The Christmas meal was delicious, and the whole day relaxing (after washing up). In the evening we watched Love Actually, which had been panned in the local paper but which was in fact as good as I remembered.

The weather over the past week has become milder and has been largely dry. David left us on Boxing Day to return to Caddington and receive Oliver and Amy from Vicky.  All three of them came up to us the following day, arriving in time for the evening meal and the opening of many more presents.

David has spent much of the time attempting to complete a 1000-word puzzle, with help mainly from Amy.  It is still uncertain whether he will finish in time to take it home tomorrow. It has rather dominated the living room but has not prevented us watching a couple of films, such as Justice League and Die Hard on Netflix. To my surprise I had not seen the latter before. I thought it was excellent.

On Friday Sam and Lucy came round with Elliott (5), who was entertained by Oliver (or vice versa) using a couple of chess sets. All of them (except Oliver) will be moving to Buckinghamshire next stunner, as Sam has a new job.

Over the weekend we played a bit of table tennis: Amy has improved vastly and could clearly be quite talented at it. Oliver continues to be very good. Other than this we didn’t go out much, except occasional forays to the shops. A projected evening out at the D’Souzas’ was postponed twice because first Chris and then Des was ill.

On the Saturday Dot went to Carrow Road but was disappointed when City lost 4-3 to Derby after the lights went out and the teams were taken off for a break. I met her in Morrisons afterwards, and we bought more food.

Yesterday Dot and I went separately (for timing reasons) to church for a joint Communion with St Luke’s. Anna had a stomach problem; so the music group was Dot, me and Simon Snell on bass guitar, which worked surprisingly well. We even did one of my songs during Communion. I helped clear up while Dot went home and was last out with Ray. Christine didn’t come because she has a stomach problem, which Ray fears is related to her cancer.

M showed up at 22 while we were at church and after insisting that it was Saturday asked David to drive her home – an opportunity he wisely declined. She also called in yesterday while I was out for a walk.

My walking has been suffering badly, and I went out for a walk late in the day yesterday to reach 5000 steps. As I also played table tennis with Amy a lot, I finished up pretty tired. David had done a bake to follow up an excellent fish pie the previous day; so he has certainly done his share of the cooking. We ended the day playing Carcassonne, to which Oliver had received an extension for Christmas. Very clever and pleasing game; so I didn’t do well.

Our neighbours’ get-together last Thursday went very well. Mary brought her son Felix and his fiancée Eloise; Sean brought Freddie and Phoebe and her friend Nicole – sadly Ciera was at work in London; Des brought Chris; Luke brought Michelle; and I brought Dot, who supplied a great variety of foodstuffs and drinks. Mairead’s children were upbeat, I’m happy to say: Freddie revealed an in-depth knowledge of Norwich City stats.

Friday proved a hectic day: we visited Jessie and then delivered presents to Jonathan and Lesley. Earlier we also went to Sainbury’s and the cemetery. North Walsham was crammed, mainly because they had closed a section of Mundesley Road, which meant you had to go miles round to get anywhere. Goodness knows how anyone who didn’t know North Walsham would have managed. Tired out by the end of it and didn’t go to the prayer meeting at church which I’d been planning to attend.

I was worried about what might happen on Saturday, when Dot and I were visiting Andrew in Coventry, but the traffic turned out to be much less than I had imagined, and the weather was good, for a change. We shared the driving and stopped each way at Cambridge Services. In Coventry Andrew was in a dreadful state to start with, saying he was ill, couldn’t breathe and had no energy. He also had diarrhoea. One of the carers gave him some tablets and after half an hour he improved markedly.

He opened our presents but didn’t pay them much attention; kept Phil’s for Christmas Day. Had a chat with Daisy, who said he talked about Mary a lot. She suggested that he could come to Norwich with a carer, as we wouldn’t be able to cope. I said I’d raise it with Helen. We were given several presents from him, but had to sort them out by part-guesswork at home because they were labelled a bit randomly.

The Alternative Carol Service on Sunday was rather more dramatic than usual, as Liz Cannon collapsed in the middle of it, and paramedics had to be called. This was not the effect I was looking for, but we survived via a period of silence and some music from Howard on the piano. Eventually Liz was revived, and we continued, with Howard as  a news editor on the Bethlehem Bugle (Dot was Editor) and Judy as an angel attempting Mastermind. All went well, and we eventually reached the Christmas meal, supervised by Eleanor. This was delicious.

Unfortunately we had to leave before everything was cleared away, because Dot had arranged for us to visit Rosie in mid-afternoon. The weather was awful – cold and wet – and  the traffic was surprisingly prolific. Rosie was a bit under the weather but very welcoming, and we left when Roger arrived. On the way back we dropped in Phil and Joy’s presents from Andrew (and a couple of late ones from us).

No rest on Christmas Eve. We were expecting Paul  H around 10.15 (after an early morning call), but M unexpectedly came too. She was of course very happy and upbeat (Oh no she wasn’t), and we had a coffee before they left after a short stay. I then drove to my Uncle Paul’s care home at Horsford to deliver a card. It was the first time I’d been there. I found him in the dining room/lounge, standing, hunched up, with a stick, and looking rather the worse for wear. He is 95. Eventually we sat down together, but before that he became aggressive toward another resident and had to be restrained by a carer. After he sat down and was given a coffee we had quite a good chat: he remembered the days when we played football together.

After this I drove to Bowthorpe to exchange presents with Lucy, who seemed in quite good form. Then home for lunch, during which a text from David revealed that he was about to leave. As  result we decided that I should collect the cake from Marion while Dot went to the shop for last-minute food and stuff. Marion was looking very well, and on the way home I dropped in on my aunt Thelma again, rousing her after several knocks at two doors and a window and taking a picture for my cousin Sandra. Thelma said for her Christmas was a normal day.

Back home, David arrived and I cooked salmon. Dot and I went to the midnight Communion, and I read the Gospel. The music was a bit flat, but it was nice to see Steve Fiske and Mark (Eddie) Campling, Martin and Sam (Pittam) Smith, Carrie, Howard, among others, plus Chris Denton and Zoe – who was home for a fortnight from Australia. We walked back to the car with the latter two. It was a frosty, sparkling night.

As I write David is cooking out Christmas dinner. We have had Prosecco and breakfast. It is a beautiful day, though cold.

Feeling pretty exhausted after some hectic days. Dot is still not well, coughing a lot, though she is getting around and doing stuff. Weather fairly cold and dismal.

Last Thursday Dot and I picked up the remaining sugar from Kinsale Avenue school and took it over to Swafield, where we put it in a bin to be collected. Fortunately it was dry. Met an “old” guy who turned out to be 67 and to have permanently dodgy knuckles after being in a local gang when he was young. Very friendly. Drove on to see Jessie before returning home.

In the evening Dot went to her Sillars Christmas meal in Eaton: I delivered her and picked her up. She emerged with conjunctivitis as well as everything else, but seemed to have enjoyed it (the meal, not the conjunctivitis). I had a chat with Neville while picking her up.

The next day I picked David Archer up at 12.30 and took him to Cromer for an operation on his piles. He had a long wait because the surgeon was held up in gridlocked traffic in Norwich, which is a bit ironic. All went well, though, and we got back surprisingly easily by using the part of the ring road I rarely touch.

On Saturday it was very cold – just “right” for cleaning up the church in preparation for Christmas. I assisted with some sweeping, putting out the tea lights and erecting the small artificial Christmas tree. Many others there, including Carrie, Howard, Judy, Matt (a new member of the congregation) and Ray and Christine. Before getting there I had picked up Dot’s car from Harvey Lane, walking up through the Rosary and Lion Wood but avoiding the up-and-down section because I didn’t feel up to it (or down). Car excellent value at £160. I gave Steve £180. Dot didn’t feel well enough to help at church.

On Sunday Dot still didn’t feel well but was determined to play in the afternoon concert at Blofield. So I went to church without her, intending to see her at Blofield. However, despite checking (or that’s what I thought I was doing), I took both car keys; so had to rush home after church to give her one of them so that she could get to the rehearsal, then returned to church to get all my stuff. Hectic. Didn’t seem hardly any time to grab a toast cheese before driving to Blofield. Had to park a considerable distance from the church, but Dot had asked Robin and Shelagh Limmer to save me a seat.

Pretty good concert – not quite as long as usual – with good refreshments. Spoke to Sue and Roger Eagle as well as the Limmers, and Barbara Pilch told me about a Footprints meeting in January. Also spoke to Neville again, plus a few orchestra members.

Monday turned out to be even more frantic, but at least it wasn’t raining. I tried to post some parcels at both post offices, but they were packed out, and I had arranged to meet Dot up at the Apple Store, where she had fixed an appointment for someone to look at a problem with Safari not opening. I was making my way there after abandoning the second post office, but was clearly not going to make it; so I rang her. The appointment was at 3.15; so I went home while Dot had her waxing at Jarrolds. She was still feeling bad; so she went to the drop-in centre, where she had a 2½-hour wait.

I had been to Morrisons to get food for a meal with Jude in the evening, and had just got in the door when Dot rang to suggest I go up to the Apple Store, as she wasn’t going to be ready. I called in to the drop-in centre to pick up her computer and give her a book, and while I was there (about 2.45pm), she got a call to say they were ready for her at the Apple Store. So I hurtled up there, and eventually a guy sorted it out by preparing the MacBook Air for me to install a new version of Yosemite when I got home. I called in the drop-in centre on the way. Dot was still waiting.

So I went home, saved her Desktop material by dragging it into iCloud, and installed the new version of Yosemite. This took some time, of course, but I was able to get the food ready while it was doing it, and Dot got home just after 5pm. We were just about ready for Jude when she arrived at 6pm. After that it was quite relaxing, but I walked almost six miles altogether.

Yesterday, after I’d posted the parcels at the empty sorting office, we had our hair cut, which always has a bad effect in winter, and I haven’t felt really well since. Anne came round for lunch, and later we went to see Jessie. We arrived at about 5.50pm, and Jessie was asleep. When she woke up she thought it was 6 in the morning, and what were we doing there that early? She sorted herself out eventually, but didn’t seem too good, having had quite a bit of pain.

From there we went to the Scarborough Hill House hotel, where we had our wedding reception 50 years ago, and had a meal with Angela and Rodney, Teresa and Peter. The place was a bit the worse for wear, but the food was quite good, and the six of us had a good chat. While we did so it started pouring with rain, and by the time we drove home there was an impressive amount of standing water just about everywhere.

Today I picked up my trousers from the cleaners and then spent the rest of the day finishing the Christmas cards and wrapping presents. Dot went and bought food for tomorrow night, when our neighbours come round, and Howard called in around 5.30pm with the cunning study table he’d made for us, which makes the bed bigger for Oliver (or anyone else). After phoning off and on during the day (and all other days) M chose this moment to arrive. But she didn’t stay long.

It did get colder. The past few days have been hovering around freezing but dry. Dot has developed a cold and I’m feeling a bit fragile, but nothing serious.

Last Friday, however, I decided not to go to the Mangreen Christmas celebrations because I was feeling distinctly shaky. Dot had been to King’s Lynn on a Religious Education Quality Mark assessment and was very tired, but went anyway, starting at the Eagles and then continuing for the singing etc.

The next day was pretty quiet: Dot went to see Norwich City beat Bolton 3-2, again scoring in the last minute. We both felt well enough not to cancel Kristine, who arrived at 10.40 on Sunday morning and was met by Dot. With Anna in bed after a Philharmonic concert the previous day, and Phil in Cambridge, this meant I was sorting out pretty much everything: music, Communion equipment, toys for children, Advent candles (which we’d bought from Revelation because the church ones had gone missing). The only thing I didn’t check was the service sheet, and this caused chaos because several different ones were distributed, with panic ensuing after five minutes of the service.

At the end of the service (led by Eleanor, with Sarah preaching) no-one could get the combination padlock to work; so I fetched a “manual” one from home as a temporary measure, leaving a note with my phone number in case of emergency. Needless to say this alarmed Stuart, who wanted to put a cheque in the safe but didn’t think it was an emergency, and so Carrie bought a new combination padlock the next day. I told her where I’d hidden the key so that she could unlock the temporary one, but she couldn’t find it; so I had to go up to the church hall to unlock the old one and fit the new one. The key was where I left it. I hope you’re following this.

Back on Sunday, we decided not to go to Blofield to hear Hexachordia, because it would have left too little time for Kristine to catch the train she’d booked. Right decision, I think. It was nice to see her.

On Monday , with frost on the ground, I took the MX5 up to Harvey Lane to get its dents fixed, then walked home via Pilling Park, Lion Wood and the Rosary. Quite crisp, except where it was muddy.

The next day was the Archant Christmas lunch, where the company was much better than the food. Fortunately M didn’t show up; it would have been too loud for her. Andy Russell and Tony Wenham came over and had a chat, which was nice. I took a few pictures, but they weren’t very good. On the way home we met M, who had clearly been attempting to catch us in, but she caught a bus instead of coming home with us. At home the piano tuner (Joe Logan) was waiting for us – it was only 2pm, and we’d said 2.15pm. He charged £92. I said we would soon not be able to afford him. While he was there Paul came round: he had been seeing off his old chaplain from Eltham College, who had come up on a pastoral visit.

In the evening the usual suspects came round for Cake and Compline. Dot had provided plenty of nibbles and more, but everyone brought something, which was very nice. Really good evening, ending upstairs with a Northumbrian Evening Prayer I found on the internet.

Yesterday was solid Paston Heritage Society. In the morning Rob and Peter came round for mince pies and a trustees’ meeting (while Dot was at Morrisons’ cafe, meeting Valerie Fairhead and Karen Dukes). Afterwards I gave R & P lunch from leftovers the previous evening and then Peter drove us up to the UEA for a Footprints Steering Committee meeting. This proved a little fractious at times, with Rob and Peter clashing with Matt, the project manager, over education plans and the website. Karen was well enough to be there, and Rebecca was there too. Rob was a bit annoyed because he’d discovered that Matt and Rebecca knew each other from way back – which had not been disclosed at interview. There’s a suggestion that Matt is manipulating various things to suit himself and his friends, but it may be that he’s simply making use of people he knows can do things.

Peter stayed for a coffee after returning us to Aspland Road. Rob caught a train. During the remains of the day (and while Dot was at orchestra rehearsal) I managed to complete the minutes of both meetings, which was something of a relief.

Another miserable wet and windy day today. They’re not all like that, but it seems to be a good 50%. The only good thing about it is that it’s fairly mild, but I understand it will get a lot colder from this afternoon. Dot is borrowing my car to drive to King’s Lynn, where she has a Religious Education Quality Mark assessment. She should have left by now, but unfortunately she had too much time to get ready… Now she’s gone. It was tipping it down as she got in the car.

Yesterday was a bit better, in that it was mainly dry. Carrie was supposed to be going to Emmaus at Ditchingham with us to look for a table for us and a side cupboard for the church, but she wasn’t feeling up to it; so Dot and I went. Had a bit of trouble finding the right entrance, but eventually had a good look round and photographed four cupboards. No appropriate tables, though they had a pine one that came from Canada.

On the way back called in to see my Aunt Thelma, who is 90. She looked and sounded surprisingly well. I mentioned my visit on Facebook and was taken to task by Sandra for not taking a photograph.  Oh well.

Later we went to North Walsham to see Jessie and found her asleep. She woke up while Dot was out of the room, and I helped to get her out of bed and into her chair. She has a cold; so clearly we’re both worried about catching it. I do feel a bit under the weather, but nothing debilitating.

After we got back Dot went to a Safeguarding meeting at the vicarage which went on for over 90 minutes. Needless to say, Howard didn’t make it. My attempts to keep track of Dot’s movements were thwarted by (I think) an O2 problem that meant 4G was not working properly.

On Wednesday Howard came round early to take measurements for the installation of an extension to the bed in the study, so that Oliver can sleep more comfortably. Later Dot went with Paul to a DSSO lunch at the Showground – a farewell event for one of the other DSSOs. I finished the PHS magazine (Edition 7) and sent it to Rob and Peter for checking. Since then it has gone to the printers and is now awaiting collection.

Tuesday was the monthly Archant coffee morning – another big attendance, with David Wakefield the latest new face. Maryta came round to ours after having been to the doctor’s, and we walked up together. I noticed on the way that she had parked at the side of the road with no permit; so with some misgivings I put a permit in. She did leave the coffee morning early (though not as early as I thought she would), but astonishingly she both found the car and put the permit through the door as requested.

The previous day I had taken Dot up to the URC on Chapelfield, where she and three other violinists were performing carols for what may have been the WI. She walked back afterwards, doing some Christmas shopping on the way, and I met her halfway down Prince of Wales Road to assist with the carrying.

A quiet day so far today, in that a certain person only came round once (while we were getting dressed) and hasn’t phoned, though Dot received several e-mails. Over the past few days more and more people have asked her not to come round; so she has few places left to go. On various days  she has rung the doorbell at 7am (four times), tried again at breakfast time on the same day and has actually made it through the front door on a couple of occasions. Happily she’s going to see the doctor on Tuesday. All very sad but also annoying.

I have managed to prepare a manuscript of poems to submit for a competition, but I don’t hold out much hope; I had to choose mainly nature poems or spiritual/environmental ones. I also wrote a sermon for today: I wasn’t particularly happy with it when I delivered it, but several people said they liked it.

Yesterday I got the chance to go with Dot to the football – it turned out to be a good match, with City beating Rotherham 3-1 after going 1-0 down, but the weather was pretty dreadful.  Wet and windy. Today is not much brighter, but it’s dry and quite a bit milder. Before  going to the match Dot had a flu jab. She now has a sore arm.

On Friday we took part in a quiz at St Luke’s. We were part of Carrie’s team, which included her husband Al (rarely seen, but a nice bloke), Sophie and a guy from her Saturday group called Chris, who appeared to know a lot but wasn’t always right.  Some of the questions were ludicrously difficult, and we might have done a bit better if we hadn’t wanted to encourage Chris, but we finished about halfway, I think. There was a buffet and a raffle, and all in all the evening went on rather too long (7pm to nearly 10.30pm). Still, glad we went.

The previous day I went to the doctor’s to check on my medication and had to wait 40 minutes beyond my appointment time. I saw Dr Dani Carlile, who is very pleasant, and got a relatively good result, except that I have to check my blood pressure for a week. My condition is obviously regarded as urgent, as I was booked in for a blood test on December 31, which on the plus side is this year. (It was eventually put off till January 7.)

On Wednesday we went so see Jessie, bearing figs on advice from Roger, and found her relatively cheerful. The previous day Dot had been to London with Anne and had a very tiring day, largely because they couldn’t find a tube station when they wanted one and walked over the Millennium Bridge, then down Fleet Street and all the way up Chancery Lane in pouring rain.

Still, they enjoyed much of the Tate Modern, and Dot also managed to buy some jewellery she wanted from Regency Street (Uno de Fifty) as a birthday present from me.