Not a restful week, but it was never going to be. And it seems to have done the trick. Although I’m quite tired, there’s now a very good reason for it, and my teeth are all right too.

We left on Monday, on the 0957 train for Nottingham. It was noisy, there wasn’t much room, and the weather was middling. The journey went quite well, however, and Dave Evetts was waiting on the platform to greet us. He took us on the shiny new tram to Toton, and we walked to their bungalow, on which the decorator was still working – the final stages of repair following its collision with a car earlier in the year.

After lunch we went for a walk in the park near the university, preceded by a brief walk round an art gallery and another tram ride. Afterwards we took the tram back again. We ate in. The weather was quite warm.

On Tuesday things became a bit more strenuous. We drove to a point near the Hemlock Stone and went for a quite hilly walk to a garden centre, where we enjoyed lunch before walking back a different way. This included quite a stiff climb to a triangulation point. Later we took the tram again into Nottingham, and after a drink went to the cinema and watched Our Kind of  Traitor, an excellent John le Carré adaptation released this month to middling reviews.

Following this we ate at Le Bistrot Pierre: excellent French food. I had chicken and chips, though it was obviously phrased differently. Then back on the tram again…

On Wednesday it was much cooler and with some rain in the air. We drove to Southwell, where we had a drink and then visited the Minster, which was impressive – all the more so because I’d never heard of it. It contained a stunning angel window and much else, including a new stained glass window focusing on the second world war (brilliant) and an equally brilliant series of stations of the cross in what looked like lead or pewter. And – coup de grace – in the chapter house was a seat with the name Lenton on it.

Out back there was another ancient building where kings and archbishops had trod, and some picturesque ruins. We returned to the refectory for lunch, then drove to the nearby Southwell Workhouse, which was a model of its kind, and which was well served both  by helpful human guides and an excellent audio guide system. In fact if it had not turned really cold and wet, it would have been wonderful. As it was there was some element of eagerness to get to the end (much of the tour being either outdoors or open to the elements).

In the evening we took a taxi to Stableford and La Rock restaurant, which was pretty close to perfect, for a restaurant. We started with cocktails and continued with first-class food, accompanied by excellent service. Expensive, yes, but a lovely experience.

Our final day at Nottingham, which started still quite cool but got warmer, began with a shortish walk to a nearby garden centre (anyone sensing a theme here?) for a drink, followed by a light lunch and departure by tram for the station – the Evetts accompanying us to the tram terminal at Toton Lane. We arrived at the station in very good time, and the journey home was more relaxing, though without benefit of buffet.

Today we were unable to lie in, because we were scheduled to meet the CNS Class of 61 at Carrow Road for a tour and lunch. The tour, led by Bill Punton, who I had watched playing in the early 1960s, was brilliant. I had the opportunity to take the manager’s chair at a “press conference”, but the highlight was undoubtedly Bill Punton’s commentary, which was a real eye-opener as to what went on when he was playing – much of it quite violent. No substitutes; so they were patched up and played on, sometimes with broken bones. Literally.

Afterwards we had a talk from Ray Houseago, one of my classmates who was company accountant at Carrow Road for seven years. He had some surprisingly pleasant things to say about the much-reviled Robert Chase, and much else too. Some very interesting questions. Afterwards we had a lunch that could just about be described as adequate if you were in a good mood, which I was.  One of the leaders’ wives was so incensed at the lack of quality that she obtained a group refund of 50%.

Happy to say Fred was able to come and seemed quite well recovered from his illness over Christmas and beyond. Sue missed the tour and talk but came for the lunch, which was followed by a quiz, at which our table did not really shine.

Feel absolutely shattered for some reason. I suspect endocarditis. You can put that on my tombstone if you like: “He said he had endocarditis, but no-one believed him.” My teeth are rather better, and the headaches are not so bad. We are off to Nottingham tomorrow by train for a few days; so it should be kill or cure.

Why do I feel so tired? No idea. I have just walked to St Peter Hungate and back to have a chat with Sophie, one of the trustees, about a Paston event there in October half-term week. It went quite well until I discovered (just now) that Rob is away for the October half-term. Before that we were at church for Communion and a quite reasonable sermon on the Trinity by David. We took Ann home in the car: bit of a struggle – she is pretty far gone now, and it takes most of the church to reassure her and keep her on an even keel. Still, she comes to church! Amazing.

Yesterday we took Judy to Wroxham for David Archer’s 50th birthday celebration – a river cruise to Horning and back in the company of many of his friends and relations.The weather was threatening, but in fact all right. Warm enough to sit on the top deck, and dry till the very end. Spoke to people we half-knew and didn’t know at all. Introduced Dot to the band, Stookey Blue, a folk music and ceilidh foursome (or more, sometimes) who invited her with her violin to their sessions on Mondays in Norwich.

The previous evening I had venture to Halesworth for the Pinky’s poetry evening and read three of my poems, which people seemed to like: In the Background, After hearing Adam and Behind the Tombstones. Afterwards spoke to Lizzi Thistlethwayte, who gave me a copy of her book if I’d send her one of mine. Since hers retails at £20, I sent her three of mine. That will teach her.

On Thursday a couple of guys spent most of the day installing new granite worktops in the kitchen. I have to say the result was even better than I’d expected. In the afternoon Dot went shopping with Anna, then Anna used the resulting produce to cook a meal for Howard and myself (and Dot and Anna, of course). We had a great evening there.

On Wednesday afternoon I enjoyed another meeting of the Paston trustees. The minutes are getting longer and longer. Not to mention the hours, the days… I have just managed to contact the guy who is taking over as treasurer at St Augustine’s, only to find he’s going to the USA for a fortnight. Aargh! Will it never end?

Cake and compline at the Archers on Tuesday was pleasant as always, though without Judy (holiday in Devon) and Claire (working).

Things seem a little fuzzy. This is partly because I have some sort of infection, I think, and I blame the dentist. After a check-up on Tuesday he said I needed some laser treatment to get rid of a deep-seated gum infection. He did this on the Thursday, and it was quite prolonged. I was also under anaesthetic for a long time, which I don’t think is ever good for me, where the rest of my head is concerned.

Since Saturday I’ve been feeling decidedly off colour, involving a stomach upset, what appeared to be an upper respiratory tract infection but turned into a kind of sinusitis, bad fatigue and an achy feeling. It reached a peak late Saturday and most of yesterday and now seems to be improving. I have managed to carry on, but that’s because I’m particularly brave. (Sarcasm alert.) I did cancel the Seagull last night, though.

Fortunately it was still bubbling under the surface during our visit to the Coomes’ on Saturday, and I kept it at bay with paracetamol. We had a good time there, with an excellent lunch, and as an added bonus Werder Bremen avoided relegation from the Bundesliga with an 88th-minute goal, and Kristine put on her W-B shirt.

Felt very tired on the way back, but happily Dot was driving. Went to bed early, and managed to rouse myself yesterday for church, which was just as well as I was giving the sermon. Felt pretty out of it for the rest of the day.

Earlier in the week, namely Friday, Dot and I went to the Wildebeest at Stoke for a meal to celebrate Anne’s birthday. Most enjoyable – had an interesting conversation with Anne (while Dot was listening to Philip) about poetry, books and similar matters.

Even earlier, on Tuesday, we had our monthly Julian meeting at the Greens, who are exceptional hosts. We walked there and back, which enabled me to sample several glasses of vermouth.  The discussion was also very good.

Forgot to mention that Dot and I went to Cley on Friday, when it was pleasantly warm (thought with a stiffish breeze on the north coast). Had our free tea and cake and walked out into the marshes a bit. As a result wrote another poem, which I probably won’t send to the EDP.

The church treasurership drags on. I will be delighted when I can dump all the documents and take no further interest, but I suspect I will be beset by queries for weeks and possibly months to come. Someone outside the church offered to do it, but things are delayed because the vicar wants a formal reference, which is pretty typical.

The weather has turned quite summery, as it sometime does during the first week or two of May. The last two or three days have been warm, which means the men doing our drive have been thirsty. Yes, they’re still doing our drive. This morning I had to get quite cross with Colin on the phone because no-one had turned up (again). As  a result they turned up after I’d gone to North Walsham – earlier than the revised promise – and when they opened the garage the alarm went off. Happily Mary was in and remembered how to turn it off.

They’ve nearly finished now. But not quite.

I was in North Walsham for a Paston Footprints meeting, some of which made sense. I am about to do the minutes. I gave Karen a lift back and after checking the house took her to the UEA. As I write, Dot has completed her course at St Albans, during which she did some RE Quality Mark training, and is on her way home. Last night she stayed with David.

Last Tuesday saw the usual Archant coffee morning. On Thursday we went to the Last Wine Bar in the evening with Paul and Maryta, which was a bit tense to begin with as there appeared to have had some sort of altercation with a waitress before we arrived (we were actually quite early). My meal was particularly good (guinea fowl breast). We went back to the Hendersons’ for coffee afterwards. The Hendersons are now in the West Country, primarily to avoid a party their next door neighbours were throwing on Saturday and which had coincidentally disrupted our drive-laying because Colin (our builder) had made some rash promises about laying huge amounts of turf and a patio. This resulted in his being somewhat distracted.

On Friday Mike came to take a template of the kitchen tops in preparation for our granite  overlays. It proved quite difficult to choose from the three he brought (which we had selected last time); so I hope we made the right decision. In the evening we had Eleanor and Mary round for a meal, which I cooked (salmon).

The long-awaited church Vision Day occurred on Saturday and turned out to be almost as dire as predicted.  In the end, though, Howard managed to get his ideas across  and everyone seemed much happier. Except me. I could see it all going badly wrong. But then I always can. By then Dot (and Steve Fiske) had left for Carrow Road, where Norwich managed to lose 1-0 to Manchester United despite having more chances. They are now almost certainly doomed.

In the evening we went over to Des and Chris’s house for drinks with Mairead and Freddie and Phoebe. This turned out to be fun; it was after 11pm before we knew it.

Yesterday we had a visiting preacher at church – the rural dean, Simon Stokes, who is from St Cuthbert’s and blind. He gave an extremely long but very good sermon. It’s not often you can say that.

Last Tuesday I was about to get in the bath when the man arrived to service our house alarm. He was one hour early, but I did manage to adapt.

On Wednesday I was up early again – this time to go to Coventry with Phil, who drove us in his Merc. Quite a good journey there, and we took Andrew to the Harvester at Allesley for a meal. This was going reasonably well until Andrew managed to get a bit of steak stuck in his throat, resulting in embarrassing scenes. He did survive it, however (not sure I did), and I walked him round the car park and then we drove to Corley and back to Minster Lodge, where we had a cup of tea. Staff as always friendly and helpful. Daisy was in charge; Helen away at another home.

The journey home was a bit more difficult: the A14 was subject to long delays at the approach to the A1, and we diverted via Kimbolton, Grafham Water and Papworth. This was OK, but when we joined the A14 again near Cambridge, there were long, painful  queues. Still, it didn’t snow.

Up early again on Thursday, partly to welcome Colin to do work on our drive and partly to go to see the nurse about my cholesterol and general health. The latter went well, but we waited all day for Colin to come, and he failed to put in an appearance. In the evening we went with the Hendersons to see King Lear – a very good production at the Maddermarket, with David Newham as Gloucester and Trevor Burton as Cornwall. The guy playing Lear was particularly outstanding, but there were so many deaths towards the end that I was worried that no-one would be left standing at the final curtain. (It was the first time I’d seen the play.) Afterwards we said hello to David and had quite a chat with Trevor.

Friday, and – yes, I was up early again to greet Colin, who again failed to show up. However, Sam and Gary eventually put in an appearance and demolished the very thick concrete by the garage, as well as the pillar by the wall. Colin did eventually drop in, and made various promises about when it would be finished, which, like so many verbal promises, were not worth the paper they were written on.

In the afternoon I attended David Paull’s funeral at Earlham. This was full of people I did not know, but fortunately Frances was there with her husband Bill, plus Gerald Nunn, and Eric from the Pensioners’ Association. Afterwards I did manage to chat to Richard Bond and Trevor Burton (again) plus one or two other trainees I’d forgotten, such as Matthew Clark, Dominic Castle and Julian Forde. The reception was at Park Farm, where I had a chat with David’s wife Iris as well as Frances and Bill. I knew literally no-one else. So after a few sandwiches and a prosecco I departed to pick up Dot from St Augustine’s Hall, where she had been assisting Anna and Carrie in an art project involving the Queen.

On Saturday we did not get up early, but did a large shop at the supermarket before watching (on TV) Norwich lose 0-1 to Arsenal despite, as usual, playing pretty well. Same old story.

Got up early again on Sunday to go to Carrie’s licensing service at St Luke’s, at which Dot and I were playing with Steve, Richard and Angela. Steve asked us to play a couple of our songs during Communion; so we have now played in front of the Bishop. Well, not exactly in front; more to one side. Afterwards there was bring and share lunch and I spoke to Barbara Bryant, who edits the diocesan magazine, among many other people. Outside, the weather was turning unexpectedly warm.

Afterwards we were about to leave to visit Jessie when Des came over and had a look at the garden (that’s not why he came over – that’s just what happened). This made us a bit late reaching North Walsham, buying flowers and visiting the cemetery, but we reached Jessie’s by about 3.40pm, which was OK as we were staying for evening meal with Roger and Debbie. Cod pie and a couple of delicious sweets, neither of which I was able to resist.

So that was nice. We got home in time to watch the grand prix, but fell asleep before the end. By the time we dozed off, nothing was happening.