September 2025 | James Durose-Rayner's website

SEPTEMBER 2025

The A's

ALL IMAGES OPEN IN TECHNICOLOUR

14 September 2025

A very belated good morning on this autumn Sunday.

It is 12:30 pm.

I was awake at 4:00 am and could have got up as I'd had my sleep out. As it was, I dropped back off, to be awoken by a phone call from Julie... 8:00 am.

I'm on Day 9 of no alcohol and I am sleeping extremely well.

Am I missing it? No.

I had a steady day, yesterday doing more or less what I wanted after I'd done an hour on my day job.

I bought quite a few albums which I uploaded on to the B2.

Eight by Glasgow-based indie band Primal Scream.

These were: Sonic Flower Groove (1991); TRMNTR (2000); Vanishing Point (2001); Give Out But Don't Give Up (2001); Evil Heat (2002); Riot City Blues (2006); Beautiful Future (2008); and Screamadelica (2011).

I also bought. Psychocandy - a 1986 album by The Jesus and the Mary Chain.

I also have three more on order that haven't arrived yet.

Two by Psychedelic-band Hawkwind - In Search of Space (1971) and The Anthology, which is obviously their greatest hits compilation; and one by American rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd - The Collection, which is another greatest hits compo.

I also uploaded four albums by London-based acoustic-stroke-alternative rock band Wolf Alice, whose vocalist is Ellie Rowsell, who was born a stones throw away from where Rod Stewart was born - 101 Archway, in North London.

13 September 2025

Good morning.

Julie phoned at 7:00 am and woke me up.

My idea to have an hour extra in bed turned out to be half an hour.

The four dog walks a day plus cardio must be tiring me out.

Julie should be here in an hour or so. Her Saturday routine - do the ironing and do the upstairs.

My jobs?

I've done it. Walking the dog.

I'm now drinking my coffee with the bath on upstairs. We have a shower both here and over in Cyprus and I use neither.

Well, yesterday, they caught the murderer of Charlie Kirk, and it looks like he'll be getting the death penalty.

It doesn't bring him back, however.

I've seen lots of shit posted on social media some of which is disgusting.

The man was a Christian conservative - his values, Christ, family and country. And the amount of lives he helped turn around was phenomenal.

Schools, colleges and universities are full of woke, left leaning teachers - brainwashed by the left leaning media who help radicalise those who are very easily led.

Very sad. However, the world is changing.

In Series 1 of The A's, Gaynor becomes interested in politics through female friends who go in The Hammersmith Vaults - most of who are in college or university. Clara Margieson is an exception as she is working when Gaynor first meets her... As is Sarah Percy who is Deputy Leader of Hammersmith City Council and the wife of the former Conservative MP Anthony Percy - who at that time, and like his wife, holds a fictitious post - his being the Mayor of White City.

It is isn't a big part of the story, but Sarah encourages the female contingent to get involved, and points out that the root of what is bad within the city has been caused by divisive politics, with the chief culprit being the Mayor of London - who is labelled by Gaynor's friends as the Idiot King.

There is lawlessness out on the streets, but outside of hearing it on the radio and moving from one establishment to another in Hammersmith, Gaynor rarely sees it, as she is shielded by her middle class life over in leafy Chiswick Green.

Animation. Opposite is Jenny with Julie Kingdom K.C - who is a good friend of Sarah Percy.

(Above) This is a 57 second animation of Julie Kingdom K.C with the youngest member of her family - Jenny Mellor.

I created this with seven frames which took an eternity to cut due to a glitch with the professional software.

Music: Excerpt From a Teenage Opera by Keith West.

There is a story here.

Julie Kingdom is the elder cousin of Jenny's father, Mason Green and during Series 1 was the youngest King's Counsel barrister in the UK.

Julie used to refer to Jenny's mum, Gaynor, as "Our Beautiful Distraction".

Now why would that be?

When Jenny found out who her family really were, at times it overwhelmed her, especially as they were so very close.

The animation with Julie and Jenny really happened in Series 2 - The Arabian Princess, when Jenny asks her Auntie Julie for some help with her history project.

Julie Kingdom is an absolutely awesome character.

12 September 2025

A belated good morning.

I was awake at 5:30 am and out through the woods with the dawg an hour later.

She'd never be able to survive out in the wild that much is for sure. This morning she was chasing rabbits up the path to the church when there were loads right next to her on the waste ground before you get to the woods.

The other night was funny. She went bolting towards what she thought was a rabbit and ended up chucking on the brakes before hitting a hedgehog.

There has been a few out just lately. Lovely animals.

Johnny Welsh hit me on WhatsApp when I was going through the woods.

"Arts for Arts Sake - what a load off bollocks," he text.

Radio Caroline playing shite.

It was a song by the Stockport-based rock band, 10cc.

You want to hear how they got their name?

It is claimed Jonathan King of the-then UK Records, had a dream. in which he was standing in front of the Hammersmith Odeon where the boarding read "10cc The Best Band in the World".

Hammersmith - again?

Ten cubic centimetres, however - is a volume of semen that is supposedly the average amount ejaculated, which is why they were called what they were called!

I'm not in Love is a nice song - the others are neither here nor there and just remind me of when I was a kid.

Founding member of the band and co-writer of I'm Not in Love, Graham Gouldman was a great songwriter and wrote For Your Love and Heartful of Soul which were sung by The Yardbirds; Look Through Any Window by The Hollies; and No Milk Today by Herman's Hermits - all of which capture the mood of the mid-1960s.

He also wrote Yummy Yummy Yummy which was a bubblegum hit in 1968 for Ohio Express.

It's now 9:30 am. I have just replenished half a dozen Air-Wick fresheners, wiped round, hoovered and mopped both the kitchen and the dining kitchen, and the bath is now running.

Yesterday was a nothing day. I got drenched on dog walk number 3 (Jamie's hounds) and had baked cod loins and smoked trout with vegetables for tea/dinner...

One of the fish went in the dog and half the vegetables in the bin. Eating on your own is crap.

I worked from the breakfast bar last night so as to keep the dog company.

I'd ordered a Soreen Sticky Toffee Pudding Malt Loaf. If you've not tried one - then I urge you to. Very autumnal in its taste. A bit like my nan's Parkin, but better.

£1 a loaf from Tesco.

I've ordered another five to come on Saturday evening and to bump up the order I've ordered the first batch of sweets for Halloween and Christmas.

Five tubs of Celebrations and one of Quality Street as the maximum you can order because they are on discount at £4.50 is six.

Being the ultimate hoarder I hate having restrictions placed on me. It is the same with Domestos bleach - maximum order 12. That is a product that pisses me off as it fluctuates from 99p to £1.50 depending when and where you shop.

Jesus Christ - I'm getting boring.

I did 60 minutes cardio yesterday and today I am on Day 7 of no alcohol. I don't miss it when I'm on my own. Stick Julie in the house and when 5:00 pm comes The Red Lion starts calling me.

She says we are a bad influence on each other.

She has lost 7lb since last Friday, so for anyone wanting to shed some lard - gallstones, cholecystitis and near death is a great one for weight loss.

I had an hours and half working on the script last night whilst listening to Radio Caroline and having two cups of tea and three slices of the toffee pudding flavoured Soreen..

11 September 2025

Good morning - if you can call it that.

I was up and out through the woods with the dog a 5:40 am.

The first of four dog walks.

Julie is a couple of villages away as the kids are over at the house in Cyprus.

They got there safe and drove up for a Chinese/ Japanese meal at The Red Ruby in Ayia Napa.

Jamie's just been on the phone telling me that the weather is good and that Kris is there with the vacuum in the swimming pool. He is, without doubt, the best pool cleaner we have had.

My advice to anyone out in Cyprus who has a pool. Don't ever employ an expat to clean it - as whilst you're not there, they don't give a shit and will scam you.

Me - I didn't get to bed until 11:20 pm.

Social media was awash with the assassination of Charlie Kirk. If you've never heard of him, he was your archetypal All-American God-loving family man. He co-founded Turning Point USA (TPUSA) in 2012, a conservative non-profit focused on promoting right-leaning conservative values on high school and college campuses, and a voice that spoke common-sense.

And this morning, it is awash with the unhinged, dirty, leftist deviants celebrating the loss of a husband and father.

Leftists. They all look like they could use a bar of soap and a boot up the arse. Social media - it can be a cesspit. Thank God it isn't fucking real.

Julie booked our flights back out to Cyprus on 2 October - the day after she is due in hospital for her first consultation for her operation. Pure escapism. I can't wait.

Last night I did 60 minutes cardio. I should really do the cardio on a morning and throw some weights around in the evening. Mix it up as to spend two hours upstairs in the bedroom does my nut in.

APC have just dropped off a delivery.

I ordered a Smeg Microwave Combi Oven the other day. It should have been £469 from Smeg UK - but I got it online elsewhere for £30 less.

The autumn is well and truly upon us and the leaves are starting to fall, therefore it'll be ideal for comfort foods such as baked potatoes, pies... and more to the point - Christmas puddings. It'll also come in handy for defrosting and nuking those ready meals that Julie likes when she's cutting down.

I was sick to death of dragging the old microwave out of one of the upstairs wardrobes just to hump it back up two flights of stairs ten minutes after.

Music. I had Radio Caroline on last night and I have to admit - from 9:00 pm to me going to bed, there wasn't one bad track. No Queen, no Springsteen, no Phil Collins... awesome.

With Julie being out of the house, I really need to play a few albums.

(Above) A 41 second animation of Gaynor Mellor and Mason Green in her mum's kitchen at the fictitious address of 8 Marquis Gardens, Chiswick Green.

I made this using four frames from an image that I did with Adobe Photoshop 2025.

There are a couple of other animations of a similar theme that I did during August 2025.

In Gaynor's mum and dad's house the kitchen was always the focal point - with the kettle being continually on.

"Do you want a cuppa, love?" Maureen once asked.

"No thanks, mam - nineteen is my limit," Gaynor replied.

Mason absolutely loved it there.

10 September 2025

Morning.

Julie got the house up at 5:45 am and I came down to a coffee. There is a mad week ahead.

The kids are currently in Luton Airport waiting for the 9:55 am flight out to Cyprus, which means that the next seven days will be sort of... life-changing.

As I said yesterday - I'm now committed to four dog walks per day and for the most part, have to look after myself. You know - cooking and cleaning.

I did two Tesco's online shops. One for when we got back and one which was delivered yesterday.

The reasoning?

I generally get the dog' food from Iceland as it is generally (again) £11.50 per 40 sachet box of Winalot.

It wasn't the other day - it was £14.00 - therefore, I ordered it from Tesco's along with six bags of finest King Prawns, some San Pellegrino sparking water - as I'm off alcohol for a bit, fresh fish (Cod loins) and other stuff... including these Tesco finest soups.

Julie said whilst she's waiting for her operation, she'll take it easy from a food perspective, and soups are an easy option whilst she's stopping at our Jamie's.

Last night she tried a tomato soup and an hour or later she was crippled. The label read Creamy Tomato Soup.

Cream is absolutely no good for an iffy gall bladder and cholecystitis - hence why she was up half the night.

Anyway, she's taken a carrier bag of stuff down to our Jamie's from both Tesco's shops including the fish and the other soups.

"I'll buy a couple of salad boxes," she said.

Yesterday, I did my first proper cardio in ages. Two hours on the cross trainer.

I need to get back into it again.

Animation. Opposite is another clip of Jenny's christening that is on a video/CD that was in Maureen's loft (Series 2).

Gaynor and Mason with their daughter.

And check out a rather emotional Maureen in the second clip. I am extremely pleased at how that animation turned out.

Maureen is a fantastic character.

(Above) A 36 second animation post-christening of Jenny Mellor.

I created this from five frames with transitions and from an image I created this morning using Abode Photoshop 2025.

Here, Gaynor and Jenny are pictured with, Jenny's father - Mason Green.

At this point, Mason and Gaynor have been formally split up since November 2023 (The end of Series 1) - and this is June 2024.

As you can see, from the first two frames - the relationship is strained.

It was something which broke Gaynor's mother's heart.

9 September 2025

Good morning.

I was up at 6:30 am to an empty house.

Julie was out through the woods with the dog.

From tomorrow, and with Jamie and Lianne being away, I am on four dog walks a day - three with ours and one with both our Jamie's - as the elder one of his has to be on a lead as at takes off. The other one just wants to fight every other dog it sees.

Hard work?

Not really.

As I've said before - 90% of the time bad dogs are through human failing. When you interact with them - be firm, never appease, feed them properly and walk them regularly, and you'll rarely have a problem.

We've had four - three Alsatian's and one Rottweiler. One we bought - the other three we inherited.

Today, I'll upload the magazine to the printers - and set up the October 2025 issue.

I cannot believe how quick this year is going. Next month it is Halloween. That is what happens when you are chasing deadlines!

Opposite is some 2D animation of Mason and Gaynor's trip to Galway in Ireland, where Gaynor's family from her mum's side once lived. The backdrop, however - is actually Donegal.

This happens in Series 1.

8 September 2025

A belated good morning.

I was up and through the woods with the dog at 6:30 am.

I then had to go and retrieve The Beast from Johnny Hanson's garage in Crowle as Julie will need it for hauling Jamie's dogs backwards and forwards when she is dogsitting from Wednesday, as he and Lianne will be over at the house in Cyprus.

Well, as it stands, that is the idea.

Julie is currently over at the South Axholme Practice in Haxey to see the doctor about the impending operation to remove her gall bladder.

I have just emailed the insurance company that American Express use for their insurance (Departamento Médico - Europ Assistance España (Asistencia Medica)), all the medical reports and scans, along with the flight details and the invoice that we ended up having to pay.

Very fucking time consuming as the .pdf files post-scan were 30MB apiece. No doubt, they will want some more shit sending over before we get reimbursed.

On another note, a guy from North Lincolnshire Council has just been round with his clipboard asking, "Can you trim your conifers?"

That is the 8m-high hedge than runs down the side of our garden.

There has been a complaint from a councillor.

My reply: "Which one?"

His response: "I can't tell you that, but what I can say is that it was one of the Town Council."

Here they all are. Anyone from nine. A set of useless busybodies.

No wonder they don't want to be named.

I've lived here 27 years and apart from the gadgy with the big face I don't recognise any of them - and we are out all the time, which really does tell you something.

They. Do. Not. Support. The. Town.

Why?

Because they don't spend any fucking money in it.

Hypocrites.

Yesterday, our Jamie came round for his breakfast.

Four poached eggs and fresh salmon on sour dough.

I had the same but with Tesco's finest sunflower and rye bread as sour dough, although it is better for you - is quite bland in an eating cardboard sort-of-way.

I worked on The A's last night and I shall do the same today.

With Julie being poorly, we are back on the wagon.

I've not had any alcohol since Thursday.

There you go - Day 4.

I'll also start and do some cardio.

(Above) A 32 second animation post-christening of Jenny Mellor.

I created this from three frames with transitions and from an image I created this morning using Abode Photoshop 2025.

This happens - along with a lot of other things, between Series' 1 and 2 - therefore it is only seen as a flashback.

Jenny was born on the same day and month as her mum - Gaynor, and was christened by Father Maloney at the fictitious St Margaret's Catholic Church some months later.

Gaynor maybe thought that by her having Jenny it would bring Mason back. It did not. And the fact that it didn't caused lots of stress and arguments at home - especially as her mother, Maureen knew the reasoning.

There is a framed photograph of the christening at the side of Jenny's bed at her dad and Anita's, and on the wall in her and her mum's house in Chiswick Green.

There is also a video, which Gaynor finds in her mum and dad's loft, which is something that happens midpoint in Series 2.

7 September 2025

Good morning. Nice to be back in the UK.

I got up at 5:30 am and took the dog through the woods, came back in and gave her her breakfast.

She is glad that we are back.

Yesterday was a tiring day.

We landed in Luton at 9:05 am and got back in the house just after midday.

Julie was in a much better place than she was on Friday - that much is for sure, but she's still ill with cholecystitis. She counted a staggering 19 stones in her gall bladder from the scans, and that's not including the ones that went into her pancreas.

It is now becoming clear that it was these causing all her problems. The doctors on the Isle of Axholme and indeed the so-called specialist's at both Scunthorpe and Doncaster hospitals all failed to pick up on it.

According to the specialist at the Lito Private Hospital, our diet in Cyprus is the huge factor in what has brought it on. Foods with fat in them. Sheftalia, keftedes (meatballs) liver, burger, kalamari (squid) and of course chips... and dry white wine doesn't help.

In the UK, bar copping one or two curries a week we eat sensibly. Lots of fish, chicken, salad and greens. And if we have, say a steak - it is a fillet - with zero fat.

Last night we had cod loins, salmon fillet and greens.

It's now 7:30 am and Julie is still in bed.

I am sat at the breakfast bar rendering a couple of frames of animation of the Gaynor character - again, sort of mid point in Series 2.

Radio Caroline has been on since we got home and last night between 5:00 - 7:00 pm it was extremely good.

I'm signing off now, whilst listening to American psychedelic rock band The Electric Prunes knocking out their 1966 track I Had Too Much to Dream (Last Night).

6 September 2025

Kaliméra

It is 1:30 am (+2 GMT).

An early start of a long day.

We were only away for 6 days as opposed to a week.

Yesterday was eventful.

The Lito Private Hospital wanted to keep Julie in for 3 days. They put her on several drips to get antibiotics and painkillers into her system.

She needs her gall bladder removing.

Gall stones - and I mean a lot, which she never knew about - even though she has been under the specialists at both Doncaster and Scunthorpe Hospital for her Diverticulitis amongst other things, missed it - and a couple of them made their way into her pancreas.

That's your wonderful NHS.

Bogged down by left wing bureaucracy, diversity and fucking useless staff.

The Dancing Nurses on Tik Tock during Co-Vid are mentioned by Gaynor in The A's when in Series 1 she looks at studying towards a doctorate.

The private hospital hit us for €1,200.

The insurance policy as part of Julie's American Express Platinum card will cover it, and they emailed confirmation to both us and the hospital to say that she was covered.

The hospital, however, said: "No - you pay us, and you claim it back."

They have obviously been hit by non-payers in the past.

Julie said that they were like vultures.

Nevertheless - in the real world, you pay and you get treated.

In the utopia of non-payment using the NHS, it is anyone's guess.

See you in Larnaca Airport.

--

Well, we are in the Lounge at the airport and I'm on my second double Macchiato. The proper breakfast generally comes out at 5:00 am. I'm not hungry and I rarely eat breakfast, it is just that it is here... or will be.

(Above) This is a 68 second animation of Gaynor and Jenny Mellor - which is an extension of the animations from yesterday and the day before and is supposedly a part of Episode 4 and 5 of Series 2, where Jenny gets hold of a French dictionary.

I created it using six frames with transitions. I am trying to get a feel for how the Gaynor character will eventually look in Series 2.

I say eventually, as at the beginning of Series 2 she has let herself go and is quite weighty and of drab appearance.

Music. Turn by Feeder

5 September 2025

Kaliméra

I have been up since 4:30 am (+2 GMT).

I have been tossing and turning for the last hour as Julie is feeling ill in and has been out of bed all night throwing up.

She has always suffered from Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD), but she says this is not IBD, and is probably Diverticulitis, which she was diagnosed with maybe four years ago.

Diverticulitis is the inflammation of irregular bulging pouches in the wall of the large intestine.

She's also mentioned food poisoning, but we have eaten similar food, so it probably isn't that.

I've asked if she wants to go to the general hospital in Deryneia, or the private Lito Hospital on Sotira Avenue in Paralimni, the latter of which we have used quite regularly - especially for all the co-vid tests we had to endure to enable us to fly.

We fly home early tomorrow morning and she fears that the doctors may make her stop in.

These are some of the perils of travelling abroad.

Fingers crossed that it eases up

We didn't get to bed until late.

The last few evenings we have eaten and then called at the small white church that sits above Agia Triada harbour to feed the feral cats.

There is around 15 of them, so Julie bought a dozen tins of cat meat yesterday and distributed most of that.

There is a black and white kitten that gets bullied, which was there for three days and which wasn't last night. I did look, but to no avail.

We got in and finished watching Series 3 of Happy Valley.

It started slow and built up momentum, but I have to admit, it had me scratching my head at some of the stuff in it - as at times, it seems like it has been written by some social worker.

Siobhan Finneran isn't an actress I particularly like, but maybe it is the characters she portrays. In Happy Valley she is annoyingly pathetic from the get go.

I'm not sure it is good acting as her character was just as annoyingly shit in Benidorm.

The deadpan Mancunian accent, the beady eyes, and the shit clothes they dress her in certainly doesn't help.

--

Well, it is 8:50 am and I am just back in from the Lito Hospital. They are keeping Julie in for the day to do some scans.

She succumbed about an hour ago and said that she needed to go. It made absolute sense. Her blood pressure was up at 185/115 (I think she said).

All she is worried about is everything being okay for when the kids come on Wednesday.

Very selfless, but that is who she is when it comes to her family.

4 September 2025.

Mia polý kalí méra gia esás

We got knocked up 8:30 am (+2 GMT) by The Terminator's son - with his commercial insecticide and pump.

It is very hot outside.

Just having my coffee under the air-con.

Yesterday was a very uneventful-stroke-pissy-offish day in that the FTO came back as it went.

It needed another part - this time the inner console as they had also damaged that when installing the radio.

As I said, 30 years - with the majority of that in the sun, had made it extremely brittle.

(Above) The outer floor console £160 (Already bought and in Cyprus).

The car is beginning to be an expensive hobby.

I've just bought the inner console from the same (car parts) place in Western Australia.

Fingers crossed.

Anyway, it gave me a chance to get au fait with the power of The Hog - the nickname we gave for the scooter, with its blistering top speed of 63 mph.

The Red Ruby was mentioned, but I couldn't be arsed with driving over the hill and into Ayia Napa.

We ended up having a couple of beers up in The Lionheart and had a meal at the beach bar, where it was getting quite dark.

I have to admit - the beach bar is really nice and the food quite good.

I have no idea what we are doing today.

Animation. I am trying to firm up an idea of what the Gaynor character will look like in Series 2.

So, the animation opposite will give you an idea.

(Above) This is a 30 second animation of the Gaynor Mellor character - with me looking at different angles for her appearance in Series 2.

The original image was created long before I started animating using a combination of Adobe Express and Adobe Firefly circa 2023/2024.

I reshaped the image and cleaned it up this morning using Adobe Photoshop 2025.

There is a blooper of sorts in that in Series 1 Gaynor has blue eyes, which is something that will be rectified when I eventually move to 3D.

Music. Automatically Sunshine by The Supremes...

Unfortunately, I didn't fade out the audio properly... That is what rushing does!

3 September 2025

Good morning.

I got up at 8:30 am (+2 GMT).

I was awake a few hours earlier but tossed and turned until I dropped back off.

It is another hot one. 34°c it says.

We have just taken the car up to the auto electricians. Fingers crossed that nothing comes back broken.

I think Julie is wanting to go for a nice meal later on as opposed to bumming around at the beach bar and eating up at the Bulgarian open kitchen.

By nice meal, she means somewhere that she can get dressed up.

Everything points to the Red Ruby - but who knows.

Right. Just a short one today.

Time for a coffee.

2 September 2025

Mia polý kalí méra gia esás.

A very good morning to you.

I had a proper bash at learning Greek a couple of years ago but I was driving Julie up the pole as she was trying to read whilst I was trying to string shit sentences together.

Everybody over here tends to speak English, anyway.

I was up at 5:10 am (+2 GMT) and straight into The A's and filling in some holes to make the story flow.

Yesterday, didn't quite go as planned.

Julie ended up washing the car and doing all the hosing around the pool and patio as the navigation bar on this website went AWOL.

I obviously did something that I shouldn't.

Cutting corners to make things go faster is never the answer.

It is the same when putting a magazine or book together.

I drove up to the auto electricians and booked the car in for Wednesday morning.

I'll have to write a big note: "Whatever you do - do not break the fucking floor console."

I put the battery back on the scooter and took it for a spin around Levanda Hills and down to the seafront and back again. Quite good fun, really.

As I said, I bought it for when the kids come over more than anything else.

We had a few beers at the beach bar, and later on ate at the Bulgarian open kitchen on Paralimni's Protaras Avenue - which goes under the rather limp name of Mr Food.

Ivan and Svetlana run the place - the latter of whom is very matter of fact in her delivery. It is an Eastern European thing. The cabin crew on Wizz Air are the same.

"It is James and Julie," she says. "How are you. You have a good trip."

They cook the best liver that I've ever had... however...

"We have no liver. The blacks buy all the cheap meat at the butchers."

I told her. "You said that last time."

"Yes, and I am telling it you again. Come tomorrow and I will have some liver."

And she swears like a trooper.

I mentioned that I was struggling to see the text on their menu and blamed the long hours in front of the computer over the years.

"Before we open the restaurant I used to work with computers and my eyes are fucking shit as well."

She's a character that much is for sure.

When we left last holiday, she came out on to the road as we were getting in the car and gave us both a hug, which was seemed very out of character.

It wasn't really. As I said, it is an Eastern European-thing.

1 September 2025

Kaliméra from Cyprus.

I was up at 9:00 am (+2 GMT).

It is glorious outside, but not so inside.

Myrmínkia - ants.

They are rife out here.

We have The Terminator - a guy by the name of Bandolis, come round to spray the house with some commercial insecticide a few times a year.

Julie will no doubt, phone him later.

The website was also playing up a bit. I'd lost the navigation bar, which was very annoying.

Julie is outside now, hosing round the pool as the pool cleaner generally comes on Monday's and Friday's.

In the coastal towns and villages in the United Kingdom we have seagulls. Here it is doves. And just like the seagulls back home, they have made quite a few deposits.

I'm waiting for Julie to come inside and get the bleach.

My first jobs. Washing the car, trimming the mini palm trees, and bagging up the debris. I've already been down to the green bins at the bottom of the street with two black sacks - one of which contained four boxes of cereal - Special K with red berries and Bran Flakes which were full of ants.

Yesterday evening, when we arrived, we went straight down to the beach bar on Agia Trias. A few beers and some (dry) Kleftiko at €15 apiece which was one of their Sunday specials.

All it is, is lamb that has been cooked in a clay pot for hours.

I'm no fan of Cypriot cuisine as it is quite bland, but Kleftiko along with Sheftalia's - Cypriot type of half-sausage, is okay.

Another job, is nipping up to Nikos - the auto electrician's to re-fit to new car radio and replace the centre floor console that they shattered the last time around.

Animation. Opposite is a montage of clips featuring the Angie Mellor character.

At present, Angie tends to get overshadowed by her younger sister, both on here and in the story. I need to level that up a bit as her character is an extremely good one.

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