July 2026 | James Durose-Rayner's website

JULY 2026

The A's

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(Series 1) The Abbey Road photoshoot by photographer Astrid Karcherr

31 July 2026

Good morning

I was out of bed at 7:30 am.

I could have got up much earlier but I didn't fancy doing the dog walk this morning - therefore, Julie did it, and hit all the Friday morning traffic.

The best time for dog walking is 6:00 am or earlier.

It will soon be autumn, and that will see the fair weather dog walking circuit severely decline.

The one thing about us, is that whatever the weather - the hound gets her three walks a day.

Yesterday, I smashed my day job, and last night's conversation in The Red Lion was about when we can get over to Cyprus next.

The school holidays always make things that bit more awkward.

I said it last year, that these airline companies fleece the working family by tripling the prices during the kid's holidays.

It is very wrong.

On my way home from the pub I picked up a shit curry from The Tandoori... the remnants of which were embedded in the white marble surfaces of the kitchen units...

And as Julie said this morning: "I'm glad we haven't got cameras in the house, 'cos I'd hate to see what we looked like eating the curry."

(Series 1) Gaynor Mellor on Abbey Road

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Opposite and above.

I recreated The Beatles' 1969 Abbey Road album cover using Gaynor and her friends from Series 1.

Does that actually happen in the series?

No, but it's not to say that it didn't.

It's a strange one, creating a scene using four people in 2D, as appearances tend to change and these photos are a point in case.

With 3D you can place your assets manually. In 2D you cannot.

Saying that, they don't look that bad.

So, today...

I'll complete today's journal and create maybe another 50 2D Extras and drop back onto my day job - that being the August issue of the magazine, which is just about complete.

Music.

I've just added a 1990's dance track to the music player, which I suppose goes hand-in-hand with the four girls, as on Friday's and Saturday's music and dancing is what they tend to listen to and do in Series 1... The Metropolitan, mainly...

Between series 1 and 2. Mason and Anita at her parents house in St Anne's on Waveney

30 July 2026

Good morning.

It is 1:00 am and I cannot sleep.

My mind is racing and I am aching all over - especially the back of both legs... the hamstring area.

Christ knows why.

I've copped a couple of Anadin's and have come downstairs and into the study with a cup of tea...

My mind racing, is that my dad's wife dying has brought a lot of stuff up, especially as Julie has been speaking with my (half) brother, Shaun.

As I said a few days ago, he had zero time for her, and he told Julie that he and his mum hadn't spoken in years.

He did call in at Doncaster Royal Infirmary, to see her before she died, however.

As with Julie's mum at Christmas, she'd had Alzheimer's, and was on end of life care.

As with my brother, I absolutely feel the same about her, but I could never deny that she wasn't part of my life growing up.

When my dad died, she needed someone to blame... to hate, and who better than his, and not her son.

"My mam always asks about you," my (half) sister Louise once said to me in a rare emotional exchange many years later.

My take on that is that it is that it certainly wasn't because she cared. Far from it.

Julie has tried with both my (half) sister and indeed her mum, and nothing.

For Julie to walk away from family things have to be bad.

I always maintained that if my dad would have survived into his 70's, all our lives would have been much different; but more so his and her kids...

Our Shaun has drifted from girl to girl and woman to woman, and told Julie that he's going to be a dad again. Fair play to him. So long as he's happy.

Our Louise is very much like her mother, which is a shame as she was a lovely little girl.

She was seven when dad died; and to be brought up by a fat screaming idiot, can't have been good, which is much the same as our Shaun has often told me.

So...

Opposite and above is Mason and Anita Pallenburg - aka Mr and Mrs Green.

The story is, is that Anita had always loved Mason - even when he was in a relationship with Gaynor.

How do we know?

In Series 1 she has several exchanges of conversation with her mum.

Anita went to college with them both and sometimes joined them when they were out - Gaynor's nineteenth birthday being a case in point... a time when she actually stopped at the flat.

There wasn't just Anita - there were a few of Gaynor's friends...

When Jenny was told that story in Series 2, she inquires: "Didn't it bother you?"

"It did a bit," Anita replied.

Jenny paused for thought.

"It'd totally bother me now," Anita winked to which Jenny laughed.

Anita is always very honest with Jenny and very protective... and absolutely nothing like the stepmother that I was saddled with.

Music.

Being that I've been mentioning our Shaun, I've added a Supergrass track to the music player - as it was he, who got me listening to them.

A great band, which Julie and I saw close up at The Leadmill in Sheffield.

Sun Hits the Sky - Supergrass (1997)

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This track was released as the third single from their second album In It for the Money on 9 June 1997

Supergrass are an Oxford-based band comprising Gaz Coombes (vocals/guitar), Danny Goffey (drums), Mick Quinn (bass/backing vocals), with Gaz’s brother Rob Coombes on keyboards (credited as co-writer on this track).

Recorded at Sawmills Studio in Cornwall with John Cornfield, the album marked a shift from the pure youthful rush of I Should Coco (1995) into something denser, more psychedelic and muscular while still unmistakably Supergrass — Britpop with real guitar muscle and a restless streak.

Solid mid-90s Britpop/psych-rock cut that still holds up.

(Series 1) Gaynor Mellor calling in at her mum's on her way home from college, circa May 2023

29 July 2026

Good morning.

I was up at 6:45 am and out through the woods with the hound on what looks like it's going to be a beautiful day.

Yesterday, was a very productive day at work - my day job, and the amount of work I got through was phenomenal. Well, for me, anyway..

This morning, however - the photo generation software is doing my fucking head in and constantly refusing to do what I ask.

It must be updating.

Whatever it is, it is fucking annoying.

And to piss me off further, the wireless keyboard and mouse has decided to test my patience.

I reckon it's going to be one of those days.

Opposite and above is some Gaynor Mellor from Series 1.

This was a substitute for some other stuff that I was intending on chucking up on here... but as I've said... I am being tested.

Gaynor moved out of her parents' house - fully, in maybe May or June 2023... not sure which, and moved in with Mason.

I recall a scene where Bebe Antrobus calls round and Gaynor's dad think, tells her the news.

"I didn't know that she'd moved out," Bebe says.

"We don't interfere," he says. "We just let them get on with it."

There's a bit more to it than that.

Initially, John Mellor is glad to get shut as his sleep is often interrupted by both his youngest daughter and Mason... However...

Reality bites after a week or so, when the noise and excitement they created leaves something of a void.

"What - you miss them?" Maureen asks. "You were always complaining about them."

He was.

So... music.

I've added Tempter by Sterolab (1993) to the music player.

I'm not big on the band as I don't know much about them.

What I do know is that they are a British-French band formed in London in 1990 that were led by the song writing team of Tim Gane and Lætitia Sadier.

The band's sound incorporates vintage electronic keyboards - Vox and Moog, and repetitive motorik beats with female vocals sung in English and French.

My take on them is that they remind me a bit of The Velvet Underground when they had Nico in their ranks as their vocalist, circa 1967.

As for the track - Tempter, it is quite catchy in the middle, it dum-dumee-dum being very dream pop / shoegaze, which I like.

(Series 1) Leoni Middleton starting her employment at the Greenford Group, circa August 2023

28 July 2026

Good morning.

I was up at 7:00 am, Julie delegating herself for the walk through the woods with the hound.

For some strange reason - last night, I was absolutely bollocksed, and I've no idea why.

Julie says that I'm not used to going out on site and doing the five-hour drive.

She may have a point.

Driving is certainly not an issue, but standing in traffic, definitely is... and the A42/M42 Birmingham ring road is no different to the M25.

Plus, as soon as I got in, I flipped a Peroni... and another... and another...

Today, however - I'm revitalised. I think.

Opposite and above is the Leoni Middleton character.

She is very much prevalent in Series 1 and is seen fairly often in Series 2.

Leoni Middleton in two separate scenes.

Series 1 and Series 2.

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Leoni is a long standing family friend of Mason Green - meaning that although she is three years older than him - they grew up together.

Her father, Sammy (Middleton) - and Mason's dad, Vincent, were great friends.

In Series 1, Leoni is at university and generally making pin money by running round West and South London on her Vespa; and by its end she had commenced work at in the accounts department at the Greenford Group.

In Series 2, she becomes the group's financial director.

Leoni is another brilliant character; and very outspoken.

Basically, she follows the exact same path as Anita Pallenburg - Mason's wife, although Leoni tells Anita straight, that she only got the job because she "Sleeps with the boss".

Do they get on?

They do, and very much so, but Leoni often winds Anita up, much the same as she did with Gaynor in Series 1.

"Where's the wench?" Leoni would often ask on coming into Mason's flat.

Music.

I've just uploaded Babyshambles' Pipedown (2005) to the music player

Pipedown is one of the better tracks on Down in Albion (2005) — the messy, half-brilliant, half-chaotic debut album.

It’s pure Babyshambles: scrappy, urgent, slightly out of control.

Would I use it if I could?

Maybe.

(Series 2) Maureen Mellor and Anita Pallenburg chatting in Anita and Mason's kitchen, Hammersmith W6.

27 July 2026

A late post.

Why?

I have been out on site in both Birmingham and Redditch, and didn't get back home until 4:00 pm.

The M42. My favourite stretch of highway... not.

I was out of bed and through the woods with the hound at 5:30 am... that was after an afternoon out at The Red Lion and a curry at Omar's.

A good afternoon, if I'm being honest.

Today was okay bar the driving... which is always a ball ache...

I've just chucked up some photo's I did the other month of Anita and Maureen... which shows you just how small Anita is... 5'2.

Maureen had never been inside Mason and Anita's home... ever.

It was supposed to be the house where Maureen's youngest daughter was going to live after she and Mason married, therefore, there is history.

Anita invited Maureen into her home... post-Christmas, and Maureen was very reluctant.

She had walked up the Chiswick path with Jenny, as Jenny wanted to show Anita her new bike.

The conversation?

I can't tell you as it would ruin the story.

Anyway, a very short post today...

(Series 2) Greenford's geotechnical director and geologist, Kiki Dee Moran working from her bedroom in her parents house on Glenthorne Road, which is near Ravenscourt Park Tube Station. But not for long...

26 July 2026.

Another belated Good morning.

I was out of bed and through the woods with the hound at 6:55 am, which wasn't bad considering that we were up late both eating and drinking; and after Big Scott and Edyta left, clearing the debris and washing the pots - the majority of which fitted in the dishwasher.

So, we didn't knock off until midnight.

Do we like entertaining?

It's better when people drink alcohol as you can all talk bollocks together, rather than just me and Julie doing it.

Obviously, when people drive to your house you have to take these things into consideration - hence, why we very rarely move outside of the town we live... well, if we do, it has to be something special.

As for today?

We've nothing planned, so I might do a bit more on my day job.

I mentioned going out for Sunday lunch, but Julie said that it ruins the day...

She's right.

You start drinking around 1:00 or 2:00 pm and then stop a few hours later and all you want to do is go to bed; so the best thing is to stay out.

Back in the day, we often used to have Sunday lunch and hang it out and then go for a curry...

And now? Nope...

You really need good company who like the same things, and for a while, that kind of company, who don't have to drive, has been in very short supply.

So...

Opposite and above is more Kiki Dee.

"Dad right looks after all his old girlfriends," little Jenny Mellor told Kiki Dee's two-year-old son, Joel...

It is immediately noted that Kiki Dee's son has special needs, which, without going into detail, brings yet another angle to the story.

Jenny's interest is immediately spiked - however, she just sees the little boy as being really hard work.

"He's right annoying," Jenny tells her mum, which is nothing compared to what she said to Anita.

"I hope we don't have to see them again," to which Anita puts Jenny straight.

This is one of the only times you ever see Anita give Jenny something of a ticking off.

As for Kiki Dee, she is extremely nice with everyone... including Gaynor.

Now, this is strange as both girls had little time for one another in Series 1, as Kiki Dee was very pro-Mason...

Music... And now, for something completely different.

In Series 1, the cast is young and the West London nightlife, outside of the Hammersmith Vaults is well-documented... One of which is the Crawdaddy club in Chelsea... and for that, I need a 1960s sound...

Meet The Len Price 3.

If I Ain't Got You - The Len Price 3 (2007)

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I've added the track If I Ain’t Got You by the Len Price 3 from their 2007 album Rentacrowd to the music player.

The track is a short, high-energy number that sits right in the band’s classic mode: raw, hooky, British garage/mod revival with driving guitars, tight rhythm section, and a catchy, chant-like chorus.

I'd describe them as a South London garage-rock band reminiscent of maybe The Who, Kinks, Small Faces, and early punk comprising Glenn Page on guitar and vocals, Steve Huggins on bass, and Neil Fromow on drums.

Note: No one in the band is actually called Len Price — the name was chosen to evoke an old jazz-combo style.

(Series 2) Greenford's Group geotechnical director and geologist, Kiki Dee Moran, with receptionist, June Penn.

25 July 2026.

Another belated Good morning.

It is 10:30 am.

Actually, I was up at 5:20 am and was out through the woods with the hound.

There were rabbits everywhere.

I had been tossing and turning for an hour or so, and I knew I had some work to complete on my day job from yesterday... the £6.9 million valued Swanage Green Stabilisation Scheme.

I'm totally living the dream!

Anyway, I got that completed and I'm looking at the 84-page magazine, which I've nearly filled in less than five days.

Through the years I've looked at different periodical magazines and I still can't get my head around how much deadwood they employ for the shite they produce...

It's a weird one that!

I've just had a couple of coffee's and some toast at the breakfast bar with Julie, and whilst doing so, trimmed the rind and crap bits from 2 kg of smoked bacon, which after doing so, now weighs in at around half of what it should do.

Big Scott and Edyta are coming over tonight for some dinner.

Nothing formal.

Generally, we'll order a curry or Chinese, but tonight, I'll stick a ground beef Lasagne in, and knock up a Tagliatelle Carbonara (bacon), whilst Julie will do a prawn starter, so five bags of Tesco Finest king prawns have just been defrosted.

I like crayfish tails with it, but you can't really get them outside a fish market.

So.

Opposite and above are two characters who are complete opposites: Kiki Dee Moran and June Penn.

Both are around in Series 1, but more so in Series 2.

Kiki Dee is bubbly and outgoing, and June... well, there's a story that forms one of the many arcs that is The A's.

The rather aloof June, who is always well-presented and impeccably dressed, has a daughter who is a similar age to Kiki Dee, who is called Dawn, and who I named after the Jamaican reggae singer who sang the 1967 hit, You Don't Love Me (No, No, No).

As with Kiki Dee, Mason knew the Penn's before the series starts and reconnected with Dawn towards the end of Series 1, which spiked Gaynor's insecurity issues to the point of her head near-exploding.

It was much the same with Kiki Dee, but totally different circumstances.

(Series 1) Gaynor Mellor. Unceremoniously dumped.

24 July 2026.

A belated Good morning.

It is 11:00 am.

I was up at 7:40 am... I bit of a lie in I suppose, whilst Julie did the dog walking duties.

The late post is the same as yesterday - my day job.

A couple of huge London projects needed my attention, therefore, I wrote them up and dropped them into the magazine.

How my study is structured is that I use the 43" Dell Ultra monitor for both my work computer - and the state-of-the-art system that I use for The A's. Therefore, it is a case of moving between the two.

I have to admit. It is working quite well.

Opposite and above - more of the highly complex and self-destructive character that is Gaynor Mellor.

The photographs are meant to be November 2023, when her relationship with Mason Green came to an abrupt conclusion.

By then she was around five months pregnant.

She told Kiki Dee Moran in Series 2, that she worked hard to get him back...

"I stopped drinking, I looked after myself, I was nice with him and we'd had a beautiful daughter together," was sort of what she told her friend.

"Did you ask him?" asked Kiki Dee.

"Yeah - about one hundred times."

"Well, that's where you went wrong - everybody knows one hundred and one is the magic number," Kiki Dee tells her.

Gaynor then tells Kiki Dee about finding out about Anita Pallenburg and hitting the self-destruct button.

Why?

Because she couldn't handle it, and when Gaynor can't handle things - she runs away.

Her sister, Angie referred to her running away as her sister's "Airing Cupboard moment," as when she was little and something bad was said, she used to hide in the airing cupboard; mainly by her Granny O'Hara, who possessed not just a favouritism of Angie, but a quite evil nature when it came to Gaynor.

In Series 1, Mason often sees her wanting to leave, time and time again... "Come on - let's just go," she says.

And when she eventually does, she not only takes Jenny away, she fully breaks contact...

It would be her greatest mistake.

Music.

Radio Caroline has been playing some great tracks this morning - mainly from the 1970's and 80's.

And no Springsteen, Queen, Meat Loaf, Phil Collins or The Eagles... So great.

I've added Curve's Think & Act to the music player, which is quite an apt song for the Gaynor character.

(Series 1) Gaynor Mellor copping a Martini on the ski slopes in Switzerland, circa February 2023

23 July 2026.

A belated Good morning.

It is 11:15 am.

I've just replaced some screws in the hinges of the back door has it needed lifting as the thing wouldn't lock properly without a kick.

It was Julie who insisted that it needed lifting and not booting.

Anyway, I'm not dedicating a paragraph of her being right and me being wrong. It is fixed, now - and we move on.

I was up at 6:30 am and through the woods with the hound and the good news, for me that is - is that my right ankle has stopped aching.

I got in to a cup of coffee and rather strangely, a wild rabbit on the patio. All the near neighbours have large rear gardens, therefore, I'm surmising that it had just lost its bearings.

Today, I was in day job-mode and completed a comprehensive technical write-up of the expansion of two steel companies in Sheffield.

Expansion meaning piled foundations and deep structures.

So - hence the late post.

Opposite and above is Gaynor Mellor in Switzerland.

This happens in Series 1. A birthday surprise, if-you-like.

In Series 2, during a coffee morning post-Christmas, this gets mentioned by Anita or Angie to Jenny. I'm not sure who, without looking back.

"What - mam went skiing?" Jenny asks.

"Yeah - strange one that," her Auntie Angie replies, "I never saw your mam as the sporty type."

"She did yoga," Anita said.

"Yoga's hardly a sport," Angie states.

Anyway, whilst in Switzerland, Gaynor did ski... and without breaking any bones... which was not for the lack of trying, as the majority of the time - the six of them who went, were generally drinking from getting out of bed - Gaynor and Clara Margieson being the worst.

I've added a track to the music player.

The Juliet Dagger were a New York power-pop/punk band from the mid-2000s, fronted by Erin Roberts.

Sooper is the B-side/companion track to their better-known track, Saturday Morning.

It's described as a quite catchy, upbeat, slightly cheeky power-pop with a 70s-tinged guitar edge and early-90s alternative energy..

(Series 2) Anita Pallenburg with Pammy Antrobus - Plant Manager for the Greenford Group.

If you can deal with subtitles, it is very good and more to the point, much more believable.

I am quite intrigued by Gommorah as it has primarily been shot in a kind of Chiaroscuro type photography, whereby it is quite dark in places.

It is how I'd like The A's to be filmed.

Obviously, when you are shooting / creating exterior shots during the daytime - London, St Anne's on Waveney etc., the camerawork will have to be quite normal.

I was on both the phone and email to the directors of M&D Foundations this morning trying to tie both the Birmingham and Redditch site visits together - and visit both sites in one day, however the Reditch job has been put back one day... therefore, I'm doing both on Monday.

I have based Greenford Geotechnical & Piling in The A's on M&D... sort of...

These are one of the Greenford Group companies.

(Series 2) Anita with Pammy Antrobus

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Pammy is the group's rather ballsy plant manager who tends to say it how it is.

In Series 1, she was a minor character that went to 40 Martyrs College with Anita, Mason and Gaynor and is the cousin of Bebe Antrobus - obviously through her father's side.

Anita, as has been already said - numerous times, is the procurement director for the group, but both girls started at Greenford's on the exact same date in September 2023.

Are they friends outside work?

Not really.

(Series 2) Angie Mellor about to pose for photographer, Astrid Karcherr. Very 1960s

21 July 2026.

Good morning.

I was up at 7:10 am and through the woods with the hound.

Today, is another work day.

I managed to complete what was a six-seven-page feature on the remaining sections of the A9 dualling.

I need to get in touch with a couple of lads from M&D Foundations, as I need to get on site in Birmingham and Redditch, to take some photographs and draft up a two or three page feature.

So, hopefully, I'll be out on site either tomorrow or / and Thursday.

I really need to start and get out and about more.

Julie will often say that I need socialising.

She could be right.

Last night was a point in case.

We'd had a few drinks up at the Red Lion and copped a shit curry from the Tandoori on High Street, before I took the dog out for her last walk.

On getting to the garden centre I was approached by a lady with two greyhounds. She told me that there was a young girl both drunk and in distress... with a boy, in the car park, and she said that she was going for her mother.

I never thought anything of it. Just two kids who looked hammered. The boy trying to prop up the girl.

On doing the ten minute circuit around St Andrews Church, I had time to think about it, and when I got back they were both laid/sat back against the structure of the garden centre.

The boy was still holding the girl - with the word holding being the power word. She had LOST clothing - and from where I was standing, she looked like she'd had a burst nose... and he had scratches around his face.

I thought Fuck it! and hit the triple-nine and called it in.

Have you ever had to deal with these emergency call centres?

Fucking shit.

My words. "Epworth Garden Centre. There's a girl in distress who looks like she's been assaulted. I'm here now."

The bullshit that the woman on the other end of the phone wanted to know was unbelievable.

"You've got my mobile number and its GPS will tell you who and where I am."

Fucking retards.

Anyway, both his and her mother appeared before four police cars arrived. They certainly did NOT want the police involved at all and left the scene.

I took around 10 photos on my phone and got the registration plate of the mother of the boy's SUV...

Now... The mother of the girl... I know her.

I've known her since 2006. This was after she was charged with drunk driving after turning her car over on the A161 and... fleeing the scene.

Her partner - a well known local guy who paraded as a doctor, had approached me out of the blue (I didn't know him then) and asked for help... basically, he wanted the name of the legal team that I use.

Her partner at the time - the doctor, is possibly the most complicated guy I've met, and believe me - I've met a few.

The mother: Trash.

She doesn't look like it, as she scrubs up well, but that is what she is.

She's from Lithuania and moved in with him after the most acrimonious divorce you could ever imagine... Him not her.

He reported his son to the police for taking his car and the lad chucked himself off a bridge and the wife went apeshit as you could probably understand.

Hit the button for some background.

As for her, she was just a twenty-something Eastern European, over here poncing for a better life... and she got it.

Money, sex... and drugs...

A short relationship that produced two daughters... the elder one who was the girl laid out near-comatose in the garden centre car park.

The father - the good doctor, now owns some high-end brothel in Thailand and doesn't have anything to do with his kids...

The mother?

She's been on the manhunt ever since he left, trying her utmost to get some affluent guy to keep her in jewels.

The last I knew she was working in the Co-op.

Last night, however - she had a new beau by her side, and one who tried to stop me taking photo's.

"Put your hand on me again and I'll break your fucking jaw," is what I told him.

"I know who you are," he replied.

"Good. Then you'll know that I fucking mean it," was my reply.

Dickhead!

The young girl?

I think drugs were involved and that she was sexually assaulted. I really do.

Anyway...

Opposite and above is some more Angie Mellor doing some modelling for Astrid.

(Series 2) Anita Pallenburg procurement director for the Greenford Group talking John Mellor - managing director of AGM Mellor-tech, through some contract requirements

20 July 2026.

Good morning.

I was up at 6:10 am and through the woods with the hound... eventually.

For some unknown reason, my right ankle / heel has been aching.

Absolutely no idea why.

Fucking annoying.

It's been a fairly relaxing weekend - the highlight of which was blowing £269 at Home Bargains.

We only went for some floor cleaner!

Today is a work day.

I've got a feature to write up on the half-dozen remaining A9 dualling schemes, which are being promoted by Transport Scotland and which represents over £2 billion worth of work.

They are interesting to me as the geotechnical angle on all the schemes is quite immense.

So, that will be first up on my things to do.

Yesterday, I did bits and pieces on The A's.

The great re-write.

So with geotechnics in mind - opposite and above is Anita Pallenburg with Jenny's Granddad - John Mellor.

Whereas, John's wife Maureen, has a strained relationship with Anita - John does not.

John, through his ground support and shoring company - AGM Mellor-tech, rely on the likes of the Greenford Group for work, and Anita is the Group's procurement director. Therefore, it is Anita that not only signs off subcontracts, it is she that gives the okay for every item that the company purchases.

Therefore, it would make sense for John to get on with Anita, regardless.

Anita describes John as being "Not only very professional; but a very nice man".

That feeling is reciprocated, not only professionally, but on a personal level.

His granddaughter adores Anita, as does his son-in-law (who wasn't) - that of course being Mason.

Anita makes sure that AGM Mellor-tech is an exclusive supplier, and so long as they don't take the piss with the pricing, they get the job.

And taking the piss is something that John would never do.

As Angie Mellor says to Maureen: "Mam - you can't not like Neeta."

Maureen, much like her youngest daughter, Gaynor - is very stubborn.

"I agree," John will say. "She's a really nice girl."

Maureen will umm and err, cross her arms, bite her bottom lip and generally say nothing.

Maureen... A great character.

Music

Moaning Lisa Smile by Wolf Alice is a proper banger from their early days.

It came out in 2014 on the Creature Songs EP (later on the US version of My Love Is Cool), and it's got that raw, grungy indie rock energy with Ellie Rowsell's distinctive vocals cutting through those layered guitars.

The band wrote it from the perspective of an over-achieving kid trying to escape and find her own path... Sounds a bit like Jenny Mellor, eh?

(Series 2) Anita Pallenburg and Rochana (Ana) Reung

19 July 2026.

Good morning.

I was up at 6:50 am and through the woods with the hound.

It is the Crowle Show today - an annual event of which our daughter-in-law is the chairman... woman... person. Take you pick.

A lot of work that goes mostly unappreciated.

According to Julie, she flipped the other day regarding people on the committee certain people taking liberty's.

As I said - unappreciated.

Our town HAD an annual show... and there was some committee meeting in the Red Lion a few weeks back with them trying to resurrect it.

One of the committee members was our ex-plumber from hell. A lovely kid, but a dirty bastard of a workman.

We came back from Cyprus and we'd had a leak beneath the tiled bathroom floor which meant accessing the pipes by ripping out the ceiling in the hallway and getting in a proper plumber.

Anyway, enough of that.

As I've often said, tradesmen are a law unto themselves.

Above and opposite is Anita Pallenburg with her husband's grandmother - Rochana (Ana) Reung.

For as nice as Ana is, she doesn't mince her words

In Series 1, Ana got on very well with Gaynor - however at the beginning of Series 2 things are strained.

This is part of a conversation in the New Year, Series 2 - Episode: Lisbon, which is over four months later.

"I preferred the vulnerable young girl with that inquisitively humorous innocence much more than I did than the selfish, hurtful, self-absorbed female that she became," Ana tells her.

Gaynor lowers her head

"But I also like the hardworking, considerate and loving mother that she came to be thereafter… and everyone has seen it, not just me... And running away with your child solves absolutely nothing… And that is something I know too well, as my mother did it."

As for Ana and Anita.

Their relationship is nothing like it was with Ana and Gaynor - however, that could be because Anita is a woman - whilst Gaynor was that "vulnerable young girl".

The relationship is amicable and there's a huge respect between the two - however, Anita has her own mind and around the time of Ana's quotes, Anita begins to feel that Ana is manipulating - not just her grandson (and her husband), but more importantly his daughter - Jenny.

And Anita is highly protective of both.

I can't give too much detail as it's all part of the story and the Series 2 re-write.

It's coming on quite well.

(Series 1) Felicity Pike. The best friend of Maureen Mellor

18 July 2026.

Good morning.

I was up at 7:20 am.

Well, I wasn't. I was actually up at 4:20 am - the dog barking at the near-neighbours cat which was prowling around on the premises.

I took the dog through the woods and hit all the weekend dog walking traffic.

It looked quite cool out so I put my sweatshirt on.

They call them sweatshirts for a reason!

I got back in and the first thing I did was to take the fucking thing off.

Yesterday, was a work day.

I cleared the magazine template for the next issue and slowly started to fill the 84 pages.

Today, I'll complete yesterday's workload and nip back into The A's and try to get some rhythm going as whilst I've been away, I've been as happy as a pig in shit writing.

Last night, whilst sat at the breakfast bar preparing the dinner, I was backwards and forwards messaging my uncle... Steve Carman - the father of the actress, Sally (Coronation Street), who was over at his daughter's house in Stockport. She's married to one of her co-actors - John Duttine.

I'd not heard from him in a while, so I was just checking in.

Those texts were still back and forth this morning - mainly about football.

Opposite and above is Felicity Pike, a minor character in both Series 1 and 2 of The A's.

What can I tell you about her?

Not much really.

She's the best friend of Maureen Mellor and has been married three times...

Maureen's husband, John tolerates her, much as he does with Father (Ken) Maloney - the Irish priest that calls.

Both Angie and Gaynor see her for what she is: Mrs Pike - a middle-aged female of the species.

And Mason? Maureen likes her, so she must be okay.

There's a couple of nice scenes what Felicity and Mason are part of, and Maureen is involved in all of them.

Music.

Radio Caroline has been playing this morning. And get this: No Queen, no Phil Collins, no Springsteen, no Eagles and no fucking Meat Loaf, thank fuck...

It's been really good.

I've added a track to the music player - widget.

Roam is a song by American new wave band The B-52's released as the third single from their fifth studio album, Cosmic Thing (1989).

(Series 2) Maureen Mellor with her granddaughter - Jenny, in the kitchen of 8 Marquis Gardens, Chiswick Green, W4

17 July 2026.

Good morning.

I was up at 5:10 am.

Even though we had a great few days away, it's good to be back.

As I keep on saying - when we are travelling, they are really long days.

We got in the house around 12:20 pm.

2 hours and 20 minutes from pulling out of the mid-stay car park at Luton Airport.

People will say, "Why do you fly from Luton?"

Because there's only 10-15 minutes difference between there and Manchester or Liverpool airports - and WizzAir are not just cheaper - but much better than EasyJet or the other low budget airlines.

Anyway, it appears that the warm weather hasn't let up whilst we have been away, and the new lawn is now looking a bit shit to say the least.

Two silver birch trees, the flying rats that are the wood pigeons, and 20+ conifers that are sucking the life out of the soil isn't doing it much good.

I gave it the grass a cut and drenched it for four hours. I'll do the same again around 4:00 pm.

So...

Above and opposite is some Maureen Mellor, both with her granddaughter Jenny - and doing her Tesco shop online.

I've often mentioned that Maureen has a highly inquisitive nature, which Gaynor - not Angie, often sees as controlling. And she often comes across as sex-obsessed.

Is she? That's up to the viewer and how either he or she reads into it.

She loves her family there is no doubt and has a good heart is one of the reasons Mason loves her so much.

She is the one who generally runs Jenny back and forth to school and sits her when Gaynor is at work (Series 2).

She is a devout Catholic who is proud of her Irish roots and although religious, she often turns a blind eye to things that either suit or benefit her... which is very much like both her daughters, the youngest especially.

Her best friend is Felicity (Fee) Pike - the aunt to both Bebe (Maybelline) and Pammy (Pamela) Antrobus - the former who is a long-time school friend of Gaynor, and the latter who works for the Greenford Group in Series 2.

Felicity the archetypical man-eating middle-aged female with sex being her specialist subject.

I'll put some Felicity Pike photo's up tomorrow.

There's a good scene in Series 1 where Maureen and Mrs Pike - which is how Gaynor addresses her, call in at the flat on Boelyn Mews on their way to IKEA one Sunday morning much to the dismay of Gaynor.

Anyway...

(Series 1) Gaynor Mellor washing her car in the rear courtyard of Boelyn Mews, Ravenscourt Park W6

16 July 2026.

It is 12:20 am (GMT+2) and I am up.

The taxi picks us up in a couple of hours as we are bound for Larnaca Airport.

A long day ahead.

I had my sleep interrupted by my phone beeping through some messages.

A change of driver for our taxi ride;
confirmation of our Tesco delivery between 3:00 and 4:00 pm; and a
WhatsApp message from my cousin, Tracy, to let me know that my dad's wife has passed away.

How do I feel?

Absolutely nothing.

A truly horrible woman. Fat, loud and obnoxious.

She outlived my dad by 41 years.

She didn't even have the courtesy to put a headstone on his grave after he'd died... it was I who did that 10 years after his death...

My half-brother's summation of his mum?

"She's a cunt," he told me.

The date. 12 September 2010.

Outside of family funeral's that is the last time that I saw him.

My half-sister?

She's very much like her mum.

A snarling, balding loud-mouth who like most loud mouths has absolutely nothing to say.

No fucking good.

So...

Yesterday, I managed to smooth out a Series 2 episode, by writing up several scenes.

Me having to do the re-write has changed everything.

Personally, I think it's much better than the original Series 2, the majority of which I dumped. It is certainly more emotionally in-depth, and the flaws in the Gaynor character are well and truly exposed.

---

It is 3:30 am (GMT+2) and we are in the Skala Lounge in Larnaca Airport.

It is quite misty out, the taxi driver telling us that a few earlier flights had been diverted into Paphos Airport.

There's nothing up on the departure screen to cause us any alarm, so fingers crossed we get home for the Tesco shop.

(Series 2) Jenny Mellor catching eels. "They look scary, but they're not, really," she says. "Just dead slippery."

15 July 2026.

Kaliméra.

I was up at 7:00 am (GMT+2) after my best sleep of the week.

I think it's the two glasses of red wine and a couple of episodes of The Sweeney that's doing it!

Our last day today.

That means the big clean up before we go.

Bedding in the washer etc.

Whilst we have been away, Julie has booked and paid for our Jamie and Lianne to come out here again - this time for ten days from 30th August.

That will be better for them. More time to do what they want to do.

All being well, we should get out before them, but Julie knows that there's an operation pending... the dreaded gall bladder.

It's near-on a year since it was diagnosed at the LITO Hospital in Paralimni.

Hit the button.

It is HOW hospital's in the UK should be run. Certainly not perfect, as I'm sure that you still get the useless wanker staff, the NHS has, but it is a thousand times better.

If we'd have had residency here - which we could have, she would have been operated on last year.

It stinks.

Opposite and above are continuation's of St Anne's in Waveney, which I'll leave when we are back in the UK.

As I've said, the scenes I'm currently writing are here.

So...

My mate from home - John Welsh, hit me through, WhatsApp... last night I think... telling me that he'd seen Anita in the bath along with a short conversation on the strange intro on Rod Stewart's 1971 hit Maggie May.

(Series 2) Looking very much like Lana Del Rey, a pregnant Anita Pallenburg in the Market Square of St. Anne's on Waveney

14 July 2026.

Kaliméra.

I was up at 6:15 am (GMT+2) after another decent sleep.

We were in quite early after calling in at bar-stroke-restaurant-stroke-take-away in Kapparis, called Delicious, which do - without doubt the best burgers and kebabs ever.

It's hardly haute cuisine, but outside of Feta and Halloumi cheese, Cyprus isn't really known for brilliant traditional food.

What about Kleftiko, Afelia, Dolmades, Stifado...?

What about them?

They are about as interesting as a weekend in Cleethorpes.

There is a decent fish restaurant - Pinia, which is not too far from us, but the last time we were there we were bombarded with flies as the field next to it had just been sprayed with fertilizer... plus, the waiters tend to hang over you like a set of fucking undertakers.

To own a restaurant - you have to get it right.

It is where the Red Ruby in Ayia Napa went wrong.

They lost their chef's and the waiting on staff were fucking diabolical, whether it be the twit behind the bar that wanted to make conversation as soon as you got your food in your chopsticks or Nikolas whose vocation in life was as a traffic warden.

In the end we used to go out of loyalty, with is much the same with Fosis up in Vrysoulles.

It's shit - but you still go.

Anyway - enough moaning.

Above and opposite is more Anita.

I've rendered some animation, but I'm not going to put it up today.

I wrote a few more scenes for Series 2, yesterday - to try and make it flow a bit better.

It reckon that it's getting there.

Music.

I've just added The Charlatans' Weirdo (1992) to the music player.

It was released on 24 February 1992 by Situation Two and Beggars Banquet Records as the first single from the band's second album, Between 10th and 11th (1992), reaching No. 19 on the UK Singles Chart.

An actual 2D, 4K film set - a night time shot of the boating lake at St Anne's on Waveney

13 July 2026.

Kaliméra.

I was up at 6:10 am (GMT+2) after a decent sleep.

We got back in fairly early yesterday and called into Zorba's bakers on the Kapparis roundabout and picked up some food - mine being sushi rolls and sashimi, and we watched a few episodes of The Sweeney - me with a bottle of red wine, Julie with a Martini Rosso.

We called into Protaras around lunchtime to see if we could see Julie's old friend and her husband, and Christ - was it hot.

We hit every fucking red light getting there - and every red light leaving.

Protaras is basically just a street full of restaurants and hotels, which run along the coast, and with it being built up, there's little breeze - and the sun bouncing off all the glass and concrete can make it feel much hotter.

Anyway...

Opposite and above are more images of the fictitious village in Norfolk that is St Anne's on Waveney.

As I have been drafting up scenes and continually thinking up ideas, the place is becoming quite something else - a mediaeval settlement built on one of the tributaries of the river, with the Pallenburg's, a family with firm Scandinavian roots - who have never forgotten the old way of life... which is why Anita's sister's kids don't like visiting!

At the moment, I've nipped back into an episode post-Christmas Day, where Maureen and Anita have actually sat down and spoke - and afterwards, Anita, Mason and Jenny travelled up to Norfolk.

The conversation they had has repercussions...

Not just Louisa Pallenburg - Anita's mum, but also Gaynor.

Was it a bad conversation?

No - however, it was the first one that they'd had since Maureen found out that she and Mason were a couple.

"Take no notice of my mam," Angie Mellor told Anita. "She'll come round... eventually."

It only took seven years!

As for Louisa... Maureen blanking her daughter was something that just wasn't on and from that, maybe there was no coming back.

Mason, however - and as stated, holds Maureen up on high, and is a lady that cannot do any wrong.

The good thing is, however - is that Maureen doesn't bad mouth - ever.

She will speak to Mason on Anita, but never talk her down, so that is something

"Are you both okay?" or "I hope she is looking after you?"

And after Maureen gets the affirmative, she'll say: "Well that's good."

Maureen regularly wrestles internally with what is pure common-sense and her religious grounding.

Always remember, when Mason came into their lives, it was only six months after both his parents tragically died. And he was still only 16, so Maureen delegated herself to be the mother-figure.

I don't think you immediately see it in the story as Maureen just seems something of a middle-aged busy-body, intrigued by the many subjects that she can't get her head around - one of which is her youngest daughter's sex life.

However, as the story moves on - you can.

It drives Angie's new husband to distraction at times. "If I did the shit he does, she'd never speak to me again."

It's not word for word, but it's something like that.

Maureen's inquisitive nature, frequently takes her into Hammersmith and it is there where she finds out quite a lot.

(Series 2) Anita Pallenburg running the bath at her parents home in St Anne's on Waveney

12 July 2026.

Kaliméra.

I was up at 7:15 am (GMT+2).

I'm currently in front of my laptop with the back door open and Julie's making me a strong coffee.

My first of the day.

I've had a heat warning flash up, so I'm surmising it could hit in excess of 40°c later on.

Yesterday, I finally managed to concentrate on finetuning some scenes and now I'm on a roll.

I think...

I managed to cop a haircut and shave up at Tony's up in Vrysoulles and had a few more beers than I should have. Nevertheless, we came back and had an hour in the swimming pool, my first dip (and probably last) of the year - and after that we went to the church on Agia Triada harbour to feed the feral cats.

We also bought a 2kg of cherries and 2kg of apricots from one of the fruit farmers whilst we were at Fosis coffee shop (bar). €5 each.

Unbelievable, eh?

If you lived here, you could live cheap and have the healthiest of lifestyles.

Opposite and above are some photograph's of Anita Pallenburg up at her parents home, and chilling out by having a soak in the bath along with a short video.

In the early days I was constantly having problems animating Anita, and she would only animate properly in monochrome (back and white). Now, she is animating quite good.

In this animation she would have been a couple of months pregnant... I think I have her being rushed into hospital with problems whilst she was five or six months - and having Jenny's sister, Ana premature.

The story leading up to that is interesting as Kiki Dee Moran - one of their old friends is sort of indirectly involved.

Speaking of old friends... One of Julie's landed in Protaras the other day, which is a 10 minute drive from where we are... if that.

I think that they are angling to meet up - however, we tend to be afternoon-early-evening people and we don't really go into the tourist places unless we have to.

Anyway, we shall see...

(Series 2) Jenny Mellor feeding ducks on the River Waveney

11 July 2026.

Kaliméra.

I was up at 7:20 am (GMT+2) and I'm in front of my laptop with the back door open.

Well, eventually.

As I said, yesterday - you need to be here all the time as it took me five minutes to open the thing as the lock had got stuck.

I put some trainers on and booted the bottom of the door to get it loose and then filled the lock with WD40, which seems to have worked.

It may be the receptor (the hole) in the door frame which the lock goes into that needs moving.

I'll have a look in a bit.

Simos the Bulgarian electrician never came yesterday, but the water pressure seems to be back up. It doesn't alter the fact that the pump isn't working, however.

He said he'd come in the afternoon.

We said we will be in until 2:00 pm.

Lucas - up at the motorbike shop has been nagging for us to go to what is their DVLA to get the log book for the scooter sorted.

We have been a few times now, but we can't get an appointment in the five day window that we are here.

Julie called in yesterday and he had someone in.

Everything over here (Cyprus) takes a fucking age to do. You watch them sat at their desks pissing around with papers, tapping digits on mobile phones, messing with photo copiers or faxes. Nothing ever gets done.

I had a mate from south London that moved out here permanently - Billy Hurst. He's dead now, but when he first started coming out here, the laid back attitude drove him bats.

In the UK he had worked for some high-class limousine firm in the city so he was back and forth to Heathrow all the time and having to adhere to strict timings.

Within a few years here he'd been pulled up god knows how many times for drink driving... you don't get banned here, just fined €1,000.

The Expat lifestyle had got him.

Anyway...

Opposite and above is more Jenny Mellor.

In Series 2, there are scenes in St Anne's on Waveney as flashbacks - Anita speaking with her sisters in Facchetti's restaurant (a once a month-thing).

However, just after Christmas Mason and Anita load up the truck and all three go up to Norfolk for three days.

As that is what I've been writing about - sort of in-the-now, this is why there's been a fair few photograph's of Jenny chucked up on this month's journal.

Jenny is quite happy with Anita's family, but one of the girl's who live in the village comes to the house and tells her that her parents have arranged her a birthday party in the local pub, and would she like to come with her mum (Anita) and dad.

Obviously, if there's a party... Jenny is up for it.

However, aside of the clothes she generally wears - hoodies and tracksuit tops, she doesn't have anything to wear.

Cue: Granny Freja.

"You cannot go to a birthday party looking like some football player... You need a nice dress."

Freja told her to go into one of the cupboards where there are some packs of new white bedsheets.

And Jenny watched on as Anita's gran made her a dress from nothing, within thirty minutes - and just from an image off the internet, which Anita had showed her.

This was a story that Jenny tells her younger sister, Ana Pallenburg in the Series 3, narrative, as Ana cannot fully remember much about her great granny.

"I used to put that same dress on you when you were about three or four years old, and you used to pretend you were a ghost and go round the house scaring everyone," Jenny tells her.

The series can be quite emotional in parts.

Sweet Home - SMYL (2022)

---

I've added the beautiful, introspective track, Sweet Home to the music player.

It gave me ideas for the original Series 2 which I had to more or less dump - mainly, due to world politics.

The song itself, doesn't alter the mood of the story, as home is what the series is about.

SMYL is Brian Fennell - a Seattle-based singer-songwriter/producer who started in the indie band Barcelona before going solo. His stuff often feels intimate and cinematic, with piano-driven arrangements, gentle builds, and that vulnerable vocal delivery. Sweet Home was recorded in Seattle and produced by Phil Ek.

The song explores how "home" isn't a fixed place or person — it's this evolving collision of memories, people, and experiences that shape us. Fennell has talked about writing it from a place of generic nostalgia that deepened as he reflected on how home changes over time (childhood spots, old venues, family life now).

I reckon the Jenny Mellor character nails it in the Series 3, narrative.

(Series 2) Jenny Mellor chilling out on the River Waveney - this time in a Kayak.

10 July 2026.

Kaliméra apó tin Kýpro.

Good morning from Cyprus..

I was up at 7:10 am (GMT+2) and I'm at the kitchen table on my laptop. The back door is open and it is hot.

We had an decent journey over, the only downside being the 15 minute wait for our taxi as we landed much earlier than we should have.

We got in and I recoupled the battery on the FTO and hosed it down. You can't believe the mount of dust in just a couple of weeks.

The pump on the roof doesn't appear to be working as there is very little pressure in the taps. Plus you can't hear it kick in.

Simo - the Bulgarian electrician should be round shortly to see what the problem is.

Easy innit?

It's not working.

This time last year we couldn't get the fucking thing to stop as it was on all the time.

One of the many problems in having another property - especially one abroad, is that you can't immediately rectify a problem as you're not there.

And, as soon as you arrive, you get pissed off.

Well Julie was, as it was she, who had to get on the phone... or email... I know she was on both while I was washing the car.

Anyway, we hit the beach bar... and the flies... the latter of which are a menace down there.

Just spray some Protec insect repellant on your arms and legs and once they cop that they leave you alone.

Don't get any in your mouth, however - as it tastes rank.

We got back in and watched a couple of episodes from Series 5 of the The Sweeney with a couple of glasses of wine.

What is weird, is that I have never been a fan of John Thaw outside of this series, and Morse, for all its accolades, I thought was a pedantic pile of shite.

Lewis with miserable moaning Neville out of Auf Wiedersehen, Pet with Laurence Fox as his sidekick was much better, and its prequel Endeavour, possibly even better.

So, we hung it out until 11:10 pm and I copped a great sleep.

(Series 2) Top. Jenny toasting pikelets.

Bottom. Olaf and Louisa Pallenburg with their Alsatian - Lad.

---

Above and opposite is more Jenny Mellor up at the Pallenburg's - and part of Jenny's idyllic childhood of which she speaks so fondly of in the Series 3, narrative.

Was she spoiled?

Very much so.

Anita's motto: "You work really hard at school so you deserve to be treated."

And she did.

"Ha ha - mint," was her favourite saying at the time.

I've just uploaded what is a really nice song to the playlist.

The downside is that it is very feminine and sung in a very de-da tone, trying very much to be more Brixton, than who he really is... that is some dude from West Lothian who was probably brought up on Haggis, Tatties (mashed potatoes) and Neeps (mashed turnip)!

My grandma was from Glasgow!

Circles - The Snuts (2024)

---

The Snuts aren't really my type of band, but saying that - I don't know a deal about them - other than that this track feels a bit like one that Greek Artist Σtella (pronounced Stella) could have sung... yes, a woman.

The Snuts, however - are an all-male Scottish indie rock band comprising Jack Cochrane (lead vocals, guitar), Joe McGillveray (guitar), Callum Wilson (bass) and Jordan Mackay (drums).

No women, yet the song is really fucking high-pitched.

What the music press said...

Circles stands out as a more introspective, emotional ballad compared to some of the band's higher-energy tracks. It features skilled vocals, well-crafted lyrics, beautiful acoustic guitar, and string arrangements (violin, viola, cello) that give it a cinematic, wistful feel. It's often described as thought-provoking and serves as a symbolic closer to the album — evoking the idea of coming full circle in life, relationships, or personal reflection.

(Series 2) Gone fishing! Jenny Mellor poses after catching a brown trout in the River Waveney. In the Series 3, narrative she speaks about having had the most idyllic childhood any girl could have had - and the Pallenburg's played a huge part in that.

9 July 2026.

It is 2:20 am.

A very Good morning.

I'd previously tell you that at this hour I'd be drinking a strong coffee and looking out of the study window and into the dark.

Not so, this morning, as I've had the curtains closed for near on two weeks, as the glorious summer sun and the 43" monitor have been crippling my eyes.

My desk is big, but the monitor really could be doing with being set back a bit more.

Anyway, in another 35 minutes the alarm on Julie's phone will sound... and a journey down the M1 beckons.

Yesterday evening I drenched the grass and filled up the car with petrol. Preparation for a hot week ahead and me not having to call in at the motorway services on the way back and end up paying up to 30p more per litre for fuel.

When I was over in Bahrain the other year the price of fuel per litre was 39p.

It is staggering how much we get taxed on it.

Opposite and above is Jenny Mellor.

From being a very little girl (between Series 1 and 2) Jenny had spent time with the Pallenburg's - mainly a few days during the school holidays and around Christmas, and the joys that a river running past the house gives a child is quite unmatched.

There may be a river in Hammersmith, but the River Thames is nowhere near as personal as a river you can actually paddle in and catch crayfish and mitten crabs; or indeed walk a mile or so just outside the village and go proper fishing with a rod and line.

Anita's parents - Olaf and Louisa Pallenburg had five grandchildren plus Jenny; however none of those had ever taken any interest in the idyllic-albeit-fictitious village in The A's that is St Anne's on Waveney.

Why?

According to Sienna (in Series 2) they say that it's boring.

Anita's parents - and Granny Freja, who Jenny often refers to as Granny Pally, are old school in that on an evening they sit around the table and eat, drink and talk.

Olaf rigged up a TV in a box-type bedroom that he created for Jenny, but downstairs in the kitchen and lounge - it is just a case of enjoying the moment - and conversation is key.

And cooking. Jenny is always involved - whether she likes it or not.

"It'll be good practice for when you get married," Freja tells her.

"I aren't getting married - ever," she replies.

"Don't you want children?" Louisa asks her.

"Absolutely not," Jenny states. "It's right disgusting trying to get them and its not that much better when you've got them."

"You love your sister, though..." Louisa adds.

"Not when I have to change her bum, I don't."

Anita's parents really love Jenny.

Anyway, time to pack... Cyprus beckons.

(Series 2) The Pallenburg sisters. Anita, 25; Cheryl, 29; Kajsa, 30; and Sienna, 32.

8 July 2026.

Good morning.

I was up at 6.45 am.

Not so much on hearing the back door slam shut and Julie taking the hound out for her walk, but mainly due to the fact I had a garbage sleep and was ready for getting up.

I was quite busy yesterday - not work related, but shite that I've been meaning to do around the house since the weekend.

Everywhere was filthy. Especially where I've been using the barbecue.

And pigeon shit is a major bugbear.

Anyway, I managed to get some brick acid down and jet washed and cleaned both cars on the rear drive - Julie's not so much being absolutely filthy, but had some elderberries that have dropped on it and which took me ages to get off.

Anyway, after I'd done, I sprayed some commercial weedkiller on the drive, patio and down the side of the house.

No doubt, when we get back from Cyprus it will be as bad again.

Opposite and above is Anita and her sisters.

Cheryl is notably the worst, but to be honest, there isn't a great deal between them.

There are instances in The A's when Anita has to lose her manners with each of them...

However, nothing can compare with the time she and Jenny call in at Jack Thiam's old house mid-point in Series 2.

Now, that is a good scene.

Anita keeps in contact with her sister's but there is certainly no love lost between them.

Anita's allegedly inferiority may stem from the fact that she has a step-daughter, whilst all her sisters have got children of their own... and maybe it's because she lives in a flat... or they thought she did... and she has a job in construction...

As Anita says: "They like to brag and boast, so I just let them get on with it."

At the start of Series 2 Anita and Mason lead a very private life and have low-key existence... However, this is completely blown out of the water when Jenny arrives in London.

In the Series 3, narrative, Dottie West tells the tale of the continual disruption of their private life.

"Cos' of Mason's job, Jen used her mum's name and Neet used her maiden name. Everything was supposed to be like some Top Secret. Mason would come in from work and there'd always be a posse of us round the table doing something or other... He never ever said anything, but looking back, I knew he must have been worried as hell."

There's much more to that...

(Series 2) John Mellor at work

7 July 2026.

Good morning.

I was up at 7:20 am.

Again.

This time it was I who had to walk the hound through the woods, and by going at that time it was also I who hit all the dog walking traffic.

It's nearly 10:30 am and Robbie Warrington - one of our genial Royal Mail postmen has just dropped in my parcel from M and M Direct.

A couple of Calvin Klein Polo Shirts and a T-shirt, along with some wanky trainer socks, which I hate wearing - but have to, otherwise I'm slinging my trainers in the washing machine once a week.

I've got a Mainline order coming either today or tomorrow.

We are out of the UK on Thursday, and I am totally ready for it. That Beach Bar on Agia Trias cannot come quick enough.

Opposite and above, is the lovely man that is John Mellor... which as I've already stated - is Joe Strummer of The Clash's real name.

John, just like his wife, are truly awesome characters.

He is originally an Eastender whose family, like the O'Hara's, were displaced during the slum clearances of the 1970s. If I rightly recall, I think John is from Plaistow.

As I've said before, when the series starts John isn't really John.

That soon changes once Mason enters their life.

Mason lost his mum and dad the February prior to meeting Gaynor at college in September.

Maureen possesses an ever-inquisitive personality and is constantly digging. As for John, he just deals with what comes. Including Father (Ken) Maloney, who Maureen holds in high esteem.

"Little Gaynor wants to get herself a nice Catholic lad," he tells her mum. "I can't understand what she sees in that eedyat (idiot)."

"He's far from being an idiot, father," John tells him.

And that's as far as John goes with it.

Father Maloney has it in for Mason, and Maureen appears worried.

"Leave the lad with him," John tells his wife. "He'll run rings round him."

The priest first met Mason at Pat and Angie's wedding reception... and Gaynor got wind of his caustic comments, so the priest got it in the neck from Gaynor on Christmas Eve...

And after that... well...

(Series 1) Maureen Mellor shopping at the Hammersmith Indoor Market

6 July 2026.

Good morning.

I was up at 7:20 am on hearing the back door slam shut.

Again.

And on Julie getting in from taking the hound for her walk and battling against the dog walking traffic, she got back in and reminded me of her brilliance.

"I do everything," she told me.

Good!

She can do the jet washing and mow the lawn when she gets in from work (sic).

We never made it out for a curry, yesterday evening.

Neither of us felt like it.

Instead, I knocked us up a Chili Con Carne and we watched another episode of The Twilight Zone (1959), which I have to admit - was years ahead of its time.

We used to think Roald Dahl's Tales of the Unexpected (1979-1988) was strange - you know, Each episode telling a story, often with sinister and wryly comedic undertones, with an unexpected twist ending.

However, it's precursor really does kick its arse.

I watched quite a few of episodes of the latter as I have the DVD box set and some are quite good...

However, some are very bad with crap wooden acting, and the only thing iconic about it is the introduction, where the silhouette of the woman is erotically dancing - above.

Opposite and above is Maureen Mellor shopping inside the fictitious Hammersmith Market circa Series 1.

Maureen (nee O'Hara) - born in Co. Galway in Ireland, came to live in London when she was only a very young girl.

I don't think it is ever stated exactly when, but she was probably a bit younger than Jenny in Series 2.

What is strange about this, is that her parents - both Irish, actually lived in the East Ham area of London when they were courting, so obviously they went back to Ireland for some reason.

Again, it is something that is never stated.

Maybe her 22-year-old granddaughter could enlighten us by giving the reasoning in the Series 3, narrative... as Jenny is truly enamoured by her family history.

What is strange about this, is that her younger half-sister, Ana - knows very little.

Maureen is seen all the way through the series' as running the family and being the one in control.

She is very sincere, and highly devout.

Pat (Marshall) - her son-in-law, is a "good boy" and "works hard" and is very "respectful".

And Mason?

Well, he can do no wrong regardless of all the stuff that lands at their door in Series 1.

Maureen sees Mason not as a son-in-law, but a son.

Maureen's man-management of him is very good, which is something that truly annoys Gaynor - as she sees her mum as very controlling.

"No, she isn't," Mason tells her. "She just cares."

Gaynor possesses a self-destructive personality and is always looking for problems that aren't there.

As for Anita, she sees Maureen as very controlling who can be very spiky and possesses a wicked tongue...

Anita said: "I may be his wife, but it's as though I'm the other woman."

Maureen is not averse to telling Mason off and it is said in Series 2, that she has gone to town on him, quite a few times.

Anyway...

(Between Series' 1 and 2) Jenny Mellor as a baby in the pushchair (buggy) on the promenade at Brighton. Here she is with her father, Mason Green - and the ghost of her deceased grandfather (Vincent Green) looking on.

5 July 2026.

Good morning.

I was up at 7:20 am on hearing the back door slam shut - Julie opting for this morning's dog walk.

We had a barbecue last night, so there was no debris to shift when I got up, as all the pots were in the dishwasher.

The barbecue: A full chicken cut in half with the legs lopped off... the raw wings were given to the dog; two quarter pounders (beef burgers); four of five slices of rump steak; and four lamb steaks.

As I've said; it's pointless firing up a barbecue if you're not going to put anything on it.

There was obviously plenty left, so Julie's just nipped down to our Jamie's. If he doesn't want it - it'll end up in the dog.

I have a few photograph's to drop into the magazine along with a small bit of lining up of the text and some minor proofing.

I supposedly have some photograph's coming in for the front cover from some Irish tunnelling firm who are very prominent in both the UK and Canada, so hopefully, they will arrive tomorrow.

If not, I have quite a few I can use, so it isn't a big deal.

Opposite and above is more Jenny Mellor. As a baby in the buggy and as a 14-month old.

If it hadn't been for her father, Mason, it is doubtful that Maureen and John (the grandparents) would ever have seen their granddaughter.

Gaynor leaving, and taking Jenny with her - broke Maureen's heart.

Gaynor blamed Maureen... she blamed their Angie... And over the five years between, she near-tried to emotionally destroy Mason.

In reality, Gaynor only had one person to blame, but as you may find Gaynor didn't do blame - ever.

There is finding out; and then there is finding out the hard way.

A young man from Bolton-on-Dearne in South Yorkshire by the name of Josh Harrington, would be the hard way.

And when Jenny found out who her father really was, well... it was a lot to process.

(Series 2) Jenny Mellor in the TV and Media room at her dad and Anita's house in Hammersmith

4 July 2026.

Good morning and if you're American - happy Independence Day.

I managed to drag myself out of bed at 8:45 am - Julie purposely outstaying me so I had to take the hound out for her walk through the woods.

You walk the dog late and you hit all the dog walking traffic. The perils of a lie-in.

So... I'm in the study, just about to put the magazine to bed.

This is possibly one of the most comprehensive issues that I've ever put out - certainly not the most technical, but comprehensive. Nearly 400 schemes.

Last night, I had a call from Omar - my mate who owns The Curry Leaf Asian restaurant. I'd say Indian, but it isn't. It's Bangladeshi.

We haven't been in there in a while, and Omar has caught me coming down from The Red Lion - twice now, him obviously wanting to know why I'm not spending my money in there.

He's not said it, but he knows that there's a problem.

Not with him there isn't as he's a great lad.

Anyway, the conversation we had isn't something that I want to broadcast on here...

It was political, is as much as I will say.

I've booked us in for tea on Sunday evening...

Opposite and above is Jenny Mellor.

What is strange about me setting up this animation is that the scene in the TV room wouldn't set properly.

I gave it around a dozen tries before I chalked fuck on it.

Annoying.

Anyway, I finally got it to animate, although it's not as good as I would have liked it.

Music...

I've just added Suki Waterhouse's Supersad (2024) to the music player - widget.

It's a bit different - but because she's from Chiswick and Hammersmith - and where The A's is set, I thought I'd add it.

(Series 2) Anita Pallenburg with her husband, Mason Green, and his daughter - Jenny Mellor

3 July 2026.

Good morning.

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

It looks like it's going to be another nice day.

Yesterday, was another work day - my day job, which I should fully complete today.

I'm currently working between two computer systems and sharing one monitor; and I will say one thing - the new system is much faster with zero lag.

In comparison, the older system, which in its day was the dog's bollocks, now seems to - not just lag, but the response from both the (wired) mouse and keyboard is absolute shite.

It runs better than it did, as I removed lots of un-needed software and programmes - one of which was the AVG anti-virus software that when you don't update your paid subscription; it purposely keeps on stalling you with pop-ups.

My advice - let the Windows security on your PC look after the firewall rather than a third-party software.

Julie ran a laptop a few years ago with the McAfee software already on it. That was exactly the same. Fucking annoying.

So...

Opposite and above is the first-ever full family photograph that I've done with Mason, Anita and Jenny - the Green's, and I'm really quite pleased with them.

I was thinking of the Series 3, narrative this morning and trying to get some personality and character-base for Ana Pallenburg, the half-sister of Jenny Mellor... "Well, Jenny Green really..." as she often says.

Ana, who also went to the Christ Is King All Girls School, tells Jenny that she (sort of) forever walked in her shadow. The sister-thing.

There's much more than that, but...

Jenny inherited her father's inordinate I.Q, whereas Ana did not.

Jenny excelled in everything and Ana had to follow the legend that was her sister all the way through school; and at 15-years old, it is then she tells her sister how hard it was to follow her footsteps.

She also tells Jenny how empty her life became when Jenny left home to go live in Laos.

It's quite upsetting.

Jenny's presence was much like her father's in Series 1 and 2.

"I remember when you were that little baby in that incubator... you were so tiny," the 22-year old Jenny tells her younger sister.

"I used to put my hand through the gap in the glass and touch your fingers... I thought that you were most beautiful thing ever."

Ana was born premature and Jenny had kicked off something chronic with her mum, stating that she wanted to stay in the hospital with Anita and her sister... as their dad... well, he was both out of the UK and phone contact.

"Dad was never there," Ana tells Jenny.

"That's not really true is it?" Jenny replies.

Ana. Another interesting character.

(Series 2) Anita Pallenburg with her husband, Mason Green

2 July 2026.

Good morning.

I was up at 7:30 am - feeling quite rough.

Julie phoned me from work and told me that The Red Lion were opening at 4:00 pm for the football and that fillet steaks were £19.66 (World Cup winning year).

I'll make no bones about it - I hate watching England and haven't felt any affection for the national team in years.

So... we went up... more for the early opening than anything else.

I told Steve - an inspector in the police force, who more often than not props up the bar with his gaggle of women either side of him, that he should stick a tenner on Harry Kane scoring...

I also said that when England went 1-0 down that they'd win 2-1...

I'm not the greatest football pundit in the world, but I do know the game. I'm more of of a historian than anything else, with four (Arsenal) books accredited to my name.

Personally, I was hoping that England got knocked out.

Why?

The country is going to get another unelected leader shortly - who's not only a lying Communist, but an Islamic rapist appeaser, who will get a right mega-bounce if they actually win the fucking thing.

Politics aside... Julie got in and I followed her up to the garage in Crowle, where the mechanics were going to have a look at her car, which after I'd put some oil in the thing, it ran as sweet as a nut.

Engine light on + limp-mode = low oil.

Anyway, it's now getting a service.

So, we had a decent night and this morning I copped two Anadin Ultra's.

Today, it's my day job...

Above and opposite are basically the first Series 2 photograph's of Mason Green and Anita Pallenburg that I've done, with them both together.

They look good.

Music.

I've added the track Cellophane by Stanley Simmons

These are a kind of folk-rock duo comprising Evan Stanley and Nick Simmons - the the sons of KISS' Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons - the rock band with the face paint who sang Crazy Crazy Nights (1987).

Cellophane has a ’60s style psychedelic feel about it and was released in 2026, serving as the fourth single from their debut album, Dancing While the World is Ending.

(Series 2) Anita Pallenburg doing her Saturday morning shop and having a walk home

1 July 2026.

Good morning on the first day of the month.

The midpoint of the year.

I was up at 7:20 am.

I didn't do the dog walk as Julie did it.

She left for work and was back home within 10 minutes. The engine light had come on in her car.

She drives a Fiat 124 Spider and in all honesty, apart from a few teething problems when she first bought it, it has been a good car.

I've been threatening to weigh-in The Beast (The dog's Fiat Punto), towards another car - for months now, but the bullshit involved when you buy a car - getting new insurance, changing registration plates from one to another etc., sort of outweighs the positives and it's been putting me off a bit.

The time, however, I reckon has come, as Julie has had to fire up The Beast, which is full of bird shit, deposited by our resident pigeons and jackdaws - and gone to work in that.

She's dropping the 124 in at Johnny Hanson's garage in Crowle around 4:00 pm, so hopefully they'll sort it.

Yesterday, was another work day, much the same as today, so there isn't much to speak about.

Opposite is a photograph of the Series 1 Angie around Christmas time in the park; and below, a lovely animation of Anita talking about her husband and Gaynor's daughter, Jenny... and her swimming.

The animations are getting better, even though from my end - literally no thought has gone into them.

I know, that I could do a 30 minute animation in around five days, including the creation of different sets... especially on the powerful new system as it renders videos in seconds.

I just need the animation software to update itself and become for fucking user-friendly, as I am still having to master (trick) the algorithms into doing what I want, as opposed to doing what it wants.

I have now created around 350 named 2D Extras.

Maybe, I should try for a 30 minute drama episode, using some of those.

I think it would be good practice... getting sound levels right, the sequences etc...

Yes, I think I'll aim for that.

The only problem, is that we are still animating in 720p - when it should be 2160p (4K).

Right - that's me done for today.

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