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.