Simon Higgins

Today’s Tourette-like outburst prompted by #BBCR4Today introducing Farage as their next interviewee, bleating on about Burnham’s ‘betrayal’ of the Brexit vote.

Saw he practice physio about my knee today. Discovered that my pain/functionality score thing is now borderline for referral for possible knee replacement on the NHS; given the queue I’ll probably be well-qualified for one by the time it’s done.

They taste great!

Having a go at the bialy (Polish white roll) recipe in James Morton’s bread book.

A bad fortnight for Andrew Feather; not only did he lose one of his Strava KOMs to our Peter, he missed out on the CTT National hill climb championship yesterday by 1 s (!) Ed Laverack won men’s race and Illi Gardner women’s. 1st male junior did a faster time than the seniors!

Tourette-style outburst from me, I’m afraid, as #BBCR4today features an interview with Tice.

40 mph headwind predicted for tomorrow’s CTT National Hill Climb Championships up Porlock. 519 on the start list. Wonder if they’ll go ahead with it.

Red sky in the morning, turbo session looming.

Had a look at next year's Tour de France Stage 2 (www.letourgb.com/tdfroutes/st...). They're riding roads beloved of local club cyclists; bit humbling to see that Trough of Bowland, Belmont, Jubilee Tower etc. are all rated Cat. 4! Also, there's a fair amount of uncategorised climbing.

Just heard that BBC Radio 4 Extra is to be a victim of BBC funding cuts. Whatever am I supposed to listen to during The Archers? And the list of insightful /analytical Radio 4 programs to be scrapped is terrible. I suppose we'll get more dreadful cheap pseudo-podcast shite instead.

#BBCISIHAC should sue whoever plagiarised this 'ruin a song by adding in my pants' thing.

Another triumph for the Alternative Parcel Company today. Tracked my parcel until the courier was at the address before mine; went outside and waited. No show. Tried tracking again; got a 'contact the depot' message. WTAF?!

The ‘Alternative’ part of The Alternative Parcel Company is evidently that they pretend they’re going to deliver in a 2 h slot, then they don’t. Repeatedly.

And Mrs H has now harvested the remaining green tomatoes. There’s another 5.5 kg of them. I need some more recipes.

I hope this green tomato chutney tastes good because I’ve just made 5 kg of it!

Son down in Bristol took a Strava KOM off Andrew Feather the other day. As a reward he saw a kingfisher on a country walk yesterday!

My old school mate Nick Park, and Xand van Tulleken, on #BBCSaturdayLive. Almost worth tolerating Adrian Chiles for that combo.

I’m going to have to dig out that green tomato chutney recipe again.

The beck at the bottom of the garden is a bit lively today after the torrential rain last night.

Walked a few miles on relatively easy ground in lovely scenery round Glenridding with Mrs H and my younger brother Ed. Unseasonably warm and sunny. My right knee really painful tho. Had to walk backwards down steep bits. May have to consider a private knee replacement I think.

In the Lakes, by Ullswater. As may be expected for the Lakes in October, it’s absolutely throwing it down. But we’re indoors, with wine. Here for the weekend with Mrs H, then spending time with my brothers.

Mrs H’s latest target practice is not very impressive as far as dispersion is concerned.

Sounds like the last day of an ACS meeting to me.

Kind of makes up for Kagan missing out on the 2001 Nobel prize for chiral catalysis.

ResearchGate emails to say I've been cited by a team from the University of Gondar. Not surprising that I misinterpreted this.

Single winner for the Physics Nobel - very unusual in these days of collaborative, multimillion pound experiments and theory.

Jeffrey Archer was apparently a particularly dedicated writer. According to #BBCR4Today, he died ‘between writing sessions’. Posthumous writing- I wonder how that went?

BREAKING: The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine has been awarded to Karl Deisseroth, Peter Hegemann and Georg Nagel “for their discoveries concerning light-gated ion channels and optogenetics.” More to follow.

On the basis of that Green Party policy it’s clear that all the Corbyn fruitcakes now call themselves Green.

We’re in our local Nepalese restaurant Sano Nepal Gateacre. It’s really phenomenal. Food is delicious, prices are reasonable and they’ve a decent wine list .

This is how I feel when I'm sat surrounded by glamorous young things in the Uni branch of Costa!

A regular journey for me a decade ago when my Mum lived alone in Grange over Sands. The ride from Liverpool to Arnside was decent, and there was a great fish and chip shop there.

And not only the Today programme- extended advert on last night's The One Show (I don't watch this but Mrs H does tend to flop in front of it after work), as well!

My institution is offering me a session on how to harness generative AI in my academic writing, run by Nature Masterclasses. They really are pushing this stuff at us, aren't they? Maybe I'm a Luddite but I'm not tempted.

Today’s favourite #warart Dazzle-ships in Drydock at Liverpool, by Edward Wadsworth, 1919 Craig Moore on Facebook @dreadships.bsky.social #navalhistory #maritimehistory

From Berichte, 1889, on attempts to isolate thioacetone: '...our attempts in this direction failed due to the fact that the substance possesses a dreadful odour, which spreads in an astonishingly short time and fouls entire districts of the city.' City was Freiburg. #chemsky

Glut of homegrown tomatoes turned into tomato and roasted red pepper sauce for the freezer.

That was a fantastic climax to the men’s race - the US team played a blinder tactically, unlike the French and Belgians. Oscar Onley and Tom Pidcock did what they could in that company.

Oscar Onley is doing too much work. Don't go back into 2nd wheel after a turn in this company!

Bruno Armirail is a complete monster- he's almost single-handedly destroyed the gap to the break of 8 minutes. And he's still on the front of the bunch in the Men's World Champs road race.

I have a dilemma. It's the men's World Road Race champs and I have to cook dinner. I guess now is the best time, when the peloton still has 4.5 minutes to make up on the suicidal guys in the break, and there's 150 km to go.

What an enthralling women's world Championship race that was. I doubt the men's race tomorrow will be better from an entertainment point of view. Congrats to Demi Vollering; commiserations to a gutsy Kasia Niewiadoma-Phinney who did everything she could have done, really.

Our pricy pub is opposite this fine building which is the HQ of the National Union of Teachers.

We’re on the way home from Avignon. Big gap between St Pancras arrival and Euston departure so having a drink in a trad London pub where a pint of Spitfire and a single G and T cost £16.80. We’re not in Liverpool any more, Toto.

Yesterday we drove part way up Ventoux on our coach ride round local Provençal villages. I’m determined to come back and see how long it takes an old git with AF to do the Mont Ventoux climb. Well, I did do it on Zwift once.

Sur le pont d’Avignon.

Holiday going pretty well so far. Went to Gordes among other pretty Provençal villages today.

Stressful start to our holiday- had to beg a lift from daughter on the school run because our taxi didn’t turn up. Caught the train with one minute to spare. Good job as on cheap tickets only valid on this train.