Some wintry weather this week. Today it’s very cold indeed, and Dot is at Carrow Road, watching City trying to win for the first time in half a dozen matches (and failing: another   1-1 draw). The Evetts departed after breakfast, having been with us since Dot’s birthday on Wednesday.

They arrived quite late, and we barely had time to walk into the city and wander round before returning for the evening’s events. Howard was supposed to come round with some “surprise” champagne, but got the time wrong; so we drank pink fizzy supplied by the Evetts. Philip and Anne had also come round early for the “surprise”; so that went well.

We walked up to Bishop’s for 7pm and had the customary excellent meal. Food, service and conversation were all really good.

On Thursday we braved very strong wind under a blue sky to travel to the UEA by bus. Went to an exhibition by Roger Law, which was excellent – not so much for the Spitting Image puppets as for his drawings and much later ceramics, which he created in China. I’ve never been much for ceramics, but these were superb.

We had lunch in the restaurant before venturing out to tour the trail of sculpted figures round the campus that included Moores and Gormleys, some of which were quite hard to find. Again, impressive, but the very cold and blustery wind persuaded us to abandon our plans to walk up to Cringleford, and we had another hot drink and caught the bus home.

The next day we went to Wymondham Abbey, had a hot drink there and then walked by the river and eventually to the railway station where we had lunch at the Station Bistro, which was very good indeed. I had left the car in a car park and time was running out; so I walked back to fetch it and picked the others up at the station before parking on the street near the Abbey and doing a little bit of shopping in town, much of it a lovely shop called Ebony. Julia also bought a jewellery tree, which made quite a lot of itself.

In the evening we went to Prezzos and got a free bottle of Prosecco as well as reduction on the price of the meal because Julia has  a Gourmet card. Again, a very nice meal and good service. Again, weather cold, though not quite so windy.

At the beginning of the week Dot injured her shoulder by slipping off the stairs while holding the banister. She consulted a chemist, but was told that rest was probably best. It has varied in pain since then, and I had to drive her to Diocesan House on Monday; she would not have been able to play violin on Wednesday, but the Evetts were here then anyway: we’re still not sure if she’ll be OK by this Wednesday. Hope so.

After taking Dot to Diocesan House I had my blood test, but haven’t really had time to get the results yet. I have booked an appointment with the doctor, though. Later I picked Dot up from Diocesan House and went with Dot to see Jessie in hospital. She seemed surprisingly well, considering. We’ve just heard she came out of hospital today.

On Tuesday we went to Cake and Compline at Judy’s, and  Judy made Dot a cake. Another nice evening.

Jessie is in hospital, having had one of her lungs removed to get rid of her lung cancer. This was a bit more drastic than we had anticipated, but according to Roger she’s in good spirits. We will probably visit her on Monday. We did see her on Tuesday before she went into hospital, taking a trip out to North Walsham after Dot had been to the dentist to have her implant completed, at a mere snip (£1900). That’s not the total cost; it’s the last instalment. We shall not be having much dental work done in the near future.

On Thursday we went to London to see the Coomes. Kristine seemed perky, but David is deteriorating visibly, and is having more trouble with his speech, though he appears to be in reasonable spirits – at least for the 150 minutes we were with them. When we left we were forced into a detour by a road closure and followed the satnav until we were about to get on to the A12 – which would have been disastrous, because we needed petrol. Eventually I found a way back to a petrol station. We lost about 15-20 minutes, I should think.

Yesterday we had our hair cut by Linda, and in the evening I went to Pinky’s at Halesworth, again being hampered by a road closure. I made it in time, but the room was really crowded with a record attendance. I read three of my recent poems: Somewhere to Fall, Family Tree and Clouds of Glory.

Today the Hendersons came round for coffee at about 11am, because Maryta was collecting cash for Age UK before the match. Paul and I walked her down to the meeting point – Carrow Park – and killed some time in Morrisons because she was too early. Dot is at the match as I write (we are drawing 1-1), and I have just driven Maryta home. She seemed very positive about her bucket work, but cold. I gave her some coffee.

The weather has turned pretty cold. At the weekend we were at Little Gidding on a retreat, staying at Ferrar House, which is owned by the Little Gidding Trust and run by Sue, who did not seem to be into silent meditation but was both welcoming and full of information about the place.

We travelled with Judy in the back seat and took the route across the Fens and through Ramsey, leaving around 10am on Saturday. This got us to Little Gidding, which is in beautiful countryside between Huntingdon and Peterborough, just after midday and in good time for lunch at 12.30pm. David and Bridget brought Claire (Carrington) and got there about a minute before the meal was due, which is pretty good for them.

We had a double room with an excellent view, which compensated for the shower having no hot water (according to my informant) and the bath running very slowly and then leaking through the plughole. On the plus side, the food was good (especially the Stilton and broccoli soup for lunch) and the house full of information about  both T S Eliot and the Ferrars and the religious community they had set up there. The latter seemed to inspire Eliot when he wrote the poem (last of the Four Quartets), although he apparently only spent an afternoon there.

I led a longish session on the poem (noting the allusions to Lady Julian), and after evening meal we had an entertainment, during which Dot and I sang a few songs (Feel Like I’m Falling Apart, Man in the Mask, Sunset Woman and I’m Going Down to Babylon), Judy read a couple of Eliot’s cat poems, and David played the flute. He also tried to teach us a song, but that didn’t work too well.

Yesterday we made our own breakfast and then read right through Little Gidding before having a short service, for which we were joined by Bridget’s friend Mary. We sung my All will be well song and I read the Lord’s Prayer in haiku. Bridget read John 1 in everyone’s least favourite version, the New English Bible, which appears to have been translated by people who don’t speak English or don’t understand poetry, or both.

Afterwards we walked up to Steeple Gidding in a rather chilly wind and enough mud to persuade Claire to turn back halfway. Lovely walk with good views and an enchanting church without pews in the traditional style. The previous night we had had a look through Little Gidding Church, which is almost next to the house use stayed in. Also impressive and atmospheric.

While we were at Little Gidding I witnessed my first Hunt, which gathered in the field opposite, with the sheep huddled in the corner as if knowing what was going on. It all seemed very disorganised, but later on I saw a fox streaking across the field about 200 yards away, followed eventually by the horsemen. Not sure what happened in the end. Dogs killing foxes is actually illegal, but there were plenty of dogs around – sometimes in the garden of our house. The next day Mary told us that some of the hunts took an eagle with them in a cage and released it at the end to kill the fox. Apparently the eagle is called Loophole, for obvious reasons. I have to admit I saw no eagle, although there were plenty of red kite in the area. Stunning birds.

Sue got some old silver out to show us before we left, which made us a bit late for our planned meal at the Fox at Folksworth. Nevertheless the meal was first class, and no problem. They even managed to split the bill four ways, which is no mean feat (Mary was joined by her partner, Brian). Folksworth happens to be one of the places my ancestors come from, and afterwards Dot and I and Judy went for a quick look at the churchyard (where I had been before). We found a couple of tombstones with Lenton on them, but didn’t stay long because of the biting wind.

Afterwards Dot drove home – this time by the standard route down the M11, A14 and A11, which turned out to be OK. The sky tuned very black near Norwich, and it was raining as we unpacked. Judy left quickly to put the cat out, though if the cat had any sense it would have wanted to stay inside.

Earlier in the week (Thursday) I went to see Dr Carlile, who impressed me by taking my symptoms seriously – although she still wanted to put my blood pressure pills up. I am having my blood thoroughly tested: it must be urgent, because this will be as soon as November 20. Felt pretty rough when we got to Little Gidding, but I had had a very bad night.

The piano tuner came on Friday. I may have to cut down on his frequency, because he charges a lot (£88), but we’ve had him for years and he’s a nice bloke.

In the evening we had a meal with a couple we haven’t seen for about 45 years. Cathy Songer used to teach with Dot in Muswell Hill, and we played badminton with her and her husband Chris on a couple of occasions. He is now very large (to put it mildly), but she has grown old gracefully. They now live in Lowestoft, having moved there from St Albans. The meal (at the Nelson) was very nice, and Chris insisted on paying. He also ordered an extra bottle of wine. He’s a take-charge guy. I left the tip. We invited them back for coffee, but Chris couldn’t walk that far. It wasn’t the wine; it was his hips – and his weight, it has to be said.

What a busy November it’s turning out to be. If I had been at Mundesley now (as I would have been if I had not discovered that Lucy has a bad cold),  I would have been out every day for one reason or another.

On the second day of the month I went to see Andrew at Coventry. I went by train and all the connections worked well. I was with him for about an hour and a half: he started off very down but perked up quickly. I tried to fix his new video player and managed to extract a jammed disk, but it still wouldn’t work. He accompanied me part of the way back to the station, but soon wanted to go back. Three days later he was taken to Hearsall Baptist Church by Mrs Baxi (I was rung for permission) and apparently it went well. So that’s all good.

On Friday we took advantage of Norwich Restaurant Week by walking up to a new Norwich restaurant, the Orford Flat Iron, with neighbours Des and Chris and having a very good lunch. I had a top-class steak followed by a top-class creme brûlée. The waitress came from Hamilton, Ontario, and the chef was French.

I spent most of Saturday at Blofield Church, where they were holding a History Day which included input from the Paston Heritage Society. I had put together a leaflet for them on how the Blofield Pastons fitted in with the rest of the family. During its creation I had got immersed in several fascinating  byways, but it turned out all right. At least, they seemed to like it. The re-enactors were present. Afterwards I went for a short walk through the churchyard and up a hill so that I maintained my record of doing at least two miles a day where possible. This is working quite well at the moment.

On Sunday, in addition to leading the service, I went to St Luke’s to assist in interviewing the three candidates for the treasurer’s job. This was not too difficult, as Simon Snell did all the heavy lifting (Tony Barton also assisted), but it dragged on a bit, and I didn’t get home till well after 5pm. We were all agreed on the choice.

I spent much of Monday and yesterday putting together some stuff for our upcoming weekend retreat at Little Gidding, but had to break off for a couple of things. On Monday it was the PCC meeting, which lasted till 10pm and featured the odd disagreement, mainly because the vicar tends to run the church like a business and tends not to listen to what people are saying. However, we got an absolutely full turnout, which I don’t think has happened before.

Yesterday Dot and I went to the Archant coffee morning. The usual suspects attended, except the Hendersons. Paul was up north for an uncle’s funeral, and Maryta doesn’t tend to come on her own. In the evening we went to the beautiful Oxnead Hall for a talk by Rob Knee for the Bure Navigation Conservation Trust. This was basically the standard Paston talk with brief references to the Bure (on whose banks Oxnead Hall stands), but it was enjoyable. I think I could probably have given it myself, though I would have lacked the status. Also present: Rob’s wife Penny, Liz and a friend from UEA, and the Aspinalls, who own the Hall and are both rich and supportive of the PHS – a good combination.

We’ve made it to November without being ambushed by Hallowe’en. The last couple of days have been clear and quite pleasant, though definitely autumnal. I have maintained a good walking record during October, but will start this month badly, as I shall not do 5000 steps today, barring unforeseen circumstances.

On Sunday we got to church at the right time, namely an hour later than usual after reconnecting with GMT. I led the prayers. We didn’t go out to see Jessie afterwards, as she needed a rest following her exploratory operation earlier in the week. No diagnosis yet. I am surrounded by people in poor health; my poet friend Joy has heart failure (broken mitral valve), which doesn’t sound good, and our friend Naomi is in hospital with severe Crohn’s disease and possibly appendicitis (they removed the appendix anyway). I got a text from her pleading for a visit, so I bussed up there yesterday and arrived just before her mum left. She is pretty depressed about the prognosis, unsurprisingly, as the prognosis is that no-one really knows what they can do about it.

Then today I drove over to see my cousin Stephen, who has multiple sclerosis and can only get around with the aid of a four-legged support. I went to see him because I had the wrong phone number and I had to ask him about an acquaintance of his father’s named Janet Mann.

Someone in Africa had been asking another cousin, Ann (Rumsby), about her, and I expected to find Paul at Stephen’s. Sadly, though, his dementia has worsened and he is in a care home at Horsford. On the plus side, Stephen knew Janet, and I was able to give her a ring later, asking if she minded my giving Ann her number. She didn’t, and with any luck she’ll be connected with the friend in Africa (Anna Smidt).

Apparently Stephen has little or no contact with his brother, who lives only two or three miles away from him. On the other hand, Stephen has a dog. He sees his sister Pat about every five or six weeks, when she comes down from Stamford to see Paul.

The last few days I’ve been very busy putting together a leaflet for the Blofield/Paston event on Saturday. It involves quite a bit of research into family trees which, though fascinating, soon becomes all-consuming and frustrating in equal measure. I managed to end up with something that I think is mainly right, and I am getting it printed by Nick Gorvin for £90, payable by PHS. I hope.

While I was visiting Naomi – or more accurately, just after I got back – Dot went to St Augustine’s to help with a “Hallowe’en” party that apparently went down very well with the local families. Meanwhile I made the evening meal, so that she could eat it before going off to watch Norwich City lose again (2-1 against Wolves).

Today (or possibly yesterday, or both) Dot got into a conversation with Des about the Norfolk Restaurant Week. As  a result the four of us are going out to lunch at one of said restaurants on Friday at lunchtime. Before that I shall be travelling to Coventry tomorrow to see Andrew who, I’m told, is doing well. I hope I don’t set him back.

The gas man cameth while I was at church last Sunday, and he got our central heating  going again. Apparently a safety switch that I didn’t know existed had popped out. We don’t know why, but since he adjusted everything, our water is boiling hot. I’ve turned it down once and may have to do so again. Still, everything is working.

Later we went to the Hendersons for a light supper, and later still Paul drove us (without Maryta) to the Theatre Royal for a concert by a St Petersburg orchestra; Prokoviev’s 1st, Rachmaninov’s 4th and Rimsky Korsakov’s Scheherezade. Or something like that. It was very good: Dot loved the last one – one of her favourites.

On Monday we went for lunch with Angela and Rodney at what used to be the Ugly Bug at Colton, but is now the Norfolk Lurcher. We all had fish and chips, which was very pleasant. Beforehand we viewed the new Ellis kitchen, which was pretty impressive, and afterwards we went back for tea/coffee before hastening home to get our hair cut (Linda had rescheduled from the previous week).

David, Oliver and Amy arrived late on Wednesday, and on Thursday we walked into the city before having to leave them to see a play at the Hostry Festival that we had booked up for months before. Very good it was too: Anglian Mist, performed by the Stuff of Dreams Theatre Company in the round. We were very close to the actors, and it was extremely impressive to watch their concentration and all-round skill.

That was in the afternoon. In the evening we watched Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. I’d forgotten how good a film it is.

Yesterday the weather turned a good deal chillier, but it was still dry. We had an early lunch and drove to Winterton, where we had a traditional and good game of hide-and-seek in the dunes (north side) before wandering on to the beach, where we had a little sun and saw a couple of seals in the water. Then we drove home via Sea Palling and Happisburgh and watched Wonder Woman in the evening. Another good film with some interesting similarities to Crouching Tiger, and some Christian symbolism too. Worked very well.

This morning we had breakfast at Costa on Prince of Wales Road before David, Oliver and Amy left for Bishop’s Stortford, where they had a date with the Coomes family. It was really lovely having them here: we’re lucky they’re such lovely children, and David isn’t bad either… He gave us a bit of an insight into what he’s developing in Canada.

After lunch, Dot went to watch City lose 2-1 to Derby while I went to the Hostry to see a Julian-based  production involving music and dancing which actually wasn’t very good. I met Judy outside, and the vicar arrived independently and quite late. He seemed quite taken with it, though he didn’t appear enthralled while it was taking place. I though the dancing was a bit predictable, the music untuneful and the words (apart from Julian’s own) unimaginative. Lots of people looked at their watches.

After walking with Judy to the bus stop by the station, I walked up the road and into the cemetery to get my mileage up. This has been a pretty good month in terms of consistency. I am also noting my blood pressure over a week for the benefit of my surgery. Big difference between morning and evening. Clocks go back tonight.

Living in a rather strange world at the moment, because our heating and hot water are not working, which throws everything out. Yesterday morning, when we realised it had happened, we decided to go to Diss, which is a pretty radical solution, but there happened to be an exhibition  by Martin Laurance on at DesignerMakers21 that we wanted to see.

We took the back route, which made it quite a pleasant drive, and found the exhibition but unfortunately not Annette and Mike, who work at DM21 but were not in. The exhibition was as always good quality, but we can’t afford his work nowadays. Afterwards we crossed the road to the Corn Hall, which has been beautifully restored, to see Maggi Hambling‘s exhibition, which was even less affordable, the cheapest picture coming in at £2750. If I had £2750 to spare, I would rather buy two or three Laurance pictures than one Hambling, though they are very good.

We had a drink at the cafe and looked round the building, then walked down to the Mere, which I had never seen, despite several visits to Diss. It was really quite striking. Also called in at a lovely delicatessen before heading back to Goodies, a superb farm shop south of Long Stratton, where we stocked up a bit. Then back to a rather chilly house, where we got out the electric fire and started an actual fire, with wood we had bought at Goodies. Rather smokey, but good once it settled down.

The previous day we had also been on the road – down to Caddington for Amy’s birthday. She is 13, and we had bought her a seat from Blakeney that she had picked out when on holiday. Dot drove down and we arrived in good time to walk up to the shop and around the village a bit, getting up our walking mileage. I have now walked over two miles every day for over a week.

We stayed with Amy while Oliver went swimming (transported by David, of course),, and she showed tremendous flair as always in redesigning her room. I found a story I had written her years ago c called Amy and the Runaway Dream, which I read to her while lying on the floor. It brought home two me (a) that it was quite a clever story and (b) that it was very hard to speak while lying on my back because of the catarrh that has plagued me for weeks, if not months.

Dot had made a cake for Amy, and we ate it when the boys returned. We then headed back to Norwich with me driving, and arrived just after 11.30pm. It had been very windy all day, and by late evening it was very cold too, as it still is this morning.

Earlier in the week, on Tuesday, I went to my second Jurnet’s poetry night and read two old poems, Pick-up-sticks and All this death. Generally speaking the quality of poetry was much higher than last time. Rupert and Hilary were both there.

At the moment we’re waiting for the British Gas engineer – at least Dot is: she is staying home while I go to church, partly because it means she can watch the Ipswich-Norwich match on Sky (her phone). It’s an ill wind…

Turned cooler again today after a couple of warm days – especially yesterday at Blakeney, where Dot and I bought a birthday present for Fluffy. Walked around a bit, trying to get a phone signal to check we had the right design, and had lunch in the Methodist Church cafe, which was very pleasant, especially the chutney, which apparently came from Tesco’s.

It was admittedly a bit breezy – the edge of Hurricane Ophelia, which at the time was battering Wales and Ireland, but the warmth triumphed. Later on, when we had visited Jessie and called in at Sainsbury’s in North Walsham, the sky turned dark grey and yellow. It was decidedly eerie, because the wind had dropped and it felt unearthly. Looked as if we were going to get a downpour, but it remained dry and we got home with no trouble.

Earlier I had visited the surgery for a blood pressure test and actually got a nurse who listened to what I said and booked me in to see a doctor – not till November, though.

Back last Thursday Dot had been to the dental surgeon for the next stage of her implant, and felt so dodgy afterwards that I decided to drive her to Carleton Rode, where she had to attend the feedback from a SIAMS inspection. She got through that OK, while I chatted up a few locals in the church and went for a short walk. In the evening she managed to join us for Cake and Compline at the Archers’.

We took Judy to that, and the next day she parked at ours and we all walked to the Julian Centre, where we had volunteered to help with their Julian & Fursey weekend, led by a Greek Orthodox priest from San Antonio in Texas. He was brilliant, and his wife had a long talk with Dot.

This concluded on Saturday, and Judy and I walked there again while Dot recuperated in bed. She came to the Centre for coffee, the second talk and for lunch, and then went back to prepare for Norwich City v Hull, which ended 1-1 after we scored in 96th minute. At the time I was walking to meet her when I heard a roar and the taxi drivers started hooting. Sadly (or not), hundreds or thousands of spectators had already left the ground.

Judy and I had heard the last talk and made sure everything was tidied up before we left about 4.10pm. I had a quick chat with the priest before we went.  Sunday was quite quiet, though the service was fairly long, Howard leading and not being inclined to hurry. Quite rightly, of course.

Another thing that happened on Saturday was that the EDP finally got round to publishing the news that the Paston Footprints project had been awarded £374,400. They could have made more of it, I think. Still, it’s out there now. No turning back, as they say.

Colin came last Saturday to do some tidying up. He pulled the roses and a few other things off next-door’s roof, removed the clematis and cut the tops off the fir trees at the front – which now look a complete mess. We’ll probably have to cut them down next year. I understand they’re at the end of their life. They certainly look it.

On Sunday I preached at church on Psalm 19 – a good one, if you have a minute or two. The Psalm, not the sermon.

Still no MX5 on Monday – in fact we didn’t get it back till yesterday. I have to admit the wheels look good, and the cost was slightly less than I expected, given that we had to have a new tyre. I don’t know if this was anything to do with their wanting cash for the wheel job…

Yesterday was pretty busy, all round. I started with a visit to the dentist to check on my crown, which has been uncomfortable. It’s still uncomfortable, but I got some free laser treatment, which was supposed to reduce inflammation. I got the impression they didn’t really know what was wrong, and nor do I. My whole jaw aches sometimes.

In the afternoon I went to Blofield to visit Barbara Pilch and talk about the forthcoming History Day, at which I’m supposed to be contributing some information on Paston tombs. Some research looms. I also called in at the church, where Barbara’s husband David was doing some tidying up. We used to be in the same class at school, but he became a GP. He showed me some interesting medieval stones they’d unearthed. Afterwards I went for a short walk. I’m trying to walk two miles a day. Today I failed miserably.

After Blofield yesterday Dot and I went to the cinema to see the latest Kingsman film, which was fun but undemanding. Needed a bit of relaxation.

Today I went to a Footprints meeting at County Hall, where we met Sophie Cabot and talked about the forthcoming Hungate exhibition.  Officially we haven’t started the Footprints project yet. If you went by the EDP you wouldn’t know anything was happening, because I sent them a press release two days ago, and nothing has appeared. You would have thought that the award of £374,400 might have merited some attention.

In fact the whole thing was almost called off because Karen was ill, but someone stepped in to guarantee cover for her if she can’t cope. She was at our meeting today and looked much better. I hope this is a lasting improvement.

David has arrived back in England after his two weeks in Canada, and we spoke to him (and Amy) on FaceTime tonight. Apparently all went well.

Yesterday we went to Houghton Hall. We had been planning a visit for a while, to see the Richard Long exhibition, which is coming to an end in a couple of weeks’ time. We took the Hendersons, and the journey both ways was difficult – stuck behind slow-moving vehicles on the way there and embroiled in rush-hour city traffic on the way back. Made the mistake of following sat-nav instead of checking the route I used to take, which would have been much better.

Still, Houghton Hall is a lovely place – both the house and the grounds – and the exhibition was pretty good too. It was worth it, even taking into consideration the high price of entry.

The day before we’d been to the cinema to see Victoria and Abdul, which was very well done, though I suspect that Abdul benefited from a bit of rose-tinting. Beautifully acted and directed.

On Tuesday I went to the Archant coffee morning, with Maryta absent at something weird, like walking netball, and Dot and Paul at Horstead on a Diocesan DSSO Day, which apparently went very well. Meanwhile Dot’s car has been taken into Kwik-Fit to have its wheels refurbished, after I discovered that the front two tyres had gone completely flat over the holiday period. It was supposed to be back today, but it isn’t.

It’s turned chilly this week. Dot and I went to the supermarket today, and we both got in a walk. She walked to Morrisons and back, and I walked up to the Cathedral, playing my angel role to help a couple from West Norfolk who couldn’t find the room where they were supposed to be attending a meal.

Incidentally, Morrisons is undertaking a complete refit. In Dot’s words, it looks a bit like Waitrose. Not a lot, because it’s only half finished, but I can see what she means.

On Sunday Dot stayed behind after church to play ceilidh music with Anna and Phil, and I walked home. Felt very hot and took a while to recover. Think I was wearing too much. I have booked an appointment with the dentist because my mouth is very uncomfortable following the fixing of a new crown.