Scotland, David’s 40th and a power cut

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Lochnagar from the Crathie-Gairnshiel road

Back in Norwich again after two weeks away. And to greet us, an eight-hour power cut affecting three houses in our street. Much digging up of pavements before they found the problem and fixed it. Thanks to Scotland, we were used to the lower temperatures, but Dot did light a fire when she returned from a morning at Thurton school. I meanwhile went round Phil’s, had a cup of tea and charged my mobile phone.

Here is the account of the last fortnight or so:

Tuesday, May 8

On Saturday Andrew and I went for a walk down the Riverside path, taking in the new footbridge, under which we sheltered when a few drops of rain fell. In the afternoon I drove him to Dunston as usual, after a brief excursion to show him where Joe lived at Hethersett. At St Remigius Church we saw black rabbits. We had sheltered in the car for a few minutes during a hailstorm, and I switched on the radio to hear that Norwich City had equalised to draw 3-3 away at Arsenal, thus giving Spurs a chance to come third in the Premiership – a chance they  squandered the next day by drawing with Aston Villa.

We all had lunch at church on Sunday (Anna providing chicken thighs), then returned quickly home to pack up the car, and left at 1.50pm for Coventry, where we dropped Andrew off after a good journey, at about 4.40pm. (We had stopped briefly at Cambridge Services.) Then onward and upward, stopping at M6 Toll services before reaching Knutsford Premier Inn before 7pm. We had bought sandwiches, so didn’t partake of the evening meal, but the breakfast next day, after a good sleep, was excellent.

So far we had done about 242 miles, but we had about 350 to go. Travel conditions were good. We stopped at the lovely Tebay farm shop services and bought some stuff to eat on arrival. On entering Scotland we experienced the first drops of rain, and it continued wet or wettish the rest of the way. We stopped at Annadale Water to get chips for Dot; they had run out of petrol, so we stopped again at Abington for fuel.

Some heavy rain between Glasgow and Perth, but they’ve at last got the road sorted out, and there were no problems. Balathie looks as if it may be permanently shut, so we continued to the Fife Arms at Braemar, where we had tea and cake. On the way to Ballater we turned back to get another look at Lochnagar covered with snow. (Temperature got as low as 1C over the Glen Shee pass – as predicted by Dot – and there was a roaring fire in the Fife Arms lounge.)

Arrived at a very cold wee house about 6pm and turned up all the heat. Bought a little extra food in town, gave someone directions to the chipper (!) and ate a meal while watching some DVDs (no television, of course). First Set in Stone, a film about Norwich churches that I had got for Christmas, then the first two episodes of Series Two of Mad Men. We decided on the twin-bed room, which seemed warmer, and had a relatively early night. This morning, we moved the beds together.

Finished reading the Grove booklet, Worship and Freedom in the Church of England: Exploring the Boundaries, but found we were already exploring beyond the boundaries. Still, it was interesting.

Wednesday, 9 May

Lovely day yesterday. We started by ‘”popping” into town to buy washing up liquid and kitchen towels, but ended up with over £30 worth of items from the kitchen shop and a scarf from Byzantium. The weather was unexpectedly nice: not too cold, almost warm when the sun was shining, and very little wind. We drove over to the log cabin for lunch, then back across the Braemar road for a stunning view of snow-covered Lochnagar.

On via Crathie to the South Deeside road, where I saw a huge, darkly painted aircraft very low over the trees. No idea what it was doing, as there is nowhere that I know for it to land anywhere near. Dot didn’t see it, but she heard it. On again via the Birkhall road to Loch Muick, where the car park was very thinly populated. We walked down to the loch and then did the short circuit via the hut and the Lochnagar path. Red deer were feediing, and I saw a meadow pippit struggling to reach about 30ft and then floating down to earth on outstretched, unmoving wings.

Decided to have fish and chips, but restricted ourselves to only one piece of fish (between us). Watched three more episodes of Mad Men and wrote postcards and a birthday card for Vicky, on which I managed to get her surname wrong. Think I’m cracking up. After all, it is Lenton.

Heading for the summit of Cairn Gorm

Thursday, 10 May

Another good day yesterday, when we travelled across to Cairn Gorm via the recently mended and reopened Gairnshiel Bridge (one can only imagine the chaos while it was closed). Weather was looking pretty bad just beyond Bridge of Brown and we almost turned back, but very glad we didn’t. Heavy hail shower as we arrived in the car park, so we sat it out and then caught the funicular, which showed an unexpected turn of speed.

At the top we disgorged into the top level restaurant so that the skiers and snowboarders could access the snow easily. Dot and I had  some food first, but then emerged on to some beautiful snow and walked about on it for quite a while. Surprisingly still and not too cold, especially when the sun came out.

We went back in to look round the shop, but eventually ventured outside again. Quite magical. Took the train down at 3.40pm, visited the Camera Obscura and sat outside with a hot drink, such was the improvement in the weather. This was the best time of day, and so of course everything was closing in true Scottish fashion – even the funicular.

On the way home we stopped by the loch for a while and took some photos. Think I saw an eagle in the distance. We were approached by a pair of mallards, and I gave them an apple someone had thrown away. Practically no traffic at all on the road home. Bought some food in Ballater and ate in. More than halfway through Mad Men.

Today is much different; very wet and very cold. We stayed in bed late and had a long telephone conversation with David. Didn’t venture out till close to 2pm, when we drove to Braemar and had late lunch at the Fife Arms, where Dot paid £2 for six hours of Wi-Fi and caught up with her e-mails. Then drove up the hill outside Crathie and sat in a layby reading for a while. We had hoped for a view, but there wasn’t one. Then home and got ready for evening meal with Ella and David at the Lodge on the Loch at Aboyne – a new one on us. Managed to write a couple of poems earlier in the day.

Friday, 11 May

Rather less wet this morning, but stayed in bed late anyway. Unusually our meal with Ella and David ended at a respectable hour, and we were home before 10pm. The Lodge on the Loch is an impressisve establishment opened only about four years ago and incorporating three nine-hole golf courses and regular visits from ospreys. Even in the pouring rain, the view was spectacular.

We were the only people there, apart from residents who had eaten earlier, and so got the full attention of the waitress, who I think was also the owner. I paid for initial drinks, but Ella insisted on paying for the meal, which was really nice: well cooked and presented without being spectacular. I had garlic mushrooms, steak and pavlova, and my stomach was very happy about it.

Climbing near Craig Leek: Lochnagar and other summits on the skyline

Saturday, 12 May

Rather less wet, I said. I suppose that’s true in the sense that the cold evening brightened enough for us to walk the river path and linger on the stones. But until then the only time there was no rain was when there was snow, which we encountered at a lower level than ever before, on the Ballater-Corgarff road and on the scenic road between Gairnshiel Bridge and Crathie.

The ground was too warm for it to lie there (although the air temperature hit 0C at one point), but it was lying beside the road in some quantity on the Lecht. We sat in the log cabin and watched it sweep across the little cemetery while I ate lentil soup and egg sandwiches, and Dot had maple syrup and bacon with pancakes, followed by ice cream. I bought a shirt (of course), and  Dot a wallet.

Today was a totally different kettle of fish. It dawned bright and blue, and we decided to go through with our tentative plan for a walk near Craig Leek, close to Keilloch. We made the mistake of starting from a layby near the turn to Aberarder, following a walk in one of our books. I hadn’t studied it carefully enough and thought it was about five miles, but an extension up the shoulder of Craig Leek – by far the best bit of the walk – added a couple of miles, and as this is Scotland, that added up to eight.

It was warmer than recently, but there was still a chilly wind against us most of the way out and it strengthened as we climbed towards Am Bealach. So it was quite hard going – but the views towards snowy Lochnagar were spectacular. On the walk back there was plenty of standing water to circumnavigate, and by the time we reached the road I was feeling pretty tired.

On our return to Ballater a hot bath eased our limbs somewhat so that we managed to stagger to the Green Inn for our customary appointment with culinary excellence. Top-class meal with an exceptional chocolate dessert that had won a national competition. Also great ambience, and a nice chat with the owner, who remembers us from previous years but lets us in anyway.

Monday, 14 May

Yesterday was mainly dry but very windy, and we were blown along into a totally different time zone  – otherwise known as the local church, which has galloped into the 20th century (the 21st would be a step too far) by switching to Mission Praise, but still chooses all the oldest hymns from it. There is no danger of any surprises here, but there is something nostalgic about it. I’m not sure this is what one should look for in a church. They are very friendly, which is.

Afterwards we had tea and scones at a new coffee shop on the main street – Rock Salt Cafe – and bought a couple of other things before returning home, where we attempted a bit of washing. This turned out to be a mistake, as someone had disconnected the drain pipe, and the floor and cupboard soon had water flowing over them. We managed to limit the damage by mopping up with towels, and I worked out how to reconnect the drain pipe. We risked rinsing what we had in the machine, and everything including the towels was hung out to dry in the very brisk wind.

Obviously we deserved fish and chips after that, so we had an early supper, and then drove out to park and read. We quickly located the nearest heavy rain (on the Corgarff road), stopped for a while, then had a rethink and returned to our favourite riverside spot on the South Deeside road, where it was almost dry, apart from the river. Back at home later we finished Series Two of Mad Men, which leaves us without a DVD to watch tonight. Will we find one? Watch this space.

OK, that’s enough space-watching. Yes, we did find one, after much searching: it turned out that the internet cafe in Ballater had a four-for-£10 offer and was open late, so we ended up with four films – the first of which, Source Code, was very good indeed.

Earlier in the day we drove to Linn of Quoich and after waiting for the rain to stop walked upstream for a while, then climbed up on to the moor and meandered back. Huge amount of water in the stream and quite a lot falling from the sky as we got back to the car. Very showery day altogether.

We called in for late lunch at the Fife Arms, and Dot checked her e-mails again, finding one from Barbara M that was four days old. Drove back to Ballater, picked up the DVDs and, as it was sunny, drove up towards Glen Muick to park and read. After I finished my book, Cairngorm John (about mountain rescues) we decided to walk and drive instead: Dot walked for ten minutes; I caught her up and then I walked for ten minutes. Amazing how far you can get in ten minutes. We ended up near the Falls of Muick and walked down to get a closer look. As we got back to the car it started to rain, and as the road entered the open glen, it started hailing. It was that sort of day.

On the plus side, the house feels much warmer, and we saw a woodpecker on a tree. We have also realised, in case I fail to mention it elsewhere, that you can actually see the top of Lochnagar from the garden. Took us 20 years to notice that, but to be fair they are cutting down trees in Greystones.

Dot on Perkin's Moss. He didn't seem to mind.

Tuesday 15 May

Mainly dry today, and sunny too: but a bitterly cold wind developed during the day. Our first outing, three and a half miles on the Muir of Dinnit, was extremely pleasant, taking in an area of bog called Perkin’s Moss, where a boardwalk has been erected. After that we walked on down to the loch but abandoned the circumnavigation because Dot was hungry.

Instead we drove round “the other way” to the log cabin and had a bite before driving up to the start of the path down to the bridge where we took David and the children. We walked down and back, but the wind had become really icy, and we were glad to reach the car, especially as there was snow in the air. Coldest I’ve been so far.

Parked again on road above Crathie: Dot read, and I wrote a poem. Then we drove into Ballater, and I bought a newspaper and a birthday card for David Coomes. Later we walked to La Maggiatore for a very nice Italian meal, then rounded the evening off by watching The House of Flying Daggers – some rather special effects.

The Cairnwell as we drove past

Thursday, 17 May

We leave today – and it’s snowing. Not lying, but a steady downfall of snowflakes from a leaden sky. Yesterday was rather better, though still very cold in the wind later on. In the morning I climbed Craigendarroch by a different route, following the circular path into the Pass of Ballater first. Dot was in town shopping, and I could see her (and she me) from the top. Descended by a new route on the timeshare side that proved very quick.

Did some packing and sorting out, and a man came to read the meter. After a quick lunch drove into Glen Muick, where we walked the archaeological route near the Spittal. Very pleasant at first, but got cold as the wind hit us higher up. Hung around the ranger’s place for a while, then returned to Ballater for petrol.

Evening meal was at the Glen Lui – a fitting conclusion featuring venison and prosecco, plus the usual great view out on to the golf course. Afterwards we watched Passion in Mind, a very clever but ultimately slightly confusing story about a woman (Demi Moore) who couldn’t distinguish between her dream life and reality.

It’s now 9pm, and we’re in the Premier Inn at Newcastle (Team Valley), seventh floor. As we left Deeside, even the lower hills were covered with snow, and in Glen Shee the snow was everywhere, and we took several pictures. Stopped at the pottery place and visitor centre between Glen Shee and Perth and had tea/coffee and a scone. They’ve made an attractive place of what used to be just a pottery shop about ten years ago (or more). Nice people.

We stopped again at Kinross services (a former haunt) and then headed for the A1 via the Forth Bridge and the Edinburgh bypass – all in pouring rain. I was reminded again why we now use the longer western route: many stretches of single carriageway between Berwick and Newcastle, and huge numbers of speed cameras. Not that the latter came into play much, because we were in a long, slow-moving queue behind a giant crane much of the time. Coming after the 40mph stretches of motorway around Edinburgh (for minimal work being done), this left us more than a little frustrated.

Still, the Premier Inn was easy to find and is very pleasant. Good value for £23 a night (booked in advance, non-cancellable), and an extremely helpful receptionist. It also seems to have stopped raining.

Friday, 18 May

David’s 40th birthday. Texted him when I woke up (just after 8am) to find he was already at school waiting to take Amy in. We had a good breakfast, and I got some cash out of a nearby machine, and after filling the car with petrol Dot drove south. Traffic was fairly heavy all day, but there were no hold-ups. We switched drivers at Ferrybridge services at the M62 junction (not the most convenient), and our next stop was at Peterborough services – new ones at the start of the motorway section and horrendously busy.

Still we ate a little, called David and then decided to pull in at Folksworth, where we found the grave of what I think were my great-great-grandfather William and his wife, and that of his father, George, and wife too. Both wives called Sarah. A few more Lentons located in nearby Yaxley cemetery, but didn’t stay long enough to search thoroughly.

Reached David’s at about 4pm and went in. He was picking up the children from school, so we made a cup of tea. They arrived at around 4.30pm, full of beans. Gave David his presents and some money, and played football in the garden for a while (after I’d  had a brief snooze). Oliver a good footballer, and he won a race today too.

He’s making great progress with the Harry Potter books, and Amy is also a good reader. They also had presents from Scotland, and some Easter ones from Birgit’s brother and his wife.

Had a birthday tea of Thai food and champagne.

Sunday, 20 May

Great day yesterday. It stayed dry, although it was not as sunny as it might have been. Dot and I (mainly Dot) prepared the contents of a couple of salad dishes which David completed in his usual expert style when he returned from taking the children swimming.

Really nice food for the party. The Coomes arrived at about 12.30, and Tim and Liz with their children, Lawrence and Heather, a bit later. Games included much Wii activity, Harry Potter Cluedo and plenty of football, both in the garden and at the nearby park. Liz is a primary teacher and gardening expert; Tim used to work with Vicky.

After they all left we wasted an evening watching Bayern Munich contrive to lose to Chelsea after squandering a multitude of opportunities and missing a penalty in extra time. So Spurs not in Champions’ League. Slept badly.

Wine, women and song

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Relaxing moment on the cliff between Mundesley and Paston during the wet and windy walk at the end of April.

On the brink of our holiday in Scotland: Andrew is staying with us for a couple of nights, and we’re dropping him off on the way north tomorrow afternoon. We’ve just been for a walk down the Riverside path, taking in the new bridge, and I also got him a new pair of slippers. Yesterday Phil drove me to Coventry to pick him up, and everything went pretty smoothly, except the usual Elveden chaos, which we avoided (once we could reach the roundabout) by taking the pretty route via West Stow, Ingham and Barnham.

Not much rain in the last couple of days, but it’s been very cold (for May). Still, mustn’t grumble. It will probably snow in Scotland. As I write Dot is up at the garage, who are having a second look at her car after failing to fix it yesterday. They replaced some kind of coil, but the mystery light came on again at Coltishall after her visit to North Walsham. She was not happy.

Other news this week: an unexpected pregnancy. I cannot say whose pregnancy (in the style of Walt Whitman) but it landed us a bottle of champagne, so we were delighted. At the pregnancy, too. On the same day we had a meal at Cafe Rouge with Angela and Rodney to discuss the Ethel situation, which we did. Nice meal.

Earlier in the week: on Monday I took my massive Division Two champion trophy back to the chess club and took part on the John Swan Rapidplay, where I scored a pretty normal 50%, losing to two of the joint winners and drawing with the winner of the grading prize. My best game was in fact a loss to Jeff Dawson. Found it all very tiring, though. On Wednesday I took one of my games from earlier in the season to Mike Read so that he can annotate it for En Passant (if he thinks it’s worth it). Had a cup of tea with him and indulged in a bit of nostalgia.

On Tuesday, prior to a rather depleted Tuesday Group, Caroline and Rob came here again to  discuss further the Paston event at St Peter Hungate in June. Think we’re getting there – I even sang my song, The Ballad of Gresham Town – and we decided to invite Kay to join us for our next meeting at the end of the month.

Bob Brolly and the birthday party

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Katy Wakely with her mother and brother at her 40+ birthday party in Ditchingham village hall

Yes, it is still raining. Funny you should ask. Not surprising, since April is the cruellest month. While I was staying dry by not going out the other day, however, I did make an interesting discovery in the family tree area.

For a long time I had been wondering why my father’s parents were living in Mansfield before they moved to Norwich, since his mother was born in Sheffield, and his father’s family was long established in the area immediately to the west of Peterborough (Yaxley, Normans Cross, Folkesworth…). Then I discovered when looking at newly online records that my grandmother’s parents were not from the Sheffield area: one was born in Shirebrook and the other in Kneesall. What do these two small places have in common? They are near Mansfield. What could be more natural that the newly married couple should go and live either with or near the wife’s parents’ relatives? Well, it makes sense to me.

Meanwhile, back in the 21st century, we had the church annual meeting and dinner at St Luke’s last Tuesday, while Dot was in Thames Ditton, preparing for a philosophy session. Good meal, but a longish “farewell” to John and Jean Easton, who weren’t really going anywhere, but were stepping down from several church posts because they had reached the age of 70. Took Ian and returned with both Ian and Tim Mace, managing to return the jacket TM had left at our house several weeks previously.

On Wednesday a remarkable event that turned out badly for me. I went to the doctor’s surgery to get my blood pressure checked, and arrived a quarter of an hour early, intending to go to the loo and then sit quietly, breathing deeply, until I was called into the surgery about half an hour later if I was lucky. Wouldn’t you know that I was called when I was in the loo, which obviously pushed my blood pressure up, or at least stopped it going down. Very annoying. I am now on another pill, which may be irritating my stomach. I’ve had a couple of bad nights. We shall see. What was remarkable? Being called into the surgery a quarter of an hour early. Almost unheard-of.

Despite the weather I did take part in the Reading the Past in the Landscape walk at Paston on Saturday, which was just as well, since the guy leading it didn’t know the path back from the edge of the cliff. I felt almost useful. Also climbed Stow windmill, which was nice, though greyness restricted the view. Refreshments were at Lucy’s.   The confusion over St Peter Hungate has not been totally resolved, but it’s heading in the right direction. I’ve left Rob sorting out the publicity with Lucy, which seems like a plan, as the Murrays would say.

In the evening we took the Greens to Ditchingham village hall for the 40+ party of Katy Wakeley, who is the granddaughter of our former church member, Maud Lincoln, and sometimes comes to church with her mother Chris. Like Maud, Katy is mainly in a wheelchair: she has ME very badly. She got out of it to cut her cake on this occasion. Chris and Ray were also there with Phyllis, and there was some dancing to an Irish band led by Bob Brolly, which is his real name. He also broadcasts on Midlands radio. They weren’t bad, actually. I don’t know if I mentioned this, but it was raining. Hard. All evening. Bob Brolly asked me to lead the men in singing Happy Birthday. Strangely, I was not at all nervous about this. Times change.

The party food was excellent, but for some reason my stomach reacted badly to it and I was awake for much of the night. After communion this morning I didn’t feel up to going to Fakenham for Caroline’s party, so I made my excuses and stayed home. Dot is busy working on her DSSO visits for the current term.

Drama, rain and confusion

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End of the road at Happisburgh

I know I keep going on about this, but it’s still raining, and the forecast for the rest of the week is about as wet as it can be. I wouldn’t mind if it was going to have any impact at all on the drought, but of course it isn’t. Don’t you just love water companies? On the plus side, there’s just a remote possibility that the weather might have got it all out of its system by the time we go to Scotland. Or more likely, it will have no effect on it whatsoever.

While our pitch-and-putt was rained off last Wednesday, Dot and I beat the Robinsons at table tennis, 3-2, 3-2. Not bad, since we were losing 3-0 in the second series. The next day we had the Greens round, but somehow table tennis didn’t crop up, and we spent the whole evening at the dining table devouring an excellent curry and other goodies provided by Dot.

On Friday it was curry again – this time with Heather, Sam and Simon at a rather upmarket curry house called the Merchants of Spice in Colegate. I know it was in Colegate, because it used to be called the Merchants of Colegate, before it suddenly became Asian. Delicious meal, preceded by drinks at the Playhouse. Exceptionally convivial evening.

The drama continued on Saturday, when we went to the Maddermarket to see Present Laughter by Noel Coward. Not the most brilliant play I’ve seen, but a bravura performance by the lead actor, and some nice performances elsewhere too.

More drama on Sunday, when after I preached the sermon at St Augustine’s one of  our occasional visitors arrived and promptly collapsed. He has mental health problems, but in this instance he also had stomach pains, so one of our congregation phoned 999, and eventually we got the attention of a very pleasant paramedic on a bike. Unfortunately I had to go out and guide him in, which meant I got wet because – astonishingly – it was raining. Eventually said member of congregation drove him to a drop-in centre (the ill man, not the paramedic) – at which point, I was told later, he took fright and walked off.

Today Dot has been observing at a school in the east where they are choosing a new head teacher. She arrived home tired and then had to prepare for the next couple of days, involving more observation and then a visit to Thames Ditton for a P4C session (staying overnight). Meanwhile I was having a Chronicle meeting with Rob and Caroline, trying to unravel the confusion Lucy has inserted into what was going to be a pretty straightforward concert at St Peter Hungate. More on that story later.

Drought gets wetter and wetter

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Happisburgh lighthouse on a cold Sunday

Drought is now in full swing. It’s rained every day recently, often for a long time. Yesterday we had a hailstorm, and it’s pouring outside as I write, thus putting paid to our projected pitch-and-putt with the Robinsons. Helpfully, Anglian Water has sent us a leaflet describing lots of different ways to save water, like spending two minutes less in the shower. I would put this into effect immediately, except that I don’t have showers in the normal run of things. It doesn’t say anything about baths. One question: if water pipes are leaking all over the place, shouldn’t that be helping in terms of the water table? I suspect not, but I don’t know why.

Anyway, Dot has baked a cake. So we can have afternoon tea instead of pitch-and-putt. And I’ve managed to write my sermon for Sunday, though I have no doubt it will be changed before delivery.

Yesterday was my father’s 99th birthday, and today is Jack Earl’s, which means he is one day younger (than my father). And has lived 57 years longer, which doesn’t seem fair. Having a bit of trouble with his daughter at the moment: Rob and I went to St Peter Hungate on Monday to sort out plans for our event there in June; on reporting these to Lucy, it turns out that she wasn’t anticipating an evening event or sharing the proceeds with the church, both of which we’d agreed. So not sure what will happen. I have written a linking script and Rob has designed some publicity.

Dot is considerably better, but still has a bit of a cough. She spent most of the day yesterday at the Cathedral for a church school head teachers’ conference. Meanwhile I went to the John Innes Centre in pouring rain for the Archant annual meeting.  Very few people there that I knew: no-one from EDP editorial except the editor, and no editorial pensioners. Spoke to Robyn Bechelet, Kath Silver, Ann Lown, Mike Almond and Doug Bird before I spilled some red wine on myself and made a fairly swift exit, pausing only for a bit more of the delicious buffet, which seems to get better every year.

Johnny Hustler gave an interesting talk (oh, yes he did) about Archant innovations, including a device whereby you could use an iPhone to run a video by pointing it at an ad in a magazine, which seems pretty amazing to me. Whatever next? No, don’t tell me.

On Sunday we went to have a look at Happisburgh, where they have astonishingly built a new car park on the cliff and a ramp down to the beach. They are also in process of demolishing some cliff-edge houses. Dot and I walked down to the beach and back in a bitterly cold wind, then repaired to Jessie’s for a cup of tea, with Roger in attendance.

Dolphins on a silver field

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Oliver with Canary-coloured bow tie, created at Bewilderwood

Dot is still not feeling great, but her coughing seems to be subsiding a smidgeon: she went to the doctor on Tuesday, and he said it was a virus and could linger on indefinitely, which is encouraging. However, he did tell her that her potential cyst had just about vanished, and she no longer needed it cut out. So that’s all good, as they would say on Twenty Twelve. In fact Dot is now out with Anne in the city. There has been plenty of rain in the last two days, but it’s sunny at the moment.

I cancelled Andrew’s visit completely after debating whether to go over and take him our for a day instead; the weather forecast was horrible, and I wasn’t feeling brilliant. I’m much better now and have managed to write the narration for our Paston event – at least, the first draft thereof. Caroline was also ill, so Rob and I met on Tuesday and allocated a few tasks. He is is researching publicity.

Otherwise it’s been a quiet week. We had our hair cut, and I’ve been to the supermarket and into the city to pay in some cheques while Dot has rested, by which I mean done extensive sprucing-up work in the house. I wrote a rather bad sonnet for the poetry group, but it wasn’t as bad as one or two other things that were presented to us. NG and TN, however, made a good job of theirs. Especially NG, for whom I have a growing admiration. Meanwhile I have had a poem published on the webzine Ink Sweat and Tears, which is nice. The fact, not the poem.

The computer is going well. David did a trick with Dropbox which got my capacity down to nearly 80%, so that’s now working at no further cost. I am toying with the idea of deleting all the pictures in my Pictures file to reduce it even further. After all, they’re just duplicates of ones in iPhoto which I’ve exported for various reasons.

I took some old books up to the Christian Resource Centre and also left them a box of my poetry books, which I said they could sell for whatever price they liked. I still have three boxes!

I have discovered, thanks to Genes Reunited, that the name Lenton is a very early English locational surname, and derives from the places called Lenton, one in Lincolnshire and the other in Nottinghamshire. The former is recorded as “Lavintone” in the Domesday Book of 1086 and means “Leofa’s village”, derived from the Olde English pre– 7th Century personal name “Leofa”, meaning “dear, or beloved” and “tun”, a settlement or farm.

John Leynton (1455 – 1505) represented the Borough of Cambridge in the Parliaments of 1489 – 1490 and 1491 – 1492 during the reign of King Henry V11. He was the first Recorder of Cambridge in 1494. Rather pleased to discover that in 1584 Arms were granted to the Lentons of Aldwinkle in Northants (where I visited the church a few years ago). These have the blazon of a silver field, a bend between two gold dolphins embowed.

Oliver would be pleased. He likes dolphins.

Bewilderwood comes up trumps again

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Led by Amy, the children cross the rope bridge from the centre of the maze

Well into a wintry April, and this is being unexpectedly written on a new iMac, which I bought from the Apple store in Chapelfield, with a little help from David and Phil Coomes, on Good Friday. The idea is that I can now upgrade to iCloud, but this hasn’t happened yet, despite David taking some considerable time on his last day here pushing files across. We still have to do something about iWeb, which will no longer be supported. However, I have to say the computer itself is a delight. Looks good, feels good, so it must be good. And only £999. Plus Applecare, of course. I am seeing if I can manage without Word and Excel, but if not, I can get it from Amazon, the Apple guy pointed out helpfully.

This came at the end of a week with David, Oliver and Amy, who arrived on the Monday – a week too late for the warm weather. But despite a day of continuous rain on the Wednesday, we still had a good time, including a Maundy Thursday visit to Bewilderwood, which continues to delight. We were accompanied as last year by the Coomes family, with all four children getting on really well together. They stayed at the Premier Inn on Duke Street – not the ideal spot, but apparently a lot cheaper then the Nelson – and came to us for all their meals except breakfast.

Oliver was not too well after the first day or two, but manfully kept going, though David had a touch of whatever it was, and so did Dot and I. As I write, she is still coughing: she hasn’t been able to sleep well, and this lunchtime she had quite a frightening coughing fit provoked by eating something that irritated her throat. She didn’t come to church yesterday, but recovered sufficiently to get to the traditional Red Lion lunch with Phil and his family, including both sons, their wives, and the German contingent. Had quite a long chat with Joe (Wizemann), and the meal was good, though too large as always. Very pleasant time.

As a result of Dot’s illness, and the fact that I wasn’t feeling good myself, I rang Ian Fosten and excused myself from what was apparently an oversubscribed Seagull gig. Watched too much TV instead. But the morning service was enjoyable: I led it as usual, and John Easton preached and did Communion. Quite a good number in the congregation too.

Before the children left on Friday afternoon we had a game of football on Mousehold that either ended in a 4-4 draw, 3-1 to us or 6-5 to them, depending on who you asked. David had a procedure at hospital on the Saturday, but seems to be recovering well. Nothing to with the football.

Wind from the north ends warm spell

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View of the Wensum from the Jarrold Bridge while the sun was still warm.

Spots of rain on the window this morning, and now a decidedly cold wind from the north. Our early summer is apparently over. And we have a fuel crisis to go with the cold wind. Or should I say a “fuel crisis”, because it’s entirely created by a stupid announcement from the government that it might be a good idea to stock up in case there was a tanker drivers’ strike. So of course the usual suspects queued at petrol stations to put in £2 worth while those who genuinely needed it for things like travelling were given unwanted deliveries of stress and frustration.

No, this is not the anger of a man with an empty tank, surrounded by closed petrol stations. As it happens, I’m not in dire need at the moment. But I do sometimes despair at how stupidity seems to thrive in this country, at every level.

Nor is a lack of fuel the reason Dot and I took another long bus ride this week – travelling to Cromer in the sun on Thursday for lunch at the Rocket Cafe and a visit to the town museum (travel and museum both free). We did venture briefly on to the beach, but despite the sun the first signs of returning chill were already evident, and although we succumbed to an ice cream, we had to find a warm spot out of the wind to eat it in. The journey was very easy and pleasant, and I suspect more bus trips may be in the offing. We have also renewed our railcards…

We resorted to the car last night, however, for the annual meeting of the Paston Heritage Society, held at the Ship Inn in Mundesley with chips and chippolatas, plus a talk from Dr Richard Hoggett and a few remarks from myself on the future events we have planned. A convivial and quite brief occasion: we were home by 9.15pm. Good to see all the supporters out, and Brigette and Ruth resplendent in something other than medieval dress.

On Tuesday we did a little bit to support Norwich Christian Resource Centre, which is at risk of closing. The Tuesday Group (or six of us) went up to one of their evening events instead of having our usual meal and heard a story of how one woman escaped from the genocide in Rwanda, and the unexpected forgiveness she subsequently felt. We bought her book (Miracle in Kingali), published by Anthony Gray, who had himself been held hostage in China. Strangely I had heard Robin Limmer speak about him quite often: I think he formerly worked for the EDP.

Trying to help CRC again by donating secondhand books, but Joy is coming round this afternoon to see if she wants any of them. Having quite a clearout: our friend Carrie has just collected my big old desk to give to a family of asylum seekers from Egypt, and she has also taken one or two other things, including a camp bed and some bookshelves. Dot has managed – with a little bit of help from me – to lay our old kitchen carpet in the garage and get things much clearer in there for when the grandchildren join us next week.

I was the only St Augustine’s representative at the PCC on Wednesday, which I suspect just about kept it legal, and I put forward a motion (passed unanimously) to enable us to obtain cash from a charity which has been lying dormant for years and use it to pay for hall repairs. Now I just await the minutes to carry it all through. I hope. Dot, incidentally, was at Hopton, helping on behalf of the diocese with shortlisting for a head’s post. She is keeping pretty busy, so I have tentatively arranged some time in Scotland in France, in addition to our Devon holiday later this year.

Number crunching

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No, I'm over here

As we move into summer (or at least BST), the air gets cooler, but the sunny skies remain. Friday and Saturday last week were quite warm – the sort of weather that tempts you outdoors, and so of course we were indoors most of the time, at an Enneagram workshop at St Luke’s. The ideas behind the enneagram are fascinating (click here), but the practice turned out to be a bit tricky because of the size of the group, which reached the 100 mark. A lot of time was spent on panels featuring the various personality types, and as there were eight out of nine that weren’t you, attention tended to flag. Some sections of the group resorted to setting up a new enneagram, which began 8 = irritating, 9 = boring, 1 = impossible. Of course this referred entirely to the panellists: I know some lovely 8s, 9s and 1s. Where were they? Obviously I can’t reveal my personality type, but it came between 4 and 7. Yes, you’re right: it was 5½. Which doesn’t exist. Ho, hum.

All very mathematical and probably not essential to life as we know it. Last week we had a bit of social interaction, starting at the Castle Museum on Tuesday. Because of a miscalculation, we arrived on time, but the lecture hall was still packed. Fascinating talk on Ovid and his effect on medieval painters, which is a lot more fun than it sounds. For one thing we saw some great pictures; and for another the speaker was a witch. Of course I didn’t know that till afterwards. She certainly spoke entertainingly and triumphed over a stutter that would have defeated a lesser person. An elf, for instance.

On Wednesday we entertained the Higbees, which is always good. They appear to have sold their place in Italy, which is frustrating for Dot, who never got to see it, but probably good for them, though they put a lot into the place and will undoubtedly miss it. On Friday it was the Eagles: as a bit of a challenge, Dot invited them on the evening of the Enneagram event so that she had plenty of time to prepare. Or not, as the case may be. Nevertheless we did a quick shop and it was all very nice. Another entertaining evening, which didn’t end till nearly 1am. Sue and Roger are off to Hong Kong now. We may not go very far, but we have friends who do.

In between these two social whirls Dot and I visited my aunt Josephine, who is still languishing in Cromwell House on Cecil Road, which she admits is very nice, but wants to be elsewhere – preferably at home, looking after herself. She doesn’t react well to being looked after. I ought to know what personality type that is, but I don’t. To be more precise, she would rather be in her own little place in Hethersett, because she admits the house she shared with people who are now dead (her father, Joyce, Frank) might be hard to live in. She is very entertaining and a lovely person, but I think it might be hard to take care of her.

Ethel is in Hethersett of course, and Marion Roberts Court might suit Josephine. One day last week (I don’t remember which) Dot went to see her and dropped me halfway there so that I could get some exercise. I walked 2½ miles and had a cup of tea. It was warm (the weather, that is: the tea was very hot). Ruth is in Hethersett too; so are Joe and Birgit. It’s very popular. I don’t know what number it is. Countries have numbers too, apparently. England is 6.

Titian, Ovid and the Shrew

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Dot and Tim on Stapleford HIll, just above the Hemlock Stone

Our Nottingham visit concluded (as it were) with a visit to the Theatre Royal to see an RSC version of The Taming of the Shrew which turned out to be both unnecessarily coarse and strangely compelling. This is a play that could never be written today, and despite my natural political incorrectness, I found myself recoiling at the treatment of women in it, much more than at the coarseness. Beautifully acted, though, and a good evening.

The next day found us on the road home, with the mist gradually lifting to reveal the promised blue sky. We stopped at Cambridge Services for a quick lunch at Costa Coffee, then again at Elveden to buy some food for the following day, when Audrey and Bent came for lunch. Astonishingly, it was four years since we’d seen them, and so there was much catching up to do. At table all afternoon, and when they left I travelled with them to Martineau Lane for guidance, then walked home. (I didn’t get any guidance.)

On Saturday Dot and I were at Framingham Earl High School for an informal evening concert in aid of a Malawi schools link, organised by Sue Eagle, who did some singing. A variety of differing acts of varying quality – some of them surprisingly good. On Sunday we spent far too much time watching Battleship Galactica, but Norwich had lost 1-0 to Newcastle, so we had to do something to distract ourselves. On the plus side, Jensen Button won the first F1 grand prix of the season.

Yesterday Dot did some DSSO stuff and ended up at North Walsham with some belated mother’s day flowers for the cemetery. I was in Norwich paying in some church money when it occurred to me that I could get a bus out to North Walsham for free, so I did – meeting Dot at Jessie’s for a cup of tea. Quite a quick journey in lovely bright weather.

Today we went up to the Castle Museum to see Diana in action – sorry, that should read Diana & Acteon (ho, ho), a painting by Titian which is being lent to the museum for a couple of weeks. Also an hour-long talk by an expert on Ovid’s influence on medieval painters: impressive. The picture itself was pretty good, though I have to say I think Diana’s head is too small. Perhaps she was famous for having a small head, though you would expect a goddess to sort that kind of thing out. Otherwise, a magnificent piece of work. No doubt Titian, were he alive, would be gratified to hear me say so.