Thursday 27th August 2026

Thursday began like it was the end of the world.

The sky began pink, then went dark pink and then to red.

Angry red.

The actual light was red. Like the earth was on fire, which in some places, it is.

We were up at five so we could do stuff before going to the gym, which we do. Cats tested, jabbed, red, and coffee made.

It is the last week of school holidays, I believe, and there are bleary-eyed kids being dragged to the pool still in their PJs, possibly for a gala soon.

The gym was quiet.

No it wasn't. It was loud, loud playing Euro-pop to no one as we all have headphones on, and the staff had yet to appear.

We get down to our session and peddle like crazy for thirty five minutes. Jools does forty, but I was cooked, so bail five minutes early and go outside to cool down.

Jools joined me five minutes later and we went home.

So began another day in retirement.

Once out of the gum, the sky was black with the promise of rain. A promise which was delivered a couple of minutes later as we drove back to St Maggies to vote.

By the time we got to the village hall, it was proper bouncing it down, and we got soaked running from the car to the entrance.

There were four of us waiting to vote at a minute past seven, voting for new local councillor as one had stepped down a few weeks back. The parties had taken this very seriously, with all parties dropping lies, I mean leaflets through our door. Some I chased up the drive giving them short shrift.

That done we drove home, and the rain eased, though there was thunder near Canterbury, here the skies cleared and the sun came out.

I collected the clippings from the lawnmeadow, bagged them up, and do other chores around the house, as well as writing, editing shots, and listening to podcasts, so that the morning slipped by.

We had an early lunch so that I could watch more cycling from Spain, waiting an hour after it started then watching it on delay, so I could zip forward through the ads.

The afternoon flew by.

We finished up the cheese and crackers for supper, and the evening, well, that slipped by too.

And we were both in bed by half eight, as it was already dark.

Wednesday 26th August 2026

Happy unbirthday!

Its Wednesday. Apparently.

There is no phys to do, so I can lay in bed until I want, then get up, drink coffee and check on the world thanks to my left wing Blue Sky view.

Blue Sky is not leftist, its just that you choose what you see and from whom, so what you do choose matches with your world view.

There is no algorithm to dictate that, just you. Which is why I interact mostly with people I met in those first few months on the platform, and fewer newer contacts.

But I digress.

Jools goes to fitness class, then has breakfast out, then stays in town to have a routine blood test.

I look at the lawnmeadow, ponder the recent rain, and decide that its time.

Time for a mow.

And being healthier, I don't need to use the traction motor, but run the mower up and down, side to side, without much effort.

But was sweaty afterwards.

I then rake the thatch into piles, but put off their collection until Thursday. As you do.

Once done, the lawnmeadow is brown and dead. Mostly, but I hope this harvest will generate fresh green growth.

It comes as a surprise to find there is more than one grand tour in cycling, so after doing as much internetting one can after lunch, I put on the tellybox and watch the latest stage of La Vuelta.

AKA, the Tour of Spain.

I watch after switching the coverage on, starting it from the beginning, and so able to fast forward through the talking into and all the ad breaks.

Much better.

The countryside of northern Spain is very similar to that of Southern France, where we should have been two months ago.

Maybe we should go back when its cooler? If only there was another eclipse in the near future.

There was football in the evening, on the tellybox. But was predictable, so I go to bed before it was over, so only found the results in the morning.

Tuesday 25th August 2026

It's my birthday. Again.

Didn't I have one last year about this time?

Jools asks was there anything I wanted to do for the day.

I replied that as most days I get to do what I want to anyways, I would just take it easy, as the last orchid species had been ticked off on Sunday.

It was a Tuesday, and that would normally have meant phys. You don't think I would do phys on my birthday, do you?

In fact, I did go to the gym, as there was a pod to listen to. So up at five, Jools wished me happy birthday, and gave me the cards from her and one from Jen.

And then off to the sports centre where there were many going to the pool, but a few of us going to pump lard.

I do thirty five minutes which isn't forty but nearer it than thirty one.

I cool down outside, then come back home so Jools can have the car. She makes me a brew, and I sit outside with Scully in the cool of the morning.

Jools leaves for her class, and will be gone all morning as she was going to meet up with the group she used to meet on Mondays for morning coffee.

I was home alone.

So after breakfast of toast. I have a shave and shower, and look spanking once dressed and smelt lovely too I expect.

Upon her return, Jools asked what the plan was. I suggested going to the Castle Street chippy and then the Hoptomist, that or going to a café for a slice of cake and pretend it was a birthday cake.

And in a surprise turn, we go back to the car and come home. I listen to more pods sitting on the patio, sipping French bier and eating peanuts.

Not exciting, but good enough, and Scully laid beside me and dozed.

For the evening we picked Jen up before driving into town, parking in Ladywell for the short walk to The Italian Kitchen, where we had a table booked.

Its a small place, but the former owner has bought it back, and doing some old favourites.

We feast on chilli and garlic prawns, and I followed that with spicy sausage with ear shaped pasta. And Jen and I shared a bottle of primitivo, which was very nice.

And that was that.

Jools drove us home, dropping Jen off on the way, getting back in time for the last ten minutes of the Cardiff v Norwich game, which we won 2-1, though in the League Cup. Not a good performance, but a win.

Health update

This will be, by accident, the third year I will have written such a post.

And this year, its altogether more positive.

I have lost something like 30kg in weight, which is the most important thing.

I have done this by eating less, or had been, then along came summer and holiday. But the straight and narrow beckons next weeks as the new month and autumn rolls round.

Drinking alcohol only on phys days, two meals a day, still going to the gym, and increasing what I do there. More walking.

In doing regular, near forty minutes on the bike, four times a week, its just not my weight that's improved.

My skin is no longer dry and flakey. My scalp no longer itches.

My feet no longer swell.

They no longer swell much at all, before the holiday they'd only swell on really hot days when I didn't go to the gym.

I can feel my legs and feet. The decline had been so slow that I hadn't noticed, but I can climb stairs, by choice, and walk without numbness or pins and needles all the time.

The ulcers on my shins are still there, but much improved. The skin on my calfs has repaired itself, but mostly they are returning to their natural colour. Some way to go, but much better.

I no longer struggle to get up from the sofa, I can put socks on without having to hold my breath. I no longer cough for hours at night as my lungs struggle with the pressure of my weight. I used to drink a bottle of Gaviscon a fortnight, but not any more.

Of course I am no longer out of breath all the time. And after exercise my recovery time is much reduced.

So, one last thing. At my last blood test, I had reduced my blood sugars to almost not being diabetic. Probably will be about the same next one, but I can and must do better.

Anyway, I feel a decade younger than last year, and as Jools put it, fit for retirement.

The other thin I should point out is that I no longer have a bad back. And my knee is mostly pain free. I get up from a chair or the sofa and expect pain and to have to make a noise to amplfy the pain, and there is no pain.

How good is that?

Monday 24th August 2026

The year is getting older, of course.

The sun rises to the east, but is now visible when it first rises away in the east, south east. Evenings are cooler, some days too. One day over the weekend we closed the front then back door to keep the chill out.

Of course, September might bring a return to warmer temperatures, but we are hoping for rain. Much more rain.

It seems that I am still delicious, as I was bitten aplenty when I went up Temple Ewell down on Sunday, so I was all itchy through Sunday night, but I slept on when Jools got up, not waking until half six, when it was all daylight.

It is three weeks or so since we came back from France, and I am working my way through the pictures taken over those 19 days. I am editing the church and other non tour shots, as well as at the same time editing botany and butterfly shots from the six days of the tour.

It keeps me busy.

And then there is Heritage Weekend to plan, churches to visit and so on. Lists made, postcodes found.

That also keeps me busy.

And there are locations and orchid species in West Australia to write down and store, so my trip next year is not in vain.

Keeps me busy, and is exciting.

I find time during the morning to walk to the end of the street to snap the Common toadflax on the other side of Station Road, it is one of my favourite native plants, and it always makes me smile to see it in flower.

When Jools returns from her chores, we have lunch, and I have a beer to go with the chicken salad. I didn't look at the strength of the DIPA, and found after emptying my glass it was 8.4%, which explains why I went for a lay down for an hour or so.

There is cheese and crackers for supper, then football, as Fulham hosted neighbours Chelsea, which ended in an entertaining 2-3 away win.

Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (1967)

Of all the Beatles' albums, this was the one I worried about most.

It has, over the years, topped many best albums of all time polls and lists, and is cited to have begun the rock album genre.

The band had stopped playing live in 1966, as they felt their studio sound could not be replicated on stage, and thus not touring freed up lots of time, the recording of the album coming after the band took three months off to do their own things.

The title came from a misheard phrase: can you please pass the salt and pepper, as pass the Sgt. Pepper.

The album was preceeded by the double A single "Penny Lane" / "Strawberry Fields Forever", songs that looked back to their band's youth in Liverpool. That single may well be the pinacle of popular music, Penny Lane is majestic.

It sold buckets, topped the charts for months all round the world.

Could it ever live up to the hype?

Side 1:

1. "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band"
2. "With a Little Help from My Friends"
3. "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds"
4. "Getting Better"
5. "Fixing a Hole"
6. "She's Leaving Home"
7. "Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite!"

Side 2:

1. "Within You Without You"
2. "When I'm Sixty-Four"
3. "Lovely Rita"
4. "Good Morning Good Morning"
5. "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (Reprise)"
6. "A Day in the Life"

The album begins with the title track, and sung by Paul in the vocal shredding style you might more associate with John on Twist and Shout. It's hard to know what to say about a song so well known, but the use of brass and other instrumentation, along with crowd sound effects make it something different. It then fades into the second track:

"With a Little Help from My Friends" has Ringo on vocals, and, to my ears, carries on the same or similar beat to the title track. Ringo doesn't have a good voice, and this is enjoyable, as well as very familiar. Its no surprise I prefer this to the Wet Wet Wet version from the 80s, even if that was for charity. It ends with a long piano chord.........

The strongest of starts continues with "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds" with John on vocals. What elese can you say about a song so familiar, and yet distils most of the band's development to this point. It may be about drugs, probably is, but the lyrics, harmonies and sheer joy shines through. The end of the track brings the fist eight minutes and sixteen seconds of the record to a close.

"Getting Better" tells of the joy of finding love, and in the last verse the regret of past cruel actions. More harmoies, its a delight, it really is.

"Fixing a Hole" is next, with Paul on vocals. It starts with a slight meloncholy note, which it returns to in the outro, but between is another joyous slice of pop music, that other bands would if not kill for, then commit serious crime for. Probably.

Harp, then cello comes in to back Paul's vocal on "She's Leaving Home" where the verse tells the girl's story, and the chorus her parent's lament. The real girl in the story that was read in the papers had a strong link to the band from years before. A beautiful song, a work of art.

"Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite!" inspiration was taken from a vintage variety poster, and the song built around that. An amazing thing, really. It pops along before fading into an outro os distorted fairground organ, thus closing side 1.

"Within You Without You" must have sounded so exotic on first hearing upon the album's release. Sitars and other Indian and far Eastern instruments made a sound so unwesternlike, and yet with George's vocal deep in the mix it sounds wonderful. The different layers that go to make the record is quite headspinning.

"When I'm Sixty-Four" has an oboe, at least I think it is, and is more pop genius. Paul's clear vocals speak of a contented married life, or settled status, even if the choris hints at other things. Of course, for the band, married bliss would be hard to find, at least until the band had split. Masterful.

"Lovely Rita" has what could be described as a false start, then Paul comes in with the vocal. Another dazzling op song, built on a slip of an idea.

Starts with a cockrel crowing, before launching into a refrain of "good morning, good morning", the staple of many radio breakfast shows. Is it me, or does John's vocals always suggest something sinister, while Paul's is more whoolesome? Even if te song descibes a walk into the old town, past your old school, I felt that something bad was just about to happen. Hmmmmm.

Throwing in everything including the kitchen sink, the next to last track is "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (Reprise)", lasts just over a minute and ends with the hope that you enjoyed the show. I did.

The ends with "A Day in the Life", with various verses taken from stories in newspapers during its writing. John on vocals, with minimal backing until the orchestra joins in with a wall of sound, then Paul starts with what could be a different song, and sounds upbeat compared to John. It ends with more orchestra, then a long piano chord before some gibberish, which if played backwards, demands you buy more cheese.

It is an incredible piece of work, one that holds together through its 13 tracks and forty minute running time. A band at the height of its, and any other's, powers. Along with its pop art sleeve by Peter Blake, links popular music with popular and modern art. England really did swing, and this was the swingiest. Mama Cass played a test pressing of this loud one morning, giving her neighbours the first play of, well, an amazing record, one that I would have to listen to again and again to hear all it's layers, twists.

Sunday 23rd August 2026

We have had some rain in the last week. And contacts on Blue Sky mentioned that where they were, that where a week back there had been no spikes, there were now at least some after rain.

Which is how I had decided to climb Temple Ewell down again Sunday morning, just seven days after drawing a blank. Or was it fourteen?

Time goes so quickly.

Jools had slept badly, so decided not to come to the gym at seven, nor climb the down straight after. So I grabbed my gym bag, the camera, and car keys and was off in the car.

The gym is always empty Sunday mornings, even during school holidays, so the car park was mostly full, and just two others in the gym once I had climbed the stairs.

I thought it was cool outside, but was soon hot enough to want to bail early. Twenty minutes slipped to thirty, then it was do 300 calories and that would do it, doubly so as I would be walking up the down in a few minutes.

I drove over to Temple Ewell, parked behind the old pub, got out the walking pole and camera, then set off.

A year ago this was climbing an Alpine peak, something to be avoided except when there was no other way. After a year of phys, its not that bad,, so I pressed in through the lower wood, around the edge of the large meadow, up through the second wood, and out onto the open downland highlands.

Along the track, through the gate, and once passed the fence, down the slope, looking all round for signs of a spike.

I told myself I was stupid for thinking anything would have grown since I was last here, but then there were hundreds of new Devil's bit scabious now waving in the air, where they weren't last time I was here.

I walked down, and was running out of short grazed grass, when I saw the first spike. That green twist with white and green flowers meant there was no mistake.

And it had grown some four inches since I was last there, and in fact the lower flowers were already going brown having been pollenated.

I walked back up, and found a second, only partially open spike, but that was it: two plants.

But it counts.

And counts as my 66th and final wild European orchid species of 2026.

I went into the lower paddock to look for Autumn gentians, but found no trace, not even after the rain, so after an hour's searching, I walked back down the down to the car park and hence home.

Back home for half nine, time for a fresh brew and breakfast. Jools was feeling better and busy in the garden.

I went for a shower, changed and felt better. I instead prepared hash for lunch, chopping potatoes to have soak, then the vegetables and chorizo.

Potatoes boiled, let cool down, before frying the onions and peppers, then the chorizo, before finally cooking the potatoes until golden and crispy.

Then there was football, of course. Brighton (an Hove) swept to a 4-0 half time lead over then-man Villa, and from that there was no coming back. That was followed by Newcastle v Liverpool, where they remembered Kevin Keegan before kick off, then played attack v defence for 90 minutes in his honour.

Its what he would have wanted.

Supper was cheese and wine, with the wine being one of the bottles bought from Burgundy last month, and which cooked in the car as we headed south towards Spain. So, I thought it best to get it drunk.

No obvious drop in quality, 2022 was a very good Burgundian vintage.