September 2024

September 30, 2024

Heading down for breakfast just before the 11am cut-off. Mushrooms on toast again for me – they are really excellent. I’d like to know how they keep the mushroom-spinach mixture so relatively dry, something I never achieve without overcooking. 

Hung about in the lounge reading, while Adam did some light work before we headed home. I’m nearly finished my second Booker novel, The Safekeep, much prefer it to the first one.  

Had a smooth run back to London and were home in time for dinner. The girls had already eaten so fixed a snack for ourselves and watched a bit of telly before bed. What a lovely weekend…

September 29, 2024

It was incredibly stormy overnight with a howling wind that moved our heavy balcony furniture around. It was calmer first thing but took a turn for the worse. 

We ventured out after breakfast anyway, down to the beach where we got absolutely drenched. There was a stiff wind blowing the rain vertically, with a good measure of sand thrown in as well. 

Our clothes were dripping by the time we got back indoors and our shoes squelching with water. I ran myself a hot bath, but Adam had to content himself with pjs and the duvet. Finished by first Booker novel, Orbital, which I liked but didn’t love. The premise was interesting – musings about life from six astronauts in low orbit round the earth. 

Had lovely ayurvedic massages before dinner – only three courses this evening, we’re reining things in…😉

September 28, 2024

The hours are pretty relaxed here, and we lingered in the room until 10:30am before heading down to breakfast. I went for the mushrooms and spinach on toast, which was delicious. 

The weather is beautiful today, so after digesting we set out for a long cliff top walk towards Padstow. There were a couple of stiff climbs, but they were worth it for the views. What with the recent trips with Richard and Rachel we are steadily completing new stretches of the Southwest Coastal path.

Carried on until we reached a prominent headland, where we sat for a bit then reversed our steps. Grabbed some lunch at a National Trust café – crab sandwich for me and a Cornish pasty for Adam on the way back.

Relaxed in our room before a while before visiting the spa. I had a dip in their outdoor reed pool, which was effing freezing and slippery as well, then headed to the barrel sauna. We originally had a clifftop jacuzzi for two arranged, but Adam can’t get his wounds wet for another couple of weeks, so that went by the wayside.

Ate dinner in the bar this evening, which felt right after last night’s fine dining experience – chicken Caesar salad and a negroni hit the spot.

September 27, 2024

The plan was to set off about 9am, but it was more like 11am in the end. At least the weather had lifted a bit by then. Traffic was okay until the M5, which is prone to clogging. 

While Adam did the bulk of the driving, I did the final leg so he could have a phone conference with Mike and their lawyer about an employee situation that is unfolding in Vancouver. 

The Scarlet Hotel is gorgeously situated on the north coast of Cornwall between Newquay and Padstow. Our room is beautiful, which a big balcony and stunning sea view. 

Chilled out for a couple of hours, then headed down for dinner. We opted for the seven-course tasting menu with the wine pairing. I’ve learned my lesson with wine pair and tend to avoid it, but it was fine. The food was very good, and the portions generous enough to keep pace with the alcohol.

September 26, 2024

Another full-on workday… Lots to get through as we’re off to Cornwall tomorrow for a long weekend. I’ll take my computer with me in case of emergency, but I’m going to try to otherwise avoid working. 

Most of my time is going on the fitness site right now, but there are also loose ends to tie up on the sustainable beauty section. I handed over a fully functioning wireframe with the understanding that their internal team would develop the design, but that hasn’t happened so I swooped in this afternoon and prettied it up a bit.

September 25, 2024

Lyra wasn’t feeling great this morning – not a migraine for a change – and she was a bit late leaving for school. I’d thought of going for a run, but it was raining and my knee was twinging, so I ended up bailing. 

Pretty good workday and cleared a few things off my to-do list. I advanced the membership installation on the fitness website, which is the main thing that needs doing. I also addressed an email issue the beauty site has been waiting on and picked up a little job for the chemical company as well.

Too many balls in the air…

September 24, 2024

I was up at 5:30am and at my desk by 6am. I did what felt like a full day on the beauty site, broke for lunch and then shifted gears to the fitness site. Kate came round for a meeting and we went through everything – we’re getting pretty close now, though the bank account still isn’t set up so I can’t configure the payments. 

Kate had the idea of sub-contracting the job of populating the video library (and maintaining it once the site launches) to Lyra. If I charge her at half my rate (then adjust what I pay her to allow for my income tax) that should work and will be a nice pocket money top-up for her. Plus she’ll be learning some web editing skills… 

Nova’s first shift at Parillan today. She was a bit nervous – I’m confident she’ll be fine but hope she likes it. Ideally, it will also give her an opportunity to use her Spanish like the Barrafina job would have. 

Ordered pizza for dinner. When I noticed Deliveroo was charging £3.50 for Lyra’s can of diet coke, I walked across the street and bought one for 90p. The food was there by the time I got back – I couldn’t have collected them that fast myself. 

Watched Evil Doesn’t Exist, a very slow Japanese film inaccurately billed as an eco-thriller. It was enjoyable enough to watch, but we both found the ending annoying. To bed early… it’s been a long day…

September 23, 2024

Slept in a bit and missed Lyra’s departure. Adam made her breakfast and gave her money to buy lunch instead of making one. 

The weather was lousy so I headed to the gym for a workout – two miles of brisk uphill walking and some weights. Listened to my interminable audiobook – Caledonian Road ­­by Andrew O’Hagan – which puts me instantly to sleep in the evening. It must be a real door stopper in print… 

Cooked dinner with Lyra – cream of tomato soup with cheese on toast – and watched Maborosi, which I’ve seen before but was happy to watch again. To bed afterwards to read. I want to clear the decks so I can tackle my Booker list…

September 22, 2024

It was chucking it down again this morning. I still haven’t got a 60+ free pond swim in yet… The weather nixed my plan of going to the allotment as well. Make a pancake breakfast instead, which went down well. 

The weather had lifted a bit by the time Adam, Lyra and Lily headed off to the first of the Arsenal women’s matches – a 2:2 draw, so lots of goals. 

In the afternoon I got stuck into client work. I have a couple of knotty problems to solve on the fitness project. Nova went ahead and cooked a lovely dinner – chicken with feta and roasted peppers, lemony potatoes and broccoli, and a Tony’s chocolate bar for dessert. 

Carried on working afterwards and eventually got to a place I was satisfied around midnight. We are taking next Friday/Monday off for a trip to a smart hotel in Cornwall (birthday treat), which means my work month ends on Thursday – so doing this work up front compensates for that…

September 21, 2024

Finally got out there and ran 2.4 miles in the park. I notice that I’m speeding up, which is encouraging. The knee isn’t getting any better, but at least it isn’t any worse…. 

Lyra returned from spending the night at Loki’s – they hung out here for a bit, before he headed off to get a haircut and the girls to Enfield to get more piercings. Lyra is going for one that is meant to help with migraines – it targets a pressure point at the top of the ear. 

The piercing didn’t happen as she’d forgotten her passport and they require physical ID. It sounds like they were over-zealous about it. You only need to be 16, and she had other proofs of that, such as her 16+ transit pass. It didn’t help matters that she tried to use her fake ID…😉 

Borscht and rye bread for dinner. Watched Merry Christmas Mr Lawrence with Lyra and Loki in keeping with the Japanese theme for September. Such a good film…

September 20, 2024

Went for breakfast at Beam with Millie – a birthday treat. We both had the mushrooms on toast and coffee. We went before tennis as I couldn’t book a court until 10am. We played well again, though the serving has a lot of room for improvement.

Had my weekly fitness meeting at 1pm. There is so much to do on that project… Worked until 8:30pm when Nova brought me a negroni and bowl of crisps. Again, I hadn’t thought about dinner, and ended up having a snack plate – cheese, crackers, olives etc – and watching Tracker.

September 19, 2024

Up at 7am to do the Lyra breakfast thing then eased into into my working day. I haven’t been for a run or to the gym in ages, but that was a lot of walking yesterday and my knee was grumbling a bit. 

Of course it grumbles when I sit still too long as well, so you can’t win. I’m reminded that my knees used to bother me a bit in my 30s – most from sitting still, like at the theatre or on an airplane, but that must have stopped at some point.

Booked my plane ticket to Canada – I’m flying on the 24^th and staying with Brenda, before heading over to Sidney the next morning. Bernard’s service is on the Saturday, and it’ll be family stuff on the Sunday as well. David and Wade are going to fly in on Friday and leave Monday.

Nova got a job at a Spanish place called Parrillan. It’s in the same group as Barrafina, and when she didn’t get hired for that position they passed her cv along. Full time, good money and she starts next week. 

Chicken rice bowls with steamed veg for dinner and watched the first episode of West Wing, which I’m hoping will be our go-to show with Lyra who’s doing US politics this year at school…

September 18, 2024

60… yikes! I’d thought of going for a pond swim first thing, as I can now swim for free before 9:30am, but the weather didn’t look promising. After we did the present thing (a very nice haul: Le Creuset mug, Japanese woodblock print of a cat, chocolates, Chanel nail polish and soap, a book on the death of democracy, and an awesome card from Greg and Wendy) Nova and I headed out to get pastries. 

Later that morning, we caught the 41 to Tottenham Hale and walked about six miles along the Lee River to the Olympic Park. The weather was glorious by then, if anything too warm. 

Arrived in Borough Market just in time for Wheelers oyster happy hour (£1 a pop). Dispatched 24 of those with no difficulty, rounded out with whitebait and some soda bread. We’d thought of carrying on to the Tate, but we were getting squeezed for time, so walked across London Bridge instead and caught the train home from Moorgate. 

There were beautiful flowers from Wade and Margo waiting – and some lovely messages to reply to. I’m feeling most appreciated today. 

Family dinner at Les Deux Garçons – the food is so good there. I had the chicken liver paté, followed by the monkfish cheeks in an orzo-lobster sauce. A bottle of picpoul and a couple of desserts to share, as well as an armagnac…! 

Wade called before bed and we had a long chat. They’ve sold the Rolls Royce – now it’s the Bentley’s turn…

September 17, 2024

Popped to the shops first thing food for Lyra’s breakfast/lunch before she headed off then got straight at it. I had a crazy-long workday, mostly on the fitness instructor website. I’m hoping to take the day off tomorrow, which I can’t really afford the time to do… 

Adam had a field meeting downstairs with Kiran and Lawrence and dinner from Best Kebabs. Nova cooked for the three of us – salmon salad with beetroot hummus – which we ate in the office. 

It had gone 11pm by the time I downed tools, having basically done two days work in one.

September 16, 2024

Up early to sort out Lyra, as per usual. I didn’t feel like exercising after yesterday’s walking so I did some house stuff then got stuck into work. 

I never got round to thinking about dinner, and with Adam and Lyra both out I decided Nova and I could eat out too. I thought of going to the good sushi place but it’s closed on Mondays. 

We ended up in Khoai Café, which has pretty authentic Vietnamese food, after which she took me for ice cream at Udderlicious. Lyra was home when we got back, but I was asleep by the time Adam returned.

September 15, 2024

Drove to Henley this morning to see Richard and Rachel. We’d considered taking the train, but it would have taken twice as long and cost more than £50 so driving was the way to go. 

Their house is on the hill above the town centre. Grade II listed, tall (four floors) and very narrow with a long garden and lovely views out the back. It’s such an improvement on their little house in Highgate, and they are pleased with the move. 

It was great to see them. Rachel has been having a tough time – she was in Australia all July to spend time with her dad before he died, and she has some current health issues as well. On the upside, Richard has a new job – finance recruitment in London – so he’s commuting back to town three days a week.   

Went for a six-mile walk, with a pub lunch at The Flower Pot in the middle. The food was good and Rachel and I were able to knock back a bottle of white wine. Just like old times… 

Came in for tea back at theirs, then headed home again. I dozed a bit in the car, something I avoid doing, but I was up pretty late last night and the walk and the wine took it out of me. 

We weren’t hungry for dinner, and the girls weren’t around so we fixed a snack and sat down to finish The Bear. I didn’t love this series…

September 14, 2024

It was a running morning, but I didn’t get out of the house straightaway because I wanted to hear about Nova’s trial shift at Barrafina last night, which sounds pretty intense. 

She was working behind the counter fronting for the open kitchen. The HR person said that Spanish was a “nice to have”, but apparently everyone but her was a native speaker. If she gets it, it would be a crash course in conversational Spanish and great preparation for her Central America trip. 

Nova had another trial shift today at a pizza restaurant in Covent Garden, but absolutely hated it. They offered her the job, but she isn’t going to take it. She went round the neighbourhood in the afternoon and has some leads to follow up in the coming week. 

Adam went over to his mum’s house for the usual round of minor repairs and reproaches. I did my run (2.3 miles), with the knee grumbling as usual, but not getting any worse. I think it’s feeling a bit more stable so that’s a positive. 

Adam offered to cook tonight but came back from his mum’s feeling unwell, so I ended up making the chicken jalfrezi he’d shopped for. Ava round for a sleepover and dinner – it was good to see her, they’ve been at their house in France all summer.

September 13, 2024

Up to sort Lyra’s breakfast/lunch then headed out to play tennis with Millie. It was a glorious morning – cool and bright. We spent the first half hour rallying from serves, and the second half just rallying. I would like to develop my serve so I’m able to pay actual games when we want. 

Full-on work day… So much for the Fridays off plan. Worked until 8pm, and when I came downstairs Adam was still hard at it. Ended up eating dinner about 9:30pm (chicken stew leftovers and a glass of red) and watched the second episode of Slowhorses. I’m enjoying it, but feel the show is becoming a parody of itself… 

Finalising the markers for my Horth grandparents and the three sons – Rich, Bernard and dad. Going to go in together with Bernard’s kids to pay for the stones and engraving. Initial mock-ups Alisa had an awful lot of words, so I had a go at simplifying them seem happy.

September 12, 2024

Left Adam sleeping when I got up to do Lyra’s breakfast. Headed over to the gym for some inclined walking and weights. Didn’t do much lifting as my biceps are still in a state of outrage at Monday’s workout. My shoulders and back felt fine, so I focused on those plus the leg presses I hope are strengthening the muscles around my knee. 

After a beauty website meeting I spent most of the day spent resolving issues on that site. Their internal person had messed up the global header, which took a couple of hours to fix properly after which I tackled the legacy memberships that just won’t die. I think the new way I’m cancelling them is properly driving a stake through their undead hearts… 

Drove to West Hampstead for an “intimate evening with Jeffrey Lewis”. They were serious about the intimate part – the room he was performing in – solo with just an acoustic guitar, amp and some foot pedals – was about the size of our living room. 

Every few songs he’d answer questions from the audience, which doubled down on the intimacy. The opening act was really good as well – a London-based singer called Lail Arad. Home just before 11pm. We hadn’t eaten dinner, so hit Harvest for cheese and cold cuts, which we ate in front of an episode of Tracker.

September 11, 2024

Started my day with a 2.2 mile run in the park. I’m adding .1 of a mile each time, which I’ll keep doing until I’m up to about 4 miles, at which point if things are still working fine, I’ll start building a weekend long run.

Made chicken with beans and chorizo for dinner, slow cooked in the oven — really tasty. Tonight’s film fare was Sonatine, with Takeshi Kitano. Lyra’s pick – I love that film. She has the idea we should watch only Japanese films this month, which works for me.

September 10, 2024

Up by 7am to ensure that Lyra got off okay, then did the pre-tidy for the cleaners, which took most of an hour. I was wanting to go for a run, but Adam has arranged for an old computer to be picked up and I needed to be around for that. I’ll exercise tomorrow…

 Lyra texted to say she’d thrown up at school and was considering coming home, but she soldiered through. Put in a reasonable work day across my projects – I have a lot on at the moment.

 Made eggplant adobo for dinner, which was delicious. I’ll be making that again. Lyra and I watched the Ozu film, Good Morning – a longtime favourite.

September 9, 2024

Adam is off to Oxford for a few days, attending and presenting at a BCorp conference. Nova is in Majorca until Wednesday evening so it’ll be just Lyra and me. 

Went to the gym before starting work – half an hour brisk inclined walking and another half an hour of weights. My knee was a bit stiff this morning but felt better afterwards. I’ll do another outside run tomorrow – at least that’s the plan… 

Put in a block of time researching and filling in the form for my NHS pension, which comes due at 60. Managed to do most of it, though I need a bit of info from Adam, plus some original documents. 

Never really got going on the work front, and once Lyra texted to ask if she could eat at Loki’s, I didn’t bother with dinner either…

September 8, 2024

Lazy, lazy day… I had the idea of going for a run but got doing house stuff and the enthusiasm waned. Instead I did laundry, sorted out spare duvets, wrote a few emails, watched a bit of telly, had a nap…

Adam and Doron went to visit Beulah together, and both girls were out so it was a quiet afternoon. Made roast chicken thighs with chickpeas and spinach for dinner, which went down well with everyone.

Watched a couple of episodes of The Bear with Adam afterwards. I’m not enjoying this series much so far…

September 7, 2024

Went for one of my gentle runs in the park – 2.1 miles, running the first 1.2 miles, then intervals for the rest. Felt okay – the knee is twingey but not a problem.

Contacted the fancy hotel/spa in Cornwall where Adam is taking me as a birthday treat. Now that he’s ended up having open abdominal surgery, we were hoping to get our deposit back but they stood firm on that, saying we’d have to claim it on travel insurance.

The other options were to reschedule or to modify what we do – and we decided on the latter and cancelled all the spa options (aside from a massage). I can still make use of the facilities – pool, sauna, hot tub – and there should be something for Adam. He’ll be showering by then, so I can’t see how a sauna could hurt.

Went for dinner round Pete and Pasc’s – I drove because Adam isn’t meant to before he feels that he can do an emergency stop. It was good to see them – it’s been a couple of months. Pasc made guacamole, followed by a Jamie Oliver recipe for meatball sandwiches – meatballs, bacon, swiss cheese and chopped red cabbage in a soft roll. Leftover tiramisu and biscuits for dessert.

Caught up on each other’s summer and lives and played a few rounds of Codenames before calling it a night. Pasc gave me a bouquet of sunflowers to mark my birthday, in case she doesn’t see me on the day…🌻🌻🌻

September 6, 2024

Lyra’s last year of school… Up early to fix her breakfast and snack, and to take my last ever “first day of school” pic… 😢

Met Millie at 8am for tennis. The newly refurbished courts are gorgeous. Despite rain overnight traction was excellent (though the balls were a bit soggy by the end). I also pleased that neither my knee nor my hip gave me any trouble.

Adam had gone out for the day by the time I got back. He’s at the test cricket at Lords (England v Sri Lanka). I have a weekly standing fitness website for the next little while, so I did that then fixed myself some lunch. Got into a groove on the fitness build and ended up working straight through until 7:30pm when Adam got home.

I hadn’t organised anything for dinner. Both girls are away for the weekend (Nova to Bristol, Lyra to stay at Loki’s tonight, then tomorrow a uni visit to the University of East Anglia with Loki and his dad then a sleepover at Maya’s with her mates).

Ordered sushi from Konnichiwa (also on the high street, but a bit further away). It was excellent – will definitely be eating there again. Watched the first episode of the new season of Slow Horses, then fell asleep in front of a true crime thing until almost 1am.

When I opened our bedroom door Elsie came barrelling out. I don’t know how long she was locked in for, but she’d done a big poop on the duvet (Adam’s side), which she’d made an effort to cover by pulling the sheet on top. That took a while to clean up, change the bedding and start a load of laundry…

September 5, 2024

Adam was asleep when I woke at 6:30am. He told me he was up in the night, but I slept through it. Fixed him some breakfast and ensured he took his codeine tablet before getting stuck into work.

Had a meeting with the sustainable beauty people (positive) and another with the engineering site. Could barely remember what I was doing for them at the end of July…

Put in a reasonable work day given the house was full of people intent on lounging around. Nova submitted her dissertation by noon (and is now outside the formal education system for the first time in more than twenty years), Lyra was enjoying her final day before heading back to school, and Adam was in recovery mode.

Went for dinner at Bar Esteban to celebrate the above, which was nice. It’s been a long time since it’s been just the four of us doing something. Headed up to lie down when we got back and it ended up being an early night.

September 4, 2024

I offered to drive Adam to the Whittington this morning, but he insisted on taking the bus. Plan A was for him to stay overnight to recover from the general anaesthetic, but he texted later to say I might be able to collect him this afternoon.

Went to the gym for an hour – 30 minutes of inclined walking and then an upper body workout. Still finding my way around – it’s a stretch to call what I did a workout.

Once Adam texted that they were taking him to theatre, I found it difficult to focus on my work. It took much longer than I was expecting, but eventually he messaged me to say he was awake and would be allowed to come home this evening.

Headed over to collect him about 6pm. He seemed groggy from the general anaesthetic and was feeling nauseated but made it home before chucking up. I went through his hospital notes:

• no swimming, bathing or strenuous exercise for six weeks, but he can start showering in a couple of days if he keeps the bandages dry
• take his painkillers religiously for a week
• no dietary restrictions, aside from a liquid diet today

The notes also described the operation performed. His scheduled laparoscopic adhesiolysis (cutting and releasing adhesions) turned into an open adhesiolysis. The surgeon determined that he couldn’t safely perform the procedure without getting a better view basically. He reopened his appendectomy and hernia scars, cut out fibrous tissue and sewed him up again.

September 3, 2024

Lyra headed off to Glasgow first thing. I was planning to take her, but Adam is going into hospital for his exploratory stomach thing tomorrow and I’d rather be around. Then she was going to stay in a B&B with her friend Lulu and her mum, but the mum fell off a Scottish mountain, badly breaking her leg and is still in hospital, so now it’s just the two girls.

Did the two-mile route again, running all but .3 of the second mile, and keeping the pace gentle. I’m pleased the knee felt okay, and hope this is the right approach. I’m sure my knee will let me know…

As well as finishing her dissertation, Nova has started applying for jobs. She heard today that she has some trial shifts next week at Barrafina in Soho, a really nice Spanish place we’ve eaten at a few times.  

Salmon, red pepper and cabbage salad for dinner. Once Nova headed back upstairs to work we started watching Caché, which I haven’t seen in years, but got too sleepy and called it a night.

September 2, 2024

Joined the gym across the street this morning – something I should have done a year ago instead of going with the lido – and went for a little induction session. There is a fair amount of new equipment since I was a gym regular and it was helpful to have someone talk me through it.

Afterwards I did a half hour of brisk walking on an incline, which should be good for strengthening my left knee. It’s been a little twingey since my Saturday run. Nothing serious but something to keep an eye on…

Lyra got back about noon – we had lunch together with Loki and Nova, which was nice. Haven’t seen much of her lately, and she’s off to Glasgow for an overnight uni visit tomorrow morning.

Keto “fried chicken” and slaw for dinner. Afterwards we watched Frances Ha – what a good film…

September 1, 2024

Rabbits! We thought of going for a pond swim this morning but didn’t get going early enough as it was closed for the Pondathon from 8:30am – the duathalon we competed in a couple of years ago, where you swim a lap of the lido, the run between the three bathing ponds on the Heath, before ending with a lap of the running track.

Had a morning walk round Stationers Park instead, before returning home to make a kedgeree-type dish with cauliflower instead of rice. While you wouldn’t mistake it for the real thing, it was pretty tasty. My knee was feeling a tiny bit stiff from the run yesterday, and it was good to loosen it up with a walk.

Picked up Doron and Ollie and drove over the spend the afternoon with Beulah. She was in pretty good spirits and it was a nice visit, aside from when she tried to shift the conversation to politics and blame the weeks-old Labour government for the country’s economic woes.

Sausages, potatoes and runner beans for dinner. Watched an episode of a true crime thing call Exes From Hell, or something like that, about a miserable bastard who terrorized women in Nevada and Oregon. What’s wrong with some people…?