Saturday November 14th 2026 "Have YOU been to see a 'musical' yet, finding you've chosen the wrong tune to hum on your way out?"

Yes, Friends, we've all done it haven't we - coming away from a musical, humming a different tune from the one that the majority of your fellow spectators have chosen, and getting a few hostile 'stares' in return, for your pains?  A pity, especially if you were quite certain you'd chosen the right real 'humdinger' from the songs on offer - no pun intended!!!

Well, whatever tune it is that you're humming, with the nights drawing in, "musical theatre" season is here again, no question about that! And nothing signals that "change in the weather" more than the moment popular tabloid Onion News starts stuffing their pages with their annual pre-winter colour supplement "Hoofer News", that's for sure!

Here's "Colin's pick of the dooziest" from this morning's issue!

It's all a bit mad, though, isn't it, if we're honest! And yet these stories and all the others "with legs" (!) bring a cheeky smile to the chubby cheeks of me and my wife Lois, here in semi-leafy Liphook, Hampshire this morning - no doubt about that!!!

me and my wife Lois - a recent picture

As a couple of struggling "old codgers", in regular receipt of help from our daughter Alison and family, who live about 5 miles away from us, we're always glad when we get the chance to help them out occasionally - like today, when Alison and husband Edward have tickets to see Abba Voyage at London's Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park.

There's been a bit of a diary "double booking", however, because, also today, Alison and Edward's 16-year-old son Isaac has committed to taking part in another rehearsal of "Nine to Five - The Musical" at the local Haslemere Hall, and needs Lois and me to give him a lift to get there. 

Oops - alert! Diary 'snafu' !!!

(left) a typical performance of the avatar-version of Abba Voyage, with [inset] 

our daughter Alison and husband Edward, and (right) a local production of

9 to 5 The Musical, with [inset] our 16-year-old grandson, who's attending

an important rehearsal for, at nearby Haslemere Hall - what madness!!!

It's almost unbelievable that the two events - the Voyage avatar-concert in London's Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, and, simultaneously, a rehearsal for the local Haslemere production of "9 to 5 The Musical" in Haslemere Hall - should have been timed to coincide! What madness !!!

Has the wholw world gone stark staring mad!!!!!

an unfortunate clash today between two rival venues: (left) the Queen Elizabeth

Olympic Park, London, and (right) Haslemere Hall, our local arts "mecca"

Isaac can't skip today's rehearsal, however. He's a key player in the production, playing the second biggest male role, as Joe the junior office accountant, who becomes the "love interest" for senior manager Violet, after Joe catches her eye at the weekly business meeting or some-such routine office event. 

"Joe" also doubly wins Violet's heart, by standing up to the sleazy, wicked, tyrannical, office boss Franklin Hart Jr, played by David "The Hoff" Hasselhoff, which is sweet!

In the recent London's West End production, sleazy office boss Franklin Hart Jr

was played by American TV star David "The Hoff" Hassellhoff - cue for audience boos !!!!

And later after hours, "Joe" is also caught serenading "Violet" with some of Dolly Parton's most tear-jerking songs, as they duet on "Let Love Grow", for example.

The young scamp!!!! 

pictures from the West End production: senior manager Violet (Caroline Sheen) takes

a shine to the office junior accountant Joe (Christopher Jordan Marshall) during

a routine office meeting, and ends up getting close and personal with him after hours

- the saucy minx!!!

And the actress playing Violet in the local Haslemere production will need our grandson Isaac, playing Joe to "bounce off" at the rehearsal at Haslemere Hall this morning, no question about that!

Lois and I have been thinking of advising Isaac to "wear something rubbery", so that Violet can "bounce off him" with the requisite agility and aplomb today, but it turns out that all the cast have been asked to come to the rehearsal in Haslemere in their pyjamas this morning, to raise money for a well-known children's charity, so that's put the kibosh on that "brilliant idea" of ours, which is a pity! 

Next time, perhaps!!!!

Don't let that particular "wardrobe malfunction" stop YOU from donating, however - just saying!!!!

13:00 The rehearsal now over, Lois and I drive over from our home in Liphook to Haslemere, just over the county line in neighbouring Surrey, to pick a young pyjama-clad Isaac up from the stage door, and take him home to nearby Headley.

Altogether, it's been another typically busy day for Lois and me, also fielding our weekend "catch-up"  zoom call with our daughter Sarah, who lives in Perth, Australia, with husband Francis and their 13-year-old twins Lily and Jessica. 

Busy busy busy!!!!

another typically busy day for Lois and me, here seen fielding our weekend

"catch-up" zoom video call with our daughter Sarah who lives in Perth, Australia

with husband Francis and their 13-year-old twins Lily and Jessica

Weirdly, when we video-call them, they're often in their pyjamas too, our little "Australian family", all four of them, because of the crazy time difference: 7 hours in summer, and 8 hours in winter, with the time difference varying, because Western Australia "don't do daylight saving", which is mad, particularly as most of the other states do it, although some have bungled it by always being "half an hour out", which is mad too!!!!

different colours indicates different time zones (left) in winter, and (right) in summer

People in Western Australia "just have to be different" don't they, for some reason !!!! And when we video-call them 1:30pm our time, it's 9:30pm over there, which is totally crazy!

Or, come to think of it.... could "wearing their pyjamas" be a subtle hint to Lois and me by Sarah and family, not to keep them talking too long, perhaps?

I wonder.....! 

But your ideas welcome - postcards only, naturally!!!! And if you haven't got a postcard handy, just print off the one below and cut round the edges: it's a great money-saver, plus it'll save you having to write our address, so it's a "win-win" haha!!!

Be that as it may! 

We hear today that our twin granddaughters Lily and Jessica have been earning more brownie points this week at school, getting commendations from their favourite teacher, Mrs Hughes in the arts room, for their gaily painted mugs, which they showcase for us today. 

Meanwhile dad Francis has been (allegedly!) working hard outside installing some garden lighting, or some-such nonsense! The young scamp!!!

our 13-year-old "Australian" grandchildren, Lily and Jessica, today

showcasing the mugs they painted for favourite teacher Mrs Hughes, which is nice!

(left) the family home in Perth's northern suburbs, just 5 minutes from the Indian Ocean,

and (right) our son-in-law Francis "goofing off" on the tree swing he installed,

when he was supposed to be installing some garden lighting - the young scamp!

[That's enough young scamps! - Ed]

They had a high temperature of 79F (26C) today in Perth - it's their springtime, soon coming into their summer. So while Lois and I were shivering at our end, here in Liphook, we notice that Sarah and family had even got their electric fan on during our video-call, would you believe!

What a crazy planet we live on !!!

[That's enough madness! - Ed]

Finally, here's a pic of our daughter Alison at Abba Voyage earlier today, which is nice!

Will this do?

[Oh, just go to bed! - Ed]

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

Friday November 14th 2026 "Have YOUR friends ever told you, angrily perhaps, to just "take a walk"? It hurts, doesn't it !!!!"

Yes, have YOUR friends ever told you, somewhat peevishly perhaps, to "just take a walk!!!" ???

It's hard to know how to take this advice, isn't it - it depends on what we've already got in our diaries apart from anything else!

Help is at hand, however, with popular tabloid Onion News and their new "Your Walks Tonight" column - see page 94! - because it's surprising how few people really like doing it, i.e. "walking the walk", as opposed to just "talking the talk", as people say, which is weird!

It's all a bit mad, though, isn't it, if we're honest! Although these stories and the others in the tabloid's Your Walks Tonight column, if nothing else, bring a smile to the cheeks of me and my wife Lois, here in semi-leafy Liphook, Hampshire this morning, to put it mildly!

my wife Lois and me - a recent picture

We're laughing because we ourselves are never reluctant to "take a walk", or, more precisely, to "take a stroll". And today we're going to be taking our first stroll over the Hampshire countryside with the local U3A "old codger strollers" group, that we've just joined.

And as fully paid-up history buffs, and members of the U3A "Intermediate History for Old Codgers" group, we're thrilled today at the prospect of strolling over nearby Shortheath Common outside the village of Oakhanger, through the woods and over the heathland where Roman legions once tramped, nearly 2000 years ago, on the old Roman road from Chichester to Silchester, which will add extra piquancy, to put it mildly !!!!

And we're hoping that our little group won't be bumping into rival group "the old codger walkers" or, even worse "the old codger striders", both groups being decidedly more "butch" than us, dubbing us strollers, reportedly, "a right load of jessies", and just dying for a chance to beat us up behind some local bushes, which wouldn't be pleasant!

We're starting the walk at the car-park behind The Hanger, the village of Oakhanger's flagship pub (and only pub!!!), so the atmosphere is electric, as you can imagine, particularly with the prospect of ending up at the pub later for a boozy lunch, a thought guaranteed to "keep us going" or "keep us strolling" to be more precise !!!!

(left) The Hanger, the village of Oakhanger's flagship (and only!) pub,

and (right) us in the car-park, waiting to start our stroll: behind us

you can perhaps glimpse some of the other over-excited "old codgers"

who'll be our strolling companions this bright, but chilly, Friday morning!!!!

The weather is at least bright and sunny, if a little chilly - brrrrrr!!! But there is plenty to look at along the way. I earn some brownie points by using my phone app "Plantnet" to tentatively identify a mysterious tree as a maybe a stone pine (see below, but your views welcome - postcards only!), and there are a few educational sign-boards around, where our "old codger" group can "get their breath back" while pretending to read the information, which is nice!

It's decidedly chilly, and "bobble hats" are much in evidence, as you can see!

(left) the mysterious tree, which I earn some brownie points by tentatively identifying

as a stone pine (35% probability! - your views welcome!) using my "app" (!), and (right)

our group pretending to study a signboard, while secretly just "catching their breath" !!!!

Lois and I are surprised to see some arty "sculptures", that certainly wouldn't have been here in Roman times, but which enables Lois and me, as culture buffs, to comment on style and subtlety of the artwork, and earning even more brownie points with the other members of the group, who we hope will eventually dub us "possibly Liphook's most culturally-aware-seeming retired couple" - but we'll see!

Watch this space !!!! [I don't think I'll bother, frankly! - Ed]

(left) Shortheath Common's flagship sculpture "Cranberry on the  Mire",

with (right) the subtle "meaning of the sculpture", on which I pontificate for the group

There may be "cranberry on the mire" outside on the heathlands, but mysteriously it isn't on the menu at the pub, when our group finally gets to ease their aged bones on the pub's lovely padded chairs, which comes as a relief.

Lois and I can't resist asking for "cranberry on the mire" as our chosen dessert (!), just to tease the waitress (!). But, more seriously, is the pub "missing a trick" perhaps, by not making it one of their featured "local desserts", perhaps on special offer, to the over 70's only, maybe????

I wonder....! And again - your views welcome!!!!

(left) the pub bar, and (right) Lois and me, with our fellow "old codgers",

teasing the waitress by impishly ordering "cranberry on the mire" 

as our chosen dessert - what an incorrigible pair of 'wags' we are !!!!

The Romans certainly walked this way, and generally in these parts, 2000 years ago, but what about the Vikings? 

Lois and I know that the Danes came into Hampshire multiple times during the Viking Age (8th to 11th centuries AD), particularly targeting the major coastal ports on the English Channel, but also the county's inland routes, and they would have been sure to use the existing old Roman Road system, where we've been strolling today - no question about that!

And weirdly, while Lois and I are having our "boozy lunch" today at the pub with our fellow strollers, it's unexpectedly "Scandinavian issues" that dominate the conversation at our end of the long table. 

We're telling a bunch of fellow-strollers about all the U3A groups that Lois and I have been members of in the last 20 years, most of them in our then home-town of Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, groups which included "Intermediate Old Norse for Old English Codgers", led by our friend Scilla, who was a published translator of some of the old Norse sagas.

And we find today, during our "boozy lunch" that we're sitting right next to "strollers group" leader, Carolyn, a retired policewoman, who's been selected as the county's representative at next year's annual conference of the IAWP (International Association of Women Police in Rejkjavik, Iceland, next September - conference theme "Illuminate Your Strength, Elevate Your Leadership!", with a keynote speech by Iceland's Woman Police Commissioner, which is mad! 

flashback to September: the 2026 IAWP Conference in Bali, featuring (right)

a keynote speech by Iceland's woman Police Commissioner

What are the chances of that happening, eh!!!!

But wait - there's more! Lois and I have always regretted not visiting Iceland ourselves, and trying out our Intermediate Old Norse on the locals (!), but others have not been so timid, to put it mildly, as we find out during today's pub lunch!

Sitting directly opposite us in the pub today, and listening to us and Carolyn talking about Iceland, is a strolling couple Debora and Mike. Mike tells us that he and Deborah were driving through Reykjavik in 2016 when the local sex-workers,  many dressed in short skirts and fishnet tights and all "on strike" (what?!!!!), were  holding some sort of street demonstration, the so-called "Druslugangan" ("Slutwalk" (!)) a demonstration that he and Debora had to somehow "weave their way past", as Debora puts it!

flashback to 2016: the Druslugangan (English :"Slut Walk") protest in Reykjavik, Iceland

What a crazy world we live in !!!!

During our membership of Scilla's U3A "Old Norse for Old English Codgers" group, Lois and I worked on Njal's Saga, during which we learnt about the Icelandic class system, in which thralls (i.e. slaves in those crazy, far-off times!) were certainly "the bottom of the heap", to put it mildly!

The saga-writer tells us of an Old Norse guy in Iceland called Halbjorn, who came to Iceland with his personal 'thrall', an Irish guy called Malcolm (Melkolfur). Malcolm is described as "not having a lot of friends", which was a pity, but, on the other hand, that he didn't seem to do much work, either. 

But Lois and I didn't blame him for his apparent lack of interest in his so-called 'work', frankly, because we could see that being a thrall in Iceland was a bit of a crap job, which is probably an understatement!

But where did the 'sluts' come in the pecking order? Under the thralls probably, is our best guess!

Being a thrall in medieval Iceland was a crap job, Lois and I think!

Note that the thrall always walks at the back, plus he has to carry a 

bunch of crap sticks, which makes it worse -  poor thrall !!!!

But it would be nice to know where the "druslu" (the "slut") stood, if just for completeness!

Perhaps our 18-year-old granddaughter Rosalind will tell us some day! She's going to be studying Danish, would you believe! And she's leaving today to go back to college in London after her so-called "reading week" at home - the young scamp! 

On Wednesday Lois and I managed to tear Rosalind away from the so-called "reading" (!), to take lunch with us and her mum, our daughter Alison, at Liphook's flagship cafe with the mysterious name:  the Moon & Cous.

flashback to Wednesday: Lois and I have lunch in Liphook's flagship "Moon & Cous" cafe

with our daughter Alison and her student daughter Rosalind, who's been 

spending the week at home, as part of her so-called "Reading Week" - the young scamp!!!

Rosalind has just started a Politics and International Relations degree course at UCL, London, but with a "minor" in Danish. She lives in nearby Headley, Hampshire with her mum and dad - our daughter Alison and husband Edward - in a crumbling Victorian mansion, currently being renovated.

And our daughter Alison sends us the latest pictures of the mansion's now fully renovated, and very grand, "central staircase". And on one of the pictures young Rosalind is seen sitting on the bottom step, with her suitcase packed and ready to go. 

(keft) the now fully-renovated, and very grand, central staircase in our daughter 

Alison and family's crumbling Victorian mansion, and (right) our granddaughter

Rosalind (18), ready to return to college in London with suitcases packed (ringed!)

Awww!!!!

And finally, that cafe with the mysterious name - "The Moon & Cous". Today Lois and I learned how it got its name, which is mad! That retired policewoman, Carolyn, the leader of the local U3A "Strollers" group, told us at the pub lunch today, that "Cous" refers to the original French owner, whose name was Marcus.

Marcus pronounced his name with heavy stress on the last syllable, as French people often do, i.e. as "Mar-COOSSS", and the locals here used to gently poke fun at him by calling him just "COOSSS", and hence the name of the cafe. And as for the "Moon" bit, Marcus had an oriental wife of that name, or some-such nonsense! And the rest is history!

So if you want an education, just join your local U3A "Strollers" group - you'll find out loads!!!!

And if you're not 60 yet, so not strictly an "old codger", just lie about your age haha!!!!

Will this do?

[Oh just go to bed! - Ed]

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

Thursday November 12th 2026 "Friends, are YOUR shoes looking a bit 'down at heel'? No pun intended!!!!"

Yes, Friends, have you looked at YOUR shoes lately? You can be sure that others have been looking at them, particularly if they're not too introverted! You know what they say - "introverts" look down at their own shoes when they're talking to you, whilst "recovering introverts" look down at the person they're talking to's shoes, which makes for a handy, instant, psychological character diagnostic if ever you need one haha!!!

Luckily, with the weather suddenly becoming more wintery, the shops are all full of hard-wearing shoes, which is fortunate! And popular tabloid Onion News, which always "has its finger on the pulse", is keeping itself up-to-date with all the "Shoes News That's Fit To Print".

Turn to their popular "Doozy Shoozy Newsy Stories" section on page 94 !!!!

Whatever next! 

It's all quite mad, isn't it, but these stories - and others in the same vein - bring the tiniest hint of a smile to the lips of me and my wife Lois today, here in semi-conductive Liphook, Hampshire - that's for sure!!!

"Do have some cake!" - me and my wife Lois: a recent picture

And it's all topical for us, because shoes are very much on our minds this week, would you believe!

We recently decided to join the local U3A group, "Intermediate Strolling for Old Codgers", and the first meeting of the 2026-2027 season is tomorrow (Friday). However, I realise today that I haven't got any "strolling shoes". 

What an idiot !!!!!

Hence our decision today to drive to fashionable gentlemen's outfitter shop David's, just over the county line in Haslemere, Surrey, and hopefully find a nice pair to strap on for tomorrow's stroll. People are always suggesting to me to "strap on a pair, Colin", and I'm not sure what that means, but maybe it's time to "go with the flow" on this one, and maybe get a little respect around here, maybe? 

But your views welcome - (postcards only) !!!!

The assistant assured me that the shoes are quite suitable for hard-core "intermediate strolling", so my plan is to "walk them in" a little when we get home, or should I say "stroll them in" [No! - Ed]. Obviously I want to impress our fellow U3A "Old Codger" strollers tomorrow, on mine and Lois's first "outing" with the group: advertised as a short stroll over Shortheath Common finishing up with a pub lunch at "The Hangar", so what's not to like  haha!!!! 

(left) peaceful Shortheath Common, and (right) local pub "The Hanger"

Yes, Shortheath Common looks peaceful today, but it's not far from the old Roman Road between Chichester, Sussex and Silchester, Hampshire - see the dotted line on the map below, where the Roman centurions used to tramp (not stroll!!!) with their legions, if you don't believe me!!!

(left) map of the Oakhanger area of Hampshire, showing Shortheath Common, and 

with dotted line indicating the route of the Roman Road from Chichester to Silchester, and (right)

typical Roman soldiers tramping (not strolling (!)) over the local heaths and moors

When our little group tomorrow has had enough strolling, we're all booked in for lunch at nearby pub "The Hanger". And the stroller club rules specify that if you're feeling tired or "out of sorts", you can skip the stroll and just do "the lunch bit". 

However, for Lois and me, tomorrow is our debut in the group, so we don't want to look like "a couple of right 'Jessies' ", as some of our neighbours in Liphook have styled us, would you believe, so we're going to do the 'stroll' as well, which is mad! 

Next month perhaps haha!

At the lunch we've both signed up for the "chipolatas bacon and onions" option, if you're curious!!!

[You don't say! - Ed]

some of the pub's typical promotions: Lois and I have booked for the

chipolatas, bacon and onion option if you're interested [not shown, sadly!!!] !!!!

On 'the stroll bit' tomorrow, however, I very much want to look like a "pro", and I think about asking Lois to cake a bit of mud, or even brown paint (!) on my shiny new "strolling shoes" tonight, but I suspect she'll be too busy! 

The danger is, of course, that our strollers' group might run into the decidedly more "butch" Intermediate Walking for Old Codgers group, because they might decide to "rough us up a bit", which might certainly be "on the cards", to put it mildly (!).

Yes, this chilly but sunny Thursday, for us, is another non-stop day for us, again - just look at the photos, if you don't believe me!!! A coffee and pain au chocolat at Darnley's, Haslemere, after I buy my "strollers", plus a trip out to our local Co-op mini-supermarket, and a session at our local doctor's surgery as Lois has been booked in for a blood test - see the pictures below! Not to mention a couple of hours in bed for "statutory nap-time" (not shown!).

our frantic day today - a coffee and pain au chocolat in Darnleys,

a trip to the local Co-op mini-supermarket, afternoon nap [not shown],

somehow finding time to get Lois to the local NHS surgery for a blood test

- what madness !!!!

Busy, busy, busy!

What a crazy world we live in !!!

And on top of all that hectic "rushing-around", we've got an absolutely enormous list of TV programmes we've got to watch tonight - you would not BELIEVE!!!! Here are just some of "what we've got to cope with", as Lois's dear late dad Dennis used to put it !!!

Luckily, most of the programmes will help us with the current projects that Lois and I have secretly been working on: (1) "The Future with Hannah Fry", talking about the so-called "Quantum Arms Race" between the US and China, and (2) "AI - Probably Nothing to Worry About (!)", with Geoffrey Hinton.

By coincidence, Lois and I have been working hard on these two very issues, i.e. quantum computers and AI.  And, what's more, our results are due to be published shortly, so watch this space!!!!

[I don't think I'll bother! - Ed]

And the maddest part of it is that Lois and I have both been retired for 20 years - how did we ever find the time to go to work, back in the day!

[You lazy so-and-so's, Colin! - Ed]

flashback to March 2026: my 60th birthday and also the day we both retired

- little did we know the madness we'd shortly be getting into!!!!

Will this do?

[Oh just go to bed! - Ed]

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

Wednesday November 11th 2026 "Our legs, eh! Like 'em or not, at least they're keeping us 'grounded' - no pun intended!!!"

Yes, Friends, our legs - they're wonderful things, although some people's legs are better than other people's legs, that's for sure!

But how nice to see Onion News "plopping" through our letterbox this morning, with its new "Leg News Colour Supplement", which will be free from now on, and published every Wednesday - see page 94 !!!!

And unlike some of their other recent ventures in supplements, all of which have 'died the death' after just one edition, which is sad (!),  I think this particular Colour Supplement really "has legs" - in more ways than one (no pun intended!!!), and if you don't believe me, just feast your eyes on these "doozies", which I've taken straight from the supplement's inaugural issue, would you believe, which is mad!!!!

It's almost a bit 'too much leg', isn't it, if that's possible!!! But these stories - and others, bring a cheeky smile to the lips of me and my wife Lois today, here in semi-rural Liphook, Hampshire - no question about that!!!

my wife Lois and me - a recent picture

However, you know what Lois and I are like! As do our neighbours, I'm afraid to say!!!!

"Give them an inch and they'll take a mile", as our country-bumpkin neighbours here in Liphook say about us, which is mad!

But there may be some truth in that particular local "old chestnut", because Lois and I are already thinking of writing to the people at Onion News to ask for a special "Foot News Supplement" to the "Leg News Supplement", which is a bit cheeky perhaps - what do you think? Why not tell us - postcards only, as always!!!!

Having said that, however, we're always a couple quick to "root for the underdog", and we feel that feet are very much the underdog of the leg world, and indeed, that the humble toe is very much the underdog of the foot world.

So why not a special "Toe News" supplement to the "Foot News Supplement"? 

I wonder....!

Again, your views welcome, if "your views" reach down as far as your toes, that is, which is always 'a bit of a stretch' perhaps !!!! And remember, this delightful 'pictorial' postcard (see below) is still available from all branches of WH Smiths that haven't been taken over by Modella Capital, owners of The Original Factory Shop, or branches that haven't been "rebranded" as a TG Jones - just saying!!!

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

(left) a typical "un-rebranded" WH Smith's and (right) a vintage

"Liphook Agrees With Me" postcard - what madness!!!!

[Get on with it! - Ed]

10:00 And certainly, when it comes to toes, as Lois and I say, nothing says you're old like having to pay somebody to cut your toe nails for you (!), and today is our bi-monthly encounter with our "toes-woman", a.k.a. a lovely local woman Julie from Age Concern, who, as she trims our "talons" (!) and creams our feet, simultaneously "talks the hind leg of a donkey" - another item for the "Leg News" Supplement perhaps (!)

And after that, Lois and I have a lunch date at Liphook's flagship coffee-shop "The Moon And Cous", with our daughter Alison and her daughter Rosalind (18), who's just started a degree course in Politics International Relations at UCL London, with a minor in Danish, and a study year in Denmark to look forward to - so what's not to like! 

UCL London, with [inset] our 18-year-old granddaughter

Rosalind, who's just started a degree course there 

in Politics and International Relations (plus Danish!) Go Rosalind!!!

Rosalind has a massive reading list associated with her course, and this week, she's seizing the opportunity to take a break from the crazy London world to really concentrate on her reading work, for the College's official "reading week", but to do it here in the semi-calm of the Hampshire countryside - the young scamp!!!

For Lois another busy morning: (above) having our "talons" trimmed by local woman 

Julie from Age Concern Hampshire, and (below) a delightful lunch date with 

our daughter Alison and her daughter Rosalind, who's home for a so-called

"reading week", supposedly (!)  - the young scamp !!!!!

But for Lois and me the bottom line is "busy busy busy!!!" yet again, which is mad! No wonder our neighbours have dubbed us "possibly Liphook's busiest-looking retired couple" - the type of "moniker" that speaks for itself, we feel !!!!

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

18:30 Evening falls, and at last Lois and I have a chance to "put our feet up" on the couch, and admire the trim of each other's toenails, thanks to our "toes woman" Julie, who has a special deal for couples, which is nice!

And Julie complemented Lois again this morning, saying that she's "got such lovely skin on her feet", and I always wait to see is Julie says the same to me, when she "does me", but so far nothing, which I feel is a bit unfair.

Tomorrow I'll include a photo of my toes here in this blog, so you can judge for yourselves!!!

[Please don't, Colin ! - Ed]

20:00 We get ready for bed by listening to a recent BBC Radio 4 edition of "Heresies", the series that challenges modern myths, presented, as always, by Victoria Coren-Mitchell, with a panel of pundits: artist Sir Grayson Perry, plus UK comedian Ben Elton and US comedienne Desiree Burch.

But it's presenter Victoria herself who particularly warms the cockles of our hearts tonight with her spirited attack on cultural snobbishness, and I quote!

"Open your minds, as we always say on 'Heresy'! 

"Popularity is not the opposite of greatness. Dolly Parton is as brilliant as Mozart! Morecambe and Wise are as good as Shakespeare!

"And at the end of the day I like to think I'm an intellectual, but when I'm in bed, I will happily settle down to a bit of Mission Impossible, Fast & Furious, Garden Rescue, Squid Game, and at least 4 or 5 other euphemisms for sex!"

Well said, that woman! 

Will this do?

[Oh just go to bed! - Ed]

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