Sunday 4th June 2023

Tonight I will be in Acle.

Tomorrow I will be in Heathrow.

Wednesday we will be in Oslo,

And on Thursday we will kip leaving Longyearbyen.

So it goes, so it goes.



I would like to say that my back was better on Sunday.

Would like to say, but it wasn't. And time is getting close to when I leave the house for the best part of 12 days.

So, hope it does improve.

Another slow start to the day with coffee, breakfast, coffee and then bacon butties meant that most of the morning was taken, leaving the only question of whether Jools would go swimming before or after lunch.

Before seemed to be the best choice, and I said I would drive her to the prom and collect her about half an hour later.

I'm not sure what the situation with the pollution in the harbour is, but there were plenty out and about, taking almost all the parking slots to suggest many were risking it. In fact I think the outfall is outside the harbour, so probably is clean enough.

I dropped her off, then zoomed to Military Road, parking on the other side to check the down for orchids and I hoped Small Blue butterflies.

Its still early, really, for COmmon Spotted, a few partially open spikes, and just a single Small Blue seen too.

In truth there wasn't much point in staying much longer as there was nothing much more to see, but my back suggested we get back to the car and ease up on the force of gravity.

So I did.

Back down to pick Jools up, then back home for a brew and lunch of Caprese and stale bread, which I then sleep off in bed through the rest of the afternoon.

And that was that, really.

I took some shots and a video in the garden, mainly of the sways of Ox-eye daisies that are beginning to open.

Supper of pan fried asparagus tips.

And that was Sunday.

Still felt like i had been run over by a bus.

Just sayin.....

For a Government that said it got all the big calls right on COVID, its sure going out of its way, using our taxplayer's money, to ensure we don't disproove that.

The Government set up an inquiry, gave it wide powers, appointed a judge to head it, then refused to provide documents requested, and is using both Judicial Review and the ECHR to try to stop those same documents being supplied.

And if they lose that, then are proposing to make them secret to can't be published to the public.

So much for open and honest Government, Mr Sunak.

And the greased pig that is Alexander Boris de Piffel Johnson, who is being provided with publically funded legal defence, then announced he would provide documents requested straight to the inquiry, drew the response from the Cabinet Office that unless he let them do the legalising, he would have to pay for his own defence.

How did a Government, Cabinet Office, set up its own inquiry, set terms of reference and judge to head it, get it so wrong?

As I have said before, these are not clever people, and putting policy statements into action is difficult, far too diifficult for former journalists and vulture capatalists to understand and carry out.

That the Government is using both JR, which it wants to limit everyone else's uses of, and revolk the ECHR and replace it with a UK bill of rights, seems what some are more equal than others, and when they decide its worth testing the legality, not when we want to do it.

That this is an inquir into how this Government reacted to COVID, one of the most predictable global emergencies that we were likely to encounter, and that members of the current Government were Minister through the pandemic. It seems focus is going to be on then then Chancellor's "eat out to help out" scheme, which several medial studies have shown were likely to ahve contributed to the second wave of infections and subsequent lockdown.

Sunak doesn't accept those findings: is he a scientists, does he challenge their findings? If so, how and why?

The eat out to help out was branded not by Government or Conservative party logos, but by the signature of the then Chancellor, now PM, Rishi Sunak.

What could he have to hide?

A break in service.

After tomorrow's post, there will probably be a break in posts for at least ten days, I expect "normal" service to resume on 16th June.

We are travelling.

By ship.

To the north.

There may be no interwebs on board, or low bandwidth.

See you on the other side.

Saturday 3rd June 2023

Cup Final Day.

And Word in the Park day.

For the third year, the podcast I subscribe to was hosting an event in Holland Park. I got my front row tickets months back, and had planned to meet up with friends I have made in the group.

And then I became away of the rail strike that was called for all days of the 3rd.

Just as I cpnvinced myself that no going was the sensible course of action, the producer, Magic Alex, messaged me to see if I was going and if so, would I mind taking some shots?

In no way swayed by the fact the lead singer of Altered Images, Clare Grogan, would be attending.

Oh no.

OK, I will go.

And then, my back went.

I would see how I felt on Saturday morning, but a route via Abbey Wood and the Elizabeth Line was worked out, it seemed it could be done, just relied on my back.

I got up Saturday, and the pain was less, so was looking good. But I would "road test" it round Tesco before deciding.

I was halfway round when the pain came back, the muscles tightened, so I shuffled back to the car to wait for Jools, plans in tatters.

I messaged Alex to let him know I wouldn't be going, then consoled myself with the thought I would sit on the sofa watching the cup final instead.

Most things have an upside.

However, it is many years since we had Cup Final Grandstand and Cup Final Question of Sport beofre live coverage of the teams travelling to Wembley via coach, inspecting the pitch, and before kick off, showing the "humourous" banners in the crowd.

At least the clouds cleared at last, and the sun shone, though it was still windy, maybe too windy for butterflies. But sunshine was good.

Instead, I would switch on coverage at five to three, watch the game listening to the radio, and switch off once the game had finished.

After lunch of leftovers and beer, I settled down for the game, Utd v Citeh, with Citeh going for the League and Cup double.

Not a bad game, all in all, Citeh eased to a 2-1 win, and as expected, I turned off the telly box. And that was that.

My back eased some during the day, thanks to applying pressure and ice packs to the affected area.

Maybe tomorrow would be better?

Friday 2nd June 2023

I woke up just before six and hoped my back would be better, but as usually happens, it hurt more after a session in the clinic the previous evening than the actual injury. I rolled over onto my back and I got a stabbing pain telling me exactly where I had injured it.

I climbed out of bed, knowing that I wouldn't be going far again today, and would also be relying on ice packs to soothe the pain.

Jools went to yoga, I did the bins, taking much longer to get up and down the drive.

And so to work, where I should be getting up every half hour to exercise my back, instead there was four hours of back to back meetings, so I sat, mostly in pain.

Not that I would be going for a walk later anyway, the wind still set from the north, and the cloud cover that has shrouded east Kent all week was due to continue at least until Saturday.

I went out later to take shots of something, anything.

Not much else to report, just hoping that tomorrow will bring normality, and a trip to London to take some exciting shots.

Thursday 1st June 2023

Start of summer.

Apparently.

Though no one seems to have told the weather, and east Kent is still being cooled by a keen north east wind straigt from the Norwegian coast.

In shot, it's bloody cold. Cold enough to have the heating on during the day and almost too cold to have a window open at night. The cats are confused as to which windows will or will not be open on an hour by hour basis.

And on top of that there is my back, of course, which is giving me gip. THough was milder in the morning and had eased to a dull ache by lunchtime, so a visit to the chiropractor evening would sort it out good and proper, no?

No.

But I did sleep well, even pinned in by Cleolicious, so was up and about, if not bouncing, then able to limp down stairs for coffee, and in due course set u the office, lifting the large screen and plaptop from their storage on the floor under the stairs.

Jools asked if there was anything she could do. I mean, apart from a new back, not really. I know the thought was good and meant well, but I was back feeling sorry for myself.

I logged on at work, and for the day there was the latest announcements in the reorganisation of the quality function across the company. I listened to the fine words and asked a couple of cheeky questions. Essentially, why should we trust those who made this decision when the last few they made were so wrong?

I made my point.

Then there was the latest binfire to look into, and as Sherock once said, "once you have eliminated all possible explainations, you are left with the impossible". And so a situation that should never have happened, happened.

Mind: boggled.

I give in to the pain by half two, get an ice pack and find somewhere less painful to sit.

Not much chance for pictures, just in the garden, and with the ox-eye daisies now beginning to flower, have one of those.

And for the evening, I went down the hill to the chiropractor, and he said as I was out of balance he must do stuff.

I was pulled and yanked, so after 25 minutes able to go home, hoping I would wake up pain free.

I hoped.

Wednesday 31st May

The last day of the month and about to enter what we laughingly call "high summer", when in fact its cool enough still some nights to get an air frost, and during the day, I put the heating on.

What this day brought was pain and agony.

But first it was a slight lay in, and a coffee.

It was chilly, so I put some socks on.

Or I bent over to put some socks on.

And my back went "click".

And clicked again.

I knew what this meat, my lower two vertebrae, or the tendons connecting them, did not work, and for a moment the lower one hyper extended before being released.

Not as bad as four years ago when it took four weeks for some kind of normality to return and the pain to fade, but bad enough.

Jools rubbed some cooling gel on and I took a pill.

I could walk, though sitting was painful.

Nothing Jools could do so she went to work, I messaged my boss and she told me to take the day off.

Which I did.

I got an ice pack and put that on my back, sat for half an hour and walked around, alternated that all morning. Had a shower and went to bed, where I fell asleep, and when I woke up I had Cleo asleep beside me, pinning me against the wall.

Not much else to tell about the rest of the day: I sat around, applied an ice pack at regular intervals, then shuffled around the house making a brew or feeding the cats.

I cooked dinner, chicken and chips, we eat and Jools clears away while I sit at the table feeling sorry for myself.

For the evening there was football.

Yay!

Europa League Final, Seville v Roma, and was a shit game, lots of shithousery and fake injuries, while Jose complained on the sidelines.

1-1 at full time, and the end of extra time. I was fo fed up before the penalties, so little did i care.