Last day of January, and it’s turned bitterly cold again to celebrate David’s return to the UK. Hailed very hard a few minutes ago, leaving the ground white for a short while. Fortunately I had already returned home after a visit to the Maid’s Head, where I met Paul Dickson to talk about a Paston walk in the city which might be short enough to complete in 90 minutes. Toward the end of March we will be trying it out. Paul is a city guide and rock n roll singer. Also a publisher and public relations man; so maybe I can get him interested in some of my other writing.

Last night, when it was not quite so cold but drizzly, we took Judy (not the one in the caption) to Cake and Compline at Claire’s, which proved an enjoyable evening as all members of our small group were eventually present – the other three being the Archers and Vicky Myers. We spent some time discussing the exact nature of the Norwich Christian Meditation Centre, following an attempt by Liz Day to discuss it widely before the new vicar gets here. It’s true it needs some thought, not least because it has three linked Facebook pages, which is two too many.

I’m not sure if Liz’s ideas will fit in with everyone else’s. She waylaid me on Sunday and claimed that she was being blocked in what she wanted to do, which is certainly not true, but apparently she had problems with her father. She does tend to come up with the most elaborate ideas that never quite materialise, but mainly because she changes her mind.

Later on on Sunday Dot and I went to the Seagull at Lowestoft and did a couple of songs (Man in the Mask and Feel Like I’m Falling Apart) followed by three poems from me (the Rembrandt one, Resolution and Somewhere to Fall, which Kaaren didn’t understand. I suppose it is  bit obscure. We performed in the newly decorated foyer, which was interesting, but I think I prefer the theatre. Ian seemed to be having trouble with his hip.

On Monday I was about to have a bath when I realised it would be a better idea to clean up the garden rubbish first; so I did, and it was just as well, because after I’d had the subsequent bath, the rain set in. We seem to have had a lot of rain recently. Meanwhile Dot was visiting Jessie and the cemetery (it was her mother’s birthday).

At the end of last week, on the Friday, we took Phyllis a meal round because Sophie was away. It was a pleasant walk. We did it again on Saturday, in the pouring rain. We took the car. Phyllis seemed OK. She never seems to want us to hang around, though she’s a very nice person.

Also on Friday we visited our Polish friends from church for a meal. They live on Black Horse Opening off Sprowston Road, and finding their flat was a real challenge; so we were late. I was worried about the food, but we had some very nice soup and open sandwiches on Polish bread. Apparently Poles really don’t like British bread, and I can return the compliment. Like their meat, I found it hard to swallow. Still we had a pleasant evening with no language difficulties. We are almost fluent in Polish. Sorry, I mean English. We are almost fluent in English, and so are they.

Extending the Polish link, on Saturday we called round the Hendersons, to find Maryta on her own because Paul was taking Holly’s dog to Gatwick. As you do. We had a cup of tea, and a chat for about an hour. I don’t think they are getting on well.

Out of the blue, yesterday was stunning. Seeing a clear sky for a change from our bedroom window, Dot suggested we went for a walk, and I proposed Winterton, having seen a picture in the EDP  of the way a recent storm had affected the beach there. So we went, and the day was even better than it looked.

As well as the blue sky, there was practically no wind, and it was almost warm. After buying a parking ticket we walked down on to the beach and found a small cliff had appeared halfway down it. We walked south until we could access the lower beach easily, and then walked north for a good distance. The “cliff” was deepest close to the cafe, where some old stone blocks had been revealed. Further north, with the beach almost deserted, we turned back up on to the dunes and walked back to the cafe, where we had some delicious rolls and very good tea (in my case).

Later in the day  I walked up to a 20 Group private view at the Theatre Royal, where I spoke to Sarah Cannell, Martin Laurance, Sandra Rowley (an artist I worked with a few years ago), Peter Offord (a former Thorpe Hamlet Green councillor), and Chrissy Leech, a sculptor who turned out to live two roads away and have a studio in St Augustine’s. The pictures were of mixed quality, and I almost lost my scarf, but found it again.

It was hardly surprising that by the end of the day I found I had walked nearly five miles in all.

The previous day I did quite well at walking too, though the weather was pretty miserable. Dot and I went to the cinema at noon to see The Post, which was a stunning film about how the Washington Post defied threats from the Government to publish top secret papers about how the USA had made numerous catastrophic mistakes about the Vietnam war. It was extremely moving and made you wish that newspapers were like that now instead of rolling over and publishing any propaganda the Government wants them to.

As a newspaper person myself, it was also interesting to see how useless American newspapers are at layout and headline writing. I knew that, of course, but it was pretty striking. Anyway, the film is unmissable.

Later I walked Dot up to the Cathedral for a church schools event, during which she engaged the Bishop in interesting conversation about St Augustine’s and St Luke’s. Later I took the car up to the Close to meet her out, so that she could drive from there straight to orchestra rehearsal. I came close to forgetting her completely, because I didn’t hear the alarm go off.  Ho, hum.

Earlier in the week I had been busy writing bits about various Paston characters for the Hungate exhibition, just about managing to keep up my walking at the same time (well, not exactly at the same time). This was after celebrating Jessie’s 85th on Sunday, when we hurtled out of the service (which I had led) to drive to North Walsham to pick up Janet and Judy to transport them to the Banningham Crown and meet Jessie, Roger, Debbie, Philip, George and Fiona for a meal. Made it in good time, in fact, but the meal was a bit slow.

As so often, the starter and the dessert were excellent, but the main was not impressive, except in quantity. I had a game pie: the meat was OK, but the crust was soggy and the vegetables were a bit ropey. The garlic mushrooms beforehand, though, were superb. Must remember to have two starters instead of a main next time. The weather was wet and cold.

We went back to Jessie’s for a drink afterwards. She paid for the whole thing, which was very generous. She’s doing remarkably well after her operation.

Just back from a grey and drizzly North Norfolk, where I featured as Edward Paston (1550-1630) in a photoshoot for the current Paston Footprints project. The shoot was at Aylmerton, in a rather smart barn conversion, which is part of the property of an influential local businessman whose name I cannot reveal, partly because I’ve forgotten it. Most of the re-enactors were there, and so were Rob and Penny, Lucy and one or two others.

The shooting was done by Peter Stibbons and Paul Damen, the expert Paston-resident photographer. When I wasn’t being Edward Paston I was holding the sound boom or picking up Karen Smyth from Cromer station on Rob’s behalf. I also returned her to Norwich afterwards. Meanwhile Norwich City were being watched by Dot as they lost 2-1 to Sheffield United. Sic transit gloria…

I am managing to keep up a reasonable number of steps this month, despite having to do today’s largely indoors and yesterday’s in the freezing cold. In the evening yesterday I also went to Pinky’s where my three poems went down very well, especially a new one called Resolution, which I was quite pleased with because it benefited from being read out loud.

On Wednesday I picked up David Archer from the dentist. He himself can’t remember this, because he was heavily sedated while having an implant – so much so that the dentist had to guide him down to the car, precariously parked in Pottergate. I took him home and sat with him until Bridget got home just before 1pm. Read quite a bit: David was mainly asleep.

The previous day – Tuesday – rather unravelled, with cancellations and rescheduling, but we ended up having our hair cut at 10am (instead of 5.30pm) and welcoming Annette for a cup of tea about 3pm (instead of noon). This left the DCC, which was at our house instead of the vicarage, because the vicar was ill. Come to think of it, I haven’t heard much from him recently. Hope he’s not too bad.

The DCC consisted of Carrie, Dot, me and Phil, but it lasted about as long as it usually does, though it was more fun. I took the minutes and sent them out. I am now compiling some short pieces about various Paston characters for the Hungate exhibition.

David is going to Canada tomorrow: bit concerned because snow is forecast (in England). I’m leading the service and we’re then off to Banningham via North Walsham, taking Judy and Janet to Jessie’s birthday lunch.

Feeling rather strange at the moment. On Friday morning I was quite Ok, but in the afternoon developed bad cold symptoms, with lots of sneezing and nasal irritation. Nevertheless managed to finish the minutes from a meeting I’d been to on Thursday, and three Parish Pump items on Queen Mary, The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy and Wilfred Owen before walking with Dot up to the Côte Brasserie in Exchange Street to have a meal with the Greens which I probably should have cancelled.

Managed to struggle through it (it was very enjoyable off and on) and went home and to bed, well dosed up with various pills etc. Had a good night’s sleep and then slept till 2.15pm while Dot went to the supermarket. Felt quite a lot better; so got up and had a bath, then watched TV and had a meal which Dot cooked for me.

Last night I didn’t sleep so well, and this morning felt pretty mushy but without much in the way of my usual debilitating cold symptoms; so went to church with Dot and gave a sermon without too much trouble.  Did make the concession of not playing guitar. Nice service generally, but with a small congregation: Judy was ill at home with severe sickness. Missed a Martin Laurance exhibition at Mandell’s, but came home and watched some more TV. Now the cold doesn’t feel as if it’s gone completely, but it’s very quiet. Not sure if it’s a lull or it’s on the way out.

Dot completed her Welsh expedition successfully. The weather was pretty good and she felt well. The training was also much appreciated, and there’s a chance of a return visit. It was nice for her to stay with David the way there and have an afternoon with him on the way back. She arrived back in Norwich about 8.30pm on Tuesday. I had been doing a lot of catch-up on the computer and had written today’s sermon.

It was a pretty damp week, but we did venture out on Wednesday to watch All the Money in the World at the Odeon. A good film, with an excellent performance by Christopher Plummer as J Paul Getty – a last-minute replacement for Kevin Spacey, who blotted his copybook in the usual way by being outed as someone with unpleasant tendencies. Allegedly.

At 4pm on Thursday, when I was still feeling quite well, I went to a Footprints steering meeting at the Maid’s Head, where Lucy gave a presentation on her plans for the Hungate exhibition. Also present: Rebecca Pinner, who seems to have replaced the long-term sick Karen Smyth; Ron and Peter; Gary Tuson from the NRO; Sophie Cabot from Hungate; and Paul Dickson, a city guide and rock n roll singer representing the Maid’s Head, who want to get involved with Paston walks in Norwich and themed Paston weekends.

Paul greeted me warmly and knew a lot about my background, including a poetry performance at Welborne Arts Festival some years ago, and the fact that I trained journalists. As usual, I didn’t remember him, though we must have met before. Anyway, we shall probably be working together in the future if the Paston plan works out. After the meeting, I walked a short way with Rebecca before she headed off in the direction of Vauxhall Street.

Odd being without Dot. I should explain that she is in Wales, at a hotel in Brecon, not far from the school  where she will deliver a day of philosophy training with Barbara tomorrow. Last night she stayed with David at Caddington; she left there at about 11 this morning and arrived in Brecon, via the M25 and M4, at about 3pm.

This was about the time I arrived home from a walk at Caistor Roman Camp, where I had gone to look at the Tas valley flooding. It had nearly vanished, and I was able to go round the bits that were too wet and reach Dunston Field on the far side of the river. Bright, but very, very cold, and a small plague of dogs marred the beauty of the moment. I can only assume at some time in the past a huge number of people were unwittingly programmed to believe that you can only go for a walk in the country if you have a dog – preferably one that’s noisy and untrained.

Earlier of course I went to church and did the music with Anna, then enjoyed a sermon from Howard on the star that guided the wise men and how astronomy and computers backed it up. That was one of his points anyway. I slipped in one of my songs during communion (the Nunc Dimittis one), which was well received. Then David A dropped in and told us about his new job in Oldham, starting after Easter. I had two mince pies, because Dot wasn’t there to stop me. As she doesn’t read this, she will never know.

Yesterday Dot left at 1pm, and I went for a walk along the river and up into the city by a devious route, then found myself in Exchange Street and bought some acidophilus. Did more steps than I anticipated and was pretty flaked out the rest of the day. Watched Norwich City draw 0-0 with Chelsea in the Cup (BT TV), made myself lamb chops and then did a bit of computer work before flaking out and having a bath because I felt cold. From there, it was a short step to bed.

The previous day Dot and I had been to North Walsham, starting with Sainsbury’s and the cemetery, and then picking Jessie up outside the church, where she had attended a funeral. We bought some fish and chips in town and ate it at hers, followed by a mince pie. I felt quite full. I don’t know why.

The day before that (Thursday) I had picked up some pills from the chemist and was told I couldn’t have any more Lansoprazole because it shouldn’t have run out. I popped immediately round to the surgery and explained that the doctor had doubled my dose for a couple of weeks or three, and while we were in North Walsham I got a text saying they were ready at the chemist. So we called in on the way home after driving down the latest section of the Northern Distributor Road to open.

On Wednesday I had a reassuring eye test, which showed that I was pretty much the same as last time and had no signs of any long-term illness. Dot and I celebrated by going to the Rembrandt exhibition at the Castle, which was on its last week and where we tagged on to a tour, which started as we arrived. The drawings were amazing, of course, and as a bonus we ran into Stephanie Caine and Liz Cannon (separately).

Back on Tuesday, Dot had her debut as a member of a ceilidh band, provisionally called the Hippo Ceilidh Band for reasons not unrelated to St Augustine. The band consisted of Anna, Phil and Dot, with Carrie as caller. Not sure about the calling, but the music was good, and Ray and Christine really got into the dancing. I only saw the last hour or so, because I came to pick Dot up, after having dropped her off about 3.30pm for rehearsal. Quite a few local families there, and it seemed to be a big success. There was food too.

We slipped into 2018 during a delightful evening and early morning at the Robinsons – just the four of us with some salmon, champagne and other assorted goodies. Oddly I didn’t feel at all tired at any stage. We drove home at about 2pm and slept soundly.

Earlier in the day I went to church and struggled with some carols on guitar while Phil led the service. Dot stayed in bed because she was feeling down after coughing a lot in the night and sleeping very little. Carrie was “preaching’ in the sense that she was down for it on the rota, but misread the rota/forgot. So we had audience participation, followed by mince pies. And so St Augustine’s continues in much the same vein as always.

Highlights in the few days following Christmas were very much centred on time with son and grandchildren, who left after breakfast on the 27th, the male members of the party with colds. Maybe I shouldn’t have taken them for a walk in cold weather the previous day.

The 27th was bitter over much of the country, and the A14 in Leicestershire and Northamptonshire was blocked with snow. Nevertheless we drove along it to Coventry the following day without much trouble, and spent a bit of time with a quite perky Andrew. We gave him a large book with beautiful pictures and took him for a short walk because we wanted to call at Boots.

On the 29th we partook in another get-together of neighbours, this time at No 11 (Des and Chris), where we were introduced to the only top-of-the-road neighbours we didn’t know – Mary and her son Jamie (No 15). Mary teaches at a Montessori school up near the UEA, and Jamie is at university. He has three sisters who did not appear, and as far as I know, don’t live at 15. Spent some time in the kitchen talking to Bob, Jamie and Des.

The weather has been mixed, with the odd milder day but a lot of rain. The river has been running high in Norwich for the last few days, and there has been a huge amount of flooding in the Tas valley and around Costessey and Hellesdon, I believe.

We opened the new year, after waking late, by going to Norwich v Millwall at Carrow Road in the company of Des – because Jonathan was still ill and his friend Chris therefore couldn’t come either; so we had two spare tickets. Down 1-0 at half time, things looked a bit worrying, but City fought back to win 2-1 and should have scored more.

Before the match I returned Anne’s phone to Philip outside Yellows. Dot had brought it home  by mistake after the merrymaking. To be fair, it is identical to hers.