Sunday October 4th 2026 "Australia - still hanging on, down there, right at the bottom of our planet!!!!"

Yes, Friends, Australia - it's still "hanging on in there" at the very bottom of our planet, somewhat precariously perhaps, but one thing's for sure - you just can't keep Australia out of the papers! Look at today's "doozies" from Onion News's special "Australia Supplement", as proof of my, admittedly, some would say, rather wild statement!!!

Oops !!! I always thought it was a bit "dicey" trying to play tennis in Australia with all that sky underneath you - what madness!!!!

However, today's ration of whacky, "down under" stories certainly bring a remorseful gleam to the eyes of me and my wife Lois there this morning, here in semi-conductive Liphook, Hampshire - no question about that !!!!!

me and my wife Lois - a recent picture

We're very much stuck in the house again today, because poor Lois put her back out on Thursday night, so it's cheering, at lunchtime, to take our weekly Sunday video catch-up call with our daughter Sarah, who lives in Perth, Australia with husband Francis and their 13-year-old twins Lily and Jessica, and to hear about what they've been up to.

And, true to form, our "Aussie" grandchildren have been out again this weekend with their friends, north of Perth, at some place called Allara (?), swinging between the trees - the young scamps!!! 

Allara - it's kind of a weird name, isn't it, but it means 'sunlight' in the tongue of the indigenous Mooro tribe of the Whaddjuk-Noongar people, who made it their home 40,000 years ago, apparently, so fair enough! 

The Mooro tribe believe that the swamp there, at Allara, was created from the blood and meat of a crocodile's tail, after it walked back to the Swann River following a fight with a shark, which sounds unlikely, but then the Mooros ought to know - they were there first, long before the Brits arrived and started building their British-style bungalows (!), so, once again, "fair do's" and "fair play to the Mooros" haha !!!!

(above, left) Lois and me talking today to our little "Australian" family - our daughter

Sarah and 13-year-old twins Lily and Jessica, and (above, right) our two grandchildren

with their close friends Samara and Djanna, climbing trees in nearby Allara (below)

And it's nice for Lois and me to see pictures of those two young daredevils, our grandchildren, climbing trees, and generally "larking about", especially now that we ourselves are stuck indoors still!

However, Lois and I are hoping that we'll soon be "larking about" again ourselves, although whether we'll be swinging between the tree-tops, here in semi-leafy Liphook, Hampshire, or just "swinging from the chandeliers" (!), remains to be seen! It might not be advisable at our advanced age, but we'll see! Lois is on less strong medication today, which is a good sign - exchanging the stronger "ibuprofen" for the milder "paracetamol" option. 

flashback to yesterday: me showcasing Lois's latest box of ibuprofen pain-killers

Yesterday Lois was very much shuffling about the house in nightie and dressing gown, and having to put up with the meals I prepared for us both, but today she's got dressed as normal. I think the deterrent of maybe another day of "cuisine Colin-style" has acted as a powerful incentive (!). And she's definitely much more mobile today than she was yesterday, so fingers crossed!!!!

Nevertheless, we don't yet know if Lois will be fit enough to go to our fortnightly Latin class tomorrow (Monday) - we're both members of local retired schoolteacher Joe's U3A "Intermediate Latin for Old Codgers" group, "for our sins" (!). However, we're hoping for the best, and we spend some time today doing the homework, just in case, which makes for a nice diversion!

us today, doing our homework for our Latin class tomorrow with (left)

poor Lois in her iconic IKEA "Bingsta" armchair, where she's been

taking all her meals since putting her back out on Thursday night

It's also cheering for us today to get the latest pictures from my niece Lucy, who's been on her honeymoon with wife Rosanna, since their wedding in Ipswich a couple of weeks ago. 

We've seen pictures of the pair already in Brussels and Vienna, and today we see them frolicking in Rotterdam, Holland on the final leg of their trip, the young scamps!

the latest pictures of my niece Lucy, with blonde wife Rosanna, who are currently on

 a Eurorail honeymoon, taking in Brussels, Vienna and now Rotterdam (above)

But "Why Rotterdam, Colin?", I hear you cry!

Well, seeing as how you're interested, it's at least partly to do with Rosanna's background. She's of mixed Anglo-American heritage, with an English mother and an American father, who are currently living in the state of Missouri. And Rosanna traces the American side of her family back to a Germanic immigrant called Johann, who left Rotterdam on September 24th 1751, travelling to the then British colonies in North America.

The ship was called the Neptune, with captain John Mason, carrying 284 passengers, travelling across the Atlantic to the Americas, after a final stop at Cowes, Isle of Wight, just down the road from us here in Liphook, which is weird! Here's the original record of the voyage, in English and German: 

And by coincidence, tonight, while watching the latest programme in the current series of the Antiques Roadshow, we hear about a more recent traveller, who in a way, made a similar kind of a journey - from Germany via Belgium: first to London, and then to America.

You may have heard of him - Albert Einstein! Ring any bells? (!)

"Antiques Roadshow" is the weekly BBC1 Sunday night series presented by Fiona Bruce, in which members of the public come along, to some local stately home or castle, bringing family heirlooms and other relics from their attics etc, to have them commented on, and valued, by experts in the field.

In tonight's episode, from Caerphilly Castle in South Wales, one local couple has presented programme expert Justin Croft with a tattered envelope which intrigues him, and he's just got to look inside it, the young rascal (!). 

On closer inspection, the envelope is found to contain a letter from Albert Einstein, in German, addressed to a Mrs Varney of Earls Court, London, which is weird!

It turns out to be a personal, thank-you letter from Einstein to the local man's great-aunt, who ran a boarding-house in Earls Court, London, thanking her for his stay there, on his way to the States. The boarding-house was effectively a "safe house", the man says, during the risky time when Einstein was transiting from Belgium to the US, to take up a job offer from Princeton University. 

And as programme expert Justin Croft comments, this was an important moment, not just in Einstein's career but historically as well. In 1933 Einstein was escaping from the Nazis, aware that, essentially, there was a price on his head, and that he could never go back to Germany. And en route to America, while in London, Einstein made a passionate speech at the Albert Hall, with other scientists and politicians, underlining to the public and to the Government, the threat to the free world posed by the Nazis.

Einstein had also been to see Winston Churchill, then out of office, to impress on Churchill that something had to be done about the threat from Germany. And the letter brought along by a local man to tonight's Antiques Roadshow also makes special mention of a sympathetic British MP, a Cdr Locker-Lampson, who had been instrumental in helping Einstein to escape from Germany. 

So why has this local man from Caerphilly in South Wales got this letter from Einstein in his possession? 

Well, it turns out that Cdr Locker-Hampson MP, who had helped Einstein escape, had a housekeeper, who was this local Caerphilly man's great-aunt - the "Mrs Varney" that the letter is addressed to. And the letter has, since, just been handed down in the man's family, but has never been published. But what a gem!

And, incidentally, what a woman that Mrs Varney herself was too, the housekeeper, to put it mildly! She didn't come up with any relativity theories, but she was a real mean "biker chick", and she could certainly "rock" the traditional biker "gear", even back in the 1930's, which was an unexpected twist!

Kudos, Mrs Varney!!!

Fascinating stuff, though, isn't it!

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

Will this do?

[Oh just go to bed! - Ed]

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

Saturday October 3rd 2026 "'If I only had a brain', as the Tin Man once said!!!!"

Yes, Friends, the Tin Man said it, long ago - "If I only had a brain!", and certainly all these years later, brains are still making news - there are even a couple of stories in today's Onion News, if you don't believe me!!!

And these stories certainly bring a faint smile to the lips of me and my wife Lois this morning, here in semi-lovely Liphook, Hampshire. And that's a "no-brainer" - no pun intended!!!!

my wife Lois and me - a recent picture

And our so-called "brains" are very much on our "minds" today, if that's physically possible!!! 

We've been reading this weekend, in Lois's copy of "The Week" magazine, that scientists believe that people's brains are really not one, but two organs. Yes, we've all got  a "front brain" and a "hind brain", two brains that evolved separately, and then fused together, which is weird! 

Researchers at the Stanford School of Medicine, using mouse embryos to study the early stages of brain development, spotted that the mouse's hindbrain grew out of one type of progenitor cell, while its 'forebrain and midbrain' were formed from another. And their subsequent research showed that it's the same for human brains, would you believe!!!

What madness!!!!

(left) Yours Truly studying this week's copy of Lois's magazine "The Week",

and (right) the article reporting latest theories about the brain

Our "two brains" may even have existed in different parts of the body, in primitive animals, the researchers think, and even today the two brains have different functions: our 'hindbrain' governs survival functions such as breathing, while thinking and reasoning goes on in the "mid- and forebrains" sections, which is weird!

Fascinating stuff, isn't it!!! And certainly mine and Lois's two brains - or should I say our two "fore-brains",  which, weirdly, make "four brains" (!) - are "all" working overtime at the moment, to put it mildly!!!!

As an ageing couple of "old codgers", although undoubtedly "wonderful for our age (!), we tend to get by with a strict division of duties: mine and hers. However, for the past couple of days, Lois has been unexpectedly incapacitated after she put her back seriously "out" on Thursday night, so I've got to remember to do "Lois's duties" as well as my own "duties", which is a bit of a "brainteaser" - again, no pun intended!!!!

[That's enough unintentional puns! - Ed]

Yes, for the second day running, today, Yours Truly has been seizing control of meal preparation, normally covered by Lois, but luckily I've got a handful of my own "signature dishes" up my sleeve, and here below is further picture evidence of my unexpectedly wide culinary talents. 

In yesterday's blog, I showcased my iconic "surprise" suite of evening meals, "Corn Beef Surprise", "Poached Egg Surprise" etc,  even, for special occasions only, my "Sausage Surprise". And to complete the picture, here's an idea of my complementary skills in the "lunch" department today, offering tomato soup with a choice of not one, but two (!) sandwich options: cheese with lettuce or cheese with cucumber. 

"Et voila!", as the French say!!!!

(left) Yours Truly in mid-preparation of my lunch "suite" today - tomato soup

with two separate sandwich options, and (right) poor Lois relaxing in our

IKEA "Bingsta" chair, with my iconic "lettuce and cheese" creation - yum yum!

The downside for Yours Truly, however, is very much that I'm concentrating so much on Lois's "tasks" now, that I'm forgetting some of my own "tasks", like remembering to pre-heat our bed for afternoon "statutory nap-time", but no matter, because it soon warms up once we're in it, so that's all good!

[You idle so-and-so, Colin! - Ed]

And Lois's back? Well, she's definitely moving better,  - and she's a lovely mover, I can exclusively reveal! But we'll wait and see how she is when she comes off the ibuprofen in a day or two's time. So watch this space!!!!

me showcasing Lois's current pack of ibuprofen pain-killers

And luckily we'll be enjoying a top meal tonight, which is nice! This morning, we had taken delivery of our regular Ocado online supermarket groceries, plus some ready meals from the local CookShop in Haslemere, just over the county line in Surrey, so tonight we'll be having a CookShop's Cottage Pie with some heated-up Ocado frozen spinach, so that's tonight's meal fully "sorted", which is nice!

19:30 Luckily, also, a relaxing evening awaits us, as we wallow in nostalgia, watching a BBC4 retrospective on those wonderful Saturday morning kids' TV shows that our own two daughters grew up with, back in the 1970's, 1980's and 1990's.

And it's amazing to Lois and me tonight to see again clips from these lively, creative shows, oozing with anarchic fun and originality, thanks to their various presenters: Noel Edmonds, John Craven, Maggie Philbin and Keith Chegwin. 

And what kid-shows today would ever have such wonderful guests joyously "dropping in" live to the studio, in their casual weekend leisurewear? I'm talking personalities as varied as Prince Edward, pop stars like Sting, Cher and Cliff Richard, and even politicians of the day, such as Prime Minister Maggie Thatcher, Labour leader Neil Kinnock and Liberal leader David Steele - it was total mayhem, but what a joy it all was, not just for the kids, but for their parents too - happy days!!!!!

Here are some clips of those 'celebs', dropping into the studio during these live programmes, in these clips each offering to donate prizes for one of the show's many children's competitions:

pop-star Cliff Richard, offering to donate a tee-shirt he wore at his farewell concert

Lib-dem leader David Steele offering to donate a cute teddy-bear

Labour Party leader Neil Kinnock, offering his own cute teddy, to rival Steele's (!)

Prime Minister Maggie Thatcher, however, was easily able to trump the two opposition teddy-bears with her special prize, no question about that!!!

Why don't kids today (and their parents!) have the benefit of such energising starts to their weekends? Where have these iconic programmes all gone?!!!! 

Wake up, TV bosses !!!!!

Today, we've got, like, a billion channels to choose from - more probably! However, Lois and I think that TV was much better when there were only three channels, which guaranteed bigger audiences for a much smaller range of programmes. TV bosses were motivated to put more money, and more talent, into these fewer shows, and celebrity guests were keener to appear on them. 

But your views welcome - postcards only, needless to say!!!

Will this do?

[Oh just go to bed! - Ed]

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

Thursday October 1st - Friday October 2nd 2026 "Yes, 'Early Bird Honeymoon Season' is here again haha!!!"

Thursday October 2nd - Friday October 3rd 2026

Thursday October 2nd 2026

Yes, Friends, "Honeymoon Season" is here again - and that's official !!!! Especially for 'early bird' couples who want to "beat the spring rush", to put it mildly!!!

Well, it's October, and you may have noticed that suddenly the press is full of "early-bird honeymoon" stories, with Onion News well to the fore, as per usual !!!! Just feast your eyes on these "doozies" in this morning's print edition, and we're talking page 94 alone, would you believe !!!

What madness!!! But these stories bring the hint of a nostalgic gleam to the faces of me and my wife Lois today, here in the leafy semi-paradise of Liphook, Hampshire - no question about that!

my wife Lois and me - on one of our recent near-daily walks

over the 'hallowed turf' of local soccer heroes Liphook United

You see, this afternoon Lois and I find ourselves desperately trying to control another rowdy fortnightly online meeting of the local U3A "Intermediate Danish for Old Codgers" group, which we allegedly "run" - "for our sins (!)". 

And Jeanette, the group's only authentically Danish member, tells us all about her recent "Saga Cruise" to the Norwegian fjords with her British husband, Mike, later sending us these iconic pictures:

And Jeanette's pictures bring back many happy memories to Lois and me of our honeymoon in the Norwegian fjords 54 years ago now, back in September 1972, would you believe!

The crazy thing about the Norwegian fjords is that, most places you go, there isn't a soul about, so you can really "go mad" and get up to the most "madcap" japes anybody could imagine, and generally "larking about", in ways that would be frowned on here in Liphook, Hampshire, especially on the locally much-revered "hallowed turf" of local soccer heroes Liphook United, to put it mildly!!!!!

What a great time Lois and I had on our honeymoon all those years ago - see these pictures!!!

flashback to September 1972: Lois and me "larking about" 

on honeymoon in the Norwegian fjords - what a madness it all was!!!!

Back to today, however, and the "honeymoon" theme continues later, when pictures come in from my niece Lucy, who got married in Ipswich, a couple of weeks ago, to her Anglo-American fiancee Rosanna, and are now on a Eurorail honeymoon over in Europe, which is nice! 

They're currently in Cologne. See the iconic "twin towers" of Cologne Cathedral looming in the background, as the happy couple cower under an interesting umbrella. which must be the "modern" sort, Lois and I are guessing !!!!

What a pair of young scamps !!!!!

(left) my niece Lucy with her wife of 2 weeks Rosanna, cowering under an umbrella

with the twin towers of Cologne Cathedral in the background, and (right)

Lucy enjoying a typical continental meal at a Cologne restaurant - yum yum!!!!

Most of today, however, Lois and I are spending preparing to go away for a couple of days, to Beaconsfield, Bucks, for the annual get-together of my, like, billions of maternal cousins - more probably!

Tyre pressures have to be checked, and a route planned - busy busy busy!!!

me checking the tyre pressures today on our 2012 Honda Jazz - busy busy busy!!!

As for our route tomorrow, once more we're planning to stop for lunch at Cliveden, the iconic stately home that was the backdrop for the greatest sex scandal of the 1960's, when it hosted various orgies, including trysts between War Minister John Profumo and high-class call-girl Christine Keeler, trysts all facilitated by notorious osteopath Stephen Ward.

And the best thing is - Lois and I will get into Cliveden free of charge tomorrow, as members of the National Trust, so that's all good!

flashback to the early 1960's: (left) high-end osteopath and orgy facilitator 

Stephen Ward frolicking with model/call-girl Christine Keeler in the gardens at Cliveden, and 

(right) the shock news of the scandal, which brought down Macmillan's Conservative Government

flashback to 2024: us at Cliveden House, Bucks, searching the house and gardens

for anything "naughty" going on: (right) Lois checks for bodies in the pagoda (!)

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

However, our planned weekend in Bucks was not to be - as we discover, early on Friday morning....

Friday October 2nd 2026

07:30 I wake Lois with a cup of tea, as usual, only to discover that she had put her back out last night, so badly that she is asking me to help her get dressed, even, although I persuade her not to bother, and just stay in her nightie and dressing-gown, today. Nobody's going to see - it'll just be us, here, obviously, all weekend, so no problem there!

Sometimes it's as quiet here, as it is by a Norwegian fjord, which is weird!

As a result, Friday turns out to be a day of intermittent pain and forced idleness for poor Lois, and a weird, topsy-turvy day for me. I had been packing a case and gearing myself up for a fairly short, but stressful, drive round London's orbital motorway, the M25, the kind of drive I don't really do much any more. 

Instead, however, I suddenly find myself many of the routine jobs around the house that poor Lois does normally, plus preparing 3 meals, would you believe, something which she normally tries to dissuade me from doing, which is mad! I'm actually a perfectly good chef, given the chance, believe it or not!!!

[I really don't think so, Colin, on this evidence! - Ed]

(left) I abandon the half-begun suitcase-packing, and (right) settle

Lois in front of the TV with a nice DVD, while starting to plan today's 

so-called "meals", would you believe, which is mad!!!!!

On the meal-preparation front, luckily, over the years, I've developed a useful suite of "signature meals" for use in emergency: what I call my "surprise suite" - 'corn beef surprise', 'boiled egg surprise', 'poached egg surprise', and even a 'sausage surprise', now and again (!).

Here, in pictures, is me tonight showing how it's done, with a rare glimpse of me with my "chef hat" on - not literally (!), I haven't got one actually!!! But a good idea for somebody to 'gift' me as a Christmas present maybe?

I wonder.....!!!!!

(above) me with my chef's hat on (figuratively!) and (below) tonight's "gourmet meal"

my popular "Corn Beef Surprise", prepared to perfection, although I say it myself!!!!

Meanwhile, poor Lois is making progress of sorts with her back, having taken 3 doses of ibuprofen, one dose after each of my so-called "meals", which is nice, so fingers crossed for the weekend!

Watch this space!!!!

And at least some relief is at hand for Lois, and an end to my reign of terror in the kitchen, thanks to these delicious CookShop ready-meals which I order today, coming tomorrow morning - so that's a comfort!!!

Will this do?

[Oh just go to bed! - Ed]

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