Granddaughter Amy being attacked by a bear but retaining her appetite
One of those weeks where you seem to have plenty of time to do stuff, and so you fritter most of it away. Weather has not been brilliant – wet and dull all day yesterday – but at the moment the rain has relented, which pleases Dot, as she’s scheduled to have lunch in the city with Anne a bit later. It’s a bit autumnal: cooler without being anywhere near cold. I’ve had my second ear-syringe (note the hyphen) which seems to have cleared all the wax, though the ears (and head) are still strangely crackly. On the plus side, I can hear better. The sound of the rain on the car roof as I returned from my appointment with Martine (we name the guilty nurse) was strangely loud. I’ve also had my teeth cleaned by a hygienist, who is so highly skilled that it doesn’t really hurt at all. So I should be in good shape.
I’ve managed to write a Paston poem, linking the last Margaret with the first of the family who arrived at Paston from France. Think it just about works. Need to speak to Annette in more detail about the workshop. The church magazine editors’ training plans have been laid aside temporarily, because one of the key guys is too busy and Anne’s dog is not well. Not sure if it will ever happen. However, I have written most of my sermon for Sunday. Most of the church will be either at Greenbelt or some other holiday venue, so I am prepared for a very small congregation.
Played my first chess game of the new season on Monday, after negotiating quite deep flooding on the road approaching the club. Hesitated to go through at first, but saw a bus a negotiate it, so followed. When I reached the club several other people were there, so I felt a bit of a wimp. However, recovered enough to draw a tight game against Jon Burrows, who’s graded about 30 points higher than me. As it was a knockout competition game, I have to play him again – probably on Monday.
Another Monday. Where did the week go? Seven days ago I was rather dreading a visit to the dentist, but it turned out well: sensitivity proved less serious than I thought. Still, I have to see the hygienist this week…
On Tuesday things turned exciting. I was informed by my son on Monday evening that Oliver was expecting us at about 10am the following morning; after an initial hollow laugh we decided to see what we could do and ended up leaving the house at 8.15am. Despite heavy traffic, and to everyone’s astonishment, we got to Caddington just after 10.15am, and an hour or so later we were Norwich-bound with grandchildren loaded. We stopped at Cambridge Services for lunch, just in time to stop Amy dying of hunger, and got home mid-afternoon.
We were fortunate to get the loan of Fred and Sue’s caravan at Beeston Regis (West Runton) for a night (or more, if we’d wanted to), and so we left fairly early the next morning, arriving at about 11.30 and in good time for the Red Arrows display at Cromer Carnival. Happily we didn’t have to leave the site: there was a great view from the cliffs, and I took many pictures, of which a surprising proportion turned out quite well. The sky was completely clear while this went on, but as soon as the Hawks disappeared into the distance, clouds started to come over. Still it remained dry and reasonably warm, but as the tide was right in we decided to go and visit Aunt Jessie. This was followed by a visit to Sainsburys for food and a few small items of clothing for the children, and on our return we went down the new steps to the beach: extremely steep, but a great improvement on having to walk all the way to West Runton to gain access to the sand. The tide was still quite a way in, but there were some pools round the groynes on which we sailed a couple of boats and looked unsuccessfully for crabs. Both children were quite successful at getting pretty wet.
"Ginormous" crab in the net
On Thursday we got down to the beach by 9.30 to catch the low tide. It was already coming in, but had a long way to travel, so we were able to do a bit of crabbing in the rock pools. We managed to catch three smallish ones, and then Amy spotted one that was officially described as “ginormous”, and we managed to get it into our net. We were all a bit nervous about it until a boy wandered past, had a look and nonchalantly picked it up. I guess you either have it or you don’t. Eventually all crabs were returned to the wild, and as the tide came in, there was some sandcastling, game-playing and even clay-pot-making – Oliver being inspired by some pots Sue had made and left in the caravan.
After lunch we packed up and drove home by way of the Wizard Maze at Metton. We hadn’t been sure whether to stop or not, but it was a huge success. First we tried to find a number of letter clues in the maze, splitting up on gender lines. Oliver and I found all but two or three, slightly more than the girls, who left the maze early for Amy to play on the varied items in the play area: bouncy pillow, swings, pedal-karts, bales of hay etc. When Oliver and I joined them Dot managed to work out the magic words from the letters we had, and so we won the prize of an activity book and pencil for each of the children. When Oliver got the play area he joined in enthusiastically, and was particularly good on the quad bike. Amy typically made a friend, named Emily, and she had a brother named Barney who was a year older than Oliver. All four had fun on the hay bales before we left quite late for home. Very warm. We were lucky with the weather: we only had the caravan because Fred’s daughter decided not to use it because of the unsettled forecast.
Much quieter day on Friday, which was very warm indeed, making bus drivers very tetchy. Nevertheless we took a bus into the city, where the Norwich City shop was obligingly shut for a refit. I managed to get Oliver a scarf somewhere else in the Mall, and followed up this coup by buying him a casual jacket which he picked out. Meanwhile Dot was buying hair slides for Amy. We walked round a bit in search of the open-top bus tour, but failed to find it. However, we did buy hats for the children from the market, as I was worried about the sun on their heads, and then got a bus home. Not content with this, we then drove to see Auntie Ethel, who gave Oliver a radio and Amy a necklace. After this we went to Prezzo’s for supper; the children were understandably very tired by the end of the day, and we got them into bed quite early, though not before an extremely elaborate car-and-brick construction spread across the floor in the kitchen. David arrived around 10pm, just after we finished watching the cricket.
Oliver prepared to support those Yellows
On Saturday David and I took Oliver to see Norwich City beat Swansea 2-0 in a game they had looked like losing. Ruddy saved a penalty and we then got an own goal, followed up at the death by a brilliant volley from new player Simeon Jackson, who’s Canadian. Meanwhile Dot took Amy to buy flowers and then drop in on a party for Phyllis Todd, who was 100 yesterday. We had originally thought the party was taking place on the Sunday and had kept it clear, but the best laid plans… David and the children departed about 7pm, and we flopped out on the sofa.
Communion service at church yesterday was followed by very little activity from us. We ended up watching four episodes of Battlestar Galactica back-to-back; in our defence the second, third and fourth were actually one story. It really is very good. I’ve finished Avilion, which turned out very well, though you wanted it to continue. Heavy rain and high winds were forecast overnight, but I slept through most of it, and the weather had improved a lot by the time Dot left at 9am to present her Philosophy 4Children to a summer school in Suffolk.
Fred, Dot and Sue on the path between Blakeney and Morston
And so it goes on. The ear syringe turned out to be inconclusive, and I have another appointment in two weeks’ time. Meanwhile, my hearing is not as good as it was before. Something going on in there, obviously. And the weather is pretty up and down too. We put the heating on because we were cold, and the system took revenge by getting hotter and hotter and ignoring all my efforts to turn it off. In the end I turned it completely off at the power switch in the garage, expecting to have to call British Gas on Saturday morning. But no, when I turned it on again, it behaved perfectly normally. And when I went out for a walk the weather was quite warm too. Some rain, admittedly, but I avoided it.
We were lucky, too, with our visit to West Runton on Thursday to see Fred (my best man) and Sue at their caravan. Quite a pleasant afternoon: we had a surprisingly good lunch at Wiveton Fruit Fram followed by tea and scones at the Blakeney Hotel before walking to Morston. From there we caught the Coasthopper bus. Dot and Sue stayed on it right back to West Runton, while Fred and I alighted at Blakeney to pick up the car, cheekily parked at the Manor Hotel, our regular reunion venue. New steps down the cliff at WR, so we popped down to look in the rock pools, revealed by a very low tide.
Friday saw more travelling, this time to Beccles for an evening private view of prints, mainly by Annette and her students. Annette’s mother and sister were there, but we just missed Lucy. Very odd weather. It was cool before we left, so we put on some autumnal clothes. But the gallery was warm verging on very warm, so by the time we left we were boiling. And when we reached Norwich it was pouring with rain, so we were cold, warm, hot and wet in the space of two or three hours. Then very hot when the heating refused to turn itself off…
Saturday was again mixed, but I managed to get out for a three-mile walk in the afternoon. Then out of the blue we went to Godfreys and bought two sorts of hedge cutters and a saw – and not only that but actually cut a few branches off our overgrown hedge. And more today! However, today’s surprise purchase was a windbreak, which we bought at Waxham after seeing what it was like on the beach. This was a joint day out for the two churches or, as it turned out, a very few people from the two churches. It wasn’t cold, but you had to get out of the wind, which was blowing sand everywhere, specifically into the picnic. Dot and I took both our cars so we could give lifts to Phyllis, Elvira, Pepukai, Richard and Allanah, which is a good cross-section not only in age but also culturally, taking in Africa and South America. Quite a good time, but no-one stayed very long after lunch.
I’m getting through Avilion, which is both excellent and mysterious, as Robert Holdstock always is. And we have at last started watching Series 2 of Battlestar Galactica, which is brilliant. Eight episodes down.
Busy, busy. That may be why I feel heavy and listless. Have just been to Carrow Road with Dot to book tickets for the Swansea match for David, Oliver and myself. Only a mile and a-half there and back, and I feel exhausted. Am having my ears syringed shortly, but somehow I suspect that may not have any effect on the exhaustion. Haven’t been sleeping too well and have been having rather unsettling dreams, which is very unusual for me. Weather is still fairly warm, but not without some cloud and rain.
My eye test on Thursday went well: seeing is not a problem, and no new glasses necessary. No explanation as to why I have this burning sensation in my eyes in the evenings sometimes. Jennie arrived on Thursday afternoon: first time we’ve seen her for a while. Her arrival was somewhat marred by an event in the city shortly before her arrival: Dot was stung by a wasp. She was a bit worried at first because of Roger’s anaphylactic near-death experience, but was reassured by a pharmacist. However, the sting did become infected and turned quite unpleasant: swollen arm, very hot, very itchy. Had a bad night and went to see a nurse practitioner on Friday morning, just after I left for Coventry with Phil to take Andrew out on his birthday. Periodic phone calls revealed that she was not at all a happy bunny, and so it was fortunate that Jennie was there to keep an eye on her. The area of infection spread up her arm, and in the evening she called the emergency number, only to be reassured that the penicillin would not have kicked in yet. So a second sleepless night followed, and it was not until Saturday that the infection stopped spreading. It has still not quite subsided, and she is still taking the pills.
Meanwhile, Phil and I had a difficult drive to Coventry, having to take a diversion to avoid a huge hold-up on the A14 between Cambridge and Huntingdon – my least favourite stretch of road in the country and yet another example of short-sighted planning by the highway authorities. It’s the place where all the traffic going from the east to the Midlands and from London to the North-East has to share a two-lane dual carriageway. Who would have guessed that wasn’t enough road space? Not the highway planners, of course.
Andrew, however, was very well, and we took him for an excellent meal to Friday’s before driving to Corley Rocks, which we reached successfully despite Andrew’s directions or, in one case, because of them. One of Andrew’s favourite spots, it’s a bit tired but has potential. Unfortunately its potential is unlikely to be realised. The journey home was much easier.
On Saturday Dot and I took Jennie for a drive round north Norfolk. Jennie had a bad foot and Dot was still feeling groggy and very uncomfortable, so the ride was about the only option. We started by having a look at Paston Church, then lunched at the Ship in Mundesley (excellent again, with the waitress taking an interest in Dot’s arm and providing a welcome bag of ice. I had fish and chips again, and the other two had an imaginative starter followed by something sweet. We went on to Blakeney, where we decided we were not hungry or thirsty enough to take in any more and headed for home, just as it started to rain hard. Went via Holt and across country to Aylsham. Interesting. On Sunday we all went to church and tried out Nicholas’s new liturgy. Jennie returned home in the afternoon.
Annette at Oxburgh Hall
Monday was a beautiful warm and sunny day, and I drove to Oxburgh Hall to reconnoitre for the art/poetry Paston workshop in early September. I met Annette there, and we spoke to the NT’s top woman on site, who was very helpful. Annette and I had lunch in the cafe, which was a cut above, then looked at the nearby church. All fascinating stuff, and useful insofar as we now have a clearer idea of what we’re doing. Not clear, but clearer. Quite a pleasant journey there and back on the Watton road.
Tuesday started rainy for the visit of Pat and Barry Clayton and a couple of their friends. Pat was a college friend of Dot’s, and it was a very long time since we’d seen her. After an expansive cold lunch the rain had stopped (as forecast) and we all walked round the riverside path to the Playhouse, and then back down Elm Hill and through the Cathedral. A pleasant enough stroll, but again I felt very tired at the end. They left at about 6pm to return to their holiday address in the Harleston area, and Dot and I went to Vicky’s for Tuesday group. Tried to pick up Harriet, but she was in considerable pain in her legs, and Dot stayed with her while she rang the doctor. Also called in on the way back: the doctor hadn’t yet arrived, but she was resting and feeling a bit better.
Have finished reading a book by someone who visited the highest points of all the counties in the UK. Not nearly as good as it might have been, unfortunately. Now I’m on to Robert Holdstock’s Avilion, sequel to the wonderful Mythago Wood. Now he is a good writer. Even David Gemmell says so (on the cover).
Old family picture shown to Sam, featuring (left to right) myself, Sam's father, Andrew and our cousin Adrian. Taken at Dovercourt, I believe.
Annoying day yesterday. It looked very much as if it was going to rain, so I kept putting off going for my usual walk. Then it didn’t rain, but it kept looking as if it were going to. The people of Norwich should thank me for not going for a walk, because if I had, it would certainly have rained. Annoying element of day part two: my printer went missing. Not literally. It’s still upstairs, attached to my wife’s computer, but now my computer can’t find it. It’s looking for it, it keeps assuring me. It just can’t find it. It has the right name, and when I don’t want to use it, it tells me it’s ready, but when I try and print something, it just looks for the printer. So everything I want printed has to be e-mailed to Dot first, which is tiresome. Checked on Google for solutions, but they were either incomprehensible or didn’t work. One was so silly even I knew it wouldn’t work, and it didn’t.
Still, by way of compensation, I did get a few things done. Nicholas came round in the morning to talk to Dot about organisation of the John Bell visit while I had a look at the draft of his book (in which I figure among the thanks). After that we discussed changing the liturgy as the first stage in a consultative process which may or may not turn out to be interesting. Later, in the evening, nephew Sam came round and we had a catch-up chat. Also showed him some photos of Wales and some old family pictures, which I’m sure he found rather more compelling. Lucy had been out all day with her mother at Norjam, which is not a new local preserve for spreading on toast but a gathering of Guides, and she didn’t get back in time, so I took Sam home around 11pm.
Oh, and I updated my website, partially rejigging it at the same time.
On Monday we went to Hempnall for lunch at Sue and Roger’s. Lovely house and lovely meal. Made the mistake of rearranging carpet cleaning man for 4pm and had to leave earlier than we would have done. Got back just in time, largely because there were no vehicles on the road between Hempnall and Stoke Holy Cross – a rare phenomenon – and I was able to eat up the miles in the MX5. Nice to drive that for a change.
Tuesday started with a trip to the surgery to get my blood tested. Waiting room packed, which meant of course that when the first name was called, no-one responded. Why does this always happen? Got in 20 minutes late and blood was removed. Now the wait to see if it’s behaving itself. As I had predicted, I was a bit late returning to get my hair cut by Linda, but no-one seemed to mind. In the evening the Tuesday Group was down to five, and knowing that our resident vegetarian was going to be absent, I cooked chili con carne, which I have to say tasted pretty good.
Today is bright, and I shall be going out shortly to see if I can get my eyes tested (get it?). Dot has already been to Park Farm, and she is following this up by shopping at Morrisons in preparation for our friend Jennie’s arrival this afternoon. She will complete the morning with a visit to the dentist, which sounds like fun. I have just rung the hospital in Coventry to confirm that Andrew is Ok to go out for a meal tomorrow, and it seems he is doing well.
Queen Amy processes down the castle steps during our holiday in Llanberis.
The time is just flashing by. Probably something to do with my being 65. It looked as if it was going to be a quiet week, but something happened every day, which I guess is better than the alternative. Tuesday was our 42nd wedding anniversary, and we celebrated with lunch at Caffee Uno (during which it poured with rain outside) and champagne at Tuesday Group. On Wednesday, Dot and I met Jessie at Jarrold’s, had a meal with her and then brought her home to look at our Welsh pictures on Apple TV. To make up for it, we took her home afterwards. On Thursday I went to the hospital while Dot was at Ethel’s. I received a certain amount of reassurance concerning rehabilitation from my operations; I had been feeling a bit down about it. Actually my health is quite good, and I walked halfway home afterwards. It was a bit muggy, so I took a bus the rest of the way: in fact the mugginess has been a constant over the last few days.
On Friday I drove over to Paston while Dot carried through the second stage of a mammoth house-cleaning project, and met with Lucy and Annette to discuss taking the Paston project to Oxburgh Hall. Annette and I will be offering a workshop, if we can work out how to organise it. Every sign that the Paston thing will extend some way into the future, and that there will be more poems and artwork to come from it. Maybe a second book, though it will different from the first – no more copies of which can be printed because several of the plates have unbelievably collapsed or gone missing. I have to write the words for a flyer and a press release, and later this month will be going to Oxburgh Hall with Annette to reconnoitre. After the discussion Annette and I were treated by Lucy to lunch at the Ship in Mundesley: we all went for the fish and chips, and were not disappointed. Good service: according to Lucy, they only employ graduates. That must be illegal, because it works so well.
In the evening we were given a lift by Vicky and Jared to Roger’s birthday do in Thorpe. As none of us knew anyone else there (except Roger’s son Philip) we spent most of the evening talking to each other and had a good time. Met Roger’s new girlfriend, who seemed extremely nice. We had a little too much to drink, but survived without medical help. Ho, ho.
David came up on Saturday to accompany us to the friendly match between Norwich City and Everton, which ended 2-4. Quite encouraged by the performance of the new Canaries, especially Andrew Crofts. Norwich gave away a couple of soft goals, but weren’t hopelessly outclassed. It was 2-2 for a while. Well, about a minute, I think. Although it was raining when David arrived shortly before 2pm I successfully predicted no more rain after about 2.15pm, after consulting three different forecasts. So we bravely managed without umbrellas. Still very warm, as it is today. Afterwards I showed David our Welsh photos, and then we watched the European Athletics championships, at which we did quite well. Appropriately, a Welsh one-two in the 400m hurdles. England also doing quite well against Pakistan in the test match. David stayed overnight, and left about 10 this morning.
Today Ruth was taking the service for the first time, and I gave Steve a hand with the music. We had originally intended to be in London with the Coomes’, but Maurice has been very ill, and David and Kristine are up in Yorkshire. Ruth and Steve did really well, and I’m trying to persuade Ruth to do it on a regular basis (and Steve to join the music group). Good sermon by Margaret.
Have done a bit of work in the garden, but not as much as Dot, obviously. I’ve cut back some roses from above the potatoes, and we’ve tidied up at the front too. Our brown bin runneth over.
