4th March 2022

In the early hours of 9th February (3 am), CNBC, the American pay-television business news channel owned by NBCUniversal News Group and primarily focused on business day coverage of U.S. and international financial markets, interviewed Jamie. This is yet another welcome sign of the growing reputation of his Fx Learning company.

The 14th of February was a very busy day at Willow Bank. The builders arrived promptly at 8 am to begin work on erecting the garden room. They were eager to get started and avoid the rain forecast for the afternoon, as well as the storm expected on Wednesday. As anticipated, the rain arrived around lunchtime, making working outside quite unpleasant.

In the afternoon, I had an eye clinic appointment, so I left the builders to their misery and headed to Leicester General Hospital for my 1.30 pm appointment. Unfortunately, despite expecting an injection, after a scan of my eye, I was told that no injection was planned. I was advised to return home and wait for a letter. We returned to Willow Bank to find three sodden builders working in a very muddy garden.

That evening, we drove to Leicester again, though this time for a much more enjoyable experience. Part of Sue’s Christmas present from me was a night of entertainment in the company of Dick and Angel Strawbridge. Over the years, we have been avid followers of the story of Dick Strawbridge and Angel Adoree, along with their family, as they bought and renovated their 19th-century Château de la Motte-Husson in Martigné-Sur-Mayenne in the TV series Escape to the Chateau. As a testament to their popularity, De Montfort Hall, with a capacity of 1,400 spectators, was nearly full, save for a few empty seats.

The first part of the evening covered both Dick and Angel’s lives and the unlikely series of events that brought them together. It quickly became evident how talented these two individuals are. After a short break, the remainder of the evening focused on the chateau itself, as they led us on a video tour through every nook and cranny of this quintessentially French building. The jokes and off-the-cuff comments made for an amusing and informative evening’s diversion.

Weather-wise, the following day was much worse for our builders. As they arrived, the rain began and didn’t let up until after they left later that afternoon. Despite looking like drowned rats, they were always cheerful when we braved the elements to supply them with occasional hot drinks.

During the morning, my little Fiesta came out in sympathy with Sue’s Mini when I took it in for two new front tyres. Just last week, the Mini had to have two new rear tyres after I discovered it had an unrepairable slow puncture.

The third day of construction started well for our beleaguered builders,  dry and sunny, but with the forecast of Storm Dudley arriving with winds over 90 mph later in the day. I wasn’t surprised when I opened the mail to discover that Sue (Verstappen) had been speed-trapped doing 41 mph in a 30 mph zone on her way to a U3A ramble. After some form-filling, she now awaits her sentencing.

A little later in the day, I learned that my Fiesta had failed its MOT and will have to undergo a bit of engineering to pass. On a brighter note, the predicted hurricane-force winds failed to make an appearance, thankfully only matching Sue’s unlawful speed from the other day.

On the fourth day of construction, the builders arrived at 7:30 am and promptly started work. They were determined to finish the job, and after my inspection at 3:30 pm, they left, along with the electrician and his mate. Only time will tell, but they seem to have done a fine job, and we are pleased with what we designed. For once, it had been a dry day, and though the site still resembled a scene from the Somme, they were able to crack on with their tasks, only breaking for the cups of tea and coffee that we supplied. During the morning, my Fiesta returned home with a new front suspension wishbone and an MOT pass! We’re hopefully good for another year.

Ironically, the following day, Storm Eunice ravaged the UK with gusts of 122 mph, yet here in Harborough, we experienced what can best be described as a windy day. Thankfully, the garden room remained rock solid and felt quite snug and warm inside, though the surrounding battle trenches looked as if they had undergone a heavy bombardment overnight.

During the evening, as the winds abated, Sue and I went our separate ways. Sue met up with Charlotte, Jamie, Sarah, and Ruth for tea in Rothwell before attending the Lighthouse Theatre in Kettering to see Sally Morgan (Psychic Sally), a psychic and forerunner in the psychic world, who is on tour. Being a little more sceptical, I attended Jeremy Brown’s 60th birthday party at the Waterfront Champagne Bar & Restaurant in Harborough and spent a pleasant evening chatting with old rugby chums who are still very much with us.

On yet another cold, rainy, and miserable Saturday (19th), Ruth dropped Rocky and Nala off to stay the night. As a late Valentine’s present, Jamie was taking Ruth to a hotel in Hampshire, where they managed to grab a bit of culture and visited Odiham Castle. At Willow Bank, several friends joined me to watch the Tigers beat Bath and enjoy a half-time meal of pie, chips, and beans, washed down with several bottles of wine.

A doggy exchange followed. The atrocious weather continued into Sunday when Sarah and her family arrived late in the afternoon for dinner and to drop off Mia, who was staying with us for the week while they had their kitchen remodelled. Ruth arrived around the same time to pick up Rocky and Nala. Later that evening, Jamie and Ruth went to see Britain’s Got Talent 2019 finalist, West End star, and multi-award-winning magician Ben Hart at the Lighthouse Theatre in Kettering.

Our garden room certainly had a difficult birth. Construction began during Storm Dudley, the structure was completed as Storm Eunice hit, and then, as the air-conditioning was installed the following Monday, Storm Franklin made an appearance. Three storms in a week! With the room built and the air-conditioning unit installed, I set about tidying up and landscaping. The power cable was buried in very muddy and unpleasant conditions, and a soakaway was dug to discharge the rainwater from the roof. On a rare dry day, I temporarily laid slabs around the base of the building and started work on remodelling the wall separating the garden room from the patio before heavy overnight rain put a halt to the works.

Meanwhile, building work also began with Sarah and Lee in Newbold Verdon. Walls have been ripped out in the kitchen, and no doubt little Alice will be wondering what on earth is happening!

Frustratingly, there has been yet another delay with Charlotte’s and the family’s house move due to an issue further up the chain, though it looks likely that Jamie will be moving to Willow Bank on the 4th of March and staying until his house move goes ahead.

After weeks of lies and false accusations, on 24th February, Russia launched a comprehensive invasion of Ukraine, marking a major escalation of the ongoing Russo-Ukrainian War and firmly placing Vladimir Putin alongside the likes of Hitler, Stalin, Pol Pot, and Idi Amin in the hall of brutal despots in history. In contrast, that evening I met up with nine chums for steaks and beers at the Cherry Tree in Little Bowden and engaged in polite and amiable conversation with friends who get along very well together despite a few differences. At the same time, Sue met up with a large group of U3A members for a meal at the Shoulder of Mutton in Great Bowden and also spent a pleasant evening among fellow citizens of a mostly civilised planet Earth. Sadly, the thugs and bullies of this world seem to be on the rise, but history tells us that it very rarely ends well for them. Let’s hope this will be the case with Vladimir.

Over the following weekend, Jamie, with the help of Ruth, Joey, and Tommy, packed up his house in Rothwell, storing his belongings temporarily in our garage in readiness for moving out on the 4th of March. He will be staying at Willow Bank until the completion of his new home with Ruth in Walton on the Wolds.

Despite the poor weather conditions, I have continued to spend my days taking Mia for walks and working on and around the garden room, making it ready for use as soon as the warm weather arrives. On the last day of the month, Sue and I attended the Travel Clinic at the surgery for Typhoid booster injections and to order Malaria tablets in readiness for our trip to Madagascar.

On the first day of March, we acquired another dog, this time the gorgeously laid-back greyhound, Harry. The Rothwells were spending a couple of days in London, taking in the sights and satisfying Ellis’s thirst for everything Harry Potter. During the morning, I had planned on planting a walnut tree, but as I was finishing that, a delivery of previously ordered turf arrived, and I spent the rest of the day covering what had been part of the garden room battlefield. Charlotte arrived with Harry late in the afternoon, quickly followed by Jamie, who offloaded more ‘stuff’ into the garage.

After a reasonably quiet night, the following day was a foul, wet affair spent taking reluctant dogs for walks, cleaning and drying paws, and huddling around the log burner. The rain refused to let up over the next few days, and any work outside came to a halt. The fields quickly became a scene reminiscent of the Okavango Delta, and paw cleaning became a tedious and repetitive chore.

On the 3rd of March, we briefly lost one dog and just as quickly gained another. Building work in Newbold Verdon had reached a stage where an inquisitive doggy nose could be tolerated, so Sarah arrived with Alice to collect Mia. Sarah had a court case in Northampton that was pretty straightforward, so she brought Alice for the grandparents to enjoy for a couple of hours. Within an hour of Sarah, Alice, and Mia leaving, Jamie and Nala arrived. The following day, he would be exchanging contracts with the purchaser of his property in Desborough. As all his furniture and clothes were now stored in our garage, he would be staying with us until he exchanged contracts in Waltham on the Wolds.

The 4th of March was my birthday, and it continued to rain. Charlotte arrived in the morning to collect Harry after I had first given them a two-hour muddy trudge through the fields, followed by a power shower to dislodge Leicestershire’s stickiest mud. By the end of it, we were down to one little sludge-hugging wire-haired dachshund. That evening, Sue and I celebrated my old age with a visit to the town’s Nepalese restaurant and a splendid meal.