Bit worried about Joan, because she hasn’t replied to my e-mail, which is unlike her. Hope she’s OK. You’ll be glad to hear I had my hair cut successfully last Thursday, and in the evening Dot and I went to s short compline at the church. Not many of us – the vicar and her husband, the Eastons, Dot, Judy and me. I walked, for some reason, and met Judy outside. It was very good, despite the sparse attendance.

The next day I went up to Anglia Square in the afternoon and watched a Passion Play put on by a church other than ours. Saw the vicar again, and Liz Cannon, not to mention Barbara Bryant (editor of The Magazine) and Eric Kirk (manger of Anglia Square, who I happen to know). About a couple of hundred people there, and most of it was well done. One of the lesser bishops sang Bridge Over Troubled Water, and it wasn’t too bad. Really.

In the evening more passion and more playing when Norwich City took on Sheffield Wednesday in a match which, if they’d won it, would have sealed promotion, but they didn’t. In fact they left it till the 97th minute to equalise, but Wednesday were not robbed, because their goal was handball, as everyone agreed. Dot went, of course, as did Fred, his son-in-law Mark and his two grandchildren (repeat of a recent scenario). They had visited his sister Margery and then drove back to Banbury the same night.

At some unearthly hour on Saturday (10am) we were on our way to clean up the old church for the Easter service. Dot bought flowers on the way, and so did most other people. Not many of us in action. I struggled with a dodgy hoover, and Matt was very efficient with a broom while others (Sarah, Carrie, Dot and Judy) polished and shone, as well as arranging the flowers. I have to say it looked pretty good.

The Easter Communion was good too, with over 50 present, and an egg hunt during one of the hymns that didn’t seem theologically suspect. Well, not very. Refreshments in the hall afterwards, and after clearing up I felt pretty tired. Later on, even more excitement as David, Oliver and Amy arrived for another Easter egg hunt. I think one of them is still missing (an egg, not a grandchild).

The next day it continued pleasantly warm, and Dot, David and Oliver went off to the Stoke match – or a vision of it beamed back from Stoke on to giant screens at Carrow Road. Accompanying them were Jonathan and Des. Amy and I had a talk, plus a bit of television (Arrested Development on Netflix) before breaking the in-house length-of-rally record at table tennis, notching up 69. Stoke, meanwhile failed to roll over, and it was another 2-2 draw. However, Leeds lost twice in a row, and so we are nearly there.

David and the children went home the same evening, leaving about 8pm. I had a bad night and almost abandoned my plan to visit Andrew in Coventry, but decided to go at the last minute – by train, of course. I got an anytime return, which turned out to be £200 of Andrew’s money, despite the urging of the shocked ticket lady that I should get an off-peak. This enabled me to get back home before 8pm after catching the 1750 from Liverpool Street, which I didn’t know existed (the train, not the station). All the train journeys went smoothly, except the one between Coventry and Euston, which was 16 minutes late after being held up at Milton Keynes – I’m convinced because they forgot to tell the station staff there that they were making an unscheduled stop.

When I got to Minster Lodge, feeling pretty whacked out, Andrew was all ready to go for a walk. Fortunately he quickly became as tired as I was – if not tireder. We had a coffee and cake at a new cafe not far from the station in a skyscraper, which was very nice. Andrew was pretty good, except for his exhaustion and his inability to grasp the facts that (a) it wasn’t Saturday and (b) I didn’t have my car with me.

So today I was pretty tired, especially as I hadn’t slept well once more. But it was up early again for a Footprints Steering Committee at the UEA. Rob and Peter came to pick me up while I was not only still having breakfast but also speaking to Julia Higbee on the phone about a talk I’m giving at Swaffham next month. Still, we got there, and the meeting was OK. I wrote the minutes this evening, as well as catching up on my e-mails.

Rob and Peter came in for cheese and biscuits afterwards. The Sonata Security service man was still here, but the men bringing the new table had been and gone, after discovering that the legs didn’t fit. While I was out Maryta and Paul had been round, which is good, obviously. As I write Dot is at orchestra. Tomorrow I have to write three article for Parish Pump, and rain is forecast.

Just back from three days at Caddington – possibly the last time we go to David’s house there, as he is getting closer to selling it. A couple came to view it while we were in St Albans on Monday, having lunch at Loch Fyne with Oliver and Amy – David was at Peterborough on business – and apparently they only turned it down because the garden was too small for their dogs. Not sure if the estate agent pointed out the field opposite and the long walks easily available.

Loch Fyne was really good, though surprisingly empty. After an initial alarm on the M1, Oliver navigated to a car park more or less opposite the restaurant, and afterwards we went and had a look round the abbey, which I hadn’t realised was so near the centre of town.

On Tuesday, with the weather almost as good as Monday – it’s gradually getting warmer – Dot and I took Oliver and Amy to the Shard. We drove to the Luton Parkway rail station and took a train to Blackfriars before walking along the south bank, which is one of my favourite parts of London. We were totally oblivious of the “climate change protesters” disrupting the West End, though we did notice a lot of stationary buses on London Bridge. I am thinking of organising a gravity protest next time I’m there.

We had some tasty instant food at Pret a Manger and then walked on past the Golden Hinde and Southwark Cathedral before drinking tea/coffee by the river, though Amy was a bit bored by this, largely because she had neither tea nor coffee. We then decided the Shard would probably accept us early, and so we walked on, eventually finding the right entrance, getting through security and reaching the top two viewing floors.

Naturally most people, including us, gravitated to the highest one, though in some ways the view was better from the lower one (three floors below). Although the outlook was somewhat misty it was still superb, and it was fascinating to see how the London jigsaw fits together, which is by no means obvious at ground level. I noticed that the Shard was built opposite Guy’s Hospital, presumably in case someone falls off.

We spent some time up there, and Dot had a small Pinot Grigio. We all took a considerable number of photos, and I took a video, though not a good one. On the way out we ordered some free photos of ourselves imposed on Shard backgrounds, refusing the opportunity to buy a book of them for the reduced price of £15. (They had taken a group picture or two as went in.)

On the way back to Blackfriars we went in to the amazing Borough Market, bought some unusual Swiss cheese and decided we’d like to come back for a longer visit. We then walked back to Blackfriars past the Globe and noticed the tide was going out; so Dot took a picture of footprints in the sand.

We caught the first available train, which turned out to be semi-fast – or slow, as anyone else would call it. It took an hour to reach Luton Parkway, visiting such exotic spots as Radlett and Harpenden. Retrieving our car, we got back to Caddington around 5pm. David cooked us a really good meal, which was mainly Indian but quite unusual and extremely tasty. We the watched a bit of Antman, though not the full of it. (This is a new phrase invented by Amy which I really like and hope to use a lot.)

Yesterday was sunny and warm, and while the others did some work, Dot and I went for a walk across the fields and into a bluebell wood, which was lovely. After a small lunch David took Amy to visit her friend Chloe at Harpenden, and when David got back, Dot and I left for home. It took us rather longer than usual because we called in to see Joan at Baldock. Unfortunately she was out, but we enjoyed the lanes to Ashwell.

Later on we decided to call in at Peter Beales and had a cup of tea and cake before wandering around the gardens, which were in the process of transformation. Hoped to see Ian and Tina, but had given up until we ran into them as we were leaving. They seemed really pleased to see us, and we had a good chat about what had really happened.

Got home about 6pm after deciding (wrongly) to enter via Postwick and getting a bit tangled up. Still, not too bad.

This morning is again sunny and warm. Dot has already (11am) been to see the nurse about her absence of diabetes and is even now having her hair cut by Linda. It will be my turn in the chair shortly.

Still pretty cold: one or two sleet showers yesterday, but we have the promise of warmer weather in the coming week.

We started with an empty calendar this week but soon filled it. On Tuesday we drove to the garage and replaced the battery in Dot’s key fob (plus the one in her version of the Mazda 3 key, just in case). From there we went to the tip ro get rid of a suitcase that had been hanging around for a while, plus some broken glass. Later we did some food shopping.

On Wednesday we went to the only film that looked even slightly interesting, to take advantage of our 2 for 1 Meerkat offer. This was The Sisters Brothers, which turned out to be a rather original western – quite enjoyable. Later Dot went to see Norwich play Reading and concede a goal in the last minute of added time to make it 2-2. I watched it on TV of course, in the company of Des, who I happened to see on the way back from accompanying Dot to the ground.

On Thursday I thought it was high time I visited Lucy, but it transpired that she was away somewhere visiting her brother; so we spent a bit of time with Naomi, who didn’t look particularly well and is going through a hard time, waiting for another operation. Still, we had a good chat. Afterwards Dot and I went for a shortish walk down on Bowthorpe marshes. Cold, but sunny; so not too unpleasant.

The next day we decided to walk up to Magdalen Street and have a look round Loose’s, which is a pretty amazing “antiques” emporium. Dot was after a table, but we still couldn’t find quite what she wanted. She did however buy an antique tablecloth and a couple of cards. On the way home via Colegate and St George’s Street we intended to go to the cafe at Revelations, but it was shut (3.30pm); so we went to the Cathedral Refectory, which was very pleasant, for tea and a shared Victoria sponge.

Yesterday, despite the sleet showers, we ventured out again – this time to Aldiss’s store off Hall Road. Dot took 45 minutes to walk round it while I walked down to the river at a remote spot only I and quite a lot of other people know about. The others weren’t there. When I got back Dot showed me a table which almost fit the bill; so we took details. A nice gentleman called Mark was very helpful.

Today was a bit complicated as far as church was concerned. Dot and I went in separate cars so that she could rush home and watch the Wigan-Reading match, which she thought started at 12.30pm. In fact it started at noon, but she caught most of it. City didn’t play particularly well, but scored a late goal to draw 1-1. After this we received an emergency call from Paul; so drove round there for a cup of tea and cake. We then had to get home by 5pm to hand over Phil and Joy’s pot plant, which we had been looking after while they were in Southampton for Lucy’s baptism and Elliott’s dedication. We just made it, but found Carrie occupying the space outside our drive and had to ask her to move, because the road was full.

She was talking to Dot about a project centering on Anglia Square when Phil and Joy arrived and had to park halfway down the road. We supplied tea for all of them, although Carrie had to go and get some milk. They have all gone now, and it’s 6.40pm. We have to pack to go to Caddington first thing in the morning.

Beautiful day here in Norwich, though David tells us it’s foggy and verging on rain in the Caddington area. Dot and I walked up to Carrow Road this morning to buy some tickets for a “beam back” of the away game against Stoke on Easter Monday. Not sure if the boys will be able to come up, but the tickets are only £5 each.

A week ago it was just as bright but very, very cold at Cromer, where I went for a Paston Database meeting with Peter and Rob. Afterwards I walked down to the pier, and the wind off the sea was very chilly. The following day (Tuesday) was a bit better: Dot and I walked up to Prospect House for the Archant pensioners’ coffee morning, then went food shopping, and in the afternoon Paul and Maryta came round. Maryta seems to have quite a bit of difficulty walking, which may mean the illness is getting worse.

In the evening Cake and Compline was at our house; Claire did a bit of centering prayer, and I did the compline. Dot did the cake.

On Thursday Dot got back from Verena’s (and the garden centre) just in time for us to drive to the Norfolk Record Office for a talk on Norwich in the war and a look at the historic bombing map. The event was marred slightly by a failure to get the microphone pointed in the right direction and a further failure to get the film to work at all, but it was still pretty interesting. The best bit was Sarah Mitchell talking about doing the research to make her wartime novel The Lost Letters more authentic.

In the evening Paul came round on his own, having booked a carer for Maryta in the belief that he had a choir practice. We had a good talk, and he suggested Warwick might be the right university for Oliver. However, today Oliver is going to Cambridge to have a look round there.

Most of Friday was spent preparing a meal for the Knees and Eagles in the evening – egg curry, mackerel pate and poached pears, though not necessarily in that order. It was a really enjoyable evening, and although Rob and Penny had to catch a train at about 11pm, Sue and Roger were here till well after midnight. We crawled into bed at about 1.15am…

…and crawled out again pretty late the next morning, but in time to greet Fred, who had driven over from Beeston Regis, where he was staying with Sue and two granddaughters, for Norwich’s match against QPR. I walked up two Carrow Road with him and Dot, and then came home to watch it on television. Happily, City won 4-0. Dot waited a bit till the traffic cleared before driving to Eaton for a rehearsal for her concert in the evening. Parking at Waitrose, concert in St Andrew’s.

She drove home for a snack (left-over curry), and then we both returned for the concert, which turned out very well, despite having an animals theme. A baritone did good versions of Tit Willow (from The Mikado) and The Hippopotamus Song (Flanders and Swann). I sat with Robin and Shelagh, and Paul and Maryta also came. We all spoke during the long refreshments break.

Yesterday started wet and miserable. I took the morning service and also preached, with various interjections from Adrian, who seemed in quite bad shape. Despite that people seemed to like it, and a man with a dog thanked me for making it so friendly. Martin Wyatt also thanked me, which was nice.

Immediately afterwards we drove to Cantley and eventually found White Lilacs, despite the postcode we were given, which was roughly Sevenoaks in Kent. Other also had problems. White Lilacs was the home of Mairead’s lovely friend Rachel, and the occasion was a party to celebrate what would have been Mairead’s fiftieth.

We were invited as neighbours who had been close to her: Des and Chris, Mary and Bob and Maureen were also there, as were – of course – Sean, Ciera, Freddie and Phoebe. I spent some time talking to Peter, who it eventually dawned me was – as well as being head of Radio Norfolk at one time – Rachel’s father and the Deacon at the Roman Catholic Cathedral who had conducted three funerals we had been to. Most of the time, though, we talked to Des, Chris, Mary, Bob and Maureen. There was some lovely food that included curry and much else. We are going through an unintended curry phase at the moment.

The clocks have gone forward; so it must be summer time. Unfortunately, it has simultaneously got quite a lot colder; so although this evening is lighter, it is pretty chilly. Earlier (it seemed very early) we had a joint service at St Luke’s – café church, and I played guitar, with Nicky on keyboards and young Snell on bass guitar. Dot was tired out after yesterday; so she came later and just sang. It was a good service with a strong St Aug representation, and cake.

As it’s Mothering Sunday, Dot and I decided to put flowers on the graves of our parents and wondered if anyone would put flowers on our graves (in due course). It’s all to do with proximity, and very easy for us. After North Walsham cemetery we went and walked in Bacton Woods, which was sheltered from the wind and let some sunshine in. Very pleasant.

The previous two days (starting with Friday evening) saw us volunteering at a Norwich Christian Meditation Centre event featuring Rachel Rose Reid, who is a brilliant Jewish storyteller. Learnt quite a lot about the Old Testament! We also looked after the money and were on the welcome desk. Those two days were actually quite warm.

On Thursday evening I met Dot in the city and we had a snack in The Exchange at Jarrolds, followed by a drink in the wine bar and then a Book Launch, which actually took place up on the third floor. It was a photographic book about ruined Norfolk churches by a guy called Clive Dunn (Don’t panic; it wasn’t him). He gave a short but interesting talk. Susan Curran, the publisher, seemed pleased to see us ( I often patronise her launches) and we chatted to her and her husband – also to Matt Williams, who goes to our church and is shortly to publish a book on Submerged Norwich. He is a geologist, but I am trying not to hold that against him. Really nice evening, and very well attended.

The previous day we had afternoon tea at Des and Chris’s, and they told us about their far eastern holiday, though without pictures. Nice biscuits, though.

And as I mentioned last time, Jessie’s funeral was on Monday, when it was extremely cold, but bright. David drove up for it, and gave Philip a lift down to Centre Parcs at Elvedon afterwards. He was having a break there. Also present were Teresa and, amazingly, Sheila, who is 90. Both of them seemed very cold; so I hope another funeral is not imminent. Eleanor took the service – very gentle, as Jessie would have wanted. Afterwards there was food and drink at Elm Court Farmhouse up the road in Horsham St Faith’s.

Since then I happened to notice in the paper that Lily’s husband Roy Lond had died; so I wrote her a card. Am thinking about going to the funeral, though I never met him.

We had an enjoyable weekend – made even better by our granddaughter calling us yesterday evening on FaceTime and having a long chat about what she had been doing. Showed us a really good drawing she’d done of Jenna Coleman (which we gained Brownie points by recognising!), plus a game she is designing and making as part of her graphics lessons. Really nice talking to her.

Most of Saturday and Sunday was spent at Walsingham, where we were on retreat with members of our Cake and Compline group. We took Judy with us, and the Archers and Eleanor arrived separately at about lunchtime on Saturday. We all had lunch together in Norton’s café. Dot and I shocked the others by also having a gin and tonic: gin is a bit of a speciality there. Claire arrived late, which was not surprising.

We had lovely – though quite small – rooms upstairs, which gave us a good view over the complex. We also had the use of a meeting room for our sessions, which I had prepared under the loose heading of Lost in Translation. I made use of Prayers of the Cosmos and Water into Wine, as well as some other material, and it all seemed to go down well. Claire didn’t make it to the first session.

Eleanor went home after the evening meal, because she is now a vicar and had to lead a service at St Helen’s the next day. The rest of us played a few games, including Dixit, in another meeting room. The meal itself was good, and large numbers of other people suddenly materialised: it turned out that they were groups from different parts of the country. The shrine priest had a chat with us. Nice bloke.

On the Sunday we had breakfast and eventually a third session. We were delayed by David having a long phone call from his mother (his father is very ill) and then by Claire deciding to have a bath. However, we did get through it all, and ended the day with a roast beef lunch. The weather was beautifully sunny, but with a very cold wind, getting colder in the afternoon. Dot, Judy and I visited the farm shop before heading home, arriving about 4pm.

The previous day we had our hair cut. These things need to be recorded. On Thursday I spent quite a lot of time at the UEA Sainsbury Centre refectory, where we had a couple of meetings attempting to sort out the Paston Footprints project and then having a meeting of the Steering Committee. I have only a vague idea of what happened, and I did the minutes. I think a good way of getting more out of life would be to avoid going to as many meetings as possible.

On Wednesday Dot and I walked up to Presto, where we managed to secure a table for a light lunch. Our main reason for going was to say goodbye to Kathy and Roberto, who are retiring again. They have many loyal customers, and most of them had booked tables for the last two weeks, but we were early enough to sneak in at the back. Spoke to the retiring couple and to both waitresses, who we have go to know quite well.

On Tuesday evening I went got Jurnet’s poetry evening. I never feel totally at ease there, though the quality of poetry is pretty good. On this occasion Colin Payne, the chess player/musician/poet, turned up unexpectedly, and there was quite a large gathering altogether. The theme was March Hares, and although I usually forget about themes, I did write a poem with that title, which I read. Also one called Birds of Prey.

Today is a bit sombre in mood, as Jessie’s funeral is this afternoon. I still have a b it of a cough (not helped by doing a lot of talking over the weekend); so no doubt I will be rather on edge. David is driving up.

Happily, the passport, driving licence and birth certificate all came back safely, but Phil K is far from comfortable about sending his off. I now have a certificate; so I am DBS-certified, which must be reassuring to someone. Dot and I meanwhile are still under the weather with catarrh and a cough – hers rather worse than mine. It came back last Thursday, but despite that we had Neville and Mary Thrower round for a meal, which took Dot an awfully long time to prepare but was delicious. Very pleasant evening.

On Friday evening I was well enough to drive to Halesworth despite the still persistent windy weather, and read three poems at the Swan. Good quality evening: chatted to Kaaren, Sue and Nina, as well as the Dutchman and Mike Bannister, who fell off his chair while we were talking. I don’t usually have that effect, but I think he was OK.

Earlier that day Paul came round with Maryta, who is now out of hospital (obviously). She seemed a bit subdued but not too bad. Joe arrived at the station to be met by his father while we looked after Maryta. That seemed to go OK. Paul has relinquished his flat, as he has come to the end of his lease.

On Saturday the weather was as bad as ever; so I drove us up to St Andrew’s Hall, despite Dot’s cough being quite bad, for a performance of Verdi’s Requiem by the Norwich Philharmonic (with some help from Koblenz). Parked successfully in the Monastery car park. Halfway through the first half Dot had to go out because of her cough and spent the rest of the performance (before and after the interval) in a chair by the door. During the interval we spoke to Howard, who had forgotten he was preaching the next day. Anna was second violin, and Paul was a bass. In the Requiem, not the church.

We also saw Sue and Roger Eagle and Neil and Harriet from Saxlingham, with whom I had quite a long chat. They and the man sitting beside us were all quite concerned about Dot. Probably thought I was a heartless husband for staying in my seat. But she wasn’t in need of succour: just coughing.

Yesterday I led the service, and Howard turned up with a really good sermon. Impressive. On the minus side, our BT TV box seems to have given up the ghost, but I have been using the BT player via my phone and on to the screen; so no real disaster. However, I guess I have to do something about it.

Norwich are still top of the Championship, and there was an amazing game in the Six Nations, with England 31-7 up at half-time against Scotland, and in the end scoring a conversion with the last kick of the match to salvage a 38-38 draw. Wales won the Grand Slam, but that wasn’t nearly as interesting.

Today Dot is slightly better and has done an REQM assessment at Harleston – getting there just in time after I forgot to warn her that the road was closed at Hempnall Green. She is also, as I write, at a centring prayer session. Hope she isn’t doing too much.

The massage (neck and shoulders) seemed to go well, but following it my cold did develop, and I had a couple of really bad days, though not in the usual way, mainly – but not entirely – a bad cough, which still hasn’t quite gone away. I was told by Luke this morning, after he arrived at 8.30am unexpectedly to finish off our kitchen lights, that massage can reduce the efficiency of your immune system temporarily; so maybe that’s what happened.

It was bad enough for me to cancel a meeting at the NRO on Thursday morning, but then seemed to improve a bit, and I was well enough to go round the Hendersons’ on Saturday afternoon for tea with Paul and Holly. It then got worse again, and I had a bad night before staying at home on Sunday. I then missed the PCC meeting on Monday. It’s an ill wind…

Meanwhile Dot has been going strong, braving some really cold, windy and often wet weather which shows little sign of abating. Yesterday she met William Armstrong, the former city coroner – not to plan for my demise but to help him set up a City College reunion. They attended the college together: there were two other women there who remembered Dot in a lot more detail than she remembered them. They also remembered her being met out of college by some CNS boys who were “all in love with her”. Sort of rings a bell.

In the evening yesterday I drove Dot round to Phil’s so that she could deliver his presents without presenting him with a handful of germs, which might have happened if I’d delivered them. Meanwhile I have been DBS-checked so that I can become an authorised worship assistant. So far I have been an unauthorised one. Bit nervous about sending off my passport, driving licence and birth certificate in the same envelope, but happily they all came back this morning, intact.

Bit of a hiatus there, though not an empty one. Jessie died last Friday: we received a phone call just after we arrived in Buxton for the weekend. My iPhone died too – it lost the ability to charge, and although this was corrected by a shady guy I took it to in one of the murkier parts of Coventry, it suddenly lost all sound. I had been meaning to replace it anyway, but it happened at a bad time.

Yesterday I went to O2 after the Archant pensioners’ coffee morning and purchased an XR. Because my old phone was not backed up to the Cloud (don’t ask me why), I had to take the new one home and effect the set-up myself. This was presented as being very easy, and it would have been if I could have got the SIM card in the new phone. After trying various ways round I gave up and walked swiftly back up to O2, where I was told the SIM card was bent; they had to replace it and swap the information, which they seem to have done all right, although annoyingly my Steps app failed to transfer about 5000 steps. So yesterday I must have done about 8000-9000 steps in all, and I am down for fewer that 2000.

All this may sound very trivial compared with Jessie dying, and of course it is. But she had been on the brink for a while and was in some distress trying to breathe on the last couple of days. We will miss our visits to her very much: she always made me welcome from the time I started going out with Dot all those years ago. She is the last of her generation in Dot’s family.

Yesterday, in between the two visits to O2, Dot and I went to North Walsham cemetery to put some flowers on her sister’s grave: it would have been her 70th birthday. It was odd not going to see Jessie as well. While I was paying my second visit to O2 Dot was attending an Ofsted feedback at South Walsham – possibly the first time she had been to North and South Walsham on the same day.

Our annual visit to Buxton went well. We called in at Coventry on the Thursday, staying at the Premier Inn near the M6 overnight (very welcoming) and visiting Andrew the next morning. We found him in his new, much larger room with a double bed and his new sofa, which I had ordered from Argos earlier in the week and which had been delivered the day before. He seemed better than I had expected, because I knew he had had a fall in the city and been given extra antibiotics. But he was quite perky.

After leaving him (and picking up my phone from Foleshill) we had an uneventful but slow journey up to Buxton, where it was misty but without any sign of snow. The Evetts were already in town, but we decided against joining them there, as we were both tired. The evening meal was excellent, and all the usual suspects were waiting on us.

The Saturday was quite pleasant, though nowhere near as good as the sun and mild weather earlier in the week, and we decided to do a short walk from Tissington, a village which seemed to be anchored in the past. The shops were similar to ones we knew from our childhood (I bought some Fry’s chocolate), and the houses were all old: Tissington Hall was in the middle of the village. We started walking along the Tissington Trail, then cut up across fields and back to the village.

Back in Buxton I had a rest before joining the others for a cup of tea in the Chocolatier’s. Very nice.

On the Sunday it was wet and quite chilly. The forecast was also bad; so we decided on Lyme Park. With our new NT Scotland membership we were able to get into the house and gardens for nothing. We started at the cafe by the pond, then proceeded to the gardens, which were beautiful despite the time of year, and then, as the rain started to fall, went into the house, ending with a scone in the cafe.

The next day we left just after 10.30am and decided to call at Ralph and Lynne Martin’s in Darley Dale. They had just returned home from swimming at Matlock Bath, and we had a good chat and drink, plus a look at their garden. The following day I was able to show a photo I took of them to the pensioners’ group.

Proceeding south, Dot decided she wanted to go to a good quality toilet, and I suggested a National Trust property. We ended up at Kedleston Hall, which had beautiful grounds and an excellent cafe. We shared a scone, and I had indigestion the rest of the way home, which was a bit strange. We stopped again at Cambridge Services, and we got home just after 6pm. It would have been earlier, but Idiotic Transport for Norwich had dug up another road, resulting in huge queues.

In earlier news, Luke has installed most of the LED lights in the kitchen, plus a couple of switches. We had Cake and Compline at Claire’s last Tuesday, and a PHS Trustees’ meeting at our house the next day. Some big crisis is brewing at the UEA, causing them to cancel the Footprints Steering Committee meeting, but no-one really knows what it is. We are carrying on, but the project could be in jeopardy. Dot got annoyed by her orchestra conductor not showing up again and no-one bothering to tell her. She was waiting to give him a lift from the bus station.

Not sure what is happening with Maryta, but am very much afraid that Paul has given in to the idea that he should look after her at home, with professional help. He has frequent chest infections and has just had his varicose veins operated on; so I don’t think this is a great idea, though I understand his reluctance to put her in a care home.

We have enjoyed (pre-Buxton) some lovely sunny and quite mild weather, but it is now back to what we might expect for early March – grey and damp. Am just off for a massage, and I have a bit of a cold that I hope will not develop.

Not as straightforward a week as I had expected it to be. I spent quite a lot of time on the Paston Database, but then found I had to do three articles for Parish Pump (on Jill Dando, Daniel Defoe and Manchester City FC) as well as update the Paston Blofield leaflet. Dot has had a cold/cough; so in spite of the generally very good weather we have been rather restricted in what we’ve done. We hadn’t seen Jessie this week until yesterday, when we decided to ignore Dot’s cough, which is intermittent, though sometimes impressive.

I also have a bit of a cough, but nothing like as bad as Dot’s. I am just hoping it doesn’t get worse, as we are heading for Buxton next weekend.

We did go for tea with Paul on Sunday afternoon. No-one has decided what will be best for Maryta, but happily Paul has taken my advice (and that of Pete Kelley) to resist functioning as her at-home carer, because I don’t think he would last long if he did. He has frequent chest problems and had just had extensive varicose vein surgery. Dot went to see her yesterday, and she was not as angry as expected, though she is aware that she is not being discharged any time soon. (I went for another walk in the cemetery.)

Dot didn’t go to Centering Prayer on Monday, for fear of breaking out coughing during the silence; so I gave a lift to the two women who come regularly by train. On Tuesday I went to the Jurnet’s poetry session and it turned out to be really good. I read two older poems – Italian Time and Playing with Fish – which seemed to go down quite well, and I spoke to a couple of young first-timers, one of whom did a very Christian poem in semi-rap style.

The last three days have been quite warm and sunny; on Thursday Dot and I decided to go to Cley. We walked to the hides and had a look at some birds, including a barn owl, which put in a guest appearance. Lots of stunning lapwings, and plenty of others. We then wandered back to the cafe but discovered that it shut at 3.30pm (it was then 3.34pm). This, though idiotic, turned out to be a blessing in disguise, because we drove into Cley, parked round the back on Fairfields and went to the cafe on the corner, where we had an excellent scone (me) and rocky road (Dot) before it too shut at 4pm. We also bought some fish cakes and mackerel from the Smokehouse and have already eaten them both.

Yesterday we had our hair cut and – after going to see Jessie, who was very, very weak (she thought she was dying the previous night) and having a chat with Roger – we drove to Happisburgh and walked along the cliff towards Cart Gap. Beautiful late afternoon, but a lot more of the cliff has fallen on to the beach. A pill box which used to be well into the ploughed field is now virtually on the edge. Back at home we watched a 2013 action film on TV called Olympus Has Fallen, which – while pretty unbelievable – was certainly entertaining.