07:00 Lois and I wake up to find we're in bed - no surprise there! And we think that my younger sister Jill is in one of our two guest bedrooms - and there's no reason why she shouldn't be: we saw her going in there last night about 10pm, so we assume she's still there. She's very conventional in some ways haha!
Jill will be staying with us here in Malvern again tonight (Sunday night) for one more highly enjoyable chat-fuelled night, before going back by train to her home in Cambridge, possibly to start writing her very first novel. Last week she was on a Residential Writing Course in beautiful rural Shropshire, where she got the chance to "finger" the actual Oscar that playwright John Osborne won in 1963 for his screenplay of the film "Tom Jones", based on Henry Fielding's bawdy 18th century novel.
flashback to last week: my sister Jill finally gets the chance to
realise the ambition of a lifetime, and "finger" John Osborne's
Oscar for his screenplay of the film Tom Jones (1963)
Hopefully Jill will now write a classic novel - it may not be a bawdy one, but let's not pre-empt - let's just wait and see, shall we? And if she eventually wins an Oscar for the inevitable later film script, it'll be a first in our family, so very much a "big deal". Maybe you've got lots of Oscars in your family, but for us it'll be something special, that's for sure!
08:00 There's still no noise coming from Jill's bedroom, so she's probably still asleep.
In mine and Lois's bed, however, tongues are already "wagging". Not that we're "nosy neighbours" or anything, but from our window we've picked up already on the fact that young James, who we think is a college student, and who's living in one of the houses on our street, has had his girlfriend staying there with him again overnight, last night.
our close neighbour, young James's bedroom
where all the "action" is taking place - my goodness, yes!
We can't be sure, obviously, but we glean what we can from the car-parking situation outside, and from things like lights going on or off in his bedroom, or blinds being opened and closed in the bedroom window, or suspicious shadows on the blinds, that kind of thing. Not that we're watching, as I said earlier haha!
Our intermittent updating of mine and Lois's so-called "James file" - not a paper file, but one where all the "virtual" documentation is in our heads and imaginations - is turning into a bit of a "rite of passage" for us. The British "nosy neighbour" community is for the first time in decades officially "leaderless" following the announcement by Oscar-winning actor Michael Caine that he was finally retiring, at age 90, both from acting and keeping an eye on what his neighbours are doing, which is sad.
The hot news is that Caine, spiritual leader of the UK's "nosy neighbours", and one of the few owners of not one but two Oscars, is finally retiring, at the age of 90, according to an email sent us yesterday by Steve, our American brother-in-law, based on a report in Saturday's "The Guardian".
Sad news, but Lois and I knew it was going to happen some day, despite Caine's recent statements to the contrary on the Danish version of Twitter (
"Zvitter"), when Caine was quite obviously still "in denial":
The big question now is - has Caine already "fingered" a successor?
Well, we'll see! If the job proves to fall vacant, Lois and I definitely want to be "in the frame" for the job, that's for sure! Maybe as joint holders of the post a bit like the joint monarchs William and Mary (1689-1702).
Exciting times!
Flashback to highlights from the last few tumultuous decades: Caine seen here in happier times, during his long career as a "nosy neighbour":
"My name is Michael Caine and I am... a nosy neighbour" -
film star Caine's famous catch-phrase and calling-card.
flashback to 2021: one of mine and Lois's very early "surveillance operations",
monitoring a suspicious delivery of building materials to our
neighbours opposite: very much a highlight of our 36 years
in our former home in Cheltenham
Well, the whole "community" is waiting now... and wondering.
Who will take on Caine's "mantle"? It's definitely time we were told, no mistake about that!
[ Included for comparison purposes: a flashback to 1689 - joint monarchs William and Mary in bed, with Mary holding William's "sceptre", "chewing the fat" about what their neighbours were getting up to.]
William and Mary (1689-1702), "chewing the fat" in bed
about what their neighbours were getting up to
09:00 We have breakfast with Jill. And before many minutes are past, the "chatometer" on the wall of our kitchen-diner is at danger level again, although the house has survived all the vibrations, so far, at least: it
is a new-build, only finished last year, so I guess it's still in pretty good condition.
the "chatometer" on the wall of our kitchen-diner
reaches "danger level" after only about 5 minutes this morning
- yikes !!!!!
To relieve the pressure on the house caused by all the chatty vibrations, we decide to take Jill out this morning to see a bit of Malvern, and also to release all our chat into the atmosphere, where it can rise and settle harmlessly - we hope! - in the so-called "ozone layer", just above the "hot air layer". That's what we're conjecturing, anyway. But we'll see.
The weather has suddenly turned much colder. This is seen by us, inevitably, as an early, and a not very welcome, warning of the approaching winter, so we put on such thick coats as we still have available.
Brrrrrrrrrr !!!!! At least it's sunny, though, which is nice.
muffled up in our winter coats, we take my sister Jill for a walk on the common
Lois and me, being "photobombed"
by a passing long-distance cyclist
Jill, Lois and I stop for a warming cup of coffee at the café outside the
town museum - all the tables inside are taken, unfortunately.
Brrrr (again) !!!!!
13:30 Jill is going out for lunch today at the nearby 16th century Bluebell Inn, Malvern's oldest pub, and she's going to be treated to it by possibly her oldest friend, "Jilly P-O", now living in nearby Pershore, whom Jill has known since they both started, aged 11, at Oxford High School in about 1969, so 53 years ago now - yikes!!!!
later my sister Jill texts us this picture of her oldest friend, "Jilly P-O"
lunching with her at the 16th century Bluebell Inn, Malvern's oldest pub
Jilly P.O's specialty is that she's one of those people who never look any older, no matter how much time passes - 10 years, 20 years, 30 years, you name it!
This picture was taken back in 2015, at Jill's 30th wedding anniversary get-together with family and friends in Cambridge, and you'll see Jilly P-O in the doorway looking pretty much just the same as she does today.
flashback to May 2015: Jill with "JillyP-O" standing in the doorway
of Jill and her husband Peter's home in Cambridge:
a get-together to celebrate Jill and Pete's30th wedding anniversary
13:45 With Jill out of the house for the afternoon, this gives Lois and me the chance to stop talking and just go to bed for a couple of hours and recharge our batteries, so that we can enjoy the coming evening "chat session" - and my goodness, how we're gagging for it haha !!!!
21:00 "All chatted-out", we go to bed on Friday's edition of the BBC's weekly satirical news quiz show, "Have I Got News For You", presented this week by Alexander Armstrong.
This week there are a lot of questions about the Labour Party Conference that has just finished in Liverpool.
We also hear questions about Welsh First Minister Mark Drakeford's ambitions to increase the number of Welsh Labour Party MPs.
Tremendous fun !!!!!!!
22:00 We go to bed - zzzzzzzzz!!!!!!!
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