All posts by Tim Lenton

Disasters, natural and otherwise

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Gogo Canary dragon. You don't see many of them about. Birthday gift from Roger (and Debbie) to Dot.
Go-go Canary dragon. You don’t see many of them about. Birthday gift from Roger (and Debbie) to Dot.

On Monday, we had natural disasters. Dot, Judy and I drove in appalling weather to Holy Trinity to hear a distinguished scientist from the Royal Society talk about whether natural disasters were acts of God. He seemed a very pleasant fellow, and much of what he said was interesting, though hardly original. I would liked to have disputed his view of climate change, but the atmosphere was wrong (see what I did there?). Dot asked a question on whether things were all that different now compared with the past, but he misunderstood it, probably accidentally.

On Tuesday I made it to the Archant coffee morning, but Dot was deflected by the Diocese: she has been extremely busy this week. Quite a pleasant time; spoke to Paul quite a bit afterwards and then went to pay in church cheques at the TSB and buy some Christmas cards at Revelations. I decided to abandon my pedantic objections to having the three kings on Christmas cards because they didn’t come at Christmas. Just another example of one of those myths becoming so widely accepted that it’s futile pointing out that it’s wrong.

On Wednesday I at last managed to obtain my prescription pills – just in time, because I was on my last Perindropril. The chemist had forgotten to put my order through to the surgery last week; so I had to remind them on Monday. They were apologetic. On leaving the chemist I was phoned by Dot, who had been having lunch with Carrie (plus a bit of shopping) and had arrived home without a key. Fortunately I wasn’t too far away…

Earlier I had bought some Christmas stamps at the sorting office and taken a walk through the Rosary – a few weeks since I’d been up there. While there I got the inspiration for a poem. Lost count of how many poems the Rosary has inspired..

Thursday was the maddest of several mad days for Dot. She was supposed to finish with a governors’ meeting at Little Plumstead, but when she arrived home from Catfield at 5.30pm, we realised she had left her phone behind – the realisation coming mainly because the Find Friends app said she was still there. She thought she must have dropped it at the side of the road where she almost fell over, and foolishly I let her go back to look for it, as I was cooking dinner.

Obviously (about five minutes after she left) I realised it would have made a lot more sense for me to have gone with her, or at least have lent her my phone. As it was, we were out of contact. I kept checking to make sure no-one had picked it up, and eventually Dot arrived at Catfield – happily, to find the school open; so she was able to ring me. At first she couldn’t find the phone, but then I enlarged the Find Friends map, which in combination with Google Earth seemed to indicate it was inside the building. I rang back to tell her, but when she answered she said she had just found it – in the toilet. Well, not actually in the toilet, but in the small room housing the toilet.

I had rung Little Plumstead to say she wouldn’t make it to the meeting. This was a Good Thing. I am trying to persuade Dot to stop being a governor, because it’s so time-consuming.

Tonight we are having the vicar and Judy for a meal. We are not trying to pair them off. We have been to Morrisons and Dot is now making a cake, because she knows he is coming (literary reference). There will ensue a mad dash to clean the house. Later I will be cooking a child con carne. Actually that’s a chilli con carne. I rarely cook children. Predictive text can cause all sorts of trouble, particularly as it has no way of knowing it’s being extremely stupid.

Speaking of stupid, we are now bombing Syria, a small country far away of which we know little.

Idyllic walk out to the Bure and St Benet’s

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Sunset near South Walsham.
Sunset near South Walsham.

Strangely, the eye test turned out to be nearly as traumatic, though not as painful. Everything seemed OK, and the ophthalmologist said my eyes were healthy, but then he noticed  something at the top of my left eye, which he wondered about. He thought it could be a problem with the retina. On one hand he said it was probably nothing, and he was just being cautious, but on the other he said that if I got a shadow in my eye I should rush to A&E, in case my retina had become detached, which could blind me in that eye. Yippee.

I also needed two new pairs of glasses, in which I was assisted by a very nice girl called Becky, who was a trainee but very thorough and determined to get everything right. I eventually chose two new frames and ordered them. They will be ready next week. I also have a hospital appointment to look at my eye. This is on December 31, which may or may not be a good idea, but the next option was well into January. Needless to say I have had funny feelings in my eye since then, but I’m sure they’re just psychosomatic.

Back at the dentist, this morning’s session was even worse than the first one, and when Allison asked me when I wanted to come back, I said: “Never.” The procedure was pretty painful, and the idea of using three different toothbrushes to clean my teeth is pretty unrealistic. The hygienist is a fanatic: I think I shall go back to Ross for the check-up in three months’ time. Or four. Or five. Or eighteen.

The next day (Wednesday) I had my hair cut, which was totally painless.

Thursday was Dot’s day in London with Anne, and they had a great time, particularly the afternoon tea at the Bloomsbury Hotel. I surprised myself by going for a walk, starting at South Walsham staithe and walking along the bank of the dyke out to the Bure, opposite St Benet’s Abbey. I got some really good pictures and in many ways it was idyllic: not too cold, very still and the light fading, with mist over the marshes. I didn’t pass anyone after I left the metalled road. The only problem was that the path was very muddy – I couldn’t make up my mind whether it was a result of the damp weather we’d been having (and are still having) or if the recent hight tides had overtopped the bank. Still wonderful, though.

On Saturday I went out to Mundesley for the second writing workshop, which was good again, and then met Dot at North Walsham rail station, taking her to Jessie’s, where we had a cup of tea before going to the Banningham Crown for an evening meal. This was another very good meal. I had a steak and ale pie, which was probably a mistake in terms of getting a decent night’s sleep, but it tasted good. Also there were Roger and his girlfriend Debbie, who is very easy to talk to. The service was again excellent.

Sunday turned out to be very sporty. Dot and I watched the Davis Cup final, in which Murray won the decisive match, accompanied by extremely noisy spectators, and then we watched the Norwich v Arsenal match on Sky, courtesy of NOW TV. Good game too. The result was 1-1, and City could easily have won. After supper, or possibly during it, we then watched the highlights of the final F1 race of the season.

Birthday celebration for three at the Norfolk Mead

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Birthday snow for Dot
Birthday snow for Dot (the night before)

After the Evetts went last Friday and Dot was catching up with some paperwork, I drove to Pinky’s café in Halesworth and read two of my poems to a packed house, nearly all of whom were also reading poems, though not at the same time. I read Counting Water and Autumn at Wells. Sat with Sue Mobbs, who often reads at the Seagull. Ollie did a blasphemous verse: I was tempted to offer to tell him what Christianity was really about, but the opportunity didn’t arise.

It was a breezy drive back, and Saturday was so wet and windy that we were glad not to be going anywhere. We did sneak in a quick visit to Morrisons without getting soaked.

Sunday was Dot’s 70th (59th) birthday. There was snow on the ground, and Anna did a cake for church. We took a bottle of Prossecco, and Howard bought another one. After lunch Anne and Philip called in with a present (more fizzy) on the way to a birthday party for their grandson Charlie, who is three.

David drove up from Caddington, and we all went to the Norfolk Mead at Coltishall for an evening meal. It was superb, as was the service. Really nice having the three of us together, and extremely kind of David to pay for the meal. Earlier he had gone into the city to take his phone to Apple (and buy Dot a present), but he had to return to the Apple store the next morning to get it fixed.

Dot had got up early to give Paul a lift to a Diocese team day at Letton Hall, and I had scraped ice from the car. I had a bath while David was in the city, but had to leave for a dentist’s appointment half an hour after he returned. Fortunately, he was about to leave anyway.

The dental appointment turned out to be a bit traumatic, because Pip (the hygienist) decided I needed a deep clean. She did one side of my mouth under anaesthetic, and left the other to be done next Monday. Well, that’s something to look forward to – and all for only a few hundred pounds.

I decided to go straight home. Dot had a long day and went into the Hendersons for a cup of tea when she dropped Paul off; so she didn’t get home till about 6pm. Today she has already been to the UEA for a bit of medical research, which went well (apparently she has a healthy body; I knew that). Now (12.15pm) she has just left for Elveden, where she is adjudicating an RE Quality Mark application. I have an eye test this afternoon, which should prove less traumatic than the dental experience, though I suspect I may need new glasses; so it may be almost as expensive. It’s very damp out.

Kingfisher fails to fly under Dot’s radar

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Dot, Dave and Julia at Fairhaven
Dot, Dave and Julia at Fairhaven

Julia and Dave left after lunch for Aylesbury, but had trouble getting our of the city. They got stuck in traffic, then had to return for a forgotten bag, then decided to go out via Thorpe, which can’t have been quicker. Ah well. We had a good time while they were here.

They arrived for lunch on Tuesday just after the gas man had fixed the radiator in their room. It had been cold – as a result, it turned out, of an airlock under the floorboards. Our man, Kevin Ansbro, who happens to be a novelist when not working for British Gas, sorted it all out and then chatted for some considerable time about literary stuff. Then I gave him a copy of one of my poetry books, and he left.

After lunch we went up to Marks and Spencer (I forget why) and had a hot drink before returning to the house for supper. In the evening it rained a lot, but by the next day it was quite pleasant, and we went to Fairhaven Water Gardens at South Walsham, which turned  out to be very pleasant indeed – much bigger than I thought, with lots of paths and dykes. Dot saw a kingfisher for the first time ever, and we spent some time working out what some strange birds in the distance were. They turned out to be young cormorants (much whiter than the adults). The garden walks lead to the Inner South Walsham Broad, and you can do boat trips in the summer.

In the evening we went to Cafe Rouge again (by bus), managing to dodge the rain that had returned after we left Fairhaven. Another excellent meal and another excellent waitress (not the same one).

Chocks away! Dot in the cockpit at the Radar Museum.
Chocks away! Dot in the cockpit at the Radar Museum.

On Thursday it had turned cooler, and we went to the Radar Museum at Neatishead, which proved about as interesting as it was last time and went down well with the Evetts, I think. Very few visitors, so we got close attention. In the evening we went to Prezzo and followed that by going to the Odeon (Imax) to see Spectre, the latest James Bond film, which was extremely impressive. We went to the Gallery for the full experience, but this was much less enjoyable than last time, and I doubt if we’ll be doing it again. We got massive soft drinks (which  you don’t really want before seeing a 2½-hour film), some nachos, popcorn and very poor service, because they were understaffed. Anything alcoholic had to be paid for, and the seats were not comfortable.

Today has been markedly colder. I stayed at home this morning while Dot went to the doctor to get validated for her renewed prescriptions, and then she and the Evetts went up to Marks and Spencer again to do some shopping.I had to get lunch ready for 12.30, because they wanted to get away early. Dave was here, but Julia and Dot arrived just before 1pm. Meanwhile I’d posted some cards and a magazine to Andrew, who is now back at Minster Lodge.

Pre-Evetts but after my last post Dot went to Lichfield for some p4c, staying overnight on Sunday. This went well as usual, but unusually the hotel was also excellent. I went on my own to the Seagull and read some poems, which seemed to go down well. We even had an audience of four. I tried a different route on the way back, but it turned out much further, rather as anticipated.

On Monday evening I went to a PCC meeting at St Luke’s, where both churchwardens announced their resignation – nothing to do with the new vicar; they had been planning to do so for some time. The vicar said ideally he’d like four churchwardens – two for each church – but I fear this will not happen. Still, who knows? The meeting itself was not terribly interesting, as it was primarily St Luke’s-orientated, but then there were only three of this there from St Augustine’s (Howard, Judy and me); so we could hardly grumble. We didn’t grumble, of course. We don’t do that.

Dot was still on her way back from Lichfield.

It’s all overflowing – water, leaves, paper

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Very little horizontal movement this week for me, though on Tuesday Dot went to Hull and back in a day, against all sensible advice (mine and others). To be fair, it wasn’t her decision, because Barbara was driving, and the Philosophy session went well.

Dot has been very busy this week, and has now been asked to write an article for The Magazine. It’s all go for her.

I’ve spent quite a lot of time getting rid of paper from my filing cabinet, and am not much more than halfway through the big one. On the plus side, I have disposed of large amounts of paper, some of it shredded, and have discovered some interest historical items (my history, that is). I have also emptied a box of miscellaneous items that has been cluttering up the study and redistributed some of it. Most of this is done sitting down, but it’s still very tiring.

Both bins are practically full, and they won’t be emptied for over a week. The brown one is nearly full of leaves, since it’s been quite windy. One binful of leaves went on Monday.

The piano tuner came yesterday, and earlier in the week I took Dot up to Dipples to buy her birthday present – a rather nice watch. She seems quite pleased.

I have just written an e-mail to the vicar making it clear than I am not acting for the church in the matter of Anglian Water, who have now decided the leak is not fixed as stated earlier but is probably on church property, and therefore it’s up to the church to find it and fix it. It’s costing huge amounts of money (we’re paying over four time the amount we were paying last year at this time) and needs to be sorted. I have suggested the vicar and churchwarden are responsible. I may be excommunicated, but at least I won’t be losing sleep over it 🙂 I hope.

Hoping for inspiration from wall paintings

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Looking at the wall paintings, prior to writing. Anna Metcalfe is obscured behind Lucy.
Looking at the wall paintings, prior to writing. Anna Metcalfe is obscured behind Lucy.

Quite relieved because I’ve just sorted out the problem of YouTube going silent. Followed advice on the net and it came back. Anyway… the weather is autumnal, Dot is at Thorpe High School and I am waiting till it stops raining so that I can go up and pay some cheques in.

Last time I posted we were about to go for compline and cake at Judy’s. That went very well: good to have such a nice group of friends. Only Claire didn’t make it. The rest of the week consisted mainly of catching up with a huge list of to-do items, none of which are of much interest. We did have our hair cut on Wednesday (postponed from Tuesday), but that was only moderately exciting.

On Friday we had a delicious meal at Cafe Rouge with Angela and Rodney. It was the city’s firework night; so it was a bit of a struggle getting up there. Several roads were barricaded off (even for pedestrians), and there was a persistent drizzle. The restaurant was packed when we arrived, but it emptied shortly afterwards, presumably with people going to the fireworks or to the theatre, where there was apparently an appearance by a Strictly Come Dancing star, to use the word loosely.

Angela and Rodney were late because they were in a long queue to get in the car park at Chapelfield, but they arrived halfway through our initial glass of champagne. Excellent food and very good service by a smiley Polish waitress. Had a good chat about Auntie Ethel’s remaining money and what to do with it. Angela is very conscientious and efficient. Afterwards they came back for coffee.

On Saturday I braved heavy rain to go out to Mundesley for w PHS writing workshop run by Anna Metcalfe from UEA (organised by Lucy). Fortunately the rain stopped by the time we had to go up to the church to look at the wall paintings on which our writing would be based. Eventually the sun came out, and Anne ran a good session. I was impressed. There were eight of us in all, including Diana George and Naomi.

Meanwhile Dot was watching Norwich beat Swansea 1-0; so that was all good. Neither of us was very hungry; so we had a teacake before walking up to St Andrew’s Hall in the evening for The Dream of Gerontius by Elgar, performed by the Norwich Philharmonic, with Paul Henderson one of the basses. Made you realise what a genius Handel was, but the performance was excellent. I liked the contralto soloist in the role of an angel, but Dot didn’t. Afterwards we went to the Hendersons for a drink and nibbles. Got to bed a bit late.

After the Remembrance service on Sunday I discovered that Howard was intending to step down as churchwarden. Apparently I had been suggested as a possible successor, but Dot has forbidden it. It is in fact no temptation at all – and anyway, they may not ask me. The problem is, no-one wants to do it. Ho hum.

We went to see Jessie in the afternoon and had mince pies. She is very good at mince pies. I had three.

A touch of fireworks and a piece of flint

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IMG_3162On Thursday last week we had a short-notice and very welcome visit from David and the children. They stayed overnight, and we had some fireworks in the garden – though not too many, because we realised that several of them required you to be 15 metres away, and our garden is not that big. So David took some home with him. We lit a fire in the chimenia and some candles and had a generally good time. It wasn’t too cold. Dot cooked some jacket potatoes and chicken drumsticks, plus a chocolate pudding thing.

Earlier David had gone into the city, and over the two days we played table tennis, Dixit (Amy brought her new cards) and Coppit. Oliver and Amy both composed tunes on Garageband. Towards the end it became obvious that Oliver had a bad cold – or possibly a reaction to his flu jab.

Things went very quiet on Saturday, especially as Norwich City lost again – 2-1 to Manchester City. Rather unlucky. On Sunday we went to church and Carrie preached on saints. Dot and I both agreed her mother was one, in the sense that her character was attractive and an example to others. I mentioned my aunt Dorothy.

Later in the day Dot left for Kensington, where she stayed the night before doing her philosophy training for a very large group in a primary school yesterday. For a change they stayed in a nice “boutique” hotel. Meanwhile I took that car in to Wrights to have the back tyre looked at, and Wayne the mechanic found a piece of flint was causing a slow puncture. Hopefully that is now OK; I still have to get the MX5 tyres sorted. I also managed to get the car washed (did it myself at the garage) and filled with petrol, deposited the Humax box at the tip and paid the church cheques in. Not simultaneously. Later I peeled some apples.

Today Dot and I went to the Archant coffee morning; Brian and Tricia, Robin and Shelagh and (eventually) Maryta and Paul all there. Afterwards we walked down with the Hendersons to London Street to see their photographs in Boots’ window (ice and gorillas) and then on through the Close and home. This afternoon we entertained Dot’s accountant and will shortly be going to Judy’s for compline and cake. Slowly catching up on a pile of paperwork.

Obviously I can’t reveal who did it

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We like to catch these new shows early.
We like to catch these new shows early.

Another busy period. I started writing this on a train to London on Monday, where we went to catch The Mousetrap, which is a kind of role reversal, I guess. Reverting to chronological order…

Last Tuesday was Amy’s 11th birthday, Dot was in Hull and I was in the city, paying in cheques and buying Amy a silver Parker pen. In the afternoon I went to a PHS trustees’ meeting at Rob’s, after which I dropped in a thankyou card to Jessie, thanking her for the meal on Sunday.

After a brief lull on Wednesday, Dot and I drove to Coventry on Thursday to see Andrew, who’s still in hospital at the Caludon Centre. We were with him for just under an hour. He seemed pretty disengaged and under strain, but I’ve seen him a lot worse.

We then drove on to Caddington, arriving in time for a quick meal and a handover of Amy’s presents before David went to his history group. We then played Dixit using Amy’s new extension cards – a great game!

On Friday I roused myself to go with David to take Oliver to school in Aylesbury, leaving at 7.30am. Oliver read all the way, finishing off A Cuckoo’s Egg – a story of computer hacking that I read many years ago and have forgotten. Later Dot and I took Amy to St Alban’s for some shopping and a meal at Jamie’s. Amy didn’t really like what she ordered but didn’t make a fuss: she’s very considerate. We got her some bread to supplement her sauce, which she did like. Got back to Caddington as David was leaving to fetch Oliver.

We drove home at 6pm because we’d agreed to feed Ellie’s guinea pigs (before we knew about our Coventry/Caddington trip). Got back at 8 despite dire warnings from our satnav about a major hold-up. Happily it melted away just in time.

Bit of a kerfuffle at church on Saturday when Stuart got worried about hirers (a church plant) making too much noise at the hall. Called in to check on the way to Cromer, but nothing was happening. Got worse later, apparently. Ran into Phyllis and vicar David, who had rushed down from the Enneagram session check what all the fuss was about. Conflicting reports about what happened next, but apparently one local resident was very upset, and since then storing of excess equipment has proved impossible to handle; so they’re probably going up to St Luke’s. Good luck, St Luke’s.

At the Cromer History event I saw re-enactors Diana and Lisa, as well as Peter. Small hall, lots of people – even more earlier, it seems. Very wet day.

On Sunday after church we went to the Hendersons’ for lunch, which was delicious, and heard about Uganda. At home, saw some of US Grand Prix, but too tired (because of putting clocks back) to see the end. However, it came to my attention that Hamilton won and is world champion again. When we eventually saw the highlights yesterday, it turned out to be quite exciting.

London worked out well. The hotel (hub by Premier Inn in St Martin’s Lane, was extraordinary: lots of technology but not much space. Our room was tiny, taken up mainly by the bed, but everything worked well and of course you don’t go to a London hotel to stay in the room. Comfortable and clean, anyway. We went for a walk and took in some of the National Gallery before heading to Brown’s for a pre-theatre meal, where I was extremely impressed both by the efficiency and by the quality of the food.

The Mousetrap was fun: well-acted first half especially, though the second act was barely credible. Obviously I can’t tell you who did it. Interesting theatre in that you walked straight off the street across about ten yards of entrance hall and into the dress circle. Very good seats; the ice cream was good too. Not sure why three large people left at the interval. Maybe they were uncomfortable, but surely you’d want to know who did it.

Not a great night’s sleep, but my fault, not the bed’s. We went up the road to eat. for breakfast because Dot wanted a croissant. I had sandwiches. After that we went to the National Portrait Gallery and saw quite a few portraits, notably several of those used by Simon Schama in his TV series, which was interesting. After that we checked out from the hotel and took a tube, catching the 12.30 from Liverpool Street, which was pretty good going.

As coming down, we were in first class, and this time Dot didn’t spill her coffee. We were home by just after 2.30pm, and too tired to do much. However, we did take our old TV and DVD player round to a guy in Churchill Road, who seemed appreciative.

This morning was miserable, and I got wet checking the car tyres (still not happy with them). Later we went to Morrisons and bought much food. Traffic was horrendous. I walked home and got back about a quarter of an hour before Dot. Spent quite a lot of time on writing three pieces for Parish Pump, on Slavery, Refugees and In Flanders Fields.

Alarming influx of digital devices

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Dot on one of the more remote paths at Hever Castle.
Dot on one of the more remote paths at Hever Castle.

The plumber did sort the leak out, but he discovered that we need a new stopcock. Meanwhile, we have bought a new 48″ TV (Samsung 4K), a BT YouView replacement for our Humax box and a Sony CD player. We managed to get them all home from John Lewis in our car, though it was a much tighter fit than I thought it would be. It’s a taken few days, but I now have them up and running, together with our Apple TV,  though the day-to-day operation is far from smooth. It goes without saying that we are not using any of them to their full potential, or even correctly.

The whole operation was so all-consuming  that we totally forgot that we had tickets to see Brian Patten at Halesworth on Sunday before Dot had arrange to have an evening meal with Jessie, Roger and Debbie. Clearly Brian Patten couldn’t compete. I offered the tickets on Facebook and rang a couple of people, but sadly they went to waste. Still, we had a good time at North Walsham. Jessie’s cousin Margaret and the Vicar of Suffield came round to discuss family history, with particular reference to Lacey Pike, who was killed at Gallipoli. I was able to contribute a small amount, but not much. Lacey was Dot’s grandmother’s brother, unless I’ve very much mistaken.

As I write Dot is in Hull with Barbara, training some teachers there in Philosophy4Children. After she left yesterday (at about 3pm) I walked up to Revelation with a heavy bag of secondhand books, then continued to the church hall, where I found Carrie and Sophie. I was able to retrieve some cash from the safe and remembered at the last minute to check the meters: I need to speak to British Gas at some point soon.

From there I progressed to Halfords and bought a digital tyre inflator, which I felt we needed, and then proceeded home via the Riverside Path and The Close. Pretty tired at the  end of all that. I found I’d done over 4 miles in the day. So I cooked myself a pie and watched Norwich lose 6-2 to Newcastle without looking at all bad, and Ireland and Scotland lose in the rugby world cup quarter-finals, the latter because of a very bad refereeing decision.

I forgot to mention that last Thursday, in the midst of my electrical challenges, I went up to the Theatre Royal to see Martin Laurance’s new exhibition (Dot decided to give it a miss). Very good selection of pictures; if I hadn’t just bought a television, I might have been tempted. Ran into Rupert Mallin, who was in rude health, and on the way out poet Hilary Mellon.

 

In the footsteps of Anne Boleyn – up to a point

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Hever Castle – childhood home of a Queen

On the brink of being ill for several days last week, but seem to have fought it off, though I’m not 100%. Main problem was an irritated upper respiratory tract, but also had an upset stomach and was feeling very tired. However…we made it to Hever Castle, Kent, home of the young Anne Boleyn and once owned, I’ve just discovered , by Sir John Fastalf, of Paston fame. It came to him through his wife, Millicent Scrope, and left him before he died.

Beautiful place, too. We had a large room with massive double bed, and the castle gardens were stunning in the late afternoon sun on Monday, when we arrived. In the evening we went to the King William VIII pub just outside the main entrance and had crayfish and steak pie (two separate items). Earlier we had the best Victoria sponge I can remember in the castle’s restaurant.

The journey down was straightforward until we got within about five miles of the Dartford crossing, when the traffic became very, very slow – often stationary. Fortunately we had plenty of time and arrived here less than half an hour after the earliest admission time. There is a billiard room and a luxurious lounge.

Yesterday was much chillier, but we made the most of the sun in the morning to walk round the lake after conquering the water maze! Felt pretty exhausted afterwards, for some reason, but Dot left me lying on the bed and went to the shop, after which we had a meal in the cafe. Dot;’s was apparently very nice, but my fish and chips was on the cool side.

Afterwards we went round the castle itself, which was quite impressive. From Anne Boleyn’s bedroom window we could see our bedroom window, but we didn’t lose our heads. In the evening we stayed in our room, ate sandwiches, read and watched a bit of TV.  Not all at once.

After some more walking in the grounds this morning, involuting a visit to the regimental museum and the church where Queen Elizabeth’s grandfather was buried, we had a cup of tea in the cafe and departed north. A very easy journey this time, stopping at the M11 services for a drink and a bite to eat, plus a bit of petrol and pumping up the tyres.

Last Wednesday we went to June Wallace’s funeral at the Hungate (Methodist) Church in Beccles. Nice service, and good to see Ian and William again. Had quite a long chat with William, who is living in an unconverted barn in Sussex and has a pet jackdaw. He is still creating leather and copper art for very rich people, has problems with his kidneys but is very positive. Amazing bloke. Ian has two teenage children and is divorced. He is a self-employed lorry driver. His ex-wife was there but didn’t sit with him or with the children. We stayed for refreshments.

On Friday Dot was rehearsing with the orchestra; so I took Judy to the Octagon Chapel for an event called The Sound of Silents. It consisted of old films of Norwich accompanied by local bands: Mammal Hands and Birds of Hell (which is one bloke with guests). Interesting audience split: young people who came to hear the bands and couldn’t really appreciate the films on one side, and older people who lived the films but found the music intrusive on the other. I liked the music, but found it a bit loud at times. Glad I went, though.

Then there was the weekend with the Coomes, which went well but quite quickly. Contrary to the weather forecast, the Saturday was not pleasant and pretty wet, off and on. Dot and I went to Morrisons in the morning, and we had a light lunch when the Coomes arrived. Then at 5pm we had a meal at Prezzo, followed by the concert at St Cuthberts. The latter went very well: the best I’ve heard them. Judy was there again, as were Fred and Sue, plus of course Neville and Mary.

We took the Coomes to church on Sunday as usual. The vicar spoke about Edith Cavell: today was the 100th anniversary of her death. Afterwards we went to Prezzo again (!) and then walked along the riverside path, where we encountered Ian Bullock briefly. The weather had changed to sunny and very pleasant. The Coomes left at around 4.30pm, and Dot and I watched rugby world cup and then Formula 1, then more television. We were pretty flaked out.

So all out packing was left to Monday  morning. But it worked pretty well really. My only worry was that I discovered a small leak in the bathroom before we left. I left towels on the floor and hoped it didn’t escalate. When we got back today the towels were soaked, but nothing worse. I rang up Anglian Water, with whom we have insurance, and as I write a plumber is trying to sort it out.