20th March planted broad beans & onion sets. Sue had a 1-hour session with the medium, and I took Nala for a sunny walk. I am sceptical, though I listened in occasionally as we walked through Google Home and thought the lady was fishing for clues. However, Sue was impressed and exclaimed she was ‘very good’. In the evening we watched a film at Harborough cinema club. H is for Hawk. After the sudden death of her father (Gleeson), she loses herself in the memories of their time birding and exploring the natural world together and turns to the ancient art of falconry, rooted in European tradition, training a wild goshawk named Mabel to navigate her profound loss.

The following day, Sue was due to meet Lynne Keene for lunch, but, wisely checking before setting off, she discovered from her husband, Paddy, that Lynne had been rushed to hospital by ambulance during the night after he found her slumped half in and half out of bed when he went to retire. He promised to keep us informed of her condition. On a brighter note, Jamie and Ruth appear to be having a wonderful time in snowy Norway. Somewhat controversially, they sampled whale in one restaurant and, after feeding reindeer on a farm, went on to eat reindeer in another. To complete their carnivorous tour, they selected live crabs at yet another establishment, continuing what might be described as their enthusiastic exploration of Norwegian wildlife. In between their feasting, they managed to see the Northern Lights and ventured out on several bracing trips into the wilderness.

During the week, the hot water system broke down in Rothwell, prompting Charlotte and her family to activate their insurance cover and spend a night at the Belton House Hotel, where they made good use of the spa facilities. A few days after returning home, Charlotte and Ellis came over to Willow Bank to make use of one of our showers.

On the 23rd, I received a call from my doctor regarding the blood test I had the previous week and, as expected, my PSA level was elevated. I explained that I had recently completed a course of antibiotics following a UTI in Italy, but he felt it prudent to refer me to a two-week fast-track pathway for an MRI scan. The following day, I received a call from Leicester General Hospital about the referral and, after a detailed discussion regarding infection and antibiotic timelines, it was agreed that I should repeat the test in six weeks, by which time any influence from the UTI should have resolved, allowing for more reliable readings. All other results from the blood tests were within normal ranges. It seems to be a case of here we go again; fingers crossed, there is no further ‘iffy’ food to trigger cystitis.

The very next day, I drove to Kettering Hospital, though not for myself. Paddy, now in his nineties, gave up driving many years ago and has no practical means of getting to Kettering other than by taxi, as, astonishingly, despite it being the nearest large town, there is no direct bus service from Market Harborough. As Sue was occupied with a U3A activity that afternoon, and with no one available to look after Nala, I took her along. She sat contentedly on Paddy’s lap during the journey, enjoying the steady stream of attention he provided. I dropped him at the hospital reception before continuing into town, where Nala and I braved a cold and blustery two-hour walk. During this time, I managed to pick up some beer to replenish my dwindling supply in the garden room, as well as a plum tree to plant in a large pot Charlotte had given me last year. Two hours later, I collected Paddy and took him home to Little Bowden. It seems Lynne had a significant infection, but should be allowed home once she can walk unaided.

That same evening, I received a call from Lee, who was out exercising on Beacon Hill. Unfortunately, while in the garage at home, a scooter had fallen from a high shelf and struck her head, causing two cuts. With blood streaming down her face and Alice and Archie still to be put to bed, she rang Lee in some distress. Sue and I were about to set off for Newbold Verdon when Sarah called to say that Lee had enlisted the help of a couple of neighbours, settled the children, and checked the injuries. Despite the alarming amount of blood, the cuts were relatively minor and did not require a hospital visit. Lee returned home shortly afterwards.

On the afternoon of the 25th, while Sue was shopping in Corby and later going to the cinema, Jamie arrived to collect Nala. It was a bitterly cold and windy day, with intermittent sleet showers interspersed with bursts of bright sunshine. Earlier, as I had done each day of her stay, I had taken Nala to the allotment, where I continued digging over the vegetable beds in preparation for the growing season, finally completing the task.

The following day, after booking yet another blood test at the surgery for the end of April, Jamie returned to Willow Bank having collected his new car, a BYD Sealion, from the garage. We gave the vehicle a thorough once-over and were impressed. Now that I officially have a driving licence for another three years, perhaps we might consider going electric.

Shortly after his brief visit, I received a text confirming that I would indeed be having an MRI scan to check on my prostate. I spent the rest of the day planting yet more onion sets (Red Baron) and some shallots, while Sue blitzed the house once again, eradicating any trace of spider activity.

Earlier in the week, we received the sad news that Philippa’s cat, Moshi (a Swahili name), had died at the grand age of 17. Over the years, during the times Sue and I visited Pip and Paul in Devon, I can recall only two fleeting occasions when we ever saw the moggy. It was not a creature that took to strangers and would promptly disappear under one of the beds for the duration of our stay, often for several days.

On a bitterly cold and windy Sunday (29th), Sarah and family travelled a short distance to the Leonardo Hotel in Hinckley for a pampering overnight stay and Sue and I headed to Telford for a couple of nights R&R.

We stopped on the way to visit RAF Cosford. A museum that the rest of the family had visited in the past, in fact, unbeknownst to us, Suraj and Ellis were there just the day before. Thankfully, most of the exhibits are indoors, which, though considerably warmer than those outside, hats and gloves were still required. Getting up close to these impressive flying machines certainly fills you with awe at the genius of those who designed them and the skill required by those tasked to fly them. During the Falklands war, Sue and I were holidaying in Gibraltar and stood mesmerised as three Vulcan Bombers took off from the airport. Though we didn’t know at the time, they were on a bombing run of Port Stanley’s runway. Standing underneath a lone Vulcan suspended from the roof of a hangar, I wondered if it might have been one of those we witnessed on the Rock. What a beautifully terrifying machine of war.

We spent a couple of hours perusing the indoor aircraft, breaking our trek between hangars with a light lunch in the warmth of the restaurant, snuggled up next to one of the modern tower radiators for extra heat.

It began to rain as we left. We chose the shortest and most scenic option on TomTom, and we were not disappointed. Shropshire is a very pretty county, and on our half-hour journey we saw some of its best. We were too early to check in at the Telford Hotel Spa and Golf Course, donned our raincoats and set off on a short walk I had plotted on my GPS. Thankfully, the rain soon stopped, but the damage had already been done to the pathway we were attempting to follow and within a quarter of a mile, we had to turn around when faced with a quagmire. Choosing another route in the opposite direction, we met with the same fate and reluctantly returned to the hotel just in time to check in.

A lovely evening meal in the hotel followed a lazy afternoon in our room, before we again retired to our hotel nest with a complimentary bottle of red wine and watched an episode of ‘The Other Bennett Sister ‘ on the TV.

A comfortable night meant we were late for breakfast after 8 am. Apart from one other couple, we had the pick of the hot buffet before the restaurant filled up with other patrons.

Our original plan of visiting all or most of the museums along the Iron Bridge Gorge had been thwarted by the National Trust, which had temporarily closed them in preparation for taking over the management. Annoying. Nonetheless, we drove 12 minutes down into the gorge to find a parking space and set off to walk across the Iron Bridge itself. The grandson of the first Abraham Darby, Abraham Darby III, built the bridge. Originally designed by Thomas Farnolls Pritchard to link both banks of the river. Construction began in 1779, and the bridge opened on New Year’s Day 1781.

Though bright and sunny, a stiff, chilly breeze ensured that hat and gloves were a necessity, and we didn’t linger too long on the bridge to enjoy the view. We chose to wander along a riverside path on the Toll House side of the river, to admire a river view of the bridge and ogle at the pretty cottages, many of which seemed to be for sale. After a leisurely perusal of the shops along the town Bank of the river, we returned to the warmth of our Mini Clubman and partly reversed our journey to stop near the Iron Bridge Gorge Museum in Coalbrook Dale. We took a leisurely walk partway up Loamhole Dingle before visiting the closed museum to sit and watch the roof being craned onto the new exhibition centre.

Changing plan, we decided to head into Telford to catch a film at the Odeon Lux. We had watched a film there on our last visit many years ago, so it wasn’t difficult to locate it. We opted for ‘Project Hail Mary’. The story centres on Science teacher Ryland Grace, who wakes up on a spaceship with no recollection of who he is or how he got there. As his memory slowly returns, he soon discovers he must solve the riddle behind a mysterious substance that’s causing the sun to die out. It proved to be an excellent choice, providing over two hours of entertainment.

Moving on, we made our way back to the hotel and chilled out until early evening. We chose to have our evening meal in the nearby village of Madely at the Cuckoo Oak for a splendid meal and quiz night. Returning to our hotel, we finished off the bottle of red, opened the previous evening.

After breakfast, we set off for home. Sue had an afternoon appointment at Leicester General Hospital to review her progress following her operation earlier in the year. I drove her there and waited in the car park, passing the time by watching a couple of Netflix programmes on my tablet. During our trip to Telford, she had developed sciatica and was advised to arrange some physiotherapy.

The following day was an early start for Sue, as she had agreed to look after Alice and Archie while Sarah and Lee had a busy day at work. It seems they indulged their artistic flair with a morning of drawing, followed by great fun taking part in a village-organised Easter egg hunt. During the morning, I planted some seeds in the greenhouse and, in the afternoon, attended an appointment for an MRI at Leicester Glenfield Hospital.

Jamie and Ruth are off on their travels again, this time to Sweden. On the 2nd of April, Jamie arrived with Nala for us to look after while they are away, before catching the train from Harborough to collect his Lamborghini in London, which had been repaired after leaking most of its oil a week or so earlier. Coincidentally, Sarah and Lee were also in London, in Covent Garden, taking part in a day themed around The Traitors.

For the past ten days, Lucas has been on a geology field trip to the Isle of Arran. Although the weather in the Scottish Isles was not particularly favourable, it seems they accomplished what they had set out to do, surveying and studying the island’s geological rock formations. He returned home late on April Fools’ Day.

The 3rd of April proved to be an eventful day for Sue and me. After taking Nala for a lengthy morning walk, part of which was a pleasant amble along the River Welland, I returned to Willow Bank and set about mowing the lawns before cutting the grassy paths between the vegetable beds at the allotment. Deciding to buy some sweetcorn seeds for later sowing, along with a few treats for Nala, I drove across town to B&M.

While waiting in the queue to pay, I watched in disbelief as the woman in front of me, accompanied by her two sons (aged around twelve or thirteen), effectively shoplifted a trolley full of goods. From their accents, they appeared to be from the travelling community. The couple behind me and I saw her push a trolley laden with items past the till, before placing a handful of goods from the shelves around the checkout onto the counter. Meanwhile, her two children helped themselves to several chocolate eggs, unwrapping and eating them on the spot. She paid only for the items on the counter and, when challenged by the young shop assistant, claimed she had already paid for everything else.

The couple behind me and I made it clear that she had not. In response, the woman brazenly asked the assistant to call her a taxi before moving towards the exit. The assistant, clearly frightened, said she did not know what to do. I suggested she call for the manager, who could then ask to see receipts for the items in the trolley. Instead, she simply scanned my purchases, and I began to leave. As I passed the woman by the exit, she was calmly adding yet more items from the nearby shelves into her trolley. Her brazenness was astonishing. After I offered a few choice words, I received a glare that could have melted lead.

Market Harborough is surrounded by traveller sites, and I have often heard of such incidents from friends, but this was the first time I have, regrettably, witnessed the crime myself. The young shop assistant was clearly aware of what was happening but too intimidated to act, which, I suspect, is precisely why the woman chose that particular till.

On a more amusing note, that afternoon, Sue received a frantic phone call from our family friend Doreen (93). It seemed her hearing aid had become stuck in her ear. Her son, who had been with her that morning, had been unable to remove it, and Specsavers had declined to intervene. In desperation, she asked Sue to take her to the hospital to have it removed.

On arriving at St Luke’s Hospital, they were greeted by a sign informing them that it was closed and that patients should go to the walk-in centre in Corby. Sue instead suggested they try Mistry’s Pharmacy in town. There, when a camera was used to examine Doreen’s ear, it was discovered that there was, in fact, no hearing aid present at all. Sue then took a rather embarrassed Doreen home to search her bedroom for the errant device.

Easter Sunday was a sunny day, albeit punctuated by occasional showers. Sue was up and out of the house by 5.30 a.m. to attend the first car boot sale of the year at Saddington. The previous day, Storm David had lashed the UK, and Sue reported on her return later that morning that she had passed many trees which had been blown over in the night.

Nala and I spent the morning at the allotment, first mowing the lawn on its lowest setting to grub out the moss that had grown rampant over the mild winter, before digging over one of the vegetable beds and then using the moss as mulch on the couple of rows of second early potatoes I had planted previously.

On my return, I discovered that we had taken charge of Mia. After an early morning Easter egg hunt in their garden, the Newbold Verdons had dropped their dog off at Willow Bank before Sarah and her family joined Charlotte and her family for a couple of hours of ten-pin bowling in Kettering.

By midday, Sue, Nala, Mia and I had joined the bowlers in Rothwell for an Easter lunch. As usual, the meal, lamb, was excellent, having been prepared the day before by Suraj and the boys and beautifully cooked by Charlotte. With stomachs full, some played games with Archie and Alice, while others flopped in the lounge with drinks in hand, until it was time to leave our hosts to some well-earned peace.

Willow Bank enjoys a rich variety of wildlife, much of which visits us daily. We encourage their presence by putting out a range of food at the front of the house. In the morning, we provide birdseed, peanuts and suet pellets; in the evening, we add fat balls, peanuts, dog biscuits, a selection of out-of-date bread and cakes from the community shop, and whatever leftovers remain from our own meals.

Now that spring is well and truly underway, we watch, fascinated, the romantic antics of our feathered visitors as they snatch a beakful of grain while keeping a wary eye on the amorous advances of their kind. Over the past few weeks, we have been introduced to our cock pheasant’s new hen companion. He keeps a diligent watch over her as she feeds alongside the many pigeons, magpies and other species that gather beneath the Scots pine where we scatter the food. Even the four squirrels, which bound in from the trees along the river and squabble amongst themselves for a share, do not seem to trouble him. The deer that kept us amused over the winter has not made an appearance for a month or so.

As darkness falls, a fox vies with four badgers for the choicest morsels on offer; they often return several times during the night in the hope that more food will appear. Two of the badgers seem to be growing quite large, and I anticipate that later in the summer they may be accompanied by cubs.

The 8th of April was the hottest day of the year so far (28°C). Sue went to the cinema in Corby, while I mulched another vegetable bed, and then set about cutting up yet another pile of wood in readiness for next winter. Late in the afternoon, we had a visit from Charlotte before she set off to collect Ellis from school; he will soon be sitting his GCSEs.

Our amorous pheasant appears to have begun a harem. Lately, he has been seen escorting two hens to feed beneath the fir tree. I only hope he is prepared to be doubly hen-pecked!

Jamie and Nala on the way to lunch

More generally, the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) advises taking a break from feeding garden birds between 1 May and 31 October. It warns that, during the warmer months, busy feeders can become hotspots for disease. The spread of trichomonosis has caused significant declines in species such as greenfinches and chaffinches. The greenfinch population has fallen by around two million, and the species is now on the red list of conservation concern.

Trichomonosis is caused by a parasite that affects the mouth, throat and upper digestive tract of birds, making it difficult for them to eat, drink or breathe. Infected birds shed the parasite in their saliva and droppings, contaminating food sources as they feed. Interestingly, suet pellets and fat balls appear to remain safe. During the colder weather of autumn and winter, transmission of the disease is greatly reduced, so we will once again be able to put out seed and grain.

Rainbow over Sarah’s house

Continuing the bad news, Sue became concerned when her friend (Sue) failed to answer her phone for several days. Calling round to check on her, she learned from a neighbour that, earlier in the week, her friend had fallen and injured her arm. After five days of discomfort, the neighbour intervened and took her to the hospital, where it was found to be broken. Following a visit, Sue reported sadly that her friend’s dementia had worsened considerably. She was confused and was causing difficulties on the ward, repeatedly asking why her husband, who passed away seven years ago, had not come to see her. As she has no surviving relatives, she cannot be discharged home. A very sad state of affairs.

On 15 April, while Sue met Viv for a walk around East Carlton Park followed by lunch, I drove to Leicester General Hospital to receive the results of my MRI. Unfortunately, the scan was inconclusive, and a biopsy on the prostate was scheduled for the following afternoon.

Sue accompanied me to the 1.45 pm appointment and then drove on to the antiques centre in Kibworth to make good use of the time while I underwent the procedure. In all, I was on the ward for a couple of hours, although the actual biopsy only took around 15 minutes and, thanks to the local anaesthetic, was painless.

I was able to leave once I had passed urine, but as Sue was about 20 minutes away, I passed the time with a couple of NHS coffees and some biscuits while watching a Netflix series on my tablet as she made her way to collect me. On the way home, we stopped at the antiques centre so that I could look at a wooden bench she had considered buying; however, I pointed out that, although it was attractive, it was intended for indoor use rather than the outdoor setting she had in mind.

I should receive the biopsy results in a few weeks’ time, so fingers crossed for good news.

On the way home, we also received the excellent news that Alice had been awarded a Blue Peter badge. The BBC were so impressed by the leaf picture she sent that they awarded her a badge, which gives her free entry to many attractions around the country.