Sunday 5th September

Today it's K's turn to get up early - and I am startled to wake up without her by my side. I loll around for a while, unplugging my phone to lazily flick through Twitter, Facebook and the BBC site, finding little of any interest on any of them. Eventually I get up properly and we put Friday's episode of Roger and Val Have Just Got In on the iPlayer. After the relentless sadness of last week's episode, we are both hoping for something more uplifting from this episode - mainly because the series started so lighthearted but also because it's hard to imagine the story getting much more bleak. As it happens this week's episode is a bit of both - mixing the elegant, carefully crafted coupley banter with stark references to the great hopes the pair had lost and hinting gently at how empty their lives really are. I hope lots of people are watching this series (and fear that they are not, due to the fact that it's on BBC4 on Friday nights) as it's one of the best-written, most subtle and economical sitcoms I've seen in a long time - by turns heartbreaking, pretty, poignant and brilliantly funny.

After Roger and Val we head down the passage to do the weekly shop - something we haven't done together for a few weeks now, what with both of us having been away rather a lot in the last month or so. The weather holds and all goes well, meaning we're soon back home having a little lunch before this afternoon's activity. What with K now having a bike for a while, the plan is to head out on a shortish bike ride (the idea had originally been to have a picnic but neither of us fully trust the gathering clouds not to explode at any minute) around our small corner of North London.

I haven't been on my bike for a shamefully long time, so before we go I get it out and pump the tires up, tighten the handlebars and oil the chain. We shuffle both the bikes out of the flat, past those of our neighbours, and head the wrong way down our street towards Crouch End. We cycle up through Hornsey and I'm instantly reminded, by way of my struggling legs and lungs, that it's been a while since I've been cycling. We cruise down through Crouch End broadway then up towards the old railway path that takes us down towards Finsbury Park. From here we head across Seven Sisters Road towards Clissold Park. A few spots of rain threaten to ruin what by now is a very enjoyable ride, but it soon stops and we take a break at Clissold's temporary cafe for a drink.

Feeling rested, we cycle down Church Street through the posher part of Stoke Newington and loop back via a small market that K is interested in checking out. Having tried some fancy chocolate and cooed over some of the DIY art, we hit the road again and head back through Clissold Park and Finsbury Park before we get back to Crouch End and stop off at the Oxfam Bookshop. By this point I'm pretty tired, but pleased with the 10 miles we have under our belts. We head back through Priory Park and home - where we rest up for a while before dinner.

After a few days of pretty hard partying it's nice to do something a bit more healthy - plus the home made enchiladas I craft for the both of us later on taste all the better.