13 July 2026 (Monday) - Rather Busy

I slept through till five o’clock this morning which was something of a result. I then made the schoolboy error of going to the loo only to come back to find dogs in what had been my warm space. I eventually folded myself around then and dozed on and off for another hour or so.

 

I made toast and had my usual look at the Internet as I do. It was rather quiet this morning. No one was picking fights over trivia, no one was demanding that their imaginary god could have another person’s imaginary god in a fight. No one was having a birthday…

I had some emails. People had been looking for my geocaches in Kings Wood and elsewhere yesterday. Those who’ve not been playing the game for that long were rather effusive in their written logs. Those who are amongst the country’s top finders weren’t quite so. I’d like to think they didn’t mean to be quite as rude as they appeared to be in what they’d written.

I thought about sending then a snarky message, but thought better of doing so.

 

I took the dogs up to the woods. As I drove the pundits on the radio were talking about the Falklands war of 1982. Apparently the next game that the England football team will play in the ongoing World Cup is against the Argentinian team, and a whole load of bad feeling has been stirred up.

We got to the woods and had a good walk. We didn’t see any normal people, we didn’t go in any swamps.

We replaced two geocaches that had been reported as being missing (as they were). We took a different route to our usual one. Being a warmer day I deliberately took the dogs on a shorter route… it was only about a quarter of a mile shorter according to my mapping app. I would have said a whole mile shorter – shows what I know.

 

I came home and harvested an epic crop of dog dung, cleaned out the fish pond filter, voomed round with the bionic burner, then had a little look at some of my Wherigos. A Wherigo is a special sort of geocache in which you play a little game on your phone (which I write) before being told where to find the actual geocache. Sadly a lot of people use cheat software to rip into the coding of what I’ve written to get the location without playing the game. So I’ve started writing Wherigos containing pictures giving fake locations. These pictures never appear when playing the actual game properly, but do appear when you use the cheat software.

I’ve had several people messaging me saying that they can’t find my Wherigos, and when I ask what co-ordinates they’ve got they give me the fake co-ordinates that I’ve set to catch them out. And then they try to pretend they haven’t been cheating…

 

I Munzed, Wordled from “cheat” to “stout” in four goes, and then sat by the pond reading “The Kraken Wakes”. Or I tried to. I found myself rather engrossed in the antics of the pigeons. Having spent a load of time, effort and money setting up a splash-aerator-ornamental-fish thingy it would seem that the pigeons are using it as a water fountain so that they can get a drink. I’m not complaining though; they do far less damage when they stand and drink from that than when they try to stand on the floating baskets and capsize the lot. Which they also tried to do this afternoon.

 

“er indoors ^TM” boiled up pizza and chips and then went bowling. I cracked on with the ironing whilst watching something on Netflix. “Unchosen” is about a young woman struggling with being a part of a crackpot religious sect.

Being very wrapped up in crackpot religion when younger, that could so easily have been me.

12 July 2026 (Sunday) - Early Shift

I woke seriously early this morning. Rather than laying awake I made toast and watched the last episode of "Earth Abides".  I watched five episodes last night and watched the last one this morning. Having seen that a TV adaptation had been made of one of my favourite books I had been intrigued to see what had been done... To be honest it wasn't bad. Compared to the absolute balls-ups that have been made of televising some books (The Foundation series immediately springs to mind) it could have been a whole lot worse. The writers had taken a few liberties with the plot, and had left out quite a few of the most important parts of the book. And (like with the Harry Potter films) if you hadn't read the book you'd be wondering about a few scenes which were otherwise inexplicable.  But all things considered, a lot better than I thought it might have been.

If you've not seen it, give it a go. It's free to watch on You-Tube.

 

I Wordled, and set off to work, listening to my newly acquired Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy MP3s. They were a bit fizzy in parts, but looking back to the late seventies, the original broadcasts were also bit fizzy in parts.

As I drove the roads were quiet, as well they should be early on a Sunday morning, but there was quite a bit of traffic in Sissinghurst. I couldn't work out why until I saw the signs. A boot fair. I was amazed at just how many people were already going round the boot fair at half past six. Boot fairs are truly a sign of our times, aren't they? Back in the day people gave their rubbish to the Boys Brigade and the Scouts who would hold a jumble sale to raise funds. These days people just have a stall at a boot fair and pocket the profits themselves.

Mind you back in the day when I used to be involved with the Boys Brigade and the Scouts it was clear that jumble sales had had their day. What with the poncey stalls that they attract  it's rather fashionable to go to the boot fairs. There's a certain air of almost snobbery showing off the trinket you snapped up when you found it at a boot fair. But who has ever boasted about going to a jumble sale, let alone admitted to actually buying something from one? 

 

I got to work and did my bit. In between doing my bit I read my Kindle. I've started re-reading "The Kraken Wakes" by John Wyndham. I've always said this was an old favourite of mine... but I'd forgotten the writing style. Ridiculously upper-class and pretentious.  I still like it though.

When the late shift arrived at mid-day I slipped off for a spot of lunch. Last night “er indoors ^TM” had brought home a job lot of sarnies from the family bash I'd missed last night. As I scoffed them I thought that it would have been good to have got along. Not only could I have caught up with friends and family I've not seen for ages, but I could also have met up with one of my most loyal readers too (waves 😊 ).

But Treacle goes mental and screams and shouts if left unsupervised for more than a few minutes, and I'd rather not upset the neighbours any more than I need to. Treacle don't care though.

 

Being on an early shift was something of a result (I like the early shifts). I again listened to the Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy as I drove home.  Having left the crew of the Starship "Heart of Gold" facing certain death when I'd arrived at work, I drove home listening to their antics at the restaurant at the end of the universe. Did you know there's a restaurant at the end of the universe? It turns out that there's no judgement day waiting for us, just a rather posh restaurant. And if you stick one penny in a bank account today, by the time the end of the universe comes, compound interest will have paid for your meal. 

If you live that long...

Alternatively you could spend your time with a load of hairdressers and accountants on the “B” Ark.

 

As I drove home I felt myself wilting. I got home and once I’d watered he plants and done “FEED THE FISH” I had a little shut-eye in the garden. Again having been wide awake during the night when I should have been sparko I found myself struggling to stay awake during the afternoon (And it wasn’t as though I’d been on the sauce like yesterday)

 

We had a rather good bit of dinner, and I was falling asleep over that too. I really should have an early night…

11 July 2026 (Saturday) - Dog Club, Dinner, Telly

Something odd was going on with not-so-nice-next-door this morning. Her back door was wide open. Her back door is never open for more than a second. She always has it locked, and it is open just long enough for her to jump through when she then locks it again. I wonder what was going on there this morning?

 

I made toast and looked at Facebook. It would seem that Anne Widdecombe (who I mentioned yesterday) was murdered. Whilst I realise that it is bad form to speak ill of the dead, it always amazed me that someone who was an active church-goer could have so strongly supported the policies that she did. Mind you our local Restore UK councillor is much the same. He goes to church, does such good work with the local homeless… and look at what his party advocates.

A new puzzle geocache went live. It didn’t take me long to solve it… or (to be precise) find its location. However when you get there, you’ve got a field puzzle involving a nine-volt battery. That sort of thing is all good fun, but it don’t last long before someone breaks it.

 

I Munzed, Wordled from “locks” to “avian” in four goes, then strained my brain as Steve announced the “Guess the Lyrics” competition. “Oh so let her go don’t’ start spoiling the show”. I got it right away – “Livin’ Thing” by ELO.

I sat and listened for my mention on air, and having heard the world being told that I was the first one to get it we got ready for the morning.

 

We took the dogs round to Repton and Dog Club. We had over twenty dogs along and had a great time. Mostly. Morgan has got issues with one of the newer dogs, but every time he got a little feisty I shouted at him and he came back.

From Dog Club we drove off to Charing. We tried to do Steve’s Mystery Year competition on the radio, but as we set off so the news was starting, and by the time the news and the adverts had finished we were half way up Charing hill and the signal had all but given up.

 

We got to the car park of the Wagon and Horses where we met Karl and Tracey. We went for a little walk round Longbeech North. We walked the same woods last weekend; it was rather cooler this weekend.

And with walk walked we came back to the cars and then on to the Wagon and Horses where we had a rather good bit of dinner and a little drinkie too. Though not quite as much of a little drinkie as we had last weekend.

 

We came home. I watered the garden and counted up the Dog Club money. Bearing in mind we charge one pound fifty per dog per week, how could I possibly have ended up with an odd thirty-five pence?

We did “FEED THE FISH”, I watered the plants. “er indoors ^TM” went off to a family meal in Rye. I stayed on dog duty. Having downloaded some old favourite books and MP3s I discovered “Earth Abides” had been made into a TV show. Rather than paying good money for the MGM app I had a look on You-Tube. So far the show is rather good.

 

I’ve just had a little break to do dog dinner. Morgan has refused everything. Treacle has eaten hers and Bailey’s leftovers, and having had a couple of mouthfuls Bailey has just gone into the garden where she ate the turd that Treacle had just dropped…

I’m going to watch more “Earth Abides”…

10 July 2026 (Friday) - Early Shift

I woke at four o’clock which with an alarm set was something of a result. I got up and spent an age trying to find something to watch on Netflix. I eventually settled on something called “Master of None” which was rather rubbish really.

I then had a little look t the internet which was rather quiet at half past five this morning. A friend was posting from his second Sicilian flat… He’s just bought another flat in Sicily. Holiday homes are all very well, but personally I’m not keen on the travelling to and fro. I sent out a birthday wish, and with not a lot else happening I got ready for work.

 

As I drove to work the pundits on the radio were talking about the Bayeux tapestry which arrived at the British Museum in the small hours and will be in the UK for a year.

For years I thought the Bayeux tapestry and the Hastings Embroidery were the same thing mainly because our teachers at Red Lake Primary School told is that they were. Not that anyone who lives outside of Hastings would ever have heard of either before today. I can remember our teachers at school making such an issue about it/them.

And there was talk about Anne Widdecombe who died overnight. Everyone seems to think she was a wonderful old duck following her appearance on Strictly Come Dancing; no one seems to remember what she stood for. Her voting record in parliament showed she was against gay rights, consistently voted against allowing terminally ill people to be given assistance to end their life, always voted against measures to prevent climate change, and thought the unelected House of Lords was a good thing.

 

I stopped off at the petrol station in Pembury where the stuff was five pence per litre cheaper than it was at home. I saved myself over two quid... which I then blew in Tesco not realising that the berries snack pot was classed as a main meal and not a snack, and consequently wasn't included in the meal deal.

As I queued to find this out, so some idiot woman was holding up the queue by gossiping at anyone who came within shouting distance.

 

Work was work. We had the inspectors in. Perhaps I'm getting old, but the inspector who sat with me this morning looked as though he was about twelve years old. Back in the day the bulk of laboratory inspections were carried out by recently retired lab staff.  

 

Being on an early, home time came early (it does that). I drove home listening to the Hitch Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy MP3s I downloaded. They were a tad fizzy in places, but something for nothing is always good. I can (vaguely) remember tuning in to them when they were on the radio nearly fifty years ago. I can also remember other things on the radio from back then. The Grumbleweeds (although incredibly dire on the telly) were rather funny on the radio, and Roy Castle used to have a very amusing radio show too. I wonder if I can get copies of those?

 

“er indoors ^TM” boiled up a rather good bit of dinner which we scoffed whilst watching more episodes of “The Traitors USA”. It was entertaining enough…

9 July 2026 (Thursday) - FTF, Phone Games, Plonk, Too Hot

I woke at five o’clock to the sound of Treacle whimpering. She’d got off the bed and wanted to come back up but clearly couldn’t. I got up to help her… and she jumped straight back onto the bed. Ho hum…

 

As I made toast I noticed my coffee mug was still a tad grubby. A quick look at the dishwasher showed several of the rinsing nozzles were bunged up. “er indoors ^TM” took it to bits and had a full-on fight with it. You wouldn’t believe the amount of muck that came out.

Whilst she clouted the thing I scoffed toast and peered into the Internet as I do. The MP for Faversham was all over Facebook whinging about what a pain in the arse “Operation Brock” has been and will be. She talked a good fight, but seemed to draw a veil over how “Operation Brock” is one of the most obvious and tangible results of Brexit (which she was all in favour of). As I’ve mentioned before, our system of democracy is a stupid one. The masses don’t like foreigners so we vote for firm border controls. And part of firm border controls is taking time to control the borders and the masses don’t like that either. And we have politicians like this one cheering on both policies effectively saying black is white and right is wrong because she doesn’t dare alienate the electorate by telling them what they don’t want to hear.

I Munzed, Wordled and we got ready for the off.

 

On Sunday morning I saw a new geocache had gone live near the canal near Hythe. Someone had looked for it that morning and not found it. On Monday the chap who’d hidden it had updated the given co-ordinates, and on Tuesday he’d posted that he’d had a look and seen it was in place. But with no one having logged a First to Find I had a plan that this might make a little dog walk this morning before it got too hot.

We drove down to Hythe and despite the utterly meaningless hint “Take the path less noticed—look where nature stands guard” we found a tube hanging from some barbed wire about seven feet up. But we were first to find it, which was more than we’d achieved yesterday which was a result.

We carried on along the canal for a little walk. Treacle fell in but was soon hoiked out. And as we came to the bridge across the canal we found a little café. I got us an ice lolly each. There’s no denying that Soleros have shrunk massively since I last had one. Apparently it’s all about reducing the calories and not maximising the profits.

 

We got back to the car just as it was getting seriously hot. Once home, “er indoors ^TM” went off shopping and got herself a haircut. Personally I’ve a set of trimmers which I run over my head every couple of weeks or so, but she pays good money to have her hair looking pretty much the same as it was before she went for the short back and slap.

I spent a few minutes fiddling about on-line and found MP3 versions of the original broadcasts of “The Hitch Hiker’s guide to the Galaxy” which I’ve put on my MP3 stick. “er indoors ^TM” returned and sorted rather good tuna and cheese rolls and we sat in the garden for a bit. Having seen endless adverts for “Matching Story” I thought I’d give it a go. It was nothing like the adverts.

 

I had a little sleep until the dogs went mad. We’d had a delivery. A few days ago I mentioned I was trying to get the Adrian Mole books in audiobook format. I came up with a plan that if I could resurrect my old lap-top I could use the CD drive on that to rip the CDs to my MP3 stick. It was a good plan, thwarted only by eBay. Having bought the complete Adrian Mole collection on audiobook CDs, am I being hopelessly naïve in expecting something billed as “The complete collection” to have all eight books and not just the first three?

The first book was on five CDs… it only took an hour to convert them to MP3 format. I’ll do the next two later, and if any of my loyal readers have any of the last five Adrian Mole books on CDs… (he smiled hopefully).

 

“er indoors ^TM” boiled up a very good bit of dinner which we washed down with a bottle of that cheap plonk whilst we watched the latest series of “The Traitors US” in which a couple of dozen supposedly celebrities tried to out-overact each other.

 

I’ve set the dishy loose on the day’s crockery. Hopefully its overhaul of this morning will have sorted it out. We shall see.

8 July 2026 (Wednesday) - The Heatwave Continues

Despite the heat I slept well last night. Settled dogs make such a difference.

I got up and had a look at the potted plants in the garden. Every morning not-so-nice-next-door is out watering her plants, but the soil in my pots was still damp from yesterday so I didn’t give them another drenching. You can over-water… I think I might have don’t for my acers by doing that.

 

I made toast and had a look at the Internet. All the talk on social media this morning was about that odious Nigel Farage who was playing silly beggars. Having been accused of all sorts of financial irregularities, rather than facing a proper investigation he’s resigned as an MP. He says he will stand in a by-election and the public can decide between him and “the establishment”. It’s a rather silly attention-seeking stunt that has blown up in his face as all of the other political parties have announced they aren’t going to stand in any by-election he might set off.

I really can’t understand why anyone would vote for him anyway. It’s nothing to do with his policies; it’s him. He’s never seen in his constituency, and his record as an MEP (back in the day). He was one of the top three most poorly attending MEPs and there were allegations of his diverting money even then. His stock in trade is to stand on the political sidelines and heckle. The last thing he ever wanted was to ever get elected to anything because he would then have to do something.

And there was talk about how many non-native invasive species are now living wild in the UK. I’ve seen scorpions, parakeets, wallabies and catfish all within twenty miles of home, and I think I’ve heard wild boar (and seen their turds) in Kings Wood.

 

I Munzed. I Wordled from “plant” to “demon” in five goes, and we took the dogs out before it got too hot. A couple of days ago a new geocache went live in Denge Wood (near Petham). There was still no find logged on it this morning. Looking at the maps it seemed as though it was a mile into the woods so we’d have shade.

We had a minor snag when the road there was closed, but we eventually got to where we needed to park. We had a good walk out to where the geocache was supposed to be. The hint was “nestled at the bottom of a tree” and with the difficulty set to the easiest rating possible it shouldn’t have been a difficult find.

We arrived to find the leaf litter had been brushed away from pretty much every tree within fifty feet of where the GPS said we needed to be. Someone else had obviously already been there and had a good look round before us.

We searched for twenty minutes before giving up. But having had a decent walk out we had a decent walk back to the car. And I took a few photos whilst we were out too.

 

We got home just as it was getting too hot.  “er indoors ^TM” sorted us iced coffee. I marked a trainee’s essay on the laboratory investigation of haemostatic abnormalities, then spent an afternoon slobbing in the garden. Reading my Kindle, playing Meowdoku, “FEEDING THE FISH”, watering the plants, having a little snooze…

 

We had a rather good dinner which we scoffed whilst watching a film. Despicable Me 4 was rather good…

7 July 2026 (Tuesday) - Too Hot (Again)

Everyone was settled last night. No one fidgeted or wanted to go shouting at seagulls and I slept through until seven o’clock.

I got up, made toast and had my little look at the Internet. It was still there, and was much the same as it ever was. This morning’s squabble was on a Facebook bird watching page where someone wanted people to identify the woodpecker he’d just photographed. The bird in question looked like a goldfinch to me (and a lot of other people too) but the chap who’d posted the photo knew a woodpecker when he saw one, or so he claimed.

 

I took the dogs up to the woods for an early walk. It didn’t seem as warm as yesterday. As we walked there was a buzzard flying low through the trees squawking like a thing possessed. I stood and watched it for a few minutes, and then realised that fifty yards away a herd of deer were also watching it too. The dogs were utterly oblivious to the deer.

We had a minor episode as we came back to the car park. As we walked up the hill I saw the old chap who’d taken a tumble a couple of months ago and who I’d helped up. I was about to explain that Pogo would probably scream at his dog, but he does that. Pogo gave a half-hearted squeak and the old bloke stamped and thrashed at Pogo and shouted at him to f… off. When I asked him if that was necessary; the old bloke got rather aggressive. When he’d finished ranting I reminded him that I’d helped him up a little while ago, and that the next time I see him lying on the ground I would leave him there. It was at that point that he pretended to be deaf, and his rather embarrassed wife tried to hurry him away.

Would I leave him laying on the ground next time? Probably not…

 

We came home. I Munzed, Wordled from “night” to “sling” which I got on the last go. I did a You-Gov survey and then wasted ages looking at audiobooks. Bearing in mind my utter inability to listen to the Adrian Mole diaries on Radio Four Extra at the weekend I had a plan to download them to my MP3 stick and play them in my car that way. Sadly the best I could find was to get them on a CD… CD – my car doesn’t have a CD player, and who has a CD drive on a laptop any more? The best I could find was some “audible” thing which would have me spending money each month. Not a lot of money, but I said that about the Sky TV. By the time I paid for Sky and the internet and Netflix and Paramount it soon added up to over a hundred quid a month.

I eventually got the Kindle app to start reading the Kindle book I’d bought ages ago, but all it would read was the copyright rubbish; not the actual story. I had this idea that I might play it from the BBC Sounds website directly on my phone, and I tried that as I set off to Folkestone, but for some reason the phone won’t play any sounds when in the car. Something to do with the Bluetooth I think?

 

I spent an hour or so running errands for “Daddies’ Little Angel ^TM” and then took her and Pogey home. It was eight degrees cooler in Folkestone compared to Ashford.

I got home and scoffed some malt loaf for lunch as I marked a trainee’s essay on iron metabolism.

 

We did “FEED THE FISH”. If I haven’t made the announcement by about half past three all three dogs follow me around waiting for the announcement. The fish got fed, the dogs had a few scraps of dried rice. Everyone saw that as a result.

I watered the plants, played Meowdoku, and checked the car’s tyre pressures. As I drove home earlier it told me one of the tyres had a low pressure. All seemed OK to me when I checked, but I’d rather have a false alarm than no alarm.

 

We had a rather good dinner (with a chilled bottle of that cheapo plonk) whilst watching another episode of “MacDonald and Dodds”. I’d be rubbish at being a detective. And to think I once seriously considered being a rozzer…

6 July 2026 (Monday) - A House Guest, Too Hot (Again)

Pogo came up for a little sleepover last night… SLEEPover was supposedly the operative word. He was in the garden and shouting at the seagulls at three o’clock. Though to be fair the seagulls do squawk all night long. They’ve got a nest on our chimney; I wish they hadn’t.

I didn’t get back to sleep after that. The CPAP machine had made my nose rather sore and bed space was at a premium.

 

I made toast and had a look at the Internet. Those who’ve never once had a lemon handed to them by life were advocating making lemonade from life’s lemons. I really should stop following the “Twee Memes” pages.

There were those who spent last week advocating covering the surfaces of their garden ponds with lilos who this morning were acting surprised when all the fish died. The more crap that goes on a pond’s surface, the less area there is for oxygen to get in to the water. Which is why my pond has splashy things.

I sent out birthday wishes to one of my ex cub scouts who was thirty-eight today. Thirty-eight !!

I Munzed, Wordled from “shout” to “toddy” in five goes, then took the dogs out earlier than usual.

 

We got to the car park in Kings Wood about an hour or so earlier than usual, and walked our usual route. As the walk wore on it was rather warmer in the sunshine, but most of the walk was in the shade, and with a breeze blowing it wasn’t too bad for the dogs. They seemed to like their outing.

 

We came home; the dogs were all soon asleep. I went round the garden with a bucket and trowel and harvested dog dung, then (once I’d washed my hands) made us both a cuppa. I wrote up some CPD, and spent a little while solving a set of geo-puzzles that went live this morning.

I spent most of the afternoon fiddling about playing Meowduko as it was too hot to do much else. Eventually it was tea time and “er indoors ^TM” boiled up dinner and went bowling. I sparked up Netflix and started watching a film. “Per Aspera Ad Astra” was a Chinese science fiction film.. or so it claimed. It was tripe. It’s not often that I give up with a film half-way through.

 

I hope Pogo is quieter tonight…

5 July 2026 (Sunday) - FTF, Early Shift, Pond Plants

I woke at three o'clock. Having an alarm set, sleeping till three o'clock was something of a result. I then dozed on and off, and eventually got up at six o'clock. I didn't fancy watching telly this morning so I sparked up my lap-top and tuned in to the local squabbles. There was a lot of consternation about the hose pipe ban. It was claimed that the issue isn't that there's no water (supposedly there's plenty), it was claimed that the issue is that there's insufficient infrastructure to get the water from the reservoirs to the houses. It was also claimed that while you can't use a hose to water your garden, you can use one to wash away the dust in a building site.

Is that true? I don't know, but whatever the issue it is clear that the incessant house-building needs to stop.  

As I read the various rants on the matter so not-so-nice-next-door was making racket as she watered her plants. She always seems to be up and about very early.

 

Originally I was supposed to have been working yesterday, but swapping shifts meant I could get to Dog Club, our walk, and the pub yesterday. It also meant that I had to work this morning, but there it was.

As I drove up the motorway the pundits on the radio were talking about how there's moves afoot in the Church of England to turn over a lot of their land to leave it to grow wild to encourage nature and stuff. Or something. There was talk about how tenant farmers might or might not be evicted as part of this scheme, but I wasn't really sure what  they were talking about. Some vicar was wheeled on to explain what was happening, and she alternately whispered and cried, and (quite frankly) wasted ten minutes of air-time during which she was utterly incomprehensible.

I took a diversion on my way to work. A new Wherigo geocache had gone live not far off of Bluebell Hill as I was scoffing my toast. Being first to find a geocache gets bragging rights, but first to find a Wherigo... I've only been first to find one of those twice before.

I got to where I was supposed to be, fiddled about with my phone, and pausing only briefly to fall four feet off of a wall and into the undergrowth I soon had the cache in my hand. First to find. Go me.

 

I drove on to work listening to the morning's church service as I went. As a relapsed Christian I find myself with so many questions about the entire Christian religion. Fairly high up on that list is the question of why is the creator of the universe so insecure that it needs us to be constantly telling it how wonderfully marvellous it is? When I was religious, the whole "praising" element was just part of what happened. We sucked up to god because it was so brilliant and in comparison we were just crap. But does it really need us to be sucking up to it all the time?

 

I got to work and did my bit. And with my bit done I came home. Again I tried to listen to Adrian Mole on Radio Four Extra, and again the signal kept cutting out.

Once home I had a cheese sandwich (woof!) and went into the garden to do some pond maintenance. Some of the plants in the bog filter were looking a tad iffy so I got rid of the dead leaves. And whilst I was at work Matt had sent a present – some pond plants. I was rather grateful for those, and even more grateful to see that he’d sent them in pond pots. They are now in the bog filter. Water mint is good stuff. It grows fast, and smells lovely if you like mint, Which I do.

Whilst I was at it I cleaned out the pond filters and used the mucky water on the plants. They will like that (hopefully). I might need to top up the ponds before too much longer. Apparently I can use the hose pipe for that… That’s just as well because I would anyway. There’s only one person who would see me doing it anyway, and if she squealed me up I’d know who it was. Not that I could do much about it.

 

I played Meowdoku for a bit and dozed a bit. I think I might have overdone it in the sun this afternoon.

“er indoors ^TM” then raised the alarm – flying ants were crawling out of the lawn. Not that I could do much about those either.

 

I’m feeling washed out… and the torn muscle in my bum is starting to play up. It does that most evenings these days…

4 July 2026 (Saturday) - Dog Club and Longbeech

I rolled my eyes as I read Facebook this morning. Someone who usually posts twee twaddle to one of the dachshund groups I follow was devastated that her dog had “done for” a neighbour’s chicken. This went completely against her world view of dewey-eyed soppy dogs. What did she expect? Treacle’s a lump and she’s caught (and killed) two rabbits and eaten a live mouse. Bailey is perhaps the smallest dog I’ve ever seen and she has had a squirrel. At the end of the day they are descended from wolves.

I read a post from someone who had the arse that their neighbour was getting work done on his house and wasn’t being asked for his opinion on which company should be given the work I found myself thinking about my ex-neighbour “Nutty Noodle” who once went ballistic at me because I didn't take time off work to supervise a roofer. When I refused to stay home to watch the work being done, he took time off work himself to supervise them, and tried to bill me for his time...

 

I put out a few Munzees. Wordled from “group” to “pizza” in four goes, and strained my brain at Steve’s “Guess the Lyrics” competition which was playing on the radio. “My love has taken a tumble oh but I’m still standing”. No? I had no idea either. According to Google it was “Sweet Little Mystery” by Wet Wet Wet.

 

We went to Dog Club where a good time was had by all… mostly. It was a shame that Morgan had to be put on his lead, but he simply doesn’t like Alsatians.

From Dog Club we drove up to Charing listening to Steve doing the Mystery Year on the radio. We had no idea, and sadly the signal gave out after ten minutes. I was disappointed – I like the Mystery Year competition; it’s a regular feature in my week.

 

We got to the Wagon and Horses. I’d phoned them yesterday and arranged for us to use their car park. We met Karl and Tracey and went for a little walk round the nearby woods. The woods at Longbeech North are a favourite walk of ours; the dogs behave do much better when they walk in an area that they know.

After three miles we were back at the pub’s car park (at opening time). We had a pint and some starters. Olives and bread are good, as is whitebait. And the main course arrived with the second pint. As I’ve said so many times before you really can’t beat a ploughman’s lunch.

And then it all got a tad vague…

There was definitely a third pint, and a double Sipsmith’s with tonic. I’m pretty sure there was a Bombay Saphire with tonic, and I think there was some Japanese gin as well…

I slept most of the way home.

I took a few photos whilst we were out.

 

We arrived home to find it was far hotter than it had been just five miles up the road. I had a little sleep, as did “er indoors ^TM”.

The plan had been to get the Infinity table out, but it was rather late by the time we woke up. Admittedly I’d been on the sauce, but I think I might have caught the sun too…

3 July 2026 (Friday) - Yogi Bear

Again I slept far better with no alarm set. I woke at five, and got up and put a load of washing on. I hung it out at eight o’clock, then made toast and had a look at the Internet as I do. I hadn’t missed much. As always it was one big argument. People were confusing patriotism with racism; so many people feel that in order to be proud of being British you have to be hateful to the rest of the world. Those who blather platitudes were wringing their hands about teenage thugs killing pigeons with catapults. Those who’d just bought a new car had been sold a total wreck but the aggrieved flatly refused to name the garage. Despite our being in the third decade of the twenty-first century, creationists and flat-earthers were aggressively posting stuff that was flatly wrong, and were openly parading their ignorance and stupidity.

We’re certainly not living in the world I had hoped for when I was younger.

A Facebook friend was having a birthday today… someone with whom I used to work fifteen years ago, and she couldn’t have said more than half a dozen words to me when we did see each other. I sent her the standard Facebook “Happy Birthday”.

 

I went upstairs to get dressed and found a pile of dog sick on the bed. Someone had blown… I put the vommed bedding into wash and took the dogs up to the woods. As we drove, Fatboy Slim was the castaway on Desert Island Discs. He sounded rather interesting, but there’s no denying his choice of music was on the dire side.

 

We got to the woods and walked our usual circuit. Unlike yesterday the woods were heaving with normal people. We eventually shook off the first group who were a hundred yards behind us constantly screaming at their dogs.

We met the strange bloke in collar and tie who always blanks us. We met him at a very narrow point on the path where he grudgingly gave me a grunt of acknowledgement.

I thought I saw a deer and was about to take a photo when I realised it was another dog; that dog’s mummy said he’d chased deer before, and the deer had turned on him. That’s something to keep an eye on.

And we met a chap who had a rant about the wood’s car parking charges which came into effect this week. He wasn’t at all happy to hear that I’d joined Forestry England (he took that as a personal affront), and he was boasting that he’d parked on the lane outside the car park. He said there was probably space for cars to get past him…

 

We came home. I made up both a cuppa. I Munzed. I Wordled from “eight” to “baton” in four goes. “Baton” – a word I’ve heard of. A novel break with tradition for Wordle. And then there was a commotion from the dogs. We had a delivery. Most delivery people just knock on the door. The Yodel chap doesn’t. He just puts the parcel straight into the box in the garden.

I hung out the third load of washing, put the fourth in to scrub and spent a few minutes reviewing more trainee work.

 

After scoffing more sausage rolls and lemonade (classic lunch!) I got on with the ironing whist watching more of “The Handmaid’s Tale” in which again rather than using dialogue, the lead character spent a lot of the time grimacing at the camera. It turns out that the actress is also the director and producer of the show so I expect that explains why she’s acting so incomprehensibly.  

 

We did “FEED THE FISH”. The pond is looking a bit green. I have a plan for it… but that will be next week’s project. “er indoors ^TM” boiled up a rather good dinner which we scoffed whilst watching the “Yogi Bear” film. It’s been on our Sky Q box for months. It was rather good…

2 July 2026 (Thursday) - Wishing Well

With no alarm set I slept through. I woke for the first time at five o’clock, rolled over, and finally got up at eight. I made toast (as I do) and had my usual look at the internet (as I do).

A friend was trying to get people to sign a petition for the government to hold a referendum to bring the water industry into public ownership. There are those who feel that public ownership of resources and services isn’t the most efficient way to run them. It might not be, but there’s no denying that the way the water companies run in the UK is nothing short of shambolic. We can pump gas all the way across the country; why not water?

I saw an ex-trainee of mine was having a birthday today. He was forty. Forty !! If asked I would have said late twenties. Where do the years go?

And it was claimed that Donald Trump has personally made over two billion dollars out of being President. I always thought he couldn’t be as stupid as he appears to be.

 

I took the dogs up to the woods. We walked our usual circuit and everything passed off very uneventfully. We didn’t see anyone else, we didn’t chase anything. Treacle went in a muddy puddle and Bailey rolled in something foul, but (all things considered) an uneventful outing.

We came home. Treacle had dried off so the mud brushed off. Bailey got a scrub, and I made us both a cuppa. I Munzed, and Wordled from “bring” to “maven”. Maven? It means “a trusted expert, connoisseur, or someone highly skilled in a specific field who understands its ins and outs”. One lives and learns.

 

I set the dishwasher going and went into the garden. Once I’d gathered up all the turds (there were quite a few) I got those bits of wood I sawed and painted earlier in the week. I screwed them all together, then unscrewed them and screwed them together how I should have done in the first place. Bish bosh – I had a roof for my wishing well. I put some roofing felt on, then put the roof into place. I measured up for my horizontal and within a few minutes my bucket was hanging.

The roof felt is a bit scuffed in places; I should really have done the roof felt on the lawn rather than on the patio, and it needs something inside the actual well, if only for appearances. But it don’t look too bad, does it?

I’m quite pleased with it bearing in mind I know absolutely nothing about DIY. I keep threatening to do some DIY evening classes (if only I could find any). I can remember having an argument with our French teacher at school (about fifty years ago) when I said that we really should be taught practical stuff at school. My old teacher was adamant that I was at a grammar school and we didn’t do menial manual labour. In years to come I would pay the lower orders to do that sort of thing for me (or so I was told). I wonder what happened to old Steve Werrett – things certainly didn’t turn out like he would have had me believe.

I got out the lawnmower and gave the lawn a haircut, then sat by the pond and had a late lunch of lemonade and sausage rolls as I read my Kindle.

 

I got uncomfortable on the wooden bench by the pond so I crept into the house and loudly announced that I was going to “FEED THE FISH”. The dogs went from snoring to half-way up the garden in less than two seconds. And with fish fed I marked some trainee’s portfolio work.

 

“er indoors ^TM” boiled up a very good bit of dinner which we washed down with another bottle of that three quid plonk as we watched another episode of “McDonald and Dodds”. Playing for two hours we got it down to an hour and a half by fast-forwarding through the adverts.

I can see why the streaming apps don’t allow you to fast-forward through the ads…

1 July 2026 (Wednesday) - Early Shift

Again I woke feeling full of beans and raring to go... at half past one. And again I then lay awake for much of the rest of the night before giving up and getting up just before five o'clock.

Being the first of the month I cracked out a new razor blade hand had my daily scrape, then spent five minutes wrestling with the bread bag. I wanted toast; the bread bag didn't want me to have toast, or any bread at all. I eventually got into the bag, but it was a closely fought battle. I scoffed toast as I watched another episode of "The Handmaid's Tale". The show started well but seriously lacks continuity. I've got a theory that the different episodes were written by different people, none of whom had actually watched any of the previous episodes.    

 

I set off for work just after six o'clock. There was mist over the fields as I drove west-wards. It was quite scenic. As I drove there was a lot of talk on the radio about how the (going) Prime Minister has managed to find loads of money for the defence budget... or to be precise he's announced loads of spending and is leaving the piddling details of finding the money up to his successor. Apparently it is vital that the UK spends tons of money on its military forces as the Russians are planning to invade in 2030. Personally I can't see the Russians having a go at the UK; I'd have thought that the Russians would have learned from their debacle in Ukraine. I'd also have to ask what is the point of the UK's nuclear deterrent if not to put the wind up anyone fancying their chances.

I stopped off in Tesco to get a sandwich. One of the tills had been opened by an assistant, and so I went there. Sometimes the self-service tills can be too much arse-arch. 

The woman in the queue in front of me and the woman on the till were both talking about their plans for this evening. "We" are starting at five o'clock they both said... I thought they were friends who were planning an evening event. They weren't. "We" was the England football team who was playing some match this evening which they were both going to watch (on their own). Some people (i.e. everyone but me) take football so seriously and so personally.

 

I went in to the early shift and did my bit. And an early start made for an early finish. The roads home were surprisingly busy. I was going home early because I was on the early shift. Seemingly the rest of the country was going home early to watch the football.

Once home I did “FEED THE FISH”, and then “er indoors ^TM” drove us all out to Petham where a chap who was on holiday in the area (up from Cornwall) had organised a geocaching meet-up. A dozen of us spent an hour or so chatting. It’s always good to catch up with old friends and meet new ones.

 

We were a tad late home so we had KFC which we scoffed whilst watching an episode of “McDonald and Dodds”. Generally I don’t like police dramas, but this one is strangely captivating… 

30 June 2026 (Tuesday) - Cheap Plonk

I woke feeling full of beans and raring to go... at half past one. I then lay awake for much of the rest of the night before giving up and getting up just before five o'clock.

I made toast and watched an episode of "The Handmaid's Tale" in which I got scouting flashbacks. Rather than talking, the lead character of the show was doing this arty-acting-thing where she was supposedly communicating her feelings by pouting and smiling and looking wistfully at the camera. Back in the day when I was a Cub Scout leader one of “My Boy ^TM”'s contemporaries used the same technique to communicate. Rather than speaking, he would go up to someone and grimace. He seriously expected people to know what he wanted simply by pulling strange faces at them, and his success at communication was on a par with her in the TV show this morning.

And with telly watched I got another coat of woodstain onto the wood which I sawed yesterday, then set off for work.

 

It was a shame that I'd forgotten that there were traffic works in Chart Road, but they only delayed me by ten minutes. I was soon on my way up the motorway listening to the pundits on the radio who were spouting their usual brand of drivel as they do. There was so much talk about Andy Burnham. At the moment he really can do no wrong... it will only be a matter of time before he is out on his arse like all the rest.

And there was a lot of talk about a national review of midwifery. Some woman from some pressure group or other was being interviewed. She really boiled my piss when she referred to babies that had been "killed by the NHS". Was she seriously saying that health care professionals were going out of their way to cause harm? That was the message that I got. Admittedly the NHS isn't perfect, but giving air-time to this sort of ranting does absolutely nothing for staff morale, does it?

 

I popped in to Sainsburys to get lunch , then went into work. Earlier than I might have done. I spent quite a bit of time teaching one of the trainees the mysteries of blood film morphology, but as the day wore on the bad night's sleep did weigh on me. 

 

I walked out of work past the hospital’s league of fiends (!) shop who were again knocking out fruit. I got a punnet of strawberries from them, and took a diversion to Aldi to get some cream.

Coming home was hard work. The motorway was seemingly full of idiots trying to constantly tail-end everyone. I remembered not to drive down Chart Road, but not doing so took me through the town centre… I was only twenty minutes late home.

 

I got another coat of woodstain onto my sawn wood, and we watched the last episodes of “Canal Boat Diaries” as we scoffed dinner. We washed it down with a bottle of plonk; we got a job lot of cheap plonk. At three quid a bottle it wasn’t at all bad. We’ve paid far more for far worse…

And those strawberries were rather good too.

29 June 2026 (Monday) - A Walk, More Tyres, Aching

I slept through till seven o’clock this morning which was something of a result. I made toast and had a look at the Internet as I do. It was rather quiet this morning… someone had posted on Facebook that they’d seen a large black cat (non-moggy) near Tunbridge Wells. I wonder what it was. I once saw a very large black cat walking across a field near Hawkhurst, but that was twenty years ago. Photos of panthers look very like what I saw – I’m not saying it was a panther but it certainly wasn't someone's moggy.

 

I took the dogs up to Kings Wood. As we drove the pundits on the radio were talking about the immediate ascension of Andy Burnham. There was precious little fact, but endless speculation.

We got to the woods to find some woman washing her smalls in the car park. I smiled at her and asked if she’d camped overnight. She said she had, and that it was a lovely place to camp.

We walked our usual walk. Treacle found four swamps. Bailey rolled in something foul. After four miles we came back to the car park to find the campers were cooking their breakfast. They seemed happy enough. I can’t help but wonder how Forestry England are going to enforce the proposed parking charges on people only stopping for an hour or so when other people are camping overnight with impunity.

 

We came home. The girls had a bath. I made a cuppa for me and “er indoors ^TM”, Wordled from “slept” to “crude” in four goes, Munzed, then went out again.

I needed a Stanley knife. Against my better judgement I went to B&Q where (for once) I got what I needed with no fuss. From there I drove round to the Repton centre. Over the weekend we’d heard third-hand rumours that there had been complaints about the Dog Club. It turned out that there hadn’t been, and all was fine. Or as fine as could be expected for Saturday mayhem.

 

I came home and with the heatwave gone I cracked on in the garden. I got on with my wishing well project. Toady’s plan was to get the uprights into place. That involved cutting some holes in the tyres I painted the other day, and sticking the uprights through those holes.

Have you ever tried to cut a hole in a tyre?

Whenever you hear mention of someone having had their tyres slashed, I’d seriously question it. It took all of my effort to force a brand new Stanley knife into the tyre, and it took sustained effort to get the knife to actually go through. And as for any actual cutting… I eventually got six holes cut, sawed the uprights to size, and got them in place.

Flushed with success I then started sawing the wood for the roof into shape… and I had a minor hiccup. Somehow I’d lost a bit of wood. A bit that was two and a half metres long. I wonder where that had gone?

It didn’t take *that* long to nip over to Wickes to get another.

And equipped with all the timber I need (I think), I sawed it all to size and gave the new stuff a coat of wood stain.

We did “FEED THE FISH” , I voomed round with the watering can and suddenly it was four o’clock and my step count for half the day was double what it had been for Saturday and Sunday combined.

 

I made a cuppa for “er indoors ^TM” and myself, and realised just how much pain I was getting from my right elbow. I’d certainly overdone it with the cutting of the tyres.

The wishing well is nearly together. It just needs the roof to be built … I’ll do that later in the week when I can take my time over it.

 

“er indoors ^TM” boiled up a rather good bit of dinner then went off bowling. I turned on the telly and it suggested a film I might like. “Downton Abbey; The Grand Finale” was rather good but I got the impression that the writers had forgotten what had gone before in that show. The plot was all about the great scandal of Lady Mary having got divorced… this was the same Lady Mary who in the third episode of the show porked the Turkish attaché to death. I would have thought that after porking the Turkish attaché to death, getting a divorce would have been rather trivial, but what do I know – times were different back then.

28 June 2026 (Sunday) - Working, Crosswords, Stuff

I woke feeling full of energy and raring to go… at twenty to two. I didn’t get back to sleep after that as it was a hot and sultry night. I eventually gave up trying to sleep and got up. I watched another episode of “The Handmaid’s Tale” … bearing in mind premise of this show is an uncaring state forcefully taking children from their mothers (sound familiar!?) I’m finding this rather hard going at times.

 

I set off to work. As I drove the talk on the radio was of a religious nature this morning (what with it being a Sunday). There was an interesting article about religious freedoms in America in which it was suggested that the biggest threat to religious freedom was the exponents of those advocating a competing religion to your own one. Two senior bishops of different churches came on, and there was an embarrassing five minutes in which both bishops flatly refused to let the other say a word. Both claimed that they were being shut down (which they were) and both claimed that they were tolerant of others (which they weren’t).

As I drove there was an inordinate amount of groups of cyclists; both pedal ones and motor ones. I always thought that pedal bikes were banned from having organised road races, but they seem to do them with annoying regularity.

I drove through Pembury this morning as I had a few minutes before work. I spent a few minutes looking for a geocache along the main road. I eventually found it. I hesitate to say that it was buried in someone’s front garden, but it was buried in someone’s front garden.

And I got petrol. In the past the petrol in Pembury has been about eight pence per litre more expensive than that in Ashford. Today it was five pence per litre cheaper. One thing which puzzles me is how petrol prices go up and down so regularly and vary so much within such short distances. The sweetie bars, sandwiches and chocolate that the petrol stations sell are all the same price everywhere, so why does the price of petrol go up and down?

 

I went in to work where I had a rather hard time of it. Such is life. But I was only working a half day today and so was soon on the way home. As I drove home I tuned to Radio Four Extra as they were playing a dramatization of the Secret Diary of Adrian Mole. What I heard of it was rather entertaining. It was a shame that for most f the time I was listening to silence as the signal kept cutting out.

I’ve mentioned before that either DAB radio is a disappointment, or the one in my car needs replacing.

 

I got home where it was too hot to take the dogs out. Nowhere near as hot as it has been recently, but still too hot. And all the normal people come swarming out at the weekend and I really didn’t fancy dealing with them today. So we sat in the garden and I struggled with a crossword puzzle. One clue really had me foxed. “Daunting, Formidable (8) A - - - - O – E”. I can’t *really* be “arsehole” (can it)?

We did “FEED THE FISH”, I ran round with the watering can, and Treacle was threatened with having her buzzer collar put on. When she barks the thing vibrates uncomfortably. The idea is that if she didn’t bark at absolutely everything then it wouldn’t vibrate.

Usually the threat of the thing is enough to shut her up, and the threat worked.

 

We had a rather good bit of dinner and watched more “Canal Boad Diaries” in which our hero was having aggro with sunken trees.

The more I watch this show, the more I’m getting the impression that canal boating is quite a bit of arse-ache. We’ll probably still have a go at some stage though…