Sucked into the murky world of free hot beverages ...

I'm one swirl away from a free coffee.

If there's one thing I've learned since I retired it's that old people love a hot beverage; and if it's accompanied by cake, so much the better.

Actually, that's true of the entire population, including my wife, who makes a great show of not wanting cake but then sulks because you won't give her any of yours.

The difference with old people is that they prefer not to pay for their coffee - nothing tastes better than a free latte.

The scandal is that many supermarkets and other stores have been exploiting this addiction by offering various deals to tempt the pensioners. Garden centres are also shameless pushers of caffeine to the over-60s

My sister, who has a wide knowledge of where to get a free cuppa, tried to get two free coffees from Waitrose in one day, but was foiled by their high-tech computerised anti-fraud system, which is specifically designed to catch coffee-addicted pensioners trying to sneak an additional fix in any 24-hour period. Her free coffee was snatched from her grasp and now she has to don sunglasses and a headscarf to avoid being recognised.

You wouldn’t catch my friend Tony falling foul of such a basic mistake. He has a wallet full of cards and vouchers and never pays for a cup of coffee anywhere.

At Waitrose, he can get a free coffee, free newspaper and free parking every day just by spending £1 on essential groceries (which he would have bought anyway). Once a month, he dines at Patisserie Valerie on their finest pastries, breakfasts at B&Q and sups at Sainsbury’s.

I have also been sucked into this world of caffeine rewards. Tony is onto the best deals anywhere and I thought I’d found one that he didn’t know about when I happened into B&Q and (as an over-60) was offered a Diamond Discount card giving me 10 per cent off all goods every Wednesday.

I mentioned this to Tony thinking he’d be impressed, but he knew all about it already and explained he had since abandoned B&Q for a better offer elsewhere. He did have in his wallet a B&Q loyalty card with three stamps and explained he was on first-name terms with the Polish girl who worked in the cafe. Three more stamps and I would be entitled to a free coffee.

On Wednesday, Margaret and I went in to get some household items (with 10 per cent discount) and I got two more stamps on the card. B&Q has switched from stars to swirls (apparently dishonest pensioners were forging stars so a more complicated pattern had to be adopted). I’m now one swirl away from my first free coffee.

My grandson makes a surprise early arrival

Well, this has been quite a day for grandchildren! I had volunteered to look after Julia today because Margaret has had a bad cold and cough. Margaret has been doing one or two days a week helping with Julia to allow Lucia some study time to get her dissertation written.

White I was driving down to Baldock, the phone beeped a few times. I thought it might be Tom or Lucia sending me a message, so when I was stopped in the queue for the Sandy roundabout, I took a quick peep.

It was a message from Sam to say that Lucy had given birth just half an hour earlier. We knew she was having a boy, so no surprise there, but it wasn’t a message I expected to see. I have to say that on a grey Monday morning, it made me swell with happiness.

Lucy only gave up work on Friday and the due date was still a couple of weeks away, so my new grandson wasn’t hanging around. He weighed in at 7lbs 5ozs (they still use imperial weights for babies). I think he’s going to be called Arthur.

First picture of Arthur - possibly not his best side.

I didn’t have long to muse on this new member of the family. Julia was waiting for me (in Tom’s arms) and gave me a nice smile. Sometimes, she doesn’t want to come to me if Margaret or her mother is available, but she was happy enough this morning (phew). Lucia put her to bed before leaving for the library (where she works on her dissertation) and she slept for only about 20 minutes.

Julia makes a grab for my phone - that will
teach me to try a selfie.

We had a nice play during the morning. She’s very happy provided she has your attention and she spent a long time on her alpaca mat sorting out bricks and dolls from her basket. We’d gone upstairs for a change of scenery on the jungle play mat when mum arrived home. Thankfully, she was met by a happy baby, so Eric got a team point. I even managed to change a nappy (with a little help from Lucia at a critical point).

After lunch (Julia is doing baby-led weaning) Julia was put to bed for another snooze, but she stayed asleep for an hour and a half. In fact, she was still asleep when Lucia came home, so grandfather had a pretty easy time of it! Maybe I tired her out during the morning or perhaps she couldn’t take any more of my singing.

I’m baby-sitting again on Wednesday – and I’m rather looking forward to it. Not sure I’ll get such an easy ride next time ...

The negatives will decide if I'm in or out

There has been nothing on the news this week except the story of David Cameron's negotiations to try to achieve a better arrangement for Britain within the European movement.

It was part of the Conservatives election manifesto that they would renegotiate the terms of our membership and then put the issue before the people in an in/out referendum, which will be held in June.

The Britain-out campaigns (several of them) have been running for ages and making lots of noise, well before David Cameron's negotiations started, let alone concluded.

The referendum is being described as the most important decision we will make in our lifetime (a bit hyped), but currently I have no idea how I should vote. My inclination is to be part of Europe and, to me, a single European currency and a united states of Europe make a lot of sense. On the other hand, there’s a fug and a fog about the whole EU operation, which seems to create bureaucracy and inefficiency and waste millions of Pounds (or Euros). I like the principle, but I have some issues with the implementation.

What I really need now is some clear arguments and debate about why we should stay in or why we should leave, but there’s no sign of that happening. The In and the Out campaigns are focused on scaremongering and pandering to prejudice, neither has presented a coherent argument.

I think the main reasons people dislike the EU are xenophobia and immigration.

Lots of people dislike foreigners in principle; it's a position that's less widespread than it was, but it's still a position that many hold. In this case, it can’t be called racism (although some are also racist) because these particular foreigners they hate/dislike/mistrust are the same race as they are, even the same root religion and culture.

Bloody French (always on strike), bloody Germans (want to rule the world), bloody Greeks (bone idle) ... the list goes on. Nothing David Cameron could negotiate would persuade people like that to embrace the EU.

Then there are those who fear immigration (or the free movement of people - one of the key principles of the EU). There are two million EU nationals working in Britain and many people feel that their wages have been eroded by migrant workers or their jobs taken.

I have to say, I share some of these views - I think the Greeks should work a bit harder and I have been known to mutter “bloody French” when I’ve arrived at Calais to find no ferries and a line of fishing boats blockading the port. I’ve also been known (more often) to think similar things about British people. But I do think that free movement is a fantastic idea and there are millions of British people living and working in Europe.

So as an “undecided leaning in” how am I going to decide how to cast my vote?

I have decided to decide by keeping a list of those arguing for out and those arguing for in. Anyone on the list I dislike will get one minus point and anyone I find truly obnoxious will get five minus points.

So the Britain-out campaign gets an immediate -10 thanks to George Galloway and Nigel Farage; while Gordon Brown, Alex Salmond and Tony Blair add up to -7 for the Britain-in lot. It’s a pretty negative way to make up my mind, but entirely in keeping with the negative campaigns being run by the opposing groups.

Alex Salmond - he's in, so I'm out

Nigel Farage - he's out, so I'm in.

Thrushes burst into song

It has been a fairly mild winter so far, we've had only half a dozen nights of mild frost and a dusting of light snow overnight at the beginning of this week.

The birds have started singing heartily each morning and, for the past week, there has been a new voice in the morning choir. I thought it was a songthrush and I spotted one in the garden, which confirmed my theory.

On Sunday morning, Max (who was over for the weekend with Inna) and I stood on the back and we spotted two thrushes singing loudly to each other (or to some unseen female thrushes). They were sitting at the tops of trees in our garden and the bungalow called Gayport on the Causeway.

Max is quite good at recognising birdsong and he says songthrushes are easy to identify by their complex and beautiful song, which is characterised by repeated phrases. Normally the bird repeats each phrase three times (sometimes two) and then goes on to the next. It's really obvious when it's pointed out.

I also know how to tell a collared dove from a woodpigeon by its call. Collared doves coo in three syllables (U-ni-ted like a football fan), while woodpigeons split their coos into five - who, who, who - who, who.

I have started doing the British Trust for Ornithology's garden birdwatch. Unlike the RSPB's survey, which is once a year, the BTO does it weekly and you record all the birds you see (with their maximum number at any one time) across a week.

Jays are now regular visitors to the garden. They are here most days - sometimes one, sometimes two - and they are beautiful birds. I've also got half a dozen jackdaws who arrive most mornings to raid the peanuts. This week, I also caught a glimpse of the sparrowhawk in the garden again. I think he'd pounced on something on the lawn. I don't know if he caught it, I saw him making his getaway, but not whether he had some poor blue tit in his talons.

One of the best things this year has been watching the birds in the bird-bath. I got this for Christmas and placed it along the big border, so it could be seen from both the kitchen window and the lounge. It's amazed me how much it is used and with such gusto.

There were five sparrows splashing in it one day, another day there was a mass of spray coming from a tiny blue tit and this morning a big fat female blackbird was in their doing her ablutions. I have to top it up every morning and on the few frosty mornings have made sure I thaw the ice with some warm water.