My grandson Oliver was four on Monday. He had a party on the Saturday, and this is him with his mum and dad – and the birthday cake. Dot and I were there too, of course. The party went really well – a nice bunch of children. The weather was kind too.

I’ve started a regime of walking at least two miles a day – and hope to raise it to three soon. I’m encouraged to do this by my new pedometer. I’ve worked out my stride length (32″) and now have confidence that the figure shown is accurate – measured against Dot’s car odometer. So of ocurse I can get a measure on all sorts of routes. Why I find this sort of thing interesting I don’t know. Sad really.

As I write this I’m listening to the new Bob Dylan album, Modern Times. Really good, with no dud tracks (though Beyond the Horizon is close to the edge). Some excellent stuff – spiritual, apocalyptic, prophetic – “the world has gone black before my eyes”. I love Nettie Moore, Spirit on the Water, but it’s all great. Reached number one in the USA – his first album to do so since Desire. Mixture of blues, jazz and country, with a laid-back feel and (unusually) quite a few instrumental solos.

I’ve agreed to do a short talk at the Dave Gemmell memorial service, which is on October 30 – the day we get back from South Africa. No problem if the plane is on time – it’s due to get in at 7am.