Watching the tennis...

...from Wimbledon. It's one of the great moments in the British sporting calendar (hang on a moment. Match point against Federer requires concentration - okay, it's back to deuce!) especially as our Andy Murray is through to the quarter finals. No British male has won Wimbledon since the days of Fred Perry, and even I don't remember him!

Second match point coming up. Wow! he's done it! Federer is out. That's amazing! And I don't even know the other fellow's name.

Our British sport hasn't been up to much this summer. The media hype over the football world cup had to be seen to be believed, and then we bowed out with ignominy almost as soon as we'd got to South Africa.

Justin Rose won the Memorial golf tournament in America, then led for the first three rounds of the Traveler's, only to lose it in the final round and finish ninth.

Oh well. It's playing the game that counts, isn't it? And someone has to be down there propping up the winners. It's just not such a comfortable place to be, but it may be character-building.

Or not.

What do you think?

Surprises are great - sometimes!

This was a wonderful surprise, a blast from the past.

There we were, quietly watching the golf from America on TV, when the phone rang. It was friends we haven't seen for nearly twenty years, even though we live in the same county.

"Just on the off chance," they said, "are you free tomorrow night? 'Cos we're barbecuing and we'd like you to come over."

We were free and we went. They've moved since we saw them last and now live in a lovely old farmhouse in forty acres of their own ground where Heidi is a horse trader and looker-after (fifteen horses at the moment) and David pastures cattle for the farmer next door.

Their place is beautiful; a wonderful garden with a large, natural pond stocked with fish, their own water supply from a bore hole, and a delightful, soppy rescue dog, a cross between a setter and a retriever.

We had such a good evening, sitting out in the garden, catching up on the years (and wondering where they've all gone!) Years ago we used to meet up and joke about going into an old people's home together and livening it up, never imagining that we'd actually ever get old.

Happy times. It's a good job every age has something to recommend it, and this present age brings us memories to savour. It was great.

Great days...

...but not necessarily great weather.

My brother and his wife came over from America last week, bringing their eight-year-old grandson. They arrived at Heathrow on Wednesday morning and came up to see us on Friday.
When the little lad climbed out of the car he said, "Is it winter here?"

He could be forgiven for thinking that. On Sunday I was back into a polo neck sweater, a woollen cardigan and a gilet, and was only just warm enough.

Today we've been sweltering on the golf course, with temperatures forecast to rise to 30 degrees by Sunday.

Watching Wimbledon at the moment. Andy Murray has just won his match - hooray - and that marathon match of 59 all in the final set from last night is set to continue any time now.

After that I'm off for a wedding rehearsal prior to the wedding on Saturday, which is rather nice since weddings won't come my way too often now that I'm retired.

Oh, and I've just started writing the third novel, so plenty going on.

Great days!

The family are descending...

...upon us today, so it's a quick rush round with the Hoover, a dash to the local shop (yes, we only have one and are fortunate to have that) for something to amuse four-year-old granddaughter, and enough food to feed the universe.

Actually, it's great to see them back as they spent over three weeks on an epic four and a half thousand miles bike ride on their Harley Davidsons (granddaughter in the side car) across just about the whole of Europe (felt like that to me anyway, anxiously waiting at home) before reaching Bulgaria where they have an old farmhouse. It was quite a ride, with eight adults and one small child, especially when they encountered floods across central Europe. But between the raindrops, a temperature of a hundred in Bulgaria - far too hot for me!

Still, home safely (thank you, God) and no doubt bringing the photos with them today. Our son is coming over too, but youngest daughter is still in Swindon, struggling to finish her PhD (on ancient glass. Yes, I know. You don't believe anyone could spend three whole years studying that!) by the end of July.

So this is a quick visit to blogland. Up and at 'em now. Have a good weekend.

A new toy

I have a new toy - well, a phone actually, but it feels like a new toy. Does take a while to get used to these new appliances though, doesn't it?

This is a poor man's iphone, a Samsung Tocco Lite. I'm a mere pay-as-you-go customer, so have to fork out for new phones and don't get any of the fantastic benefits that tariff customers get, like free phones (and a hefty monthly bill). Mind you, I use it so rarely that I can't justify a state-of-the-art job.

Still, this one is very nice, with a good camera and a touch screen (yes, I'm only just beginning with a touch screen. Sad, isn't it?) And I can synchronise it with my Google calendar through a nifty bit of free software called - yes, you've guessed - Goosync.

I can also download my email with it, although why I should want to do that I'm not sure.

All in all, a satisfactory buy - and I've given Ed my old phone, which is like a whole new experience for him. Perhaps he'll even take up texting, if we wait long enough.

Pain in the neck

Playing golf on foot in the pouring rain last Tuesday didn't help. I'd already had a few problems with my neck over the preceding few weeks, but after 27 holes on a foreign course (that's about six miles of walking), my neck seized up completely.

Ed came all the way to drive me home (my cousin had come over from about two hour's away in the opposite direction, stayed the night, then driven us both to the course at some unearthly hour in the morning) and I survived through the mercies of Panadol. Mind you, I didn't mind too much as I won the tournament!

I've been wearing a collar in bed each night, and the neck is a lot better now, so back to golf on Tuesday. In a previous incarnation as a physiotherapist, I used to enjoy treating golfers because I knew they would always get better, they were so determined to get back to playing. Jockeys were even worse. Most of the jockeys I treated had broken every bone in their body at some time or another, and would think nothing of riding in a race with a broken arm.

Anyway, enough of illnesses and complaints. I'm delighted that my publisher has agreed to publish the sequel to "Heaven Spent", so I'll be starting on that long and arduous path quite soon in the hope that it will be out for Christmas 2011.

More than that I cannot ask.