Day 5890 (17/02/2026)

It was a frosty start to the day but at least it was dry.  I had muesli & very small croissants for breakfast.

And the usual lunch.

After training had finished I went to the gym again.

Then, to mark the Chinese New Year, I had a nice Chinese tonight (so missed pancakes on pancake day).

It came with a fortune cookie. 

Day 5889 (16/02/2026)

Back in Preston, and had some muesli & half a bacon sandwich for breakfast, then off to the University.

I was expecting nearly 30 students and to start at 9am, but by 9:30am, there were only 12 of them, and by 10am we had got up to 17 or 18, which we stayed at for the day, which was odd, and some of them were overly chatty. 

I had my usual lunch, and after finishing teaching I went back to the hotel and went to the gym.

For dinner I ordered a pizza & cheesy chips, which I hardly touched.

Day 5887 & 5888 (14 & 15/02/2026)

We had a nice sleep and a lie-in, as we hadn't arranged for breakfast.  Then after we checked out we stopped off at the nearby Upton House for brunch. 

Luckily we were in a sunny area which was shaded from the very cold wind. 

Then home to relax and make a nice Valentines Day meal for the three of us. Starting with some tasty fish things and a baked Camembert.  

Then a few hours later I made a nice nice steak dinner, with a vegi option for Thomas. 

With some peppercorn sauce, and a nice glass of wine. 

We were too full for afters.

On Sunday I saw my parents for breakfast, then home to get ready to go back to Preston for the week. I got my wife some nice flowers and made a nice spaghetti bolognaise for dinner.

Then a long drive to Preston, with near constant rain for the first half of the journey and hardly any rain for the second half. Back to my usual hotel, where I had a slightly bigger room, with two single beds pushed together.

Day 5886 (13/02/2026)

Did some work first thing then got ready to go out for the day with my wife, then we went down to Poole, stopping off on the way for a nice coffee and a cake. We were staying in a PremierInn, which was really cheap, and handy for Sandbanks, where we had a table booked at Rick Steins, which was as lovely as always. 

We started with cocktails (well mine was a mocktail). and for starters we had a couple of Dorset Oysters each and some Oscietra Exmoor Caviar, served with blinis and crème fraîche. It was overly expensive but we deserved a treat. 

Then we had a glass of Rick Stein Rose, and shared a lobster thermidor, with chips. 

Which was a lovely treat and quite reasonable, when shared, in comparison to what we were thinking of ordering. 

Then we finished off with a nice coffee and some nice afters. 

Then back to the room to recover.

Day 5885 (12/02/2026)

It was an early-ish start as there was a possibility of the electricity being off all day but  thankfully it stayed on so I was able to get on with some work.  

I made a nice prawn cocktail for a late lunch for us.

 

Then I did some more work, then in the evening I made another Angela Hartnett / Dish meal, this time the sausage, with red onion & apple in a honey and wholegrain mustard glaze. 

It was really tasty. 

Day 5884 (11/02/2026)

Another busy day at work, thankfully I am nearly up to date. 

We had vegi burgers in the evening. 

Day 5883 (10/02/2026)

It was nearly a dry day, which was a refreshing change. Had a nice brunch, then did some work.  

Then we went to the tip, and went to a garden centre for a coffee and some very tasty cannoli. 

Then in the evening my wife made the Adsa ready meal, which was very nice.