Monday 2nd February 2026

I have a friend who will visit Canterbury Cathedral once the scaffolding has been taken down from outside.

I had tried two weeks ago to check, but found the cathedral closed for a conferance.

Last week the weather was most inclement, apart from Wednesday when there just wasn't time, as it opens at 10:00 for the winter months, not an hour earlier like in summer on previous visits.

The forecast changed for Monday, so plans we made to head to the city once the rush hour ended, and get there at about ten when the cathedral would be quiet.

Jools went swimming first thing, I went back to sleep and woke at six with Jools having already left, and me being used as a kitty bed.

I got out from beside Cleo, got dressed and made a coffee. Downstairs I found one of the cats had used the litter tray for "number 2s", and had wandered off halfway, so there was a train of poo across the carpet. Jools had cleaned the carpet, but I would change the litter and the remains of the cat's eggs.

Once daylight arrived, the litter was emptied, the tray cleaned, dried and refilled. Bird seed refilled too, and then to catch up on stuff online, wait for Jools so we could have breakfast.

We were all set for a half nine departure, a quick blast up the A2 in damp conditions, along New Dover Road to the ring road, then to the parking garage where we would pay a nice chap to clean the car whilst we went about our stuff.

I went straight to the Cathedral. Its always a wonderful sight, seeing the towers rise above the timber-framed houses along the narrow cobbled streets as you approach the Christchurch Gate. I always take a shot or two, and did again.

I paid to get in, and walked into the Close, and saw that indeed the scaffolding had all gone.

It loos splendid, all clean stone and repaired carvings.

I walk in and see the Nave empty of chairs, not sure I've seen that before. A guide asks if I needed help or guidance, but I was good.

She did tell me to make sure I saw the newly carved updated list of Archbishops, as the new one was in vestured last week at St Paul's in that London.

I took shots.

And I went round taking shots of memorials and views I hadn't snapped before, or love taking.

The cathedral was pretty empty still, so I admire the windows, especially now the west window is free of scaffolding and all glass has been replaced. These are the oldest stained glass in England, dating from the 12th century.

On leaving, two groups of schoolchidren are entering, their voices filling the large empty space of the Nave. I wait for them to pass, then go to sit in the Close, message Jools as to where we should meet.

I get no answer, so exit through the shop, and walk up to Tiny Tim's Tearooms, where I order a beef and cheese bagel and a pot of tea, as I had come suddenly hungry.

At midday, I get a message from Jools, we would meet back at the car. So I walk to Whitefriars, and wait for her before we took the lift to where our car was waiting, all gleaming and looking like new.

We drove home in the rain, which had began again, this time set in for the day.

I had bought two cheese scones from Tiny Tim's, so that was our lunch. Though in truth there were like small loaves. So much so, in fact, we wanted nothing else to eat that day.

I sat on the sofa with Scully to keep her company, so we watch Bangers and Cash for 90 minutes.

Its great that we can just write the day off because either we want to or the weather is crap.

There was Sunderland v Burnley on the tellybox to entertain me, though it was pretty much one way traffic. So much so I went to bed at half time, but the cheers from next door woke me up with Sunderland scored their third and last goal of the night.

Sunday 1st February 2026

Every day is like Sunday,
Every day is cloudy and grey.

Or at least this Sunday was.

But was also the first day of the second month, and the never-ending month of January finally came to an end.

As I have said before, there are signs of spring, if you look for them, and there is a good half hour, or more, light in the evenings now.

It is a Sunday, so that means phys after coffee, and perhaps is the best day in the gym of the week, as few are as crazy or single-minded as us to be there at seven when the doors open.

I had planned to do another 50 minutes, but my legs said "nah", so it was the usual forty, which was the almost exact time the latest edition of The Bugle Podcast took to play.

So, all good.

And back home, passing families and late risers on the way in, but we had done our session, so another day of relaxation spread out before us.

Once home we had a brew, then while we listen to the radio, we have breakfast.

Jools had volunteered to inflate tyres of a friend's car, so while she was out I had a shave, shower and got dressed, now fragrant for the afternoon on the sofa.

No football until two, so I made chorizo hash, and all ready to eat by half one. Served with beer, and instead of Maris Pipers, I used some old baking potatoes, cubed and fried, as was pretty good.

What can I say about football? Two good games, but less than 24 hours later I can barely remember who played.

Man Utd beat Fulham 3-0, so perhaps are no longer in crisis, and then Tottenham v Citeh, where it was a game of two halves, Citeh dominated and were 2-0 up at half time, then Spurs dominated the second and drew 2-2.

Entertaining, if nothing else.

Saturday 31st January 2026

A year ago, Scully was diagnosed with diabetes.

To say that we had patchy advice and treatment from our vets would be an understatement.

We trusted the vet, and all the while the diabetes raged, and Scully lost more and more weight.

Thankfully, a friend pointed us in the direction of an online message board, but that was in August, Scully had lost nearly half her weight and was literally skin and bones.

It has been a long journey. Testing sometimes hourly, and injecting insulin twice a day. We have made mistakes and doubted ourselves, but we were reassured, it would get better.

And it has.

This is the test equipment, for which a month's testing cots something like £60, with insulin on top of that. But what price you pet's health?

She is putting on weight, nearly one and a half kilos, and is less desperate for food, and likes so snuggle up with us on the sofa.

On Friday, she played with a twig in the garden for half an hour, like a kitten. She's sixteen in July!

I thought we were going to lose her in the summer, instead she is almost back to her old self.

And so to Saturday.

Awake at six, and after coffee we were off to Whitfield to the sports centre: me to the gym and Jools to the pool.

I decided to try to do more, so did 50 minutes, 20% increase on usual, and was enjoyable, other than a numb bum from the hard seat.

I had to wait ten minutes for Jools, so watched families arrive for the fun swim session, their children so excited.

We drive home, and once back have a brew, top up the feeders, then the day was ours to waste.

Music for the morning: Radcliffe and Maconie on 6 Music, then Huey over on Virgin Radio, six music of great music and chat.

It was a bright day, but cold, too cold for gardening said Jools. I was happy with that, and anyway I had cooking to do. A lemon drizzle cake, though without the drizzle.

And then football.

Though the footy didn't engage, so we watched the final episode of Smiley's People, all spycraft and English upper class understatement.

Brilliant stuff.

Then to the sofa to listen to 5 Live and watch Final Score as Norwich went for four wins in a row.

Sadly, it was one game too far, though we gave Middlesborough a good game and only lost 1-0.

After supper there was Chelsea v West Ham, which was entertaining enough, and Chelsea won 3-2, coming back from two down.

Friday 30th January 2026

We come to the end of January.

Signs of spring are everywhere, if you look.

Daffodils are beginning to flower, crocuses are close, and out in the fields and lanes, wild flowers are in bud or flowering.

In our garden, the dwarf Witch Hazel has begun to do it's thing. Is it flowering? I don't know.

But I had to snap this in a gap between heavy rain showers, as Friday was rather inclement.

Jools went to yoga as usual. I went back to sleep so didn't hear the car being driven out, but once I did come to, I could hear the heavy rain hammering on the car port roof.

And it was bins day.

That meant once up and dressed, putting on the sou'wester, oilskins and the rest just to drag the brown and black bins to the top of the drive.

Then back down to fill up the feeders and scatter peanuts for the corvids and wood pigeons.

It took about four hours for the rain to lessen, by which time I had got one of the bins back down.

Jools came back, so we had breakfast and a brew before she was out for her craft morning.

Its all go here.

While I stayed behind to make a huge pot of chilli. Jools had requested chilli, so we had bought all the ingredients on Thursday, so all I had to do was combine them, in the right amounts and cook for some time to make six meals for chilli, the other five would be frozen as batch cooking.

Three onions, two pounds of mince, three cans of tomatoes, five cans of kidney beans, seven cans of water, two stock cubes, chilli powder, cayenne pepper, dried chipotle and two splashed of Jesper's special chilli sauce.

Once all was combined, simmer for three hours of so and it was ready. So all there was left to do was boil some rice, and serve.

Some tortillas would have been nice, but it was OK. Good in fact.

Then to the sofa for two more editions of Smiley's People, while between us, Scully slept happily, as her sugars have stabilised and she is no longer desperate for food.

Thursday she ran around the garden chasing a twig for nearly and hour. Not bad for a senior cat of sixteen years.

There was the music quiz, but my knowledge of Sting solo albums was somewhat lacking, so no points for Jelltex.

Playing the old hits!

This was today's front page of the Daily Express:

Let me explain this simply:

1. The referendum asked if the UK should remain or leave the European Union. We left, both economically and politically.

2. The agreement was ratified by the General Election in 2019, as Johnson's "oven ready deal".

3. So happy was Nigel Farage that he stood down every one of his MPs in constituencies where the Conservative Party was expected to win.

4. Johnson won his landslide.

5. On 31st January 2020, the UK left the European Union.

6. This was a "proper Brexit", as this was the one that the electorate backed.

7. This is the deal that Johnson negotiated, Baddenoch as a Minister in his Government backed this deal. And Farage backed by withdrawing his party to ensure a Conservative victory.

8. I don't believe that the UK has the appetite for another Brexit election. In fact, we are all tired of it, all the little things that make life difficult, expensive and time-consuming.

9. A harder Brexit will make the regulatory border in the Irish Sea harder, and leaving the ECHR is explicitlyagainst the Good Friday Agreement.

10. All three support Trump and want to bring Trumpism, ICE, camps and repatriation of migrants that are here legally and have the right to stay.

Thursday 29th January 2026

Being Thursday, it means up at five fifteen, getting dressed, drinking coffee, all before going to the sports centre for some phys.

Each morning I read old blog posts I have written, and the reoccurring theme is my bad back and that it seems to ache most of the time.

Exercise either curtailed or cancelled due to various severity of back ache.

What I can see is that I have not really had back ache for about three months now, maybe more, and being careful with the phys, I have suffered no other injuries. Other than a minor back muscle pull when tying shoelaces back in December, even then, cycling did it good. As did ice packs and drugs.

So, off to the gym where I do a little bit more than Tuesday, which probably means another level increase over the weekend.

After phys, we go to Tesco to gather supplies, rushing round throwing stuff in the trolley.

And then back home before rush hour and the school run peaks. And that was it for the day as far as excitement goes.

Shower, shave, breakfast, put the shopping away, while outside the rain did fall yet again.

For lunch at two, it was leftovers. Or, the remaining hunk of prime rib, sliced and heated in the air fryer, served with fresh roast potatoes, Yorkshire puddings, veg and gravy also left for the meal on Monday.

A fine meal, lots of vegetables, and this time all crunchy, crispy golden roast potatoes were eaten.

We then retired to the sofa to watch two episodes of Smiley's People, before facing the task of clearing up the plates and washing up.

And another Smiley's People to follow that too.

Night fell outside, and so the final tasks carried out: a brew with a couple of chocolate digestives, put out the milk bottles, close the curtains, before finally turning the heating down.

And so the 29th day of January drew to an end.

Nigel, the rag n bone man

Here is a list of former Conservative ministers, MPs and current MPs who have defected to Reform:

Robert Jenrick

Danny Kruger

Andrew Rosindell

Lee Anderson

Suella Braverman

Nadhim Zahawi

Nadine Dorries

David Jones

Lia Nici

Jonathan Gullis

Andrea Jenkyns

Jake Berry

Adam Holloway

Ben Bradley

Chris Green

Sarah Atherton

Maria Caulfield

Anne Marie Morris

Ross Thomson

Alan Amos

Marco Longhi

Aidan Burley

Lucy Allan

For the most part these are not the sharpest knives in the drawer, nor do many have any apparent talent. I'm looking at you, Gullis. Many were Ministers at one time or another in the various Conservate Governments from 2010 onwards, or blowhards for Brexit, in love with Boris, but all part of the same former political party that Governed the country, which they now claim is a broken Britain.

Note, not UK.

Jenrick and Braverman were Home Secretaries, and Jenrick was the Home Secretary that had the bright idea of stopping asylum applications to create the crisis of hotels overflowering with asylum seekers.

Something he now seems to have forgotten. And people who could have executed whatever policy thay wanted, certainly after 2019 when Johnson won a lanslide, so could have fixed the issue, had it have politically beneficial to do so.

Instead he and Braverman played politics and the racist card with the most desperate of people, because it made them look tough. And cruel. Though cruel is what they are.

So, Farage has filled his "Party" with Tory rejects, the people who created the situations through Brexit and failed immigration, who most of them claim the party they left, The Conservative and Union Party, broke Britain, which they were members of.

We can only hope that the electroate sees it the same way, failed politicians for a failed party trying to enact failed policies.