Woke up this morning to a blue sky, which is a nice change. Far too much heavy greyness. Still very cold, though. Thin layer of frost on windscreens: of course it’s a week since we’ve been out in the car. Listened to the latest Rolf in bed. Scheduled to lead Zoom service this evening.

Last Wednesday was calm and not too cold. Dot had a DSSO meeting, then baked a chocolate cake  – terrific. Walked alone over both bridges and back along King Street, Rouen Road and down by the Julian cell. Quite tired. Later we watched two very good films: Election and The Wife. Also started watching The Investigation, a Danish police procedural based on a real life crime involving a submarine and a beheading, and you can’t say that very often; so I’ve used it in the heading. We finished watching it (six episodes in all) the next day – really very well done.

It was a lot milder on Thursday. Dot did a walk, but I did 4000 steps indoors. I fInished off my poetry book, though I keep changing the title. I’m thinking about whether I need an isbn number and bar code. Did another Paston letter. 

Friday was a nicer day. Cleared up. Felt a bit ill during the night – dodgy stomach, lot of itching. Did Diabolical sudoku; so can’t be too bad. Also some clearing up. We walked up Bishop Bridge Road and round the cathedral, then back on to BBR and home. Had a nice long FaceTime with Oliver, Amy and Canada, then watched an Endeavour rerun.

Yesterday was damp and much colder. After Norwich drew 0-0 with Middlesbrough in a dull lunchtime game ,we went for a walk and found there was a bitter wind. Nevertheless persevered round by the railway cottages and back after posting a letter. Later we had an hour’s Zoom with Kristine, then watched Shadowlands, which was excellent. Dot has worked out a daily schedule, which is a bit frightening. At least it’s for her and not for me.

No obvious side-effects from our vaccinations last Friday, other than mildly sore arms. I have had the odd headache, but then I sometimes do. Also very mild. In the evening Des brought Dot some fish and chips, which she ate while I looked on enviously and consumed some much less fatty kipper fillets that I’d cooked in the oven. We watched The Never-ending Story, which was quite clever but could have been better: it sort of petered out.

On Saturday Dot got a record 15/20 in the Telegraph quiz and then had a long chat with Anne on the phone. Her daughter Charlotte, who is a nurse, had a vaccination and then discovered she already had covid and was feeling pretty ill. Her husband also has it. David FaceTimed us after beating me at chess. Norwich lost 1-0 to Barnsley in the Cup – Dot listened on radio. I have been doing some more Paston stuff. In the evening we watched Gladiator, which was much better than I thought it would be. Very good, in fact.

On Sunday we listened to Ms Rolf in bed. Norfolk was almost unique in not having snow, but happily for Amy, Aylesbury did. Weather was pretty appalling, but I managed to do 4000 steps indoors! Had a Zoom church service at 6pm, and I preached on the wedding at Cana. Quite a good attendance. Watched quite a lot of TV – an old episode of Endeavour, plus Spiral and The Serpent, not to mention Match of the Day.

Monday was sunny but still with a bit of quite cold wind. Nevertheless, we did quite a long post-prandial walk along the river and round the back of Carrow Road and the little houses by the railway line. Heard from David that Oliver didn’t get into Cambridge, which I found amazing. He seems to be taking it very well, and is deciding between Bath and Warwick, both of whom have offered him places. I had long chats with Ray and Chris and then Lily on the phone (she is feeling a bit down), and in the evening we Zoomed in on a brilliant science and faith meeting, where Denis Alexander of the Faraday Institute spoke about Evolution and the Love of God. He was brilliant and made me rethink my views. It all makes sense now, but in a different way. Interestingly his ideas coincided in one way with Iain M Banks’ suggestion in one of his SF books that physical existence is impossible without suffering. Banks, of course, was an atheist: he was telling a story, not making a theological point. Meanwhile Spurs beat Wycombe 4-1 in the Cup, scoring three of their goals in the last five minutes.

Dot has been interacting with her schools again, and this morning is in a Zoom DSSO meeting. Yesterday we had text exchanges with Oliver, who says he is now excited about the other possibilities that are open to him. Any university would be fortunate to have him. The weather was again poor: it rained most of the day and was very cold. So of course we walked up and down indoors, keeping up our steps. We watched an excellent film called An Education, then had our Zoom Compline with all the usual suspects including Kim, who has just joined us.

The Hello Fresh man has just delivered. I have been reading more, but have made the mistake of building up an intimidating pile of books. They are: The Mirror and the Light by Hilary Mantel, which is borrowed and very, very long – I haven’t started it; Antlers of Water, which David gave me for Christmas, which is writings about Scotland, some of them quite memorable – about halfway through; The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman, which I gave Dot for Christmas – unstarted; Born Bad by James Joyce, a friend living in New Zealand – read a few chapters; The Hidden Gospel by Neil Douglas-Klotz, which is about the Aramaic Jesus – about halfway through; Cultural Sexism, by our friend Heather Savigny – a few chapters; Poetry Notebook by Clive James – a gift from my brother and sister-in-law for Christmas; and somewhat surprisingly The Casebook of Sherlock Holmes, which I picked up in the loo. This does not include the ones I dip into occasionally.

Big day today – we’ve had our first vaccination against covid. Happily the weather was good – sunny and not too freezing – because we had to queue up outside, and the whole process took nearly an hour. But it was very well organised. The possible side-effects were a bit alarming, not so much in their seriousness but in the likelihood that you’d get them – headache, very sore arm, very tired – or of course you might not. We didn’t get the Oxford one, which would have been my first choice, but never mind. Before having the vaccine we took the car for a bit of a drive because it had been standing unused for about a fortnight. We didn’t go far.

Monday was cold and damp; so we resisted the non-temptation to go for a walk. Watched the classic Withnail and I and a couple of episodes of serials, and listened to the first of a new season of Veronica Mary Rolf – this time on the Psalms. I have to say it was very good and inspired us to read a Psalm a day. We haven’t done that, of course, but we have made a start.

Haven’t watched many films this week, but we did watch the irresistible Fargo on Tuesday. It was even better than I remembered. I walked up to the Rosary while Dot had a violin lesson on Zoom from Anna: she is making big strides, I think. We also watched the animation film Early Man, which was quite funny. During this week I have read two short stories that Dot got from David for Christmas – Mrs Fox, by Sarah Hall and The Part-Time Job, by P D James. The first was interesting but bizarre, and the second was brilliant. I have also started reading a book by James Boyce, which he had delivered to me. it’s called Born Bad, and is about original sin, which doesn’t sound enthralling, but from what I’ve read so far it’s very promising.

I’ve also done five Paston letters, one of them from scratch and the other editing Peter’s first drafts. I’m still playing chess against David, Oliver and Amy. I beat the random man only because he lost on time. Don’t know why. I’m winning against Oliver and Amy at the moment, but the one with David is a bit crazy, and I’m not sure who’s winning. I have decided to recycle a 2012 sermon for Sunday: it’s on Cana.

On Wednesday Dot was inspired to have a big change-round in the guest bedroom. She has switched the wardrobe and the chest of drawers, but now we have books and magazines all over the place. I am going to get rid of some of them. Storm Christoph had a similar effect on the rest of the country, but was much wetter: lots of flooding, notably in Corwen, where Tish and Nigel have both had the River Dee in their houses. Not so bad here, though we had a bit of rain and quite a lot of wind. No snow.

Norwich beat Bristol City 2-0 and played very well. I did a lot of work on my poetry book and wrote an introduction and some notes. Watched a strange film called One of our Aircraft is Missing, which I think was supposed to be morale-boosting. Not sure why, because basically six men jumped out of a plane unnecessarily – it made it back to England on its own and crashed into an electricity pylon – and were taken in hand by the local Dutch people, six of whom were executed as a result. I have to say the Dutch made a much better impression than the English, who were a very strange and – as written – not very bright bunch.

Yesterday was quite busy, especially Dot, who did more sorting out and cleaning. Still a cold wind, though not so strong. We went for a walk up to Bishop Bridge and up to the Great Hospital, then back through the short-cut to The Close, where we bumped into David Newham and had a chat, probably illegally. He had been in the lead role in an Agatha Christie play at the Maddermarket which had reached the dress rehearsal stage when covid locked it down. He said he still remembered the words!

In the evening we had a 90-minute Zoom DCC, which went reasonably well after I’d persuaded them not to waste time producing another Parish Profile which probably wouldn’t be used. Spoke to Paul on the phone and offered him some magazines, which he declined, and then to David on FaceTime.

Friday was an exciting day. First, our new passports arrived, and we signed them. We can now leave the country. Well, we can’t, of course, but if we could, we have the documentation.

Very satisfying. Then the package from Cley Smokehouse came. Not only did this have some splendid fish in it, but it made me reorganise the freezer in the garage, which was an interesting experience. I think it was the first time I have been burned by something cold. For some reason we have almost 20 ice packs in our freezer – or we had. I have thinned them out, but in doing so I had a fingers problem. In the end I had to go and get my gloves. Still, the conclusion of the reorganisation was very satisfying. It was bit like the feeding of the five thousand, except there were a lot more fish than people.

Later , after a shortish walk (I met Dot, who did a longer one), we watched Whisky Galore, filmed on Eriskay, which we drove through a few years ago when we island-hopped in the Outer Hebrides. The film was beautiful and funny, and the bureaucrat got thoroughly done-over. I suspect that Captain Mainwaring from Dad’s Army was based on him, at least as far as the pomposity went.

We also saw Black Widow, a documentary about a woman who tried to persuade men to kill her former husband and who was so controlling that she made me very, very angry. I can’t say more, because she is still in prison and will eventually be let out. She might ask someone to kill me.

Oh, and we have been scheduled for a covid vaccination next Friday at Lionwood. I told you it was exciting.

Saturday saw the first snow of the year – at least in Aspland Road. Quite impressive at first, but it soon turned to sleet and rain, as predicted by Dot. Did quite a bit of work on my poetry book and then watched Norwich beat Cardiff 2-1, after looking as if they were going to win 5-0. Had to pay to watch, because it was an away match. Mark arrived home from the States, and I got involved with a lot of chess games. I am now playing David, Oliver and Amy and a random guy I got paired with by mistake. He could be anywhere in the world.

Over the weekend we watched Traces, a drama series about a cold case murder and a forensic team in Scotland, which was pretty good: six hour-long episodes. Also two more episodes of Spiral.

Not much snow left on Sunday except in the Rosary, where we went for a walk and found some remains on the high ground, including a collapsed snowman. We got up late, largely because Dot had finished her book, The Thursday Murder Club, in the early hours. Had a Zoom church meeting at 6pm, during which I did the prayers, and Howard did a talk during which he mentioned abortion – and wished he hadn’t. Don’t know why he did really. But that’s Howard for you… Watched an old episode of Endeavour and then Match of the Day 2 as usual.

Today is cold (of course), but the promised rain hasn’t arrived yet. Phil “Wall of Sound” Spector is dead – he once pulled a gun on Leonard Cohen and was convicted of murdering an actress. Read the meters this morning: our gas bill will be over £200 for the month. Well, it’s been cold.

Another unpleasant day, like yesterday as far as the weather is concerned. Heavily overcast and almost continuous rain, as well as being very cold. Hardly went outside at all yesterday, except to take our grocery list to Des and move the bin into the drive. I haven’t even taken it round to its usual spot at the side of the house. Snow is forecast but doesn’t look very likely, though there’s a lot elsewhere in the country. I also managed to lose to my grandson at chess. Blundered a piece at the end, but he played very well and was winning anyway.

Yesterday I managed only 3000 steps, but am determined to do better today. I did over 1000 before breakfast. Yesterday I did some Paston editing and have been asked to look at some other letters. Also made a start on putting a poetry book together; I received one from Joy McCall – a short series of ryuka that I read in about five minutes. I’m going for something a bit more substantial, but keep wondering whether I should go for something online.

I’m reading several books, particularly two I got for Christmas – one is nature writing from Scotland (from David), where I have found out a great deal about wasps, and the other is a book by Clive James about poetry (from Joy). Don’t agree with everything he says, but it’s beautifully written and is full of knowledge. Yesterday we watched Some like it Hot, which was brilliant, and a bit of Goldfinger, breaking off to view Spurs drawing 1-1 with Fulham on Amazon Prime. I think they took next-day delivery too far. Also saw the end of The Pembrokeshire Murders, a dramatised version of the hunt for a serial killer. Very well done. Adrian was very keen we should watch it, possibly because it’s both good and Welsh.

Last Friday Dot and I walked together to the post office, which was surprisingly empty, and posted parcels to Oliver and Amy. We then walked over the Julian bridge. It was very cold and foggy. Later we watched Mr Holmes, an excellent film where I learned more about wasps, but even more about bees. Then Wonder Woman, which has some overtly Christian elements, though that’s not why we watched it.

On Saturday Norwich beat Coventry 2-0 in the FA Cup, and I started the second chess game with Oliver – the one I lost today. Again it was very cold, but sunny. I went for a longish walk with Dot to the Rosary, then down Rosary Road and back along Riverside. We watched an American series called a teacher – ten 30-minute episodes – which was a bit predictable but had a good ending.

We stayed in bed late on Sunday. It was cold again (well, it’s January), but not quite as bad as it was. Excellent Songs of Praise from Stirling, and I went for a short walk after lunch, up to Bishop Bridge and then towards the Cathedral and back through The Close. As I’d done steps earlier, this brought me to over 4000. We had a Zoom service with Liz C preaching and an agape “meal” at 6pm, then watched Spiral – a French police procedural which is pretty good, but not as good as it was.

Monday was strange. Cold, with a bit of wind; so walked indoors. Cleared up leaves for brown bin and sliced up cardboard for recycling. Later we watched The Serpent, another drama based on a true-life serial killer. This is extremely well done, based mainly in the Bangkok area. There was also a PCC meeting with the Archdeacon, mainly to discuss what would happen to our parish after the current interregnum. Even Dot got bored with it, and she’s good at meetings. Fortunately God is more exciting than the Church of England.

It rained overnight, and Tuesday was – you guessed it – very cold, though sunny later. We had our passports approved after submitting them online and having the photos we took ourselves rejected. We then went to the Photo Booth in the station and did them there at a cost of £6 each. I had to buy a bottle of wine in the Co-op to get change – everything (except photo booths) takes cards now. Quite a tricky process and, now I think about it, probably a bit risky, virus-wise, though I don’t think many people are getting passports renewed at the moment. Later I walked to Bishop Bridge and back along the riverside path.  On the way out saw Margaret ad Michael Matthews, both of who have Bromptons.   

Later Amy and Oliver FaceTimed to say they had got their parcels.  We watched them open them. Glad we sent them. Later we watched Bean – The Movie and The Truman Show, the latter on the recommendation of Amy. It was indeed very good.

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Continuing my post of last Saturday… Later in the day Norwich City beat Barnsley 1-0: it should have been about 5-1. In the evening we watched another James Bond movie, Skyfall, which we must have seen but remembered very little of. We also continue watching the Netflix series Bridgerton, set in Regency times. I did a longish walk to Whitefriars bridge along the now unflooded riverside path, round to the front of the Cathedral and back through the Close.

On Sunday we went to church: only 13 present. Phil led (he didn’t want to be on Facebook Live, which had been suggested) and Carrie “preached”. Had to disperse fairly quickly as Tier 4 rules are quite strict, and the incidence of covid is increasing in Norfolk. Liz C and Jenny decided not to come because J has asthma and Liz has a vulnerable husband. Nice to get together, though. It turned out to be the last for a while, because following the new national lockdown from Wednesday we decided by a not-very-close DCC vote to Zoom instead, though we could technically meet. Only the Greens and Carrie really wanted to meet. Watched quite a lot of TV but managed to get up to 4000 steps again. Weather not inviting, but the rain eased off around church time. In the evening we finished the eight episodes of Bridgerton, and David FaceTimed us.

On Monday the weather was again uninviting, and the new national lockdown was announced. Got a card out of the blue from James Boyce in Tasmania, who came to St Augustine’s in the late 90s. He now has children aged 22 and 19. I started playing chess with chess with Oliver. and won the first game, but he knows what he’s doing, as he demonstrated in the second game, which ended last night. I won in an endgame one pawn up, but he played some really good moves and almost broke through on the queenside. Walked to the Rosary, but it wasn’t very pleasant – cold and damp. Saw the workman we’ve spoken to a couple of times and exchanged greetings from a very safe distance.

Tuesday started damp and uninviting. I felt twinges in the area of my gall bladder, but thankfully nothing developed except a slightly upset stomach. Started watching The Serpent, based on the true story of a serial killer, which was extremely well done. We also watched Uncle Vanya, a theatre production that was really good though, being Russian, a mite depressing. Great final speech by Sonya (ie Chekhov). We also held our Compline get-together on Zoom, which went well. I found a new Compline online – a Celtic-themed one from the Coventry diocese – and adapted it slightly. Seemed to go down well.

The next day, Hello Fresh and our Naked Wine delivery arrived together fairly early; so we were able to go for a longish walk together in late morning, crossing the Julian Bridge, walking along King Street to Tombland and then round to Whitefriars bridge and back by the riverside path. The sun came out as we neared home, and we did well over 5000 steps. In a burst of optimism I applied for new passports, and took digital pictures. Mine was rejected initially, but I explained about my eyes and stuck with it. They may come back eventually, but they don’t deal with it till they get our old passports, which are en route. We also packed parcels to send Oliver and Amy their clothes Christmas presents, but I haven’t been able to post them yet. In the evening we watched How the West was Won, which was very long and not at all woke, but very good in many ways.

Yesterday was not good as far as walking went.Paul rang up for a chat, and I took Dot to Colegate, so that she could pick up some music from the St George’s shop, which was operating a phone-and-collect system. I then drove to find a post office, but didn’t find one I was happy with. Called in at Phil’s to deliver Andrew’s card and had quite a long chat outside – long enough for Dot to walk home before I arrived. Earlier we’d picked up Dot’s pills from the chemist. In the evening we watched Get Carter and the first of a new series of Death in Paradise. Good performance by Michael Caine in the former, and the latter was typically refreshing. A really nice Hello Fresh meal too. David FaceTimed. He often does, but I don’t always mention it. It’s good to be in such close contact.

Today is very cold, with a touch of fog, but none of the snow and ice predicted. Not here, anyway. Cleared up the kitchen and then drove to Thorpe to try and post parcels. Unsuccessful again (long queue, surprisingly) but did manage to see female pharmacist at Hamblin’s about my problem in the lower area, and she gave me some cream. Said if it didn’t work I should see a doctor, but wouldn’t look at the problem area, for covid-related reasons.

Some time in the past week we saw Dr No, which was a bit of a waste of time, as I could remember most of it. For some reason it’s hard to get down to reading. TV is too easy.

It’s a new year – the second day of it, in fact, and Dot has just gone off to the shops to get some candles. It’s sunny and pretty cold, which is a vast improvement on New Year’s Day, which was heavily overcast, very damp and quite a bit colder. We stayed in bed till late morning, and after lunch had another quiz with Oliver, Amy, David, Chrissy and her three children. Each of us had ten questions to ask, and we then did a Would I Lie to You session that worked really well. Lot of fun.

Back in the old year, being wise, we looked for a star. On being told by Carrie on Sunday (27th) that the conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn would be visible just after sunset, we drove up to St James Hill and certainly did not form a group with Judy and Carrie or anyone else, but looked unto the fairly clear sky for some time before realising that the conjunction was probably below the horizon. Another blow for Carrie’s infallibility, but it was fun. The ideal time to see the “star” was probably the 21st or 22nd, but this was the first clear sky since then. Earlier, after a Zoom service from St Luke’s, we had played the game David gave Dot, which was fun and easy to understand, and later we had another turkey meal and watched Grease, which had some good songs and minimal story line, which is the same as most musicals except that the songs were good.

The next day Dot and I turned left and walked along the river, which was overflowing near the Friendship Bridge, then round the back of Carrow Road, where they were doing Covid testing, and home via the back lane that runs by the railway. Eleanor called as darkness fell to pick up Claire’s gift, and later we watched Evil under the Sun, a Poirot film that it turned out we’d seen quite recently. Good, though.

Tuesday was cold and damp but very still, and we got up late. Dot walked to Boots. After lunch I walked up St Faiths Lane on to Bank Plain, then back through the Close, through playing fields and on to Bishopgate, then home along river. David FaceTimed, and I put together a bit of my quiz for new year. 

The next day it was sunny in the morning, and pretty cold. We drove up to the farm shop at Oaklands in Thorpe, then dropped in at Cary’s Meadow. We walked round it, but it was waterlogged in many places. Still, we got to the river and encountered a group of three anglers setting up. Clearly they must have been living together. Dropped Dot off at Rosary , and she walked home from there. Flowers on Mum and Dad’s grave still good. Later we FaceTimed Amy and David id and made preparations for the quiz. Later we saw To Catch a Thief, which was fun, and Love and Friendship, based on a Jane Austen novella, which was excellent. Went to bed quite early.

New Year’s Eve dawned icily cold, with frost on windscreens, which must have been nice for the binmen. It was sunny at first but eventually clouded over. We decided not to go out, but walked extensively indoors till I got up to my 4000 steps. Had another excellent turkey dinner with steaks bought from the farm shop and more sprouts, then watched Santa Claus: the Movie, which was all right but could have done with some editing, and started on Bridgerton on Netflix – well done, as you’d expect. We are now three episodes in. Spoke briefly to David and Amy, and then watched the traditional Jools till about 12.30am. 

On New Year’s day we had breakfast in bed with the rest of the prosecco ( “awful stuff” – M Henderson), which was actually very nice. It was overcast with some sleet, but not much. Again we stayed indoors and walked around a lot.