Substack diary no.160: Friday, 22nd. May 2026

I will be venturing out later this morning, walking up to the bus stop and on the No.7 bus for town. Not a scenic route as it is all urban: through the suburbs, past the race course and into the town centre, where the driver will switch off the engine for about 10 minutes. One day I must stay on the bus, which carries on to Totnes and Dartmouth, which is most certainly a scenic journey – free for me of course with my pensioner pass – but only £3 for everyone else. Not bad for an hour’s drive through the South Hams.

I am thinking of cooking either a chicken or king prawn chow mein. I have fresh noodles to use up and would prefer to avoid freezing them. I just need to pick up chilli, spring onion, a sweet pepper and piece of ginger from the greengrocer in the market. Sadly I do not have a wok, and making a chow mein in a shallow pan is not easy. I must save up for a wok but I would want one with a lid – and wok’s with lids are not easy to find. The reason being that I gave up my Dutch pot many years ago, and that type of pan is ideal for cooking curries. A wok would be great for curries, where there is plenty of surface area for my spice mixture to ‘catch’ as my Guyanese wife used to say, and I knew what she meant. It would be great for east Asian cooking as well.

It will be warm out today – comfortably warm for me at 22 degrees. The weekend will be too hot. I am not good with temperatures of 25 degrees and over. If it is 25 degrees in the shade imagine what it is in the sun! I have never liked sun or heat and always search out shade. Today, I shall be wearing a hat with a brim that provides a certain amount of shade. I have had enough basal cell carcinoma cut out to not want to go through that all over again! I have no doubt that ample shade will be provided by the Saracens Head, where I shall no doubt end up for a London Pride or a Proper Job – or perhaps one or two of each!