Monday 15th September 2025

Life is going well.

We have been going to the gym for about nine months.

At first it was a bit stop start: once a week maybe, and any excuse not to go.

But then I realised it was time to get serious, so once back from Scotland in July, it restarted.

From small beginnings, building up a minute or two more each time, increasing from twice a week to three, so that now I do 45 minutes, still not much, but it has done so much good.

My body, and my legs especially, was retaining water, they were huge legs. Someone else's legs, and they damaged easily, took weeks to heal, and made wearing socks painful, and walking was troublesome.

My legs are half a big now, my trousers loose, and maybe thinner in my face.

So this is a real spur to do more.

Monday began with coffee and then the gym. Beating the rush hour and school run, on the bike by half seven, and up mountains with another post-punk soundtrack as I pumped lard.

Jools had a pain in her leg and so bailed early, she was waiting in the car. So we headed home for breakfast and a shower.

We had a quiet day. Jools did crafts and watched her TV series, while I wrote and caught up on podcasts.

At meals we ate leftovers and stuff from the fridge, so that by tea time there was just pasties and a steak slice in it.

We listened to the Funk and Soul Show from Saturday as we ate and did admin.

Amazingly, my MOD pension arrived at least, some 22 days after my birthday.

No football in the evening, so I spent it hunched over England's 1000 Best Churches, studying the great parish churches of Nottinghamshire, as I am off on trip later this month.