Saturday August 8th 2026 "Does your 'baby' lean to the east or to the west, when dancing to the latest rock tune?"

Yes, Friends, does your 'baby' seemingly always lean in the same direction, when the two of you are dancing to the latest rock hit tune, possibly eliciting stares from onlookers? 

It's a common problem, isn't it, but not one shared by rock'n'roller Little Richard, at least according to his recent smash "Tutti Frutti", no question about that!!!!!

And this morning, here in half-splendiferous Liphook, Hampshire, my wife Lois and I find ourselves singing Little Richard's iconic song with a vacuous smile on our lips!

We're feeling a bit "frutti" ourselves today, as we walk the "parched but "hallowed" turf, stamping-ground of local soccer heroes Liphook United, somehow finding time to pick another margarine tub of blackberries along the way, although we eat half of them before we get home - we can be like that, when we're tempted, which is a bit naughty, but that's just us, to a tee!

us this morning taking a quick walk over the "parched but hallowed" turf

of local soccer giants Liphook United, somehow finding time to pick some

of the blacker blackberries on offer in the bushes, as we struggle through them!

The weather is a bit more bearable today, so we decide to venture outside the house, but there's going to be another "spike" of extreme heat coming next Thursday and Friday, with the high temperature on Friday forecast to be 91F (32.8C) - yikes!!!!!

Yikes (again) !!!!!

As if we haven't got enough on our plates (!), with another typical busy day for us, again, this Saturday, and we decide to postpone lunch by an hour, to squeeze in a call at 12:30 pm with our daughter Sarah in Perth, Australia, although we can't see her today. Her zoom-camera doesn't seem to work with the computer she's using, so there's a weird blank space on our laptop screen, during the call, which is a pity! She can see us, however, which is a bonus!!!!

our zoom call with our daughter Sarah today, in Perth, Australia,

although her camera isn't working - hence the weird blank

space on the left-hand-side of our screen, which is a pity!!!!

Poor Sarah was woken this morning, at 4 am, by a storm coming in off the Indian Ocean, and found she couldn't get back to sleep. It's not that warm - 52F / 11C - and there's been rain there all day, which is mad - what a contrast to here, where we've hardly had a drop of rain for what seems like months!

What a crazy planet we live on !!!!

This is a slightly unusual time for us to be speaking to Sarah, but she can't do our normal weekly catch-up call tomorrow Sunday, because she and husband Francis, together with their American friend Clarissa will be going on a shopping trip to nearby Joondalup, with our 13-year-old granddaughters Lily and Jessica, and the twins' bosom pals, Clarissa's two young scamps, Samara and Djanna. Clarissa has kindly given each of the kids $30 to spend tomorrow, which is a nice gesture!

flashback to July: Lois and me with our little Australian family

sampling "The View from the Shard" - Western Europe's tallest building -

on a day-trip to London during their recent stay with us

It's nice for Lois and me to hear that the family will be in Joondalup tomorrow, because we know that particular Perth suburb well, from our two trips out to Australia to see them.

flashback to May 2016 - (left) Lois and I stop to have a coffee

at Joondalup Mall on our first trip to Australia to see Sarah and family,

and (right) relaxing at the family's then home in the suburb of Iluka

Lois and I can't help feeling sorry for Sarah, however. She's known in our family as "Sarah Two-Jobs", because she's doing, not just her accountancy job in Perth, but also her old accountancy job in Evesham, UK, working online, so there's little time to unwind, either on weekday evenings or at weekends, and with no relief in sight, as yet.

14:00 Plopping through our letterbox comes the latest edition of Lois's magazine, "The Week", which gives a digest of the week's news from home and abroad, and we make ourselves a bit of time to glance through it before getting into bed for another "statutory nap-time" - busy busy busy!!!!

This week, the magazine is leading on the troubles of FIFA chairman Gianni Infantino, which gives us extra reason to celebrate this afternoon. Isn't it great when a guy so obviously "on the make", finally gets his come-uppance, which happens too rarely these days, seemingly!!!

Poor Infantino haha!

We rely on "The Week" to give a spread of opinions, and also to follow up on stories that the tabloid press has given up on after their first shock-value as click-bait (!). 

The press was full of stories earlier a week ago about the 72,000 or so Africans who had crossed the land-border into the Spanish North African enclave of Ceuta in an apparent bid to enter the European Union illegally. Some said that they had seen social media posts promising work opportunities in Ceuta, while others said they've been encouraged to cross the border by Moroccan authorities.

Lois's "The Week" magazine details how there was much less reporting, however, on the fact that by last Wednesday all but 2000 of the migrants were back in Morocco: after finding shops closed, and with nothing to eat or drink, almost all of those who had reached Ceuta, quickly left again, as Laila Lalami reported in "The Nation". 

That didn't stop press scaremongering about the "invasion", with even US Vice-President JD Vance sharing a Fox News segment that, confusingly, described migrants arriving in "northern Spain" [??? - Ed], and Reform's Nigel Farage and Robert Jenrick suggesting that the migrants were heading for Britain. 

What madness, isn't it !!!!

21:00 At last, seizing a brief chance to relax before bedtime, Lois and I binge-watch another couple of episodes of the recent Canadian series, Schitt's Creek. The series is essentially a "riches-to-rags" story about former billionaire industrialist Johnny Rose, wife Moira and useless grown-up kids David and Alexis. 

Johnny's former fortune was robbed from him by one of his crooked associates, so that the family is forced to rent 2 rooms in a seedy motel in the backwoods town of Schitt's Creek.

In tonight's episode, the Rose family's useless grown-up daughter Alexis is planning a romantic holiday on the Galapagos Islands with new "squeeze" Ted, the town vet, and, with her eye on the future of her new romance, Alexis seeks a Tarot card reading from close friend Twyla, who has a few questions to ask before giving her reading....

Yikes! However, urged by Ted to try and find something more positive to say about their upcoming holiday, Twyla eventually comes up with what seems, at first, like a happier prediction:

Oops! Perhaps try going to somebody other than Twyla, for your next Tarot Card Reading, Alexis!

What a crazy world we live in !!!!!

Will this do?

[Oh just go to bed! - Ed]

22:00 We go to bed - zzzzzz!!!!!!

Friday August 7th 2026 "Friends, are YOU, secretly, extremely busy, but trying to look calm and collected all the time?"

Yes, Friends, are YOU secretly busy, but carefully crafting a way of looking calm and collected all the time? It can be hard work, can't it!

It's a common skill that many people have developed, however! They even wrote a song - remember Bing Crosby's "take" on it, "Busy Doing Nothing" ?????

And those lyrics are certainly on the minds, and tongues, of me and my wife Lois this morning, no doubt about that! 

my wife Lois and me - a recent picture

Once dubbed by neighbours "Liphook's busiest retired couple", we've been forced, by other local residents, under the threat of court action (!), to take the not-such-impressive title of "Liphook's busiest-looking retired couple", which is a bit of a come-down, perhaps, but better than nothing, shall we say!!!!

"Busy busy busy!" - yes, that what we're thinking this morning, with another typically punishing to-do-list on our agenda. We've somehow got to drive to nearby Grayshott to buy a birthday present for our daughter Alison, who'll be turning 51 next week, and the we'll be going for a walk over the "hallowed but almost non-existing" turf of local soccer heroes Liphook United, while also somehow finding the time to grab a quick coffee and piece of cake at Grayshott's iconic Red Rose Tea-Room, would you believe!

we pick out some jewellery for our daughter Alison, who'll be turning 51 next week,

before grabbing a quick coffee-and-cake at the nearby Red Rose Tea Room, ending up

with a brisk walk over the "hallowed turf" of soccer heroes Liphook United - busy busy busy!!!!

Punishing or what haha!!!!

Grayshott is a charming small town, seemingly populated mainly by "old codgers", like ourselves, but also by well-heeled-looking younger people, busy executives going off to London each day, and their trim, well-coiffured, and gym-focussed wives, looking all fit and muscley in their shorts in this year's incredibly prolonged heatwave. What madness!

Yes, just look at those pictures above, illuminated by that perfect, if, in British terms, totally "unnatural",  blue sky, although also, unfortunately, showcasing the parched and non-existent "hallowed turf" that those poor soccer heroes Liphook United, will have to play on, when the football season starts next month - what madness, isn't it (again) !!!!

And our daughter Alison has herself gone on social media today to lament the state of the so-called "lawn tennis court" behind the family's crumbling 1870's Victorian mansion in nearby Headley, currently being renovated by builders.

Yes, we badly need a drop of rain in these parts, that's for sure! They're currently promising us a bit of rain on August 16th and August 19th, but Lois and I say, "We'll believe it when we see it!" - we've been disappointed before, this summer - many times!!!

What a crazy world we live in !!!!!

And following this further manic morning (!), mine and Lois's oft-repeated comment applies 'in spades' (!), "How did we ever find the time to go to work, back in the day?!!!"

21:00 And today, now retired for 20 years, we get another reminder of those crazy times, when we actually worked for a living, as, after another afternoon in bed, we finally settle down on the couch to watch the last episode of  the current series of "The Undeclared War", all about the so-called "cyber war" between the nations, and featuring my former workplace, which is nostalgic, to put it mildly!!!

We personally haven't found this series terribly gripping - it's hard to produce a drama when most of the action is on computer screens, all manned by grim-faced people warning of disaster at every turn, but they've made as good a job as they can out of it - that's what we say, anyway!

The bad guys - Russians, Chinese etc - have introduced a malware kind of a "worm" into Western government computer systems, and in this scene, GCHQ boffins inform their US counterparts at NSA about what they believe to be the real target of this "worm".

Yikes! That does sound like something potentially serious, to put it mildly!

And the grim-faced boffins then add, "We believe the real target in this has been Taiwan. It could be interpreted that an attack is imminent". We then see their US counterpart acting quickly, in response, informing US General Perez and the Joint Chiefs of Staff directly via her computer.

The GCHQ boffins then have some further advice for the US authorities, in this grim footnote to their verbal report:

Oops (again) !!!!!   Yes, we Brits throw these 'humorous' understatements out without thinking, sometimes, don't we, and then our overseas friends will go and take them literally, of course! Luckily this particular American knows all about our funny little ways, which is nice!

But what a crazy country we live in !!!!!

Will this do?

[Oh just go to bed! - Ed]

22:00 We go to bed - zzzzzzzz!!!!!

Thursday August 6th 2026 "Do YOU scare the opposite sex, when you try to approach them?"

Yes, Friends, do YOU habitually scare the opposite sex when you try to approach them? 

It's a theme that echoes down the centuries, doesn't it, and one which was finally "put to music" by that iconic Scandinavian heart-throb "Ylvis" - Scandinavia's answer to Elvis - in his cry-from-the-heart "Someone Like Me" - remember that one?

Poor Ylvis !!!

But yes, what IS "Ylvis" doing wrong? Answers on a postcard haha!!!! Some would say it's his entire "over the top", and totally unsubtle manner of approaching 'the ladies' - see picture - but your feedback welcome as always!!!

However, Ylvis's heartfelt lyrics are firmly on the lips of me and my wife Lois this morning, here in sunny Liphook, Hampshire, this morning - that's for sure!

my wife Lois and me - a recent picture

Yes, "all things Scandinavian" is a theme definitely on our minds this morning, as we brace ourselves, with some trepidation, for another fortnightly online meeting, this afternoon, of our local U3A "Intermediate Danish for Old Codgers" group, which we allegedly "lead", "for our sins" (!)

Perhaps predictably, this afternoon there's another big bust-up between members over what Danish soldiers wear below the waist, as we read another 5 pages of our current Danish murder mystery, Anna Grue's "Judaskysset" (The Judas Kiss) - I could see bust-up coming a mile off, actually !!!! Luckily our only genuinely Danish member Jeanette, was on hand to settle the point, which is a relief!

(left) Lois and me, trying to lead one of the rowdy fortnightly meetings of our

local U3A "Intermediate Danish for Old Codgers Group", and (right)

Jeanette, our only genuinely Danish member, seen here on holiday in Australia

In our story, the Danish weather has suddenly brightened - see page 258! - and I quote, "The sky was of course still covered with clouds, but here and there were small blue patches to be seen: enough for a pair of soldier's trousers [Danish: et par soldaterbukser], as my old class-teacher always used to say!", this criterion being the traditional Danish folk-indicator of whether the day was going to 'brighten up' for serious or not (!).

Interesting phrase, though, isn't it, because I can clearly remember, from the Enid Blyton stories of my youth, that in the UK it was very much "sailor's trousers" that provided the key weather-indicator for a possible brightening-up, and Lois recalls that her dear late mum Ruth always used to say that it was "a Dutchman's trousers", that were the key sign of a brighter day. 

Your input vital, however, so get busy on that postcard!!!!

Certainly Mr Google is on Ruth's side, no question about that!!!!!

And in today's meeting of our little group, all we Brit members maintain that blue trousers, however, while being ideal for sailors, whether British or Dutch, somehow don't seem quite right for soldiers, but Mr Google lines up against us, with this neat 'broadside' (!), which Jeanette uncovers for us:

Who knew?

[That's enough blue trousers! - Ed]

And Lois and I are reminded again of how we grew to love Denmark during the 7 years our daughter Alison and family were living in Copenhagen, from 2012 to 2019, when we visited frequently.

For us, it's a "hot topic" currently, because, next week, Alison's daughter Rosalind, now 18, will get her A-Level results back, determining whether she can go on to do an International Politics degree course at University College, London. The course offers a subsidiary "Intermediate Danish" mini-course, with a year in Copenhagen "thrown in", no less (!) - also providing Lois and me with an excuse to go visit her while she's over there, which would be nice. So watch this space!

(left) Rosalind showcasing the locket that Lois and I gave her for her recent

18th birthday, and (right) flashback to 2017: Rosalind (centre) with her siblings, 

when Lois and I were dropping them all off at International School,

during their parents' absence on a business trip to Hong Kong - happy days!!!

20:00 Evening falls, at last! 

And Lois and I, as usual totally exhausted by having to control another rowdy meeting of our Danish group, fall gratefully onto our sofa to binge-watch more episodes of recent Canadian "riches to rags" series "Schitt's Creek".

The series follows the adventures of a billionaire family, the Roses, after they're cheated of their fortune by a crooked business associate, and are forced to sell their mansion and rent two rooms in a seedy motel in the backwards town of Schitt's Creek, a town that family patriarch Johnny Rose, a.k.a. "Daddy Rose" had bought "for a joke" a few years previously - what madness wasn't it !!!!!

Tonight, in this iconic scene over the opening credits, former billionaire Johnny volunteers to play in the local baseball team - baseball is called "ball" in Canada - when a gap emerges in the team just before a vital championship.

"Who or what is a 'latke'?", I hear you cry! 

Well, let's ask that nice Mr Google again !!!

Unfortunately, the team manager, who is also the town's seedy mayor Roland Schitt, is unimpressed at the prospect of fielding 'Old Man Johnny' on the team, to put it mildly!

Ouch !!!! Isn't that a bit 'ageist', Mister Mayor, to put it mildly (again) ????!!!!!

Team  secretary Ronnie, however, protests. She is strongly in favour of including "Old Man Johnny" in the squad, because there appears to be no other option. 

Ouch (again) !!!!

Poor Johnny!!!!!

Glossary: CPR = cardiopulmonial resuscitation, by the way!

[That's enough patronising footnotes! - Ed]

But fabulous stuff isn't it! They don't write scenes like that any more, that's for sure!!!!

[Something to be thankful for, there, perhaps? - Ed]

Will this do?

[Oh just go to bed! - Ed]

22:00 We go to bed - zzzzzzz!!!!!