All posts by Tim Lenton

14 January 2009

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We’ve just been for a three-mile walk at Venta Icenorum, the Roman town about three miles outside Norwich, and this is Dot approaching the church in a mist that lifted as we arrived and came down again as we left. Other pictures on Flickr. In between, quite briefly, bright sunshine. We did the longer walk around the site, found a couple of swans on the river, which was flowing briskly, and some magpies on the hill on the other side. The combination of mist and sunshine was spectacular at times, with naked trees coming out of the mist like Romans emerging from the past. After finishing the round we walked a further mile and a quarter on permissive paths that have only recently been opened along the sides of fields. We walked up to a low ridge (the only sort you get in Norfolk) and sighted a tiny shrew by a marker post. Then walked past an Anglo-Saxon burial site marked by pines reaching into the sky, through the mist, towards the sun. All very pleasand and unexpected: in Norwich it has been bright sunshine all the way.

Earlier today looked at some cottages in Scotland for a possible holiday with David and Vicky and the children. We also received the sad news that Bernard O’Brien had died on Christmas Eve. It is his funeral tomorrow, and we hope to go. Bernard was our neighbour for 12 years in Yelverton – a gentle, eccentric giant.

Dot has been busy with her philosophy for children. She spent most of Monday at Terrington St Clement with Sue and Roger Eagle, and they have another three dates there in the next couple of months. Then she was down at Barbara’s all yesterday afternoon after we had had our hair cut. Naturally I have been putting the time to good use, though I can’t quite remember what I did. Our Tuesday Group was at the Archers’ last night, which meant we didn’t have to worry about cooking.

10 January 2009

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Just been putting together a mixture of old and new pictures for a photo book for A Ethel’s birthday as a surprise (unless she reads this, which is pretty unlikely, as she doesn’t have a computer and wouldn’t know what to do with one if she had). This picture features her and U Ted together with Dot and David, and a little bit of me. Must be around 1980, I should think – perhaps earlier. Dot and I had to research some old albums, which was interesting: quite a number of unidentified people emerged. The process was interrupted (a) by problems with the printer, which I think have now been fixed after many abortive attempts and (b) by an unexpected visit from Joe and Birgit, who got a puncture on the way and eventually stayed for lunch. They bought us a bottle of pear liqueur from Germany, which was very welcome though stronger than I remembered it. I’m not sure “though” is the right word.

Very cold today – a couple of degree below zero – so no real desire to go out. Yesterday I helped Annette take the Paston book to the Millennium Library (meeting Lisa there), where it has a display cabinet to itself. The cabinet was embarrassingly big, actually, but one of the librarians managed to find some relevant books to make the display look half-decent, and they also printed out an information sheet I provided – on disc because our printer had just “broken”. The breaking turned out to be a blessing in disguise (pretty heavy disguise, it must be said), because they printed it out at A3, which made it look almost professional on a stand in the cabinet. I could not have done that.

The printer “breaking” occurred at a difficult moment, because Sue and Roger Eagle were here discussing philosophy for children with Dot at what sounded a pretty deep level. While I lured Dot away to look at the printer I gave them some mini-baguettes which I’d bought from Budgens on the way back from the dentist’s, together with some cheese, a few crisps and a cup of tea – all in a huge rush because I was late to meet Annette. Aargh! It worked out all right in the end, though. Annette came back for a warm drink (she had been working at freezing Bally) and I put off my visit to the post office to retrieve an undelivered piece of mail. Dot then returned her to Bally and went to the supermarket while I caught up with various stuff.

Dot is now printing out some stuff for her P4C visit to Terrington St Clement on Monday. She’s been very busy over the past few days, and Norwich City have just lost again, which doesn’t help.

7 January 2009

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Another entry for the Walker’s Diary: this is Ralph and Brian setting out from Bruce’s home in Sheringham on a mini-yomp on Monday. They were accompanied by Dot and me, Bruce and his wife Cynthia, and Ralph’s wife Lynne in very cold weather and occasional light snow. Further south – say Winfarthing, for instance – the snow was quite heavy and prevented Marion from joining us. Robin and his wife had bad colds, and also couldn’t make it. The occasion was a flying visit from Ralph and Lynne, who now live in the Seychelles. Cynthia put on a sit-down buffet (if such a thing is possible), with some delicious game soup, and a splendid time was had by all. The Robinsons’ bungalow is beautifully placed, adjacent to miles of woodland walks and only 20 minutes’ walk from the sea. Apparently the only bad thing about Sheringham is the appalling health provision. We gave Brian a lift there and (of course) back, calling at North Walsham on the return journey to drop off a belated present from Ethel at Sheila’s. A bit of snow had settled in the fields near Norwich, but it’s gone now, and the temperature is up a bit, but the news has been full of shockingly low temperatures, ice on Welney Wash and snow all over the place.

Yesterday Barbara, Dot and I spent quite a lot of time preparing PDF files of business cards, labels, compliment slips and folder pages for their new Philosophy for Children project. These have now gone off to the printer. Bit tricky getting the right colours, but I think they will look good. Used Tuesday Group to finish off the various foodstuffs left over from Christmas, an opportunity they grasped with relish…and mayonnaise….and various dips…and coleslaw.

Dot went to the dentist’s this afternoon for the start of some extensive treatment to ensure that her teeth stay with her, and in good shape, over the coming years. Will be pretty pricey, I expect.

4 January 2009

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A serene Princess Amy plays with visitor Matthew (not Harry) Potter in the living room. Matthew’s parents Kevin and Lisa joined us all yesterday afternoon after David and his family had gone to visit Kerry at Easton in the morning. Kerry is Vicky’s friend from way back. She used to live at Bury St Edmunds, which was obviously more appropriate for rhyming, though less convenient. At teatime, after the Potters left, the six of us went to Prezzo’s for a meal, and the children were great, despite Amy falling off her chair at the outset. Surprisingly, she didn’t find this funny.

It’s been pretty cold this year, and today the temperature has hovered around zero. There’s a risk of snow tomorrow, when we’re supposed to be visiting Bruce at Sheringham and giving Brian a lift. On Friday we all visited A Ethel and then A Jessie (following a visit to Sainsbury’s at North Walsham). We’ve been eating quite a lot of food, I’m sorry to say, and the extra weight gained will take a bit of losing. We did our best on New Year’s Day, when all six of us, plus Julia and Dave, went for a walk at Winterton. It was overcast, but not too cold, thanks to a lack of wind. I introduced Oliver to the art of tracking people through the dunes, and he had nearly as good a time as I did. We laid several successful ambushes, including one on Dot and Amy, who were also tracking through the dunes, only slower. Amy was mainly looking for good places to rest. David, Vicky, Julia and Dave were behaving like adults and walking in the valley. The Hemsby/Winterton valley has been a key place: I had lots of fun there in the 50s and 60s, then introduced it to David in the 70s, and now Oliver loves it too. An excellent New Year outing, which I entered in my new Walker’s Diary!

Dave and Julie had joined us for New Year’s Eve and left on the Saturday for Paul and Leanne’s. With impeccable timing, Leanne produced her second child – Sophie – yesterday, all ready for grandparents to admire. Our New Year’s Eve went really well, including the usual quiz and champagne. Anne and Philip joined us, and I adapted the quiz so that everyone could consult instead of being in competition. It worked quite well, though of course they got most of the answers right between them. Today the family left just after breakfast, and Dot and I went to church – since when she has been doing a lot of clearing up (with a little help from me). When we got home, there were two toy cars in the hall, but an empty house. Rather sad.

30 December 2008

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Granddaughter Amy on the phone at Nottingham to great-aunt Ethel, thanking her for her Christmas present. Tomorrow we will all be together again!

The weather has turned very c0ld – freezing by late afternoon, and the car did not defrost all day. We used Dot’s car to go to the supermarket this morning and paid what I believe to be a record amount for grocery shopping: over £140. Took a bit of time to get it all loaded in the car, of course. The rest of the day we’ve spent in preparation of one sort or another. I put together a quiz for tomorrow night and a bolt on one of the doors. Dot finished the house-cleaning she started yesterday and cooked the meal for tomorrow night, as well as various other tasks.

On Sunday night we had a family meal here, with Phil, Joy, Sam and Lucy joining the three of us. All went well, despite the oven playing up at a critical moment. (It’s still not right.) Then yesterday Phil drove Andrew back to Coventry with me as a passenger. We stopped again at Thrapston, and it was back on form, with the usual staff returned and the food and service quite reasonable. Traffic was fairly light throughout, and we took the direct route both ways, apart from my patent excursion via South Kilworth on the way back – not because it was necessary, but because it’s pleasant, especially the last few miles on empty roads across country.

Now we await half a dozen of the Tuesday Group, who should be providing some food (bring and share). The first one has arrived without any. Hope this is not an omen. Or something.

28 December 2008

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Grandson Oliver takes a break on the way round the Attenborough walk on Boxing Day, which was brilliantly sunny but with a fair ol’ chillin’ breeze, as they might say in Norfolk if they spoke Norfolk as badly as I do. It had got gradually colder as Christmas week went by, and this morning it barely crept above freezing, though there was only a light frost on the windscreen.

Andrew is here for a couple of days. We picked him up on the way back from Nottingham, where we’d spent a very calm and peaceful Christmas with our family at Julia and Dave’s home. Spot the deliberate error in that sentence: yes, it wasn’t calm and peaceful, because Oliver and Amy were there. But it was a lot of fun, and there were far too many presents for everybody. The journey up to Nottingham was very good, but there was a lot of traffic on the way back yesterday, and we eventually diverted off the A14 just after Huntingdon, and Dot navigated a new route through the southern Fens via places like Earith and ending at Mildenhall. We’d stopped earlier at the Thrapston Little Chef, which is usually good, but the service was appalling and the food only passable.

This morning I led morning worship at St Augustine’s. There were nine of us and two children, which is rather more than I expected. Mark Heybourne did a really good talk on Mary, and on bringing light into a dark world. Called at Phil and Joy’s afterward to pick up Andrew, and after a light lunch I took Andrew for a walk via the Rosary (put some winter plants on mum’s grave) and on to St James’ Hill, then back by the river.

23 December 2008

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That was just to fool you. In fact it’s reasonably mild for the time of year, and the days are getting longer, though as yet it’s undiscernible. The footprints are undoubtedly of Father Christmas, but where is it? No-one knows. I’ve just been into the city to get a final one or two things and forgetting one or two others that we will certainly need, though we don’t know it yet. Fairly quiet in the city, except in HMV, where there was the longest queue I’ve ever seen. Fortunately, it was also the quickest because their system was so superbly organised: a whole row of cashiers, with an additional guy directing the next in queue to the next cashier available (shoppers are usually too dim to see this for themselves, or possibly too short). Anyway, great planning: well done, HMV.

Dot has meanwhile decorated the house and actually painted part of the bathroom ceiling. We got a promise from City Hall that the binmen would come tomorrow after they came yesterday without telling anyone, and so we didn’t have out bags out. Discovered from our neighbour Ailsa that she too has been in contact several times over the intermittent service. I think City Care have a lucky dip on which day they’re going to do Aspland Road each week.

Yesterday I took part in the Christmas chess event and managed to beat the club’s top player on his final day before moving to Kent. OK, he had three minutes and I had seven, but who’s counting? Managed to lose my last game of six when a win would have tied me for first place, but that’s par for the course. An enjoyable evening, though I had one ginger beer too many. That’s a total of two, in case you were wondering. And yes, they’re non-alcoholic.

The alternative carol service went well on Sunday, with appreciation from many of the 40 or so present. Used a couple of old sketches revamped slightly, and they got some laughs. This was followed by a splendid Christmas lunch cooked by Vicky and friends, and in the evening by yet another meal out – Eugenia’s 40th birthday bash at the York Tavern. This turned out to be really good; it was in a private room at the top of the pub, and we met some interesting people, as well as eating some interesting food. In Italian style, plenty of children present, including her own baby, Francesca, who is a lovely little thing. Sat with a Japanese PhD student from UEA and Lisa, formerly in environmental education but now at a day centre for people with varying degrees of disability. Also met a German GP, with whose views on red tape we strongly sympathised. She is married to a Frenchman who is also at UEA – something to do with pharmaceuticals. I think Dot would like me to have been Norwegian, or Uzbekhistani or something.

The previous night we had another meal out, at the Higbees, which was also a lot of fun and very relaxing. Since then I have been down to Alburgh to pick up the Christmas cake from Marion while Dot was at Park Farm / picking up parcels from the Post Office / buying food from Waitrose / visiting her aunt Ethel. I also called in at Burston to leave Annette and Mike’s gift, but they were out. I hid it by the door, then wondered if Annette was at Bally, which would have been much easier. Now we’re just about ready to crash out before cooking a smallish meal for our much depleted Tuesday Group.

Another Aspland Road wall has been knocked down, this time by someone unknown. It must have happened while I was out this morning. The house turns out to be owned by Mrs Hicks’ daughter Janet, who is renting it out and called to see if we’d heard anything. Unfortunately Dot had The Messiah on high and was oblivious. Nice to meet Janet, though.

20 December 2008

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This is my second cousin Jeanette with my uncle Paul (her grandfather’s little brother), when she visited Norwich recently. She is now at Yate, near Bristol. He is still in Norwich, as am I. Meanwhile my son, his wife, her parents and our grandchildren are about to return from Lapland, where I understand they have met Santa Claus, some huskies and some assorted reindeer. Oh, and some Finns, I should imagine, as they are staying at Yllasjarvi, which as everyone knows is in the north of Finland. To be slightly more accurate, the flight tracker informs me that they are about to take off from Kittila airport. They should be back in England at about 9.30pm.

The days still go by quickly, and not just because we are approaching the shortest day. Everything now seems to be wrapped up, but I suspect this will prove to be a delusion. Dot and I were in the city today (she considerably longer than me), finishing off certain purchases. Tonight we are off to the Higbees’ for the evening. Yesterday was our Italian evening at Menita and Regis’, which turned out to be very pleasant. It started at 9pm and consisted of quite a lot of sweet food and an Italian version of bingo, followed by a sort of auction game involving cards. We made a pound or two, I think. No skill was involved at all. About ten to a dozen of us – all good company. We left at about 11.30 and still managed to stay up till about 12.30am. I blame my wife.

Earlier in the day we had been out to visit Lucy, who seemed a lot better following her visit to hospital at Cambridge. She is on a lot of antibiotics, I understand, and the doctors are worried about her immune system. After that we visited Dot’s Aunt Sheila, who had psychically prepared a very nice lunch for us involving jacket potatoes, ham, salad and boiled eggs. We also went to the cemetery and bought a new ink cartridge. Wonderful what you can get from cemeteries nowadays. They used to be a dead loss.

On Wednesday we had the monthly hair-cutting ceremony, this time supplemented by Linda’s partner Michael finishing off our shower room with some astonishingly tricky tile work on the windowsill. He was not on the windowsill; the tiles were. Eventually.

Dot got an inquiry from Teddington about P4C courses, which is a bit worrying. This whole thing could escalate out of all proportion. I have just finished preparing tomorrow’s alternative carol service, and making a card for Eugenia’s 40th birthday tomorrow. We hardly ever seem to be eating at home nowadays.

16 December 2008

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Just back from a North Walsham day – starting at the printer’s, where we discussed printing of material for Dot’s P4C folder with the owner, who happened to be the organist at our wedding in 1968. Then on to Elderton Lodge for truly wonderful sandwiches in a picturesque setting, then to Dot’s cousin Rosie’s, where I took the picture above and where we met her five new dogs for the first time. I am not desperately keen on dogs, but these five would have to stand on each other’s shoulders to give me any trouble. Had further sustenance there in the form of tea and cake, and from there we went the short distance to Jessie’s for more of the same – except that this time it was mince pies, which I could eat for England, unfortunately. It all took the edge off a very slight recurrence of flu symptoms, which I am sure will quickly subside.

Very cold day today, but it was milder yesterday, when (working backwards) I won a game of chess for my club against the aptly named Johnny Danger: mine was the only win in a 2-2 draw. Some consolation for last week’s fiasco. Earlier Barbara had been up to help Dot choose P4C folders, and we all had lunch at Caffe Italia, where I ran into the Mercury elite having what was presumably their Christmas lunch. Warm greetings ensued: Julia, Terry Redhead, Ivan, Jane, Terry Reeve, Tim Warner and the chief reporter, a charming girl whose name I have forgotten. I expect it will come back to me.

Much present-wrapping and card-writing over the past few days, but it’s mostly done now, except for close family. The City Council binmen have again failed to materialise, but phone calls seem to get nowhere. On Friday we had a “completely certain” assurance and “guarantee” that they would come, but of course they didn’t, and still haven’t. This time I was told it would definitely be Wednesday (tomorrow). I said I didn’t believe the council spokesperson, and she seemed unsurprisingly unsurprised by this.

Last Thursday’s Ambient Wonder event was hard to assess. Not many people came into the church, but I guess numbers aren’t everything. I’m still not sure it’s the right thing for the right place. Quite a cold night, both inside and outside the church.

On Friday a double whammy, starting with Archant pensioners’ lunch at the Jarvis hotel, which was as usual pleasantly nostalgic. I failed to win a place at the former subs’ table because of the press, as the King James Version might put it, and landed up with the cleaners but between Frances Burrows and Frances Pearce, which was a definite plus. In the evening (second whammy), former colleague Ian Bullock came round for a chat which extended almost to midnight.

On Saturday, after a bit of book shopping in the afternoon, we went to the Robinsons’ for a Moroccan meal, which was very pleasant. Philip is worried about the Russians turning off the gas, which I suppose is possible. I am worried about meteorites.

On Sunday evening we went for a curry with Heather, Simon and Sam at the excellent Ali Tandoori in Magdalen Street, and had an excellent time. En route from pre-Indian drinks at the King’s Head we ran into Dot’s cousin Roger and his son Philip. After the meal we had a further drink at the Maid’s Head, where Dot has discovered a cosy snug. Heather was suffering a bit from a bone at the bottom of her spine which she damaged years ago but has suddenly played up again for no apparent reason.

Now we are waiting to see how many people turn up for our Tuesday group, at the same time wondering how David and Vicky and family will get on on their flight to Lapland tomorrow, where they apparently have an appointment with Father Christmas. He had better be on the ball, or Amy will have something to say to him about it.

10 December 2008

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Winter sunshine shot of St Peter Mancroft Church in Norwich, taken from outside the Forum during my swift guided tour of the city for Jeanette and Graham, who are now in Liverpool, or possibly Southport, and thinking of buying a car, which is hardly surprising, given the size of their suitcases and their lack of any permanent hall to leave them in. They sent us a nice message thanking us for our hospitality and inviting us to Cornwall when they (a) get there and (b) find a house. They seemed quite happy with out cold winter weather: apparently Jeanette, at least, “likes the cold”.

Meanwhile things have quietened down a bit. Today I spent quite a lot of time making Christmas cards and then addressing envelopes. I surmounted the problem of replacing two ink cartridges while Dot was away with Barbara working on P4C in Metfield, though I did lose it momentarily while trying to use of one of those cheaper cartridges where you have to switch the electronic tag, or whatever it is. Definitely not worth saving the money. Incidentally the P4C website designed by David with content by Dot and Barbara is now up and running. Proof-read by me, so any mistakes are my fault. I’m hoping there aren’t any.

Dot finished her inspection at Carleton Rode on Monday morning. I took some stuff up the tip. That pretty much sums up our different roles. In the evening I played a really good game of chess against Colin Payne, then lost it through one bad move late in the evening. Unaccountably, I have been feeling down ever since, though I don’t think it’s entirely the chess. I’m not sure what it is.

Dot went to the dentist yesterday and apparently needs some work doing, despite the dentist’s admiring both the quality of her teeth and her general fitness and stunning appearance.. Apparently she would never be taken for a woman of 63. Tell me about it. We had a mammoth number of people round in the evening, and Dot and I ended up sitting at the breakfast bar. Still, the carrot soup didn’t run out, and we had a good session. I may not have mentioned (yes, I could check) that we also went to Ambient Wonder planning on Sunday, and tomorrow we have the big AW adventure, when we take over St Stephen’s Church just outside Chapelfield Mall and try to entice passers-by into talking to us and seeing what we have to offer. There is some excitement about this (quite rightly), but I find it difficult to cope with the chaos of it. This is a character defect. I have just been reading Jack Earl’s autobiography (he is in his late 90s), and it is amazing what he has done in his life – on a purely geographical level, apart from everything else. I put this down to his enjoyment of camping, which I could never get enthusiastic about. Oh, and the war.