Another rather miserable, rainy day – not tempting us very much to go to the polling station for the city and county election, especially as our vote will have absolutely no effect on the result. But I expect we will anyway. At the moment Dot is on another long Zoom call to Barbara about p4c, and I’ve just finished a couple of hours of catching up with my e-mails, which suddenly got very demanding.

To complete last Sunday, some of which was covered in my last post, after lunch we walked up to the Rosary, narrowly avoiding the rain. We then watched a lot of TV, including first three episodes of The Killing, a Danish noir which was really very good; Formula One; the Line of Duty finale, which worked without being jaw-dropping; and MOTD 2, featuring Spurs winning 4-0 against Sheffield Utd.

Monday’s weather was unpleasant again, but we drove to Morrison’s to buy a few odd things, and I left Dot to look round Hobbycraft and the card shop, though not Boots, which was shut because it was a bank holiday. Meanwhile I re-watched a bit of Fargo, then David FaceTimed and we had a chat about Jennie’s funeral. Dot arrived home towards the end of this.

Earlier we watched a river trip down the Shannon – a consistently interesting but low-key series narrated by Bill Nighy. We also watched Whiplash, which was compelling in a not particularly good way, but it featured some excellent acting and an amazing drum solo. We then started watching Ted Lasso on the recommendation of David, and it proved to be excellent. At the time of writing we have consumed six episodes. Walked indoors up to 4000+ steps: very windy and heavy rain during the evening. 

On Tuesday we drove to Coventry and met Jackie Duah, the new manager at Minster Lodge, who seemed nice, as did the other staff. Very showery day, but not too bad for driving, though there was plenty of traffic, despite the frequent MINIMISE TRAVEL signs on the gantries. The now completed stretch of the A14 north of Cambridge is brilliant, cutting down hugely on travel time and making it almost enjoyable. Dot and I shared the driving, stopping at Cambridge Services both ways. Not many people in there. On the way back I drove as far as the Memorial at Elvedon before we swapped, because Dot was drinking coffee purchased at the Services.

Andrew seemed very good – he has a new room on the ground floor because he occasionally had trouble on the stairs. Both of us had COVID tests and answered a questionnaire on Andrew’s care. We were with him for more than 90 minutes. Got home just after 6pm after filling up with petrol. Watched the final episode of The Syndicate, which was only satisfying in that the villain was in jail in France without his dog. The heroine was still an idiot.

Yesterday was showery again, and pretty nippy. We both woke early, and Martin Wyatt came round to write down three of my songs: we spent some time playing/singing them to him. Did a pile of office work, including ordering National Geographic for Andrew, at his request. After lunch I picked up some toiletries from Joy, who is decluttering for their move on Saturday. Spent some time talking to her – or listening to her, to be more accurate. Dot meanwhile walked into the city to shop and bought me three pairs of trousers. 

I went for an eye test late in afternoon: the whole process took a long tIme, and I had trouble finding my way out of the Mall, because the stairs were one-way, and that was down. Obviously, I wanted to go up; I eventually emerged on Castle Meadow, which was a bit of a waste of effort. Meanwhile, I had ordered a new pair of reading glasses. Watched half of The Blue Dahlia before going to bed – both of us very tired.

Tuesday was quite a bit warmer. Dot was in a Zoom DSSO meeting all day, which was very good, she said, including an excellent talk by the Bishop and good comments from others. Meanwhile I rang Thelma’s and Andrew’s care homes to make appointments, then walked to Budgen’s to buy a loaf – and chocolate biscuits for Thelma, who I saw for nearly 90 minutes in the afternoon, out in her garden. Had to wear a mask, though, and got quite tired speaking loudly! She seemed pretty well.

On the way home I called in at the Rosary to check on my gravestone cleaning. Mediocre. Earlier rang Joy to see how things were going – not too bad, apparently. Harriet called around teatime, and Dot walked up to the post office with her and her dog, posting a card to Philip Coomes. In the evening we watched Bullitt: amazingly Dot and I both fell asleep at the same point in the famous car chase. Neither of us could work out the plot, though we were awake for the rest of it. Later watched The Syndicate, penultimate episode. Quite good fun, though there are too many dogs in it and the heroine is an idiot. WhatsApped Sandra and sent her pictures of Thelma and the Cresta care home garden.

Next day it was chillier again and not so sunny. Feeling decidedly odd, very slightly nauseous and light-headed. Wondered later if it was the rather toxic stuff I used to clean the gravestone. Had a better sleep, though. Did very little in the morning, but after lunch walked with Dot over the Julian Bridge and back around Recorder Road – not too far. She went further. I enjoyed a good Heygo tour of parts of the centre of Coventry, which was unexpectedly new to me. Dot caught the end of it.

Watched Return of the Pink Panther. Very funny. David FaceTimed to check on us and remind us about funeral tomorrow. 

There was a coolish wind on Thursday, with light rain in evening. Dot and I had go at getting a couple of my songs written on a stave, then I wrote a website piece on books and started putting poems on pages for my projected book of Christian poems. After lunch Dot drove up to get her regular pills and to visit a garden centre. I didn’t do a walk but managed 4000 steps largely indoors, though I helped Dot tie up the roses for training purposes (the roses, not Dot). At 1pm we watched the webcast of Jennie’s funeral, which was quite moving, though her husband’s name was conspicuous by its absence. David FaceTimed just after funeral. Later watched Lord of the Flies, which was well acted but unconvincing. Felt quite a bit better.

Some rain on Friday. Managed to record three songs on GarageBand and convert them to mp3 via iTunes, ready to give them to Martin. After lunch Dot went to Hobbycraft and Boots while I got a bit further with my next poetry book. Des brought Dot fishnchips and I cooked rather too big a meal for myself: two kippers, mashed potatoes, courgettes and bread. We watched The Spy Who Loved Me, which is pretty good. David Facetimed again to say he had been vaccinated, which is great.

Watched the last episode of Viewpoint, which had been idiotically pulled from the schedules because of allegations against its lead actor. Thanks to David, we found it on ITV hub. Also saw first episode of the new Alan Partridge, which was quite funny.

There was lots of rain on Saturday morning, some of it quite hard. Linda came and cut our hair, then I had a bath. Practised hymns, then had a Face Time with Amy and Oliver, who have both got great results in their exams and seem well. They will drive up to see us in summer!!  Watched Norwich beat Reading 4-1 to become Champions. Videoed the celebrations. Watched Mary Magdalene (2018 film), in which Rooney Mara was very good. Not many steps on the first day of the month (Beltain, apparently). So off to a bad start…

Today we went to Holy Communion led by Liz Cannon, with Carrie “preaching”. Total of 17 people – average for last month or so. Quite warm outside in the sun, but later chilly when we walked up to the Rosary, with rain threatening but holding off. Dot wore her NCFC scarf to church. Rang P in the afternoon: he sounded a bit down after his surgery: I tried to be positive. He is due a CT scan this week.

On Friday it was sunny again, but still with that chill wind. Apparently it’s the coldest April for a very long time. Global cooling? Dot went up to the dentist for an 11am appointment, calling at John Lewis on the way. After lunch I decided on a few of my songs which might work chorally, in response to an offer from Martin Wyatt, a local conductor and congregation member at St Augustine’s. Then a couple of Amazon parcels arrived, and I wrote a letter and sent a poetry book to Thelma, posting it on the way to the Rosary, where I installed a new flower-holder (from Amazon) on my grandparents’ grave and attempted – not very successfully – to clean the gravestones.

Later we saw the end of The Far Country, which Dot thought was bizarre, and then all of First Man, about Neil Armstrong, which was pretty good, given that Armstrong was not at all charismatic. Apparently. David FaceTimed at about 5pm: the vaccination situation in Canada seems to have improved. Afterwards Dot and I went out for a drink in the street with Des, Chris, Mark, Jonathan and others. Freddie, Phoebe and Ciara joined us later. Feeling wiped out again all day – stomach very unsettled.

The weather much the same on Saturday. Felt under weather most of day, but better towards evening. Practised potential songs for Martin  with Dot, as well as tomorrow’s hymns. Wrote prayers too. Norwich beat QPR 3-1, but still need another win to take the title. Watched the end of Deutschland 89, which was excellent, and a documentary about bent coppers. Earlier Amy FaceTimed us, and we were joined by David.

Sunday was cloudy and cold, and I had another bad night. Stomach and head not right. Played guitar and read prayers at church, but didn’t feel at ease. Afterwards went to the car while Dot talked outside. After lunch walked some steps in the kitchen and was up to 4500 by the end of the day. Watched an extremely good film – The Girl in the Spider’s Web – starring Claire Foy. In the evening watched Call the Midwife and Line of Duty, of which the latter was slightly the more tense. In bed by 11 – best time of day for me at the moment.

There was some sun on Monday, especially in the afternoon, but it was still cold in the shade. Another bad night – up four times. Very tired, unsurprisingly.  Bridget came and cleaned the living room rather thoroughly. After lunch Dot and I took the brave decision to walk to Thomas Tawell House to leave a birthday card for Phyllis, then back along the riverside path. I was quite tired at the end. We watched Montalbano and then the start of a new thriller, Viewpoint, which seems promising as well as delivering loads of diversity.  We went to bed early, and I had a reasonably good night. Steps total for day over 7000.

Monday was quite warm in the sun, but chilly out of it. Anne came round and went into the city with Dot. Meanwhile, I walked along the riverside path to the Jarrolds bridge and back along the other bank, staying on the rarely open lower level along the quay. Practised guitar for a bit, and when Dot arrived home she waited on the step for ten minutes because she thought I was out – I didn’t hear the doorbell, and she misinterpreted the Find a Friend info, thinking I was walking along Riverside. Edited a lot of Paston pages.

Dot had PCC Zoom in the evening, and I rewatched some of Fargo – a truly wonderful film.  Then we watched Fawlty Towers, followed by Deutschland 89. Earlier saw Line of Duty, and both the latter coincidentally ended with a double gunshot, leaving us not knowing the outcome. Very exciting.

Tuesday was again quite warm, with a mixture of sun and cloud.  Did some more Paston pages, then edited my pictures (I do this regularly). After lunch we drove to Morrisons to buy some chocolates for Philip Robinson, plus a couple of other things. Then we progressed to the Rosary, where I cleaned up my grandparents’ grave pretty thoroughly. I have ordered a flower-holder from Amazon.

From there we drove to Cary’s Meadow for a short walk. We arrived home at the same time as Des and Chris, who had been out for lunch at village near Dereham; so we had chat with them – and were joined by Mark, then Bob and Mary briefly. Cooked salmon, then watched Norwich lose second home match in succession, 1-0 to Watford. Phil Coomes left a message with funeral details. Watched a bit of Robin and Marion, which wasn’t very good (we may not watch the rest), then all of The Mauritanian, which was brilliantly done but quite harrowing when it showed what happened at Guantanamo Bay. Did not reflect well on top people in USA, including Obama. 

Wednesday was mainly sunny, but with quite a chilly wind. I put together three Parish Pump pieces, on Sax (who invented the saxophone), Jesse Boot and Prince Philip. After lunch we drove to Poringland and spoke to Anne and Philip (delivering his birthday present of chocs) before going for a walk along lanes to Howe, then back via my aunt’s former house at the end of Leafyoak Lane. I was told that this would be two miles, but it turned out to be well over three. Felt pretty tired.

Zoom Compline (Dot made chocolate cake!) with a full complement, then watched some of Animals, an Irish comedy, followed by a bit of  MOTD, Spurs beating Southampton 2-1 in the last minute. Our blackbirds have returned – or at least two random and quite friendly blackbirds. Hard to tell whether they’re the same ones.

Today I finished the Pump pieces with one on Curt Jung, and did some fine tuning on the Paston Gresham Castle page. Did a bit more sorting of poems, then found some old songs, which I practised. Quite pleased with some of them. After lunch Bridget arrived to do some cleaning for the first time. Dot had the arrival time down wrong; so she was nearly two hours later than expected. Had tea in the garden first. While she was working, Dot took the old coffees up to the shop for recycling and bought some milk which had been unavailable in Morrisons when Des visited.

Later we went on a virtual tour in the Scottish Highlands, “climbing” the final 200 metres of the Pap of Glencoe, guided by Craig, who was excellent. Almost felt as if we were there! Weather conditions were superb. We then watched the end of Animals, a very strange film about two young women “finding themselves” – or at least, one of them did. Afterwards the first half of The Far Country, a western set in Alaska and starring James Stewart. We were both so tired, for some reason, that we went to bed at 10.30pm. I felt quite odd, but seem to be OK now.

Start of a new week (if you’re a Monday person), and Dot was up early because Anne is arriving for a walk – or possibly a shop, or both – in the not-too-distant future. It’s sunny after a cloudy start and still chilly, though it’s forecast to get quite warm later in the day. I’m tempted to go out and start the car, because the battery went dead yesterday and, although it was charged and I took it for a 30-minute drive, there’s always that smidgeon of doubt…

I’ll come back to the battery later. Meanwhile, last Tuesday was a bit chilly but dry, with quite a bit of sun. After lunch I walked with Dot up to Boots for her eye test (no problems) and then left her there and walked back through the Close, Bishopgate and along the riverside path. I was pretty tired at the end. Dot didn’t get back till about 4.30. We watched Too Close,  a new thriller that was very well done, though I wasn’t entirely convinced by the storyline. We also watched Alien: Covenant, which was also well done but quite frightening, and then a good documentary by Gyles Brandreth on Jane Austen.  Had five peppered mackerel between us because they come in packs of five.

Wednesday was a mixture of sun and cloud, with quite a cold wind. Nearly finished writing my sermon for Sunday, then after lunch drove to Caistor and we had a longish walk at Venta Icenorum. I was not impressed by the Norfolk Archaeological Trust, who locked the gate at the END of a path across the main site while leaving the one at the beginning of it open: so we had to climb over a gate to get back to car. There’s much more walking available there now: we crossed the river and walked along the bank on other side. There’s a new entrance, too.

We watched the postponed Masterchef final – all three finalists were excellent, but it was clear who was going to win, and the other two knew it as well. Returned a call to Ray and Chris in querying about our health, and Dot did lots of violin practice. I booked a virtual trip in Jerusalem and a week at Snape in October.

There was a cold wind on Thursday, with showers. Walked up to the Forum with Dot to meet Janet Bower for coffee, which we drank legally outside but mostly under the overhanging roof. It lasted an hour and a half, and we got quite cold towards the end. Picked up groceries from Des on way back. After lunch I drove to the chemist to pick up my pills: when I got back Sonata man had arrived with split-second timing to service the alarm. Nice bloke. Later we watched My Cousin Rachel, from the novel by Daphne du Maurier. It was pretty good, but the hero was an idiot. Finished writing my sermon and practised hymns with Dot.  In the evening we Zoomed with Heather, Simon and Sam for an hour and 20 minutes, which was very enjoyable. 

Still a keen north-east wind on Friday, and I touched up the sermon (bit of a theme here) while Dot Zoomed with Barbara. After lunch we went for a heygo trip on the border of Jerusalem and Bethlehem. Very wordy with not much movement, but quite compelling, giving us the Israeli view of the situation but in a very fair way (he urged us to take a Palestinian virtual trip too). Then we walked to the Rosary.  The in-street drink was revived at 5.30pm. We split into two groups because of our numbers and I spoke to Phoebe, Freddie, Mary and Bob at some length. Dot had fishnchips, supplied by Des as usual; I had smoked salmon and boiled eggs. We watched Live and Let Die – great boat chase – and then Rewrite, a Hugh Grant romcom that I really enjoyed.

Saturday was not so cold, and sunny with very little wind. Dot spent a lot of time recording her Sillars violin piece and then trying to convert the file to mp3. I wasn’t really able to help, but in the end David happened to FaceTime, and he did it for her. He told us about the tighter lockdown over there, which is a bit disappointing, but they all seem well.

It was my father’s birthday; so I walked up to the Rosary and put three daffodils from our garden on the grave. Then we watched the Duke of Edinburgh’s funeral, led by the Dean of Windsor, who couldn’t have looked more miserable. Music was quite good, though. Norwich were promoted despite losing 3-1 to Bournemouth in evening after having a man sent off – wrongly, I think, because the Bournemouth player’s tackle was reckless. Pukki was injured too, and so was Handley, though he kept playing. Riotous celebrations outside Carrow Road, apparently.

Sunday was sunny and reasonably warm, but cold out of the sun towards evening. As mentioned, the car had a dead battery; so Des took us to church and we walked home, tired and hungry. I borrowed Carrie’s guitar and preached, though not at the same time. Sad news from Phil: he has bladder cancer, and is awaiting an operation. Obviously distressed. We spent some time with him afterwards.

On arriving home I called Mazda European Assistance after checking that I had renewed our membership. A guy with an impressive van arrived about 5pm after I’d told them there was no hurry. It transpired the battery was dead because the bonnet was open. I had filled up with petrol the previous day and pulled the bonnet catch instead of the filler cap catch by mistake. I meant to push the bonnet back down but forgot, and when we got home I didn’t notice that the car refused to lock. Apparently this was sufficient to drain the battery overnight, because it kept sending signals to itself that the car wasn’t locked and the bonnet was open.

After he recharged the battery and carried out various checks, I drove out through Thorpe to the bypass, then to the A140, Dunston Common, Stoke, Caistor, Trowse and back through the city. Almost exactly 30 minutes, as recommended. Before the Mazda man arrived I tok the opportunity to ring Alan and Rosemary and had quite a chat with Rosemary, who is suffering a lot with her stent, which keeps getting infected. The hospital won’t remove it despite the nurses and GP saying that it needs doing.

In the evening I cooked chilli con carne, and we watched the start of a new series of Call the Midwife, preceded by an exciting grand prix in Italy, won by Verstappen, with Hamilton second and Norris third.

Things were strangely calm last Thursday morning. It was still coldish, but warm enough for a walk. I went up to the Rosary, out the back and along to Gas Hill, which I descended after a brief excursion down St Matthew’s Terrace and St Leonard’s Terrace. I then walked home along Riverside Road and found Dot, who had been cleaning up the garden ready for Saturday, chatting to Mark. Surprised he was up and around, but he seemed OK. Finished my chess article and sent it off, then David FaceTimed to say Jannie Comes was seriously ill and on a ventilator. She had had a fall and a stroke. I rang Kristine to let her know and e-mailed Anne C, who rang me back. Spent some time replying to people who had e-mailed me after receiving a fake message when my Hotmail account was hacked. 

It all happened on Friday, which dawned grey and dull, with quite a bit of rain despite the forecast. Dot walked over to Boots in morning, and we got a surprise phone call, wanting us to fix our second jabs for the next day. After establishing that this would be in the morning and not interfere with our grandchildren’s visit, we graciously accepted. I rang Vicky to let her know, and we agreed that any reaction to the jab was unlikely to happen until 24 hours later.

I walked up to post a letter and then round to Morrisons’s, where I got some cash out for the children. Then it was announced that the Duke of Edinburgh had died at the age of 99. TV schedules were trashed, which was fair enough up to a point, but then veered into the wildly excessive. BBC1 and BBC2 were broadcasting the same thing at the same time, over and over again. I quite liked Prince Philip, but this rapidly got too much. It also totally overshadowed the new that Jennie C had died, which I didn’t discover till the next day, when Kristine rang us.

Before that, however, we had risen early on Saturday and driven up to Lionwood for our jabs. All went amazingly smoothly. Our appointment was for 9.10, but we arrived there at about 8.50 and went straight in for jabs. We were home by 9.20. It was a good day – dry, partly sunny and slightly less cold, with no wind. Kristine rang as were preparing for the children. We lit the cheminiere but decided it as too smokey for Oliver, so put it out again.

I texted David about Jennie as the grandchildren were arriving, just before 1pm. It was just about OK to eat in garden – it wouldn’t have been the day before or the day after – and we opened Christmas parcels with David on FT. Gave Oliver and Amy, who were quite perky, £50 each as well. Vicky was also in good form. Afterwards we all walked up to the Rosary, which was very pleasant. Vicky hadn’t been there before. Walked home and had a drink before they left at around 4pm. We then watched the second half of the Norwich game against Derby, which they won 1-0. After supper we watched a couple of things and both went to sleep during a play. Felt pretty awful when I woke, with a very fuzzy head. Went to bed early and had a pretty mediocre night. 

Woke early yet again on Sunday, feeling very tired. Dot too; so we decided not to go to church – after much indecisiveness on my part. Felt quite down. Showery, unpleasant day, often hailing fiercely. Had bath and sent off prayers to Phil and Howard for use in service. Felt a bit fluey, though not excessively. Carrie suggested singing national anthem outside at church – happily this was not taken up. She also suggested a Latin service at a medieval fair in autumn. Not convinced. Phone call from Debbie about updating Meditation website.  Apparently she, Howard and Martin (Smith) had had a Zoom meeting about it, which is interesting as I’m the only person who updates it.   

Had a deep night’s sleep.  Yesterday we had blue sky most of the day. It was chilly but not too bad, and I walked with  Dot to post sympathy card to Phil Coomes, then to Rosary for a shortish walk while Dot went home feeling very tired. Nobody in cemetery – wrote website piece about it. Found some writing training stuff and sent it to Anne C at her request. She seemed very happy with it.

In the afternoon Dot went to Verena for a massage. We watched Line of Duty, which was very good as always, though I’m not sure how they can spin it out for another three episodes. Too many people are getting killed or sacked. We then rewatched the play we had fallen asleep in – Sitting – and discovered it was really excellent: a three-hander written by Katherine Parkinson (who was also in it) and very cleverly staged and directed using Zoom, or some such. Brilliant idea and superb acting.

It’s the Thursday after Easter, and just a mite warmer than it has been the last few days. I am in the process of writing a chess article for the local magazine, En Passant, and have been looking up some games from my early days. Surprisingly, I’ve found all the ones I was looking for and am starting with the one I won the school chess championship with – a Queen sacrifice, no less. Possibly not sound, but there you are… Dot is Zooming with Barbara about her p4c pack, which I have been editing with her this week so that it can go online. Des should be bringing the groceries over shortly.

Easter Sunday was sunny and quite warm. We had Holy Communion at church – a lovely service led by Liz Cannon, with Howard speaking, or should I say conjuring – a word he uses very frequently. I played guitar and sang; I also read the lesson because Ray has eyesight problems and was nervous in case he couldn’t decipher it. We sang the last hymn outside (I played guitar), and apparently a woman from Sussex Street came over, having heard it from afar! Steve Fiske came to church at Anna’s invitation: he has been having health problems.

We (or rather Dot) gave an Easter egg to Sophie and family from The Lathes, and later to John’s kids and Phoebe and Freddie! We also sent several e-cards. After lunch we walked to the Rosary in very pleasant weather and then cleared the garage ready for the new freezer. We also watched the boat race, which was on the Great Ouse near Ely. Cambridge won both races narrowly. There were a couple of very good Easter programmes on TV. Later by contrast we watched Line of Duty, in which another policeman was killed. Not good for recruitment.

Huge change in the weather overnight. Bitterly cold on Easter Monday, with snow showers (not settling). I had a bad night and woke early. Sorted out some poems for a new book, then watched the original Death on the Nile (brilliant), Intruder (a new series), and Fawlty Towers (an old series, but still hilarious ). We FaceTimed with the whole family.  Too cold for a walk; managed 3000 steps inside. Dot ordered a vacuum cleaner.

Tuesday was still cold, with bits of snow on cars and roofs. Finished Godfrey’s book, Shifting Sands, which was very good but contained a number of errors and too few maps. I offered to edit the second edition! Lots of windy snow and hail showers. Dot had a violin lesson and long chat at Anna’s. I walked 5000 steps mainly indoors, and the new freezer arrived. Saw Norwich beat Huddersfield 7-0. Watched The Syndicate serial – not bad. Cooked salmon. Chris drove Mark back from hospital after the operation on his leg. Had a brief chat with them as I was putting the bins out ( a day late because of the bank holiday).

Yesterday was still cold, but not so windy. A bit of sun, but still stayed mainly indoors and had a very low step count. Strange day: we joined in a virtual tour of Old Jerusalem, which was very good, especially towards the end. I then had a What’sApp message from Vicky Myers to say my hotmail account had been hacked and was sending people messages asking for a “favor”, which deceived one or two people, although I’m not sure what the hacker was getting out of it. I changed the password, and toyed with closing the account, but Microsoft were making it very difficult to do anything.

In the middle of all this, Dot’s new hoover was delivered, and I started sorting out chess games for the article. Took grocery list over and chatted to Chris, then John, who was planting sunflowers for his daughter. Transferred some food into new freezer. Paul rang. Watched football, then Intruder, then The Terror, which was really not very good. I’m not sure why – perhaps the unconvincing setting, perhaps the ridiculous supernormal beast, perhaps the lack of women… Don’t know why they bothered.

It’s Easter Saturday, a dead day. But there was a kind of resurrection this morning when Linda came round and cut our hair. We now have a new life. It’s a bit chilly outside and snow is forecast for next week, but…

The current chilliness, though seasonal enough, contrasts sharply with the beginning of the week. Monday was pleasantly warm and sunny, and we drove to North Walsham, called at Sainsbury’s to buy flowers and proceeded to the cemetery. From there we went to Ebridge Mill, and walked along the North Walsham and Dilham Canal for a bit over half a mile. Very pleasant indeed. There was a lot of traffic on the roads, and hold-ups on the way home, but we got back just in time to have tea in the street with the neighbours, restricting ourselves to groups of six or less. I spoke to Jonathan and Mark, who has a badly injured knee following an accident in the States, and is going to haven operation very soon at Spire. I was tired after our walk, but cooked salmon, and later we watched the new Line of Duty, which is as mysterious and entertaining as always.

Tuesday was sunny again and almost as warm. We visited Phyllis at Thomas Tawell House, and she seemed pretty well. Afterwards we walked up to the Rosary after posting a letter to Andrew, then did some Paston editing. Spent an hour on phone to Lily, whose birthday was a few days ago, then ordered a freezer from John Lewis. Chatted briefly to Des and Mark.

Wednesday was still warm but cloudier. I finished preparing for our Zoom Compline and started getting  a new collection of poems together. Dot has been putting together some rather nice Stations of the Cross collages for church, and after lunch we dropped them off at church, then drove to Catton Park and walked round it. Beautiful area, but sadly overrun with dogs. Dot spent some time in the garden, and in the evening we watched The Lone Ranger film, which was to my surprise very good indeed, with great action sequences.

Next day, cold air returned, but it was dry. Dot spent a lot of time Zooming with Barbara, then spent the rest of the day working hard on her P4C pages, which are looking very good. I worked on my poems, then posted Easter cards and walked up to the Rosary, where I had a brief interchange with four women of about my own age or older, which was nice. Come home and had bath, then edited another Paston page.  Cooked salmon and watched The Terror , which has improved slightly. Spoke to Des and then Austin, the window cleaner.  Later we had our Zoom Compline, again without Kim, then watched most of On Her Majesty’s Secret Service, mainly because part of it was filmed on a mountain we went up in Switzerland – the Schilthorn.

On Good Friday we watched the Riding Lights passion play again in bed – it was still brilliant –  and later had a discussion on it on Zoom, organised by Howard. Only four of us – Howard, Judy, Liz C and me, but Sister Pamela (living on the Isle of Mull) was also with us to begin with – sound only and with no idea why she was there. How can you join a Zoom meeting by mistake? Dot missed the discussion because she was watching Norwich City draw 1-1 with Preston after conceding a goal with the last kick of the game. I walked round Bishopgate and Cathedral Close. The weather was cool and grey, but not too bad. We finished  watching OHMSS.

Some time during the week we watched the final episode of Unforgotten, which must be one of the best police series ever.

Summer is in the air, the sky is blue, it’s reasonably warm, restrictions have been relaxed and we’re about to go to North Walsham. After lunch, that is. I’ve just written to Andrew, who seemed pretty down yesterday when I spoke to him briefly on the phone. I was told I could visit him, but of course there is still the distance problem. Maybe next month…

Last Tuesday, which marked a year since the first lockdown, I was tired most of the day and did very few steps. I did however manage to write three Parish Pump articles, and we watched Love and Mercy, about Beach Boys’ leader Brian Wilson, which turned out to be surprisingly good.

The next day was not too cold, and the sun came and went. I did the church rota and then walked up to the dentist while Dot was engaged in a Zoom DSSO meeting, during which she gave a good talk on the importance of DSSOs. I know it was good because I saw her notes, and because everyone said so. The dentist said there was nothing he could do except take my back tooth out, and it wasn’t really bad enough for that. Since then, however, I have been having trouble with one much nearer the front, which reacts strongly to cold. Annoying.

After lunch I did quite a bit of Paston editing on the QR pages, and managed 5000 steps. Later we watched Singing in in the Rain, which was good up to a point, but with some totally irrelevant dance sequences in the middle, the only compensation being the very striking Cyd Charisse. We also watched the last episode of the excellent Elizabeth R. Did she die of lead poisoning? No-one knows.

Thursday started very sunny. Dot had a Zoom with Barbara Vidion in the morning and a walk with Anne at Poringland in the afternoon. I walked up to the Rosary and home via Cotman Road. Later we continued watching The Terror, though it’s really not very good. We shall watch it to the end, not to see what happens but to show that we can. Norwich’s Dave Hanley, who can never get a header on target for City, scored with a header for Scotland. In the evening we had a Zoom DCC, without Matt or Phil. It was OK.

On Friday the weather gradually worsened – windy, then rain in the afternoon. My leg was a bit painful, as it has been for a while – happily, as I write it seems to be fine. We got up late, and I had a bath. Dot worked on a written version of her DSSO talk for wider distribution, and I did some work on a Palm Sunday liturgy, then put the rota on my calendar and on the website. We had a FaceTime with David, who now has official permission to be in Canada until the end of the year. Des got Dot fish and chips again, and I had an omelette. Early night, low steps.

Next day it was sunny and windy. I watched the end of the France-Scotland rugby match, and was glad I did, because it was extremely exciting. France inexplicably held on to the ball when they could have kicked it off field and won; then Scotland got a penalty and scored, more than four minutes into added-on time. The score was 27-23, I think. The winning pass was thrown by stand-in fly half Hastings after the first-choice fly half had been sent off .

Later I walked with Dot to the Rosary; then, after the TV jammed (I sorted it out later) we watched a film on Netflix called A Call To Spy, based on the true story of two women in the second world war. It was pretty good. We also watched the first episode of a new series of Keeping Faith, but both agreed we wouldn’t watch any more, because the lead actress was permanently hysterical and extremely irritating. Don’t know if it was her fault, or the scriptwriter’s, or the director’s. No football because of the international break.

The weekend weather turned out not to be as bad as forecast, but it was windy and a bit chilly. Start of British Summer Time, and we cooked our evening meal in daylight!  Led the church service while not feeling too well, but felt better in the afternoon. Liz Cannon preached and later we FaceTimed with Amy and Oliver, who both seemed quite perky. Wrote a piece for my website on free speech for minorities. Ended day by watching an exciting Bahrain Grand Prix – Hamilton just holding off Verstappen – and some international football highlights. Pukki scored a penalty for Finland, and (we discovered later) Hernandez scored for Cuba.

Had a terrible night last night – the worst I can remember for months, possibly years (except when I was in hospital). At 2.30 I took a couple of pills – one for my stomach, which was queasy – and at 6.30 decided to have breakfast and a cup of tea. The papers had arrived; so I took them back to bed and did the sudokus and other puzzles. Still couldn’t get to sleep for more than a few minutes at a time. At some point I had a dream in which I was going mad, but couldn’t do anything about it. We were by the sea, and the tide came in on to the road. I’m sure it’s all very meaningful, but it’s now just after midday, I’ve had a bath and am extremely tired and a bit hungry, though not yet mad.

Last Tuesday was drizzly, but Anne came round and went for a walk with Dot. We had a phone chat with David Archer, then later of course he joined us for the Zoom Compline (minus Kim, for undisclosed reasons). At some point we watched a new detective drama called Grace, which was pretty good, and the Likely Lads film, which for me was nostalgic and good fun, and for Dot absolutely hilarious. It’s a long time since I’ve heard her laugh so much. Despite my bad back (now much improved), I managed 4000 steps.

On Wednesday, a major event: tree-cutting on the path behind our house, which had been promised for ages. It was cool and a bit rainy; so not much fun for the cutters. Dot took Harriet for a walk after lunch, an event she described as “a nightmare”. They lost the dog, and Harriet spent most of the walk on the phone to other people. I wrote the first half of Sunday’s sermon and watched the rest of Life on the Road, featuring Ricky Gervais as David Brent. Despite him being obnoxious as usual, the end was well done and rather sad. Also watched Norwich beat Notts Forest 2-0, then in the evening High Plains Drifter, and as a result were late to bed . Walked just over 3000 steps, all indoors.

Thursday was wet and cool again, but there was no stopping the tree men. I finished reading A Gentleman in Moscow, by Amor Towles, which was totally brilliant. Dot had a long Zoom with Barbara Vidion on P4C. My back was still quite bad, though slightly improved. Didn’t walk very far, but finished writing my sermon. Watched The Terror, which is really not very good, and Elizabeth R, which is 50 years old and very good indeed.

Friday was sunny and quite mild – a welcome change. The tree men finished and left a rake behind, which I rescued. Not a bad job, though I had been hoping they would cut more. I examined the ones remaining and decided they weren’t really a threat to our roof.

Posted a couple of cards and walked in the Rosary. Quite a few people about. Later Dot walked on her own. At 5pm we watched Riding Lights’ lockdown passion play, Breaking Day, which was excellent, as you might expect. Also watched The Falklands Play, from the 1980, which was well done, with Margaret Hodge a much better Mrs Thatcher than Gillian Anderson in The Crown. Over a few days we watched The Lost Tapes of Daniel Barenboim on Beethoven, which was extremely informative and, well, scintillating, I suppose. Printed some unrelated music out for Phoebe. Back still quite bad.  

Saturday was much duller and chillier, but no wind. Dot did some cleaning, while I went for a walk round The Close. Not all that comfortable, as I was still in a bit of pain. Norwich drew 1-1 with Blackburn – a fair result, though we missed a couple of easy chances. Dot and I cleared a pile of leaves by the steps that had been annoying me for ages, using the forgotten rake. Watched France v Wales at rugby – an amazing game won by France 32-30 in overtime. We had quite a long chat with David on FaceTime.

It was grey again on Sunday. I rewrote my St Augustine’s Way liturgy for Howard, then edited my sermon. I heard that my tanka and haiku had been included in a booklet called On A Knife Edge, which accompanies a national exhibition by the Lettering Arts Trust. Very pleasing. I filled in the national census form, and we had a philosophical discussion with David, Chrissy, Oliver and Amy. I also wrote report on St Augustine’s Sunday worship for the annual parish meeting, and then Dot and I walked on Cary’s Meadow, getting back in good time for the Zoom service at which I preached. This was recorded and is available on line if you have the access code. Watched quite a bit of Crock of Gold documentary about Shane McGowan while Dot watched Spurs match on phone.

Yesterday started out with blue sky, then intermittent sun. Dry, coolish. Walked with Dot on Mousehold after taking her to Tesco to buy water filters, then had an accidental chat with Des. Watched more rugby (recorded), then Unforgotten, which continues to be very good indeed.