While investigating my family history material following the workshop last week, I found a notebook of my mother’s, in which she describes, day by day, visits to Harlech and Tintagel in 1936 and 1934 respectively. As they got married in 1937, these were obviously pre-wedding trips, which for some reason I found surprising. They drove to Wales, but travelled by train to Cornwall: must have been quite an expedition. There is a list of the stations they passed through.

No pandemic problems for them, though, unlike today. Everything is now quite calm in Norfolk, but in the north they are having to deal with further quite drastic restrictions on movement and behaviour. There is now a three-tier system: we are Medium, which for some reason is the lowest. Why no Low? Perhaps they prefer us to live in a state of trepidation.

It has turned rather chilly, though the temperature shows about 12-14 Celsius. We have had a great deal of rain, but today it has stopped, at least for a while. We have Barry Maskell, the singing decorator, in to do some touching up and to paint the shower room (the flooring has still not arrived). But today his wife is at the hospital having various non-Covid tests, and he will eventually have to leave and go to fetch her. Yesterday he repainted the porches, but there is some rotten wood in the front porch which he is still dealing with.

On Friday, Saturday and Sunday Dot and I took part in a Zoom retreat with the memorably-named Mirabai Starr, who hails from Taos, New Mexico. It was 9am for her and 4pm for us – three hours each day. She focused on Julian of Norwich, Teresa di Avila and Hildegard von Bingen, three women mystics from the 12th, 14th and 16th century respectively. We weren’t sure it was going to be our cup of tea, but it was really good – organised mainly by the Julian Centre, featuring Howard Green in charge of Q&A. Mirabai is Jewish but has been influenced by many different traditions.

During the retreat I wrote three poems – Julian and Einstein, Dancing with Teresa di Avila and Prompt – which I sent to Howard, who unexpectedly said he would forward them to the people on the retreat, who I think number more than 100.

Earlier in the day on Friday Dot had gone with Anna to see Sylvia Ford – David’s old head teacher at Alpington Primary and niece of Phyllis Seaman at church – about Phyllis’s money. They had a full lunch, and afterwards Dot drove past our old house in Yelverton so that Anna could see it.

Earlier on the Saturday we walked up to Jarrold’s and had tea and scones in the coffee bar in the basement with Caren and Phil Gazley. Afterwards we bought me a new belt and then went into Ryman’s and bought the last printer in stock with the new ink-bottle filling system. We set it up and it is now working very well. It is Dot’s printer (in her study), but of course I can use it remotely, though I have my own.

We had a long chat with Amy on FaceTime, and in the evening watched The Searchers, a western film that I liked a lot, though it was a little uneven. It covered a lot of ground in both space and time. I think it was one of John Wayne’s first. We are in contact with Vicky about visiting Amy somewhere around her birthday, and looking for dates – assuming Amy is not in quarantine, as one of her year group has tested positive and quite a lot of classmates are off school as a result.

On Sunday we went to church, which was “packed” with 18 people (I doubt that we could take more than 20 with the restrictions currently in place). I preached about rejoicing, and Dot played violin, though not simultaneously. Martin Wyatt organised the music; so of course it was fairly upmarket. A number of us are taking it in turns to sort the music out each week. Kim Bywater from Carrie’s former book group came, as did Vicky. After the retreat we watched the grand prix and some football.

Barry made his first appearance at 8.30 on Monday, and Dot and I had to leave him to it quite soon afterwards, because we had an appointment to meet Liz Day at the Refectory for a chat. Turned out the Refectory was closed (it didn’t open till 11), and so we ended up at the Maids Head, which was excellent. Had quite a long chat with Liz about various matters – she is a Covid sceptic (in certain respects) but also is looking round for the right path for her to take church-wise. I always rather dread getting in conversation with her, because she’s so hard to pin down, but on this occasion (as on many others) we actually had a good time and a very interesting conversation. I advised her to set up a Pop-Up Wisdom website. Oh yes I did.

Later on we had a long FaceTime chat with David, who has a dodgy back and doesn’t seem too happy at the moment about Covid life and waiting for something to happen business-wise and with his residency arrangements. Dot also has pain – in her case in her knee. She rang up Verena on Tuesday and was advised to rest it. Today it is markedly better, but not perfect.

Also yesterday we started on Season Two of Veronica Mary Rolf’s podcasts, now looking at mystics in the Bible. The first one was Abram. We both dozed off momentarily in the middle. Later we had a Zoom Compline with our group (except Claire, who was at work). Had a bit of trouble setting it up, because we used Dot’s computer and I was hosting it, but I got it to work eventually.

It’s not raining at the moment, but Dot has been in the garage for most of the afternoon, sorting out once again. We’re really going to have to get rid of some stuff soon. I’ve done an article for my website, and gone through Oliver’s latest version of his personal statement, which is very good. We’re also turning the guest bedroom into a music room; so I’ve taken a few things up there. When I say “turning”, I really mean “using as”. It will still be a guest bedroom.

Last Saturday proceeded as anticipated, and I don’t just mean Norwich contriving to lose a match they dominated: 0-1 to Derby. The Zoom version of the Crabbe poetry awards went pretty well: I managed to read my poem Young Birds, which had been Highly Commended and appears in the Anthology that I received today, together with complimentary comments from judge Martin Figura. The next day £75 appeared in my account from the Suffolk Poetry Society; so I assume that was the prize. In the evening we watched North by Northwest, starring Cary Grant, which was very good. And funny.

On Sunday we went to church, and I led the service, which went pretty well. Dot played violin. The rest of the day we spent watching television. I hate it when that happens. Though I suppose I sort of like it as well.

Another rainy day on Monday. Dot visited Brooke School, which went pretty well, and called round to see Anne afterwards.

On Tuesday the weather improved slightly. I did a “workshop” on Family History organised by the Norfolk Record Office using Microsoft Teams. Went pretty well, with some good info, though not the most assured performance by the leader. Dot went for the first of her violin lessons with Anna and vowed to practise each day, which I think she has done. She is pretty enthusiastic. Later we watched a documentary about Plague Fiction, which turned out to be quite interesting, and then Billy Liar, an excellent film that was extremely funny. We were also FaceTimed by David and Chrissy: David has injured his back, but is not flat out, I’m glad to say.

Yesterday was quite sunny, which was good because I had to walk up to the dentist’s for a rather extensive filling – at least it felt extensive, but Ross said that was because it was hard to get at. It took 40 minutes and cost £374, but at least it didn’t hurt. The walk up and back was quite pleasant. Dot meanwhile was at Horstead School, enjoying a rather prolonged visit. In the evening we watched The Devil and Miss Jones, which was much better than I thought it was going to be. Very funny in places, but the ending could have been improved on.

Autumn has truly set in. it’s raining again today , and has rained just about every day since my last post. There is also a chill in the air. Last night we missed our wine-in-the-street event again. Des tried to persuade us to come out, but it was not only grey and chilly, it was also spotting with rain. Added to that I had a stomach upset earlier in the day – probably not gall bladder-related, but unpleasant – and was feeling fragile.

The upset came at lunchtime, while we were entertaining Julia and Allen Higbee. Dot did a pie with filo pastry, which was actually very nice; I don’t think it was the food that caused the problem. Other than my time upstairs, we had a good time together from 11.30 till just after 3pm.

We also binged a bit on screen-watching after they went. Two hours on a good documentary on Lawrence of Arabia, the same again on the film Cop Land, which was quite good, and another two on Vera.

We should be having our hair cut about now, but Linda postponed till Monday, which was quite a good thing, as Norwich City are playing at 12.30 – live on TV of course, because of Covid – and this afternoon at 3pm is the Zoom awards ceremony of the Crabbe Poetry Award, in which I was highly commended and have to read a poem – Young Birds.

Last Monday we had our Compline, which has reverted to Zoom because of the new restrictions (Rule of Six). I was hosting and managed to make it work after a couple of problems. Vicky had triple-booked herself, so it was a bit shorter than usual.

On Tuesday it rained most of the day. Dot had her pre-session chat with Verena on FaceTime to avoid too much interaction (!), but when she actually went to see her on Thursday it still lasted an hour (£42). I did quite a lot of work on one of the more obscure Paston “letters” – a legal document about the dispute between Sir William and Walter Aslak: 2300 words, which I completed on Wednesday. During Tuesday and Wednesday we also watched Honour, an excellent true-life drama about the killing of a Muslim girl and Enola Holmes, a Netflix film about Sherlock Holmes’ sister, which was also pretty well done.

Wednesday’s weather was a little better, but the rain returned in the evening. We went to Hobbycraft in the car and bought a carefully selected DIY frame for Roger’s picture, which we’d had professionally framed but didn’t like the result. We managed to put it together and have hung it on the stairs. The next day I hung a picture that Julia and Dave had bought us, which we also framed. It’s in the kitchen and looks pretty good.

Dot spent much of Thursday preparing for Friday’s lunch, but she did see Verena in the afternoon. I got the bus into the city and picked up the DVD of our Super 8 films (19 of them) dating back to the 1980s. I watched them while Dot was with Verena, and we both watched them again when she got back. Less than an hour in all, and some of poor quality, but definitely worth the £210 spent on getting them done. We now need to go through them and make notes about what is on them. Some of the locations are a bit obscure. As well as a continuous film (with soundtrack), they are also split up[ into 19 separate chapters, which could be useful.

In the evening we watched Bridge of Spies, an excellent film which seemed familiar in places, but I certainly don’t remember the opening sequences. David FaceTimed us later in the evening, and we had a good talk as usual.

The weather has certainly taken a turn for the worse. Today it’s cool but for a change not raining (at the moment). Even the radiator in my room has started working, and so I’ve cancelled the gas engineer. Meanwhile Barclays internet banking is down; so I can’t pay Robin, who finished our shower room on Saturday.

It was incredibly fortunate he was here, because I was attempting to bleed the aforementioned radiator and overdid it so that I couldn’t tighten it up again. Water was spurting all over the place, and Dot rushed into the garage to fetch Robin, who managed to sort it out. We should keep a plumber in the garage permanently. My study took the rest of the day to dry out, but at least I now know where and how to turn the water off. I did know roughly, but now I know exactly.

Robin took all day to finish off the shower room, but he’s done a great job. We now await the flooring, which still hasn’t arrived in the country. Dot rang again this morning to check. As Robin was leaving on Saturday – he also fixed the facia boards in the kitchen – Elwira and her friend David arrived for soup and nibbles. There had been a slight misunderstanding over time, but once we’d sorted ourselves out, it went very well. Dave is very quiet, rather like me, but Elwira is even noisier than Dot – and Polish to boot. Dave is English.

Two days earlier, on Thursday, the engineer came and sorted out the hob – we hope. He didn’t seem to do much other than tighten up a couple of screws, but it hasn’t gone wrong since. Dot went to the NCFC shop and bought Freddie a birthday card, and Amy FaceTimed us and told us all about her music exam, and a personality test which she passed on to us! Watched a good film called Belle, about a woman called Dido. It was a true story , mainly about the beginnings of misgivings about slavery, and it was well done. The previous evening we’d seen The Client, based on a John Grisham story, and that was excellent too, in a very different way. Sad to read afterwards that the boy who played the lead – Brad Renfro – had a very sad after-story and died young.

On Friday the rain arrived. It poured all day, and it was blowing a gale too. Needless to say the 6pm drink in the street did not happen. Earlier I had gone to the dentist – transported by Dot because of the weather – and had some laser work done , in the course of which it was discovered that I had a hole in the same area. So I have to go again – and the filling will be even more expensive – well over £300. I found a Morse DVD which had apparently been Angela’s, and we watched it, but it was quite unsatisfying. Morse got it wrong, and Lewis threw away the evidence. I always found the Lewis stories much better.

It was still raining on Sunday, but not so heavily. We went to church, and Dot and I did a couple of my songs during the service, after which Dot dropped off a present for Phyllis and then came home and sorted out the shower room. Barry the painter rang to say he could come on October 5. We watched Norwich lose 1-0 to Bournemouth, and Hamilton get cheated by nitpicking stewards out of a Russian grand prix win that would have equalled Schumacher’s record. We also watched some of the world cycling road race championship, won by Alaphilippe. Quite exciting near the end. Oliver sent us his personal statement, which was pretty impressive, but I’ve made a few small suggestions. He wanted feedback.

While the rest of us were getting rain, and Wales and Bournemouth were basking in the sun, Walcott got sand. All the sand imported to protect the village (and Bacton gas terminal) from the sea blew on to and into the houses. It was impossible to see the road. According to the EDP, residents said this was better than getting flooded.

Were Monday and Tuesday the last two days of summer? The forecast persuaded us to take full advantage, and happily on Monday we had arranged our second meeting with Dave and Julia – this time at Blakeney itself. We met in the hotel courtyard and after some discussion decided to get a coffee/tea. Who would have guessed? We walked through the town, found the Blakeney Hotel closed to non-residents, and ended up at the pub at the other end of town, which proved to be very pleasant, sitting outside in the sun.

We then decided that Dave, Julia and Dot would walk to the Wiveton cafe, and I would drive there. On arrival I was fortunate enough to see five or six red kites in the sky: stunning, but they disappeared after a few minutes, and we didn’t see them again. We took a look at the pigs, though. Before that we had lunch (very pleasant asparagus soup and focaccia bread) and discussed how we would celebrate Dot’s birthday. In the end we agreed to book into the Blakeney Hotel on the 22nd and 23rd for the purpose of having a celebratory evening meal there on the Sunday. This was finalised on the phone the next day, COVID regulations permitting.

Yesterday was equally sunny and warm, and we decided to visit Tunstall Church, on the Halvergate marshes, which had been featured in the EDP that morning. The ruins of the medieval church adjoin a more modern one that is still in occasional use. We parked at the church and did a short walk, and we (mainly Dot) picked quite a few blackberries, which we had for supper. We were looking for Tunstall staithe, but weren’t successful. After moving the car nearer to where it was supposed to be, I walked a very overgrown path until it became apparent that the stream had either dried up or was much further away. Or somewhere else entirely.

Still, it was a very pleasant walk, partly across dry fields, and the church ruins were lovely. Dot navigated our return journey across country, and this too was really enjoyable – quiet and atmospheric in late summer. You just wanted to stay out there. I wondered if I’d missed out by living in cities most of my life.

In between all this Dot managed to do a pile of washing, ironed some of it and changed the pillowcases, among other things. The Government and its scientists were busy losing more and more credibility by announcing new restrictions based on a worse case COVID scenario that is never going to happen. Probably. Today the weather broke, it’s much cooler and it’s raining. Dot is having a DSSO Zoom meeting, and the Hello Fresh! man is on his way.

The weather is still warm, but a drop in temperature is forecast after midweek. So summer may be nearly over. Still, we have been making the most of it. Last Tuesday, for instance, we had a lovely lunch with Sue and Roger Eagle in their exquisite garden at Hempnall. Very enjoyable, and I relaxed a little with the diet. Don’t know if that affected why happened later in the week.

Anyway we had good news: our dishwasher was in and ready to be delivered, and we had a date for an engineer to look at our defective hob. In the evening we resorted to a Zoom compline because the new Rule of Six prevented eight of us getting together in Vicky’s garden as we did last time.

On Wednesday we had a lie-in and listened to the latest episode of Ms Rolf on Mother Julian. Dot went to the shops in the afternoon and got three picture frames which she spent the rest of the day filling with three pictures: they look very good. There was a slightly cooler wind, but this had abated somewhat by the next day, when we travelled to Felbrigg Hall to meet Dave and Julia. We arrived almost exactly on time, but needless to say D&V got there first (and were let in even though they were early – booking because of COVID).

We had a drink and then went for a walk round the walled garden, followed by lunch (I had soup). There was a certain amount of queuing for that. Afterwards we went for another short walk till about 3.30pm. I didn’t feel i could walk any further; so we left them heading south over the fields and drove to North Walsham, where we visited Sainsburys and the cemetery. In the evening we watched an exciting game of ODI cricket in which Australia narrowly beat England from an almost impossible position. Then David FaceTimed us as we were getting into bed. He looked more relaxed than he has recently.

On Friday Anne came round and while she was here Gary the electrician arrived with his bill, which I paid immediately as I had the Barclays website open. It was probably the quickest he has ever been paid by anyone. Dot and Anne then went off for a walk and lunch in the city, and while they were gone I had a horrendous pain in my stomach – so bad that I almost rang her. Glad I didn’t, because it eased off after a bit, though it left me exhausted, and I was lying on the bed when she got back. I now think it was another stone, because since then (until this evening) my urine was orange again, and I was feeling distinctly below par. However, I am now OK, I think. Until the next one.

The next day was warm, and the dishwasher arrived. The men from Hughes wouldn’t remove our facia boards; so I had to demonstrate my DIY expertise by removing them myself. They were then able to install the machine, and as I write it is washing its second lot of dishes. After they left we watched NCFC play Preston NE at Carrow Road. This was on TV, of course, though there were 1000 fans present. Actually it was on computer, but I managed to transfer it on to TV for the second half, much to Dot’s delight.

Meanwhile there was drama at the Tour de France when the man everyone expected to win was overtaken on the last stage – a time trial, which he was supposed to be good at. I would mention the names of the two men involved, but they’re both Slovenian, and I can’t remember them.

Today we went to church and made a bit of a mess of the last hymn. It was all a bit of a disaster because I had to go home for my glasses, and both Phil and Dot need me there to feel secure. I know – ridiculous. Anyway, the first two songs were more or less OK. Afterwards we decided to give our surplus guitar to one of Carrie’s needy groups.

This afternoon I cut a bit if ivy and trimmed a couple of shoots at the top of the hedge. Andrew rang up, but for some reason FaceTime wouldn’t work, though we could hear each other. He sounded perky but mainly incoherent. In the evening we watched an excellent drama about serial killer Dennis Nilsen, followed by a documentary on the same subject.

Dot and I have just returned from the dentist, £216 poorer after an examination and cleaning. COVID regulations in place; so we had to arrive a quarter of an hour apart and wait outside until the door was opened for us. Fortunately it’s a beautiful day today – sunny and warm – so that was no problem. I can see how it might become quite unpleasant as autumn turns to winter. We’ll see what it’s like in 11 days’ time, when I am due to have some laser treatment on an upper right pocket – a snip at just over £300. 

It was almost as nice yesterday when I went to St Augustine’s for the first time since March (I missed the previous Sunday because the plumber was still working.) Today the electrician is back, testing our sockets; so I’m temporarily without wifi and writing this on the laptop. Anyway, I found it a bit weird at church, with spacing and masks. But coronavirus seems to be making a comeback; so I don’t expect any relaxation in the rules any time soon. 

In the evening Howard and Anna came round for a garden gin evening, which isn’t as riotous as it sounds: there was quite a bit of nibbling involved, most of which I couldn’t eat because it was high in fat. Still it was OK. Dot spent half of the afternoon (if not more) getting the garden organised, and we called into Morrisons to get some tonic water and a few other things. We also filled up with petrol.

And the previous day, of course, we had been on the road – our first long journey since arriving back from Israel. The weather was good, and it went well. We stopped at Caxton Gibbet petrol station for Dot to use the loo. We used Google maps, and it took us on a lovely route avoiding road works and through the very pretty village of Woburn. At Swan Close we sat in the garden while Oliver, Amy and Vicky sat in the conservatory. We took our own lunch and drinks (no gin) and had a really pleasant two and a half hours. Oliver seemed very pleased with his presents, and Amy opened one of hers. Oliver’s 18^thwas actually the day before, but the children are both back at school. The journey home was even easier.

There has been a hold-up with the shower room, because the flooring is not in stock and, like the dishwasher, has no delivery date. We went back up to the Dovetail showroom, thinking of getting something more immediately available, but nothing at all seemed to be available; so we stuck to what we had and are awaiting a call. Meanwhile we have moved back into our bedroom. Happily the shower is usable.

In other news, we visited Lucy on Tuesday and had tea in her garden. She is intending to move back to the coast but can’t sell her house at the moment. Had quite a long chat about Paston and other things. It seems her aim in getting the Lottery money was quite different from what we are mostly doing, but I’m not sure she ever got that across. She seems to assume that you know what’s in her mind. She is still on chemo, so not feeling particularly well, though as always she hangs on, I’m happy to say. Her brother wasn’t given the best treatment and died. He and the three sisters all have the same rare cancer.

On Thursday, Matt popped in to return the combination lock for my bike. He had worked the combination out by using safe-cracking methods. It turned out to be a number I knew, but not one I had thought to try, which just goes to show. In the evening Dot went to an actual live PCC, which was surprisingly short.

The week went surprisingly quickly, as weeks do nowadays. We watched another James Bond film, and this was the first one that really wasn’t very good – Never say Never Again, with Sean Connery and far too much water. I should mention in passing that Norwich won the first game of the season, 1-0 away to Huddersfield.

Much more autumnal over the last couple of days. Yesterday evening (Saturday) we took Howard and Anna to Janet and Derek Bower’s new bungalow at Taverham for a barbecue, and it turned pretty chilly. I was wearing a jacket to start with but switched to a heavy coat later on. The food was delicious. I had to restrain myself a bit because of my low-fat diet, but probably ate stuff that I shouldn’t have. I did manage to keep the wine to legal limits, as I was driving.

The bungalow is quite big on a substantial and interesting plot. Both bungalow and plot were described as “small” by Derek, but then they used to live in a rather large house in Lothersdale with expansive views over the Yorkshire Dales. I know, because we house-sat for them once while they were in South Africa, where they own an apartment at Gordon’s Bay. As we had been there and to other parts of the Cape, we were able to converse fairly knowledgably about the area, which was nice.

Earlier in the day we had our hair cut and watched England beat Australia at T20 cricket. I knew the result but managed to keep it from Dot, who was overjoyed when England turned round a hopeless position by taking lots of late wickets and restricting the run chase. Quite near the end it looked so impossible for England to win that I thought I must have got it wrong. Meanwhile in the Tour de France, Adam Yates is still in yellow after a very tough mountain stage, but there are some very good riders within reach. I also managed to squeeze in some Paston work.

Friday was a busy day. I was feeling a bit below par and had to walk up to the ear clinic, near Howard’s. On the way I encountered Howard and his smaller granddaughter in Golden Dog Lane: she was gorgeous (about two years old). As two years ago, Nick – the ear clinic man – was hard to find, even after I’d got into Cavell House, where he now works. Eventually I found the Reception for the building, which was on the first floor, and I was quickly picked up by Nick. The vacuuming operation was very quick, though the left ear was more tricky than the right. I can now hear a bit better.

Afterwards I walked to Jarrolds and bought a card for Oliver, then proceeded along the Walk to the bank, where I changed two illegal £10 notes for a £20. I still find it difficult to tell the difference between illegal notes (paper) and legal ones (plastic). You might think it was obvious…

In the afternoon Dot went to the shops then tried to visit Phyllis at her care home, but they had booked in too many people for the same time; so she was sent away. In the evening we watched Sully: Miracle on the Hudson, which is an excellent film. I knew the story and didn’t know how they would go about filming it, but it was superbly done.

Despite the coolness we enjoyed more wine in the street with Chris, Des, Mark and John-on-the-end. I wore a winter coat, and that was fine. During the day we had a FaceTime from Amy , and while we were talking to her, David and Chrissy joined in, which was nice.

Robin the plumber has been with us all this week; so we have been sleeping in the guest room and having to be ready to greet him at 8am (except today, when it was 9pm). I am beginning to feel a bit tired. This evening he finished all he could do until the floor is laid, which should be in the next couple of weeks. The new shower looks pretty good. We will probably continue to sleep in the guest room for a while, until we are sorted out. Meanwhile, we got the interim bill from electrician Gary, which was just over £2000. Could have been worse.

Earlier today I stayed at home while Dot went to church and did the intercessions. I thought I should be here in case Robin needed me. In the afternoon Paul and Maryta came round for tea/coffee and cakes. Maryta was much the same. Before they came, the Evetts rang and we talked about holidays and things. I cut back some ivy while Dot was at church and also did another Paston letter.

There was another live T20 cricket match today, England v Australia, again won by England. I recorded it and we watched it with a delay so that we could talk to the Hendersons. We also watched the Tour de France and are about to watch the Grand Prix. It’s all go.

Everything is out of kilter, even the Tour de France, which usually starts back in July but has only now, on September 3, reached its sixth stage. We are of course following it on ITV4, not so much because of the exciting action but because the team of commentators are pretty much the best on TV for any sport. And of course there always is some exciting action. I have never been tempted to watch it live, though I could.

We did watch the T20 cricket live last Sunday, because it was a momentous event (apparently) – the first live cricket on the BBC this century. It lasted four hours and wasn’t particularly interesting because the pitch was too “good”, which means there was nothing in it for the bowlers. In my view that’s “bad”, but there you go. We won it because Morgan scored a hatful of runs after wrongly being given not out lbw as soon as he came in. The Grand Prix was even less interesting, but David and Chrissy FaceTimed us, which was much more fun.

Earlier we went to church (St Luke’s again) and I did a sermon on suffering (mainly) which seemed to go down quite well. Afterwards Matt came round to get the combination lock off my bike so that he could see if he could crack it. I don’t think he has. Dot popped round to see Sarah, who broke her wrist while looking round her prospective vicarage at Carlton Colville. I refrained from asking her if she thought God was telling her something (!). She’s having an operation tomorrow but is in quite a bit of pain.

I should mention that the previous day it rained almost incessantly, but we snuck up to the Old Library Wood towards evening and bought a halloumi burger for Dot from some very nice local people in a van. In normal circumstances (regarding my health, I mean) I would have bought a wild boar burger, but I thought it was a bit risky. My £10 note on behalf of Dot was rejected because it was a paper one, which is odd because I’m pretty sure I got it out of a machine. The burger was £5, by the way, and the murals on the wall by the road are very good indeed.

Monday was Bank Holiday – apparently the coldest for many years. No comment. We spent most of the day preparing for the plumber, Robin, who rescheduled our work for this week – a good thing, but it meant Gary the electrician had to postpone his final day because he didn’t want to share the house with a plumber. He has done just about all the work but needs to make some final checks. So we were making the main bedroom available for Robin and moving our stuff from there and the shower room into the guest bedroom and Dot’s study. We also filled the car up with petrol – or at least I did while Dot bought a few things in Morrisons. In the evening I drove Dot and Eleanor to the Oaklands Hotel in Thorpe, where they and other members of our Compline group were having a birthday meal with Claire. Very good, apparently. Dot was dropped off later by the Archers on Rosary Road, and I went to meet her as she came down the path through the wood.

Robin arrived at 8am on Tuesday and started work on the cistern in the bathroom. By the end of the day (or was it the next?) he had it fixed, as well as the one downstairs. They had started to leak water into the pan, and the upstairs one had some broken bits inside. He is now (Thursday) well into the shower room and has relaid the floor. He managed to get away without removing the fitted cupboards, which is good, and he has also taken out the bidet, which will give Dot more room. He seems very thorough. Dot has ordered some flooring from Dovetail, and it will be fitted by them when Robin has finished.

Also on Tuesday I at last got round to visiting my Aunt Thelma in the Cresta Run care home at Poringland. (I have decided to call it that instead of Cresta Lodge because it seems more appropriate.) I had to book an appointment, phone them when I reached the front door, then go and wait by a side door until someone let me through that and took me to a spot outside Thelma’s window, which was ajar. I had to wear a mask through all this, but took it down while speaking to her because otherwise she wouldn’t have heard anything. We had a good conversation for about 45 minutes, and she seemed well, though she is not very mobile. She has an excellent memory. I took her a book and a couple of photographs, but these had to be put in quarantine for 72 hours before she could have them.

Yesterday morning, after watching highlights of another T20 match – this time rather more exciting and won by Pakistan – Dot and I spent some time trying to sort out her diocesan e-mail problem (again). We couldn’t make much progress, and so she rang the IT people. I stood by to see if I could help, but I really wasn’t much use except for the occasional interpretation until they decided that she needed an app. After installing the wrong one we eventually sorted it out, and now it seems to be working fine, as long as she uses the app instead of the system she’d been using up to now.

Late in the afternoon I took Joy’s presents round for her birthday and had a fairly brief chat with her and Phil. She didn’t look too well, to be honest, and is down to seven stone. My friend Joy (McCall) is also not too good, but her husband Andy is even worse (though he has both legs). He has problems with his spine, hips and bowels and has had to leave work. He also can’t act as her carer any more; so they are having people in, with all the additional specialist problems that entails.

I’m still working on the Paston letters and have booked visits to the dentist and ear clinic. For the former I had to update my health form, which was a bit of a challenge. Last night we went to bed early – partly because we had been pretty busy and partly because we’ve been getting up early for Robin.

The almost edge-of-the-seat excitement about the value of our Archant shares ended today, when we received a latter to say they were now officially worthless. This is the result of a company restructuring – the main reason for which, as far as I can tell, is to save the pension scheme. So that part is good – for the moment, at least. To put it in perspective, the shares were only worth about 50p each, though at one point I could have sold them – and indeed did sell most of them – for £20 each. Ho, hum.

Meanwhile our extensive electrical work continues, though we may be entering the home stretch. Our new lights in the lounge are now installed, and yesterday Gary put in new sockets in the bedroom, including charging points. He is now working on the other bedroom socket and replacing a connecting box in the loft. He still has to do a check on the remaining sockets in the house to ensure their safety. When he eventually leaves, this should be the safest house in the road, electrically speaking.

The plumbing is another matter. Robin will start on our shower room on September 9, but before that he will be fixing the cistern in the bathroom, which is falling apart. I have had to turn off the water that feeds it. The one in the cloakroom downstairs also needs a replacement part because it is not shutting off properly after it’s flushed. These problems arose immediately after an Anglian Water guy fitted a new meter outside, which I’m sure is a coincidence. Fairly sure, anyway.

Last Saturday seems a long time ago, but if I remember rightly we visited the tile shop and Dovetail, where we found some flooring for the bathroom. The tile shop were very helpful, but in the end we decided to let Robin sort it out, because some of the work will be fiddly. The next day we went to the usual St Augustine’s service at St Luke’s, and I did the prayers for Liz Day, who had a bad knee (presumably from kneeling). As it turned out, she did come to church anyway. There was a bit of a bombshell at the end of the service, when priest-in-charge Sarah said she would be leaving in November to take up a similar post at Carleton Colville, where I went to Marjorie’s funeral not so long ago. We will miss her: the future for the church is once again shrouded in uncertainty.

On Monday we drove to North Walsham, did a bit of shopping in Sainsbury’s and put some flowers on the two graves, then continued to Mundesley and walked on the beach. It was warm and sunny, and there were quite a few people around, but not so many as to threaten social distancing. Afterwards we bought an ice cream (sorbet for me – both very good) and drove home via the Rosary, where we put some flowers on my parents’ grave for their anniversary (Aug 27).

The next day I spent mainly writing my Parish Pump articles after consulting with Anne in case she’d made other arrangements. Meanwhile Dot sorted out her tax stuff. We watched a couple of films – A Most Wanted Man and The Importance of Being Ernest. The former was excellent but had a typical John le Carre downbeat ending; the latter was brilliant but had a poor soundtrack, which was annoying.

Wednesday was very wet to start with but had cleared up in time for us to go to Vicky’s for Cake and Compline. It was cooler than of late, but she had a fire pit in her garden; so we weren’t cold. We gave Eleanor a lift, and everyone was there. Spoke to Jared and Amy: it was a really nice evening.

Yesterday was an all-action day, during which I managed to finish my sermon for Sunday (though I suspect I will be adjusting it today) and Dot did the last day of her retreat, which she’s really enjoyed. Gary arrived at 9am, and at 10am Matt came round to have a look at my Brompton bike, which he said was worth several hundred pounds. He spent quite a long time on it, and took it for a ride in the road afterwards. Des continues getting our groceries: when I suggest we could get them ourselves now, he looks quite disappointed. So he continues to help us. I wrote three poems.

As Gary was leaving, Robin arrived; so we showed him the defective loos, and he said he’d fix them before doing the shower room. he also made a decision on the tiles – I’m not sure what it was. Later we watched Life of Pi, which was excellent, and David FaceTimed us. The grandchildren are now in Scarborough, celebrating Julia’s birthday. They, Vicky and Matt are staying in the flat, while Julia and Dave are in a hotel.

The weather here and there has been rather windy, but worse in other parts of the country, with some flooding in places. Dot has been up to the lighting shop to buy bulbs for our lounge lights, which proved pretty expensive but have a two-year guarantee; so that’s all right.