Monday June 12th 2023

Today is the day for Lois and me where everything seems, so suddenly and miraculously, to have sorted itself out. 

Our daughter Sarah and her little family, newly arrived back from their 7 years in Australia, have, as of last night, got a roof over their heads in Alcester, within easy commute to/from Sarah's accountancy job in Evesham - and they'll no longer be spending half their time in a tent at Ashton-under-Hill, and half their time crammed into our tiny house with us, here in Malvern. 

And at last Sarah will be able to arrive at her job sharp on 8 am, impressing her boss Phil, and looking all "business-y", after a night in one of the family's own bedrooms followed by a quick shower in their own bathroom.

flashback to 2015: Sarah, second from right, pictured here, looking all "business-y",

with her colleagues at the firm's 80th birthday celebration, in a photo for the local paper 

- incredibly, within 3 weeks of this photo-op, Sarah and her family were on a plane to Australia

flashback to the end of May 2023: our son-in-law Francis,

standing, freezing cold, in some ghastly field at Ashton-under-Hill,

next to the family's tent and their tiny electric Mini Cooper - brrrr!!!!!

flashback to Saturday: Francis (left) and Sarah (visible through my car's rear window)

start moving some of their stuff into the new rental home at Alcester.

Yes, Sarah, Francis and the twins, for the first time as a family, have slept in their own little rental house last night, and not been under canvas, which is a relief, to put it mildly.

And it's all happened just in the nick of time, because this week the weather's just becoming really hot - in UK terms. There'll be a  high of 79F (26C) today, and 82F (28C) expected tomorrow. Phew, what a scorcher!!!!

Yes, it's all a bit of a miracle, and Lois's friend and fellow church-member Fran says it's "providential". And it's just what Moody Blues singer-songwriter Justin Hayward was looking for all those years ago, way back in 1970.

[That's enough Justin Hayward references! - Ed]

And well, here in Malvern - we've got to be honest - Lois and I have been taking a total day off today. Well, wouldn't you? 

Don't worry, it's all official - we asked Malvern Hills District Council for permission,  so it's all above board, because this last weekend was so punishing for us. We are 77, you know [Don't keep telling us that! - Ed].

Bronwen at Malvern Hills District Council gives Lois and me

permission to take a day off, which is nice!

Not having house guests any more, and suffering a bit from the growing heat-wave, Lois and I can float around the house lightly clothed, which is nice. And in the morning, we don't do much other than feeding ourselves, and having cups of tea, and after lunch we take a shower and then spend the afternoon flat out on our bed. After all, we are 77! [Just watch it, that's all! - Ed]

Well, wouldn't you if you had the choice? Come on, be honest!!!!!

It's quite hot on the bed, though, even with the bedroom windows open, so we decide to shut the windows and switch on our electric fan, turning the setting up to "max" - you know, the brightly-painted childproof electric fan, which blasts its blasts out exactly at top-of-bed level, which is just what's needed, to put it mildly!

our floor-standing electric fan 

The sudden change in the weather is a bit of a shock to everybody round here, apart from - guess who? - local "contrarian", Martin Rivers, who, we think, lives maybe in Crystal Crescent - somewhere round there anyway. Martin has hit world headlines yet again with his insensitive comments about the weather, as reported on the influential American news website, Onion News: 

Despite broiling temperatures that are plaguing Malvern Rise residents today, local man and lifelong contrarian Martin Rivers has told reporters that the incipient heat wave does not in fact bother him. 

“Everyone’s been complaining about the weather today, but I’ve always liked when it gets nice and hot like this,” the aggressively contrary man said of the recent surge of intense heat and humidity that has seen temperatures climb into the 80s, adding that “it feels good to sweat.” 

“I like distinct seasons, you know, and I think it’s nice to have weather extremes every once in a while. I mean, it’s summer; what do you expect?” At press time, those close to Rivers had confirmed that the nonconforming individual was loudly airing his hopes that the intense heat would continue through the week.

What a crazy world we live in !!!!

And should Onion News perhaps be a bit less irresponsible, by not providing such a ready mouthpiece for Rivers through which to propagate his unpleasant views? Or could the much talked-about possible media "gagging" of the irritating Rivers be criticised as some form of "censorship"?

I wonder......!

16:00 We get up, and, while we have dinner around 6 pm, the Met Office's promised thunderstorm starts, and continues on and off for most of the evening.

19:30 Our other daughter, Alison, rings us from Headley, Hampshire, where she lives with husband Ed and their 3 teenage children. Lois and I agree to spend a weekend there in August, together with Sarah and family, mostly to celebrate mine and Lois's 50th wedding anniversary. 

Our anniversary was actually last year, so August 2022, but we agreed to postpone things till this year, which will be the first August since 2012 that our two daughters have both been living in the UK.

flashback to August 2022: we celebrate our Golden Wedding

on our own, at the Buckland Manor Hotel, near Broadway:

awwwww - poor us haha !!!!!!!!

[Fashion notes: Lois is wearing the red dress I bought her for her birthday in June 2022, and I'm wearing my 1990's government "tropical suit", paid for by UK taxpayers, and what I call my "Amsterdam tie", the one that Lois bought me when she was touring the city with some women friends about 10 years ago]

[That's enough uninteresting fashion notes! - Ed]

20:00 We wind down on the sofa watching a disturbing documentary in the Panorama series, all about electric cars.

I think anybody watching this programme, just like Lois and me, will be saying "No I don't think we'll go electric for the moment, thanks very much!". The cars are currently still very expensive, for a start, with an average price standing at around £40,000, somebody says. 

Apparently there are 43,000 "charge points" now in the UK - it sounds like a lot, but it isn't really, given the potential demand, and some of them are always going to be out of order, judging by some of the comments we hear tonight. 

And also the charger coverage is very patchy - I think people living in the London area and its commuter belts are probably okay, but if you live anywhere outside of the big cities you're going to be constantly afflicted by so-called "range anxiety", worrying if you've got enough charge to complete your journey. And who, on a longish journey, wants to spend time charging up the battery, a process which, even in the best of circumstances, is going to force an involuntary stop of one hour minimum, and possibly much more? Wouldn't you prefer just a 5-minute stop to fill up with petrol? Be honest!!!

Tonight programme presenter Richard Bilton asks this van-owner how he's been finding it, using an electric van for his business. He tells Richard that it's extremely frustrating, and Richard asks him why.

Richard explains to the van-driver that he's making a TV programme with provisional title, "Should I buy an electric car?", and he asks what the driver's answer would be to that question.

And the driver's answer is simply that "I just wouldn't buy one", and, if he were making the programme himself, it would quite a short one. 

Oh dear - well, that's a clear answer anyway! 

Of course Lois and I are 77 [This is your final warning! - Ed], and our petrol-driven Honda Jazz is already about 11 or 12 years old, although with a comfortingly low mileage on the clock, needless to say. And for people like us, it wouldn't be too bad, assuming we only do the occasional longer journey, because we could just charge the car up overnight from time to time, using our own outdoor electricity socket. 

So we'll see !!!!

What do YOU think? Do you think we can hack it? Answers on a postcard please! 

And remember, we ARE 77 !!!! 

[That's it, that's once too many - just go to bed! - Ed]

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