18th June 2025

On 25th May, as usual, Sue rose early and headed to the Saddington car boot sale. She returned a little earlier than planned, as rain had begun to fall in Saddington. Many stalls were packing up, and she got soaked in the process. It was still dry in Harborough, and when she arrived home, I was trimming the hedge along the driveway. After a brief chat, I carried on with the hedge cutting until about fifteen minutes later, when the rain reached us too, forcing me to pack away my tools quickly.

While making myself a coffee, I noticed something odd about one of Sue’s eyes. On closer inspection, I saw that the sclera was bleeding. Though it wasn’t affecting her vision, she hadn’t banged or injured her eye. Concerned, I took her to St Luke’s Hospital, and despite it being early on a Sunday morning, the day before a Bank Holiday, she was seen by a doctor within twenty minutes. The doctor suspected the issue was related to her high blood pressure, but advised her to book a retinal scan to ensure there was no internal damage.

On returning home, Sue rang the opticians and managed to get an appointment within the hour. I drove her there, and after a thorough examination, the scan confirmed there were no internal problems. The bleed was most likely linked to her high blood pressure, for which she is already on medication.

To be seen so promptly by a doctor and to arrange a scan at such an inconvenient time is a striking example of why this country is so fortunate and wise to have created and continues to support the NHS. With the current regime in the US seemingly intent on dismantling its Medicaid system and much of its public welfare infrastructure, I struggle to understand how such an amoral initiative is tolerated. Surely the majority of citizens cannot be so lacking in compassion.

After a much-needed 24 hours of rain, I welcomed John Lee to Willow Bank on the 27th of May. Although showers were forecast, the day turned out to be much more pleasant, with just one brief downpour. After two months without rain, the gardens and lawn were in desperate need of some life-giving moisture.

John arrived around 10.30 am, by which time Sue had already departed for Corby for her usual Wednesday routine of shopping and a cinema visit. John is still recovering from a knee operation a couple of months ago, on the mend, but still sore. Normally, we would have enjoyed a long, chatty walk, but the weather forecast and his limited mobility meant we settled for a more relaxed day. We inspected the garden and allotment before driving to the Shoulder of Mutton in Foxton for a surprisingly good two-course lunch. Afterwards, we returned to Willow Bank for coffee and a game of pool in the Garden Room.

Sue arrived home mid-afternoon, just in time for a brief chat with John before he set off back to Bourne.

Over the past week, Jamie has been on holiday in Marmaris, Turkey, with three of his friends. While he’s been away, we’ve had his Aston Martin parked in our garage, as his garage in Waltham on the Wolds has been used to store furniture shipped from France. The furniture belongs to Ruth’s parents, who are relocating to Melton Mowbray.

On Friday, 27th May, for the first time since before the country was ravaged by Covid, we hosted a family barbecue. Twelve of us, and three dogs, enjoyed this rare get-together, convening around 5 p.m. once the younger members of the family had finished work. Although we now have a gas barbecue (a kind gift from our former neighbours), I opted to use the traditional brick-built one, fuelled with charcoal that had been stored for at least two years. Despite its age, the charcoal worked perfectly well, and I managed to cook burgers, sausages, pork steaks, and chicken satay skewers without a hitch.

Although there had been a threat of showers, we were blessed with sunshine and a warm breeze. Several of the family played pool in the Garden Room, while the younger ones amused themselves with the many footballs scattered across the lawn. The dogs also enjoyed one another’s company when they weren’t sniffing out scraps beneath the table.

With full stomachs and the crockery cleared away, we moved into the lounge to watch a video of Jamie and Ruth’s wedding in Bali, a lovely way to end a wonderful evening. And, the Aston was released from our garage back to Waltham on the Wolds, and my little Fiesta took its place.

The following morning, I travelled to Oakham with Sean Perry to help move his son’s garden shed up a slope to the top of the garden. He and his son had spent several weeks remodelling the garden, and with the help of another friend, we managed to lift the wooden structure into its final position with little difficulty.

While I was otherwise engaged, Sue enjoyed a bike ride with Viv to Braybrooke Brewery for lunch. On returning to Willow Bank, I cut several long canes from the bamboo growing at the front of the house and used them to build a support for eight runner bean plants. I had barely finished when Sean returned, and we retired to the Garden Room to watch the Tigers comfortably beat Newcastle, securing a home semi-final against Sale in next week’s Premiership play-offs.

On the 12th of June, while Sue attended a morning ramble and then an afternoon of Laser Quest at Rutland Water, dressed in my DJ, I was picked up by Sean and, along with two other friends, driven to Marston Trussell Hall to attend a Ladies’ Luncheon in aid of charity. I’ve waitered at this event many times before and, though hard work, it’s always enjoyable, especially as we’re treated to an excellent meal afterwards as a reward for our efforts. This year, we were relieved of bar duties and raffle organisation by three younger volunteers, leaving the older generation to welcome the 88 guests and serve the four courses on offer.

The weather couldn’t quite make up its mind; we were treated to a rapid succession of wind, cloud, sunshine, and the occasional shower. Nonetheless, the event was a great success, raising over £6,000 and leaving 88 smiling, inebriated women thoroughly satisfied with their afternoon.

Later that evening, four of us reconvened in the Garden Room at Willow Bank for a game of pool and to polish off the surplus cheese and red wine from earlier in the day.

On the 14th, after watching the Tigers lose a closely contested Premiership Cup Final to Bath with some of my rugby friends in the Garden Room, Sue and I drove to Rothwell to join the rest of the family for an early Father’s Day celebration. As we were travelling to London the following day, the family had decided to bring the celebration forward by a day.

We arrived at Charlotte’s at 5.30 pm to find everyone already gathered in the garden or busy preparing a selection of curries for dinner. Although the sun was shining, a chilly breeze put paid to the idea of dining al fresco, so we relocated indoors.

Charlotte, Sarah, and Jamie had each prepared a curry, and all three were quite spectacular, together making for a delicious and memorable meal. After a few more drinks in the garden, we left with Sarah and her family, as it was well past the little ones’ bedtime and we had an early start ahead for the drive to London.

We woke to a lovely morning. Before checking into our hotel, The Lensbury at Teddington Lock, we made a short detour to nearby Woking to collect some family heirlooms from Sue’s cousin, Matthew, who had brought them back from a visit to his mother in Canada. Disappointingly, when we arrived at 11 am, he was out, but he had thoughtfully left the package in the porch for us.

An hour later, after battling horrendous London traffic and countless roadworks, we arrived at The Lensbury. It was too early to check in, so we decided to enjoy a picnic in the hotel’s gardens beside the River Thames.

As we entered the building, I noticed a bus parked outside the main entrance. Passing through the glass doors, a man stepped aside to let me through. He looked familiar. Moments later, as he boarded the bus and was met with cheers from hotel staff, the penny dropped; it was Finn Russell, the Bath fly-half. The rest of the team were already on the bus, departing after what we later learned had been quite a celebration following their victory the previous night, the party had apparently continued until 7.30 that morning!

We eventually found a comfortable bench by the fence overlooking the river, though we first had to pick our way through the aftermath of the rugby festivities still strewn across the hotel lawn.

I had planned a four-mile ramble along the River Thames, following the Thames Path southwards. After depositing the picnic bag in the car, we set off across the pedestrian bridge at Teddington Lock. The temperature was hovering around 24°C, but fortunately, much of the path was tree-lined, providing a lovely cooling shade.

The path and river were bustling with life, dog walkers, cyclists, and pleasure craft all enjoying the fine weather. We stretched our legs downstream to Kingston Bridge, admiring the beautiful properties along the way. Those situated on the opposite bank, free of the river path and boasting their own moorings, were particularly desirable, assuming, of course, you had a bank balance running into the millions.

After crossing the bridge, the return leg proved somewhat less interesting. The frontages of the properties we had admired from across the river were mostly hidden behind imposing gates, high hedges, and tall walls. Keeping to the shady side of the street, we were soon back at the hotel and checking in.

After dropping our belongings in the room, we made our way to the bar for some refreshments and sat in the cool interior, watching the passing clientele, always a good source of amusement and random commentary. With our thirsts quenched, we returned to the room, changed out of our light walking gear, and headed out to the Koyla Red Indian restaurant.

The establishment was just a few streets away, and we were soon seated and perusing the menu for our pre-booked 6 pm meal. We both ordered a Dum Biryani, Sue opting for chicken, while I chose the lamb. We found the dish rather dry and were glad of the accompanying yoghurt; I ended up ordering an extra portion.

Back at The Lensbury, we chose to sit in the garden and watch the river traffic drift by until the light began to fade. Tired from the exertions of our riverside walk, we retired to the room to watch a bit of television before drifting off to sleep.

Breakfast the following morning was taken in the restaurant overlooking the garden. The hotel appeared to be popular with American guests, who occupied most of the available tables. The buffet was substantial and even featured the ever-contentious Marmite, for those with discerning taste.

Fuelled by a full English breakfast, we checked out and loaded the car with our belongings before setting off on another river ramble, this time heading northwards along the Thames Path towards the city centre. After crossing the pedestrian footbridge, we followed the river, skirting the Ham Lands: a 72-hectare nature reserve in Ham, straddling both the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames and the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames. The area is much loved by walkers, nature enthusiasts, and horse riders. We lingered for a while on a small bridge overlooking the site of a Forest School beside Ham Lake, watching the activities and quietly wishing we were young enough to join in. Moving on, just short of Eel Pie Island, we left the Thames Path and entered the Ham Lands. The route I had plotted into my GPS proved invaluable; without it, we would easily have taken a wrong turn among the many paths branching off in all directions.

Unlike the busy river paths, the reserve was surprisingly quiet; we encountered only a few dog walkers during our passage through the mixture of woodland and grassy glades. We spotted signs of rabbits, deer, and badgers, although the heat of the day and the presence of dogs had no doubt driven them to seek refuge in shadier, quieter corners.

It was a lovely morning ramble. Our return journey to Willow Bank was uneventful until we encountered a closed road in Brixworth, which added an irritating twenty minutes to our journey time.