Wednesday 20th May 2026

We made it to the middle of the week.

I get to lay in. If, my brain and body lets me. But I was awake before five, so use the bathroom and lay in bed snoozing until just before six.

Jools was up. The cats were fed and the coffee was brewing.

This was the Wednesday of the month when Jools travels to Bromley for another knit and natter group, so I would drop her off in town at eight, then rush back home for a guy with a ladder to come round to fix the guttering.

It was a cool but bright morning, but the promise was of warmer weather "soon". In fact it would come quite soon.

After dropping Jools off, I went into town to go to M&S for some bread when it opened, so was there to witness the local soaks sitting outside the church tugging on cans of Special Brew and letting out rasping laughs.

Others crossed the road to avoid them, but 'Spoons opened at eight too, so they wandered off up the alley beside the church to get their first rounds in.

I go to St James and into M&S, and find that a pack of chocolate covered shortbread rounds also fell into the basket.

With my swag, I scarper to the car and drive home for a cuppa and breakfast.

When the sun shone, it was almost warm, so had the back door op. But when it clouded over, I closed the back door to keep the warmth in. So, the morning passed with me opening and closing the back door.

I texted the guy with the ladder asking what time he might be round. Be there in forty five minutes he chipped.

So I made a fresh brew and found something to listen to. It was just before one, and it looked brighter.

He turned up at quarter past one. He looked up at the guttering and said "your swan's neck is loose!"

He got his son to get the ladder out, selected the tool, put up the ladder and was up like a weasel in a rabbit hole. But up.

Three minutes it was done, he came down and filled in the paperwork, and was gone.

I sat in the garden ready the WSC World Cup Guide, with Cleo fussing around me, jumping on my lap and grooming me.

Its just cupboard love.

Summer, it turned out, arrived some time between three and four, as the wind changed and became warm, so temperatures soared.

There was a railtour coming through, so at half four I head down to Martin Mill to take position up on the platform, snapping a Dover-bound Electrostar as I arrived.

I went over to the up platform, and took position opposite a mother, grandmother and child, he barely four years old. But excited.

I told him to listen for the whistle as it approached Cold Blow Lane, that meant it would be in sight within a minute.

We heard the distant whistle.

Show time!

Despite was real time train times website said about it being on time, she appeared some four minutes late, Braunton making a whole load of smoke.

She was working hard up the bank, so the camera motor went Whrrrrrrrrr, as I rattled off 200 shots in about ten seconds.

And so was past us, into the haze of a summer evening, the train soon lost in the haze and its smoke.

Job done.

Back up the hill in the car to home so to test and feed Scully, then the rest of the posse.

Jools got back on the six fifteen train, so I was at Priory station to meet her, and whisk us home up Jubilee Way. Dinner was Caprese with warmed up focaccia from M&S and for me, red wine.

Cheers.

For the evening there was European football, now part of our TV package, so watched Aston Villa win their first European trophy in some 44 years, and former Norwich midfield genius, Emi, score a worldie and set up another goal.