I managed to do the Norwich Paston walk on Tuesday, despite my ankle still being swollen and a very nasty shade of blue-black. In fact it wasn’t really very painful, just a bit sore. It was also a cold evening, but my new coat worked really well, and I wasn’t too uncomfortable. Meanwhile several of the City Guides who I was guiding abandoned before the end because of the cold. At least, that’s what they said. They were all very appreciative, though.

The guy who had fixed it all up – Paul Dickson – was ill (probably caught Rob’s virus); so I had to meet a group of people I didn’t know outside St Andrew’s Hall. From there, for the record, we went to St Peter Hungate, down Elm Hill, Past the Maid’s Head to Whitefriars Bridge, round the back of the Cathedral to the ruins of the Lady Chapel, then up to King Street and along to Heydon’s House, Dragon Hall and the Music House.

Earlier that day I had a blood test at the surgery, and yesterday I had a rare appointment with Dr Hampsheir, mainly to check the blood test and talk about my medication. I was amazed to discover that the blood test results were through (I’d had to postpone the test  because of earlier snow) and very good. My cholesterol level is fine, and my kidneys in much better condition than I’d been led to believe.

As I was there, I showed him my ankle, which didn’t seem to be making much progress and contained a large very black bruise. He examined it and said I should go up to A&E for an x-ray, which I did, being a compliant sort of guy. I was in A&E for two and a half hours, and the x-ray showed I had a small crack fracture at the bottom of that bone there – fibula, lateral malleolus; call it what you will. Plus a rather bad sprain. Happily, this didn’t require any drastic action: none at all, in fact. I could carry on walking, but nothing too extreme and on the flat.

Everyone in A&E was very friendly, except the woman on x-ray reception, but the reception to the minor injuries unit was shut, which confused everyone. There were instructions to put our card in the tray (which card? one or both?), and it would be picked up by a member of staff. I sat opposite it to make sure, and the member of staff turned up 45 minutes later, which as far as I was concerned was at least 35 minutes too late, raising anxiety to unnecessarily high levels. You don’t mind waiting if you think everyone is paying attention.

I got the bus home, but didn’t go upstairs. In the evening we went to an exhibition of Joe’s photographs in Colegate, which were as impressive as I thought they’d be. Phil and Joy were there too. It was Sam’s birthday. He was in Southampton. By the end of the evening I was exhausted, for some reason.

Last Saturday we went to a Norwich Philharmonic concert which featured Paul in the choir. It was snowing again, and because of my ankle we decided to drive up and park in the Monastery car park, grabbing one of the last couple of places. Strange concert. The first half lasted about 15 minutes and the second half (Mendelssohn) about an hour and a quarter. Judy was stewarding, and in the interval we met Sue and Roger Eagle, plus Maryta, who was sitting towards the back. Afterwards we drove to the Hendersons’ for a bite to eat.

On the Sunday I led the service, and Anna (back from India) led a lectio divina. Still very cold then. Quite warm now in comparison, but they say it’s going to get cold again, which I for one could do without.

Odd that I should have sprained my ankle while discussing Footprints. Strange that I sprained it at all, really, because I was inside a house and simply picking up my jacket from Lucy’s bed. In case of confusion, I should add that the meeting was held at Lucy’s house in Bowthorpe, and she has only just moved in. Hence the bed in the living room and a tight fit for the meeting, which also included Rob Knee and Peter Stibbons.

To make it worse, two people arrived to install Broadband in the middle of the meeting, and immediately discovered the main problem: no aerial. There were other problems involving a robbery at Mundesley Post Office and the loss of a package containing equipment, but when you know Lucy, that’s not surprising.

Anyway , the ankle was very painful and considerably swollen. When I got home Dot attacked it with ice, and by this morning it had gone down quite a bit, though it’s still very uncomfortable. Bit worrying, too, because I’m supposed to be leading a 90-minute Paston walk on Tuesday.

The meeting, which was actually for PHS Trustees, was a bit tense, with Lucy as usual having different ideas to everyone else. Still, there were biscuits, and it was warmer. Today it’s very cold again, and I’m shivering in my study while Dot is shivering at Carrow Road.

There was another meeting at the Maid’s Head on Thursday, involving myself, Rob, Paul Dickson and Georgina, who I gather is something to do with sales at the hotel. This was a good meeting, with everyone singing from the same hymn sheet and some excellent ideas about how the Maid’s Head can get involved in Paston celebrations.

It was nice to have a bit of warmth in the air, especially as we had our hair cut on Tuesday, but now it’s snowing, though it doesn’t appear to be lying. A bit of summer would be nice: I see the clocks go forward next week.

By the way, at the Bowthorpe meeting Peter delivered me my copy of the de luxe Paston Treasure book produced by Yale. Impressive, and only £45. With discount.

It’s that time of year. My youngest brother is 66 today, my father died yesterday (1956), and my mother died tomorrow (1994). Not very nice for Phil to have his birthday framed in such a way, but when we saw him and Joy yesterday they looked pretty well, all things considered. Spent an hour or so chatting after delivering presents.

We ourselves can’t shake off our virus, which we’ve had for about a month. Both still have a cough and feeling very tired and heady: I had to go to bed this afternoon after spending about an hour and a half at lunchtime washing up for the Monday Club lunch at church – about 40 takers altogether. We were only able to go because we’d had to cancel our trip to Kristine and David’s in Leyton to avoid the risk of infecting them. I don’t think we’d infect people with normal immune systems, but David has an auto-immune disease on top of his ataxia.

After lunch we went to the supermarket, which probably finished me off. Watched a TV programme, discovered I had slept through half of it and so went and lay down on the bed for just over an hour. Felt better after that, but haven’t done much else.

Went to church yesterday. Phil was leading, with Liz doing Godly Play on Mother Julian (Mothering Sunday).  Quite a long chat afterwards with Phil and Judy about the imminent interregnum and who will be able to do what.

On Thursday took my iPhone in for a new battery, which took about a couple of hours altogether. Had to wait around the mall without being able to do anything. Didn’t want to walk anywhere, because it wouldn’t have registered (!); couldn’t phone anyone up, or play games or check my family’s whereabouts. Or anything else really. Strange how you  come to depend on mobile phones. Delighted that phone now charges properly. Again, odd how pleasing this is.

The weather has turned much milder, but it ‘s still very rainy. Haven’t done much walking, because I was pretty exhausted after my one attempt, and it’s probably not a good idea to tire yourself out after having a virus.

Almost forgot. We went see Three Billboards Outside of Ebbing, Missouri on Saturday evening, and I thought it was really excellent. Brilliant script and plenty to think about. The plot is totally unpredictable. Afterwards we ran into my former colleague Sandra Kessell (formerly Frazer) and her husband Toby.

We did go to Wales. A thaw set in late on Saturday as forecast, and the school contact in Barry thought things would be OK by Monday; so no postponement. Fortunately Dot was feeling better by Sunday morning. I still had a cough (and still do), but went to church, as I was down to preach and lead the prayers. Happily I managed to get through this without succumbing to a fit of coughing, apologised to Eleanor for not being able to attend her installation as an Honorary Canon at the Cathedral in the afternoon, and drove home to pick up Dot.

We eventually got on the road by about 12.50pm and had an excellent journey, stopping only once to change drivers. The roads were no problem and quite empty of traffic. As we got into Wales, there was a lot of snow in the countryside – quite spectacular. We arrived around 5.30pm at Gail’s Guest House and met Barbara. Nice room. Side roads in town still very snowy. We all went to find the school, which we did eventually, and then had a meal at  Brewer’s Fayre.  Later I went for a walk round local streets and got some excellent views out across the Bristol Channel. Many of the roads were circular, and I was surprised to arrive back near the guest house from the opposite direction, before retracing my steps.

Not a particularly good night’s sleep. Had breakfast immediately after the others left, paid and negotiated a late checkout for noon. Had a shower, then went and filled the car up at Asda (card only) before bringing it back, parking nearer the guest house and putting the luggage back into it. Had a chat with woman who was cleaning the rooms. I originally asked her if she was Gail, but apparently Gail is dead. She was Marian – very lively and easy to talk to.

Eventually I left, drove around for a bit and then parked at the top of the hill before walking along the clifftop, until I had a view of the main beach. Then I walked back on a lower path, which eventually reached a fairly secluded beach. I crossed it, then walked back on a path up the cliff to a point I had found the previous night  – only a couple of hundred yards from where I’d parked the car..

Drove down to Asda again to buy a sandwich and go to the loo, then returned to the same road, which had a nice view of the sea, and ate it. The sandwich, not the sea. Weather had deteriorated, with quite a bit of rain, but in a dry gap I walked round for a bit , then helped a guy who had got stuck in the snow at a nearby roundabout. Gave him a bit of a push and showed him where he could find a spade. Found a £10 note in the snow.

Eventually drove back to Asda again and at 2.45 found myself parked outside the school. The dynamic duo emerged at 3.10, armed with excellent feedback. Apparently, however, the school had been very cold. We drove (in convoy) back to Asda again to have a drink and go through the feedback, then left for home – and a much worse journey than the one the previous day.

Very bad hold-up on the way to the M4 (caused by traffic lights on a roundabout), then lots of rain. Dot drove as far as services on the M5, then I drove as far as Corley services on the M6, where we got a Kentucky Fried Chicken from a guy who seemed as if he had only recently been introduced to the concept.

I continued driving to Cambridge Services, where we stopped. The weather improved, but the A11 was blocked at Thetford, and we had to follow a diversion through Shropham. Just what you want after a journey of nearly 300 miles. At home we managed to get everything out of the car before collapsing into bed.

I went to the Archant coffee morning this morning (all present and correct) but felt exhausted. Dot was too tired to come. We went to the supermarket in the afternoon, and Dot roused herself to watch Norwich City draw 0-0 with Nottingham Forest.

Just got Dot’s car in the garage in time. Neither of us went to church on Sunday because we still had bad coughs, and the next day it started snowing. Still Dot managed to drive to Brooke before it started, to take part in interviews for a new head. She was still pretty bad and had to come home early in the afternoon because of excessive coughing. I walked up to Morrisons to get in some supplies.

By then it had started snowing. Not too much that day, but very cold. On Tuesday Dot drove to Brooke again, to find the school shut, but eventually everyone turned up to continue the interviews – in fact only one candidate had been asked back, and he got the job. Dot is optimistic about him. II walked up to Swinton to renew our car insurances – got it reduced a bit – then diverted through the Close because it was sunny and quite pleasant, as well as picturesque. As I was doing so I got a call from Dot, who was about to come home at the end of the interviews.

That night and the next day it snowed a great deal, and we ended up with about a foot of snow. I walked down the shop in the afternoon, which was easy enough and the main roads were clear, but hardly any traffic and no buses.

Today much of the snow remains, and more is threatened. Very cold. Dot is quite a lot better, but I still have a cough, which is very annoying. I was supposed to walk up to the Maid’s Head this morning for a meeting with Paul Dickson and Rob Knee, but Rob could not get out of North Walsham: snowdrifts on roads, no buses and no trains. So we postponed the meeting. Dot and I checked Des’s house, which seems fine. He is in New Zealand.

I cancelled my blood test tomorrow, because it sounds as if things may be worse again. Could probably get car out, but it might be difficult to get it back again. Dot still doesn’t know if she’s going to Wales, but it’s very bad there at the moment and will probably be worse tomorrow. We’re rather hoping they’ll call it off.

Pretty much a blank week. Dot has been ill since Monday, mainly in bed, and is only now beginning to recover, though she still has quite a bad cough. I still have a cough too, but we are now both managing to sleep through the night. More or less. Today is bright sunshine, but cold. We didn’t make it to church, and – as a measure of how bad things are – Dot didn’t get to Carrow Road yesterday either.

I have managed to get in just about enough walking to get my steps up to 5000 on each of  the last three days, but the wind has been bitter, and the forecast is that this week will be worse. I will put the table tennis away today and put Dot’s car in the garage after taking it for a run first.

Our neighbours Des and Chris have just left for two weeks’ holiday in sunnier climes, mainly Singapore and New Zealand. We have their key; so may set up a hotel. Their neighbours, Luke and Michelle, are moving in April.

Not exactly full of the joys of spring, partly because it’s been another grey and wet day and partly because I’m still under the weather and Dot is in bed with a sore throat. I spent Sunday in bed feeling pretty awful. By yesterday Dot was clearly sickening for something and I wasn’t feeling well, though I was considerably better than Sunday. Today I don’t seem to be making much progress, feeling very tired and heady, which is annoying.

On the plus side, we both missed the PCC meeting last night. I missed the service I was supposed to lead on Sunday too; Dot has been making many rearrangements with diocesan stuff.

I started getting a cough a week ago and wasn’t feeling too brilliant while David, Oliver and Amy were here. Still, I was well enough to carry on, though I decided not to go to the cinema with them because of the cough problem. It was great to see them, which probably enabled me to carry on when I might not otherwise have done so. I do hope none of them caught it.

I did manage to get up to the chemist to pick up my pills on Friday, but that’s not much of an achievement, and my proud steps record has completely fallen apart, of course. What a misery I am. Things are bound to get better.

Cold weather continues. Feeling rather fragile myself, with a nagging cough worsening over the last couple of days, but Dot continues in fine form.

Last Thursday I felt perfectly OK when we visited Rosie at Meadow Farm, and she seemed well, too, apart from her back. Happened to arrive while Billy Wright was there: didn’t recognise him, of course – it must be 40 years since I’ve seen him. He delivered our few items of furniture to Yelverton when we moved in.

Had a pleasant time with Rosie, including a stroll round the garden and a view of her new garage! On the way back went cross-country to Wroxham Barns, where we had a snack.

Anne and Dot went for a walk the next day in cold and wet weather. I also went out for a walk during a bright period, but it was raining by the time I got back. Probably not a wise move, but I try to keep my steps up…

On Saturday Dot was helping at a Centering Prayer event at St Luke’s run by Debbie, which seemed to go pretty well. Dot was back in time to listen to the football from Derby, where Norwich City drew 1-1 and probably should have won.

The next day we had a rather unusual event at church – the baptism of a child whose mother was Polish (probably Roman Catholic) and father a Sunni Moslem from Iraq. I’m not sure how that really works: the father was certainly not responding to the promises, which is hardly surprising. Liz did Godly Play (Baptism) very well, and much of the service (including GP) was translated by Elwira, our Polish church member who also read a couple of things. The service was really too long, and the family left quickly afterwards, which was a pity.

In the afternoon we went to the Hendersons’ for tea and cake. Very good cake too.

Monday dawned sunny and marginally less cold; so I decided to cut down the rose in the back garden. This proved quite hard work, but I eventually completed it in the afternoon, when it had grown noticeably colder. I just managed to get it all into the brown bin, which was emptied yesterday.

Yesterday we had our hair cut in the morning and then decided to go out North Walsham way. Dot rang her aunt, but there was no reply (she was out), and so we rang Lucy, from whom we had to pick up some china before her move to Norwich later this month. We were also going to get Roger’s picture framed (extremely belatedly) as we had been recommended a framer at North Walsham, but Lucy suggested a guy in Mundesley, who does all her framing.

So in the end we stopped briefly at North Walsham to pay in a cheque and buy some flowers for Lucy, then drove on to the Mundesley Gallery, where we arranged the framing (£32, six weeks), and then called on Lucy, where we spent a pleasant 90 minutes or so. I caught up on what was happening with the new project manager for Footprints and got the impression that he was very efficient and would organise everything, which is OK with me. Probably our last visit to Lucy’s house at Mundesley, because she is scheduled to move on Feb 28.

I had a lie-in this morning. Dot went into the city to get something from Boots, as well as dropping a form in at her accountant’s.

Returned yesterday from Buxton in Derbyshire, where we spent a long weekend, mainly with David and Julia, but partly on our own.

As we were making our way there on Friday we received a message to say that Julia had a sickness bug and wouldn’t be able to make it that day. We arrived at around 4pm after being diverted by the satnav via Ashbourne, and went out for a walk almost immediately. It was cold, but there was hardly any snow. Walked into the town and almost bought a jacket, then returned to the hotel for a cup of tea. Had dinner at 7pm and a relaxing evening.

The next day we heard that Julia had recovered, and they would be arrive at around 1pm. We seized the opportunity for a drive through the Goyt Valley, which was quite exhilarating, as some snow had fallen overnight and there was quite a lot on the road. Dot took a video as we drove through and out on to the Cat and Fiddle road. We then drove up to Grin Low, where we parked and walked up on to the area near Solomon’s Temple, which had quite deep snow. The weather was dry, and we had a nice walk. Dropped my phone in the snow and thought I had damaged it because it went off, but in fact it had used up all its data – something I was able to correct later at the hotel.

While we had a break in the hotel, we noticed what we thought was Dave’s car in the car park, though we had said we would meet in the town. Didn’t think they would have been able to book in that early, but in fact they had. So when we walked down to the Pavilion, they were not far in front of us. Had a snack there, and then walked through the gardens and into the town, where I actually did buy a jacket, though not the one I’d seen before. This one was a rather nice weird fish jacket in sort of Barbour style. Lots of pockets; fitted very well; very warm. Afterwards we split up and Dot and I went to the Arches, a kind of artisan market which was pretty impressive. Dot bought a cheap poncho and earrings, and we spoke to a sculptress and an Australian. Julia and Dave couldn’t find it. Rather drizzly and cold as we returned to the hotel.

Sunday, however, was dry and clear. We drove to Baslow, where we spent some more time on our own, though unintentionally. After a cup of tea in a cafe we walked up a steep road/path to Baslow Bar, where Dave was convinced we should take the narrow path by a wall. I preferred a more obvious path going along the top. Technically he was right. Dot and I took the upper path intending to cross over and return to the other path if it turned out to be the right one. But by the time we reached the Wellington Memorial that I thought they were aiming at (they weren’t), there wasn’t any real way down to them.

Dot phoned Julia and discovered that their path was horrendously muddy. We agreed to continue to the road we could see in the distance, and would meet them there. This was an unsound plan that turned out accidentally rather well. We enjoyed the walk along the top, saw some Highland cattle and some deer, but also encountered plenty of mud. I became a little worried because I could see that the point where we would meet the road was unlikely to be anywhere near the point where they would meet it, if in fact it was the same road.

As a result we cut across and down, where we encountered a river and two pieces of good fortune. The first was a bridge, and the second we didn’t recognise until we reached the wall by the road. I looked over the top and found – yes! – a pavement. So after surmounting the wall we headed downwards, all the time searching the wooded hillside to see if we could catch sight of the others. No sign for about a mile or more, and then we saw two weary figures making their way down a path approaching the road. We reached the joining point at about the same time – something of a miracle. They had much worse conditions, but we must have walked at least a mile and a half further.

It was still necessary to restrain Dave slightly. As we approached a roundabout just outside Baslow, Dave said we should turn left, and we crossed the road. I didn’t like to argue but couldn’t see how this could possibly be right. (No, it was left – Ed)  However as we started heading off up a hill with no habitation ini sight, I felt I had to speak. Baslow was indeed to the right, and only a couple of hundred yards away.

After de-booting we drove to the Chatsworth farm shop nearby and had a scone, then walked round the shop for a bit before driving back to the hotel.

Monday morning was again cold but quite pleasant, and we left about 10.40pm. Dot and I followed the satnav to Coventry, which proved a good move, because it took us through Ashbourne (again) to the A38, a good road which eventually delivered us on to the M6 toll and eventually Corley Services. From there by a peculiar route into Coventry, where we spent about 90 minutes with a quite cheerful Andrew, managing to get a DVD to work on his machine after dejamming it.

From there we drove home, stopping at Cambridge Services for some kind of baguette heated up, then got back to Norwich just after 6pm. Watched the first programme in the new series of Endeavour. Unpacked. Went to bed.

Last day of January, and it’s turned bitterly cold again to celebrate David’s return to the UK. Hailed very hard a few minutes ago, leaving the ground white for a short while. Fortunately I had already returned home after a visit to the Maid’s Head, where I met Paul Dickson to talk about a Paston walk in the city which might be short enough to complete in 90 minutes. Toward the end of March we will be trying it out. Paul is a city guide and rock n roll singer. Also a publisher and public relations man; so maybe I can get him interested in some of my other writing.

Last night, when it was not quite so cold but drizzly, we took Judy (not the one in the caption) to Cake and Compline at Claire’s, which proved an enjoyable evening as all members of our small group were eventually present – the other three being the Archers and Vicky Myers. We spent some time discussing the exact nature of the Norwich Christian Meditation Centre, following an attempt by Liz Day to discuss it widely before the new vicar gets here. It’s true it needs some thought, not least because it has three linked Facebook pages, which is two too many.

I’m not sure if Liz’s ideas will fit in with everyone else’s. She waylaid me on Sunday and claimed that she was being blocked in what she wanted to do, which is certainly not true, but apparently she had problems with her father. She does tend to come up with the most elaborate ideas that never quite materialise, but mainly because she changes her mind.

Later on on Sunday Dot and I went to the Seagull at Lowestoft and did a couple of songs (Man in the Mask and Feel Like I’m Falling Apart) followed by three poems from me (the Rembrandt one, Resolution and Somewhere to Fall, which Kaaren didn’t understand. I suppose it is  bit obscure. We performed in the newly decorated foyer, which was interesting, but I think I prefer the theatre. Ian seemed to be having trouble with his hip.

On Monday I was about to have a bath when I realised it would be a better idea to clean up the garden rubbish first; so I did, and it was just as well, because after I’d had the subsequent bath, the rain set in. We seem to have had a lot of rain recently. Meanwhile Dot was visiting Jessie and the cemetery (it was her mother’s birthday).

At the end of last week, on the Friday, we took Phyllis a meal round because Sophie was away. It was a pleasant walk. We did it again on Saturday, in the pouring rain. We took the car. Phyllis seemed OK. She never seems to want us to hang around, though she’s a very nice person.

Also on Friday we visited our Polish friends from church for a meal. They live on Black Horse Opening off Sprowston Road, and finding their flat was a real challenge; so we were late. I was worried about the food, but we had some very nice soup and open sandwiches on Polish bread. Apparently Poles really don’t like British bread, and I can return the compliment. Like their meat, I found it hard to swallow. Still we had a pleasant evening with no language difficulties. We are almost fluent in Polish. Sorry, I mean English. We are almost fluent in English, and so are they.

Extending the Polish link, on Saturday we called round the Hendersons, to find Maryta on her own because Paul was taking Holly’s dog to Gatwick. As you do. We had a cup of tea, and a chat for about an hour. I don’t think they are getting on well.