A chilly and wet day today: a foretaste of autumn. But most days are still warm and summery; so we can’t complain. Yesterday afternoon we had drinks in the garden with Anne, who departs for a Mediterranean cruise on Thursday, hoping not to be confused with Libyan migrants. In the evening Dot and I went to the cinema and saw Trainwreck in the company of a largely young and female audience. We guessed we were not the target market, but it was nevertheless a very funny and rewarding film, with some wonderful dialogue.
Earlier in the day we extracted a large amount of bedding, mainly in the form of duvets and pillows, from the loft, spruced it all up a bit and took it to the Jubilee Hall (next to St Luke’s on Aylsham Road) for the benefit of some Congolese people who are gathering there in preparation for the funeral of two cousins who drowned in Thorpe Marshes nature reserve. The boy, aged 11 was called Bonheur and lived in The Lathes. The church gave his family £200 on Sunday toward expenses surrounding the funeral.
Later on Sunday Dot and I went to Walpole Old Chapel, near Halesworth, for the annual poetry reading. It was almost too well attended, because the reading started at 5pm and didn’t finish till well after 8.30pm. I was scheduled to read last, which – viewed in pop music terms – has to be good. It was a bit of a marathon, though, despite the half-time drinks and cake, and by the time I got to read it was not only extremely chilly but also nearly dark. There was only one light in the chapel. Still, we hung in there, despite the counter-attraction of a bird that got in and couldn’t get out, and I got a pretty enthusiastic reception. They even laughed at my jokes. I read three newish poems: After Sun, A Train Approaches and Proof of Heaven.
Elliott makes himself at home in the garden
Proceeding backwards, on Saturday Sam and Lucy came round with Elliott, and went into the garden, where Elliott had a great time pulling flowers apart and transferring stones into places they shouldn’t be. Dot got out David’s old train set and a tractor, both of which Elliott played with and then departed with. Meanwhile Norwich City scored their first win in the Premiership, beating Sunderland 3-1 away.
Earlier last week the main event was the arrival of Adrian and Clarissa by boat on Wednesday. We had a call from them while Dot and I were at Jessie’s in North Walsham. I was on my way to a Paston assignation, but Dot was on her way home after visiting Peter at Cromer for some p4c film editing. Dot dropped in on Adrian after she got back – as did Roger, who also been at North Walsham – and I completed the party when I arrived back from the Paston event. Good to see them: they had Menna’s three girls with them – Maddy, Olivia and Isabel. All delightful, especially Maddy, the oldest.
The following morning they came up for coffee and biscuits before departing for the city as Dot left for the dentist. They had a packed programme. In the last two days they had to get the boat back to Potter Heigham, via Breydon Water, visit Yarmouth (don’t ask me why) and call in on Jessie.
The Paston event mentioned consisted of an informal trustees’ meeting with food (mackerel pate) in the rather chilly garden of the Ship Inn at Mundesley, followed by tea and coffee at Lucy’s. She is not too good, since her last-ditch cancer treatment provoked an allergic reaction. It is hard to say how bad she is, because she always seems to come back strongly, but she didn’t feel well enough to proceed with Rob, Peter and myself to Bacton village hall, where we met the Bacton Historical Society with a view to their helping us in our NHL bid. We got an encouraging reception, and enjoyed a 40 min tape of Bacton people reminiscing about previous times. It was much more interesting than it sounds.
Heads still spinning, we arrived home this afternoon from Caddington to find that Mairead’s husband Simon had been found dead near a railway bridge. I spoke to him a few days ago and know he had been in a lot of pain and had poor prospects of improvement, but he seemed cheerful enough, as he always did. Obviously Mairead is devastated, but she is made of stern stuff: the children are the same ages as our grandchildren. We’ve offered to help, but she has family with her at the moment.
We’d spent the night at Caddington with the children while David went swimming on Monday evening and to London this morning. We delivered them to friends at Markyate for a sleepover before leaving at lunchtime. Oliver is programming his own computer game: most impressive. Amy’s ears are adjusting to being pierced, and she looks sophisticated.
We spent most of yesterday at Coventry with Andrew, taking him to Brandon Marsh nature reserve and visiting several bird hides. The locals were very friendly. We saw a heron feeding, some green sandpipers, numerous geese, a cormorant or three and what may have been a young hobby. Sadly, no kingfisher. Andrew was surprisingly interested. We had lunch in the cafe there: steak pie for the two of us and salmon fishcakes for Dot. Later we had tea and cake in Memorial Park. We were fortunate with the weather: the forecast rain turned out to be very slight and occasional.
We had arrived in Coventry at the Premier Inn (south) on Leamington Road around 5.30pm on the Sunday. We had originally planned to spend the earlier part of the weekend with the Coomes in London, but this was cancelled early on Saturday morning because David had a very painful shoulder. Instead Dot and I went out on Saturday for a meal at Jamie’s, which was excellent, and went to church on Sunday, where we had the unusual experience of simply being part of the congregation. The new vicar was leading Communion, and the atmosphere at the service was very good.
Back on Wednesday last week Richard brought the girls round for lunch (spaghetti bolognaise), and I had a game of table tennis with each of them, imparting extravagant praise when they managed to hit the ball. It was a nice few hours. When they left Dot and I retrieved the Mazda 2 from the garage , where it was getting its first service. In the morning I had walked much of the way home, but got a bus some of the way, discovering en route that getting through Tombland was a challenge for pedestrians as well as cars – a challenge I failed, ending up going past the Adam & Eve and cutting through to the Close.
Tuesday night’s Cake and Compline went well, with a full complement of attendees. Still jet-lagged, we just managed to keep our eyes open.
Line-up at Palmer Circle: Jackson, Oliver, Seth, Amy and Sophie.
Returned on Sunday from a fortnight in Canada, staying with the Murrays in Caledon – most of the time with Chrissy and her children, and all of the time with David, Oliver and Amy. Quite a strange time, really, in that we simply stayed at 88 Palmer Circle nearly the whole holiday and read books, plus playing a little croquet and badminton. The weather was mostly very hot, and the mosquitoes and other insects were biting.
My attempts to get Oliver and Amy to Niagara came to nothing, mainly because none of the three vehicles available could take seven people. Instead David, Chrissy and the children went into Toronto on the second Thursday (making use of the subway from Kipling), summited the CN Tower and visited the Aquarium. Roger and I assisted in the transportation to Kipling, both ways. The next day the Vanderkooy children departed, heading for camp somewhere up north.
Dot came to Kipling with us in the morning, and Roger took us to Glen Williams, a delightful little village with a cafe that served proper tea. There was also an art studio, glass-blowing and a river. We came home the pretty way, close by Forks of the Credit national park on the Niagara Escarpment, which we visited properly on the Saturday morning – yes, the day we came home.
Forks of the Credit sounds more like a financial institution than a national park, but it is in fact a beautiful stretch of wild land (the Credit is a river). We walked to near a waterfall and caught a glimpse of it, but the proper viewing platform was closed for safety reasons. On the way back, Dot and I took a short cut which no-one else believed was there (possibly excepting David and Oliver, who did the polite thing and stayed with their hosts) and got well ahead. A small but significant triumph.
Following this we went to Erin, where there was an excellent fish and chip shop, followed by a stop at Alton Mills Arts Centre, which was impressive. Beautifully landscaped and with good quality artists. Oliver, Dot and I got separated from the others and visited the mill race, which was spectacular, then stopped at the cafe, where Dot showed the assistant how to make tea.
Earlier in the week the girls went shopping at Don Mills shopping complex while the boys went to the Nottawasaga Inn Resort, where we played mini golf, table tennis and table hockey. We also went on various slot machines, and Oliver managed to obtain gifts for Amy and Sophie. We also had lunch in the restaurant, with which we were not very impressed, mainly because of the strangely tasting water. Good view, though.
Other than that our only outing was on Tuesday 27th – our wedding anniversary – to the Blu restaurant in Yorkville, Toronto, for an evening meal. This was excellent; even though we arrived quite late, the staff were very friendly and helpful (I think Roger’s brother Rob knew the waitress and had primed her). The food was first class, and we got an anniversary cake too! OK, the price we paid was very high (over $500) but for a special occasion it was worth it.
I almost forgot: we did have another couple of outings to buy food with David and Chrissy, and I took a couple of short walks, one of them with Dot. Chrissy also took us to the rail crossing on Mount Hope Road, because … well, because we wanted to go.
At Forks of the Credit
During the fortnight we read a number of books, mostly recommended by Barbara. They were: The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry, by Rachel Joyce; Proof of Heaven by Eben Alexander; A Constellation of Vital Phenomena by Anthony Marra; The Great Gatsby, by F Scott Fitzgerald; The Afterlife of Stars by Joseph Kertes; and two funny books by Nora Ephron – I Feel Bad about my Neck and I Remember Nothing.
The Joyce was brilliant, the Alexander intriguing ( a near-death experience), the Marra a complex but mainly good novel set in war-torn Chechnya, the Kertes a clever (sometimes too clever) novel of brothers escaping from Hungary, and the Fitzgerald classy.
I also wrote a few poems and walked into the pool with my iPhone in my pocket. Attempts to save it by putting it into rice proved futile, and yesterday I obtained a new iPhone 6 from O2. I had been planning to get one anyway; so I was not as distraught as I might have been.
The week was haunted by a guinea pig, which was resident in the girls’ room and which seemed to be causing serious allergy problems for Barbara. Fortunately, not for anyone else. She survived, but was clearly uncomfortable much of the time.
Barbara is writing a cookery book, and the first week consisted of meals that were destined for it – all of them delicious. On one occasion Chrissy’s friend Michelle, her children Jackson and Ryan and her parents (Lynn and Jim) came for lunch; and on another a couple of business colleagues – Rick and Shirley – with the addition of Rob Murray, who proved pleasant and entertaining but looked gaunt.
The journey both ways were largely uneventful. On the way there David had organised everything, and he and Chrissy were with us and the children. On the way back it was just us and the children. First problem was that Amy had to unwrap her present for her Mum at customs. This did not go down well, but she recovered. We distracted her agony by going to a restaurant in the airport that used iPads to order, and Oliver demonstrated his expertise. Good food too.
The flight was normal, but in England it was very warm, and we had difficulty finding the bus at first (I hadn’t noticed instructions were on the ticket). It was a long trip to the car park, via the North Terminal, but that was nothing compared to the journey from there to South Mimms, where Vicky was waiting. There were two accidents on the M23, holding us up, and the M25 was agonisingly slow: we came to a halt repeatedly. The children went to sleep until we speeded up nearer our destination.
Vicky, who had gone blonde, was cheerful despite her long wait, and we handed over successfully. Then we had quite a bit to eat in Starbuck’s, as well as drinks and drove home. I almost dozed off once, but was roused by rumble strips, and we paused for fresh air at the A11 Monument.
Happily our brown bin had been emptied, and although our parasol had been blown on to the bird bath, no damage resulted. We watched reruns of the Third Test, made do with minimal repast and went to bed about 10.30pm.
My talk to the CNS Old Boys on the Friday before our holiday went well after Dot dashed home to get a connector for the computer. The food at the White Horse in Trowse was also good, and the tour of the Norfolk Record Office that preceded it was excellent too. our journey to Gatwick was also fairly smooth, although after we were dropped by the APH bus at the airport we had a bit of a problem finding the hotel (there was a tunnel direct from the airport, but we didn’t know that). The room was OK, but we had trouble finding a small amount of food and eventually restored to a bar snack. The staff were all very friendly, though.
Since getting home we’ve been in a bit of a haze, but I had my glasses fixed after getting the iPhone 6, which I’m very pleased with. We’ve also unpacked, of course, been to the supermarket, had our hair cut by Linda (today) and sorted out stuff for the bins, including a particularly ugly food caddy.
I’ve also been to an Archant coffee morning, and Dot has been to see her Aunt Ethel, who is not at all well. Still not back in phase, and we have cake and compline tonight, though I’m not sure who’s coming.
Just a quick one. This has been an odd week, in suspense waiting to go on holiday. I have spent most of my time catching up with computer and paper work and hoping that the council might empty our brown bin – to no avail. We are leaving it out as we go on holiday, just in case. Mary is looking out for it and may water some flowers.
I have been in the city a couple of times to pay in cheques and to visit the Guildhall in the company of the vicar, plus Carrie Sant and Andrea Cope, from St Luke’s. An invitation went out to all and sundry with an upper limit of nine, but only the three of us made it. I took the opportunity to have a brief chat with the vicar about Ian, which he took well. He seems very anxious about Sunday, because we’re away and Howard will probably be in London, as Anandi has just had her baby – a girl.
The Guildhall tour yesterday was not bad: I learnt one or two things I didn’t know, but the guide was kind of irritating, especially when he gatecrashed our tea with the Sheriff (a woman) and monopolised the conversation. Probably being a bit unfair there: Carrie also had quite a lot to say trying to get money for her work (which is fair enough) and I was feeling extremely hot and tired. Good tea, though.
Today we finished packing, and I paid £20 (for the year) to get Adobe’s pdf conversion gizmo, so that I could put a complicated document with images into the Paston magazine, which I’m putting together in Pages. I had tried a free version off the Internet after much research, but it was useless. I could get the words, but not the images. I will charge Paston, of course.
It will be an odd day tomorrow, because there is a CNS reunion, during which I have to give an hour’s talk on the EDP and my part in its downfall (sorry, that was Spike Milligan and Hitler, which is quite different). Thence we will come home before setting out for Gatwick and a night in a hotel before flying out to Canada.
So I have managed to reach the age of 70, struggling across the line after eating and drinking too much over the weekend. Yesterday was my birthday, of course, and we had a celebration at church after my sermon on the beheading of John the Baptist. Dot made a delicious chocolate cake and bought champagne. She invited several people, only one or two of whom could come: Vicky and Paul and Maryta (the latter for the celebration only). Really nice to have so many people wishing me well.
I got texts from David and Chrissy in Italy, and in the evening Dot and I went to Cafe Rouge in the Chapelfield Mall with the Robinsons. The restaurant was fairly empty, except for our dentist and his wife, but the food was excellent: I think this type of food is my favourite, especially the way they do steak and chips. We had a free bottle of bubbly too. Hope this restaurant doesn’t go the way of the previous one on Exchange Street. The service was also excellent.
The previous night had been Roger’s 55th birthday party, at Jurnet’s Club. The atmosphere and food were first class, though we didn’t know many people. The music was pretty loud (though good); so both Dot and I found it difficult to conduct conversations. I spent much of the evening listening to Jude, but I practically had to sit in her lap to hear what she was saying. She is apparently being threatened with legal action by a woman in a wheelchair for suggesting it might be helpful if she (the wheelchair woman) brought a friend to the Red Hat excursions to look after her, in view of her disability.
Also spoke to Fiona, George and Debbie (apparently Roger’s new girlfriend, though he’s known her a long time) and surprisingly, Kim Pummell, with whom he went to school. She works as a secretary to various Archant executives, and used to arrange my company cars for me. Meanwhile Dot was having similarly difficult conversations with men I didn’t know.
Earlier in the day I went to a farm at Aylmerton to assist Peter Stibbons with some filming for the Paston DVD. He was already being assisted technically by Paul Damen, but I was found a role as sound man. I also read one of the letters in costume. The location was Tony Colman’s Park Farm (no relation), and because of an anomaly on the map I found it hard to find. Still, better late… Lovely sunny spot. Most of the re-enactors were there.
On Friday the gas man came to service our boiler and discovered we needed a flush-through. I am awaiting a phone call to arrange this. Nice bloke. In the evening we went round the Hendersons for a light meal. No flush-through required.
On Thursday I had taken Joy and Phil to the doctor’s again. It was their 40th anniversary on Sunday and they managed to get to church to celebrate, which was quite an achievement for them, as they find it hard to walk far nowadays, and both get tired quickly.
This week has turned rainy. Joy is worried because the 23rd (when they plan to go to Southampton) is forecast to be 29C. I tried to persuade her that no-one can make accurate ten-day forecasts, but she remains concerned.
We’re back from Blakeney, and I’ve had my ears syringed. So I should be able to fly to Canada next week with no problems. I haven’t been able to hear properly for about a month, and it was a real struggle getting someone to even look at my ears, let alone agree to syringe them. I’ve been putting oil in for the last couple of weeks, which hasn’t been much fun, but hopefully it is now sorted. I may even be able to get a good night’s sleep tonight. They’re still popping, but apparently they have to dry out.
We were first to arrive at Blakeney on Friday, which rarely happens. As usual we all rolled down to the Blakeney Hotel for afternoon tea, but the upstairs lounge was full, so we took advantage of a little room downstairs, just off the lounge. Very pleasant. Then began the series of breakfasts and evening meals which are a feature of life at the Manor Hotel. Nice enough food – and staff – but not exceptional. We had the same room as last year.
Dave and Julia were in good form, but Rosemary had just had some bad news medically: she has a muscle-wasting disease. One thing after another… Very sorry for her: she and Alan are such a nice couple, and Alan has been through the mill too.
It was very warm again on Saturday, and we took care to put on sun cream. We started at the Cley wildlife centre, where we had coffee and looked at the new exhibition building. We then moved on to Salthouse, where we parked at the church and then walked down to the beach and along the shingle for a while before completing a circle by crossing the road and climbing a small hill before taking a path through barley field. While still on the shingle we were accosted by a man who warned us about tics, showing us what appeared to be a bite on his wrist in evidence. Don’t know where the tic, if such it was, had come from (he blamed nearby cattle), but we were a bit nervous the rest of the day while quietly confident that tics were not a normal feature of Norfolk beaches.
Back in Salthouse we had a baguette purchased from the Old Post Office, positioned between Cookie’s and the Dun Cow and therefore frequently overlooked. Good baguette, though, and some rather nice ginger beer with chilli. We sat on a seat outside, with Dave and Julia in a disused bus shelter, then walked back up through a tunnel path to the church, where we popped in to look at an art exhibition by Maria Pavledis, who was about to give a talk. She persuaded us to stay, which almost doubled her audience. She was interesting, although I didn’t like her work much (rats figured strongly), but towards the end I felt tired out, and so after a brief stop in Cley where Dave and Julia bought some pottery, we headed back to the hotel. In the evening there was a very high tide, spilling on to the carnser. There was an even higher one the next morning, and the following night.
On Sunday it was a bit cooler. We drove to Holkham, lamented the demise of the restaurant (converted into extra rooms for the hotel), bought some presents in the Adnams shop and then headed to the Victoria for coffee, whereupon it started raining pretty hard. We hung on to the table as many soggy people and a multiplicity of dogs poured in for Sunday lunch, and eventually we decided it would be easier to eat there than to try to find somewhere else; so we had a light lunch (prawns for some, cheese board for others), and when it stopped raining drove on to Brancaster, where we parked in the village and walked down the road to the beach, then round and back by a muddy path to Titchwell. There was a bit more rain, but nothing like as much as at lunchtime. We ended up by the road just outside Titchwell, scarping extremely persistent mud off our shoes. Peter we stopped in Wells for a scone and a cup of tea; sadly the gallery containing Godfrey’s pictures was shut.
Took some nice sunset pictures in the evening.
On Monday we returned to Cley Wildlife Centre and had a coffee, then a chat with a helpful expert called Diane, who got Rachel to turn on the sea surge video for us. After this excitement we drove up to the church, where there was an excellent exhibition, called Marvellous in Ordinary. Some exceptional stuff in there. Afterwards we drove to Wiveton, because the Three Swallows was shut, and had a lunch that was not quite light enough in the magnificent Bell. Back to Blakeney, from where we walked along the newly restored coast path to Cley, misidentifying birds on the way. At Cley we got a Coasthopper back to Blakeney.
Tuesday, and it was all over. Well, almost. The Towns departed for Derby, but Julian and Dave joined us in a stroll in Blakeney, where we visited an excellent art and crafts fair and then, unbelievably, squeezed in a cup of coffee in The Moorings (water for Dot and me) before our noon lunch at Cookies (booked two days earlier). There was a huge traffic jam in Cley; so Dot and I took the back roads and arrived at Cookies about ten minutes before the Evetts, but still late. However, it was raining, and the place was not crowded. We had booked for the absent Towns, but those two seats went to a couple of American cyclists from New England, with whom we had an interesting chat. Afterwards we parted, but it was not all over for Dot and me.
We drove to Neatishead, where Dot had purchased a reduced-price ticket for the radar museum. This was unprepossessing but contained far more than we expected, and the guided tour lasted nearly 90 minutes, by which time Dot and I were practically out on our feet. Very interesting, though, and plenty more to see on a return visit.
To round the day off, we had a compline and cake fixed for the Archers’ at 8pm. Happily Jude took us: it was a pleasant evening as usual, and somewhere before and after we managed to watch the highlights of the British Grand Prix, won by Hamilton.
The heatwave got here: it’s been in the high 20s for the past few days, but not scorching enough to be uncomfortable. We head for Blakeney today, and while it’s still going to be warm, there’s also a certain amount of rain forecast. I have several possible walks prepared – well, prepared is possibly putting it a bit strongly – but not sure how far we’ll want to walk. Obviously the Royal christening at Sandringham on Sunday is a must 🙂
I’m still having trouble with my ears, but I’ve managed to see a nurse. She says there’s no sign of an infection, but my ears are pretty comprehensively blocked with “old wax”. I’m continuing with the ear drops and putting up with the occasional sharp pain. I’m due to see another nurse next Wednesday for a syringe. Hope that sorts it.
On Monday I left Dot at Jessie’s after dropping a birthday card in at Sheila’s and picking up Jessie from the optician’s. I then continued to Mundesley for a PHS trustees’ meeting, which lasted quite a long time, with periods of obscurity. I returned to Jessie’s for a cup of tea in her conservatory, which was nice, especially as it came with a mince cake.
On Wednesday it was very warm. Dot and I walked to Riverside, where I bought some new batteries at Poundland. I had been having a few problems with my computer after I tried to update some apps. Everything started crawling, and Safari and the App Store refused to quit – some problem with web content on both. I looked at various “solutions” mentioned on the Internet. The one that seemed to work (although it may have been a coincidence) was when I emptied Trash. All of a sudden, everything was clean and very quick.
In the middle of all this the trackpad had run out of batteries, which is why I had to go to Riverside. It turned out well, though, because we bought some birthday presents for me: three(!) pairs of trousers from Next and some new sunglasses from Boots. We also had a drink at Costa (fruit-flavoured iced tea for me, which was surprisingly nice). Later we had our hair cut.
Yesterday we both felt very lethargic, and suddenly Dot had very bad diarrhoea. We still don’t know why, but she had recovered enough to go to Little Plumstead in the evening and have a P4C stall to show parents what had been going on. She spent a long time preparing, but none of the Year 5 parents came, which was a bit disappointing. She was able to speak to come others, though, including Brigitte Williams, daughter of the legendary David, who has two children at the school.
Earlier in the day we took the car to be cleaned, and while it was being done I went to look at the church water meter, about which Anglian Water had raised some query (possible leak). I had to knock up the guy in whose drive the manhole cover was, because I couldn’t find it – largely because he’d covered it with stones. Eventually I managed to lift it and discovered a particularly ugly looking spider, which I managed to avoid while noting the reading. I was unable to get the cap off, however; so I’ve written to Anglian Water explaining that they had my name and address wrong, as well as the address of the premises – and could they come and see if it needed looking at professionally. Howard has decided he “would prefer it if someone other than me engaged with Anglian Water”. Well, so would I, actually.
I know I’m always saying this, but the last few days have been really full. At least the weather seems to be improving; today is warm, and we’re promised a heatwave toward the end of the week, when we go to Blakeney.
On Wednesday we travelled west to Swaffham to visit our friends Julia and Allan, who have just moved there to be close to their daughter. Their house is a town house on three storeys, bigger than the one at Newton Flotman and nicely designed with spacious rooms. As it cost only £160,000 it made me wonder about moving to Swaffham! Went for a short walk after lunch: Allan gets very short of breath, which is worrying. And I still can’t hear: my right ear is buzzing all the time. Not to worry – I have an appointment with the nurse on July 8, if I am still alive then.
In the evening, while Dot was at orchestra I went to the cinema to see Mad Max: Fury Road. Not really the sort of thing that would normally attract me – I’m not into dystopia – but I’d read a couple of interesting reviews, and it wasn’t bad. What made it a bit different was that it had women in prominent roles – and not all glamorous women.
The next evening we went to the Red Lion in Eaton for a meal with the Robinsons to celebrate Anne’s birthday. Bit late, but they’ve been through a traumatic time with their daughter Sophie: one of her two twins died in the womb, but happily the other (Iris) was born in good health, which might not have been the case.
Friday evening saw us on the move again. We went to Wells to see Godfrey Sayers’ private view. It was only a small gallery (Quayside) but very attractive, with a great view of the harbour. The paintings were good too, and we’re thinking of getting one for my 70th birthday. I also got Godfrey to sign one of his books. Afterwards Dot and I wandered around and took some photographs. It was a beautiful evening, despite rain on the way there. We had come by an odd route as we had to get out of Norwich in the rush hour; so we took in Spixworth, Aylsham and Melton Constable. From there the satnav took us on a route which was no doubt shortest but consisted largely of narrow lanes, sometimes with grass down the middle. Interesting.
When we got home we went round next door for drinks and nibbles because Felix was on a rare visit home, and I’d met Mary on the way back from the city earlier. Very pleasant couple of hours, but it pretty much sabotaged our semi-fasting day.
Saturday was the big day for our new vicar. Dot and I arrived at St Luke’s just after 1pm to find the diocesan synod breaking up. Dot ran into her “boss”, Andy Mash, who was very complimentary to and about her. The worship band consisted of Simon Snell (vocals and a bit of a drum), Steve Fiske (bass guitar), me (guitar) and Dot (violin). Several people had dropped out. This meant that I found myself more or less leading into all five songs, which wasn’t what I’d anticipated, especially as my guitar was amplified. Worked out all right, although the violinist complained about my not waiting for her to compose herself.
Good service, and an excellent sermon as usual from the Bishop, who welcomed David (Austin) to a “Premiership diocese”. Dot took part in the service in another way, presenting the vicar with a jug of oil symbolising healing. Howard was pretty much in charge locally, as the other churchwarden, Elaine, was on holiday. All very jolly, with excellent cake afterwards.
In the evening we had the Hendersons and the Knees round for a meal that Dot had cooked in advance and frozen. It worked out successfully, especially the starter, which was a delicious mackerel and cheese pate. Very pleasant evening, with no high-powered debating. Rob and Penny had come by train; so departed just before 11, but Maryta and Paul stayed for another half hour. We’d more or less finished the clearing up by midnight.
By way of relaxation, I preached the following day to a small congregation that would have been even smaller if Ruth and Steve hadn’t turned up with their three children. Howard led and forgot the first hymn. At least, I think he did. Who knows?
June is continuing along its dull and generally unpleasant path as far as the weather is concerned. Today is very grey, and there are occasional spots of rain. Dot is having lunch at Biddy’s with her friends Sue and Helen, and I will shortly be transporting Phil and Joy to the opticians. I have a bit of trouble with my ears and called in at the surgery this morning to see about an appointment with a nurse. It was suggested that I ring up for an on-the-day appointment or go to a walk-in centre. I thought maybe there was something wrong with my hearing…
James Finley came to St Luke’s for a return visit on Friday and Saturday, and this went well even without Nicholas. I was assisting with various day-to-day things, and I also managed to get Agape to record it, and the Christian Resource Centre to come with their bookstall; so that was good. Cathy from Agape bought six of my Iona books, and someone else bought one too, which was an unexpected bonus.
Dot was not there on the Saturday because she was rehearsing for a Sillars concert at Salthouse in the evening. But before that Colin came round to fix the garage door again, and he also fixed the gate and provided a new coping stone. I went to the concert, of course, as did Anne and Philip and Maryta and Paul. Sounded pretty good to me, but of course my hearing is deficient at the moment. Dot took a guest clarinettist, Tammy, in her car.
On the Sunday I was leading the service again, as Eleanor had a double booking. Dot decided this was one of our 2 days (in our 5-2 diet), but this proved difficult to maintain in view of the stuff we were doing, which included a little bit in the garden.
Yesterday we dodged the showers and went up and had a giant teacake each at Jarrolds. I paid in the church cheques and Dot went on to do a bit of shopping and cooking while I made some real headway on the talk I’m giving on the EDP to my CNS colleagues next month. I now have a 30-slide PowerPoint presentation in place and just need to get the final version of the speech sorted out.
Amy has just spent a week on the Isle of Wight with her school, which seemed to go very well. Oliver is having trouble with his dental brace and with his skin (impetigo?), but apparently he now has help with both of these and is feeling happier.
Rather poor picture of our table at the Wensum View Hotel. Mary is on the left, Rachel is to the left of my vacant chair and Barbara to the right. Dot is sitting next to a pilot whose name I forget.
Mary Thrower’s 70th birthday meal last Saturday turned out to be a delightful event, despite our not knowing anybody but Mary and Neville – plus, amazingly, Bernadette from Archant, who turned out to be their next-door neighbour.
The setting, despite rainy weather, was beautiful, with the room at the Wensum View Hotel looking way out over the golf course and the Wensum valley generally. The food was really delicious, despite the party being over 60 in number (quantity often reduces quality). And the six people who sat at out table were all very easy to get on with – in fact when nearly everyone had gone, our table was still all present and correct.
The number included Mary’s son Jamie (really nice guy) and his equally nice wife Rachel. I think the others were friends rather than relations: one couple came from Carleton Rode and the other from further away.
That was on Saturday. The following day I roused myself to lead the service at St Augustine’s in the presence of the new vicar, who was attending for the first time, as an observer. He stayed a long time afterwards and spoke to everyone. I wouldn’t be surprised if one of his aims is to get the two churches to do things together. That should be interesting.
The rest of the day was dull and rather oppressive: we couldn’t rouse ourselves to do anything much. But on Monday Colin came and fixed the garage door handle – which has unfortunately gone wrong since. He is coming again on Saturday. In the evening we had a PCC meeting at which for the first time in living memory St Augustine members almost made up 50% of the attendance. Howard didn’t make it, of course, but Eleanor and Judy did. I think we were a little less formal than the new vicar would have liked (what? no votes?), but no doubt there will be conversion process, one way or the other. Simon gave a presentation on our registering as an individual charity, which you have to do when your turnover exceeds £100,000.
On Tuesday Barbara and her dog came to sort out some video for their p4c DVD and commandeered my computer to do so. I went to pay some cheques into the bank and wondered over to the Forum, where a young guy asked if I’d like to play chess (there’s a board game section in the library there). We had a good game, but he beat me after I hung a rook. I suggested he joined a local club. Enjoyed the game, but it sort of showed me I wasn’t up to what used to be my standard.
Yesterday was dull again, though warm. I got some work donned then went to Morrison’s with Dot for a fairly large bout of shopping before she disappeared to orchestra. An odd day.
