Friday April 10th 2026 "Are YOU and YOUR PARTNER 'expecting'? It's all a bit of a lottery, isn't it!!!"

Yes, Friends, are you and your partner currently "expecting", and hoping for some sort of 'happy event'? 

It's all a bit of a lottery, however, isn't it, although one local couple have got some definite ideas in that department, ideas that they're already 'firming up', according to this morning's Onion News for East Hampshire - check out page 94!

Poor Mr and Mrs Bevers!!! Let's just call it 'a near miss', however, and "Kudos! Better luck next time!", is what my wife Lois and I say as we read the story this morning, here in semi-obsolete Liphook, Hampshire this morning, to put it mildly!!!!

And Lois and I soon find ourselves discussing the Bevers' predicament, with some amusement, on our near-daily walk, which today takes us over nearby Chapel Common, a local beauty spot advertised (without evidence!!!), and in a rather "hoity-toity" way, if you ask us (!), as "a site of special scientific interest", if you please !!!!!

my wife Lois and me this morning, enjoying our near-daily walk, which today takes us

over Chapel Common, advertised without evidence, as "a site of special scientific interest" (!)

Certainly couples, whether it's the Bevers or any other marital or extra-marital 'hook-ups' (!), are getting a lot of extra help from local communities and services these days, that's for sure, which can only be a good thing!

And just this morning, Lois and I were delighted to discover that even the NHS is now offering "couples' COVID jabs" on their online booking site, which is a nice surprise. No more 'having to book separately and hoping that the two 'jabs' will be in the same location at approximately the same time! 

Those particular nail-biting days are all in the past - just "history", at least in Yours Truly and Mrs Yours Truly's so-called 'hospital district of East Hampshire', which is nice!

And you know what they say - 'couples that get their shot together, slot together' (!), as the old adage has it!

Not so great as the NHS online booking site, however, is the organisation's telephone access, with its long waiting times spent during calls, listening to horrible 'muzak'' and being told, by a weird electronic voice, that 'you are now 23rd in the queue' or something similar. What madness isn't it!

That's why Lois and I drop in in person at our local doctor's surgery office this morning - I have to make an appointment for my annual check-up, and, quite honestly, it's easier to just drive over there and book the appointment in person, over the counter with the receptionist, rather than phone up, which is totally mad! 

Satisfaction turns to disquiet, however, when we get home and find that the receptionist has forgotten to put any instructions in the kit for my urine test, which is a pain - but thank heavens for YouTube, where there's sure to be a 'how to' video on the subject, so fingers crossed!!!!!

(left) our doctor's surgery waiting room, where Lois and I sit while the receptionist

'powders her nose' (!), and (right) later, my bewilderment at home, puzzling

over the urine test kit, which doesn't include instructions - what madness!!!

Apart from the excitement of our doctor's waiting room this morning, I'm happy to report a nice, restful day for Lois and me today, with Lois outside in the garden attacking 'the auld enemy' - dandelions on the lawn, and me indoors, preparing vocab lists for the local U3A "Intermediate Danish for Old Codgers" course, which we jointly lead, "for our sins" (!).

Lois and me today: (left) Lois fighting 'the auld enemy' - dandelions on the lawn,

and (right) me working on vocab lists for our "Intermediate Danish for Old Codgers" group

- what madness !!!!

Lois and I started our joint interest in Intermediate Danish during the 7 years our daughter Alison and her family were living and working in Copenhagen, between 2012 and 2018.

flashback to 2017: Lois and me with our daughter Alison, at 'Hamlet's Castle',

Elsinore, Denmark, during her family's residence in Copenhagen 2012-2018

For the last 7 years or so, however, Alison and family have been back in England, currently living just 10 miles away from us, over the county line in Churt, Surrey. And it's Alison who, in general, takes responsibility for ensuring that her 'old codger' parents don't get into too much trouble as they 'kick over the traces' in their 'second childhood' or is it our third haha (!).

However, Alison is not around this morning. She's spending the day, with 'middle child' Rosalind (17), over in Bath, Somerset, the city which Rosalind has selected as her 'second choice' university location after UCL London, if they gets her expected grades in her A-Levels this summer.

flashback to last month and my 80th birthday Thai meal: (left) me with

our daughter Alison (50) and Alison's daughter Rosalind (17)

Alison and Rosalind have decided to go to Bath by train, which looks complicated, no doubt about that: two different railway companies  and three changes of train, at Woking, Basingstoke and Reading. What madness, isn't it!!!!

(above) our daughter Alison (50) and granddaughter Rosalind (17) and their

complicated journey today to Bath: and (below) Alison today at Bath's iconic Royal Crescent

Bath is a charming old city, with lots of Regency period architecture, and a whole change of pace from Rosalind's first choice university of UCL London, and Lois and I wonder whether young Rosalind will be charmed into making Bath her preferred choice after all. Well, we'll have to see - so watch this space!!!!

21:00 Obviously, as grandparents, not to mention pillars of the local community (!), Lois and I feel it's our duty to keep up with the English of the Gen Z generation, but it can be difficult at times, to put it mildly (!). 

Luckily for Lois and me, however, there's some help tonight with "Gen Z speak", during this week's edition of popular news quiz "Have I Got News For You", which tonight is hosted by celebrity gardener, TV's Monty Don.

Old codgers like Lois and me might refer to the following iconic scene from classic comedy "Carry On Matron" (see below!), as actors Kenneth Williams and Hattie Jacques going in for "a bit of hanky-panky", but if we did, the chances are that any Gen Z people within earshot wouldn't have a clue as to what we were talking about, programme panellist Paul Merton explains, citing a new survey published this week in the Daily Star.

Apparently, 67% of Gen Z respondents say that they've never heard the phrase 'hanky-panky' before. And the paper goes on to detail the top 10 of all such euphemisms well known to mine and Lois's generation.

Here, as far as Gen Z are concerned, are innuendo numbers 10 up to 2 in the "not understood" Top Ten.

And least understood of all, apparently, is "how's your father", which is mad! Surely, we all say that one, don't we?!!!

Chairman Monty Don is particularly concerned that 71% of Gen Z respondents didn't know the meaning of 'making love'.

What a crazy world we live in !!!!

Will this do?

[Oh just go to bed! - Ed]

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

Thursday April 9th 2026 "Is YOUR doctor always frank with you, i.e. absolutely no 'sugar-coating' of the sometimes unpalatable?"

Yes, Friends, is YOUR doctor always frank with you, no matter the gravity of the diagnosis? And most important of all, does he never 'sugar-coat' sometimes unpalatable health-facts, and really face up to the sometimes horrible truth?

Local physician Dr Peter Grimes has an impeccable record on this front, according to this morning's local Onion News for East Hampshire! Just turn to page 94, if you want 'chapter and verse' (!).

Poor Grimes!!!! But at the same time, "Kudos!" for facing up to the truth on this issue, which was nice!

And, here in semi-leafy Liphook, Hampshire, Grimes's heart-warming story brings a bit of a knowing smile to the faces of me and my wife Lois , as we embark on our near-daily walk, which today takes us over nearby Old Man's Lowsley's Farm, where we're also regaled by numerous birdsongs, not to mention the quiet "yeeeeearmm!!!" of a passing TUI Airways flight from London's Gatwick Airport to Montego Bay, Jamaica, filling our thoughts with dreams of faraway tropical beaches, which is exciting! 

And please note mine and Lois's delightfully light-to-lightish attire in our pictures this morning, as we take advantage of the slightly raised temperatures: Lois even dispenses with her coat, while I am wearing my so-called 'summer jacket', with only one pullover underneath instead of the usual three - call us crazy 'madcaps' if you want to !!!!

Doctors and medical services are very much on mine and Lois's minds this morning, as we've just witnessed one of the traditional signs of spring - our annual spring 'Covid jab' invite, which is nice!

(left) our COVID-jab invite, and (right) flashback to April 2023, as Lois and I queue up

behind a bunch of other 'old codgers' to get our own personal springtime 'shot in the arm' (!)

Nevertheless, it's certainly good news that we haven't "dropped off" the NHS lists of older patients, and they're not abandoning us just because I myself have turned 80, and Lois's own 80th birthday is just a couple of months away!

And there's more potential good news reaching us later today, with an email from Tunde, our Hungarian penfriend, reminding us about Hungary's forthcoming General Election this coming Sunday. Liberals are hoping that the country's Prime Minister Viktor Orban and his far-right Fidesz party will finally, after 26 years, be unceremoniously "turfed out" at the polls. Hungary is a country Lois and I visited a number of times in the 1990's and 2000's, and it's a country of which we both have fond memories.

flashback to 2002: (left) Lois (56) with Tunde, our Hungarian penfriend, when we visited

her Budapest flat, and (right) the lovely Union Jack cake she baked in our honour

US Vice-President JD Vance flew into Budapest this week to bolster support for the current Prime Minister Viktor Orban.

At one point, while standing at a podium addressing an audience there yesterday, Vance took his phone out of his pocket to ring President Trump in person, so that his Hungarian audience could hear Donald's voice, encouraging them to vote for Orban. Apparently there was an amusing moment when the White House appeared to reject Vance's call, although Donald finally 'picked up', when Vance persisted, so happy ending there! 

(left) US Vice-President JD Vance, at the podium in Budapest, Hungary, attempting 

to call his boss Donald Trump, a call initially rejected by the White House,

and (right) opinion polls still predicting a win for the opposition Tisza Party,

in the Hungarina elections set for Sunday April 12th

Opinion polls are still predicting a victory for the opposition Tisza party, so we'll have to see what happens on Sunday - watch this space! 

Viktor Orban, the current Hungarian Prime Minister, has used his 26 years in office, not just to enrich himself and his family, and all his 'cronies', but also to establish more and more control over the public media there, and to bend electoral rules in favour of his own party.

Hungary's Prime Minister for the last 26 years, Viktor Orban, and his

so-called "modest" family estate, once owned by Europe's royal Hapsburg family

Orban still has a bit of a way to go, however, to catch up with the Chinese in this regard, as Lois and I are reminded tonight, watching the third and final part of TV adventurer Ben Fogel's new series on the country, to put it mildly!!!!

the western sky as seen from our living-room this evening, as Lois and I

settle down on the couch to watch Ben Fogel's final programme about China today

During this final programme in the series Ben visits Hong Kong and talks to a brave local journalist Lam Yin-Pong. Lam reminds  Ben that when the UK handed over the former British colony to Beijing back in 1997, the Chinese agreed to keep the colony's UK-style freedoms - freedom of speech, independent courts, free elections, political comment and satire etc - for the following 50 years, although most of that came to an end within about 5 years or so of the handover.

So much for Beijing's promises!!!!

flashback to July 1997: the UK hands Hong Kong back 

to China after 156 years of colonial rule

But Beijing's real crackdown on Hong Kong began in 2019 after mass demonstrations, when 10,000 protesters were jailed, including many of Lam's colleagues in the newspaper business, accused of distributing "inappropriate" articles. 

And Hong Kong is now just a police state, like the rest of China.

Fascinating stuff, isn't it.

flashback to the 1980's: Hong Kong, seen here in happier times,

when UK Prime Minister Maggie Thatcher toured the then

colony with husband Denis, in a double-decker tram 

Will this do?

[Oh just go to bed! - Ed]

22:00 We go to bed - zzzzzzz!!!!! 

Wednesday April 8th 2026 "Sausages! They're the latest victim of climate change, apparently!"

Yes, Friends, did you see this morning's Onion News, and the latest climate change sensation which is 'grounding' so many of the UK's airliners? It's a bit of a wake-up call for climate-change deniers, isn't it, to put it mildly!!!

Yikes! 

But reading the Onion story this morning, here in leafy Liphook, Hampshire, brings a twisted smile - plus a lunch idea (!) - to the faces of me and my wife Lois on our near-daily walk through the neighbourhood and into fully-leafy Radford Park, that's for sure!!!!

me and my wife Lois, on our near-daily walk, which this morning takes us down

through the neighbourhood, and into a mainly-leafy Radford Park, which is nice!

And Lois and I are hoping that there aren't going to be too many "sausage storms" as the Earth gradually heats up, especially now that we've added an exciting and shiny new "app" - Flightradar24 - to the "armoury" of nature study software that Lois and I routinely take with us on our educational health-walks, no doubt about that!

But let's wind the clock back a bit!

Lois and I moved to sleepy Liphook in this part of semi-rural East Hampshire just 15 months ago, back in January 2025, and, since then, we haven't failed to notice the number of planes that routinely fly above our heads, due to the proximity of London's Gatwick airport and other local airports, and also the occasional nearness of the Army's Aldershot 'Hub', as young people call it today (!), which is mad!!!!

Just this last Easter weekend, by coincidence, we got a visit from our daughter Alison and family, who live about 10 miles away, just over the county line in Churt, Surrey. 

And Alison's daughter Rosalind (17) happened to tell us all about the Flightradar24 app, which identifies the plane flying over your head at any given time, which is a bit of a game-changer, to put it mildly, and has led to many new conversation topics for Lois and me, which is nice!

flashback to Easter Monday: Lois and I host our daughter Alison

and family for dinner - and tech-savvy Rosalind (17), who told us

all about shiny new app Flightradar24,  is standing behind and between us 

The app Rosalind told us about has totally transformed mine and Lois's near-daily walks, no doubt about that, and today we can report that, during our walk, not only an astonishing total of 11 birds were heard singing (identified by my 'merlin' birdsong app), but, astonishingly, all those birds were joined today in the pleasantly blue skies above us by what we now know as British Airways flight BAW22G out of Gatwick and bound for some place called "Punta Cana", ridiculously enough!

The plane is flying at 12,000 feet, and going at an incredible 340 knots, which sounds a lot, doesn't it! Obviously in a bit of a hurry!!!!

But where is so-called 'Punta Cana', the place that the plane is, seemingly, so desperate to get to, this morning? It sounds like a made-up name invented by the app so as to look "knowledgeable" (!), but our best guess is that it's somewhere in Spain or something similar. Well, it is the Easter holidays, so perhaps many families with young children are taking the chance to 'get away from it all'. 

It would make sense, wouldn't it!

a typical family waiting to check out, or check in, at one of the UK's many airports

But do let me know if you know where Punta Cana is, won't you, if indeed it exists - and postcards only, please. I don't want a whole doctoral thesis, if only to save any more hassles for our poor, long-suffering local Royal Mail postman !!!!

Oh, and I promise to include details of all overhead planes in my future blogs!

[Please don't! - Ed]

12:00 And after the excitement of our latest app-equipped walk, the rest of the day is no less busy for Lois and me, even though we've been retired for 20 years and one month, would you believe (!), in a 'welter' of 30 minutes compost spreading in our tiny back-garden vegetable beds; followed by a lunch using up some of our Easter and birthday presents - I turned 80 last week, which is totally mad! 

flashback to last month: (left) me admiring one of my birthday cards,

and (right) the lovely cake that my wife Lois baked and decorated in my honour

And for lunch today we enjoy, amongst other things, some fancy little Easter cream cakes from a neighbour, and some birthday gin from our daughter Alison, followed by a richly-deserved afternoon in bed, which is nice! 

our busy day: 30 minutes of compost-spreading in our tiny vegetable garden, and

a lunch using up some of our Easter and birthday presents, followed by an afternoon in bed

Busy busy busy!!!!

20:00 "Well, at least we don't live in China!", is what Lois and I say tonight, yet again, as we watch the second of TV adventurer Ben Fogle's fascinating new series about the mysterious Asian country that's bidding to become the next world superpower, if you please!

I don't know if you realise, but there are an awful lot of people in China, like, a billion - more probably! - and a lot of them live 'in the wild', as we learn tonight, as presenter Ben leaves the city life and ventures into the mainly-rural provinces of Sichuan and somewhere else - oh, Yunnan, that's right!

However, these days, due to the destruction of forests, there are only 2000 pandas left living in the wild in China, a decrease which is concerning environmentalists. However the overall news if good, because a lot of work is currently going on to 're-wild' the young of captive panda parents, using some extraordinary methods, as Ben discovers.

Yes, what's weird, is, that to help solve the problem of the rapidly disappearing pandas, Chinese environmental rangers, incredibly, disguised as pandas, are helping panda parents to bring up their cubs. 

These  rangers wear panda-suits at all times when handling the cubs, so as to avoid the little guys becoming too familiar with humans, prior to finally releasing the cubs back into the wild, which makes sense, doesn't it!

And our Ben, seasoned celebrity travelogue presenter that he is, knows full well that he will have to "try his hand" at this extraordinary 'malarkey' too - no surprise there!!!!

Poor Ben !!!!!!

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

Will this do?

[Oh just go to bed! - Ed]

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