The battleground

There are a lot of cyclists in our local town centre and they are not always considerate towards pedestrians. These two had an element of "you shall not pass" about them.

I was waiting for TSM to tip out of the office but it was hot and she was held up so I sat and had an al fresco alcohol free beer and watched the crowds - two legged and wheeled - go by.

My day had been without incident. I am not good with heat and it was 27 degrees today so was not going to go too mad. Managed to read a fair bit. Am halfway through "The Proof of My Innocence" which is a very clever Johnathan Coe book that mercilessly lampoons the far right from the Thatcher era through to the Truss debacle by way of an intellectual murder mystery.

I had a session with a practice nurse about my varicose veins, having reached an age when one of my legs is beginning to look like a tin of corned beef. They’ve been hurting recently. The era of compression socks is upon me (that sounds a bit Alfie Tennyson but I’m not being dramatic). I also have to moisturise. She offered to refer me for an out -patient appointment but hinted that I was more likely to win Euro millions than get one this side of the bible barrier, which in my case is just over three years away.

It is set to get progressively hotter until it hits 31 degrees on Sunday, then goes down a bit but not a lot. I must be sensible …