The weather has certainly taken a turn for the worse. Today it’s cool but for a change not raining (at the moment). Even the radiator in my room has started working, and so I’ve cancelled the gas engineer. Meanwhile Barclays internet banking is down; so I can’t pay Robin, who finished our shower room on Saturday.

It was incredibly fortunate he was here, because I was attempting to bleed the aforementioned radiator and overdid it so that I couldn’t tighten it up again. Water was spurting all over the place, and Dot rushed into the garage to fetch Robin, who managed to sort it out. We should keep a plumber in the garage permanently. My study took the rest of the day to dry out, but at least I now know where and how to turn the water off. I did know roughly, but now I know exactly.

Robin took all day to finish off the shower room, but he’s done a great job. We now await the flooring, which still hasn’t arrived in the country. Dot rang again this morning to check. As Robin was leaving on Saturday – he also fixed the facia boards in the kitchen – Elwira and her friend David arrived for soup and nibbles. There had been a slight misunderstanding over time, but once we’d sorted ourselves out, it went very well. Dave is very quiet, rather like me, but Elwira is even noisier than Dot – and Polish to boot. Dave is English.

Two days earlier, on Thursday, the engineer came and sorted out the hob – we hope. He didn’t seem to do much other than tighten up a couple of screws, but it hasn’t gone wrong since. Dot went to the NCFC shop and bought Freddie a birthday card, and Amy FaceTimed us and told us all about her music exam, and a personality test which she passed on to us! Watched a good film called Belle, about a woman called Dido. It was a true story , mainly about the beginnings of misgivings about slavery, and it was well done. The previous evening we’d seen The Client, based on a John Grisham story, and that was excellent too, in a very different way. Sad to read afterwards that the boy who played the lead – Brad Renfro – had a very sad after-story and died young.

On Friday the rain arrived. It poured all day, and it was blowing a gale too. Needless to say the 6pm drink in the street did not happen. Earlier I had gone to the dentist – transported by Dot because of the weather – and had some laser work done , in the course of which it was discovered that I had a hole in the same area. So I have to go again – and the filling will be even more expensive – well over £300. I found a Morse DVD which had apparently been Angela’s, and we watched it, but it was quite unsatisfying. Morse got it wrong, and Lewis threw away the evidence. I always found the Lewis stories much better.

It was still raining on Sunday, but not so heavily. We went to church, and Dot and I did a couple of my songs during the service, after which Dot dropped off a present for Phyllis and then came home and sorted out the shower room. Barry the painter rang to say he could come on October 5. We watched Norwich lose 1-0 to Bournemouth, and Hamilton get cheated by nitpicking stewards out of a Russian grand prix win that would have equalled Schumacher’s record. We also watched some of the world cycling road race championship, won by Alaphilippe. Quite exciting near the end. Oliver sent us his personal statement, which was pretty impressive, but I’ve made a few small suggestions. He wanted feedback.

While the rest of us were getting rain, and Wales and Bournemouth were basking in the sun, Walcott got sand. All the sand imported to protect the village (and Bacton gas terminal) from the sea blew on to and into the houses. It was impossible to see the road. According to the EDP, residents said this was better than getting flooded.

Were Monday and Tuesday the last two days of summer? The forecast persuaded us to take full advantage, and happily on Monday we had arranged our second meeting with Dave and Julia – this time at Blakeney itself. We met in the hotel courtyard and after some discussion decided to get a coffee/tea. Who would have guessed? We walked through the town, found the Blakeney Hotel closed to non-residents, and ended up at the pub at the other end of town, which proved to be very pleasant, sitting outside in the sun.

We then decided that Dave, Julia and Dot would walk to the Wiveton cafe, and I would drive there. On arrival I was fortunate enough to see five or six red kites in the sky: stunning, but they disappeared after a few minutes, and we didn’t see them again. We took a look at the pigs, though. Before that we had lunch (very pleasant asparagus soup and focaccia bread) and discussed how we would celebrate Dot’s birthday. In the end we agreed to book into the Blakeney Hotel on the 22nd and 23rd for the purpose of having a celebratory evening meal there on the Sunday. This was finalised on the phone the next day, COVID regulations permitting.

Yesterday was equally sunny and warm, and we decided to visit Tunstall Church, on the Halvergate marshes, which had been featured in the EDP that morning. The ruins of the medieval church adjoin a more modern one that is still in occasional use. We parked at the church and did a short walk, and we (mainly Dot) picked quite a few blackberries, which we had for supper. We were looking for Tunstall staithe, but weren’t successful. After moving the car nearer to where it was supposed to be, I walked a very overgrown path until it became apparent that the stream had either dried up or was much further away. Or somewhere else entirely.

Still, it was a very pleasant walk, partly across dry fields, and the church ruins were lovely. Dot navigated our return journey across country, and this too was really enjoyable – quiet and atmospheric in late summer. You just wanted to stay out there. I wondered if I’d missed out by living in cities most of my life.

In between all this Dot managed to do a pile of washing, ironed some of it and changed the pillowcases, among other things. The Government and its scientists were busy losing more and more credibility by announcing new restrictions based on a worse case COVID scenario that is never going to happen. Probably. Today the weather broke, it’s much cooler and it’s raining. Dot is having a DSSO Zoom meeting, and the Hello Fresh! man is on his way.

The weather is still warm, but a drop in temperature is forecast after midweek. So summer may be nearly over. Still, we have been making the most of it. Last Tuesday, for instance, we had a lovely lunch with Sue and Roger Eagle in their exquisite garden at Hempnall. Very enjoyable, and I relaxed a little with the diet. Don’t know if that affected why happened later in the week.

Anyway we had good news: our dishwasher was in and ready to be delivered, and we had a date for an engineer to look at our defective hob. In the evening we resorted to a Zoom compline because the new Rule of Six prevented eight of us getting together in Vicky’s garden as we did last time.

On Wednesday we had a lie-in and listened to the latest episode of Ms Rolf on Mother Julian. Dot went to the shops in the afternoon and got three picture frames which she spent the rest of the day filling with three pictures: they look very good. There was a slightly cooler wind, but this had abated somewhat by the next day, when we travelled to Felbrigg Hall to meet Dave and Julia. We arrived almost exactly on time, but needless to say D&V got there first (and were let in even though they were early – booking because of COVID).

We had a drink and then went for a walk round the walled garden, followed by lunch (I had soup). There was a certain amount of queuing for that. Afterwards we went for another short walk till about 3.30pm. I didn’t feel i could walk any further; so we left them heading south over the fields and drove to North Walsham, where we visited Sainsburys and the cemetery. In the evening we watched an exciting game of ODI cricket in which Australia narrowly beat England from an almost impossible position. Then David FaceTimed us as we were getting into bed. He looked more relaxed than he has recently.

On Friday Anne came round and while she was here Gary the electrician arrived with his bill, which I paid immediately as I had the Barclays website open. It was probably the quickest he has ever been paid by anyone. Dot and Anne then went off for a walk and lunch in the city, and while they were gone I had a horrendous pain in my stomach – so bad that I almost rang her. Glad I didn’t, because it eased off after a bit, though it left me exhausted, and I was lying on the bed when she got back. I now think it was another stone, because since then (until this evening) my urine was orange again, and I was feeling distinctly below par. However, I am now OK, I think. Until the next one.

The next day was warm, and the dishwasher arrived. The men from Hughes wouldn’t remove our facia boards; so I had to demonstrate my DIY expertise by removing them myself. They were then able to install the machine, and as I write it is washing its second lot of dishes. After they left we watched NCFC play Preston NE at Carrow Road. This was on TV, of course, though there were 1000 fans present. Actually it was on computer, but I managed to transfer it on to TV for the second half, much to Dot’s delight.

Meanwhile there was drama at the Tour de France when the man everyone expected to win was overtaken on the last stage – a time trial, which he was supposed to be good at. I would mention the names of the two men involved, but they’re both Slovenian, and I can’t remember them.

Today we went to church and made a bit of a mess of the last hymn. It was all a bit of a disaster because I had to go home for my glasses, and both Phil and Dot need me there to feel secure. I know – ridiculous. Anyway, the first two songs were more or less OK. Afterwards we decided to give our surplus guitar to one of Carrie’s needy groups.

This afternoon I cut a bit if ivy and trimmed a couple of shoots at the top of the hedge. Andrew rang up, but for some reason FaceTime wouldn’t work, though we could hear each other. He sounded perky but mainly incoherent. In the evening we watched an excellent drama about serial killer Dennis Nilsen, followed by a documentary on the same subject.

Dot and I have just returned from the dentist, £216 poorer after an examination and cleaning. COVID regulations in place; so we had to arrive a quarter of an hour apart and wait outside until the door was opened for us. Fortunately it’s a beautiful day today – sunny and warm – so that was no problem. I can see how it might become quite unpleasant as autumn turns to winter. We’ll see what it’s like in 11 days’ time, when I am due to have some laser treatment on an upper right pocket – a snip at just over £300. 

It was almost as nice yesterday when I went to St Augustine’s for the first time since March (I missed the previous Sunday because the plumber was still working.) Today the electrician is back, testing our sockets; so I’m temporarily without wifi and writing this on the laptop. Anyway, I found it a bit weird at church, with spacing and masks. But coronavirus seems to be making a comeback; so I don’t expect any relaxation in the rules any time soon. 

In the evening Howard and Anna came round for a garden gin evening, which isn’t as riotous as it sounds: there was quite a bit of nibbling involved, most of which I couldn’t eat because it was high in fat. Still it was OK. Dot spent half of the afternoon (if not more) getting the garden organised, and we called into Morrisons to get some tonic water and a few other things. We also filled up with petrol.

And the previous day, of course, we had been on the road – our first long journey since arriving back from Israel. The weather was good, and it went well. We stopped at Caxton Gibbet petrol station for Dot to use the loo. We used Google maps, and it took us on a lovely route avoiding road works and through the very pretty village of Woburn. At Swan Close we sat in the garden while Oliver, Amy and Vicky sat in the conservatory. We took our own lunch and drinks (no gin) and had a really pleasant two and a half hours. Oliver seemed very pleased with his presents, and Amy opened one of hers. Oliver’s 18^thwas actually the day before, but the children are both back at school. The journey home was even easier.

There has been a hold-up with the shower room, because the flooring is not in stock and, like the dishwasher, has no delivery date. We went back up to the Dovetail showroom, thinking of getting something more immediately available, but nothing at all seemed to be available; so we stuck to what we had and are awaiting a call. Meanwhile we have moved back into our bedroom. Happily the shower is usable.

In other news, we visited Lucy on Tuesday and had tea in her garden. She is intending to move back to the coast but can’t sell her house at the moment. Had quite a long chat about Paston and other things. It seems her aim in getting the Lottery money was quite different from what we are mostly doing, but I’m not sure she ever got that across. She seems to assume that you know what’s in her mind. She is still on chemo, so not feeling particularly well, though as always she hangs on, I’m happy to say. Her brother wasn’t given the best treatment and died. He and the three sisters all have the same rare cancer.

On Thursday, Matt popped in to return the combination lock for my bike. He had worked the combination out by using safe-cracking methods. It turned out to be a number I knew, but not one I had thought to try, which just goes to show. In the evening Dot went to an actual live PCC, which was surprisingly short.

The week went surprisingly quickly, as weeks do nowadays. We watched another James Bond film, and this was the first one that really wasn’t very good – Never say Never Again, with Sean Connery and far too much water. I should mention in passing that Norwich won the first game of the season, 1-0 away to Huddersfield.

Much more autumnal over the last couple of days. Yesterday evening (Saturday) we took Howard and Anna to Janet and Derek Bower’s new bungalow at Taverham for a barbecue, and it turned pretty chilly. I was wearing a jacket to start with but switched to a heavy coat later on. The food was delicious. I had to restrain myself a bit because of my low-fat diet, but probably ate stuff that I shouldn’t have. I did manage to keep the wine to legal limits, as I was driving.

The bungalow is quite big on a substantial and interesting plot. Both bungalow and plot were described as “small” by Derek, but then they used to live in a rather large house in Lothersdale with expansive views over the Yorkshire Dales. I know, because we house-sat for them once while they were in South Africa, where they own an apartment at Gordon’s Bay. As we had been there and to other parts of the Cape, we were able to converse fairly knowledgably about the area, which was nice.

Earlier in the day we had our hair cut and watched England beat Australia at T20 cricket. I knew the result but managed to keep it from Dot, who was overjoyed when England turned round a hopeless position by taking lots of late wickets and restricting the run chase. Quite near the end it looked so impossible for England to win that I thought I must have got it wrong. Meanwhile in the Tour de France, Adam Yates is still in yellow after a very tough mountain stage, but there are some very good riders within reach. I also managed to squeeze in some Paston work.

Friday was a busy day. I was feeling a bit below par and had to walk up to the ear clinic, near Howard’s. On the way I encountered Howard and his smaller granddaughter in Golden Dog Lane: she was gorgeous (about two years old). As two years ago, Nick – the ear clinic man – was hard to find, even after I’d got into Cavell House, where he now works. Eventually I found the Reception for the building, which was on the first floor, and I was quickly picked up by Nick. The vacuuming operation was very quick, though the left ear was more tricky than the right. I can now hear a bit better.

Afterwards I walked to Jarrolds and bought a card for Oliver, then proceeded along the Walk to the bank, where I changed two illegal £10 notes for a £20. I still find it difficult to tell the difference between illegal notes (paper) and legal ones (plastic). You might think it was obvious…

In the afternoon Dot went to the shops then tried to visit Phyllis at her care home, but they had booked in too many people for the same time; so she was sent away. In the evening we watched Sully: Miracle on the Hudson, which is an excellent film. I knew the story and didn’t know how they would go about filming it, but it was superbly done.

Despite the coolness we enjoyed more wine in the street with Chris, Des, Mark and John-on-the-end. I wore a winter coat, and that was fine. During the day we had a FaceTime from Amy , and while we were talking to her, David and Chrissy joined in, which was nice.

Robin the plumber has been with us all this week; so we have been sleeping in the guest room and having to be ready to greet him at 8am (except today, when it was 9pm). I am beginning to feel a bit tired. This evening he finished all he could do until the floor is laid, which should be in the next couple of weeks. The new shower looks pretty good. We will probably continue to sleep in the guest room for a while, until we are sorted out. Meanwhile, we got the interim bill from electrician Gary, which was just over £2000. Could have been worse.

Earlier today I stayed at home while Dot went to church and did the intercessions. I thought I should be here in case Robin needed me. In the afternoon Paul and Maryta came round for tea/coffee and cakes. Maryta was much the same. Before they came, the Evetts rang and we talked about holidays and things. I cut back some ivy while Dot was at church and also did another Paston letter.

There was another live T20 cricket match today, England v Australia, again won by England. I recorded it and we watched it with a delay so that we could talk to the Hendersons. We also watched the Tour de France and are about to watch the Grand Prix. It’s all go.

Everything is out of kilter, even the Tour de France, which usually starts back in July but has only now, on September 3, reached its sixth stage. We are of course following it on ITV4, not so much because of the exciting action but because the team of commentators are pretty much the best on TV for any sport. And of course there always is some exciting action. I have never been tempted to watch it live, though I could.

We did watch the T20 cricket live last Sunday, because it was a momentous event (apparently) – the first live cricket on the BBC this century. It lasted four hours and wasn’t particularly interesting because the pitch was too “good”, which means there was nothing in it for the bowlers. In my view that’s “bad”, but there you go. We won it because Morgan scored a hatful of runs after wrongly being given not out lbw as soon as he came in. The Grand Prix was even less interesting, but David and Chrissy FaceTimed us, which was much more fun.

Earlier we went to church (St Luke’s again) and I did a sermon on suffering (mainly) which seemed to go down quite well. Afterwards Matt came round to get the combination lock off my bike so that he could see if he could crack it. I don’t think he has. Dot popped round to see Sarah, who broke her wrist while looking round her prospective vicarage at Carlton Colville. I refrained from asking her if she thought God was telling her something (!). She’s having an operation tomorrow but is in quite a bit of pain.

I should mention that the previous day it rained almost incessantly, but we snuck up to the Old Library Wood towards evening and bought a halloumi burger for Dot from some very nice local people in a van. In normal circumstances (regarding my health, I mean) I would have bought a wild boar burger, but I thought it was a bit risky. My £10 note on behalf of Dot was rejected because it was a paper one, which is odd because I’m pretty sure I got it out of a machine. The burger was £5, by the way, and the murals on the wall by the road are very good indeed.

Monday was Bank Holiday – apparently the coldest for many years. No comment. We spent most of the day preparing for the plumber, Robin, who rescheduled our work for this week – a good thing, but it meant Gary the electrician had to postpone his final day because he didn’t want to share the house with a plumber. He has done just about all the work but needs to make some final checks. So we were making the main bedroom available for Robin and moving our stuff from there and the shower room into the guest bedroom and Dot’s study. We also filled the car up with petrol – or at least I did while Dot bought a few things in Morrisons. In the evening I drove Dot and Eleanor to the Oaklands Hotel in Thorpe, where they and other members of our Compline group were having a birthday meal with Claire. Very good, apparently. Dot was dropped off later by the Archers on Rosary Road, and I went to meet her as she came down the path through the wood.

Robin arrived at 8am on Tuesday and started work on the cistern in the bathroom. By the end of the day (or was it the next?) he had it fixed, as well as the one downstairs. They had started to leak water into the pan, and the upstairs one had some broken bits inside. He is now (Thursday) well into the shower room and has relaid the floor. He managed to get away without removing the fitted cupboards, which is good, and he has also taken out the bidet, which will give Dot more room. He seems very thorough. Dot has ordered some flooring from Dovetail, and it will be fitted by them when Robin has finished.

Also on Tuesday I at last got round to visiting my Aunt Thelma in the Cresta Run care home at Poringland. (I have decided to call it that instead of Cresta Lodge because it seems more appropriate.) I had to book an appointment, phone them when I reached the front door, then go and wait by a side door until someone let me through that and took me to a spot outside Thelma’s window, which was ajar. I had to wear a mask through all this, but took it down while speaking to her because otherwise she wouldn’t have heard anything. We had a good conversation for about 45 minutes, and she seemed well, though she is not very mobile. She has an excellent memory. I took her a book and a couple of photographs, but these had to be put in quarantine for 72 hours before she could have them.

Yesterday morning, after watching highlights of another T20 match – this time rather more exciting and won by Pakistan – Dot and I spent some time trying to sort out her diocesan e-mail problem (again). We couldn’t make much progress, and so she rang the IT people. I stood by to see if I could help, but I really wasn’t much use except for the occasional interpretation until they decided that she needed an app. After installing the wrong one we eventually sorted it out, and now it seems to be working fine, as long as she uses the app instead of the system she’d been using up to now.

Late in the afternoon I took Joy’s presents round for her birthday and had a fairly brief chat with her and Phil. She didn’t look too well, to be honest, and is down to seven stone. My friend Joy (McCall) is also not too good, but her husband Andy is even worse (though he has both legs). He has problems with his spine, hips and bowels and has had to leave work. He also can’t act as her carer any more; so they are having people in, with all the additional specialist problems that entails.

I’m still working on the Paston letters and have booked visits to the dentist and ear clinic. For the former I had to update my health form, which was a bit of a challenge. Last night we went to bed early – partly because we had been pretty busy and partly because we’ve been getting up early for Robin.