Monthly Archives: February 2009

26 February 2009

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This is the weathervane on Knapton Church in North Norfolk – designed by the famous Norwich School artist J S Cotman. The church also contains an amazing angel-strewn double hammerbeam roof, if you like that sort of thing. It is quite spectacular, and I visited the church yesterday, during a walk from Pigneys Wood, near North Walsham. The wood is in fact in the parish of Knapton but also part of the sprawling old village of Paston, which is why I was there, because it is the start of one of Lucy’s Paston Walks, which I was checking out. After walking down to the North Walsham and Dilham Canal and back (1 mile) I did most of the walk, a distance of about 4.5 miles. Lovely part of Norfolk, especially the green lane along the low ridge towards Knapton, though it was bit muddy in the milder but wetter weather we’ve been having.

Earlier in the day I’d driven to Barnham Broom Country Club to have lunch with Dot in between her visits to Barnham Broom School and Carbrooke School, in her role as diocesan school support officer. Very pleasant bar area and a good sandwich. The previous day I’d driven to Caddington to spend a couple of hours with David while Dot was at Terrington St Clement School running some very successful P4C sessions with Barbara. They stayed in a Premier Inn at West Lynn on Sunday and Monday night and did two full days on the Monday and Tuesday. An excellent response from children and teachers. She really does do an awful lot of good stuff for schools.

I had spent most of the Monday preparing stuff for Ambient Wonder: my chess match was cancelled in the evening. In the morning the cooker man had come to insert the new thermostat, which he did by taking the entire stove out of the fitted surround and then reinserting it – all of which can only have taken about a quarter of an hour. Amazing how quickly you can do something if you know what you’re doing. Late afternoon Lisa came round to record some of her poems for the Paston exhibition, and I delivered the CD to Lucy after the walk yesterday. I’ve entered three poems for another competition in Stafford and have re-entered three for the Wigtown competition, because the first three went missing. Sadly I seemed to have no record of which three they were, so I had to guess. Probably wrongly. Ho hum.

21 February 2009

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This is Wolferton station in West Norfolk, which until the late 1960s was the Queen’s private railway station when she was at Sandringham. It was closed in 1969 and is now a private residence. We visited Wolferton during our trip to West Norfolk last week. It was the first time I’d been there: I hadn’t realised how out on a limb it was. While we drove round it started snowing and didn’t stop for about six hours. You can see the first flakes in the photograph.

It’s warmed up quite a bit since then. It’s also been pretty damp and this week there have been some very dull days when the whole sky seems full of water, just hanging there. Today is much nicer: a blue sky. Dot is at Hempnall for a meeting with members of the P4C group which usually meets at Ipswich. They are putting a book together to introduce a particular strand of P4C to England. It takes the “philosophy” aspect a bit more literally than Dot’s project does, but it has the same basis.

Yesterday Dot was not feeling at all well, but she made a miraculous recovery toward the end of the day after taking an hour’s rest on the bed. Her cousin Angela and husband Rodney came for a meal in the evening, and we had a really good time chewing over family matters and other things. Earlier in the day I had a PSA blood test to be sent to my consultant in preparation for a visit next month to see if my treatment was totally successful. I am optimistic. After a short period feeling a bit under the weather about a week ago I now feel pretty good. I went with my nephew Joe to the Cathedral library in the afternoon to hear a talk on Julian of Norwich which was very well attended and quietly interesting. The speaker was Father Gregory from the Order of St Julian in America.

Earlier in the week I visited the second artist I’m collaborating with for the Norwich 20 Group exhibition. She is Ruthli Losh-Atkinson, and she lives at Eaton. Her current work is centred on a trip she took to the Arctic, and her pictures are abstract meditations on the tundra, which I suspect may be a bit of a challenge to write poems about. But I have a few ideas. Later I managed to win a chess game against an 84-year-old. Quite a nice finish.

I have visited both artists again since then: Sandra because she wanted to photograph the painting I have, and Ruthli because I forgot to give her a copy of my poetry book. I also called in at the Grapevine to take a second look at Martin Laurance’s exhibition and was sorely tempted to buy a picture, but restrained myself because I don’t have any spare cash at the moment.

On Wednesday evening Dot noticed while clearing the garden up that the kitchen drain was overflowing in quite a serious way. I called our insurers, and a very pleasant guy came the following morning to fix it. He also took a look at a mark on the kitchen ceiling which was spotted during our Tuesday Group meeting, but reassured us that it was probably a one-off overflow from the bath through the plug system. He was less reassuring about the firm that is fixing our cooker and suggested we check to make sure the costs weren’t too high. Ho hum. While talking to the drains guy we discovered that drain-cleaning products are generally useless, and a kettle of boiling water is the best bet to keep drains free. He also suggested running the dishwasher and washing machine through empty and at a high temperature twice every four or five months to clean the pipes. Not very eco-friendly at first glance, but probably worth it in the long run.

Later that day, while Dot opened her business bank account with Barbara, I went to Paston for a session on iMovie, which was fun because quite few of the Paston poets and artists were there, including Rupert, but probably didn’t increase my knowledge of iMovie very much. Afterwards I drove down to the cliffs again, past the deserted holiday camp.

20 February 2009

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A photograph of the frozen River Bure taken during a cold winter a few years ago, with the abbey in the background. It has been hanging in a frame in the hall, but it was disturbed during cleaning today and I had to adjust it. Before I did I thought I’d scan it. It’s lost a bit of its colour, but I still like the composition.

16 February 2009

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This is the owl I was chasing near Fring, mentioned in my last post. The picture was taken from a good 50-60 yards away, using full magnification, and I brought it closer again by cropping. Surprisingly sharp.

Spent much of Saturday watching rugby union, but in the evening – it being Valentine’s Day – Dot and I went for a meal at 18 Bedford Street. This was about as good as it gets. We started with what they amusingly call an “Amuse Bush” (some mishtake, surely?) of oysters on ice. Neither of us had had oysters before, but we both enjoyed them, and all the other courses were brilliant too. At the end the owner asked us if it was all right. I said it wasn’t all right: it was absolutely outstanding, and so were the staff. He gave us free liqueurs! Last year’s Valentine’s Day meal (at St Benedict’s Restaurant) was brilliant, but this was even better.

Yesterday was the blessing of Beatrice, Ruth and Steve’s baby, at St Augustine’s. Large congregation, of course, and a good time was had by all. In the evening I went to the Ambient Wonder planning event, mainly because Heather had practically pleaded with me in the morning. Dot wasn’t feeling too well, so I made her stay at home. Only five of us at AW, but we got something planned on the theme of Wilderness.

Today I’ve picked up Sandra’s painting, for which I am writing a poem, and it is now hanging in the living room. I am a little frightened of going anywhere near it. Dot is writing her inspection report. The weather is milder at last.

14 February 2009

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Busy week. Carrie turned up in hospital, but is recovering. Meanwhile I’ve met Sandra, who I’m collaborating with for the Norwich 20 Group exhibition. She lives off Earlham Road and showed me a series of pictures she’s doing on Norwich. Happily, I really like them, and we found we were on a similar wavelength, so it should go well. I have written a poem, and it may or may not be the final one: I’m quite pleased with it. It’s called Stretched Stone. At the moment, anyway. However, I was then approached by another artist who wanted to collaborate, and after some initial caution (wasn’t sure I should be collaborating with more than one artist for this exhibition) it transpired that she knows Sandra, who is quite happy about it. I should see her next week: I’ve left a message on her answerphone. Exciting times!

On Tuesday Dot went out to a couple of schools at Tacolneston and Wreningham, wearing her DSSO hat, and I had a long list of things to do, all of which were completed and have now been forgotten. On Wednesday she spent the first part of the day with Barbara at Metfield discussing the P4C project, while I walked to Surrey Chapel to deliver my talk to Joy’s afternoon group. Turned out I had completely underestimated the length of it, which meant it was rather unbalanced, with the poetry only just scraping in at the end. Rather too much on my early life, I suspect. Still, could have been worse.

On Dot’s return from Metfield we travelled to the King’s Head at Bircham, which is a lovely hotel, quite sophisticated in an unpretentious sort of way. Quite difficult sometimes to find a member of staff on the premises, but a very warm welcome when you did run into them. We had a good meal in the evening, and I indulged in steak, which was excellent. The next day I took Dot to her inspection at Flitcham school, about five miles away. One of her interviewees was the Queen’s chaplain, who is the local incumbent. I went for a brief walk in the Fring area. Found a white owl which looked snowy but was almost certainly barn. Followed it for a while. Walked up a hill on the Peddar’s Way to Dovehill Wood at the top. Not exactly a stiff climb, but the guidebook calls it “an Everest for Norfolk” at about 200ft (61m). Very cold morning, but the sun made it pleasant. The back roads were pretty icy. After I picked up Dot we had a sandwich back at the hotel bar and then went for a drive to Thornham on the coast. Brief stroll, but the wind was bleak and bitter, and we retreated to the car. We then tried Sandringham, but it was pretty cold there too, though the shop, restaurant and toilets were all open. We decided to go back to the hotel, but took an excursion first to Wolferton, which I hadn’t realised was so remote. The old station was well preserved. It used to be kept open purely for the Queen, but eventually shut in 1969. While we were there it started to snow, so we drove back to Bircham as the snow got heavier. It kept snowing for about six hours, and I was concerned about getting Dot to Flitcham the next morning, but by then the temperature had risen above freezing, and the roads were actually better than they’d been the previous day. Still plenty of snow, though: the photograph was taken from our bedroom window at about 7.30am. Another good meal at the hotel while the snow fell, and the only two other people there turned out to be colleagues of Birgit at the nearby Construction Industry Training Centre. They clearly liked her, and the hotel owner liked one of them (possibly both), so he provided all four of us with a champagne-type drink on the house. Which was very nice.

While Dot paid her second visit to Flitcham yesterday, I returned to the hotel, had a bath and packed and wrote a bit of a poem about the owl. Left at 11am, drove round by the training centre to see what it was like and then by a circuitous route to Flitcham, where I parked and looked round the church, then walked down to the River Babingley. Dot emerged a bit late, and we drove straight back to Norwich, eating as little as possible for the rest of the day.

9 February 2009

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Yesterday morning in the grounds of Eltham College, South London, where Paul Henderson is headmaster. Also in the picture are his wife Maryta and my wife Dot, and their dog, who may be called Jim, if I remember rightly. Dot is sporting a spectacular fur coat given to her by her aunt, and Maryta has a hat from Poland which originally has tassels on it. We were taking a walk round the playing fields, which featured a few giant snowballs but mainly green grass. We travelled down on the Saturday, and the roads were no problem at all. We left fairly early on the Sunday, after brunch, and the drive home was even easier. Both times we took the Blackwall Tunnel route: went slightly wrong a couple of times on the way south, but nothing serious. No problems on the way back. Paul has done a fantastic job at the school: lots of new ideas and some brilliant progress in the music department especially. Lots of work done by the pupils in the community as well.

On the Friday we went out to Park Farm, where we had lunch, then called in to Waitrose, where we ran into the vicar’s wife. Bitterly cold day, but almost no snow left, so no trouble getting around. On the way south on Saturday we saw plenty of snow in the fields north of London, and David and family are stiill grappling with deep snow, though today the roads are OK, and Vicky has been to work. Oliver has been quite ill with a high temperature and a cold that has now gone to his chest. Amy has also had a bad cold but seems to be over it. Both are at home today.

We had out hair cut this morning, and Dot is now in the city: she was due to meet Carrie, but she didn’t show up, and her answerphone is full up, so Dot is rather worried about her. I’m due to meet a painter this afternoon with a view to collaborating, but haven’t got a time yet. Have left a message for her. More snow is forecast, which is a bit worrying as Dot is due to visit two schools tomorrow, and on Wednesday we’re both booked in at the King’s Head, Bircham, in preparation for an inspection she’s doing at Flitcham. Not feeling in peak condition myself. Got a recurrence of flu symptoms, though of course only in a very minor way.

5 February 2009

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This is Barbara and Dot as they set off for their head teachers’ conference on Tuesday. The snow had miraculously melted overnight, and there was no problem in reaching the venue – either for Dot and Barbara or anyone else. It was all a big success, with universally excellent feedback. The only problem came afterwards when an exhausted Dot sent out the invoices for the packs all addressed to the wrong school. This turned out to be a technology problem, which I helped her sort out yesterday. Lots of people indicated that they would be booking them to do in-school sessions. I greeted them with champagne on their return home and did all the cooking and preparation for the Tuesday Group, which makes a change. I usually sit around and let Dot do it. The only thing I’m worried about now is that Dot is practically working full-time at the moment. She visited two schools yesterday with her DSSO hat on and has more in the pipeline. She is also down for two inspections next month – following one next week. Today she has spent all day on her PIB (don’t ask) for that. Meanwhile the man came to change our electricity meter, which he did remarkably quickly.

This morning we woke up to more snow, but during the day it melted. Meanwhile in Caddington it is still thick, and the children and Vicky were all at home because of the treacherous roads. Here a meeting at Diocesan House was cancelled, though probably not for any good reason. Helped Dot, though.

Yesterday, while Dot was out at Hapton and Tasburgh, I picked up the Paston book from the library. The librarian kindly protected it with cardboard for me, and I just had to carry it down to the car. It is now in the guest bedroom, which is a little bit worrying as it’s worth over £1000. Of course, the average burglar wouldn’t know that and would be unable to sell it anyway. Lucy has sent me loads of stuff for her upcoming guidebook in the hope that I will be able to knock it into shape. I now have to work out which shape to knock it into.

2 February 2009

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Snow arrived just too late to spoil the big day yesterday, when relatives converged from far (Wolverhampton) and wide (Portsmouth) for Auntie Ethel’s 85th birthday celebrations at her niece Angela’s house in Dereham. David and family were up for the weekend and came too. An awesome buffet defeated everyone, and goodwill was everywhere. Oliver and Amy were on best behaviour, and Oliver spent much of his time looking after Maddie, who must be some relation; let’s think – it’s his father’s mother’s cousin’s son’s daughter. That sounds fairly close. Anyway, she’s two and having fun. Justin and his friend Heidi drove up from Portsmouth (and back), Donna came from Wolverhampton with her friend Andy, and Rosie came from Buck Brigg with her friend Roger. Sadly Peter (Maddie’s grandfather and Ethel’s nephew: are you following this?) is in hospital with pneumonia. I am reading his autobiography and have just reached the bit where he went into hospital with pneumonia and hoped that he would never have to go through that again. Well, it would have been nice.

I have just discovered that you can generate primes by the formula x2 + x + 41, which is neat, and what’s even neater is that I worked out how to include superscript in that by using html. Very satisfying.

Anyway, David and his family arrived on Saturday. We looked after the children while David and Vicky went into the city, and had a generally pleasant day, culminating in a game of bridge, which Dot and I lost conclusively. It was the cards, you know. That and superb play from our opponents.

After the Ethel extravaganza they went straight back to Caddington, because snow had started to fall and it was bitterly cold. They got home safely, but today Oliver’s school was closed, and there was heavy snow over much of the country, especially the London area, which was pretty much crippled. It snowed here too, but nowhere near as much, and tonight it was above freezing and soggy rather than slippy. Nevertheless we felt it prudent not to go the PCC meeting…

On Saturday evening we went to the Eagles for dinner and met Roger’s brother Tim, who works at Hansells and knows Jonathan, who he described as “very good”. He was with Jackie, who was Scottish and knows all the places we do, plus a good many more. So there was plenty to talk about, and we didn’t leave till well after midnight.

Today I wrote an article on the Paston book with the hope that Eco Echo might like it. I also attempted to book Blakeney for our reunion in June, but found that their single rooms were booked up. Will try again tomorrow: Maureen has agreed to accept a double room if necessary. Dot is busy over-preparing her stuff for tomorrow – her big day.