The snow has utterly vanished, and today it’s quite pleasantly mild and bright, though rain is predicted for later. It’s only 11am, and already I’ve been to the chemist’s to pick up my repeat prescription, to the printer’s to take delivery of my poetry books, and to the Rosary and Lion Wood to get my steps up after a day in yesterday. Quite a thrill seeing my poetry books, Under Cover of Day – 50 of them altogether – all snug in their package.

Back to last Friday. I dug the car out from under a pretty thick coating of snow and took it for a test drive, then returned to pick up Dot and her hearts for delivery to the church hall. No problem with any of this. The roads were pretty clear – even Aspland Road was easily drivable. Fred rang up as I was backing out of the drive; so I rang him back later to discover he had prostate cancer, though happily at an early, treatable stage. He is having radiotherapy. Also spoke to David and Julia about holidays; they have now booked a week in Blakeney for June, but I am a bit uncertain as to what to do, because I don’t want to mess up any Canadian plans.

Later we watched Young Guns, which I have to say was a pretty good western, if you like westerns, which I do.

Had a long chat with Lucy on Saturday about the Paston Heritage Society. She is moving from Bowthorpe to Horstead in a couple of months. Norwich beat Stoke 4-1, rediscovering their ability to shoot. Later we watched It Always Rains on Sunday, an old film set in the East End. I thought it was brilliant, catching the mood of the time perfectly, and starring Googie Withers, who is truly wonderful, despite her name.

Sunday was Valentine’s Day, and Dot sneakily made me a card, as well as sending me an e-card using her Jacqui Lawson account. I got her breakfast in bed, and we listened to the last of Virginia Mary Rolf, Season 2. We decided to skip Season 3. We had a Zoom service at the usual time, and a “proper” meal at the table! In this case it consisted of trout pate and flatbreads as a starter, one of our favourite soups as main, and a fruit salad afterwards. All accompanied by a rather nice rosé, which we demolished between us. Amy FaceTimed, and so did Andrew, who is not too well with a possible urinary tract infection. We watched the last episode of The Serpent, which was excellent.

By Monday it was definitely warmer, and nearly all the snow had melted. We watched India demolishing England on a turning pitch in the Second Test, and had a long chat with David and Chrissy on FaceTime. We posted Rosie’s birthday card and went for a walk down past the railway cottages and back along the river.

On Tuesday and Wednesday I wrote my Parish Pump pieces on Marcus Aurelius, Robert Walpole, Graham Greene and the Peak District. Went for a late walk on Tuesday – after a pancake lunch – up to the roundabout, down to the lights and then back down Riverside Road. In the evening I had a two-hour Zoom session with the Jurnet poets, including two or three from the USA, one from South Cambridgeshire and one from Korea. Bit of a mixed bag. I read Compline: the theme was Light and Dark.

Dot has been struggling with a bad back; so had had to restrict her violin practice. This is improved now, but she has a problem with the muscle in her neck, which can be quite painful. Oddly, I have an almost exactly similar problem, making it difficult to look right and causing a bit of a headache. It couldn’t be a side-effect of the vaccination, could it? That was four weeks ago now.

Yesterday I finished my sermon, and we watched Norwich beat Coventry 2-0, playing very well in the first half and a bit ineptly in the second, for some reason. England lost to India at cricket. We went to bed early because we were both feeling rather sorry for ourselves. I haven’t slept well for the last two nights. Perhaps it’s Lent-related… As part of St Augustine’s Way we are reading through some Psalms, and I’m having a go at writing some poems.

Very cold week, with snow cover persisting. On Tuesday there was a bit of blue sky with occasional snow showers, and we went for a walk before lunch, posting a letter and then venturing into the Rosary, which of course looked beautiful. No milk had been delivered; so Dot popped into shop on Rosary Road. No bins emptied either: we have just heard that the blue one will be emptied tomorrow and the brown one not at all. The road does look a bit dodgy.

In the evening we had a CNSOB Zoom meeting, which featured a general ineptness. Even the organiser, who is a nuclear physicist, didn’t seem to know what he was doing as far as screen-sharing was concerned. Lots of time wasted. My contribution on Westray was not particularly inspiring, but Fred’s was interesting. Adrian of course did a full-scale Powerpoint production, exceeding the time limit. He could have taken all evening, and probably should have. Meanwhile Dot was FaceTiming with Amy, which was almost certainly more interesting.

I think it was on Tuesday that we watched Jaws, which featured a large shark that these days looked decidedly wooden. However the film’s depiction of idiot authorities who put making money before people’s safety seemed up to date. I wasn’t entirely clear, though, why councillors should be urging people to get in the sea when they were already on the beach. You can’t buy things in the sea.

Wednesday was very sunny, with a deep blue sky. Still very cool, though snow was being melted by the sun. The Hello Fresh guy drove up the road with no trouble, but reversed all the way down. We watched The Thomas Crown Affair, which was a delight: very cleverly done and well acted, with Pierce Brosnan and Rene Russo. Also had a Compline session, which went well, though Kim couldn’t join us. Saw highlights of superb FA Cup game between Everton and Spurs, which sadly Everton won 5-4.

It was sunny again yesterday, and at one point Dot and I were standing in the utility room doorway, enjoying the sun’s warmth on our faces. However, it was still very cold generally, and the previous night had seen extremely low temperatures all over the country, notably –23C in Braemar. The pavements were extremely slippery; so we resisted the temptation to go for walk. Des brought round the groceries, and Dot and I did some reading in the afternoon, which was unexpectedly nice. I am nearing the end of Clive James’ Poetry Notebook.

Dot has a dodgy back, and my neck is painful if I get it in the wrong position. Later we watched Crimson Tide, a good nuclear sub thriller, and most of The Lost City of Z, a film about an explorer in the Amazon. We saw the end of it this morning: interesting but by no means perfect, though that would have been difficult when the subject matter is true, but no-one knows what happened at the end. David FaceTimed, which was slightly less surreal.

So it’s now Friday. Still extremely cold, though it shouldn’t last much longer if we are to believe the forecasters. Des is getting Dot some fish and chips tonight: too fatty for me, unfortunately. At some point we are supposed to be taking up some hearts to the church hall to be put in the windows for Valentine’s Day with reassuring messages. As I write, Dot is creating them.

Well, the snow has arrived, despite predictions from someone who shall remain nameless (Matt W) that we would never see snow again in Norfolk. It made a weak appearance yesterday, then a more determined approach during the night. Today we have a convincing covering, and I have to say that it looks quite attractive.

We got up late this morning and have had a fairly relaxing day, though I have put the bins out, bumping into Margaret, Michael and Mary (at a distance). Des and Mark have shovelled the pavement and their footpaths: you can see who pulls their weight around here, and who just waits for it to thaw. (Me.)

Yesterday we had a Zoom church meeting as usual. I led it, and Anna did a really good talk on a Psalm and Isaiah 40. Pretty much a full complement, including Martin, who had previously sent a message saying he wasn’t into computer worship. I didn’t even start to reply.

I had a surprise phone call today from Maurice Brown, one of our CNS group who I think I worked with at the City Hall in 1963-65. He had a chess query, which came as a bit of a surprise. He wanted to know how many Queens you could have on the board, because his set came with only one. Tricky. Meanwhile I have just beaten Oliver on time because he forgot to reply. I was two pawns up, but he had some interesting possibilities.

It’s very cold, what with the snow and everything. Another Beast from the East, apparently. Dot and I are watching cricket highlights on All 4 on my iPad because we had difficulty getting it on the TV. It actually comes over very well on the iPad.

It rained most of the day on Saturday; so we stayed in. I sorted out another tray of paper, which was quite heartening, and Dot wrote her P4C stuff for David’s platform, with a little editing help from me. Dot had long phone calls with Anne and with Julia Higbee, and I scraped over 4000 steps by walking up and down the kitchen. Dot has had a bit of a back ache for a few days, which is worrying, though she usually gets over such things quite quickly. If only Verena were available! David and Chrissy FaceTimed us in the evening, and we had quite a long talk. Spurs won and Liverpool lost; so quite a good day. Norwich had lost 2-0 to Swansea on Friday evening, which wasn’t so good.

Meanwhile we have been researching our family trees, and Dot got a reply from someone related to the Myhills (Dot’s great-grandmother was Ruth Myhill). Apparently they may have originated in the north of England. Another more mysterious connection seems to be with Northern Ireland, but we’re waiting for news of that.

Zoom meeting for church went well on Sunday evening. Getting quite used to it, worryingly. On Monday it was still cold, but we had some sun in the afternoon and went for a walk together to the Rosary, plus a little bit extra on the way back. Spoke to the Evetts on the phone; also, unexpectedly, Pat Burgess from church. Des came over in the evening to get back the book he’d lent us by Tom Bower on Jeremy Corbyn. He wanted to return it to the person who’d lent it to him… Finished reading the Antlers book on Scotland: some really interesting stuff in the second half, particularly a piece about the far north (Ben Loyal), and one on the island of Mingulay, near Barra. 

Tuesday was milder, but we didn’t go out, partly because it was rather damp. Instead I sorted out the books that had been ousted from the shelves now hidden behind a wardrobe in the guest bedroom, and then we took down the Christmas decorations, because it was Candlemas. Strange how much lighter the house seems, presumably because it’s now uncluttered. Put the decorations in the attic, which Dot cleaned up while she was there. Later watched Norwich draw 0-0 with Millwall in another dreary game. On the plus side, I sent off my poetry book to the printers, and we watched a brilliant old film called The Train, set at the end of the second world war. 

Wednesday was still reasonably mild. We received a delivery from Naked Wines, but no Hello Fresh this week, which makes a surprising difference. Dot had a Zoom meeting with a head, so I had a late bath, then sorted out some papers, which was quite satisfying. Later we picked up a proof copy of my book from the printers, then walked round Pilling Park and down the road and back. Dropped Dot off at Boots, and she walked home. 

Yesterday was sunny and quite warm in the morning; so we went for a walk to the Rosary before lunch, and sat in the sun for a while. Strange sensation! We then picked up the groceries from Des and changed all the bed sheets. Watched The Dig on Netflix. This is about Sutton Hoo and had been widely praised. Glad to say it was indeed excellent. Ralph Fiennes was excellent as the man who found and excavated it and was then treated appallingly by the experts because he wasn’t an academic.

I gave the go-ahead for the poetry book, then Dot and I investigated her DNA and found a possible link with someone from Belfast. Have contacted, rather nervously, the owner of that tree. There seems little doubt that Dot’s DNA is Celtic, by a very large majority, and no English at all. What was going on in Glasgow 75 years ago?

We’ve been watching four series on TV in which the lead character is a rather neurotic woman (to varying degrees). Must be the in thing. We’ve just finished watching The Drowning on Channel 5, and it was pretty dreadful. The plot and motivations were very shaky, and possibly as a result the acting was unconvincing. No sympathy for lead character at all.

Sunny again today, and after a fairly productive morning we went for a walk after lunch, round the Cathedral up to the top of the Close and then back to Pull’s Ferry and along the path. Spent some time trying to find the cricket on All 4, and when we did, the Broadband link was fragile; so we decided to try it later.

Woke up this morning to a blue sky, which is a nice change. Far too much heavy greyness. Still very cold, though. Thin layer of frost on windscreens: of course it’s a week since we’ve been out in the car. Listened to the latest Rolf in bed. Scheduled to lead Zoom service this evening.

Last Wednesday was calm and not too cold. Dot had a DSSO meeting, then baked a chocolate cake  – terrific. Walked alone over both bridges and back along King Street, Rouen Road and down by the Julian cell. Quite tired. Later we watched two very good films: Election and The Wife. Also started watching The Investigation, a Danish police procedural based on a real life crime involving a submarine and a beheading, and you can’t say that very often; so I’ve used it in the heading. We finished watching it (six episodes in all) the next day – really very well done.

It was a lot milder on Thursday. Dot did a walk, but I did 4000 steps indoors. I fInished off my poetry book, though I keep changing the title. I’m thinking about whether I need an isbn number and bar code. Did another Paston letter. 

Friday was a nicer day. Cleared up. Felt a bit ill during the night – dodgy stomach, lot of itching. Did Diabolical sudoku; so can’t be too bad. Also some clearing up. We walked up Bishop Bridge Road and round the cathedral, then back on to BBR and home. Had a nice long FaceTime with Oliver, Amy and Canada, then watched an Endeavour rerun.

Yesterday was damp and much colder. After Norwich drew 0-0 with Middlesbrough in a dull lunchtime game ,we went for a walk and found there was a bitter wind. Nevertheless persevered round by the railway cottages and back after posting a letter. Later we had an hour’s Zoom with Kristine, then watched Shadowlands, which was excellent. Dot has worked out a daily schedule, which is a bit frightening. At least it’s for her and not for me.

No obvious side-effects from our vaccinations last Friday, other than mildly sore arms. I have had the odd headache, but then I sometimes do. Also very mild. In the evening Des brought Dot some fish and chips, which she ate while I looked on enviously and consumed some much less fatty kipper fillets that I’d cooked in the oven. We watched The Never-ending Story, which was quite clever but could have been better: it sort of petered out.

On Saturday Dot got a record 15/20 in the Telegraph quiz and then had a long chat with Anne on the phone. Her daughter Charlotte, who is a nurse, had a vaccination and then discovered she already had covid and was feeling pretty ill. Her husband also has it. David FaceTimed us after beating me at chess. Norwich lost 1-0 to Barnsley in the Cup – Dot listened on radio. I have been doing some more Paston stuff. In the evening we watched Gladiator, which was much better than I thought it would be. Very good, in fact.

On Sunday we listened to Ms Rolf in bed. Norfolk was almost unique in not having snow, but happily for Amy, Aylesbury did. Weather was pretty appalling, but I managed to do 4000 steps indoors! Had a Zoom church service at 6pm, and I preached on the wedding at Cana. Quite a good attendance. Watched quite a lot of TV – an old episode of Endeavour, plus Spiral and The Serpent, not to mention Match of the Day.

Monday was sunny but still with a bit of quite cold wind. Nevertheless, we did quite a long post-prandial walk along the river and round the back of Carrow Road and the little houses by the railway line. Heard from David that Oliver didn’t get into Cambridge, which I found amazing. He seems to be taking it very well, and is deciding between Bath and Warwick, both of whom have offered him places. I had long chats with Ray and Chris and then Lily on the phone (she is feeling a bit down), and in the evening we Zoomed in on a brilliant science and faith meeting, where Denis Alexander of the Faraday Institute spoke about Evolution and the Love of God. He was brilliant and made me rethink my views. It all makes sense now, but in a different way. Interestingly his ideas coincided in one way with Iain M Banks’ suggestion in one of his SF books that physical existence is impossible without suffering. Banks, of course, was an atheist: he was telling a story, not making a theological point. Meanwhile Spurs beat Wycombe 4-1 in the Cup, scoring three of their goals in the last five minutes.

Dot has been interacting with her schools again, and this morning is in a Zoom DSSO meeting. Yesterday we had text exchanges with Oliver, who says he is now excited about the other possibilities that are open to him. Any university would be fortunate to have him. The weather was again poor: it rained most of the day and was very cold. So of course we walked up and down indoors, keeping up our steps. We watched an excellent film called An Education, then had our Zoom Compline with all the usual suspects including Kim, who has just joined us.

The Hello Fresh man has just delivered. I have been reading more, but have made the mistake of building up an intimidating pile of books. They are: The Mirror and the Light by Hilary Mantel, which is borrowed and very, very long – I haven’t started it; Antlers of Water, which David gave me for Christmas, which is writings about Scotland, some of them quite memorable – about halfway through; The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman, which I gave Dot for Christmas – unstarted; Born Bad by James Joyce, a friend living in New Zealand – read a few chapters; The Hidden Gospel by Neil Douglas-Klotz, which is about the Aramaic Jesus – about halfway through; Cultural Sexism, by our friend Heather Savigny – a few chapters; Poetry Notebook by Clive James – a gift from my brother and sister-in-law for Christmas; and somewhat surprisingly The Casebook of Sherlock Holmes, which I picked up in the loo. This does not include the ones I dip into occasionally.

Big day today – we’ve had our first vaccination against covid. Happily the weather was good – sunny and not too freezing – because we had to queue up outside, and the whole process took nearly an hour. But it was very well organised. The possible side-effects were a bit alarming, not so much in their seriousness but in the likelihood that you’d get them – headache, very sore arm, very tired – or of course you might not. We didn’t get the Oxford one, which would have been my first choice, but never mind. Before having the vaccine we took the car for a bit of a drive because it had been standing unused for about a fortnight. We didn’t go far.

Monday was cold and damp; so we resisted the non-temptation to go for a walk. Watched the classic Withnail and I and a couple of episodes of serials, and listened to the first of a new season of Veronica Mary Rolf – this time on the Psalms. I have to say it was very good and inspired us to read a Psalm a day. We haven’t done that, of course, but we have made a start.

Haven’t watched many films this week, but we did watch the irresistible Fargo on Tuesday. It was even better than I remembered. I walked up to the Rosary while Dot had a violin lesson on Zoom from Anna: she is making big strides, I think. We also watched the animation film Early Man, which was quite funny. During this week I have read two short stories that Dot got from David for Christmas – Mrs Fox, by Sarah Hall and The Part-Time Job, by P D James. The first was interesting but bizarre, and the second was brilliant. I have also started reading a book by James Boyce, which he had delivered to me. it’s called Born Bad, and is about original sin, which doesn’t sound enthralling, but from what I’ve read so far it’s very promising.

I’ve also done five Paston letters, one of them from scratch and the other editing Peter’s first drafts. I’m still playing chess against David, Oliver and Amy. I beat the random man only because he lost on time. Don’t know why. I’m winning against Oliver and Amy at the moment, but the one with David is a bit crazy, and I’m not sure who’s winning. I have decided to recycle a 2012 sermon for Sunday: it’s on Cana.

On Wednesday Dot was inspired to have a big change-round in the guest bedroom. She has switched the wardrobe and the chest of drawers, but now we have books and magazines all over the place. I am going to get rid of some of them. Storm Christoph had a similar effect on the rest of the country, but was much wetter: lots of flooding, notably in Corwen, where Tish and Nigel have both had the River Dee in their houses. Not so bad here, though we had a bit of rain and quite a lot of wind. No snow.

Norwich beat Bristol City 2-0 and played very well. I did a lot of work on my poetry book and wrote an introduction and some notes. Watched a strange film called One of our Aircraft is Missing, which I think was supposed to be morale-boosting. Not sure why, because basically six men jumped out of a plane unnecessarily – it made it back to England on its own and crashed into an electricity pylon – and were taken in hand by the local Dutch people, six of whom were executed as a result. I have to say the Dutch made a much better impression than the English, who were a very strange and – as written – not very bright bunch.

Yesterday was quite busy, especially Dot, who did more sorting out and cleaning. Still a cold wind, though not so strong. We went for a walk up to Bishop Bridge and up to the Great Hospital, then back through the short-cut to The Close, where we bumped into David Newham and had a chat, probably illegally. He had been in the lead role in an Agatha Christie play at the Maddermarket which had reached the dress rehearsal stage when covid locked it down. He said he still remembered the words!

In the evening we had a 90-minute Zoom DCC, which went reasonably well after I’d persuaded them not to waste time producing another Parish Profile which probably wouldn’t be used. Spoke to Paul on the phone and offered him some magazines, which he declined, and then to David on FaceTime.

Friday was an exciting day. First, our new passports arrived, and we signed them. We can now leave the country. Well, we can’t, of course, but if we could, we have the documentation.

Very satisfying. Then the package from Cley Smokehouse came. Not only did this have some splendid fish in it, but it made me reorganise the freezer in the garage, which was an interesting experience. I think it was the first time I have been burned by something cold. For some reason we have almost 20 ice packs in our freezer – or we had. I have thinned them out, but in doing so I had a fingers problem. In the end I had to go and get my gloves. Still, the conclusion of the reorganisation was very satisfying. It was bit like the feeding of the five thousand, except there were a lot more fish than people.

Later , after a shortish walk (I met Dot, who did a longer one), we watched Whisky Galore, filmed on Eriskay, which we drove through a few years ago when we island-hopped in the Outer Hebrides. The film was beautiful and funny, and the bureaucrat got thoroughly done-over. I suspect that Captain Mainwaring from Dad’s Army was based on him, at least as far as the pomposity went.

We also saw Black Widow, a documentary about a woman who tried to persuade men to kill her former husband and who was so controlling that she made me very, very angry. I can’t say more, because she is still in prison and will eventually be let out. She might ask someone to kill me.

Oh, and we have been scheduled for a covid vaccination next Friday at Lionwood. I told you it was exciting.

Saturday saw the first snow of the year – at least in Aspland Road. Quite impressive at first, but it soon turned to sleet and rain, as predicted by Dot. Did quite a bit of work on my poetry book and then watched Norwich beat Cardiff 2-1, after looking as if they were going to win 5-0. Had to pay to watch, because it was an away match. Mark arrived home from the States, and I got involved with a lot of chess games. I am now playing David, Oliver and Amy and a random guy I got paired with by mistake. He could be anywhere in the world.

Over the weekend we watched Traces, a drama series about a cold case murder and a forensic team in Scotland, which was pretty good: six hour-long episodes. Also two more episodes of Spiral.

Not much snow left on Sunday except in the Rosary, where we went for a walk and found some remains on the high ground, including a collapsed snowman. We got up late, largely because Dot had finished her book, The Thursday Murder Club, in the early hours. Had a Zoom church meeting at 6pm, during which I did the prayers, and Howard did a talk during which he mentioned abortion – and wished he hadn’t. Don’t know why he did really. But that’s Howard for you… Watched an old episode of Endeavour and then Match of the Day 2 as usual.

Today is cold (of course), but the promised rain hasn’t arrived yet. Phil “Wall of Sound” Spector is dead – he once pulled a gun on Leonard Cohen and was convicted of murdering an actress. Read the meters this morning: our gas bill will be over £200 for the month. Well, it’s been cold.

Another unpleasant day, like yesterday as far as the weather is concerned. Heavily overcast and almost continuous rain, as well as being very cold. Hardly went outside at all yesterday, except to take our grocery list to Des and move the bin into the drive. I haven’t even taken it round to its usual spot at the side of the house. Snow is forecast but doesn’t look very likely, though there’s a lot elsewhere in the country. I also managed to lose to my grandson at chess. Blundered a piece at the end, but he played very well and was winning anyway.

Yesterday I managed only 3000 steps, but am determined to do better today. I did over 1000 before breakfast. Yesterday I did some Paston editing and have been asked to look at some other letters. Also made a start on putting a poetry book together; I received one from Joy McCall – a short series of ryuka that I read in about five minutes. I’m going for something a bit more substantial, but keep wondering whether I should go for something online.

I’m reading several books, particularly two I got for Christmas – one is nature writing from Scotland (from David), where I have found out a great deal about wasps, and the other is a book by Clive James about poetry (from Joy). Don’t agree with everything he says, but it’s beautifully written and is full of knowledge. Yesterday we watched Some like it Hot, which was brilliant, and a bit of Goldfinger, breaking off to view Spurs drawing 1-1 with Fulham on Amazon Prime. I think they took next-day delivery too far. Also saw the end of The Pembrokeshire Murders, a dramatised version of the hunt for a serial killer. Very well done. Adrian was very keen we should watch it, possibly because it’s both good and Welsh.

Last Friday Dot and I walked together to the post office, which was surprisingly empty, and posted parcels to Oliver and Amy. We then walked over the Julian bridge. It was very cold and foggy. Later we watched Mr Holmes, an excellent film where I learned more about wasps, but even more about bees. Then Wonder Woman, which has some overtly Christian elements, though that’s not why we watched it.

On Saturday Norwich beat Coventry 2-0 in the FA Cup, and I started the second chess game with Oliver – the one I lost today. Again it was very cold, but sunny. I went for a longish walk with Dot to the Rosary, then down Rosary Road and back along Riverside. We watched an American series called a teacher – ten 30-minute episodes – which was a bit predictable but had a good ending.

We stayed in bed late on Sunday. It was cold again (well, it’s January), but not quite as bad as it was. Excellent Songs of Praise from Stirling, and I went for a short walk after lunch, up to Bishop Bridge and then towards the Cathedral and back through The Close. As I’d done steps earlier, this brought me to over 4000. We had a Zoom service with Liz C preaching and an agape “meal” at 6pm, then watched Spiral – a French police procedural which is pretty good, but not as good as it was.

Monday was strange. Cold, with a bit of wind; so walked indoors. Cleared up leaves for brown bin and sliced up cardboard for recycling. Later we watched The Serpent, another drama based on a true-life serial killer. This is extremely well done, based mainly in the Bangkok area. There was also a PCC meeting with the Archdeacon, mainly to discuss what would happen to our parish after the current interregnum. Even Dot got bored with it, and she’s good at meetings. Fortunately God is more exciting than the Church of England.

It rained overnight, and Tuesday was – you guessed it – very cold, though sunny later. We had our passports approved after submitting them online and having the photos we took ourselves rejected. We then went to the Photo Booth in the station and did them there at a cost of £6 each. I had to buy a bottle of wine in the Co-op to get change – everything (except photo booths) takes cards now. Quite a tricky process and, now I think about it, probably a bit risky, virus-wise, though I don’t think many people are getting passports renewed at the moment. Later I walked to Bishop Bridge and back along the riverside path.  On the way out saw Margaret ad Michael Matthews, both of who have Bromptons.   

Later Amy and Oliver FaceTimed to say they had got their parcels.  We watched them open them. Glad we sent them. Later we watched Bean – The Movie and The Truman Show, the latter on the recommendation of Amy. It was indeed very good.

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Continuing my post of last Saturday… Later in the day Norwich City beat Barnsley 1-0: it should have been about 5-1. In the evening we watched another James Bond movie, Skyfall, which we must have seen but remembered very little of. We also continue watching the Netflix series Bridgerton, set in Regency times. I did a longish walk to Whitefriars bridge along the now unflooded riverside path, round to the front of the Cathedral and back through the Close.

On Sunday we went to church: only 13 present. Phil led (he didn’t want to be on Facebook Live, which had been suggested) and Carrie “preached”. Had to disperse fairly quickly as Tier 4 rules are quite strict, and the incidence of covid is increasing in Norfolk. Liz C and Jenny decided not to come because J has asthma and Liz has a vulnerable husband. Nice to get together, though. It turned out to be the last for a while, because following the new national lockdown from Wednesday we decided by a not-very-close DCC vote to Zoom instead, though we could technically meet. Only the Greens and Carrie really wanted to meet. Watched quite a lot of TV but managed to get up to 4000 steps again. Weather not inviting, but the rain eased off around church time. In the evening we finished the eight episodes of Bridgerton, and David FaceTimed us.

On Monday the weather was again uninviting, and the new national lockdown was announced. Got a card out of the blue from James Boyce in Tasmania, who came to St Augustine’s in the late 90s. He now has children aged 22 and 19. I started playing chess with chess with Oliver. and won the first game, but he knows what he’s doing, as he demonstrated in the second game, which ended last night. I won in an endgame one pawn up, but he played some really good moves and almost broke through on the queenside. Walked to the Rosary, but it wasn’t very pleasant – cold and damp. Saw the workman we’ve spoken to a couple of times and exchanged greetings from a very safe distance.

Tuesday started damp and uninviting. I felt twinges in the area of my gall bladder, but thankfully nothing developed except a slightly upset stomach. Started watching The Serpent, based on the true story of a serial killer, which was extremely well done. We also watched Uncle Vanya, a theatre production that was really good though, being Russian, a mite depressing. Great final speech by Sonya (ie Chekhov). We also held our Compline get-together on Zoom, which went well. I found a new Compline online – a Celtic-themed one from the Coventry diocese – and adapted it slightly. Seemed to go down well.

The next day, Hello Fresh and our Naked Wine delivery arrived together fairly early; so we were able to go for a longish walk together in late morning, crossing the Julian Bridge, walking along King Street to Tombland and then round to Whitefriars bridge and back by the riverside path. The sun came out as we neared home, and we did well over 5000 steps. In a burst of optimism I applied for new passports, and took digital pictures. Mine was rejected initially, but I explained about my eyes and stuck with it. They may come back eventually, but they don’t deal with it till they get our old passports, which are en route. We also packed parcels to send Oliver and Amy their clothes Christmas presents, but I haven’t been able to post them yet. In the evening we watched How the West was Won, which was very long and not at all woke, but very good in many ways.

Yesterday was not good as far as walking went.Paul rang up for a chat, and I took Dot to Colegate, so that she could pick up some music from the St George’s shop, which was operating a phone-and-collect system. I then drove to find a post office, but didn’t find one I was happy with. Called in at Phil’s to deliver Andrew’s card and had quite a long chat outside – long enough for Dot to walk home before I arrived. Earlier we’d picked up Dot’s pills from the chemist. In the evening we watched Get Carter and the first of a new series of Death in Paradise. Good performance by Michael Caine in the former, and the latter was typically refreshing. A really nice Hello Fresh meal too. David FaceTimed. He often does, but I don’t always mention it. It’s good to be in such close contact.

Today is very cold, with a touch of fog, but none of the snow and ice predicted. Not here, anyway. Cleared up the kitchen and then drove to Thorpe to try and post parcels. Unsuccessful again (long queue, surprisingly) but did manage to see female pharmacist at Hamblin’s about my problem in the lower area, and she gave me some cream. Said if it didn’t work I should see a doctor, but wouldn’t look at the problem area, for covid-related reasons.

Some time in the past week we saw Dr No, which was a bit of a waste of time, as I could remember most of it. For some reason it’s hard to get down to reading. TV is too easy.