Most of the week I’ve been in the process of trying to dry old cans of paint out using cat litter (surprisingly, this is the approved method), and I’m nearly there – the only problem being that dried-out paint is still pretty heavy. I may have to put it in several different bin bags.

This morning I finished Stella’s latest book, The Immortal Throne, which was very enjoyable. I think prefer it to her first one. Meanwhile my book of Lent tanka has been accepted by a publisher – Skylark – at the urging of my friend Joy McCall. This is pretty exciting.

As I mentioned, I have laid aside the church treasurer’s job, and this has been generally acknowledged by kind e-mails. Still the figures linger on, and I have been answering e-mails from the accountants and from Simon. Despite much work from Simon, the loss figure for both churches is in my view much too high and so I have declined to accept the accounts. Everyone else will accept them, though, so I will simply abstain. What will actually happen in the real world after the agm next Monday is not at all clear.

Sadly Norwich City lost their match against Sunderland 3-0, and so we have all stopped worrying about whether they go down or not. If they don’t, it will be a pleasant surprise.

Dot spent the night in Puckeridge on Sunday, with friends of Barbara, before delivering some P4C to a school in Hoddesdon the next day. This went very well. On the Sunday night a strange thing happened. I was sitting on the sofa after a latish meal and watching a programme about the Renaissance in Venice, when I went to sleep. So I wound back (as it were) and started watching the second half again. This was about 9.30pm. I then woke up just after midnight, having missed three texts from Dot, which must have made quite a sound on my phone but which I was evidently too fast asleep to hear.

This threw me right out. I woke up early the next day and felt very strange all day. Also the TV has been misbehaving – it keeps saying there is a weak or no signal. Perhaps it’s the aerial. Still I have put together a plan for a bigger Chronicle / Pastons in Norwich walk book to fit in with the Footprints project.

In the evening on Tuesday we had the usual suspects (minus Claire) round for Biscuits and Compline, and that had a nice feel about it. We are all going on a retreat at Clare Priory one weekend soon.

On Wednesday Dot saw the nurse about her alleged diabetes and has been put on a regime of exercise and restricted sugar intake. No drugs, though. She has to wear something that measures the calories she’s using; so of course she’s using much more calories than usual.  Which just goes to show that it’s not just in the quantum world that reality changes when you watch it.

Dot and Anna took Phyllis to the eye clinic on Thursday, while Martin Smith came round to look at the church website with me. Afterwards I was able to make some changes that made it look more current. I gave Phyllis a book from which I’d quoted at church on Sunday and thought I’d sent off for a replacement from Amazon. However, it turned out I’d sent for three other books, which is fine, but I need to send for the one I had. I’ve done that now.

In the evening we went to Prezzo with the Hendersons at short notice. Dot is now in the city paying a cheque she received for recent P4C work – and, I suspect, looking round the shops. Later we will have a meal at the Red Lion in Eaton to celebrate Philip Robinson’s birthday. Last Sunday was my father’s birthday. He would have been 103.

I know: they’re all busy weeks. But Tuesday was one of the busiest days for quite a while, packed with excitement and incident. First, David arrived back in the UK from Canada; then Carrie and friends took our old sofas away; then I went up to the Archant agm, which turned out to be very long but quite promising, for everyone except Maryta.

Dot arrived for the buffet, having stayed at home to supervise the exit of the sofas, and we chatted to a number of people, including Doug Bird. Afterwards we ran into Tim Bishop, formerly editor of the Evening News, then head of Radio Norfolk and now top man at the Forum. He was keen to chat about Archant: his wife still works there as a journalist and is less than enthusiastic, despite the agm announcement that 70% of employees were “satisfied”. Presumably the other 30% were journalists. At some point during the agm I chatted to current EDP editor Nigel Pickover, who told me to send him a poem. I’m not sure his idea of a poem is the same as mine.

Later the same day we had our hair cut and then went to the Julian meeting at Howard’s, which was as enjoyable as usual.

The same could not be said of the meeting with the church accountants that Simon and I “enjoyed” the next day. It was not the accountant in question – Fiona – who was charming and intelligent. Nor Simon, who knows a lot more than I do about accounting. However, it became clear after I had provided some specific figures later in the day and felt the blood rushing round my head that I needed to relinquish the post of treasurer. The next day I wrote the necessary e-mail, but have had only two responses – from Carrie and Eleanor, both very kind. The others probably think that if they ignore me I will carry on.

In a week of sofas, our new leather one arrived on Friday, together with a chair that turned out to be broken. It was taken away again, and we await news of a replacement. In the evening we both went to the Paston agm (something that the computer denies exists, insisting on “age” or “ago”), which was held at the Manor Hotel, Mundesley and went very well. A nice bunch of people and far too many sandwiches.

Yesterday it rained all day, and today Granite Man came to arrange for a new set of kitchen tops for us. He was very chatty, and we eventually made a choice – or Dot did, as I was not particularly worried. So within a couple of months we’ll have a new worktop in the kitchen. Wonder if it will happen before the replacement chair arrives. Meanwhile, we await the critical encounter between Norwich City and Sunderland, which could decide the future of the club as far as the Premiership is concerned.

I have just started putting the rubbish out: so of course it’s started raining after being dry and quite warm all day. David is on his way to the airport in Toronto, and Dot has just arrived back from Bedford, where she has been delivering P4C training. I have taken delivery of two crates of wine to see us well into summer, and have been invited to send my Lent poetry book to a publisher. I have also booked a holiday in the Outer Hebrides for the end of July and taken a call from Minster Lodge, where Andrew seems a bit shaky: had quite a long talk with him, though. I have been planning to go and see him later this month.

Quite a lot of things going on at the moment. The accountants’ version of the church accounts bears little resemblance to either mine or Simon’s, and he’s trying to arrange an appointment with them. I have to put together a book of poems and narrative that will also double as a kind of guide to the Pastons in Norwich. Most of the material already exists; so it’s a question of designing and editing.

This is one of the things that came out of our first Paston Footprints steering meeting, at Rob’s house on Friday afternoon. There is an awful lot of work required to go on to the next stage of the NHLF bid, and of course it’s all in the air still. Ho, hum.

Following the meeting Rob and I had a drink at the Ship in Mundesley, and when it transpired that they didn’t do sandwiches on Friday nights, we progressed to the Bacton chip shop, which produces good stuff but is excruciatingly slow. While in the queue we met Susan Curran and her husband; she was giving the talk at Bacton Village Hall to a joint meeting of the PHS and the Bacton Local History Society.

It was a good talk, but not totally uncontroversial. Were the Pastons serfs? She thinks so, but I’m not so sure. How come a serf could marry the daughter of a notable lawyer? The talk was actually on the hilariously expensive Funeral of John Paston, and she is an interesting speaker, with lots of research under her belt.

Dot was not at the meeting because she was rehearsing for her SIllars concert at St Cuthbert’s the next day. This turned out to be another good one: not only Paul and Maryta but also Carrie were in the audience, as well as a few others. The Hendersons came back for a coffee/tea afterwards.

On Sunday I was preaching again, and the service (led by Eleanor) was followed by a surprise PCC meeting (in the sense that we’d all forgotten) to agree the parish reports and accounts. Needless to say the latter was not possible. Nice to have the St Luke’s PCC members come to St Augustine’s for a change, though. Lunch was bit late as a result, and as it turned out, Dot was a bit late leaving for Bedford. Still, she arrived at about the same time as Barbara, who was coming from Devon.

Felt a bit lethargic today, but did manage to get into the city to pay in some church cheques.

After quite a pleasant few days, winter is showing signs of coming back again. Nevertheless, we are about to go to the supermarket. It’s not really that bad, just a bit chilly and the occasional downpour. Got caught in the rain a couple of times on Monday when we took some old paint tins to Crown Paints as part of an “amnesty” and then walked up to Santander to make a small change to our ISAs. We now earn ridiculously little interest instead of infinitesimal. I’d been putting this visit off for ages, but eventually gave up looking for anything better because life is too short…

Also got round to doing a number of other things that had been in the back of my mind and gathering dust. I’ve applied for – and obtained – a new visitor parking permit, which now comes in two forms: four-hour and scratch card. Anything to make life more complicated. Dot and I also filled in a long survey about how active lives we are leading – clearly too active  to fill in a survey form promptly. There was other stuff too.

Have just discovered that our second new sofa will be arriving next Thursday, and (more sadly) that my former colleague David Paull has died. He was in a bad way the last time I saw him – been battling prostate cancer for many years. Have supplied a quote for the EDP and got lots of comments on Facebook.

I was able to divulge this information (obtained from Frances) to the Archant pensioners at the coffee morning yesterday. The usual suspects were in attendance, and I was able to discuss with Paul which of us would have been able to bowl four balls that weren’t all hit for six against the West Indies in the last over, enabling them to win with two balls to spare. We agreed that the answer was probably both of us, which means one of us should replace Stokes in the England team.

Directly afterwards Dot and I drove to Swaffham for lunch with the Higbees, which was pleasant as always, though Allan has had a chest infection all year. I blame the sawdust (he’s a woodcarver).

Moving backwards, Dot went to Carrow Road last Saturday to see Norwich City beat Newcastle 3-2 by scoring in the 93rd minute, which is almost exactly the opposite of what they usually do. This gives us a real chance of staying up, but we could very easily blow it. Dot was very excited, and I must admit I was too, especially when I was watching Final Score and they said: “There’s been another goal at Carrow Road.”

Later in the evening we went to the Hendersons for a meal. Holly was home for a break before heading out to somewhere in the desert for a six-month stint of logistics. She had her skiing trophy, which she won for finishing the downhill first of those not in the British team. Magic.

The next day I led the service, and we went to see Jessie in the afternoon before heading back to the Cathedral for a trimmed down Soul Circus that turned out to be really good. It was called Tales of the Unexpected and featured a journey round the Cathedral, some stories, some cake and water and an unusual take on the Road to Emmaus story. I may adapt this into a poem. It was led superbly by Canon Andy Bryant and was very moving.

This is not an April Fool post. It is the real thing. The week was given wings by the arrival of David, Oliver and Amy on Easter Sunday, following a joint service at St Luke’s at which I played guitar. Dot decided to stay at home and prepare lunch and a few other things.

On Monday Amy wanted to see Allegiant, which is the most recent film in the Divergent series. The second was Insurgent, which we saw the end of at home during the afternoon to give us a taste of what was to come. The film was surprisingly good, and we all enjoyed it. I suggested the next one might be called Detergent, but this did not go down well with Amy. Afterwards we went to Nando’s. This was my first visit, but again I found it a very pleasant experience.

On Tuesday we had a roast beef dinner before David returned to Caddington to prepare for his flight to Canada the next day. Needless to say, he is there now. Earlier in the day Dot had her finger checked by the nurse: it seems to be healing properly.

We took a day boat out on the river on Wednesday, and this was a big success. The weather was dry and not too cold, and we took a picnic. Bit of a wait at Wroxham, but eventually we had a boat for two hours and did the usual trip down to Wroxham and Salhouse broads, then back and a little way up towards Coltishall. Oliver And Amy proved very proficient pilots and really enjoyed it, I think. Dot hailed an ice cream boat on Salhouse Broad, which added to the excitement.

Afterwards we called in at Wroxham Barns and visited a few shops – unfortunately we were just too late for the mini-golf. Ran into Claire Carrington. Back home we had pasta and bacon with cheese and onion. And if you think that was healthy, on Thursday we went the whole hog and had a Kentucky Fried Chicken before driving the children back to Caddington, where we had another sort-of picnic before handing them over to their mother at around 6.30pm. Dot drove down and I drove back. No problems en route.

While Oliver and Amy were with us Amy made a volcano and we worked how to play Skip-Bo, which turned out to be quite a good game. The Murrays first taught us at Palmer Circle, when we taught them Bridge –a life-changing event), but we had forgotten it. Oliver also showed us some card tricks and reminded us how to play Rummy and Knockout Whist. I also had a few games of B ackgammon with him.

Today I caught up on some routine stuff, mainly to do with church, and Dot caught up on washing and housework. We went to the chemist’s to get our pills and then to the doctor’s to get our blood test results. Mine was a bit high on the cholesterol scale (6.1) and I have to see a nurse at the end of the month. I suspect this will be a bit of a waste of both our times. Dot’s swab from her finger has yielded no results yet, but the finger seems fine.

Tomorrow the children head for Lanzarote with their Mum, Matt, Julia and Dave, which means all our family are out of the country. What could possibly go wrong?

Here we are in the middle of Easter, with suitably dark, damp and dismal weather (suitable for the Saturday, that is), and we have just been to a very short concert at St Luke’s, at which a 15-year-old boy played Bruch’s violin concerto with St Gregory’s Orchestra. Quite a good audience, including Judy and Carrie. Dot chatted with several of the musicians afterwards.

Lent is over, of course, and so is my sequence of poems. I managed to do one a day, and some of them are quite good; so that was pleasing.

Yesterday (Good Friday) Dot and I went to sing in the Haymarket with an odd collection of Christians from different churches (we were some of the oddest, of course). I found it all a bit bewildering; we sung a couple of totally unsuitable hymns (old and inaccessible), and the pastor of Meadow Way gave a talk that was very good for the first ten minutes. Mary (not the original one) wanted Dot to start people singing some Taize chants, and eventually she did, which was a lot braver than I would have been – though I did back her up. In fact that went quite well.

Afterwards Dot and I helped Mary take the cross back to St Stephens, where we had lunch with her.

Back on Tuesday the Paston trustees met at Lucy’s. Traffic was terrible, and I took ages to get there. There was a rabbit in the room, which gave me another poem. (I can see you picturing it.) Back in Norwich I managed to get the minutes done the same night, before going with the Archers to Judy’s for Cake and Compline.

On Wednesday Dot had her stitches out, which was fairly painful at one point. The nurse warned her to be careful with the finger to avoid the wound coming apart; so she put her arm in a sling for a while. In the evening she went to orchestra but didn’t play. Simon took her, which resulted in her arriving home after 11.30pm.

On Thursday we went to Angela’s again, where we continued our trawl through Ethel’s things. This time we went to to a Marston’s pub, and I had some quite acceptable fish and chips.

This morning we went up to M&S to buy some food for the family visit – partly because Dot had some offers on her M&S Sparks card, whatever that is. We got the bus home.

Dot’s finger seems to be OK, though when the dressing is off it hardly presents a smooth picture. Little bit worried about it. We are changing the dressing every two days as instructed, and on Wednesday she will have the stitches removed by the practice nurse. We arranged this appointment at the same time as I had my shingles vaccination last Wednesday. I was bit worried about that, but there seems to have been no reaction to it, apart from a very slight headache.

The next day I had my other arm pierced for a blood test, following which I drove Dot to the UEA for her own blood test as part of the pre-diabetes research she is involved in. After that we drove to Dereham and spent the rest of the day going through Auntie Ethel’s things without getting anywhere near completing the job. It was interesting but very tiring. We did take time out to go for lunch at the George Hotel, which turned out to be very good indeed. I had a steak and kidney pudding, and the service was excellent too.

On Friday we had a brief visit from Caroline Gilfillan, who was visiting Norfolk from her new home in the Lake District and staying with her niece Alex (Su Lee’s daughter). We had a coffee and I drove her up to catch the Fakenham bus on Tombland.

In the afternoon our latest piece of furniture arrived: an oak display cabinet that we are using to hold files and other office stuff  in Dot’s study. It fits perfectly between the shelves and the airing cupboard, as calculated by Dot, and looks good too. We had to get rid of all the cardboard and polystyrene that it was encased in, unscrew the handles where they had been positioned for safe travelling, and then screw them in the other way round.

And the day was not over: in the evening I drove to Pinky’s at Halesworth, arriving at 7pm exactly, and read three of my poems, which I’m happy to say were very well received. When I’m on my way there I always wonder why I go (it takes an hour), but in the end I’m always glad I do.

I spent most of Saturday writing my sermon. Happily Norwich won 1-0 at West Brom; so Dot was happy (as was I). Yesterday I delivered said sermon and then we went to see Jessie, which was fun. I dropped off a couple of short story books to Sally, one of the short story writers, who lives on Mundesley Road. She’s not short: the stories are.

Today Rob called in to talk about Chronicle, mainly. After lunch, while Dot went to an Easter service at Little Plumstead,  I paid the church cheques in and then met Hilary Talbot at the St Giles House Hotel for tea and a talk about the PHS. She wanted to know all about the Pastons  and was quite keen that I should take her on the Norwich walk. On the way home I met another Hilary – Mellon of that Ilk – coming out of the dentist’s on Prince of Wales Road. Bit of a coincidence. Not that many HIlarys around.

To get over it I went with Dot to Morrison’s and stocked up. Amazingly, I am still up to date with the Lent poems. Not long to go.

We’ve had some fine weather recently; so on Saturday I decided to prune the roses while Dot painted Amy’s room – or her study, to give it its alternative name. Obviously I had the easier task, but Dot enjoys a challenge. Both jobs were completed satisfactorily – and in the case of the painting, just in time, because on Monday Dot fell over and sliced her finger open on a broken milk bottle she had been carrying.

There was a great deal of blood, and after some debate on where was the best place to go I took her to Boots on Riverside, where the first aid person bandaged her up and said she had to go to the walk-in centre, because she would need stitches. Fortunately this was nearby, on Rouen Road, and they dealt with her surprisingly promptly. A male nurse cleaned it all out very carefully, gave her some anaesthetic (she was in quite a lot of pain) and under my watchful eye put in a number of stitches – at least six, possibly more.

Again, there was a lot of blood, but it eventually disappeared under bandages. She now has to be careful with it for a week, when the stitches can come out. Being an active sort of person, she finds this difficult. She has other cuts on her hand and knee, and various bruises.

On Sunday we had a joint service at St Luke’s, at which Dot and I accompanied the worship with Steve. This was followed by a talk by the Archdeacon (soon to be Bishop) and some other guy on homosexual relationships, all of which was less than convincing, and a bit patronising, to be honest.

In the evening Dot and I went to the Seagull and I read five of my Lent poems (I am just about managing one a day). Quite a goodly company, but an awful lot of people are repeating material, which is a bit disappointing since it’s called “New Words….” Nice to see Ian, who is the  third person we know well who has had a hip replacement this year.

On Monday we had a PCC meeting. Dot decided not to go because of the pain she was in.  Actually the cocodamol was controlling it OK, but going to a PCC meeting would undoubtedly have made it worse. These things are normally painful through their sheer tedium, but the current vicar delights in details of procedure and multiple action points. Howard was over the moon at the end because he wouldn’t have to go any more.

Yesterday Harriet called in on her way to Morrison’s, and she fetched us a pint of milk to replace the one Dot had broken. (I had forgotten it on a trip to the supermarket the day before, after the accident, after realising initially that we would need it. Ho hum.) Later in the day Anna called round for a chat, discussing possible ways the future might pan out at St Augustine’s. She then left to pick up Anandi from the station, and we had our hair cut by Linda.

After hearing a sermon on waiting last Sunday, we spent most of Monday doing just that. Colin M was supposed to come and do various jobs for us, and after prevaricating on the phone he admitted by e-mail that he wouldn’t be able to make it. Then we got a roast dinner ready for Naomi, who completely forgot about it. Nice meal.

On Sunday evening we’d been to Soul Circus, which unusually was held in our church hall instead of the Cathedral. Lovely to see Suzanne and Simon Ward, who it turns out went to school with David. Also Robin and Julia Vincent, plus Diana (George) and Elspeth, who played piano for us many moons ago. Nice session, featuring a couple of films about things that changed people’s lives – not at all what you’d expect. The thing about Soul Circus is that you expect things you wouldn’t expect…

Colin actually did turn up on Tuesday and was his usual disarming self. He fixed a new stopcock and adjusted the shelves upstairs, plus a couple of other minor things. He is coming in April to do some more major things – that’s April this year, I believe. In the evening on Tuesday we were driven by Judy to the Julian meeting at Howard’s, and the meeting itself was as lovely as usual.

Howard had his meeting with the Bishop and Archdeacon this week, and it turned out not to be as confrontational as some had feared. On the other hand, on reporting back, Howard sounded very much like a Bishop. Has he been converted?

We have bought a new cabinet for Dot’s office, so that she can put her files in it and free up shelf space in my study. It’s coming from Oak Furniture and should be arriving next Friday. Dot has been busy making changes to the room, including new curtains and new paint.

Yesterday we went to the Dining Room at Cinema City for a meal with the Hendersons. Very nice too – steak frites and banana split for me. Maryta got extra chips because of a delay and she was about to send them back when the rest of us intervened. I worry about her sometimes. Well, most of the time actually. They came back to ours for coffee and were able to view the changes.

Today we’ve spent most of the day with the Eagles at Hempnall. Lovely lunch and relaxing conversation. Was amazed to discover it was 5.15pm. Made our excuses and left.

Unusually, got quite interested in Davis Cup tennis this afternoon, with Murray having a real struggle to beat the Japanese guy, Nishikori. They are currently in the fifth set, and I’m getting so irritated by the England supporters with beer and drum that I’m almost hoping Nishikori wins. They’re both almost dead on their feet.

Yesterday Norwich City managed to lose by the odd goal yet again, away to Swansea. It’s now almost certainly between Newcastle, Sunderland and us for the remaining two relegation places (Aston Villa have had it). Everyone is gloomy, including the two EDP Norwich City “experts” I met at Paul Durrant’s funeral – Ian Clarke and Ken Hurst. They seemed to think there was a chance of Martin O’Neill coming back as manager.

The funeral itself was beautifully done and went off well, thanks to exceptional weather – sunny, dry and not too cold. The main building at Colney was quite big, but nowhere near big enough to hold the numbers who attended, and many of us stood outside, listening by loudspeaker. Obviously there were many former colleagues here, and I met several I hadn’t seen for years, Including Vanessa Kemp (now Angier), Emma Outten, Colin Forshaw, Tony Wenham, John Carey and many others. I taught John how to sub, and apparently he married one of the subs’ runners. How come I didn’t notice that going on?

Also there were Frances, Bernadette, Maryta and Pete Kelley. Afterwards I couldn’t find my car keys and eventually found them back in the car, in the ignition, switched on. Happily the engine wasn’t running, but I’m getting quite worried about my mental capacity. However, I drove to the Red Lion for the wake, where I found David Paull, who had made his way there with some difficulty but lots of determination (he lives round the corner).  Had a chat with him and got him some food from the buffet, but he didn’t seem at all well. I hear from Frances by e-mail that he can only have one more shot of chemotherapy.

Went to the doctor’s on Wednesday, and I am now due for a shingles vaccine and a blood test, on successive days, which seems a bit odd. On the plus side, my blood pressure was down to 140/80. He was a happy doctor. I had to see him to renew my prescriptions.

Later in the day I drove to Banham to interview sculptor Steve Egginton for the article I’m writing for the diocesan magazine on festivals, pilgrimages, retreats and stuff. Steve is creating a long-distance route from the westernmost point of Wales to Lowestoft, the easternmost point of England. “Coincidentally”,  this goes through his garden; so he has a way station there. It’s called the Via Beata. The route, not the way station. Or the garden.

I’ve finished the article now, but it’s out for approval to one or two interviewees. If they’re happy, it goes to the editor on Monday.

Yesterday morning we had coffee with the Hendersons and have booked a meal out together at the Dining Rooms (Cinema City) next Thursday. When I say “coffee”, of course, I mean tea.

Today we had an eventful morning service when a woman burst in and started screaming. Happily, Carrie was there and took her out back, with some help from Debbie. I just carried on leading the service after a brief prayer for her. At the end she came in with Carrie. She was much calmer. Carrie is excellent in these situations.

This evening we went to Soul Circus, which was being held at our church hall. Very pleasant evening with Suzanne, Diana George, Robin and Maria, Elspeth, Carrie and some others. Lucy was supposed to come with Diana, but was ill at the last minute. Chest infection, I think.

Murray won.