A weekend in London on our own. What shall we do? | Rick Jackson

I’m actually relieved. I like routine. The kids are back at school, I’m back at the gym and our worlds seem to be careering out of control again; so much so I’d completely forgotten about our treat weekend in London which was planned last year but postponed for obvious reasons.

Our kids are spending Saturday night with their grandparents and Sarah and I will be in the Big

Smoke reliving our youth.

‘So what shall we do?’ Sarah asked. We’d both forgotten and nothing has been planned. So what shall we do?

We both found it difficult to comprehend we would have almost two days in which we don’t have to think about our children and can do whatever we want.

What about a show? What about a tour of some museums? A pub crawl around some of central London’s finest boozers? No, let’s not waste this precious time.

Sarah talked about going to Oxford Street and Harrods. Boring. I want to go to the Transport Museum. Boring!

Oh dear, what shall we do? Everything is so expensive. A meal at a restaurant in The Shard would be so romantic, but it’s so costly.

But that’s London. Soho, Chelsea, anywhere in the West End is going to cost an arm and a leg, and with her birthday coming up I’ll need to re-mortgage the house.

So we’ve booked the restaurant from the Channel 4 TV series First Dates near St Paul’s Cathedral. Sadly Fred won’t be at the front door and Merlin won’t be serving our drinks.

Truth be known, we won’t be painting the town red. We will be tucked up in bed soon after dinner and no doubt the majority of our conversations will be about our children. I’m looking forward to it through. Time together, just the two of us, is so rare these days and so precious.

As we pick up the kids on Sunday, no doubt we’ll say ‘same time next year?’ To each other.

Touch of mellow fruitfulness in front of the fire and Strictly

What a month September has been weather-wise. Glorious. Anyone who waited until the kids went back to school for a staycation struck gold.

But I’m ready for autumn now. I probably was back in drizzly, cloudy old August.

The thought of lighting the fire, Saturday evenings watching Strictly and putting on a warm, woolly jumper seem appealing. I’m also looking forward to the colours of autumn. I love autumn and before we know it, it will be Christmas.

Autumn has so many things to look forward to as the nights draw in and the weather gets colder.

I’m not completely mad though, I absolutely hate January and February!

Broadcasting in pyjamas as the neighbours top the bill

Through lockdown I’ve broadcast from Wave’s studios at Segensworth as the technology needed to broadcast from home is too great.

Kate Weston, on the other hand, is as happy as Larry. She lives in Bournemouth and now broadcasts on our breakfast show from her loft.

No more hour-long commutes at 5am. She doesn’t start until 6am so for the past 18 months slips out of bed, climbs the loft ladder and does the show in her pyjamas!

It’s been very funny though as you hear her neighbour go off on his motorbike every morning at 7am, the baby next door crying and the bins being emptied on a Wednesday. These people are starting to become stars of the show in their own right!

A message from the editor, Mark Waldron.

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