Had they been produced by anyone else, the results and history, could've been very different.

On the fourteen tracks on Please Please Me, six were cover versions, and two of the Lennon/McCartney originals were singles. In order to assess this record, we have to put ourselves back in 1963 and the music scene therein. And that's an impossible task, only people who lived through it can tell us what a change The Beatles and their records were, so anything I say now, some sixty three years later is pretty meaningless.

1. "I Saw Her Standing There"
2. "Misery"
3. "Anna (Go to Him)"
4. "Chains"
5. "Boys"
6. "Ask Me Why"
7. "Please Please Me"

Side 2

1. "Love Me Do"
2. "P.S. I Love You"
3. "Baby It's You"
4. "Do You Want to Know a Secret"
5. "A Taste of Honey"
6. "There's a Place"
7. "Twist and Shout"

back in the 1960s, rock or music journalism, was very much in its infancy, bands were beat combos and tunes were described as mid-tempo foot-tappers, or something like that, and so after the exciting opening florish of "I Saw Her Standing There", the mid-tempo foot-tappers take over. Misery is, in my opinion, pretty poor, especially after that opening blast. But maybe its taking things down a notch, as per in "High Fidelity" and the art of the mix tape.

"Anna (Go to Him)" is pretty much of the same ilk as "Misery", but things perk up with Goffin and Kings "Chains", which rattles along.

I didn't know Ringo Starr sang on anything from Please lease Me, so it was a real surprise to hear him lead on "Boys". Which I really like, especially the imploring to George to take it away on the guitar break.

Two originals end side 1, "Ask me Why" and the title track. The former is ok, but we all know Please Please me, and so closes the side in triumph.

"Love me Do", their first single from the previous year kicks off side 2. I always thought it a dirge, doubly so when re-released in 1982 to mart it's 20th anniversary. Here, it sits well, and opens the side well, though is lacking a little get up and go, but the harmonica sounds good, as the instrument did on other tracks.

In "P.S. I Love You" and "Babt It's You", we return to the mid-tempo stuff again, and maybe it was because I was expecting something with a bit more oomph. When I was listening to "Misery" earlier, I thought how it wouldn't be much of a stretch to imagine Cliff Richard or one of the Larry Parnes stable singing it. Same with most of these.

So it takes "Do You Want to Know a Secret" to lift the tempo again. This was one of the tracks on the Beatles on 45 records of the early 80s, so is familiar to me from that. It starts slow, then crashes into the title and the song flies.

Then it is back to the foot-tappers for "There's a Place" and "There's a Place", wit the latter being better, and its another Lennon/McCartney original.

The album ends with probably the best British rock and roll song of all time, a cover of "Twist and Shout", with Lennnon on lead vocals, his voice straining, and the rest doing the same. Without doubt, also, the best versio of "Twist and Shout".

In order to assess this, as I said, we would have to look back at what other albums were released in 1963, or those that topped the charts. Shall we look?

"Rock 'N' Roll No. 2" by Elvis Presley
"Summer Holiday" by Cliff Richard and The Shadows
"Girls! Girls! Girls!" by Elvis Presely
"A Bobby Vee Recording Session" by Bobby Vee
"Sinatra–Basie: An Historic Musical First" by Frank Sinatra and Count Basie
All Star Festival: The Unique Record in Aid of the World's Refugees by Various
"Richard Chamberlain Sings" by Richard Chamberlain

Then came The Beatles, and it stayed at number one for 30 weeks.

Up to The Beatles, pop music was seen as a way into popular entertainment, variety and a TV show, as per Cliff Richard, Lulu, Cilla Black and others who followed. The Beatles themselves never saw it as something that, at best would last a year or two, and Ring said he just wanted to make enough money to open a hairdressing salon.

Going forward, The Beatles would redefine what an album was, pushing the boundaries of popular music and technology until they realised what they created in the studio could not be played live, so they gave up playing concerts. But the music kept coming and growing.

In short, listening to this, is it possible to see that the band would come to be the biggest force in popular music? Maybe, maybe not. Looking back, and without living through the years before and the music released, its impossible to say what a difference this record and the band made. They were still playing on variety bills on tour, with other bands, a comic and sometimes other variety acts too, so obly got to play fifteen minutes or so, twice a night. But the band had hones their craft in Hamburg and playing for the BBC, and that tightness would only get better.

Tuesday 17th February 2026

So, you know the drill. It's Tuesday, and that means up early, be back sharpish, so Jools can go to her class.

At least it was another day without rain, though the wind was building, and the temperature was just above freezing. Which meant once I arrived at the sports centre, there was the rush to get into the lea of the building and so out of the wind.

Then upstairs, on the bike, start the podcast and start pedalling.

I stuck to the higher level, and pushed out the calories and RPM for forty minutes. I snap the result, possibly to use as a shot of the day. Wipe the machine down, go downstairs and put on my jumper, before walking quickly back to the car, then drive home.

I got back at seven fifteen. There was a brew waiting when I walked in, and Jools was collecting her stuff for a morning out.

Nothing for me to go into town for, so I stay here once she leaves, have a shower and am dressed with trousers on by eight.

It is another fabulously sunny, if cold day. And I would go for another short walk, this time when I reached Station Road, going down rather than up.

I see nothing new in flower, other than a single Sun Spurge among Walter's wild flower mix. So I snap that, and go back inside. Hands like blocks of ice, so I put the kettle on.

Once Jools came back, I make lunch. AKA the main meal of the day. Chicken Kyiv, grains, steamed vegetables with a cheese and mustard sauce, and sprouts cooked with guanciale.

It was magnificent.

After cleaning up, we take to the sofa where staying awake was the hardest part, as Bangers and Cash played out on the tellybox.

Jools started to watch The Handmaiden's Tale, but I have little interest in drama these days, so fiddle around online until it was time for the footy to kick off at seven on the radio.

It was light until after five, Spring could be said to be here, but it is chilly, so we turn the heating up a notch.

Monday 16th February 2026

Monday again.

And this time, with sunshine.

Or some sunshine.

Being a Monday there was no early morning phys, so I could lay in, instead my brain had me awake at before five, though I did nod off and woke again with Cleo on my legs and Jools leaving in the car for an early morning swim session.

So I easy myself from around Cleo, get dressed and go downstairs to make a coffee. Outside it was dawn, light filled the sky and it was going to be a splendid day.

If cold.

I take my coffee, once made, to the table and look at what the world had been doing whilst I slept. Little of it any good, to be honest.

Jools was back in an hour. The pump had failed in the pool, so she just had a sauna, though it was fixed when she went to leave.

I got an ocular migraine, so Jools went out and did chores by herself: to the tip to drop more books off, and to the carpet place, to the pet shop to buy a cat basket, and to get a couple of groceries we needed.

The migraine passed, it came die to a poor night's sleep and being on the computer. At least I don't work now, so can retire to the sofa and sit with my eyes closed for an hour.

I went for a walk. Not far, just to the end of the road, up Station Road to the bus stop, to check on flowers in bloom, and to catch some sunshine on my skin.

I didn't put a jacket on, so it was bracing once made it to Station Road, and once at the top I took shelter in the bus stop before returning home.

A couple of young ladies on huge horses were walking down the hill, so that became the picture of the day.

Though it was warm enough on the bench, sheltered by the hedge in the back garden. I was joined by Scully who was happy enough to sit beside me and snuggle up to my arm.

Once Jools came back, we had a brew, then let time slip though our hands until it was half one, and it was time t prepare what is now the main and last meal of the day.

Breaded fish, stir fry and noodles, so some fibre and protein.

And then, after washing up, more bangers and cash with Scully sitting between Jools and myself on the sofa, very happy with the way the afternoon panned out.

For supper we had the last two short cakes with a brew, by which time it was getting dark outside, and soon the skies cleared more and stars began to show.

There was a top of the table clash on the telly: Coventry v Middlesborough, which was good, with Cov running out 3-1 winners, a poor handball decision giving them their third from the spot.