Reasons to be cheerful – I have been pleasantly surprised to read that new Chinese research on dementia indicates that six lifestyle choices can slow memory decline and reduce the risk of dementia: a healthy diet, regular exercise, active social contact, cognitive activity, not smoking, and not drinking alcohol (https://guardian.pressreader.com/article/281530820153121). I cannot say that I do all these things perfectly, but I think I’m pretty close. The exception is that I do drink some alcohol – usually a glass of beer each day, and a very occasional malt whiskey. Annabel has noticed that I am not showing many signs of deteriorating. My long-term memory is reasonably intact and something that I read or hear in conversation recalls something from my past.

Even better, my driving licence has been renewed. It is reviewed annually and, this year, I have had to visit a doctor in our local surgery who asked me several questions, which were intended to indicate whether I should have my licence renewed. There was a lot at stake here as, if I didn’t achieve a convincing level, Annabel would have had to drive every time we went out, as well as taking me to the meeting points for my walking groups and photography club.

Another reason to be cheerful occurred when I visited the optician again. He went through the usual checkup and pronounced that I now had very good vision after all the recent ups and downs, and that I didn’t need to wear glasses again, except for reading, and I was safe to drive again. I can now read number plates from a distance as my eyes are working properly. It’s been a shadow hanging over me for a long time. Annabel is delighted as she no longer needs to do all the driving.

Toni, our cleaner, and her husband, Rob, dropped in to say goodbye before they moved to Middlesborough. Toni was a little emotional but said she would continue to follow my photos on Facebook (Mic Hollis). Toni did a good job, was always cheerful, and always had a chat with us before she started work. We will miss her, and we wish her good luck and happiness in their new home.

When I bought the Cumberland and Westmorland Herald at the start of the month, I discovered another of my photographs published – two crested grebes. Later in the month three more pictures appeared on the front page of the supplement – vintage aircraft at the Solway Aviation Museum near Carlisle.

Good news from Sam. He’ll be taking Imogen to her new school in the Netherlands in the New Year, so we’ll see him again before too long. Our 51st wedding anniversary was somewhat low key compared with our golden wedding anniversary last year. We celebrated with lunch at the village pub.

I’ve been out twice this month with the U3A photography group. On the first occasion we visited the Solway Aircraft Museum at Carlisle airport. There were exhibits both indoors and outdoors, and it was possible to go inside an old Vulcan bomber from the era of the Cold War. Annabel and I are hoping to take April and Cooper there. The second outing was to Lanercost Abbey, just a short distance from Hadrian’s Wall, an ancient monument with a crypt.

We’ve had a few visitors this month. Annabel’s friends from Cheshire stayed with us for a few days. I amused them with a written warning on the front door about sleeping in the garage if they exceeded a certain decibel level. I know how to make our visitors welcome. The decibel level rose exponentially in the evening, as the prosecco bottles’ contents were consumed! Luckily, Debbie had the decency to bring me a pair of noise-cancelling headphones – the perfect gadget and now one of my most treasured possessions! Every man should have them. I already find them very useful, even when there’s just Annabel in the house. That evening they all went for a meal in the pub. Apparently, Annabel didn’t get to bed until sometime between 1:30 and 2:00 a.m. I wrote my diary about 11:30 that night, but the noise level continued into the early hours of the next day. The next day we took her friends to Tom and Tara’s, to see their house and garden, and to see April’s bearded dragon, Simba.

We also met my cousin, Janet, and her husband in Keswick. They live in Surrey but every year they catch the train and stay in the same accommodation they’ve always used. Several friends from Cheshire visited us and two of them stayed overnight. They all joined us for lunch at The Shepherd in Langwathby. Nigel, Plyn and Stephen returned to Cheshire, while Dave and Jo stayed overnight. We enjoyed seeing them all and catching up with their news. Ray’s wife, Jean, came from Leamington Spa to stay with us for a couple of days. We met her at Penrith station. The following day we drove to Rheged in the rain to see an exhibition, “Lost Spells, Lost Words”, displaying the illustrations and art of Jackie Morris. On another occasion, we drove to the Shap Wells hotel to observe the red squirrels. At the end of her short stay, we dropped her off at the station but, although her train was just about on time, the engine broke down on the way, which was not ideal, to say the least.

We visited Tom and Tara’s house to see April’s birthday present, a bearded dragon. She has been fascinated by dragons since she was young, and now cares for Simba, her own personal dragon. I managed to have quite a long chat to her about how she felt about her pet, how she fed it and how she looked after it. She was really excited, bless her.

One morning we awoke to see, water running down the green lane onto the road. Having had problems with water before, we were concerned that we might have a large bill to pay. Luckily, United Utilities came to the rescue and informed us it was their responsibility, not ours. Phew!!! They dug a large hole to sort out the problem but left a large grass-free area and quite a lot of debris, which would have destroyed our lawn mower and projected stones into neighbours’ cars (and ours!). One small benefit was a small number of sandstone rocks which I placed near the front gate.

One of our next-door neighbours had contacted Covid – it’s still going around, and I’ve now had about six jabs.
We did have a huge yellow fungus on a tree stump opposite the house, but now it’s a huge white fungus.
And, finally, I’ve had another photo published on the front page of the Cumberland & Westmorland Herald – a red squirrel with a grey tail.