Quiet day on Monday. Did some Canada and HCTS prep. Took Madeline and Owen down to the little park in Coley late afternoon. On Tuesday morning I got an email from Liz King, Martin's daughter, informing us that he had passed away on Sunday morning. He had a pulmonary embolism in Feb 2020. I was contacted on 25th by a paramedic who found my number on his phone and had given him CPR. The first time he was out for 3 mins and the second 60. He had been in a coma ever since. I think it happened the night before on 24th. Martin was the best man at our wedding and one of my best friends since secondary school. 

Another scorcher on Monday. Went with James and the kids to the park about 9am when it was still cool. They had a paddle late afternoon.l did the open mic at The Castle Tap in the evening. Jake and Adam were away so I did the sound with Alex. Started at 6 instead of 8 as it was a Bank Holiday but the music still went on til 10 30. Lots there, a good night. I did Woodstock and my HCTS song. Another hot one on Tuesday. Did some guitar practice. Hot again on Wednesday, stayed in and did some HCTS prep. M went out with Mandy and Fiona in the evening. I did the Castle Tap folk session. Same songs as Monday. Amy got back from Scotland about 2 in the morning. Got the train to Thatcham on Thursday morning for an eye appointment. It's improving and more drops perscribed. I managed to get some at a pharmacy in Thatcham too. Cycled back, very hot. Met up with Keith and Fiona in the evening. A swity in Siren, meal at Carluccios and a night cap in the Oakford which no longer has any cask ales. Went swimming on Friday morning. Madeline rode her bike without training wheels for the first time.Had a band practice early evening then went to RSAC to see Bored Slippy. They were supported by Barrelhaus and Martha Spearpoint was there as a friend of hers was one of the guitarists. JAMO went swimming on Saturday morning then to a BBQ in London. I helped set up and did some sound checking for Variety Night at RSAC. James and Amy took the kids to the linear park to ride their bikes on Sunday morning. James ran there and Amy ran back. We had a lie in.

Amy went up to Scotland on Monday afternoon. She's staying until next Wednesday, partly for work and partly to get the new house sorted out. Shortly after she left a pot fell off the mantlepiece in the kitchen and hit Madeline on the head. She seemed to go unconscious briefly so I took her and  James to AnE. Everything was OK though. An AFD. The oven man came on Tuesday morning. The new part didn't fit properly so he'll need to come back Tony came round for a rehearsal for the street party. Madeline had an OK day at nursery after her pot incident. Had a very positive HCTS meeting in the evening. Drove up to Rick and Jeanette's on Wednesday to pick up the stage monitor I bought on Ebay a couple of weeks ago. Had a fine evening sitting out in the garden by the wood burning stove with fillet steak thrown in. Drove back on Thursday. The oven man had been back and managed to fix it.m Sally went for a scan so we can now officially announce that she is expecting.We have known since we went to Center Parcs as she wasn't drinking. Went swimming on Friday morning then took the speaker to RSAC. A bakibg hot day. Went to Coley Park with James and the kids in the afternoon after it had cooled down. Had a band practice in the evening for the street party. Went to watch Madeline and Owen have their swimming lessons on Saturday. Another hot day so mostly kept the kids inside. We went to see The Unthanks at the town hall in the evening. They were excellent. Had a bite to eat at Carluccios beforehand. Really good fritto misto. Another scorcher on Sunday. Had to do a bit of tree climbing to put up some lanterns.Madeline and Owen were not impressed.

Baking, admin and cooking on Monday. The oven was not warming up properly so called a man in. Amy flew up to Scotland for work in the evening. They completed the purchase of 2 Brompton Terrace in Perth. The oven man came on Tuesday morning and reckoned it needed a new selector switch that had to be ordered  Did my 5 hills ride but the road down the side of the Englefield estate was closed, even to cyclists, so had to go via Bradfield. The bees swarmed in the the afternoon. We picked Madeline and Owen up from nursery. Amy got back about 10 30pm. An AFD. Went swimming on Wednesday morning. Amy moved into the garden office to work. Alex Latchford had got an emergency call about Gill and as we are 'keyholders' we got the key from the key safe and went in. Unfortunately this set off the alarm and we couldn't switch it off. She wasn't there anyway as she had just popped into town. So a happy ending and shecgave us a bottle of wine for our trouble. M spent most of the day at BRO. Did the Retreat quiz in the evening and came 2nd. Just one point behind the winners. Went to the hygenist on Thursday morning. Walked there and then did a big loop back via the Thames. Met up with Penno and Clive later in the Allied. On Friday Madeline had her first go at riding her bike without stabilisers. Went to RSAC in the afternoon. They had people in for a corporate day from SP Global, helping to tidy up, so leant a hand. There was someone there called Sonia who I worked with briefly at Northgate. James did pizzas in the pizza oven for tea. On Saturday James and Amy went up to Lindon to see Catherine Tate in Oh, Mary! so we looked after the kids. Took them for a boat trip on the Kennet on the Matilda Too. Mainly baking, cooking and guitar practice for me on Sunday. M pottered in the garden, JAMO went to softplay in the morning and Josh and Vic"s new house in the afternoon.

I started to cut the grass on Monday but cut though the wire on the mower. This involved a trip to BnQ to get a connector but as it's happened before I took the opertunity to add another 10 meters between connectors. Went swimming on Tuesday morning followed by a bit of gardening. Popped round to the Rising Sun in the afternoon to take some stuff down to the Bike Hub. Did a ride out to Charter Alley on Wednesday with Kelvin, Stuart and Andy from down the street. James went to pick up Amy and the kids from Heathrow early on Thursday morning. They were back here by 7 45. We went to vote in the local elections later. James and Amy did the same in Tilehurst. Had first Thursday drinks in The Retreat in the evening. JAMO went on a nursery trip to Odds Farm Park on Friday. M went to BRO in the morning. We went to a church in Warfield in the afternoon to photograph a tombstone. On the way back popped into RSAC as I had been told Richard, who organised the gig last Saturday, had left me a card. It was a thank you card with £40 in but I donated it to the sound equipment fund. Drove down to Dave and Alice's in Brighton on Saturday. Got there for lunch. Spent the afternoon chatting in their garden before going down to the beach for beer and wine. It was very busy down there and in the lanes.Went to Ivy Asia for dinner. Liked the tuna sushi and slow roasted pork belly. Amazing underlit floor.

On Monday we helped James pack in preparation for the move. Bob Noyes phoned to say the monitor was irreparable. James came round for dinner. I did the Castle Tap open mic in the evening by myself. Did Depreston, Writing On The Wall and Waiting For A Train. It was very lively. More help with the move on Tuesday. James had dinner here again but this time he stayed over as the removal men had already packed their bed. I went round to no 81 again on Wednesday morning. I was hoping to take a picture of the van in the front garden but they were just pulling out as I got there. Very efficient. Packed away a few last things and left James to finish off. He came back around tea time. All done and keys handed over.Went swimming on Thursday morning. Teacake of no 81 completed OK. Started planning the programming for HCTS. M went to Oxford for a lecture given by the chap who ran her MSc course. Bit of a lazy day on Friday but meanwhile somewhere in London.....On Saturday we sorted out the room where the kids will be sleeping and moved up to the guest room so James and Amy can sleep in ours. I did the sound for an event called 50 Laps Round The Sun at RSAC. They were using upstairs and down. A good band called Freisians down stairs  to start with followed by an acoustic duo called The Hemingway Method. Downstairs there were a couple of electronic acts, Electrohed and d'Voxx which were surprisingly good given I generally don't normally like that type of thing. The rest was DJs. Unfortunately it didn't finish until midnight. James came with us on the society walk on Sunday from the Falcon at Rotherwick, organised by Becky. Lots of lambs.

Spent most of Monday doing admin. In the evening we went to a talk in the long gallery in Englefield House. Very interesting just because ot the location. Went to the dentist for a check up on Tuesday morning. All OK. Did a short bike ride with Bobby in the afternoon, across the uni, down to the Lodden and back along the Thames. Went swimming on Wednesday morning. In the afternoon took a dodgy foldback monitor from RSAC to Bob Noyes. Left it there to see if he could fix it. Went to see Dry Cleaning in the evening at the Brixton Academy with Pete Larrett. It's a good venue. As it's an old theatre/cinema it has a sloping floor which means it's easy to see. Pretty good sound too but the singer could have done to be clearer/louder. Didn't think much to the support acts so they don't get a mention. Before the gig we met in a really good pub called the Duke of Edinburgh. When I initially looked at the map I saw the Trinity Arms and this reminded me of when I worked in London and we used to play 5-a-side with some guys from Lambeth Council who used to be customers of ours when I worked for ICL . We used to go to the Trinity afterwards. But Pete checked out both pubs and reckoned the Duke was better. I walked past the Ferndale sports centre on my way there which might be where we played. On Thursday morning I had an appointment at the Thatcham  Community Hospital to see the consultant about my eye. M drove in case they gave me drops. He perscribed more Acular drops for 2 months. This needed 2 bottles. i tried the chemist in Coley Park but they couldn't read the prescription. Went to Boots down Broad St. They didn't have any in stock nor did their branch in the Oracle. Neither did Superdrug but they suggested Saood down Oxford Rd. They had one bottle. They took the prescription but gave me a note and suggested I went to the hospital chemist for the second. They had it in stock but wouldn't accept the note, said I needed an outpatients prescription from the eye department. Tried the eye clinic they told me to go to eye casualty and eventually they gave me one. There was a very long queue when I got back to the chemist but the woman I had spoken to said I could just go straight to her but inevitably she wasn't there. What a palaver. Installed a new extractor fan in the downstairs loo. Spent most of Friday doing housework and stuff. No 81 came round for pizzas in the evening. We opened up the pizza oven for the first time this year. James and Amy dropped the kids off on Saturday morning so they could pack for Amy, Madeline and Owen's trip to Canada.