I am thankful that the weather seems to have improved a tad since yesterday as in a day or so I am having a specialist firm come and steam-clean the patio in my back garden and there is a certain amount of clearing up to be done. The day before I had cut the grassed area to the front of the hose but had felt tired all day and could not have faced any more clearing up work but today is another matter. The day before yesterday, I met my American friend in the park and we ‘did a turn’ but mainly sat on my favourite bench and discussed what events in the Arts world we wanted to go and see in the next few weeks. I am still dithering a bit over any holiday plans that I might have for later in the year or even to draw the sting of the winter by going to Spain next February but as is ever the case one needs to think about one’s finances. This month is a peculiar one because I have the car insurance, taxation and servicing to pay for and although I have done some forward planning for all of this, I will feel in a happier place once all of these expenses are actually behind me instead of in front of me. In a day or so, it will be the year long anniversary of Meg’s funeral and this will be another milestone. In some ways, the past year has absolutely flown by but on the other hand it seems an enormously long time since I had Meg by my side. But my American friend is good for me because she misses her mother terribly and so sometimes we have a little weep together to remember our joint grief. Naturally, candles get lit in any churches that we happen to visit such as the Cathedral church of St Philip with some magnificent stained glass windows which we visited last Friday. I found on Sky news a little  something that made me smile. Donald Trump has been booed at a basketball match in New York as he became the first sitting US president to attend the NBA Finals. The catcalls came after frustrated ticket holders waited for hours in lines that stretched more than two blocks outside Madison Square Garden on Monday due to the intense security restrictions that came with the president’s appearance. I do not suppose for a moment that any catcalls would have registered with the US president such is his narcissism and vanity but, nonetheless, it is a sign that the tide if turning in American politics. I am training myself to have a slightly different breakfast routine these days. One of the first things I have just started to do is to have a couple of teaspoonfuls of high quality EVOO (Extra Virgin Olive Oil) and if you do this first thing in the morning, it both lines the stomach but also its beneficial ingredients are quickly absorbed and you derive the maximum benefit from the oil. If I have got up late and I am a little pressed for time, then I have a small avocado with a little bit of Thousand Island dressing followed perhaps by a rice cake spread with cottage cheese. If on the other hand, I have got up earlier, I prepare  a bowl with a couple of dessert spoonfuls of raw porridge oats, throw in a handful of bran and then add sone greek yogurt (or better still Kefir style yogurt which is becoming more available in the supermarkets these days) I have started to become a little more cautious about the yogurt that I buy – for example ‘Greek style’ mans not authentic yogurt. In the same vein, I am also avoiding anything that says ‘Law fat’  as this means that some beneficial fats have been replaced by harmful sugar or sugar substitutes. The supermarkets have a lot to answer for in their drive for profitability and I find that I have to shop carefully for healthy products and I need to keep a careful eye open for junk type food of which to my eye, there is a lot.

Later on in the morning, I donned some shorts (unusual for me!) and went down to attend my weekly Pilates class. Earlier in the morning, I had had the most frustrating time as I had received from a national motoring organisation (I will not say which!) a renewal quote for next year which was 27% higher than last year. The organisation’s website indicate that you could get into contact with them via email (but without supplying an email address) but also gave a text number as an alternative – in the event this turned out to be a service only for the hard of hearing! After my Pilates class and going round the houses to get the right telephone number I eventually got into contact with a human being (rather than an automated system) and indicated my displeasure at the subscription increase and that I intended to leave and take up the services of a rival. After I had removed one service that I think I will never need, I was offered a new subscription price which was only 52% of the renewal price that I had originally been quoted. I mention all of this because I think it is indicative of modern life where organisations are desperate you you to sign and to avail yourself of special offers, but it is difficult to find a human to whom to complain. So at the end of the day I have got the subscription which I need at a reasonable price but it has taken quite a lot of hassle to get to this point and I wonder how many actually give up and end up either paying the hugely increased price or leaving altogether. Tonight, I can again look forward to a Simon Scharma programme on a History of Britain’ and this one promises to focus on the end of empire which might be interesting in its own right. It was an American Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, Dean Acheson who opined that ‘Britain had lost an Empire but not found a role’ and these words are as true today as when they were first uttered in 1962.

Yesterday had its fair share of pleasant surprises. I showed the photograph of Meg and I which had been put o the back of the Midlands Sinfonia Orchestra leaflet and gave my American friend the full story of how it ended up. Then we cooked a fairly conventional meal of salmon pieces with veg and we accompanied this with a bottle of Asti Spumante the taste of which I a gradually reacquainting myself these days – it has a hint of a sultana-ish elements in it which I quite enjoy. After lunch, we settled down in front of the TV and I was delighted to find the full (and free) version of the film ‘Ladies in Lavender’ which we both enjoyed tremendously (although we both had a little snooze during the course of the film) After the film was over, there was an interesting discussion between Maggie Smith and Judi Dench how they had interpreted the characters and the film as a whole has some interesting little comic asides at which English film makers are so adept. My American friend and I spent some time discussing health-related issues, not in any neurotic sense but really exploring ways in which we could use a combination of diet and exercise to keep ourselves fit and healthy in the years ahead. In truth, we are already pretty closely aligned in this respect and it may well be that we enjoy each other’s company whilst we enjoy walks in the park together when the weather is anything like fair and, this way, we both get some beneficial  exercise under our belts. When I reflect upon this, we live less than two miles apart and both drive so it s easy for us to agree a joint venue such as our magnificent local park and to plan joint little exercise trips together which  would not be possible if we lived a long way apart from each other.  Yesterday morning, I awoke to incredibly overcast skies and we have the threat of some thundery showers throughout the morning but it may well be that we  have some respite during the afternoon with the expectation that we might have some sunny periods – but flaming June it most certainly is not and I am longing for a period of what might one call ‘normal’ June weather. Some local wags are already saying that after the hot spell in May, we have had our summer for the year and we are now entering Autumn and it certainly feels like it at times. The Middle East continues to boil over and whenever Donald Trump is offering the prospect of a peace deal within days, the Israelis are continuing their strikes against Hezbollah who are now firing missiles directly into Israel as retaliation for the first time in month. Although Trump says that he is angry with Netanyahu for continuing to defy him, Israel seem to be intent on continuing their advances with Lebanon which is now looking as war torn as Gaza to the south. Israel is never sanctioned and although Trump may huff and puff it would only be the threat of withdrawing military support that might them to heel. So with the two major conflicts n the world (Iran and Ukraine) the gulf between the combatants seems unbridgeable.

For  a reason I could not quite discern, I have felt incredibly tired all of today and had to force myself to do even simple things. But I did go and collect my newspaper and then, as the sun was shining felt I really needed to go and get the front grassed area cut. Actually, it seemed a lot warmer inside the house rather than inside so perhaps the house having cooled down considerably inside had something to do with my feeling tired but I was very pleased to get this job under my belt, as it were. Later on the afternoon, if it does not shower with rain I intend to meet my American friend in a car park at a local park where we can have a ‘health-sustaining’ walk together.  There are three artistic events to which we can go in the next month ranging in venue from Bromsgrove itself to the Town Hall in Birmingham or even the theatre in Malvern so we need to discuss to which of these we feel inclined to go. I suspect that we will finish up with a feed from the National Theatre of ‘Les Liaisons Dangereuses’ which has some brilliant write-ups and it is available as a feed in our local Artrix Arts Centre for which we always seem to be able to get tickets. Later on this evening there is to be yet another documentary on Brexit the 10th anniversary of which we shall be shortly be commemorating. I am convinced that future historians will rank this as one of the worst ‘turning point’ in British political history, probably ranking alongside the Suez crisis of 1956. Whether Brexit is a bigger turning point than Suez is a subject of intense historical and diplomatic debate, with arguments favouring the structural magnitude of both events. The Suez Crisis in 1956 is widely seen as the definitive end of the British Empire. It brutally exposed the limits of Britain’s post-war power and its subservience to the United States and the Soviet Union. Historians often view Suez as the catalyst that forced the UK to fundamentally re-evaluate its place in the world, eventually pushing it to seek economic salvation by joining the European project. Many geopolitical analysts and former diplomats argue Brexit is structurally a much bigger turning point because it reverses a foundational national strategy—the 50-year project of European integration—rather than merely handling a botched international operation. While Suez was a humbling, externally imposed retreat from the global stage, Brexit was a voluntary, structural rewiring of the UK’s trade, diplomatic, and security architecture. While Suez confronted the UK with the hard reality of its declining global status, Brexit fundamentally altered the country’s economic and political identity for the foreseeable future. Tonight’s programme is going to concentrate on many of contributions made by key political figures of the time, but it may well be that the omission of the role of Dominic Cummings, illicit Russian money and no end of ‘black’ propaganda gives a less than revealing picture. I well remember that in the closing week of the campaign, Europe was scarcely mentioned but the whole issue revolved around the question of immigration with some ridiculous projections that the whole population of Turkey would descend upon British shores if the UK voted to remain in the EU. In the event, given the turnout, some 62.5% of the electorate either did not vote or voted to stay in the EU – David Cameron, the then Prime Minister, should have specified a majority of the electorate rather than a majority of those who voted for such a monumental decision. 

Yesterday I awoke to another gloomy day but I was in good spirits because I regularly attend the 8.30 service in my local Catholic church after which there is coffee, cakes and a chat to which to look forward. After some of my regular Sunday morning routines which now involves car washing, I can look forward to my American friend calling around and we are going to cook a simple lunch together and relax during the afternoon although we may well take a turn in the nearby Sanders Park.  I turned to Sky News and in particular their excellent defence correspondent, Michael Clarke, who presented us to today with a fascinating series of observations about the Ukrainian war. Clarke is commenting upon the somewhat cheeky letter that Zelenskyy, the Ukrainian leader sent to Putin suggesting a meeting (which offer was immediately rejected) But Clarke has suggested three reasons why there are grounds for cautious optimism. Firstly, on the ground whilst Ukraine is not winning the war, it is certainly not losing it either and the Russian ground offensive seems to have stalled. After all, the Ukrainians are fighting for their lives and their very existence but the same is not true of the Russian side. Secondly, Ukraine has developed its drone technology in great leaps and bounds and now has a series of weapons so that deep strikes are now possible deep into the heart of Russia, including St. Petersburg much to the chagrin of Putin who was hosting an international conference recently. This has a great psychological even if not military impact as Russians now realise that the war is not going to go away. But a third factor is that the Russian economy, whilst large, is stuttering and as a result of persistent inflation there is now quite an acute labour shortage. This is exacerbated by manpower used to prop up the army and there may be now as many as 1.5-2.0 million ex-soldiers who have either died or been severely injured, all of which acts as a drain upon the economy. Russia is evidently quite desperate which is why its own drone attacks upon the Ukraine are increasing in intensity so we are in a situation which, in footballing terms approximates to a 1:1 draw between the two sides. I think there is a growing realisation amongst the Europeans that Ukraine must not lose this war and thus, in the absence of the American support, the other European nations must strain every muscle to support Ukraine. Of course, the Iran conflict has made Ukraine drop out of the headlines but this analysis is very interesting, nonetheless. On the other side of the Atlantic, some of the wilder excesses of Donald Trump are being ameliorated as the Republicans gradually start to exercise a feeble fight back. So it looks as though the £2.8 billion slush fund to compensate the insurrectionists who stormed the Capitol building in 2021 has run into the ground, as has the attempt to rename the Kennedy centre and  there are persistent rumours that the so-called ballroom, being built over the remains of the East Wing of the White House, may be similarly doomed. On the other hand, it looks as though Trump may have succeeded in ensuring that neither he, nor his family, can be prosecuted for the evident corrupt gains which they amassed in the latest presidency.

A rather extraordinary disclosure I suppose you could say happened to me as I was taking my coffee and biscuits in th Church hall this morning but some words of background are in order. When Meg was alive and more or less ‘compos mentis’ despite her advancing dementia, we used to attend a special event organised obout once per month by AgeUK locally for dementia patients and their carers. On one such occasion and I think must have been in the autumn of 2024, Meg and I attended an event in the Rugby Club at Finstall (a nearby village) and the attraction that day was a visit by the principal violinist (and mow musical director) of a local orchestra known as the Midlands Sinfonia. Members of this orchestra as part of their outreach remit visit schools and residential homes and hence the visit to the AgeUK event. Meg and I had were photographed with the violinist and another attendee and this particular photo was uploaded to the orchestra’s website to demonstrate their outreach commitment. Now we come to today’s event and our church organist and one-time Eucharistic minister gave me the latest publicity leaflet for the 2026-2027 season of the Midlands Sinfonia. There, on the back cover, was the photo of Meg, myself, the violinist and another attendee at the event and, of course, this leaflet would have had a print run of several hundreds if not a thousand or so and would have been distributed across the Midlands. It is hard to fully describe the feelings of pleasure and joy that seeing Meg (happy!) in this photograph gave me and I must confess it evoked a few emotional tears once I got home and reflected on how widespread Meg’s image would have  been distributed. I had got the car washed and then cooked myself a late breakfast of a fried egg on sourdough toast before I start to think about preparing some lunch for (much) later in the day. My son gave me an extended telephone call to detail his movements as he and my daughter-in-law are going to be away for well over a week (dog-sitting for other family members) so normally, I would feel his absence quite keenly. But I have several events coming up next week (including a Curry Club dinner in the middle of the week) and then other U3A activities so if I am pretty busy then this has to be a good rather than a bad thing. The preset cool snap may well give way to some warmer weather the week after next so I might avail myself of a trip up and down the Severn Valley Railway if I can get this squeezed in before the schools break up (as there are bound to be grandparents taking their grandchildren on special trips as soon as they are released from school) There are some concerts coming up which I would like to attend both here in central Birmingham (at the town hall) as well as an opera in Malvern (‘The Marriage of Figaro’) so I will have to have a long hard think about whether to make the effort to attend this and whether I can persuade anybody to accompany me.

Yesterday was a sort of recovery day after my American friend and I had spent a very interesting day visiting the Art gallery (amongst other things) in central Birmingham yesterday. First thing in the morning, I quickly located and then ran off an article which I had found following the search term ‘Cooking/diets for arthritis suffers’ I think this latter article might be useful for a variety of reasons. One of them is my American friend may be developing some osteoarthritis in her ankles but, fortunately, she is very diet conscious anyway. For myself, I am always keen to keep arthritic symptoms at bay but those that I have, including my left knee after a road traffic accident years ago, are pretty mild at the moment. But my son has recently sprained his ankle and this may take some time to recover so, in the meantime, he might as well do what he can to stop arthritis from setting in. Needless to day, the source highly recommends the Mediterranean diet and fish oils and although I try to eat an oily fish twice a week I think my fish-oil supplement is probably out-of-date and needs replacing as these oils do not last for ever. In fact most food writers stress that the beneficial effects of olive oil are at a maximum if the oil is consumed early and not kept for years on end. I decided to do a little research and the internet revealed the following for me. Consuming a tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil (EVOO) early in the morning on an empty stomach maximises nutrient absorption and aids digestion. The healthy fats and antioxidants help coat your stomach lining, activate your liver and gallbladder, and suppress your appetite for the rest of the day. The key Benefits of the morning routine are that fasting overnight prepares your digestive system, allowing polyphenols (the powerful antioxidants) to be absorbed more efficiently without competing with other foods. It stimulates beneficial gut bacteria, reduces inflammation, and acts as a natural remedy for occasional constipation. The oleic acid (monounsaturated fat) triggers feelings of fullness, which helps regulate blood sugar and curb cravings. So this is useful background and scientific information to have and I imagine that I will incorporate this knowledge into my early morning ‘getting myself up and going’ routines. One pleasant surprise when I arrived home from my day out so delivered by a late post was an extra ‘helpers’ card requested from the National Trust. This means that when I visit a National Trust property, anybody with me can gain admittance as a ‘helper’ free of charge so my American friend and I will probably make great use of tis facility during the summer months. The weather was gloomy and overcast for the whole of yesterday but I will content myself with some gentle tidying up jobs after I have hit the road and visited my friend in the ‘Gifts of Love’ outlet which I tend to do once a week (so that they can check I am still in the land of the living). In fact, I remember walking down into town with one of my neighbours when we were attending our weekly Pilates session and my neighbour encountered some friends who she had not seen for some time. On a ritual request to see how they were getting on they replied with the very memorable phrase ‘We are still above  the ground!’ which phrase has stuck me with me over the years.

Yesterday was a very quiet day and the wet and gloomy weather did not help. Anticipating some Text Match cricket on the TV in the evening, although an hour was scheduled, in practice only half an hour could be utilised. Rain had stopped play all of the morning and, in the afternoon, the players were on and off the pitch several times whilst rain interrupted play and then I think that play was called off for the day at about 5.00pm in the afternoon. When I eventually tracked down a copy of ‘The Times’ today, a little booklet was published which included timetables for all of the fixtures of the forthcong football World Cup series. It seems that the earliest kick off times will be 9.00pm GMT so if we include periods of time for extra time, VAR reviews, the half time period itself and so on, I suspect that many matches will go on until about 11.30 so I wonder f the b=viewing figures will drop quite a lot across the UK.  I finally got around to returning the Blue Badge issued to Meg by Worcestershire Council back to them and whilst hunting for an address on the web found out that I needed to fill in a form and then I can cut it in half and dispose of it myself. But in the act of supplying Meg’s unique number to Worcestershire, I discerned that your birth month and date and the expiry date actually form part of the registration umber as well as your gender. This  number In had not studied before but I saw one video in which legitimate holders of a Blue Badge could examine and decode the numbers displayed on other Blue Badges and make a determination as to whether or not the badge is being used fraudulently. So I wondered what the web had to say about this and discovered that Bromsgrove is using quite an aggressive philosophy (which is worth knowing). Blue Badge fraud has surged by over 1000%. Offences range from using deceased relatives’ permits and buying fakes online, to using genuine badges when the disabled holder is not present. This causes a severe lack of accessible parking and costs the public purse millions. The consequences of this type of fraud are harsh and offenders can face on-the-spot fines, Penalty Charge Notices, and court-mandated fines of up to £1,000. Councils aggressively seize illegally used badges. In severe cases (like using fake or deceased individuals’ badges), offenders can be prosecuted under the Fraud Act 2006, receiving unlimited fines, criminal records, and potential jail time. If you live in or near Bromsgrove, your local authority is Bromsgrove District Council (operating as part of the Worcestershire Regulatory Services). They investigate Blue Badge misuse and can confiscate permits used for non-exempt purposes. If you suspect an individual or vehicle is actively committing Blue Badge fraud in your area, you can report it directly to help authorities stop the fraud. My chiropodist called around today and she confirmed to me that she had heard stories about our local authority taking this type of fraud seriously.

Yesterday has opened with quite a lot of cloud and this is going to persist most of the morning but there is a 20% chance of a light shower in the afternoon. I have spent a certain amount of time exploring some potential holiday options for a stay in Spain next February (when winter is at its worst) and were I to book up now, there are a quite a lot of good deals to be had. Our favourite hotel in La Coruna appears to be already full but another that I know well run by the Hesperia chain is offering rooms at half the price so it is all pretty tempting. I am not at the stage to make firm decisions just yet as there is quite a lot to consider. There is an interesting report in Sky news this morning that despite the military might of America, Iran seems to be outfoxing USA in the protracted negotiations over a cease-fire and a peace plan. When the dust settles (if it ever will) then in the most paradoxical way, Iran may emerge as a stronger and strategically more important world power than it has been hitherto, if only because of the whole issue of the control of the Straits of Hormuz. When one starts to reflect upon world affairs then both Russia and the USA seem to have thought that their military might would have made a ‘push over’ of their conflicts with smaller nations (Ukraine, Iran) but both major military powers have suffered what might be termed a bloody nose so this might give the serious military analysts pause for thought before they rush into any more conflicts. The thing that I find genuinely puzzling and both the UA and Russia are guilty of this is the thought that the bombing of civilian populations is likely to lead to a rapid end to a conflict. As we ourselves know from our experiences of WWII, then the bombing of a civilian population is likely to increase and not decrease their overall resolve. The day before yesterday, I had my Spanish conversation class and this turned out to be quite interesting. Our tutor had assembled a range of popular expressions about the ways in which we might be ‘lucky’ or ‘unlucky’ and this led to quite a little spate of stories around the table of how might have utilised some or all of these phrases in our past discourses. We were joined by a new member who has skills in both French and Spanish although I suspect more so in French. But I did feel sorry for her because I think she felt a little overwhelmed by the rest of the group even though our conversations are only semi-fluent. It is interesting to see how each of us approaches our conversation – one of our number is very thoughtful and does not speak as much as the rest of us but I expect his listening skills are of a high order and he understands nearly everything. Speaking personally, I tend to flip the other way because I am fairly confident in speaking (even though I must make a mountain of mistakes) but I suspect that my listening skills are worse than my fellow class member as sometime I fail to comprehend or to follow the flow of the conversation. Still, the important thing is that we each feel as though we are making some progress and therefore deriving some benefit from our fortnightly meetings. I suspect that our latest recruit may not join us again even though all of us made friendly and welcoming approaches towards her. In the evening before last, I watched ‘Any Questions’ come from the critical by election in Makerfield (Wigan and Leigh area of Greater Manchester) and this was conducted in quite a civilised and restrained fashion. But I read that Andy Burnham has opened up a 10-point lead over Reform in the Makerfield by-election race, according to a new poll. The Labour mayor of Greater Manchester would win 49 per cent of the vote, according to data from Survation, with Reform’s Robert Kenyon trailing on 39 per cent.

Yesterday was the day when my friend and I promised ourselves a day out in central Birmingham. We caught the train together from Bromsgrove to arrive in Birmingham New Street station and it was relatively easy for us to negotiate our way to the City Art Gallery. The minute we arrived there, we treated ourselves to Edwardian tea rooms and then we ventured forth to view the pre-Raphaelite collection. The Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood was Britain’s first modern art movement. In the mid-19th century, its artists painted traditional subjects in radical ways and responded to a rapidly changing world. They looked back to the bright colours and realism of medieval art to create a new style for a modern age. As they admired art from before the Italian painter Raphael (1483 to 1520), they called themselves ‘Pre-Raphaelites’. Birmingham has the largest collection of Pre-Raphaelite art and design in the world. Selected from this outstanding collection, the displays will introduce audiences to the Pre-Raphaelites and their circle, from their early works through to artists working in Birmingham at the turn of the 20th century. After we had had our fill of the artwork, we decided not to eat in the Art Gallery (where we could have had fish and chips) but made our way to the immediate environs where we found a high class Indian restaurant and treated ourselves to an Indian meal (which was good but not ‘that’ good). Then we went on a meandering walk and ran across St Basils’ cathedral (and I estimated it to be Georgian built in 1740 but it was completed in 1715) We admired the stained glass windows and went to light candles for our respective deceased loved ones but whilst we were lighting candles before a Madonna and child, we noticed a woman overcome  with grief weeping to herself before the painting. My friend and I immediately went over to the woman to console her, explaining how we ourselves had both experienced grief recently and after some interesting conversations between the three of us we ended up with a communal hug between the three of us which I honestly think made the three of us feel better. Then we carried on with our peregrination and finished up at an interesting coffee shop at the start of the huge shopping mall that surrounds New Street station. We both find that the bar codes issued on the tickets provided to us at Bromsgrove failed to give us access to the platform spine but staff realised that the software was a little ‘dodgy’ and allowed us through without question. Then we arrived home at about six having had a very interesting day.

I am not getting hugely excited about the 2026 football World Cup to be held across the three countries of USA, Mexico and Canada with England’s first match about 10 days away. Apart from the scandalously high ticket prices, though, as we were talking briefly about the World Cup in our Pilates session the other day, I decided to look up some features of this particular event and discovered some items of interest. One such item is that 25% of the matches are likely to be played in temperatures of 80° and above which must have consequences for the health of the players. FIFA are introducing the ability  to have a two minute drinks break half way through each half which is surely sensible. I wonder whether the high temperatures will militate against the northern European teams and in favour of the African and Asian teams more accustomed to this humidity and heat. But FIFA have tweaked some of the rules for this competition and one, in particular, caught my eye. This is that VAR and assistant referees can both be alerted to, and sanction, the grappling (even to the ground) between players which often takes place at corners. This is a rule change of which I wholeheartedly approve because it is an ugly feature of the present game that players can, at present, grapple with each other whilst preparations are being made for a corner kick to be taken. It will be interesting to see how this rule is both interpreted and enforced but I personally would make shirt pulling an instant ‘red card’ (i.e. sending off) offence but this is such a feature of the modern game that referees feel powerless to do anything about it. I would make only two observations at this point. The first is that as a boy taught how to play football in the 1950’s, we were given instructions how to male a legitimate ‘shoulder charge’ and anything else was considered illegal (not that we would have considered anything else) The second feature that football could learn from rugby union is to outlaw any backchat or confrontation of players with the referee, with the only exception being the captain who is allowed to make (presumably polite) enquiries of the referee as to the reasons for a particular decision  from which (in theory) the captain can attempt to fine-tune the behaviour of players in his/her team and the game can become more free-flowing. But a think a rule change of this magnitude is not even on the horizon and would fundamentally alter the character of the modern game. If I were a football referee in the modern game (God forbid!) I suspect that I would take as my role model ‘Pete’ in the comedy ‘Outnumbered’ where as a football team he finished off by giving most members of the two opposing schoolboy teams red cards thus reducing the game to a 5-aside (which is not a bad idea). On the other side of the Atlantic, the US House of Representatives have belatedly voted to rein in Trump’s war powers (when the war looks practically over, in any case) The US House of Representatives passed a measure that seeks to halt President Donald Trump from taking further military action in Iran. The 215-208 vote was successful after four Republicans joined Democrats in a public show of disapproval of the war, which began in February. This is the fourth attempt by the House to rein in Trump’s war powers, which critics say lack congressional approval. The House resolution still needs approval from the Republican-controlled US Senate. Even if it were successful in the Senate, the measure is unlikely to fully curb military action against Iran. The Senate advanced a similar resolution in May, after seven previous failed attempts, but it has yet to reach a full floor vote. The vote on Wednesday marked the latest sign of division within Trump’s Republican Party, coming just days after a revolt by conservatives in Congress led his administration to pull back plans for a $1.8b ‘anti-weaponisation’ fund for political allies.

Yesterday was going to be quite a busy day because I had my normal Tai Chi class in the morning at which I suspect I am slowly becoming somewhat more adept but it takes time to acclimatise to the moves after a decade of doing Pilates. After the class, I had a coffee with my Bank Manager friend and we exchanged  some thoughts specifically on the organisation  of funerals (the mother-in-law of my friend had died at a ripe old age and she had outlived almost anyone who could come to the funeral so it was going to be quite a small affair) There were also some regulars there with whom she exchanged some black humour jokes before it was time for us to leave. Then I paid a visit to my local Asda store. both to use an ATM and also to buy some fruit (fresh and tinned) that I had forgotten to purchase the other day. By this stage, it was getting pretty late in the morning so I pressed on straight away with a different kind of lunch as I knew that I had to leave the house in plenty of time to get to a neighbouring village hall in which my Spanish conversation class is held.  You would think it would  be easy to get to a village only some five miles distant but because of the massive works on the A38 which seem to have extended for a couple of years now, the most direct route had the road close and the next  obvious shortcut was also closed. However, I managed to navigate my way to the village hall even without a SatNav and got there in plenty of time. There are three males there as well as our tutor and a very experienced (female) teacher of both Spanish and French but we three males all have a background in IT which happens to an amazing coincidence. On getting home and sorting out my future U3A meetings I have an unfortunate clash in a fortnight’s time and I cannot attend two meetings at the same time so for one of them I have had to tender my apologies. I am surprised this does not happen more often but commitments tend to bunch around Wednesdays and Thursdays – Fridays are often the days when one is going away for the weekend and Monday and Tuesday may be too early in the week for some people!

I awoke yesterday to a gloomy day with a 90% prospect of showers across the morning which rather affects whatever plans I might have for the day. One does not get neurotic about the weather but I still continue to be amused by the imprecation in one of the many gardening books which I used to consult to ‘choose a fine day’ as though one was choosing an item of clothing from a clothes rack. Upon consulting Sky News this morning, I saw a report which, despite any possible Western ‘spin’ was illuminating. This was reporting cracks in the Russian economy which is now in its 4th year of conflict with the Ukraine. According to the report, 200,000 businesses had been forced to close in Russia over the past three months alone. The inflation rate is hovering between 5%-6% a year but is 10% in services. Russia’s high inflation rate is primarily driven by massive, war-related government spending, a severe labour shortage, and increased costs for imported goods due to Western sanctions. This combination of factors has overheated the economy, pushing inflation near double digits and forcing the Central Bank to maintain record-high interest rates.  The main drivers of this inflation include heavy government spending on the military-industrial complex and war efforts pumps vast amounts of cash into the economy without producing lasting, everyday consumer goods. This creates a classic scenario of too much money chasing too few goods, driving up prices. One of the reasons for the prolongation of the war is the way in which Ukrainian drone technology has improved dramatically over the past few months. A major improvement in Ukraine’s air defence system has seen the number of Russian long-range drones being intercepted and shot down doubling in just four months. The new hi-tech interceptor drones are relatively cheap, and they are defeating thousands of Russian attacks.  In the past month Russia launched one of its most sustained aerial attacks on Ukraine, launching more than 1,500 drones within 48 hours.  But most were shot down as Ukraine gets better at defending its skies. Ukraine says its aim is to be shooting down 95% of enemy drones by the end of the year. Much as I am not a particularly keen follower of things military, what we have seen is the conflict between Russia and the Ukraine is modern warfare changing before our very eyes. The conventional Russian military forces may have been depleted by as much as 500,000 during the conflict (or ‘special military operation’ as the Russians call it) which is a staggeringly high figure and helps to explain why Russia itself is bombarding the Ukraine with almost hundreds of drones and dozens of missiles are launched almost every day. The war against Iran has diverted attention away from this conflict as well and even the USA’s own military stocks are feeling the adverse effects. I would imagine (and hope) that our own Defence ministry is observing and learning the appropriate lessons and whilst it remains hypothetical, I wonder how well our country would fare against a sustained drone attack in the decades to come? It is certainly the case that Ukrainian drone technology has made massive advances under the impact of war and a fight for its own survival, and one would hope that some of this would be shared with the UK defence industries. 

After I had breakfasted quite rapidly this morning, I made my way to my son and daughter-in-law’s flat which is some five miles distant and had to negotiate several lots of roadworks just to get there – but this is contemporary Bromsgrove.  We had several things to discuss but, quite fortuitously, some of the results of my pre-diabetic monitoring had been uploaded to my NHS app so we managed to discuss collectively some of the more obscure parts of the whole communication. I have another appointment with a practice nurse in a week’s time but I am pleased to have got this data uploaded to my app although I think that one or two crucial results still have to find their way onto the system. I stayed with my son and daughter-in-law most of the morning and I stayed for lunch which was very welcome before I took my leave and navigated my way home round the roadworks again) I then picked up a copy of my newspaper from the local garage and then went to do my weekly shopping which fortunately turned out to be quite a light week for me. Then after a rest, although the weather looked threatening, I turned my hand to the back lawn which badly needed a cut and just managed to avoid the rain, getting the mower cleaned up and put away in something approximating to sunshine. After a break fo a cup of tea, I turned my attention to finishing off the weeding of the communal driveway which was about 60% completed and which I desperately wanted to finish. It was my day for putting out the wheelie bins and I managed to help out my neighbour by offering space in my wheelie bin which was much less full than this. Then we had a good old chat, principally on  the subject of social interactions that we had enjoyed at the birthday party held last weekend and where I was fortunate to have my American friend by my side (she is a natural mixer so this only helped the party to go extremely well). I dare say I will sleep extremely well today after a much busier day than anticipated. Tomorrow looks as though it may be quite a busy day as well as I have Some Tai Chi in the morning as well as Conversational Spanish in the afternoon and for this reason it is satisfying to have got the shopping for the week done. I am anxious to keep my sugar intake as low as practicable as I wish to avoid getting into the zone where I am considered diabetic or even pre-diabetic. I do tend both to buy and also consume a fair amount  of fruit each week but, after discussion with my very well informed daughter-in-law, I may have to reconsider this. It is possible to eat watermelon in moderation as part of a balanced diet because it provides essential nutrients. Although watermelon has a high glycemic index, its low glycemic load means it has a minimal impact on blood sugar levels when consumed in appropriate serving sizes. Eating watermelon may offer other benefits, such as reducing the risk of cardiovascular disease, a common diabetes-related complication, due to its lycopene content. So now I am much better informed about what may be good (or even bad) for me.

Yesterday I needed to get up bright and early because I had a scheduled diabetic monitoring at the doctors before 9.00am in the morning so it was important that I did not oversleep. The morning was one of those grey and overcast mornings and the forecast was light showers and a breeze throughout the day with the probability that the rain showers would increase  throughout the afternoon. I was faintly amused to read in my review of the international news that Donald Trump was losing patience with the Israeli leader, Netanyahu whose continual bombardment of southern and mid Lebanon is threatening the Iran peace talks. Trump is reported to have sworn at the Israeli president calling him ‘f*g crazy’ and informing him that ‘Everyone hates you now’. Iran has indicated that it will put out of the talks if Israel continues to attack Hezbollah in Lebanon and Trump has sort of engineered a promise from both sides that will cease shooting at each other but whether this means that Israel will desist from strikes and a bombing campaign is unclear. However, I did receive some welcome political news overnight courtesy of the liberal American political podcasts. Trump was planning to use a huge slush fund of $2.8bn (actually a more emblematic $1776 million ) to reward the violent insurrectionists who were responsible for invading the Capitol building and causing the death of at least one police officer on Jan 6th 2021. This finally proved too much even for some of the most loyal of the Republicans who indicate that they would not vote for it in Congress and so the measure looks liable to fail. Trump is suffering other reverses as well because his attempt to rename the ‘Kennedy Centre’ to the ‘Trump Centre’ as been ruled as illegal by a federal judge on the grounds that only Congress has the ability  to name/rename this facility. The full title of the venue was to be The Donald J Trump and John F Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts. Under District Judge ‌Christopher ⁠Cooper’s order, the name will revert to the John F Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts, as it was christened when it first opened in 1971 in memory of the US president who was assassinated in 1963. Trump has responded by closing the Centre, theoretically for renovations but expressing the desire that it would never re-open. All of this is redolent, of course with the Trump’s narcissism in which he is attempting to rename all kinds of facilities after himself in order to secure his legacy with the American people. The so called ‘ballroom’ (which is actually going to house a secure militarised bunker as well as a hospital) is still  being constructed but whether this will be completed remains problematic, particularly after the mid-term elections to be held on 6th November later this year. American political commentators have been talking excitedly about these mid-term elections as all 435 seats in the U.S. House of Representatives, plus one-third of the 100 seats in the U.S. Senate are up for a vote. The partisan composition of Congress can have a major influence on what the President can do during his or her term in office. As things stand in the moment, it looks as though the Republicans will almost certainly lose control of the Lower House (the House of Representatives) but the outcome of the  results in the Senate seems a bit too close to call.

In the morning, I needed to attend the annual diabetic clinic monitoring and I have been through these tests a few times before.
Whilst I was waiting for my appointment to start, there was a rolling health information display and one item I found interesting was a short clip entitled ‘Rethinking Dementia’ (or similar) This clip highlighted the importance of social interaction of all types and it seems that those who have engaged in multiple social contacts as they age tend to be less likely to develop the disease, so it may well be that in social interaction, there  is a neurophysiological effect upon the brain which helps to protect it. I have also just discovered that those who had the herpes virus (which causes cold sores and never goes away) may also be a risk factor. Some American research is even investigating aloe vera and Chinese celery as possible dietary supplements to help slow Alzheimers. In my examination, a blood sample is taken so these results will not be available for a week but in the meantime my blood pressure was taken and it was as near ‘normal’ as could be for someone of my age. This I find absolutely amazing as I have lived with moderately raised blood pressure for years now so it was a pleasant  surprise to have these results come back as ‘normal’ Whilst I was at the clinic I made an appointment for next week to discuss the results of my hospital monitoring tests last week. So I went on to collect my newspaper and then exchange news of the week with both my domestic help whose day it was today  as well as my son who had called around. On mornings like this, I do not engage in anything over-strenuous as it is my Pilates day and there were only three of us in the class as one of the regulars is off on holiday. Once my Pilates session had been undertaken, we had a short, sharp burst of a shower as I walking back towards the car but I am wondering how wet it will actually make the ground and therefore whether I can complete a weeding job. Upon getting home, I started to prepare some salmon to have as my main meal but I did not want to ‘smell the house out’ with a fishy smell. So I consulted the web and cooked the salmon with a large squirt of lemon juice and some balsamic vinegar and this combination of elements certainly cut down on the fishy smell. I might have overdone it a little, though, as you wouldn’t normally think of adding balsamic vinegar to salmon and I think that I rather overdid it a little – I will know for next time.  Surveying the TV programmes for this evening, I see that Simon Scharma is going to look at the role of women in Victorian society, and I always find his ‘History of Britain’ series well written and illustrated and includes perceptive social commentary.

I awoke yesterday to a day when I expected rain to be sweeping across the country but got one of those dull, cloudy days. with a 75% chance that it will be raining within a couple of hours. Late in the afternoon and before the arrival of my American friend, I managed to complete the sweeping up job that needed to be done besides the recently hand-weeded (and now salted) gravel border. In fact, the sister of my next-door neighbour who was staying with my neighbours for ‘the’ birthday party came and gave me a hand for the final 2-3 metres which was very good of her. But as she and her sister (my neighbour) had been brought up on a Welsh farm they were used to turning their hand to almost everything, so we had an interesting little chat whilst we finished off our tidying up job. I now need to turn my attention to the other side of the roadway which looks terrible by comparison but which I intend to tackle section by section and day by day as long as I do not have a downpour with which to contend. When my friend came around and we had regaled ourselves with some nice cooling drinks and a bite of light supper, I knew my friend was worried about the air conditioning in her car which seemed to be non-functioning and she was unsure whether to return the car to the main dealership in Worcester to have it fixed. However, I consulted the web and found a specialist car-conditioning firm who claimed to be ‘female friendly’ and who could probably sort out the air conditioning in her car for her. Of course, we have had some very hot conditions in the last week or so but my friend had worked in Florida for several years which, having  a hot and humid climate probably has air conditioning units in every single building (not to mention cars) that one enters. Although I listen to a modicum of news each morning, I do tune into ClassicFM to play in the background and heard the latest in what I thought was a commercial solution to a problem which most people never knew existed. The product advertised was a way of getting better drinking water inside one’s cat. Just out of interest, I wondered how much of our national income is spent on domestic pets and found the following. Britons spend over £11.8 billion every year on pets and related services. Nationwide, owners spend roughly £1,000 to £1,500 annually per pet on everyday care, with food, routine vet care, and insurance making up the bulk of the bills. Average Costs can vary significantly depending on the animal you have but for a dog, the average annual costs range from £1,000 to £1,500 for basic care, food, and vaccines. When taking into account larger breed food costs and insurance, this can easily push higher. Cats typically cost between £1,000 and £1,500 per year once you factor in food, litter, insurance, and routine healthcare. So the annual spend is huge and by way of comparison we spend about £8 billion on childcare costs which is itself is about double what was spend only three years ago. So as a society we spend nearly 50% more on our pets than we do on our pre-school children, a figure which I find simultaneously amazing and shocking. I realise, of course, that pet ownership is much more widespread than the demand for pre-school care but, even so, this gives one ‘paws for thought’ (sorry for the shocking pun but I could not resist it). 

Anxious to get some gardening jobs done before rain sweeps across the country, I tackled the back garden patio in which after the hot weather some  weeds had re-established themselves so immediately after breakfast I gave this a once-over. Then I popped into town by car and picked up my daily newspaper but then, immediately upon my return, set to work clearing weeds from the other side of our access roadway. I made reasonably good progress n this endeavour and cleared about half of the required length before I judged that I had done enough for the day and went indoors to cook myself a dimmer of beef, half a baked potato and cabbage -the first ‘meat and two veg’ I have actually cooked for myself  for several days.  After lunch, I looked at some YouTube current affairs videos and started watching one of my favourites who is James O’Brien who is a British journalist, writer, and presenter on radio and television. Since 2004, he has hosted a weekday morning phone-in discussion for talk station LBC. What I saw today was a piece of video which made my jaw drop in complete astonishment. After the recent local elections, the Reform party has often swept the board replacing generations of both Tory and Labour councillors who knew how the system worked. But Reform is so ‘new’ that many of its candidates, now elected, have little or no idea how local government  works. What we witnessed was  a film shot in a Council Meeting of Kirklees (Huddersfield) A Reform candidate was putting herself forward as Leader of the Council but she admitted, on tape, that she had not read the constitution, dd not understand ‘Standing Orders’ and was ignorant of the meaning of terms such as ‘amendment’ Se also said that she still not understand matters even when they ad been explained to her. Then she claimed that the operation of the council was fundamentally antidemocratic because those councillors who understood the rules were at a great advantage compared with those recently elected Reform councillors who did not or could not, understand the council procedures. All councillors will have been offered some training but the exact form of this varies from one local authority to another. A typical pattern is an intensive induction day followed by perhaps a week or so of in-house training. The phrase ‘Lunatics in charge of the Asylum’ probably dates from 1919 when established film stars like Charlie Chaplin and Mary Pickford decided to run their own studios. But the thought that may of our councils are now in the hands of individuals who literally have no idea what they are doing is frightening. Here in Worcestershire, the Reform ‘leaders’ have fallen out with each other and the current leader of  the council is a Green (which is a supreme irony given  how far apart the politics and polices of the Reform and Green parties are) one can only be fearful for the future of democracy when this kind of event occurs and, of course, it may be repeated at a national level if Reform were to be the winners of the next general Election.

After all of the excitement of yesterday’s party at my next-door neighbours, I must have slept very well as I did not awake until just after 5.00am.  Then, fatefully, I fell asleep again and only work up about a quarter of an hour before  I normally leave to attend Church. So I aroused myself from my slumbers, threw on sone clothes and got to church at just about my usual time. Today was one of those occasions that happens about once a month where our usual church organist is given a ‘rest’ day and two of the parents with good singing voices and expertise in playing guitars lead the congregation through their Sunday hymns by performing in the front of the altar. After the usual uplifting sermon, we had a slight variation to our routine as an ex-headteacher (I imagine) was raising funds to finish off the erection of a clinic in Zimbabwe. We needed to raise about  another £10,000 to finish off the building by putting on its roof (which could not be done brick by brick as happened with the rest of the building) So we went into the parish hall and partook of delicious chocolate cake whilst also making our contributions to help the building project. The church hall had a series of photographs documenting the stages of the project and the whole reminded me of the work of Meg’s cousin, Margot, who worked as a VSO (Voluntary Service Overseas) medic in Sierra Leone. What Margot did, and I believe on more than one occasion, was to take a huge collection of photographs in the form of slides  and then get herself invited around  a series of fund-raising occasions (organised, for example, by Rotary) and then raise funds in this way. She contacted what was then British Leyland, I believe, to beg a LandRover for practically nothing and told us that she could build and equip a one ward clinic in Sierra Leone using local building materials and labour for about £20.000 so the project in Zimbabwe seemed of a similar nature. The good news is that the government in Zimbabwe had promised to fund the staffing of the clinic once the building had been constructed. So after all of this, I made my way into town but stopped at a well known local hardware store with an excellent reputation which I know is open at this  time. I needed to buy a stiff yard broom to complete my weeding and tidying up activities on the gravel border I have been resurrecting. I dithered over whether to buy a 12″ or an 18″ brush but settled on the former as it was a lot cheaper. Also, the brush unit was supplied with a specialist plastic fitment which meant that it would child’s play in the future to put on a new brush head when needed, probably in a year or so. When  I was a boy I always seemed to affixing new broom heads to staves and in these days, one was affixed by hammering in a nail or screwing in a screw through the  guide hole which was part of the brush head manufacture – so things have moved on.  I went and put some petrol in the car and collected by Sunday newspaper before returning home for a smidgeon of breakfast. After this, I assembled together some teak oil and a paint brush so that I could give the handle of the broom a seasoning of teak oil given that it would ‘live’ outside under the eaves of the house and will probably give a second or a third coat later in the day. Whether all of this can be done day I am unsure as fairly heavy rains are due to fall in the next day or so so I would like to get my sweeping up activities done first. Whilst the weather was fine and I had some weeding tools to hand, I weeded about a third of a gravelled area I front of the house and so, one way or another, I have had quite a busy morning so given  had leapt out of bed first thing in the morning, I allowed myself the luxury of about 20 minutes rest enjoying a cup of tea whilst snuggling in the contours of a ‘bean bag’ inherited from my son. I then lunched on some ham and grilled vegetables saved from a day or so back  when  had prepared too much food.

So having spent at least a couple of hours hand weeding my gravel border, I dashed out whilst the weather was fine and before the onset of the anticipated rains to literally ‘a-salt’ my gravel border,  which job must have taken me five minutes at the most and which I will anticipate should keep this gravel border weed free for at least the rest of the season. I very carefully ensured that I put just the right among  of salt in the border that my gardening sources indicated. The day before I had secured my neighbours permission to my gravel salting but I promised to stop short of the area abutting his garden so that he would not suffer from any run-off that could occur after heavy rain. Now that I am. into gardening mode again, I need to record quantities of materials used and dates deployed so that in future years I can use this as a reference point. My American friend texted to say she was busy with domestic jobs (like hoovering her flat) but was coming to round in the early evening. I have been ensuring that I have all of my ‘ducks in a row’ with U3A activities and although I record everything on a special wall calendar some times there are clashes with other commitments and one can miss a date. because I had to stay in for the TV delivery about ten days ago and  I was unsure about the next Spanish conversation class which happens to be this Thursday. I suspect that I have commitments one way or another  each day of the week forthcoming but Monday may well be a very wet day which limits any outside jobs like lawn mowing. I see that by consulting the web, the football World Cup (shared between  Mexico, USA and Canada) is due to start not next week but the week after and we will be exposed to some 5½ weeks which may be far too much for many, I suspect.