Conclusion – not much ‘happened’  but what events did in fact transpire ruled  the day. ( Trans pire this word had an early sense of “emit as vapor through the surface”—from trans-, “through,” and spirare, “breathe.”

My exemplar Samuel Pepys made a record of his daily activity without a care in the world as to who would actually read it because in those days were means of production we’re very limited it would not be in the thoughts of the average person. Am I writing for myself or for others? I am writing primarily for myself but also with a desire to share my experience with others who can perhaps learn from my mistakes and also from my example and write a journal.

This has happened with my trip to London for the period 23rd of December to 30th of December.

I find I need a fix of London life and multiculturalism about twice a year perhaps it is because I’ve lived there, mainly in South London, for more than 50 years. This time however I focused on the need for rest and recreation and I use that term in its original meaning re – creation. I think the modern use of the word loses the punch and impact and significance of recreating something.

We went on our usual route, bus 172 to Bristol (free to us  with travel passes). Coach to London Victoria taking about two and a half hours at a cost of two return tickets for £50. This is an inflated price which always happens during the Christmas season. Victoria Station to East Croydon for £10.70.

On arrival at my sisters in Selsdon south of Croydon,  we straight away went off to do a massive shop at Sainsbury’s for the week. I should consider my language here. To a family, a massive shop is about  150 to 200 pounds. We spent about 70 pounds for the three of us really getting essentials for the next few days. I don’t know how people manage who are on basic Social Security.

As my readers will know I am always on look out for people to engage with and I would encourage anyone to do the same. You can make so much difference to someone’s life through making a joke, expressing a view, giving them a compliment or just passing the time of day showing that you are aware of their presence. We were joined in the outgoing bus by a woman with two children one of whom looked different, withdrawn, non-connective.

She was about 12 years old and I got the feeling, or maybe my guides were informing me, that she was not quite of this planet. I felt that this young lady did not necessarily think in words more images and could not communicate what she was thinking. Dont worry,  things would turn out alright  I saw the mother again in Sainsbury’s and was motivated to share this information with her and that without any introduction.

I noticed the mother was rather stunned but about five minutes later I got a wooomph which tells me that the message had been received. I often get an intuitive feeling when someone writes me a letter for example in anger. The words are all right but the feeling I get is often completely contrary so I  tend to take notice of the latter.

I always do dowsing to determine my date of travel and it’s duration and I inevitably find that everything goes well and I think the answer is always ‘tune in’ to the world above before making plans and then everything within it – under the umbrella so to speak – will go smoothly as indeed our outward travel did as indeed did the events every day.

Since Francoise had limited walking ability it was necessary for me to wheel two cases but this turned out to be quite easy as the weight of one balanced the other. The difficulty was in getting on and off buses and trains.

Our time together on Christmas Eve was spent listening to Christmas music, catching up on the news and generally philosophizing about the world in general. It is my custom on Christmas day to cook the meal. To me, my basic requirements are meat –  chicken, plenty of sprouts, roast potatoes, sweet potatoes, turnips and I would normally have had peas but I do not recall having cooked peas on this occasion.

We bought a small Christmas pudding and we doubted it was going to be sufficient but the pudding is made very densely and  is rich so there was plenty to go around.This was followed by the inevitable afternoon snooze with the TV in the background.

Boxing day was spent watching TV, finishing up the remnants of the Christmas meal and having a welcome visit from one of my sisters sons who regaled me about his time working for a big American company in Brighton.

Saturday we decided to venture out and went to have breakfast at Wetherspoons in East Croydon. I had been persuaded to buy some clothes. Normally I wear things until they drop. I am not totally conscious of fashion that way. We decided to have a ‘bus only’ day so we caught the 250 bus from Croydon via Thornton Heath to Brixton.

The market was its usual self and we went on to the village market which is a collection of shops at which you can  experience food from many countries. We then decided to take the bus to Herne Hill where there are three bakeries who serve excellent cakes and coffee as well as artisan bread. How much I miss the variety back in good ‘ol Midsomer Norton

London area vibes are not conducive to relaxation but I did not realize until halfway through the week how much I needed to break from the routine. It’s not that I don’t enjoy it, I do, but it’s the fact that it’s a routine and probably sitting in front of the computer for extended periods of time.  I also enjoyed our looking after my sister and making meals. She cannot do much for herself at the age of 87 because of breathing problems and difficulty with doing things like unscrewing bottles and opening cans and so on. I expect I will be like that in a few years time so we have to look after each other

when I lived in Dulwich I used to frequent a pub, the Horns Tavern in Knights Hill, run by the wonderful Alison. She is an Irish lady that has owned the pub lease for the last 25 years. I got the strong feeling that I should go and see them although I did not particularly feel like a drink. When I arrived I discovered that Allison was three days away from  the end of her lease. She has made a wonderful contribution to the area and I’m sure is well loved by many people.

We gave her two hugs, one on arrival and one on departure and I promised her that she would be led to what to do later. She said that she was going to take a break from being a publican and as she herself said with a smile, 25 years is enough . I’m so glad I followed my intuition otherwise I would not have seen her again.

We took the 468 bus to East Croydon and thence back to base. We prepared a wonderful meal and we played board games such as Drafts, Scrabble, and Upwords. The Sunday  was mostly spent making lunch whilst my sister went to church.  More snoozing and staring at TV.

—- VIDEO LIBRARY—–

A coherent conversation about the assisted dying bill. The Christian Institute 23:59
What’s Really Going on Behind Closed Doors in UK Migrant Hotels?  15:06