Monday 16th March 2026

Monday. Again.

And a day with nothing much planned, and so a day in which nothing much happened.

Even the weather was dull, grey, cool, and not really inviting to go out in.

Jools went swimming first thing, getting ready while I slept on, only to be woken at twenty to six by Cleo using my legs as a way of getting from one side of the bed to the other.

Since we went away, I have a whole pile of podcasts, videos and radio shows to catch up on, so there is no trouble that I'll get bored.

And being an only child, I learned young how not to get bored, to read, listen or live inside my head.

And then there is the endless photos of orchids from Cyprus to sort through, edit and post. The blogs are posted, though I need to expand on them to make them more readable, and maybe add a shot or two.

So in doing one thing or another, the morning flies by.

We do find time to go to Tesco, to get fresh supplies as we were out, so we were there at nine, just before the second wave of older customers crashed into the car park.

For lunch there was breaded fish, and leftovers of sprouts and guanciale, creamed spinach and some grains from a pack. And the leftover maple syrup chicken, warmed in the air fryer.

Lovely mix of flavours, which seemed to work.

I watch an art documentary on Mannerism, the movement between the peace and balance of the Renaissance and the blood and cruelty of the Baroque. It is presented by our old friend, Waldemar Januszczak, who could make the phone book interesting. If they still made phone books.

In the garden, still no spawn, cowslips, or pasqueflowers in bloom yet. But close. And the male frogs are still waiting for their lady frog friends to come by.

Supper is, for me, jam on the slightly garlic bread I made. It was interesting, but I liked it.

And then there was football. And talking about football.

Maybe there is too much talking about football, talking about football all too seriously. I switch it off and so watch the Prem game on TV with Scully.

But that doesn't engage, so I go to bed before half time with Brentford leading Wolves 1-0. So miss the three later goals leading to an exciting 2-2 draw.

But by then I was asleep. Fast asleep.