A jolly hot weekend

Kew Gardens, May 2026

After the slight trauma of the broadband and landline difficulties at mum's, I went on to stay with Lola II and Mr M for a London minibreak. Lola II had helpfully planned our activities, starting with an outdoor film in their garden on Friday evening, complete with projector, screen and three-way headphone splitter. The film was much more gory than any of us usually choose - I was watching through my fingers for some of the time.

On Saturday Lola II and Mr M occupied themselves elsewhere for the day and I treated myself to a badminton event (spectating not playing). It was in Alexandra Palace Theatre, which turned out to be an excellent venue, and it was a new competition for young players who are at a higher standard than county leagues but not quite national team level. I had a great time, not least because I happened to be sitting next to a couple of enthusiastic and interesting men, but also because some of the people I volunteer with at the international event in Birmingham were also there, and it was lovely to see them.

In the evening I rejoined Lola II and Mr M to see a play at the local theatre in Ealing about some elderly residents in a home. It was a comedy, although it portrayed some uncomfortable bullying. There were a few delightful performances as well as a very talented singer, but someone in the audience laughed so loudly that it was intrusive. Despite this, whenever I go to the theatre I always come away thinking that I don't go to the theatre often enough.

I had volunteered to provide a 3-course picnic for the following day, so on Sunday morning I did some of the preparation and cooking for that, before Lola II and I headed out to the National Gallery to see an exhibition by a Spanish painter called Zurbarán. I'm no expert on art but I particularly liked the way he painted the textures of cloth and fabric. Saturday had been quite a hot day and Sunday was the same, but it was relatively cool inside the gallery. Mr M joined us for supper at a Sri Lankan restaurant which we ate outside accompanied by live blues music from the venue next door.

Monday was the hottest day so far and we had decided to go to Kew Gardens. The following day we read that the temperature that day at Kew broke all records (and it was even hotter on Tuesday), but we set off early and were even allowed in before the general public because Mr M has a civil service benefit that got him and Lola II in for free, and half price for me. We saved £80! Mr M heroically carried all the picnic, which we ate as an early lunch. 

After a quick climb and walk around the Treetop Walk, Lola II and I set off to book places on a tour of the sculpture installation by Henry Moore. We arrived one minute after booking started to find that all places had already been snapped up. This was no bad thing, because standing in the sun looking at sculptures would have been pretty uncomfortable. Instead, on the advice of a lady at the tour booking desk, Lola II and I visited a building where they were exhibiting some of his smaller sculptures alongside some lovely botanical drawings. We agreed that we didn't really like Henry Moore all that much, so we counted ourselves lucky to have missed the tour. And that building was air conditioned - very welcome indeed at this point.

Kew was lovely, but overwhelmingly hot and mostly green - there didn't seem to be many flowers except in the glasshouses, and roses. Is there any time of year when there aren't roses? The redwoods were beautiful too. We had a break for afternoon cakes sitting in the shade, we played one of the new games I was given by a man who lives and works at the retreat centre where I volunteer. He suggested that I try collaborative (rather than competitive) games, and this one was very unusual. I won't try to describe it, but I'm not sure how it would go down with my U3A group. We played the other collaborative game that evening, and it was much easier to understand and play but again I'm not sure if it would be enjoyed by the U3A people.

I have omitted some of the many happenings that occur when I spend time with Lola II and Mr M, including the substitution of Kenneth, Roger, Demi and Ilkley for Henry Moore, the subsequent misunderstanding of "varieties of trees in Kew Gardens" as "varieties of cheeses on Ilkley Moor", the Horror of the Permanent Marker, the falling asleep during the bedtime story and probably many more stories. But it was a great way to spend the hottest days of the year so far, and a nice break from all the issues connected with selling a house.

Still a lot going on

March 2026

I have been doing what feels like full time work on GRUHI, but I'm trying to set aside a bit of time for human interaction.

Cousin H visited Lola Towers at my invitation. This came about because the local history group have been uploading material from their book 'Leamington Spa: A History in 100 Buildings', published in 2018 but now out of print. I've been reading it a page at a time when I have a moment, and it's really very interesting. I was moved to contact them to offer them access to Lola Towers before I sell. 

It's quite possible that all of the buildings in all of the world have some sort of interesting story behind them - when and why they were built, who lived there. I wrote what I knew of the history of Lola Towers in 2017, and Cousin H became interested and did a bit more research, so when the secretary of the history group accepted my invitation to visit, I thought Cousin H might be interested. And also because it was an opportunity to hang out with him.

He arrived the day before, and we went to a play in Stratford at the Swan Theatre which was slightly disappointing but OK, and back in Leamington I took him over to the Royal Pump Rooms to see the display of the history of the town before coming home ready to welcome the history group. But nobody turned up, and when I contacted them it seemed they had visited but somehow had got no answer. So that was a shame, but we've set another date and I hoping it comes to something next time.

On the GRUHI front I've had some success. Photographing and listing stuff is getting a bit easier, and I have a couple more items of value, and then it will be a relief to just take what's left to the tip or the charity shops. UJ bought my bicycle, and I took all sorts of bits and pieces from the garage to a gardening event in the hope that someone would be interested. One person nabbed the strimmer string and another took some hosepipe; I also got rid of two buckets and a seed spreader to Nameless Man at the Library of Things. They are all Eco types who are thoroughly organic, and general horror was expressed at the chemicals I had - at least one is now banned but they told me how to dispose of it all at the local recycling centre, where I am now a very regular visitor.

The Saga of the Water continued with another visit from Severn Trent. This time it was a young woman, who apologised for her colleagues while actually doing the job I'd asked for. She confirmed there was a leak on my side of the water meter - about 1 litre an hour, which sounded like a lot until she told me the story of her previous job which was at a church where water was being lost at the rate of 600 litres an hour. She used a delightful tool to listen to the pipes, which could not have been less technical and comprised an earpiece on a stick. When I said that it might be a good idea to close the stop tap and check again, she expressed some surprise that this hadn't been done on either of the previous visits.

So in conclusion it seems that I have two problems. One is at the front where the water stain appeared, but there are no pipes leaking there and it is very probably water rising from the cellar brickwork below due to all the rain, and the age of the house meaning that there is no proper damp proof course on that wall. So I can hope for drier and warmer weather, while drying out the wall with a heater and dehumidifier and then touching up the paint. The other problem is within the house - maybe a ballcock or seal on a cistern is letting water drip through, because there are no dripping taps or evidence of water leaking (except as mentioned at the front where there aren't any pipes). For this I can engage an ordinary plumber to investigate.

Not Appy

Warwickshire, May 2025

Nothing of note to report, which is how it should be. Having said that, of course I haven't been sitting around doing nothing. 

• Exercise: Muscles the Personal Trainer is working me very hard, badminton as always, lovely walk with a friend and his dog, and another lovely walk with the U3A group.
• Nameless Man came to fix my garden gate and recommended a play being performed in a local wood which I attended. It was about codebreaking at Bletchley Park and included musical numbers. The company is based on a narrowboat and they seem to choose unusual venues - there will be another performance in Leamington, this time at the allotments.
• Visit to mum including installing netting below the greengage tree to catch the falling fruit and tweaking her new installation of Windows 11 to make it more like it was before the upgrade.
• Catching up on episodes of Taskmaster together with UJ, films (Love Lies Bleeding, Don't Look Back), and series (finished Years and Years and started Call My Agent).
• Registration for the NHS Diabetes Prevention Programme. The app they really, really want me to use is not compatible with my phone, so despite letting them know that I can't use the app but have been using the website I received several messages to the effect that unless I log in my participation will be discontinued. 
• A phone message then gave me a phone number to call where there are seven options to choose from, of which the first two options that I tried told me to use the website or app and then cut me off. 
• I found a combination of options that put me in a queue to speak to a human, and after a very long wait I finally got through to a woman who sounded like she had been partying all night and then had a raging argument with someone just before answering my call. But anyway, she noted that I couldn't use the app and made an appointment for me to start the programme in September via telephone calls
• I received two emails inviting me to do two separate long questionnaires about my eating and exercise habits then more messages telling me all about the benefits of the app, and finally confirmation of the telephone appointment we'd just made. 
• I have continued to receive daily emails pointing out that I haven't logged into the app, and here are the things that I could be doing with it. Painful.
• I went to supper with local friends who have a 10 year-old son. I was obliged to play games - he has a small air hockey table so that was first, then I'd brought a game that involved goats climbing mountains, and then we played a snap-style game during which everyone became overstimulated and we all had to have a bit of a break. Very different vibe from the elderly U3A board games crowd, and good fun, mostly.
• Now I've started a period of nearly four weeks volunteering at the retreat centre during its busiest time, which is over the Bank Holiday weekend. Updates will undoubtedly be forthcoming.

Mostly difficult stuff going on

Hlf, September 2024

Recently I visited mum and realised that I'd left one job so long that her email client (Outlook 2007) was going to stop working in less than a week - Microsoft no longer consider it secure because it's so old, and will prevent it from accessing her emails. So I swapped it for an alternative client, and the best part was that I also managed to upload her stored history of emails and her address book, which took a very long time but made me very happy to have achieved it. Then on the next visit I discovered that the new client was also blocked, and I managed to wrestle it to the ground and unblock it, but at the cost of losing all the emails that had arrived within a period of five days. Initially I thought I'd lost the whole Inbox and all the Sent items too, so losing just five days felt like a win.

I managed to go to the RSC to see The Merry Wives of Windsor. Whenever I go there, which is very seldom, I always vow I should go more. It's top quality theatre on my doorstep, so I don't know why I don't. And the roofers and my new glasses arrived on consecutive days in an expensive week. While the roofers were working I did a session of pruning in the garden - only three bags full, much more is needed.

Another thing that's been going on is renewing my car insurance. Over the years I have chosen to use a local broker for many of my policies - car, household, landlord insurance - but it has been well publicised that prices for insurance are rising. Generally what happens is that the broker gives me a quote, I go online and find the same cover at a lower price, and up to now they have managed to reduce their quote to something more acceptable. This time the renewal quote was £200 more than last year and when I went online the lowest quote was £170 less than this. I don't always choose the lowest quote, but the most common amount was still about £150 less than the broker, and they couldn't or wouldn't go anywhere near matching it. I don't quite see how they are going to survive on the High Street.

I've also been on retreat, which went very well - it was aimed at people who don't necessarily know anything about meditation or Buddhism, and so a) was much shorter than the heavy-duty retreats I've been attending and b) was at an introductory level in terms of teaching. But I chose it because it focussed on a topic that I've always found difficult, so I thought that starting from the beginning again might be useful. It was, but not in the way I expected. It was lovely to see people finding something they'd been looking for without knowing it, and to remember what I was like when I went on my first retreat at this centre when I didn't know who I was or what I wanted either. I've come a long way and all for the better.

I was going to carry on northwards for a weekend in York so arranged to drop in on H+B on the way. The York weekend had to be cancelled, but I went to H+B anyway, and talked about dismal things like the Office of the Public Guardian, Enduring Powers of Attorney, Executorship and Probate. But we wandered round the garden too, and admired the brickwork and freshly painted frontage of the house, and marvelled at the flat upstairs which is up for let at an eye-watering monthly sum. H is well, looks good, but is feeling his age (aren't we all). We agreed that the main thing for the avoidance of excruciating administrative entanglement is for H to remain alive for the time being, which thankfully he seems happy to do.

The launch of GRUHI

July 2023

I've managed to start the huge project to try and free myself of all the accumulated stuff in my house that might come in useful one day, or that reminds me of something or someone, or is broken or just needed to be out of the way so it found its way to the loft, or that is nice to look at but taking up space and accumulating dust. So much Stuff. Just looking around from where I'm sitting: a silver desk clock with the second hand broken off. A small plastic dinosaur. An English dictionary and Thesaurus. A non-functional electric blanket. Three French language course books. And mum has also been passing me things that she no longer needs.

I don't want it all to end up in landfill, and ideally I'd like to find new owners who would appreciate the items. As with the LTRP I feel that to maintain momentum I need to apply an acronym. Get Rid of Unwanted Household Items seems appropriate: GRUHI. Sounds suitably gruesome to signify the tedious and difficult nature of the job and yet with a jolly little hiccup at the end which is the joy when it is accomplished.

Anyway, the first item to achieve the GRUHI status is my old iPod, which I have listed on eBay along with various compatible items - the iPod speaker docking station and assorted cables. The auction ended on Sunday and the iPod sold; I relisted the docking station and received one bid; the other items aren't even getting any views, so how will I get rid of those?

Leamington has a number of local initiatives as well as branches of national initiatives, which is one of the reasons I like to live here. LETS is a local trading community where the currency is 'Oaks' and people trade services rather than goods - giving lifts, swapping plants, make and mend sessions, recommendations for tradespeople and helping with any sort of household jobs. I've been a member for some time but haven't actually offered or asked for help. Leamington also has a monthly 'Repair Café' where people can take items that need repairing, and I have used that - they have extended the life of my camping chairs and a shopping bag.

Apparently Leamington LETS is represented at the monthly Repair Café. They have said that I might bring some GRUHI goods and see if anyone will take them off my hands - either the visitors, or maybe the people doing the repairs. That's all very interesting for the future, but the second Leamington Film Festival was about to take place and I needed to sort out the door to my toilet, which is dragging on the threshold and would be in danger of damage at the hands of multiple strangers pulling and pushing at it. So I put out a request via LETS, and who should respond but one of my U3A board game friends?

So he came over and we have improved the state of the door - I wouldn't say it's fixed but it's certainly much better. And he stayed for a cup of tea, and I told him about the Film Festival and sent him the link and he came to two of the films, which was very nice. And when I was out with my U3A walking group I mentioned my new project, and they told me about a company in Warwick that might be interested in dad's stamps - I haven't yet had time to do anything about that yet but it could happen soon.

And there are many charity shops in Leamington, and one of my Buddhist friend volunteers in two different charity shops in Kenilworth, and there's the shop at the tip, so many other ways to take forward my GRUHI initiative. It's now mid-September and I think it would be helpful to have some kind of time-based target for what I might achieve. Difficult to imagine what that might be at the moment - maybe I could go round the house listing everything to get rid of by the end of the year?

Hostess with the mostess

Waterperry Gardens, March 2023

Hello, Lola II here. Lola I declared at the start of her London visit that we should write the blog for our latest excitements and, since she writes sooo much of our adventures, I agreed that she should be given a break. So here I am.

The fun begun… The fan began… I went swimming first thing on Wednesday as the dedicated Olympic swimmer that I am. I won’t say any more about my swimming here since I’ve been invited to dedicate a post about the years that have led me to my near-Olympic achievements, so that will come another time.

Lola I arrived in Marylebone station ready for a full day of events. Along with Mr M, we had Indian chaats, starter-sized portions of Indian deliciousness. I can’t normally eat Indian food because of the allium content but chaats often just have diced onion added on top and so it can be easily removed.

Onwards to the Gielgud Theatre to see To Kill A Mockingbird. We love Harper Lee’s 1960’s book but the draw on this occasion was that it had been adapted for the stage by Aaron Sorkin, a master of the word, who wrote one of our favourite television series, The West Wing. The play did not disappoint and was entirely mesmerising from beginning to end. My eyes were certainly glued to the stage. I felt part of the performance, clearly as did those in the audience who gasped when [spoiler alert] Atticus received the call that Tom Robinson was dead.

The previous week Mr M and I had free tickets to be in the audience for a recording of the television show, QI. It was a big disappointment due to one of the panellists but we were happy to give it another go when Lola was enthusiastic about going after the theatre. What to do in the gap between cultural experiences? Cake of course. I led our happy band on an unnecessarily extended walk in the wrong direction until we finally arrived at a Swedish café I had recently experienced for market research purposes. Fact. Crucial cakes purchased, off we went to TV Centre. QI was great. We were compensated for last week’s disappointment with good guests and lots of fun.

Mr M worked on Thursday while Lola I and I played. We collected M&T’s car and then headed off to Ikea to return some items. M&T kindly allow us to use the car whenever we want and it is very handy indeed. We wandered around, with Lola I showing a surprising amount of interest in examining the kitchen-related items. Apart from the trolley having an unnatural tendency to steer left, we had all the fun of browsing exciting colourful items with almost none of the expenditure.

Friday, off we drove to Leamington. I cut Mr M’s hair and trimmed his beard until he looked gorgeous again. Random Cuts, my lockdown-prompted hairdressing service, has survived into these post-Covid times. I have a number of loyal clients, two and a half to be exact – Mr M, Lola II and Mum until she can get back to a real hairdresser (although you’ll always be welcome back, Mumsie!) BL2 & Mr MFX arrived and we created our own pizzas, along with UJ.

Saturday was my purpose for the timing of our weekend. I attended the Read Easy UK Conference with 200 attendees from 57 groups. The bottom line is that our work changes the life of adults who come to us unable to read, and leave being able to be part of the community around them. Gone is the incomprehension, isolation and disadvantage. Heart-warming stuff.

At the end of the day back home in Leamington there were (allium-free, thank you Lola) nibbles and a broccoli & cauliflower quiche with salad and one of my favourite desserts, a chocolate steamed pudding with apricots and chocolate sauce. Politeness prevented me from skipping the main course and jumping to dessert, but having it for breakfast too made up for it.

Sunday morning and the reason why we got BL2 & Mr MFX up there with us… Meccano! Dad had a set from the 1950’s and Lola has stored it for the last decade or so. The little screws and nuts and other bits’n’bobs are beautifully kept in individual gold (they’re yellow but I always remember them as GOLD) cigarette boxes. To think there was a time when people bought their cigarettes in these metal beauties and not in the cardboard packets with hideous pictures of rotting teeth on the front, warning against smoking.

We had a very happy three hours, each constructing an item of our choice. Mr MFX made a motor car, Lola a swing and I made a dentist chair in recognition of Lola’s bravery and ongoing dental exploits. The designs for these came with the Meccano set and are printed on 1950’s thin paper pamphlets that feel like they will disintegrate if you show too much enthusiasm around them. BL2 decided to go off-piste and construct a chicken of her own design. Keeping chickens herself, she was expert on how her end product would look and the only difference between her creation and the real thing was that hers had to have a third leg. With more time I feel sure she would have found a subtler way to balance the head with the bot-bot.

Lunch in the pub next door with Mr M and UJ was lovely. UJ hadn’t had a Sunday Roast before and Lola did an admirable job of preparing UJ for the eventuality of me distracting her in some way in order to steal her Yorkshire pudding. I would not have done that but I do understand the urgency with which Lola briefed her. I admit it is a risk, sitting near me during a Sunday Roast.

We then each went on our merry way after a lovely weekend. Lola was the hostess with the mostess.

Rain, rain, go away

Vajraloka, May 2022

A while back I mentioned that the windows in Lola Towers are old and a bit leaky. A few have received attention as part of some other job, but it was time to replace the hinges on five upstairs windows. Doors and Windows Ulf arrived with sidekick and did the job, which included cleaning many of the old windows and adjusting a couple of the new doors that were giving a bit of trouble. He's a cheerful and helpful chap, and good to have around.

While he was up on the kitchen roof I took the opportunity of joining him to check the roof light, and to wipe it clean of moss to prevent leaks, as I'd been advised previously. Except this time it has had the opposite effect. At the moment I'm hoping for magical self-healing and have placed a towel on the kitchen worktop to catch the indoor precipitation, although Ulf has offered to come back and have a look when it finally stops raining. I am taking the same approach to my printer which is digging its heels in and refusing to function at all while reporting a non-existent paper jam. The Internet has offered a couple of fixes that haven't worked and then suggests contacting the manufacturer, which is usually a coded message for "time for a new printer."

My Buddhist study group has been in abeyance for a while, which gave me the opportunity to play badminton on a couple of Mondays. I miss that club! They are fun to be with and also to play with, and I look forward to the weeks when I can get there.

And, for the first time ever, I've been to our local theatre. I can't believe I've never done it before; it's a lovely little place by the river run by volunteers, with a small auditorium and a very cheap bar. UJ came with me to see Wyrd Sisters, a play based on the Terry Pratchett novel (which UJ has read), and we both enjoyed it. UJ commented in the interval that it isn't so easy for her without the subtitles, and she would have had the added difficulty of TP's very English puns and wordplay, and various characters were using quite thick regional accents, but I think she got the gist.

I'm hoping for an appearance soon by guest bloggers Lola II and/or Mr M to describe our adventures in London and Leamington, but until then, a last note regarding a message I received from mum. Over the years as maintenance has been needed she has discovered some staggering incompetence on the part of the tradesmen involved in the building of an extension, including the heating thermostat on the wall being entirely decorative, a pump installed the wrong way round, and much more. This time the downstairs toilet flush needed a bit of help and the plumber was duly called. In the course of his work he discovered, unbelievably, that it was plumbed into the hot water supply and has presumably been so ever since its installation by what must have been the most incompetent tradesman ever employed.