May 2026 | James Durose-Rayner's website

MAY 2026

The A's

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31 May 2026.

Good morning on the final day of the month.

The time is flying by.

I was up at 8:00 am and out through the woods with the hound on what is another lovely day.

Yesterday, bar the lottery of penalties in the Champions League Final, was a lovely day.

I grew up around disappointment and as you get older you get more philosophical. And things such as your football team winning or not winning don't alter my life. My life is great and for that I am thankful.

We did our trip to Home Bargains - and Tesco, as we need doughnuts for Alex the head barman at The Red Lion.

Just over £280 at Home Bargains and over £150 at Tesco's. The downside of the former was the lack of choice in the lager section, and I ended up with Stella Artois (Green) Unfiltered and some far-eastern lagers that I've never heard of before.

I'll light up the barbecue later and try a couple.

Barbecue meaning a proper one and not a gas one.

I'm going to do some fillet steak on it this time, which should take about two minutes as a tend to eat mine medium rare.

Opposite is one of the last batch of photograph's of Jenny Mellor in Laos.

I now have the story that will part-narrate the two series of The A's.

Basically it is three-series with the third running in tandem with one and two.

It sounds complex, but it's not.

Jenny is in a village deep into Laos' southern segment of The Golden Triangle, which is an extremely dangerous place for anyone to be, never mind a 22-year old girl from a middle-class upbringing in West London.

However, and as it says in the caption - never underestimate who she is.

Music.

This is one of the most beautiful pieces of music from the hugely talented John Barry...

I wanted, just the music, as it just takes you somewhere... maybe, northern Laos... I don't know.

Right...

I'm back on with my day job.

30 May 2026.

Good morning.

I was up at 8:00 am and out through the woods with the hound on what is another beautiful sunny day.

There is talk of droughts and hosepipe bans already, which is all par for the course.

Christ knows why, as during February, March and April, all it did was piss it down.

On walking down the High Street I noticed the Dean Bramhald - the barber-cum-ex-boxer, had no-one in the chair, so I nipped in (with the dog) and got a haircut.

Julie's just nipped down to our Jamie and Lianne's for an hour - and will no doubt end up cleaning up for them.

We are out to Cyprus, next Friday, I think, and when we get back they go, so Julie will be stopping down there.

Twice a year they go to Cyprus and twice a year their house gets a "spring clean".

When she gets back, we are off to Home Bargains... my treat!

I stuck mt head in at the Tandoori last night, as the young lad who works there was serving, as I was coming down the High Street after giving the dog her last walk of the day - circa 9:00 pm.

I told him that I'll be watching the football in The Red Lion and if they win I'll be calling in for a curry.

Aheem (no idea if it's spelt right) replied: "Up The Gunners."

And he speaks shit English at that.

So, I have a haircut and am geared up for a trip to my favourite shopping destination with disappointment expected around 7:00 pm...

Who knows?

Opposite is Jenny reading Rudyard Kipling's Rikki-Tikki-Tavi, which I first remember watching as a cartoon on TV in late-October 1979.

How do I know that?

It was one of the first kids programme to come on TV after the TV had been off the air for 75 days.

History?

The 1979 ITV strike was the longest television blackout in British history, taking commercial television off the air for 11 weeks from 10 August to 24 October.

There you go.

Jenny reading the book, actually happens in the series.

So. Music.

I've added The National's Tropic Morning News (2023) to the playlist - as I was playing it quite a lot when I was writing up Series 1 at the time Gaynor first moved in with Mason at 24A Boelyn Mews.

It is from their Two Pages of Frankenstein (2023) album, which truth be told is a bit meh.

29 May 2026.

Good morning.

I was up at 7:10 am.

As with yesterday and the day before, Julie opted for the morning walk through the woods with the hound.

And is with yesterday, she is intent on make tonight's dinner Beef Wellington.

Great results all around.

It's 9:00 am at the moment and I'm looking through the window at what looks like it is going to be a very nice day, even though I had some Phil Collins and three different wanky covers of Aha's 1985 hit Take on Me thrust at me on Radio Caroline this morning.

They part-redeemed themselves with the Beach Boys 1966 track God Only Knows, but I have to admit they are fast losing my interest.

I'm currently on with my day job.

94 Irish flood schemes to pan out the geotechnical section of the magazine. Interesting (for me) but time consuming.

I should have it done today.

Julie's going to call and get some vegetables and beer (Peroni, hopefully) on her way home from work.

I'd do us an online shop - however, we are out of the UK next week, so it makes little sense, although a trip to Home Bargains was mentioned on Saturday.

We need some bits and pieces... bits and pieces meaning a £200+ shop.

Hopefully, they have some bottles of Efes lager and 330ml bottles of Guinness in. Good beers if the weather is good and a barbecue can be had as if my football team win the Champions League, that is exactly what is happening regardless of the time.

Saying that... I've lived through years of disappointment.

Opposite is probably the last lot of photographs I'll be putting up of the 22-year old Jenny for a while.

This is how the series will start.

Not the story, but the series.

The research that has gone into this, is nothing short of immense, as it all has to make sense

28 May 2026.

Good morning.

I was up at 7:00 am.

As with yesterday, Julie opted for the morning walk through the woods with the hound, and on getting back in the house she told me how much that she had enjoyed it.

Not.

She also complained about the amount of sand in the house.

Since the weekend I have been in and out of the house repositioning the sprinkler on the front lawn and continually sweeping the grit sand around the patio slabs as the water creates a bit of settlement and therefore creates gaps that need infilling.

Christ. How fucking boring am I getting?

Opposite and below was something else I wasn't going to do, but seeing as I have set my stall out on animating two series and not three; this is what it is.

The 15-year old Ana Pallenburg.

She looks very much like her mum, Anita.

---

Whereas I morphed Jenny at 22=years old from Jenny at seven, and Gaynor and Angie at 20 and 24 respectively, I did something similar with Ana Pallenburg.

Ana is Mason and Anita's child - who was born during Series 2, therefore, you only see her as a baby.

I do, however, need her as a 15-year old as I do with Jenny at 22, therefore I needed another 3D asset - and above and opposite top is what you see.

I morphed Ana Pallenburg from Jenny at seven, Anita at 20 and her great gran, Rochana (Ana) Reung, who she is named after, at 56.

Notice that I didn't use Mason in either.

Why?

Because if I had, she would have most probably ended up morphing as a transsexual, which is something that I certainly didn't want.

And as with Jenny, I have kept her hair from her face.

Julie mentioned Jenny with the ribbon in her hair both as a child and as a 22-year old, in that it is something that a 22-year old wouldn't really do.

She's right of course, so I'll have to bear that in mind.

Anyway, music.

Whilst I have been putting The A's together I've dropped on an amazing amount of new music and opposite is exactly that.

It is also relevant, as the story of Jenny and Laos sort of emanates from a story that her dad told her about her Granny Ana when she was a teenager.

Ana saved up a few thousand pounds and went back to Laos circa 1983 and paid for the village close to where she grew up, a new water borehole.

It may seem nothing, but that IS a huge part of the story as it was both something her granny elaborated on, and something that Jenny never forgot.

27 May 2026.

Good morning.

I was up at 6:50 am on (just) hearing the back door slam shut - Julie opting to take the dog on her morning walk.

I say JUST, as the fan has been on full whack all night, blowing hot air around the bedroom.

No idea why as last night the temperature suddenly dropped and it became very cool.

Anyway, the dog came back in and is quite out of sorts with herself and at the minute she is laid outside just marshalling the movement of people and cars passing through the junction.

Today is another work day.

Yesterday, I did a sizeable piece on around 20 Severn Trent Water schemes. Hopefully that reads well as there is lots of specialist work on it.

I'll do another big article today. Flood schemes, I think.

I've just put up another couple of photograph's of Jenny Mellor at 22.

Opposite is Jenny, standing in front of the Patuxai - a war monument in Vientiane, Laos, which was built between 1957 and 1968.

And below, in one of her in the rural villages up in Northern Laos.

"We love Jenny, Jenny Mellor." That is what her dad used to say to her all the time when she was a little girl.

And here she is, over 5,000 miles away in Laos - still loved. And that doesn't even begin to scratch the surface.

Again, I'm not really sure how I am going to factor Jenny at 22 into the story as yet, but the research is deep and the ideas are flowing.

One thing I never get is writers block.

That has to be something to do with writing over 300 magazines about mining and piling!

Writing fiction is a beautiful outlet, and the Jenny-angle is becoming a beautiful story.

Is she like her parents at 22?

I don't think she is.

Obviously, there are similarities, but no.

I've decided not to add any music today, as yesterday's track hit a nerve with the montage of photo's below... In a really nice way.

26 May 2026.

Good morning.

I was up at 6:30 am and out through the woods with the hound on what is another glorious sunny morning.

Unfortunately, today, I have to work and work hard.

This was a Bank Holiday weekend of celebrating getting my front garden back, Arsenal as Champions, two barbecues and lots of Peroni's and Red Wine... and a Cyprus tan... in the north of England... in May... Great!

At the moment, Julie's still in bed, the dog's had her breakfast and is laid outside with the back door open with Radio Caroline playing to itself and the sprinkler is on and watering the lawn.

So...

Yesterday, I did something that I wasn't going to do but did...

I still can't believe how brilliant she looks

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I was thinking of having the 22-year-old part-narrate it. Was...

In a film, yes, but over two series I'm not sure how that would work. And this Series - 1 and 2, is seven years apart.

The Jenny angle is big, because this has become the re-write, which as stated; is solely down to world politics and events, which made the story not sit right with me.

The new idea is much better and more human.

Music...

We called in at The Red Lion last night... later than usual as I'd been drinking in the sun since 1:00 pm and had to have a power-nap around five.

It was folk night.

So... Here is one of my favourite folk songs, which I will use in The A's, if I can

The words...

"...When every fairy tale comes real..."

25 May 2026.

Good morning.

I was up at 7:50 am and out through the woods with the hound on what is glorious sunny morning... with lots of dog walking traffic being the exact result of that.

The sun being out makes everyone feel great.

Yesterday, was a great day of watering the new lawn, drinking Peroni in the garden and having a barbecue, and the football team I've followed from being a little lad lifting the Premier League trophy.

As I said - a great day.

Opposite is something I wasn't going to do, but nevertheless, I did it.

Two video shorts of Jenny Mellor - aged 22.

The daughter of Gaynor Mellor and Mason Green.

How beautiful is she?

---

To get her appearance I morphed Jenny as a seven-year-old child, and Gaynor and their Angie at 20 and 24 respectively.

And I can't believe how brilliant she came out.

How will I use her in the story?

I'm not sure yet, but I have lots of ideas.

The one thing that I'm certain of, is that she will end up in Laos, which has everything to do with her (Great) Granny Ana.

Anyway...

I could have put the two video shorts together... but it's quicker doing it this way.

Music.

I have a load of CDs that I bought off eBay that I need to add to the B2.

I'll do that sometime next week.

In the meantime, and instead of adding a new track to the music player, I've just edited it and lifted Sunflowers Bean's Twenty-two (2018) to the top...

This is obviously to go with the Jenny videos.

24 May 2026.

Good morning.

I was up at 7:00 am and out through the woods with the hound on what is another lovely morning.

Yesterday, I did what I said I would do and jet washed the patio and used up nearly two bags of the grit sand to fill the gaps on the patio slabs, which border (the new lawn from) the house.

The house doesn't look like the Addams family live here now.

We even had our coffee on the patio this morning, which is something that we rarely do - ever.

Julie also made us some poached eggs, which, I have to say were absolutely brilliant.

So, at the moment the garden sprinkler is on and I'm in the study, as I have to complete my day job by Wednesday.

Anyway...

Opposite is a photograph of Angie Mellor getting ready to go to her (and Gaynor's) granny's funeral, which happened between Series 1 and 2.

It is mentioned in a flashback by their mum - Maureen, as Gaynor attends... in one of the very few instances she sees her in her five-year absence.

Her mum stated (or noted) that she had let herself go - the poor hairdo, the washed out clothes etc., and upsets herself thinking about it all.

This is the self-destructive part of Gaynor's personality. She hurts the people she loves the most. Mason, her parents... and their Angie.

And in the process she hurts herself the most.

Angie in the photograph opposite is at Mason's flat.

Her closeness (if I've said that right) with Mason was a huge bugbear with Gaynor, which she sort of put up with through a huge chunk of Series 1.

The story in between Series 1 and 2, however - is that she absolutely did not.

It wasn't just Angie too... it was also her mum.

During Series 2, there's a flashback of sorts when Mason has come to see Jenny as a baby at Marquis Gardens and her mum as always, is present, meaning that Gaynor can never say what she really wants to say to her ex-fiancee.

"We were close to getting back together, but she was always there - always," Gaynor said regarding her mum.

These thoughts of reconciliation was around the time of Jenny's christening.

Gaynor had had enough

"Can't you just fuck off and leave us on our own?" was what Gaynor told her mum.

Maureen was quite devout and didn't like swearing in her house, never mind being sworn at.

It was the beginning of the end.

Gaynor saw her mum as controlling and someone that suffered from favourite daughter-syndrome.

Post-meeting Mason those thoughts changed...

Why?

You'll have to draw your own conclusions.

23 May 2026.

A belated Good morning on this Bank Holiday weekend.

I was up at 6:50 am and out through the woods with the hound on what is a lovely morning, which is made even better by the fact that our new lawn is finally down, thank fuck.

I'm definitely no snob, but the house must have looked a right shithole from the outside.

Not now.

I'm nipping out in a bit to do some jet washing and wet the grass a bit more. Well, a lot more.

We had the sprinklers on late yesterday afternoon when the sun was at its hottest, and this morning whilst I was out with the dog.

Julie called in Travis Perkins on her way home from work and bought three bags of grit sand. When everything is dry post-jet washing, I'll sweep that into the voids of the patio slabs around the front of the house.

As for now, Julie's just nipped down to our Jamie's for a coffee and is calling into the butcher's on her way back. Lamb chops and pork chops for the barbecue.

If you look back to the journal / blog this time last year, I fired up the barbecue and smoked us all out with the wet coals we'd had in the shed since mid-point, during Co-vid.

Covid... it seems like an eternity ago.

We must have spent near on £100,000 and were virtually broke by the time we managed to start back work and fight to rescue the business.

Hard times.

Whilst the majority of the UK got paid for doing fuck all, we had to rely on what we had. Very fucking wrong on every level.

The Mellor's in the The A's were the same.

Maureen told Gaynor in Series 2, how bad things were: "Whilst the rest of the country were sat on their backsides getting paid for doing nothing, we had to live on what we had. We nearly lost everything and it broke your dad."

Anyway...

Opposite I've chucked up a photograph of Jenny Mellor on Thai Airways chilling out on her way to Laos, which is part of my massive re-write.

Music.

I had Radio Caroline on this morning, which over the past few months has been annoyingly crap.

Each morning I have to endure listening to either fucking Phil Collins, Queen or Springsteen...

It used to be decent music with the odd dog turd. Now, it's the other way round. Loads of dog turds with the odd decent track.

Radiohead were on this morning with No Surprises, (1998) which made a refreshing change...

So, I'll not add an actual Radiohead song as they are a bit depressing... but I'll add a Radiohead-led song...

22 May 2026.

Good morning.

I was up at 5:00 am and I'm now in the study with a cup of strong coffee.

At 8:30 am Axholme Landscapes are arriving on site as we are finally going to have the new carpet laid on the scrubland on what was our front garden... on the hottest weekend of the fucking year.

After being let down in November by some useless wanker of a landscaper it has taken a staggering seven months.

Disgraceful when you think about it, but you just can't get tradesmen of any sort, and when you do, they see the size of the property and just want to rip you off.

Anyway...

Yesterday, was a work day but I kept on getting sidetracked with the Series 2 re-write... again, not so much the writing of it, although plenty was done, but the fact that it has to make sense and appear real.

I think it does. I think the new angle is working.

Opposite is Christie Gotleib, the wife of Jacob.

In Series 1 her protégé is Gaynor and in Series 2, it becomes Jenny.

Why is that?

Well, that is all part of the story.

Anita takes Jenny to the Gotleib's every Saturday morning.

Early on in Series 2, and whilst Gaynor is on the treadmill, Jenny wonders off, and ends up near the river.

"She needs to learn to swim," Christie said.

And that's how it started.

Jenny is blessed - not with just the inordinate IQ, which her father had, but the fact that she can pick things up straightaway.

She only needs telling the once.

"She swims like a brick," said Gaynor.

Yeah, but not for long.

"You're like like a little mermaid in the water," Christie tells Jenny.

And Jenny possesses some form of Indefatigability, in that she never seems to tire, which must also come from her father as he was continually restless and at times - all over the place.

Whereas Angie found it amusing, Gaynor saw it as annoying.

"How can you read two books at the same time whilst watching telly? It doesn't make any sense."

Gaynor looked for answers when there was no real need, which was the highly complex part of who Gaynor was.

As for Jenny, she was never that enthusiastic about swimming until her best friend - Dottie West (Dorothy Westerman), got on the schools swimming team.

Now, there is a story.

I've just added Blur's On Your Own to the music player / widget.

21 May 2026.

Good morning.

I was up at 7:00 am after hearing the back door slam shut.

Julie's turn for dog walking duties, and fighting off the dozens of rabbits (sic) on her way through the woods with the hound.

They are everywhere at the moment - as is someone's cat, which has been mauling some of the smaller ones.

I've seen around half-a-dozen dead ones over the past fortnight, and its not the fox's, owl's etc., as they'd completely eat the carcass. In this instance - the bodies have been whole.

Killing for sport?

Definitely not my thing.

Opposite and below (top) are the same person - nearly seven years apart.

In the story, it was Gaynor's mistakes that caused the aged transformation as opposed to genetics.

The photo's opposite are supposedly taken in September 2030 - however, six months later - in April (Laos) (below bottom), she looks quite well.

(Series 2) The 27-year old Gaynor Mellor in Vientiane, Laos circa April 2031, looking quite well.

---

Why is this?

The easy answer: Pride in ones appearance.

Different hairstyles, better clothes, weight loss, make-up... It all helps transform a person.

On getting back to London, Gaynor seeing Anita gave her a massive reality check.

Anita was never girlie, girlie like Gaynor.

Just look at the photos of her.

A baseball cap, jacket and a pair of jeans - short skirt, thick tights and army boots...

Anita is feminine but practical.

Gaynor, like her elder sister, was always the girl.

It was Gaynor's lifestyle that had taken its toll - and not just the fact that she'd had Jenny.

She had spent around five years in South Yorkshire - living a hum-drum life of nothingness and became uninterested in who she had become.

There were other things, but that's another part of the story.

The aspirations she'd had, had died when she and Mason spit up. She had let herself go.

The void that Gaynor had created in Mason's life was to be eventually filled by Anita, and Anita, as you will find, had worked hard to get what she wanted, and once she had got it, she embraced it.

Maureen told her youngest daughter, "Maybe Mason made you feel that you were a little bit more special than you actually were."

There was a lot of truth in that.

20 May 2026.

Good morning.

I was out through the woods with the hound at 6:10 am.

A very nice morning made even better as I'd waited 22 years for the football team that I've supported since I was a young kid, were crowned Champions of England.

I wrote a four-book trilogy (three stories - the last one was in two parts) about the club that I love, and the continual false hope it gave.

Jenny Mellor's not a football fan per se, but she watches the results come in to see what Sheffield Wednesday have done.

"They are tight rubbish," is what she says, yet she still perseveres.

It isn't a big part of The A's but in Series 2, you'll probably understand why she wears their football shirts for bed...

It is part of who her mum became... the Venus Man Trap caught up and trapped by her own mistakes, only for the boy whose heart she broke, to bring her and their daughter back to London.

The A's is a story that's been written and thought out over several years, chopped and changed, refined, and thought out again and again.

It has been a long haul, but everything has to make sense and the research that has gone into it to make that happen is immense.

Opposite are some photograph's of Ana Reung who since the rewrite has become even more central to the story.

She was born in 1966 to privileged parents, in the middle of what was a civil war, and fled to Thailand with her mother in 1975, ending up in London in 1982.

She is a very resilient character. Caring, but with a no nonsense attitude and who is politically, very astute.

Not only does she own her own business - a florists, she is also chairperson of the West London and South Thames Chamber of Commerce, and is therefore, very well-connected.

Laos, has become the most recent theme.

After the engagement party in mid-August 2023, Mason and Gaynor were to visit what remained of Ana's family... her half-sister's... as Ana, like Jenny, was the only child to her parents.

Her father died. It never says how or why, he just died. These were bad times in the country, and Ana's mum remarried, and therefore took the surname of Reung.

Ana's inquisitive, great granddaughter, Jenny had a truth bomb dropped in her lap over the Christmas period, which ended up with her going to see her Granny Ana.

It was then, Ana told her the stories...

The story of them leaving almost everything and making the treacherous journey over the Mekong River and into Thailand with only a suitcase... and how her mum, Jenny's great great grandmother strived to provide for them and of course... how she died.

"I'll never complain about going to Taekwondo again," Jenny told her dad's wife, Anita.

"You don't really complain," Anita replied.

"Yes, I do. I always complain."

Jenny may well be manipulative, but she is also a thoughtful little girl.

Anyway...

Some music.

I've added (You're) Safe In Your Sleep (From This Girl) (1987) by My Bloody Valentine (1987).

They are an Alternative Irish rock band who are are widely regarded as pioneers of the shoegaze - dream pop genre.

The band comprised Kevin Shields (vocals, guitar), Colm Ó Cíosóig (drums), Debbie Googe (bass) and the brilliant Bilinda Butcher (vocals, guitar).

19 May 2026.

Good morning.

It is 5:00 am and I am up.

I'd been tossing and turning for the last hour.

An overactive mind.

I'm in the study with a strong coffee at the moment, and it's light outside. It's also very wet, so it must have put some rain down last night.

I'll walk the dog in an hour.

Last night, in between watching the football - my team are one win away from being Champions and another from being Champions of Europe, I worked on Series 2 - the re-write.

Not so much the writing, but the research, as I have to make it real, and it is coming on beautifully.

I said last year that a re-write could be a possibility.

At first, I thought it quite pissy-offish, but now, I'm not so sure.

The new idea may not be as action-packed but is much better.

Look at Jenny's face opposite.

That is the feeling and emotion that I need to put over and to animate that - isn't the easiest thing to do.

Series 1 runs from September 2022 - November 2023.

The initial idea with Series 2 was to run it from September 2030 - January 2031 (7 years later).

That has now changed.

Now it will run at least 12 months - September to September.

(Series 2) Jenny Mellor with her mum and dad outside the Lao Heritage Royal Development Bank in Laos -27-year old Gaynor, and 25-year old Mason Green.

---

As you can see in the photograph above, Mason is with both his daughter and her mum, which is the first one that I have had done with all three of them in it.

Gaynor is older and wiser, and the ageing process-stroke-generation is sort of okay.

Although Mason and Gaynor speak regularly in Series 2, and they do, outside of the early episodes you never see them together.

Why?

They have their own lives I suppose.

As you will find out, Laos was different.

Mason's gran - Rochana (Ana) Reung, took Jenny to see what is left of her family during the Easter holidays, and Ana insisted that her mum came along, which was something that Gaynor certainly did NOT want.

"A week of purgatory and I've got to pay for it," was how she described it to her mum, when it was being arranged.

Why?

Mason's gran.

The self same lady who told her in Series 1: "He gave you everything, and what he couldn't give you, we gave you. I am not only very hurt, but deeply disappointed."

He, being her grandson - Mason.

So, one week and 9,500km away from London, with a lady, who is never afraid to tell you: "I told you so."

Mason turning up was very unexpected. However, there was a valid reason why he did.

It also gives the storyline an edge.

Anyway...

Music.

I've added Passenger Seat (2025) by the brilliant Wolf Alice to the music player / widget, which I am hoping I can use in The A's.

If you look at the home page, both Gaynor and to a smaller extent, Anita, are driving their cars with that music playing.

18 May 2026.

Good morning.

I was up and out through the woods with the hound at 7:00 am and bumped into the old guy with the white Russian Retriever (Holly) on the final leg up to St Andrew's Church.

From around 1,000m I saw him speaking to some other old guy and then he copped us... and waited until we got to him.

He was the last thing that I wanted to ruin the start of my day.

The dog ran up to his to say "hello" and just as I took my headphone's off to say "Hello Peter..." he got ready to unleash 15 minutes of his self-orientated diatribe... However, unbeknown to him, he made the ultimate mistake.

No good morning's, how are you's, kiss my arse, no nothing...

"I've got to rush around this morning as I've got to go to the doctor's..." was his opening gambit.

There you go: I've. Me.

All box standard, him, he.

"Okay mate," I said, before I put my headphones back on and shouted the dog.

That was easy. He did it for me. If he's rushing, l'll not keep him.

Never feel sorry for people like this.

The doctor conversation is for him to falsely seek pity and when you do, he's got you.

It's a ruse. Never go there.

This is the guy who doesn't indulge in two-way conversations. He forces his diatribe on you... and he lies.

Some titbits?

He told me stories of him paying £800 for an E-Type Jaguar and selling it in the USA for £400,000; the doctor he was under who couldn't satisfy his wife, so the doctor passed his wife on to him so he could shag her; he'd never laid a brick in his life, but he built a house from scratch... in Dunscroft...

Strange one that, as being a liar, he should have said Beverly Hills... It would have made the lie more interesting as while he was building it he could have made out that he was shagging half of Hollywood.

No wonder his kids have all fucked him off.

Hopefully, I don't bump into him for a while.

Supposedly the best monitor on the market, bought from LaptopsDirect for £799.99, which is around £101.21 cheaper than getting it direct from Dell.

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My 43" Dell Ultra U4323QE 43" IPS 4K UHD USB-C Monitor and LOGITECH - MX Keys S Plus Wireless Keyboard and a LOGITECH - MX Master 4 Wireless Mouse came yesterday.

So, I'm now thinking how to set it all up in the study as that is a lot of tech for an already crowded desk.

Again. I'll think about it.

DPD delivered it, with the driver asking for my code.

"What code?" I asked.

This was interesting, as it is the first time any delivery driver as asked for a STD code sent to either my email or phone.

In the past we've had expensive items get delivered to the wrong property and kept, therefore this is a great idea. Time consuming for the driver but you are absolutely certain that nothing will ever go missing.

Anyway, everything is now moving that bit closer.

I'm contemplating moving everything into an office and sounded out the local estate agent the other day about a property up in Fountain Court, in the town centre, which would be big enough for what I want.

Enough room for me to both set the magazine and work on the project.

But do I need a second office? I already have one in Doncaster Airport that I've not been to since July 2011... really!

Why?

Because I hate it.

So... I have a few things I need to think about.

16 May 2026.

A rather belated Good morning on Day 500.

I was up at 8:00 am and out through the woods with the hound.

I could have got up three hours earlier as I awoke with a right headache.

Big Scott and Edyta came round for a curry last night and I shifted around eight Peroni's and a bottle and a half of Prosecco and a sparling Chiraz respectively, that latter of which Edyta had brought and which reminded me of Tizer.

Anyway, I didn't get to bed until 11:40 pm and had the pleasure of watching the drains back up again.

That brilliant Dyno Rod guy - who I spoke so well about last month... clearing the drains within 10 minutes and then telling me his life story...

The reality? Just another bullshit merchant.

He didn't do them properly. That's the trouble with these franchises. You think they are trained specialist's, but in reality they know about as much as you and I.

Yesterday afternoon, I picked up my new computer.

A very serious bit of hardware, which I am told is worth more now than when I ordered it, due to price of RAM going through the roof.

Check out the motherboard's and external points.

Around the same price as a brand new car, it is quite possibly the most powerful computer in the north of England.

I also bought the 43" Dell Ultra U4323QE 43" IPS 4K UHD USB-C Monitor and LOGITECH - MX Keys S Plus Wireless Keyboard - Black and a LOGITECH - MX Master 4 Wireless Mouse - Graphite, yesterday.

£1,028.96.

They should be with me later today.

As Julie will tell you, I know how to spend money.

This project - The A's, is currently looking like a £2 million investment as it stands and I've not even started animating, yet...

Opposite I've got the Angie Mellor character walking up the marble staircase and in the hallway of 24A Boelyn Mews.

As I keep on saying, Angie animates brilliantly.

15 May 2026.

Good morning.

I was up at 6:40 am.

I'd just heard the back door slam shut, Julie taking the hound out for her morning walk through the woods.

Last night, I used the last rump steaks out of the freezer and made a steak and mushroom pie.

The dog obviously knew that there was a good quarter portion left and ripped Julie's arm out of the socket to get home for it.

We must have the greediest dog in the world.

As soon as she heard me sharpening the knife the other evening prior to trimming the steaks meat, she was sat in anticipation at the breakfast bar.

Pavlov certainly had a point.

She's the same when the fridge door opens.

I am picking up my new singing and dancing piece of hardware up this morning, which after 499 days, I'm still not ready for.

Opposite are another couple of snaps of Jenny Mellor enjoying herself over in Laos.

As I've said previously, I have had to rewrite a lot of Series 2, due to severe changing of world politics that is happening in the now. That being Iran.

Still. I think it makes for a better story.

The photos aren't actually Laos - but the neighbouring country of Thailand.

Sheffield Wednesday - note the shirt - is a very minor theme all the way through Series 2, as Jenny knows and accepts that they are rubbish, but for the life of her, she can't help watching out for their results.

"I try to stop liking them but I can't," she tells her Granddad John.

"Yeah, you must have masochistic tendencies like your mam."

Jenny just looks it him dumbfounded.

Whilst in Laos, her family and other people are all intrigued by the football shirts she wears.

Watch out for it!

The Speedibar in Hammersmith.

A fictitious diner that I named after a cafe that was on Doncaster's East Laithe Gate during the late 1970s to early 1980s, and that was frequented by Mods.

---

Music.

Last night I listened to a couple of albums by the very underrated Alternative Rock band Feeder. Those were: Polythene (1997) and Echo Park (2001).

If I can I will use a couple of Feeder tracks... I say a couple, but some of their music is exceptional.

It is said during a scene in Series 1 where Leoni Middleton and Anita Pallenburg are with Rod The Mod in the Speedibar diner that Jenny Deal's favourite band were in fact, Feeder.

So, I've added an album track to the Music player opposite... basically, Feeder's vocalist Grant Nicholas is singing about having a headache / hangover!

14 May 2026.

Good morning.

I was up at 5:45 am this morning and out through the woods with the hound after a good 10 hours sleep.

My body-clock has been all over the place of late.

Yesterday, was another work day: My day job, and fairly hard going, if I'm being honest.

Whilst work was frustrating, Julie's day was even more so.

She had a medical appointment with the surgeon at the hospital and a staggering nine months later, it has been confirmed that she has to have her gall bladder removed.

The surgeon in the Lyto Hospital in Paralimni, Cyprus originally told her that, and gave her all the scans and diagnosis to hand to her doctor.

Nine months ago.

It didn't matter. Because they don't give a fuck.

The NHS. It wants burning to the ground and rebuilding from scratch.

This is said by the politically astute Gaynor in Series 1, when she has her first job placement prior to her going to university, and after she sees some of the nurses in the ward tossing it off.

Anyway...

Opposite are a couple of photographs of Angie Mellor over at Mason's flat.

What may seem like a strange relationship, is anything but.

As I've stated, Angie is a very interesting character.

Mason sees Angie as just a person who is kind and thoughtful.

Angie getting married and having her own home and bills was a massive reality check for her.

However, and this is a big however.

Mason, although academically through-the-roof, was young, and still needed looking after, and with Angie initially working for a high street bank in Chiswick, she had to walk past the butchers and bakers... And no matter how cash-strapped Angie was, and she was - she always bought something in for Mason... Just so he could take it home.

And Mason never forgot this. Ever.

The relationship between Angie and Mason was quite special... And Gaynor, she initially found this very annoying... and even Maureen told her eldest daughter: "Angie, leave the lad alone."

Did she?

Absolutely not.

It got that bad that Maureen even went to see Rochana (Ana) Reung - Mason's Gran, in what I hope will be a great scene.

"I think you forget who your youngest daughter is," Ana told her.

To be continued.

So... Music.

I've added Puddle of Mudd's 2002 hit - She Hates Me, to the music player as it was this song, along with Alvvays' Archie, Marry Me that inspired the Series 1 episode - Sixth Sense.

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

13 May 2026.

Good morning.

I am up.

It is 4:10 am.

As was yesterday, I'm now in the study with a cup of sweet tea - however, unlike yesterday, nothing woke me other than the fact that I have an overactive mind.

Today will be another day of hammering away at my day job. You look at all the blank space in the magazine template at the beginning of each month and you could think How the hell am I going to fill that?

Once you start, however - it becomes no big deal, as I have been doing it for years, and is all down to experience.

April's issue of magazine, was perhaps the most complete and best one that I've ever done and I've done of 300 of them.

When I am happy, I work.

Without Cyprus and this project, I've no idea where I'd be. As Julie would tell you, I need something to aim for (something to do) as I easily get bored.

Before the conception of The A's - you know, before it became an idea I was going over to Cyprus each month loaded up with football biographies. I was reading over one a day and at the end I got bored.

I needed something.

I'd been fascinated by the reality of 3D, but as in ABC's 1983 track - That was then, but this is now.

I started writing and collecting 3D assets with absolutely no idea of how to animate them at 20 - 30 frames per second, nor did I know how to operate the software.

I watched YouTube videos and was in awe at the way some animators got their assets to dance with one saying that it took him a staggering 32 hours to render.

I look back at the said animation and it was cartoony at best. I look back at mine and they are shit. Even, some I put on here, now - the timing is always out. Mainly because I throw them together in minutes just to get the daily blog out of the way.

The truth is however, that I have done several animations - not in 3D, but 2D, that are absolutely awesome, and that would break the internet if I marketed them properly.

Not just the quality of the animations, but the content and the dialogue.

And all it was, was me practicing with the software, of how to use the frames and get the timings right.

I use 10-12 second frames and always feel that I should use every second of that frame, which is very wrong. I should just use what I need to.

Anyway, I'm waffling...

Music.

I've just added another track by Belly to the music player / widget opposite.

12 May 2026.

Good morning.

I am up.

It is 3:45 am and I am in the study with a cup of sweet tea looking out through the window at the dark.

The dog got me out of bed with her barking.

I got up and let her out, but she wasn't as enthusiastic as she generally is at chasing shadows around the drive, patio and garden, so I'm thinking that it wasn't a cat.

Nevertheless, I went outside onto the patio and saw nothing.

I'll take her out for her walk around 6:00 am.

Yesterday was a day of nothingness, the highlight of which was two fillet steaks, scallops and king prawns with a salad after Julie came in early as she had some banking to do.

I was going to jump back into the script, but I was tired and went to bed early, and now here I am, therefore I'll have an hour with it this morning.

So...

Opposite are just a couple of shots of Mason's wife, Anita up at her parents place in St Anne's-on-Waveney during the Christmas holidays.

Their place has a guest room / apartment where she and Mason stay, and Jenny has her own bedroom and bathroom.

Jenny in her compact bedroom with the Pallenburg's dog to keep her company.

---

As I've maybe stated, Jenny loves staying with the Pallenburg's as to a child it is exciting - especially as Granny Freja gets up at daft o'clock and is always busy from getting up to going to bed. This is certainly noted by Jenny in Episode 18.

Music.

I've ordered a load of CD's the other day. Four by the American rock band The Lemon Twigs. These are: Do Hollywood (2016); Go To School (2018); Songs For The General Public (2020); and Everything Harmony (2023).

The band's music has been noted for its stylistic roots in 1960s and 1970s pop and rock music.

A very listenable band.

I also ordered three by American rock band Death Cab for Cutie. These are: Plans (2005; Narrow Stairs (2008); and Thank You for Today (2018).

And the final one was Neutral Milk Hotel's In the Aeroplane Over the Sea (2018).

So, something to listen to.

Opposite, I have added Veruca Salt's The Same Person (2000) to the music player, widget.

The song - which is the opening track on their album, Resolver (2000), has to be the shortest song ever, and one of the most beautiful.

If I can use it in The A's, I will, as it depicts the Gaynor character in Series 2, quite perfectly.

The orchestral music within it could also be used. In fact, it could be used a lot.

This is certainly one of my favourite tracks.

11 May 2026.

Good morning.

I was up at 5:50 am and out through the woods with the hound.

Last night there had been some rain so it was a bit fresh out.

Today is a work day. My day job.

I have around 20 days to put an 84-page magazine together from scratch, and get it signed off before our next flight out to Cyprus, which is on the 5th of June.

I'm also supposed to be picking up my all singing and dancing piece of hardware so I can animate the series, but as stated - I'm still nowhere near ready for it yet.

Yesterday, I worked on the script - the transitional Episodes 18 and 19, which change the course of the story from what it was originally, to what it will be.

My thoughts are that the new version is a better idea. Much nicer, that is for sure.

The Extras (non speaking assets). I said that I'd need around 3,000, maybe I have underestimated that, I don't know.

I'll see how it goes.

I have to get my head in gear over the next couple of weeks as the story has been flowing, therefore, rather than me getting bored and wanting to go up to The Red Lion, which has been getting on both our nerves of late, I need to jump back into the project, and after dinner, take the laptop into the kitchen on a night.

The Red Lion isn't the problem, the people who frequent it can be.

Without sounding conceited, we are very well known, be it for the right or wrong reasons, meaning that we attract both types of person.

Julie's grievance's are two-fold. 1) People walking up to the table and hovering at the end of the bed like the fucking grim reaper, angling for conversation; and 2) The one step further set: "Do you mind if we join you?".

The latest is the old guy with the dog - the white Russian Retriever. He has no interest in conversation. He just wants to talk at you and all he does is brag and boast. And he is such a fucking liar.

There is an old woman of a similar ilk, who Julie fucked-off a while ago. She is the same on a conversational level, however - she is just plain nasty when she doesn't get her own way. Not that she has said anything bad to us, as she hasn't.

With other people, however - that hasn't been the case.

Now, she sits at the bar on her own, having pissed everyone off.

These people have no interest in conversation, they are all about them.

Zero conversation, apart from the pre-prepared script in his head, mainly about his daughter's alleged brilliance.

Then they are the elastic-band-set - the people that come to your table every 15 minutes, just because they are on their own... And believe me - there is probably a reason for that.

I love company, but not this type.

It does however, give you subject matter for when you are writing.

Sunday Will Never Be The Same by Spanky & Our Gang (1967)

This track, is not just pure-1967 west coast USA, it also gave me the idea of a character, by the name of Famke Rosenstein, who Mason always refers to as Spanky.

"What do you call her that for?" Gaynor asks him.

"Why, would you like me to call you, Spanky?" he replies.

Spanky, a trainee journalist with The Guardian newspaper (in Series 1) is the only daughter of Zeffy and Renana Rosenstein and the granddaughter of Simeon Cartier-Bloem - an investment banker.

10 May 2026.

Good morning on what likes it could be a lovely day.

I was up at 6:15 am and out through the woods with the hound, and prior to getting there had to negotiate a a squirrel scurrying across the A161 along with the waste ground top side of the garden centre full of rabbits. And by full - I mean full.

I got back in to coffee and some toast, my body clock being sort of back to normal... and I've got that irritable itching under my arms again, which I assumed, either rightly or wrongly, was a resurfacing of shingles.

Whatever it is, it's fucking annoying.

I didn't touch the script yesterday as I was tired all day, and therefore not in the mood. I will today, however - as the next couple of weeks I will be hammering away at my day job.

I did however, create some more 2D character Extras in 4K.

I'm supposedly going to pick up my £15,000 computer system tomorrow, which I will use for animating the series.

Again, I know I'm not ready for it, but I can ready it, and get everything up and running.

So, today...

I prepared a leg of lamb last night - garlic and ground mint, whilst Julie did the four cod loins and two salmon fillets for our tea... along with Jersey potatoes, which I have to say, are my absolute favourite, as they melt in your mouth.

Opposite is one of the batch of photographs of the ageless Ana Reung - the grandmother of Mason Green, that I did a while ago.

Whilst initially writing up Series 2 and unlike in Series 1, Ana was a peripheral figure - now, however - that certainly isn't the case

When Gaynor first meets her in Series 1, she is taken aback by Ana's sincerity.

That sincerity is evident all the way through the series with Gaynor's mum, Maureen becoming great friends with her - regardless of what has happened between their children.

Anyway...

9 May 2026.

Good morning from the UK.

I was up and out through the woods with the hound at 4:25 am.

I'm always up early when I first get home - the long day of yesterday's travel catching up with me.

We got home at midday and it was a fight to stay awake. We walked the dog, and arranged the tins in a couple of cupboards, cleaned out the two cupboards where I keep my spices and herbs and rearranged the freezer ready for today's Tesco online shop - which should arrive between 11:00 am and 11:59 am.

We were in bed around 6:00 pm after a tuna salad and an episode of the groundbreaking 1959 American fantasy science fiction horror anthology series created and presented by Rod Serling, The Twilight Zone - the latter of which was utter garbage.

This, is the fourth episode on the first disc of the DVD boxset: The Sixteen-Millimeter Shrine which starred the London-born Ida Lupino.

She was in the 1941 film High Sierra, with Humphrey Bogart - which I watched before Christmas and thoroughly enjoyed.

Ida Lupino - a beautiful looking, and very good actress, but this certainly wasn't the role for her.

Still, it has made me think about looking at her filmography, so something must have clicked upstairs.

Ida Lupino. Born 33 Ardbeg Road, Herne Hill, South London.

The original film noir girl.

---

The Bigamist is a 1953 American drama film noir directed by her and starred her along with Joan Fontaine, Edmond O'Brien, and Edmund Gwenn.

The Bigamist has been cited as the first American feature film made in the sound era in which the female star of a film directed herself..

So, why haven't I got it?

I have. I've just bought it. A Region 1 DVD for £11.99 off eBay.

Maybe there is something that I can pick up or learn from it.

So...

The four and a half hours flying back from Cyprus gave me chance to think where I am with the series.

I am now fine with how it will end, but to get to an end there has to be a start, which means trawling back through the Series 1 script to help produce the reasoning that will produce the end.

It's complex, but such is life.

Opposite are some shots of little Jenny Mellor, along with some more music by Alvvays that I've uploaded to the music player / widget.

I first heard the track around the similar time to their hit - Archie, Marry Me, which I'm hoping to use in Episode 2: Sixth Sense.

Plimsoll Punks is the song that gave me the idea - not so much of the Jenny Mellor character, but how she evolves as a person... Her personality, her dress, the music she listens to.

If I can use Plimsoll Punks - I will.

8 May 2026.

Kaliméra

It is 1:25 am and a long day awaits.

I've been up a while working on the idea for a very different ending to The A's as world politics bollocksed up the original ending due to my prediction coming true several years early.

I've had the new ending in my head for the past three days, but had to do some deep research so as to make it feel real. Real, meaning believable.

I have to admit - I have surprised myself, as it is emotionally on a different level.

And it all started with Jenny Mellor wanting to keep her dad's wife, Anita, company towards the end of the Christmas period, as her dad is in Lisbon on work.

As they sometimes do, a few friends and relatives ended up calling round for a cuppa - and with Jenny being the youngest, she is tasked as the gofer, making tea and handing out biscuits... when one of the guests, Julie Kingdom, drops a depth charge of information on Jenny's lap, which absolutely blows her mind.

Earlier on in Series 2, (Auntie) Julie picks Jenny up from school as she hasn't had much time with her and one thing Jenny finds - is that Julie tells some great family stories.

"That story was right mint," Jenny says.

"Yeah - I've got thousands of 'em," her Auntie Julie says.

However, this particular one blows Jenny away.

Anyway...

You can tell it's getting near holiday season as one of the villas opposite has holidaymakers in and they are doing what they always do on Night 1... Making fucking noise, and for no other reason than to have a competition to see who can be the loudest.

A bath awaits...

---

It is 4:00 am and I'm in the Skala Lounge at Larnaca Airport. The bacon, eggs and mushrooms should be getting brought out in 50 minutes.

Opposite, I've just recreated four actual film sets for the series in 4K, 16:9 widescreen.

7 May 2026.

Kaliméra.

It is 5:10 am (GMT+2) and I am up.

I had an early night after having too much beer in the sun.

Yesterday, absolutely made up for the weekend's storms and down at the beach bar on Ayia Trias, the heat of the sun, masked by the breeze, did its business and I came home with a violent tan...which was as sore as a hell.

"I reckon I've got sunstroke," I said to Julie, as I felt quite ill - which was certainly nothing to do with those 8 or 9 beer's that I drank.

Julie's response was totally Julie: "Don't be stupid."

I fell asleep on one of the sofa's listening to some music and felt groggy when I awoke.

After tea, we nipped down to the church on the marina and fed the feral cats for the third time this week.

I had a cup of tea and went to bed feeling extremely uncomfortable and now here I am, sat at the table wearing a hoodie, and very much expecting another hot day.

Last day today, as why fly back to the UK on one of the first flights out of Larnaca Airport.

Opposite is Anita in the kitchen.

Shooting Chiaroscuro cinematography in the kitchen doesn't really work and this is possibly the best shot out of the 12 that I did.

It doesn't really work shooting in High Key either.

I'm hoping, when in 3D, I will have more control over the end product. Hoping being the optimum word.

In the story, Jenny Mellor has only cereal for breakfast at home, as her mum - Gaynor, comes over as maybe a bit of a health freak... or control freak?

Maybe half-and-half, along with the fact that she is always on a diet, which has been indirectly spurred on by Anita's appearance.

It's quite funny at times.

At her dad and Anita's she makes the most of being spoiled and has cups of tea in bed and sausage sarnies for breakfast, mainly "cos they are right mint".

"You'll end up turning into a sausage," Anita tells her.

Music.

I've just uploaded Elastica's track - Never Here (1995), to the music player, which along with their Stutter (1993), I'd love to use in The A's.

6 May 2026.

Mia polý kalí méra gia esás.

That's a very Good morning to you.

And why not?

Last night, my football club - Arsenal made it to the Champions League Final for the first time in 20 years, and today, the sun will be out.

In fact, it was out yesterday, for a bit. And by bit - I mean bit.

We had a walk from Levanda Hills and along the coastal path, past the Tulum beach bar and through the harbour and marina and had a drink at the bar on Ayia Trias beach and had two hours watching the sun trying to break through the clouds... and a couple of Keo's.

We also ate out at Yiannis' restaurant up in Vrysoulles where I had a fillet steak and garlic prawns in a bit of surf and turf combo.

As for Julie, she had her Mexican chicken.

We came closer to home in called in what was a packed Dave's Bar just up from the Kapparis / Paralimni roundabout.

The reason it was packed is that they were doing something called music bingo, which brings out the UK Expats.

Nuff said.

This morning, I was up at 6:10 am (GMT+2).

The back door is not open yet, but it will be, and I've just opened a jar of Nescafe Black Roast - which for some strange reason, you can't really get in the UK anymore.

Today, I promised Julie that if Arsenal made it to the final, I'd forfeit a day on the script and spend it over at the beach bar and would even take a dip in the Mediterranean, the latter of which was a fucking stupid thing to say as it'll be absolutely freezing.

Anyway, I said it, so it will happen.

So.

Yesterday, I managed to write up a few scenes for Episodes 18 and 19... and focused a bit on Morgan Barclay LLP and both the J Andrew Morgan (and Dean Barclay) character... You know - from the song by Sleeper... "Pleased to meet you Mr Morgan, how are you feeling today..."

But more to the point the episode(s) show the shrewd business mind and power, which Jacob Gotleib - the owner of the JSG Merchant Bank possesses.

In Series 1, Jacob initially comes over as a very dark character, but there's much more to him than that... much more... and during the said transitional episodes, Julie Kingdom tells little Jenny Mellor some tales from the past that involve Jacob... and Jenny is knocked sideways.

The beauty of not rushing the writing gives time for the story to evolve.

Anyway, I'm going to put another coffee on and open the back door as I can see the sun.

Music.

I have added We are the Music Makers and we are the Dreamers of Dreams (2022) by Tess Parks to the music player

I always said that I'd use only two tracks from any one artist in The A's - however, this is the third from the Canadian-born singer-songwriter of psychedelic music.

The cinematography will mostly be shot as Chiaroscuro - noir, and the shoegaze, dreamy pop kinda music sort of goes hand in hand.

5 May 2026.

Kaliméra.

I was up at 6:10 am (GMT+2) with a thumping headache like you wouldn't believe and aching muscles in my legs - mainly around my knees.

It's not from what I drank either.

I had been tossing and turning for the past two hours, wondering how to keep the momentum going in the transition Episodes of 18 and 19.

Anyway, I'm up.

Yesterday, from a weather perspective turned out to be yet another shit day.

I have never known it like this - ever.

The back door should be open and the sun coming out - but nope. That is forecast to happen from Wednesday.

Opposite are the two sisters in Series 2.

Angie and Gaynor Mellor

---

I've held off the Gaynor character's Series 2 appearance as I was unsure how she was going to look.

When she first comes back to West London she is overweight and slightly unkempt.

There is a treadmill that has been left in the house that she and Jenny move into, so apart from near starving herself (dieting), she uses that to get back in shape - and as you can see, after four months that is the end product.

"How long will it take you to look like Neeta?" Jenny asks her mum, when they first come down.

"If I have my jaws wired, about five years," Gaynor replies.

I also have her with her hair tied up, which also adds a bit of class to the aged character asset.

So, these images are supposedly in the New Year of Series 2, which would be Monday 6 January 2031, when Angie formerly starts at JSG.

So, over the two series both characters grow.

Music.

I think now is the time to add Sleeper's Rollercoaster which is off their album, Pleased to Meet You (1997).

Why?

Well, if you trawl back through the blog / journal, you'll find that a character was made after my first hearing the lyrics and in Series 2, Episode 18: Christmas With The Cranks, he comes very much into play.

4 May 2026.

Kaliméra.

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

The door is open and it's sunny outside - however, that not the whole story.

Last night it absolutely hounded it down, the rain being that heavy I thought it would break through the bedroom windows.

As I've often said, when it rains over here, it absolutely rains.

Weird weather, to say that we are four days into May.

Julie is just saying that the weather in January and February was much better - the only difference being that it's now much warmer on a night.

Yesterday, I did a lot of work on the script - sort of between Episode's 18 and 19 as they sort of go together - and not just in a one after the other sort of way.

Also, and as I've also often said, little Jenny is the glue that holds Series 2 together... why? Possibly because without her, there would be no solid link between the Mellor's, the Green's and the Gotleib's.

Opposite is Mason in the suburbs of Lisbon and again notice the use of Chiaroscuro photography / cinematography (noir).

He looks absolutely brilliant in the Portuguese winter sun.

Today, I'll do more on the script and hopefully the ideas will flow.

The beauty of me not working to a deadline is that ideas are always forming.

Music.

Apart from having the radio on in the house and whilst driving the car, I'm not really listening to any music.

I checked both my internal and external hard drives yesterday and there are over 1200 tracks and opposite on the music player / widget - is one of them.

Not Too Soon by the American alternative rock band Throwing Muses, when the group featured both Tanya Donelly (Belly) and her step sister, Kristen Hersh.

3 May 2026.

Kaliméra.

I was up at 8:10 am (GMT+2).

The back door is open, the birds are singing and the main thing is - the sun is out.

That wasn't the case yesterday and according to the forecast it won't be today, either.

Julie did all the jobs she'd planned to do yesterday, including doing a bit of snagging with the paintwork in Bedroom No. 2 where Jamie and Lianne stay when they are here.

That bedroom has a balcony and as such has a small surface water drain / downpipe for when it rains. The the other year it got blocked by debris and at one time was a couple of inches deep with water, which caused damp and flaking paint on the inner wall.

Every property we have had over here has been the same. You need to live in them all the time, so windows and doors can be regularly opened... you know - so the air can circulate.

For as much as these new build houses cost, they wouldn't last 10 minutes in the UK.

I worked on the script until 3:00 pm - my only distraction being washing the car and putting some weed killer down on the pavement outside the house.

I also created quite a lot of low res 2D character - extras, to populate the set / scenes.

As I said, the other day, I'll probably need around 3,000.

The story / script hasn't really moved on, as I am back and forth altering dialogue to make it all fit, as I have often said... I write in sequences / blocks as opposed to writing from start to finish. You know: Once upon a time to and they lived happily ever after. And as that is the case, I need to keep on going back in time to alter things and to ensure everything flows.

I enjoy writing a script more than I do a book or magazine.

With a book you maybe have to pontificate a bit - you know, use words that you'd never really use, ever. The mining and piling-stroke-civil engineering magazine I own is relatively straightforward - you just write as though you are smacking someone in the mouth. You know - get your point over immediately.

I don't know whether or not I've said this, but my father-in-law once bought me a book for my birthday.

Terry-Thomas: "I say... Hard cheese old boy."

---

I love the black and white films and Terry-Thomas was of that era: The Bounder. Therefore, the book was his sort of bio...

I read through a page and a bit of the introduction and put it down. It was shit. The author, Graham McCann pontificated to the point of fucking exhaustion using four words where one would have sufficed each of which you'd never ever use in your everyday language. Well I fucking wouldn't anyway.

I abhor pontification as mush as I do bragging, boasting and lying - as all go hand-in-hand.

Opposite are images of the main three female characters, which I reckon I've put on here before: Anita, Gaynor and Angie.

Music.

I've added James's Getting Away With It (All Messed Up) (2001) to the music player / widget.

Near the end of the series I need a track that took me to the place I needed to be and this was it.

Mason was alone.

I'm not sure if the scenes will survive in the story as politics have altered what I originally wanted to do.

I know this is a work of fiction, but the story does actually follow actual events.

2 May 2026.

Kaliméra apó tin Kýpro.

That's Good morning from Cyprus.

I was up at 10:00 am (GMT+2) - having a lay-in (lie-in) after what was a long day, topped off with three beers up at Fosis Coffee Shop in Vrysoulles - a shit pizza, three bottles of Estrella and God knows how much chocolate, whilst watching the first episode of Series 5 of The Sopranos.

As series' go, it was groundbreaking, but in reality it should have ended after Series 3 or 4...

There are some good bits in it but...

The belated post is largely because the internet has been off.

Since 2014, our internet provider - Cosmos Wireless, has taken payment as a direct debit via PayPal.

Last month, however - they decided they weren't going to do that anymore.

Julie's just got in touch with them, swiped her card, and we are now back up and running.

They are supposedly emailing us a direct debit form.

Speaking of Julie, she is now in the garden / pool area, sweeping and picking up all the debris from last months winds.

As the weather goes - it's 21° and as dull as fucking disco.

Not for long, I hope.

Opposite is Christie Gotleib with Gaynor.

For a time, it was a very productive relationship.

Christie is an awesome character - and just like her husband, nonchalantly sweeps the bête noire - any adversary, aside - like flicking a speck of dust from a lapel.

In Series 2, Christie focuses on Gaynor's daughter, Jenny... which is a really nice part of the story.

Music.

Now, this is one of the orginals.

Gold Dust Woman by Fleetwood Mac.

I remember first listening to this track whilst on the plane flying home from Cypius.

In my first effort (as a film), this was to be Mason and Gaynor's song. It still is, although the scene and story changed.

The Hammersmith Vaults has a jukebox... and this was playing the first time that they ever went out (out as in out) together as a couple.

Even now, when I hear it - it takes me into the Vaults and to the orgiginal scene, which now - doesn't exist.

The title of the song and the lyrics? Awesome.

Right. That's me done for today.

I'm nipping out to wash the car and then I'll do some more on the script...

1 May 2026.

Good morning.

It is 2:35 am.

I'm in the the study, I have my coffee and I'm looking through the window at the dark.

In an hour or so, we'll be making the trip down the M1 to Luton Airport.

We are on the 10:25 am flight out to Larnaca

May is my favourite time of year in Cyprus. You have the sun, but not its intensity like over the following three months.

April was a good month for the project as I made lots of decisions. The style of cinematography for one. I've also started creating 2D characters - extras, and have done 126 over the last two days.

To properly fully populate the bars, shops, restaurants, schools and streets I reckon that I'll need around 3,000 extra's, so - it's going to be quite a time consuming process - and one which will take up a lot of memory on the computer system, as just one character (head and shoulders) weighs in at between 17 and 20 MB.

It's quite an interesting process.

In a few months, it'll be a case of me trawling the pubs in the UK and Cyprus with the Canon EOS and taking headshots of different people who I know.

Anyway, that's in the future.

The script will hopefully be hammered this week.

I reconstructed the setup of the story on the website.

Hit either button 1 or 2 and it will take you directly to either, although the Series 2 episode images are a work in progress.

Opposite, is the new image for Episode 13: A Carrier Bag Full of Secrets.

Whilst writing it, it was possibly my favourite episode, as the emotion in that scene felt real.

Mason came to pick up his daughter and bang!

She initially lashes out at him, and he has that to deal with... the next bit, however, is quite heart-wrenching...

But that's in the future...

I have also added another song to the music player / widget.

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© JAMES DUROSE-RAYNER 2026