This was a good month in many ways. Apart from anything else, there was my birthday at the end of the month. 62. How the bloody hell did that happen? The birthday fell on a Sunday so our daughter and son-in-law paid a visit and we went out for lunch at our local.

The weather was generally kind to me so I was able to get out on my bike most weekends. Generally this was just a trip up to Dorking, but also a little tour of Hastings, Hurst Green and Tonbridge Wells. Obviously record shops were involved, and I did end up with quite a few bargains including really good copies of The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway, Tapestry, Ooh La-La, and a couple of really early Al Stewart albums of £3 or £4 each. I am still amazed that Al Stewart is mostly known for just one song when he has so many excellent albums.

As usual, I read a lot of books. In fact by the end of the month I had reached 100 books for 2024. I am actually thinking of cutting down a bit because I realised that I am finding the time for reading by going out walking less and my scales confirm that I am putting a bit of weight back on. Not a big problem as I am still 40kg less than I was 6 years ago, but I had taken all my suit trousers in when I lost weight and when I needed to wear a suit this month I found them just a little on the tight side.

It also means that I don’t get round to watching much television either. I tend to unwind by putting an LP on and firing up the Kindle rather than making use of all the streaming services I either pay for or get as a perk with my bank account. I really do want to get round to watching Slow Horses, Silo, Foundation and a few others. As it is the only thing I did get to watch was The Time Bandits on Apple TV (I think). I have not actually seen the Terry Gilliam film, which surprised even me, so don’t know how it compares, but I thought it was very enjoyable but how could you not like something with Taika Waititi playing the supreme being and Jermaine Clement playing Pure Evil?

One of the highlights of the month was a family day held at my workplace. I took two of the grandkids and there was plenty for them to do and see, as well as free food and drinks so it was a cheap day out. Their dad enjoyed it too, possibly even more than the kids, especially the science demonstrations in the environmental labs. I think he was most interested in the various x-ray machines and the potential for using them on his motorbike.

I even had some wine this month, thanks to Jayne getting given a bottle of Rose by some of her passengers. She drinks even less than me, and doesn’t touch wine, so I enjoyed that, spread over three nights. I do seem to sleep better after a glass of wine. Maybe I should indulge more than once every couple of months?

The month started well, when my Premium Bonds paid out for the 15th month in a row, and with my largest win yet – £325! It won’t change my life, but it will help to bolster the retirement fund a little.

The only fly in the ointment was when my website and domain got migrated and I slightly cocked up my DNS setting afterwards and lost this site and access to my emails for a couple of days, but that was soon sorted out.

Now looking forward to the next 62 years!