Summer seems to have arrived. Today is warm and mainly sunny, and I’ve already been out to Mundesley for a meeting of the Paston Heritage Society trustees – the first, amazingly, since last December, though there have been plenty of Footprints meetings in between. Happily I have already done the minutes, despite suddenly getting some floaters in my eye to go with my slight headache, uneasy stomach and heavy legs.  I have also booked a first-class ticket to Warwick to see Andrew tomorrow, after checking that he would be there.

Yesterday was a mixed day. The highlight by a mile for me was taking Jessie to the crematorium at St Faith’s to mark her wedding anniversary. We took a rose for Frank and viewed his entry in the memorial book. We then sauntered round the gardens, which were much more extensive than I thought, played Poohsticks and then sat by a lake before returning to North Walsham for tea and egg custard. Lovely.

Afterwards I went to Northrepps by several circuitous routes and delivered some pictures to Brigette, avoiding her partner and dog. Meanwhile, Dot was in London with Anne, celebrating the latter’s birthday by visiting the Shard and drinking champagne, among other things. They arrived back just before 11pm with makeovers from Harrods.

Earlier in the day I had been to the doctor’s – a highly unsatisfactory visit to a female doctor I hadn’t seen before and who wanted to give me statins, which I declined, and then more or less insisted I upped my blood pressure pills. She wasn’t interested in any of the things I wanted to raise with her (see first paragraph), and I left feeling pretty depressed, though my spirits were raised by a conversation with my neighbour Mary, and later with my son – until I discovered I’d booked a holiday in Scotland when he and the children might otherwise have come up to see us.

In other news, we had another meeting on Monday of the inter-church group which discusses the similarities and differences between the three congregations in our parish, and on Sunday I preached at church. The day before we spent mainly at Bury St Edmunds, partly trying to park and partly enjoying Matthew Creber’s wedding to Lynda Davies. Matt used to play piano in our group at church and lived with us for a month. He is now training for ordination. Also there – Heather Cracknell, preaching, and her family: Paul, Rhianna (13) and Finnan (10).

Those who know Matt will not be surprised to hear that there was a chaotic element. The service went so slowly that we were afraid we wouldn’t meet our afternoon engagement with Audrey and Bent at Côte Brasserie, but in the end it worked out (after a phone call), though we missed refreshments at the church afterwards. We had a nice meal with Audrey and Bent and then went to their house for a cup of tea. We weren’t invited to the wedding reception, but to the evening do, which started at 7pm. We got there at 7.45pm to find that the Reception was still in full swing, the best man’s speech was in progress and there were too many people in the barn.

Happily we entered close to where the Cracknells were sitting, and there were spare seats at their table because a family with young children had left. We even got some drink and a dessert, plus a cup of tea/coffee.  We left not long into the dancing, though, and encountered a small deer by the side of the road on the way home. (We were on our way home: I don’t know where the deer was going.)

We’re back in Norwich after a busy week, the highlight of which was David’s 45th birthday yesterday. We arrived at Caddington from Scarborough, booked into the Premier Inn on the A5 (Horse and Jockey) and then got lost trying to find our way through Caddington past the road block at the top of Chaul End Road, where they’re inserting raised tables for pedestrians to cross more safely (theoretically). Eventually we went back to the Slip End road, with a little help from David on the phone. Turns out there is no way through Caddington village other than the main roads.

Anyway after we got there we had a good time (Amy hadn’t known we were coming and seemed very pleased). David and I walked up to the Indian to get a takeaway. Bit of rain, but not too bad at that point. Got David a couple of books (one by Harold Evans and a newly discovered one by Dave Gemmell) and a small cake, plus a bottle of wine. Revised some French and maths with Amy while David and Oliver played Fifa (I think).

Drove back to the Horse and Jockey around 10pm. Left after breakfast this morning, and I dropped off Dot at Forncett St Peter School before heading home and buying petrol. I had been home for only half an hour before she rang me to come and fetch her. Just had a chat with Des, who spoke about a couple coming to our door while we were away. Can’t imagine who that could be…

Way back in the mists of time, on Friday last week, Dot and I took Howard and Phyllis to visit Ann Travis at her residential home on Colney Lane, meeting her daughter Chris there. This went really well, and Chris was very appreciative.  On the same day, we had our piano tuned. Joe is getting on a bit. But then, who isn’t?

Saturday was another big day. After having our hair cut by Linda we travelled to Louise Robinson’s new house at Stoke Holy Cross, where we met her partner Dave and were joined by her mother and father, and her sisters and their husbands – also Charlotte’s three-week-old baby. From there we drove to Stoke Mill, where we had a private room and an extremely pleasant meal. Yes, it was Anne’s xxxxth birthday. The number that dare not speak its name.

On Sunday we had a meal at church and discussed St Augustine’s Way before heading out to North Walsham to go to the cemetery before dropping in briefly on Jessie, who was about to go to Roy’s with her son and his girlfriend. I had been scheduled to go on to the Seagull, but I decided I wouldn’t, as I was already tired and had to drive to Scarborough the next day.

Which we did. It was quite a pleasant journey, and we arrived about 3.30pm. After a cup of tea we went out for a short walk part way down the cliff, where there were bluebells and wild garlic.

On the Tuesday we drove to Rievaulx Abbey (after the obligatory coffee stop at Cedar Barn). The Abbey was a beautiful place, and we really enjoyed the tour of it, accompanied by audio info. Afterwards we had tea in the cafe – also very pleasant. The weather was overcast, but not unpleasant. The next day, however, it did not stop raining. Dave devised the cunning plan of calling at a different tea shop before making our way to Eden Camp, near Malton, a former POW  camp now a museum. We had to dodge the rain going from hut to hut, but it was a fascinating experience, and there was so much of it that we didn’t manage the complete tour.

On Thursday it dawned bright and sunny, but as we travelled south it became greyer and greyer. We decided not call on Andrew because of a shortage of time (we’d have had to go well out of our way), but we got to Caddington by 4pm and booked in to the Premier Inn. The rest is history (Back to top).

At last a bit of warmth for the East of England. And it came at just the right time for a trip to Swaffham yesterday to visit the Higbees. To confirm that summer was here, if only for a while, we had a barbecue – and ate Italian nibbles in the garden, though we decamped to the dining room for the main course.

Later, while Dot went to orchestra, my brother Phil and I went to the Cathedral for a talk on “Why God loves science”. This proved to be not quite as exciting as expected, largely because the speaker tried to get too much in and therefore spoke a bit too quickly. Nevertheless he had some interesting things to say about the book of Job and its references to scientific inquiry (though not in those words).

It was a mark of how much Phil has improved that he walked to the Cathedral (and back), and we met outside the statue by the west door. He pointed out that the statue bore a marked resemblance to Rowan Atkinson, which is true enough, though it is in fact Nelson. I walked halfway back to his house afterwards and then along Barrack Street and Riverside Road, thus exciting my Steps app.

Back last weekend Dot and I went to a Mozart Orchestra concert at Christ Church, Eaton, on Saturday. We went mainly because Bridget had had a hand in organising it, and in fact introduced it and thanked everyone afterwards. But it was an excellent concert, featuring Haydn’s Trumpet Concerto and his 100th symphony. Neville and Mary were also there.

On Sunday I led the service, and in the absence of all musicians, including Dot, who – shockingly – was at Carrow Road for the final game of the season, I played guitar too. I also led the prayers. By mistake Carrie, who had had a very bad week because of the probably criminal behaviour of someone she had tried to help, had thought there was a church meal and invited four men from her Saturday group. As a result she had to fire up some quick jacket potatoes. I declined the opportunity to stay and instead delivered a bank card to the church treasurer, who lives on Colney Lane. It had been addressed to me in error.  At his house I noticed an electric car charging…

In the evening Dot and I went to Cley Wildlife Trust for a piano and art event (a pianist improvising to some art flashed on screen). We went because we knew both artists – Martin Laurance and Sarah Cannell – but surprisingly, they were not there and in fact the audience numbered only a dozen, where I had expected it to be packed. We had also hoped to combine the event with a short walk, but the weather was very cold, windy and grey, with a smattering of drizzle; so instead we sat in the cafe with a drink and watched a marsh harrier in the distance until the performance started. We felt the latter could do with a couple of poems.

On Monday, as our son arrived back from Canada, we journeyed north again, to the Paston agm at Mundesley Manor Hotel. Again a very small gathering, but with some excellent sandwiches. Weather still cold, grey and damp (although beautiful in other parts of the country), but the hotel was extremely comfortable.

On Tuesday, with the weather relenting somewhat, Dot and I walked up to Jarrolds in the afternoon to deliver some Paston books (they have now had 26), then had a cup of tea at an empty Presto’s, where Kathy and Roberto talked of opening for early evening meals, which sounds like a good idea.

In the evening Judy drove us to Howard’s for our monthly Julian evening. There was some doubt about what we should have read – I spent 90 minutes in the bath that morning reading chapters 41-63 – but we eventually zeroed in on Revelation 14 and had a good discussion. I’m getting a lot more out of it than I thought I would, and I don’t mean just wine and nibbles.

Anyway, today seems promising, and I shall go out for a walk in a minute. Dot is at a DSSO meeting with Paul. I had been thinking about going to visit Andrew today, but he has been at Minster Lodge overnight, and I’m not sure when’s travelling back to Warwick. By all accounts he’s doing really well. Glad not to go really, because my back is still not quite right, though not exactly painful.

Dot has had a day of uncluttering, but luckily I am still here. This is largely because she’s been in the garage, and I haven’t. Mind you, it’s reaching a stage when she might be getting rid of me and installing something more efficient. On Tuesday, shortly before the Archant coffee morning, I injured my back. I don’t know how, unless it was the way I got out of the bath, attempting to protect a cut on my leg. Very painful for a day or so, but then just sore. I am still very aware of it, my legs are quite stiff and I continue to feel very odd. My head is noisily fuzzy, as it has been for a while. However, I can walk OK; so I may survive.

Before that happened, on Bank Holiday Monday, we visited Jessie and had apricot-flavoured Swiss roll, which was interesting. Also went to Sainsbury’s and the cemetery, of course.

After the back injury we arrived late at the Archant coffee morning, where I had an interesting conversation with Brian. Later I took Phil and Joy to have their eyes tested. Dropped them near the Guildhall, and they walked to Specsavers. Phil is back to walking better than Joy. Later, I picked them up again.

Nothing much happening in Norwich on Wednesday, but in Coventry Andrew was visiting  Minster Lodge and making a very favourable impression, extending as far as a group hug.

Yesterday was more eventful than anticipated. I started with a scheduled blood test, then when I was asking the chemist if he had my renewed prescription pills (he hadn’t) I received a text from the surgery asking me to make an appointment to see a doctor. This was either the quickest blood test results in history, or a coincidence. Reader, it was the latter. I returned to the surgery, and the receptionist suggested it was to arrange a review of my medication. So I fixed a date later this month with a doctor I had never heard of.

Then, while Dot was having lunch with the lovely Juliet at Presto’s, I managed to break a tooth. I e-mailed the dentist and got a call back just after 2pm asking if I could come up immediately, if not sooner. I got a few yards down the road and realised I’d forgotten the broken-off bit of tooth, then while retrieving it thought it might be quicker to go by car. I ended up in John Lewis’ car park and arrived at the dentist to get the tooth fixed.

I was about to go home when I thought it might be helpful to Dot to use the car; so I gave her a ring at Presto’s. Surprisingly, she was not planning to do shopping; so we shared the ride home, dropping in at the polling station to vote on the way. Meanwhile (before the tooth broke) I had been moving the MX5 when I noticed the two suspect tyres were down. I took it to Keep-Fit, and they sorted it by the end of the day: apparently it was the seal between the alloy rims and the tyres.

Today I tried again for my pills, but they still hadn’t arrived; so the chemist gave me them anyway, planning (I presume) to replenish his stock when they arrived. I renewed on Tuesday; so you would have thought they’d had long enough at the surgery to sort it out.

While Dot has been decluttering I’ve done a bit of clearing up myself, mainly in the bedroom. Eventually I found the Voltarol, but it didn’t make much difference. Still, everything is now tidy. I’ve also booked tickets for a couple of concerts.

Bit of an end-of-an-era week in Aspland Road, as Sam and Ellie moved out on Tuesday. They are now living with Chris off Ketts Hill.

Well, we did go to Felbrigg for a walk with the Hendersons last Monday. In the course of it I discovered that my energy levels have dipped dramatically: all three of them could walk faster than me, and that’s not counting the dog. Not sure why this should be: I suspect a hangover from the various minor health problems I’ve been having. Up to now, my stamina has always been very good. Yes, I know: I’m getting old.

In the evening another stamina-sapping event – the annual parish meeting. As members of the PCC we had an added bonus: as well as the main meeting (80minutes), we had a half-hour pre-meeting meeting and a 20-minute post-meeting meeting. Happily there was a meal too. During the post-meeting meeting I suggested that Jesus would not have had a health and safety policy. I could have added that if he’d done a risk assessment, we might not have been there at all, but I knew I’d be crucified if I’d said that. Ho, ho.

An altogether more relaxing event the following day: Cake and Compline at the Archers, with everybody in attendance. According to my diary nothing much happened the next two days. I was probably asleep, or writing articles for Parish Pump. I seem to remember a couple of short walks, but it was very cold.

David left for Canada on Friday. I always feel rather nervous when he’s so far away. Before he left, however, we had a Paston Footprints steering committee meeting, which went surprisingly well, possibly because Dot made a cake.  In the evening, while David was in the air, we went with the Robinsons to the Wildebeest at Stoke to celebrate Philip’s 77th birthday. I drove there from their house, and impressed Philip with the speed of the journey. I think “impressed” is the right word. The meal was excellent. Duck.

More excitement yesterday, when Dot and I drove to remote Mautby for a Paston-related event put on by the local church as a kind of launch for their “hub” of the Footprints project. They managed to fill the church for a talk by Rob and Lucy, plus various re-enacting. We attracted the Lord Mayor of Yarmouth and Ingrid, the deputy head of one of Dot’s schools. Peter shot a video – https://youtu.be/fjfex8IpswE – and a reporter compiled something for the local paper and its website. in the churchyard I had a long talk with a woman who claimed descent from Robert Kett. She said she was not feeling rebellious.

Meanwhile, Norwich City went 3-0 up away to Leeds and managed to hang on to draw 3-3. We listened to the nail-biting conclusion on the way home.

Today we had a cake (by Anna) at church for Phyllis’s birthday, and a very pleasant service. Chris Denton called in afterwards to talk about her mother (Anne Travis), who is in a care home, and we are arranging to go to see her near her birthday, in a week or two. Afterwards Dot, Phil and I pooped over to the old church to show our faces for the Flintspiration weekend – a kind of celebration of Norwich’s old flint churches. Stuart was in charge as usual, and doing a good job. He told me he had been inspired by Rosemary, a church member who died some years ago and who was lovely.

We did drive to Holt last Wednesday as advertised, had a scone in Byfords and bought a new strip light from our favourite lighting shop, which has everything electrical that you can’t get in Norwich. Also picked up my replacement jumper from Bakers and Larners: the assistant suggested that it was probably the washing machine that had caused the holes; so we bought a special washing bag. And some food, though there was no suggestion that food had caused the holes.

At some point during the last few days we noticed that a tyre on Dot’s car looked flat; so after filling the tank  with petrol we checked the tyres and found that the one in question  was 8 psi, when it should be 25. Another was in the mid-teens. I suspect two very slow punctures, which I shall have to keep an eye on. Reassuringly, the tyres on my car were fine, but we seem to have lost the chargers from both cars. Dot suspects the cleaners.

On Thursday we had a visit from Sam and Lucy, together with the irrepressible Elliott (3), who had a go on my guitar and generally ran amok. Fortunately, he didn’t break or lose anything. Nice to see them: a fairly rare event, as the rip from Southampton is not easy.

Ini the afternoon we went to a meeting at the Smiths on Aylsham Road to discuss the future (I love these small agendas). Also present were Carol, a retired Anglican vicar and hippie who goes to C3, Andrew Partridge and Simon Snell. We talked about the different congregations and what they did or didn’t have in common. Surprisingly interesting.

On Friday we both attended Chris Wakeley’s funeral at St Mary’s, Ditchingham. Dot got there by a circuitous route from a Yarmouth school where she had attended morning assembly, and I went direct. It was at 11am. Actually it was over a quarter of an hour late starting, and quite bizarre, in a C of E sort of way. Many were dressed in Norwich City colours, and the opening music was On the Ball, City. The vicar didn’t seem to be fully engaged, which is not surprising, but on the plus side, Dot went to school with his wife. We didn’t know anyone else there apart from Katy, Chris’s daughter, but the church was packed. Our connection with Chris and Katy is that Chris’s mother was Maud Lincoln, who was a stalwart of St Augustine’s when we first went there, and as a result Chris and Katy used to come occasionally, though they haven’t been for quite a while. Katy is in a wheelchair with chronic ME.

Afterwards we returned to Norwich in time to get our hair cut by Linda. This was a highlight – or several highlights, in Dot’s case – and nicely timed for her concert with the Sillars Orchestra on the Saturday, not to mention the Friday night game at Carol Road, which she attended while I watched it on NOW TV, after I’d missed the first half-hour trying to figure out why it didn’t work. It turned out to be Apple’s brilliant new security system, which supplied me with a verification code but nowhere to insert it. I turned the BNSS off and saw the rest of the match.

Dot attended the rehearsal at 2.15pm on Saturday and during the break between then and the performance called in to see the Hendersons and eat smoked salmon sandwiches. Meanwhile I caught up on some tidying, tried unsuccessfully to get the printer to work, and went to the performance in the company of Judy. We parked on Mansfield Lane and walked up through the churchyard, thus avoiding the parking mayhem up top. However, this did mean we had to walk down a steep path in the dark afterwards, which was fun.

The performance was excellent, with all the usual suspects in attendance. I particularly liked Peter Warlock’s Capriol Suite and Edward German’s Henry VIII Suite. I could have done without the music from A Chorus Line, though it was well performed. In the raffle, Judy won a purse, and Maryta a bottle of Pinot Gris.

More excitement yesterday when, after a Holy Communion that included healing prayers for Christine and Ray, Dot and I departed hot-foot for the Brome Grange Hotel, south of Scole on the A140, where we celebrated Angela’s 60th birthday with Rodney, Andy and Donna, Victoria Rose and John and Margaret. An extremely convivial occasion, with excellent food. Highly recommended if you’re in the area.

Later, when we were too tired to concentrate properly, we received a phone call from Maryta asking us to go for a walk at Felbrigg this afternoon. Dot agreed to this, and we are still trying to think of ways to avoid it in view of the inclement weather. This morning I got a call from Andrew’s CPN, who had been to see him. Apparently Andrew told her he hadn’t seen me for a long time. Hmmm.

An eventful week – more eventful than we had anticipated after David’s car (our old one) broke something at Little Plumstead on the way home from Ranworth on Wednesday. We had been out for a walk and had been intending to return home for a cup of tea before going for another walk from home. But on the Plumstead road there was a lot of noise from the back nearside, and we couldn’t pin it down, even after pulling into a side road and exploring the underside of the car.

After driving a few more yards rather gingerly it appeared that the engine protector had come adrift. David called roadside assistance, and I headed off to look for a bus (in case the assistance was a long time coming). In fact help came quickly, and it was established (apparently) that the shock absorber was broken as well as the engine protector). So David, Dot and the children got a lift back home, and I eventually walked to Salhouse station and caught the 16.34 into Norwich.

The next day (Maundy Thursday) there was some delay before the low-loader arrived to take David and family back to Caddington, but they got back just in time for Amy to be given a lift by Miranda to her sleepover at Amilie’s. Meanwhile Dot and I were having a long rehearsal with Phil for our Good Friday event, running through the songs and hymns and watching a few YouTube songs by way of a break.

This paid off the following day when we had an audience of just over 30 at St Augustine’s – two-thirds of them from St Luke’s. Dot had been to the football at Carrow Road, and we were delayed by football traffic; so it was all a bit frantic as we prepared to start, and I completely forgot to get my guitar out and tune it. Fortunately it was sufficiently in tune when we got to the first hymn, and the whole event went reasonably well, though I was never able to relax. Happily it was all very well received, and everyone enjoyed Dot’s giant Easter cake afterwards.

On Saturday Dot travelled down to Dunstable and picked up the family outside the Leisure Centre after their swimming. Following a quick break at Caddington, they drove home and arrived mid-afternoon. Meanwhile I did a big shop at Morrison’s and cleared up. At some point during the visit there were several Easter egg hunts and other games, including Cluedo, which I somehow managed to win. I also managed to beat Oliver at table tennis a couple of times, which may not happen again.

On Sunday Oliver came to church with us. I was leading and preaching, and he seemed to enjoy it. He even played piano at the end when we did All Will be Well, and he did it very well. Later we tried some other songs at home and recorded one on my phone. He’s very musical and quickly adjusts if I change the timing, which is more than some people do. We had roast chicken in the evening, which I cooked.

Earlier we had watched Rogue One and Fantastic Creatures and Where to Find them, both of which were well worth seeing. Slightly preferred the latter.

The weather during most of the weekend was not all that good; so we stayed in mostly. I drove David, Oliver and Amy home late on Monday afternoon. We encountered quite a few hold-ups, especially on the Elveden stretch, but after Newmarket everything was straightforward. After dropping them off I went back to buy petrol and then had some toast cheese while watching David and Oliver play computer football. All to bed by 21.45.

I was up first yesterday, and everyone was busy. David took the car to his local garage, where it later transpired that it was not the shock-absorber that was broken, but the piece of metal attaching it to the car. Ironically, this will be more expensive to replace, as it has to be a genuine Mazda part. After checking with the hospital at Warwick that Andrew was still there, I left about 10.30 and took it fairly easy, stopping at Watford Gap, where I explained to a guy handing out leaflets why smart motorways were so dangerous. He didn’t argue with me.

I drove on to Coventry (isn’t the M45 wonderful?) and parked at Memorial Park, where I rang Dot and then went for a short walk before proceeding to Warwick, arriving about an hour early for visiting hours. I parked in the cemetery and walked down by the canal, then drove to the hospital and decided to see if I could get in early.

It turned out that I could. The only person who seemed to take any responsibility for this was a large cleaner, and I wasn’t going to argue with her. Nurses were very thin on the ground and not really interested, beyond showing me to Andrew’s bedroom. Andrew himself was amazingly good – better than I have seen him for a very long time – and we had quite a conversation about various things, much of it based on a magazine I had bought him and a couple of books he had borrowed from the hospital’s stock.

I left about 3pm and drove back to Norwich, stopping at Cambridge Services and arriving at about 6.30pm. Fortunately the weather as a whole was good for driving. In the evening Dot and I were given a lift by Judy to Howard’s for a Julian evening, which was very enjoyable. Somehow I managed to stay awake, which was quite surprising in view of the white wine I drank. Sadly Anna was upstairs with a migraine.

This morning Dot had a fasting blood test, and this afternoon we may drive to Holt.

Hard to believe, but my mouth is still very uncomfortable, despite another visit to the dentist yesterday. He gave me a clean and scrape and said he thought it was all just part of the healing process, which was not really all that reassuring.  Still, it could be worse.

Other than that, very much a Coomes week. Last Thursday we drove down to see Kristine and David, and had apricot and treacle tarts.  Good journey down with Dot driving, but on the way back we left during rush hour and then ran into a hold-up on the M11 – probably a result of cars breaking down. This slowed us considerably,  but it eased after the M25, and the latter part of the journey wan’t too bad. We stopped for petrol at Morrison’s in Norwich.

The next day Jennie (Coomes wife number one) came up for the weekend and seemed much better since her kidney transplant. After lunch we walked along the river path and up to the Cathedral, where we looked at the Hostry exhibition and then walked through the Cathedral before making our way home. Later we had a meal at Prezzo’s, which was good.

It was a beautiful spring weekend; so on Saturday we drove up to North Norfolk, stopping off at Holt to take back a jumper that had developed holes in it. After that we drove down to Salthouse and then Cley, where we had a sandwich and a cup of tea, plus a short walk to the group of three hides. Saw a marsh harrier, some shovelers, lapwings and snipe, plus one or two other birds.

Drove on to Blakeney, where we had scones and tea at the Blakeney Hotel’s upstairs lounge. Then on to Morston, for a drive round the new parking facilities, and Stiffkey marshes, where we stopped for a while. It was close to high tide, but no sign of incoming water. Pretty much idyllic conditions.

Drove back overland through Langham, Bale, Gunthorpe and Melton Constable, then across country to Spixworth for the easiest entry into Norwich, which worked well.

On Palm Sunday we all went to church, taking both cars so that Dot could give Howard and Anna a lift to the station afterwards. Another lovely day. Howard spoke on Leviticus (part of a series of his), which was surprisingly interesting. After lunch we showed Jennie some pictures of the Outer Hebrides, and then she went home.

Yesterday (after the dentist and lunch) I dropped off Dot at the Greens’ for a rehearsal of their Good Friday music. .

Today David, Oliver and Amy arrived for a few days. So far we have had lunch and played table tennis, as well as watching some football. Amy has done some homework. I have also spoken on the phone to David Coomes’ second wife, Anne. Hat-trick.

The past few days have been dominated by health, yet again. Dot’s colonoscopy was on Tuesday at 5.30pm, but this affected the previous two days because of the restricted diet she was allowed. She also had to take the rather unpleasant drink that would empty her bowels. On Monday night this didn’t seem to have worked, which was quite worrying. In the end it turned out Dot had been sipping it instead of drinking it in glassfuls, and eventually it did work – only too well, as usual.

However, we didn’t get much sleep that night. This was also partly because I’d had my back tooth out, and my mouth was hurting much more than I thought it would – not where the tooth had been extracted, but just about everywhere else on that side. I’ve taken quite a lot of paracetamol / cocodamol, and it has quietened down, but I still feel very fuzzy, and the site of the extraction looks infected.

As a result I didn’t sleep very well last night. In an hour or so I am going up to the dentist to get it checked.* Meanwhile Dot had her colonoscopy, which was a bit of an ordeal, requiring two lots of sedation, but actually was very successful in that it was complete and revealed nothing untoward. I had a 2½-hour wait for her, which would have been fine if (a) I’d known it would have been that long and (b) I’d remembered to take a book. As it was I didn’t do much except think about my teeth.

Afterwards we went home and had a late meal, followed by a really good night’s sleep.

In the middle of all that I went to the monthly Archant coffee morning and explained that Dot really couldn’t come. Oh, no.

Yesterday we took some old clothes to the Break charity shop on Unthank Road and returned a boxful of recyclable material to Hello Fresh by leaving it at the Rosary Road shop to be picked up. Afterwards we went to Morrisons and bumped into a bronzed Carrie S and Matt collecting food for their food bank. Carrie has just returned from a painting holiday in Naples. My tooth was feeling dodgy but I decided against going up to the dentist’s – probably a mistake.

Last Sunday I preached and led the service, because Phil was taking his wife to see her mother. As Carrie and the Greens were away I also had to play guitar. At least Liz C was there to do the prayers. Afterwards the vicar popped in to do the annual DCC meeting. We had a quorum this time.

*Possible low-grade infection, possible normal healing process. I have antibiotics.

Not much to report this week: we have had some reasonable weather, but I haven’t ventured far afield. I did manage to get up to the Cathedral at one point, partly to see the rather spectacular Hostry tapestry exhibition based on Revelation, but mainly to take a tour of David Holgate’s letter-cutting – more than 20 examples in all, plus a couple by Philippa Fawcett, his apprentice.

I’ve been rather lacking in energy, to be honest, though I did strip the ivy off the front wall and tided up a bit in the garden. Dot has been very active in the garden generally, buying quite a few plants, plus a mirror and some paint. She is now painting the hall. Colin Wright popped in on Wednesday to look at her plans for a shed, and in the end we decided on a quite different position, by the garage wall.

I did go up to the garage with the MX5 on Thursday to ask about a watery swishing sound in the bodywork. It turned out that the drainage holes were blocked on one side, and the service guy unblocked them on the spot. Before that Dot and I had delivered a microwave meal (obtained from the church freezer) to Phyllis and bought some rolls and ham for her. As we were leaving her house, Liz Day arrived to see if she was OK. Sophie has also been supplying meals for her, but the people who usually keep an eye on Phyllis are both on holiday.

While I was at the garage Dot was having lunch with Carrie B. By the time she got home I was having a cup of tea in the garden with Paul and Maryta, who had called in while buying tickets from the station. Not often I offer people tea in the garden.

Annette dropped in on Tuesday, just before Dot arrived back from her walk with Anne. We had egg, bacon and chips again and talked about the South African branch of her family, which is very, very complicated.

While not expending much physical energy this week, I have got some things done: 90 per cent of the work on our Good Friday event, for instance. Also a sermon for tomorrow, when  I also have to lead the service, as Phil is taking his wife to see her mother. I also have to  play the guitar, as all our stand-in musicians are away.

I have just read the final book in the Peter May Hebrides trilogy – this one on the Kindle. Very good. Interesting story in the Telegraph this morning about a polar bear found on North Uist. I was almost convinced until they revealed that its nickname was Lirpa Loof, which meant fluffy in Norwegian. When on the Acton Gazette, I came close to running a story about a Polish guy called Loof Lirpa, but the editor decided it might offend Poles.

Earlier in the week I decided not to call a meeting of the Paston trustees, in case one or more of them resigned. Not entirely sure what’s going on.

Today and yesterday we have been visited by a tiny goldcrest, who flutters up and down against the front door for no apparent reason. She (I think it’s a she) seems very excited. She may know something I don’t.