Sunday 23 Feb started dry and mild, but became wet later. Went to church: I led the service and Howard preached. Went quite well despite my forgetting the collect and checking who was praying. Disguised both successfully: got collect from lectionary on phone and guessed it was Anna praying. Congregation a huge 29, including Nikki , Phoebe, Kye (a new guy) and just about all the regulars. Afterwards took Ray home – his legs seem pretty bad and he’s feeling neglected. Spent most of the rest of the day watching television, including a bit of football and rugby. Watched end of Gaelic murder mystery set in Harris/Lewis, which was pretty good but not as good as Unforgotten. Brief FaceTime with David – Oliver and Sophie in background. Earlier got phone call from Mike Read to tell me Kathy Hindle had died. Sad. 

Monday – Mainly dry, except for the ten minutes it took us to walk to the cinema. Had to go back for hat. Dry before and after. Supposed to be 3% chance of rain: not impressed. Film – Bridget Jones: Mad about the Boy – was excellent though. Quite funny and an uplifting underlying theme. Excellent acting. Before that caught up with various things but was frustrated in my attempt to adjust the church rota by people who wanted to change or who hadn’t bothered to respond in the first place (or the second or third). Bought some birthday presents for Chrissy on Amazon. Watched some more football and the last episode of Unforgotten, which was very good except that the wrong person did it, or rather didn’t do it. 

Tuesday – Lovely day. Mild and sunny. Got up early to go to Un Café at Beeston for breakfast with Brian and Tricia. Brian seemed quite perky. Afterwards Dot and I drove to Hemsby and walked along the Valley, which was reassuringly much as I remembered it: only the dunes at the seaward side were reduced in size and had lost their chalets. Different story from the Gap southwards.

Walked up into The Marrams and tried to find the bungalows from my childhood visits, but unsuccessfully. Spoke to a guy of 71 who was born in Ormesby and had worked in Hemsby most of his life. Warmed to him.  Went back on to beach – really beautiful with blue sky and almost empty sands. Walked back to the Gap and up back to car. Had been thinking of doing more but drove back home, stopping at Cotswold shop to look at bathroom cupboards. Redid rota and sent it out for comments.

DCC at our house in evening. Debbie arrived very early while I was cooking chicken – not particularly well. Rest of them arrived at 7pm – Graham, Judy, Phil, Sharon, Howard. Quite a good meeting. Some disagreements but no unpleasantness. Abstained on parish share in protest at what the CofE does with its money. Chatted to Howard after everyone else had gone. Seemed much better, though he gets very tired, and his walking is sometimes erratic. Dot and I watched last episode of Miss Austen. Began to get some idea of who was who. Emptied dishwasher and cleared up before bed. 

Wednesday – Dramatically different day, with a lot of rain, some of it heavy, and generally colder. Got up early to go up to the doctor’s with Dot and to collect my pills from the chemist. Also consulted the pharmacist (as you do) about a mole on my body that looks a bit dodgy. He passed me on quickly to the doctor, and I have, on advice of the very nice receptionist, sent the surgery a picture of it, together with loads of irrelevant information that you have to give in order to complete the form.

That was in the dry. Later we drove up to church in the rain for Bible study, which was well attended though at low temperature. Fortunately I was wearing a very warm jumper. Big attendance: Dot, Debbie, Judy, Steven and Kye. Also Ellie by Zoom!! So we’re almost worldwide, as Ellie is in Wales. Seemed to go quite well, despite Debbie’s obscure explanation of the Trinity which I don’t think anyone understood. But hey, it’s a mystery, so…

Afterwards made very minor changes to rota and sent it out yet again, as well as putting it in the diary, which is how confident I am. Ha! Also chose hymns for Sunday. Dot and I both quite tired; so lay down for a bit. Light supper pf prawns before Dot went with Janet to orchestra rehearsal. No Nova this time, though she did get there late. Watched excellent Amandaland, but couldn’t face midweek Match of the Day, having seen the results. Went to bed instead. 

Thursday – Cool and mainly dry, though it rained as we came out of Morrisons in the afternoon. Bridget came to clean from 11am, and I submitted five poems to Twelve Rivers, the Suffolk Poetry Society magazine – A Friend from the Past, The Broomway, The Crowd, The Owls See Everything and Thelma, as well as a couple to Ripples (Nearly and Long Lens, the latter with a picture). Have an appointment on March 18 to get my mole looked at. Have managed to contact Joanne, Eddie’s daughter, and get her mother’s e-mail so that I can thank her for her Christmas letter. Watched a new version of Bergerac, which seems quite good. 

Tuesday 18 Feb – Quite a pleasant start, with sun. Cold, though. Caught glimpse of new neighbours heading out! Dot still spring cleaning – saw another episode of Unforgotten – really very good. Renewed car insurance and filled in health survey. Ordered wine. Anne came round about 5.30 and went by bus with Dot to Ask Italian for a meal, then on to the theatre for a performance of The Nutcracker. Home a bit earlier than I expected – before 10pm. I had cooked lamb steaks, sprouts and potatoes, then cleared away, set off dishwasher and finished a poem – Am I Nearly There? which came to me after I briefly lost consciousness (ie went to sleep). 

Wednesday – Still cold, with a bit more wind, but some sun. Had a bad night and felt a bit odd towards the end of the day. Suddenly realised we should be at church by 11.30am to meet a man from PMT who we’d like to fix our sound system. Phil, Debbie, Judy also there. More complex than I thought it would be, but a very nice and helpful man (Jim). After he went we had our usual Bible study in Acts – bigger group than usual, because Phil stayed and Ellie and Steve turned up. After lunch Dot and I walked up to the sorting office to post a card to Sandra (King) and then we drove to Morrisons to buy some food, which all went well. Was emptying dishwasher when Harriet turned up. Dot had just started practising violin; so I made Harriet a cup of tea and had a chat. Haddock for tea, then Dot went to orchestra – driving herself and Nova because Janet couldn’t come this week . I lay down briefly and then put the next rota together. Quite hard work, for some reason. When Dot got home watched Amandaland, an episode of Outnumbered and Real Madrid beating Man City 3-1 (6-3 on aggregate). Felt better by bedtime. Why!???

Thursday – Markedly milder, but some rain, though mainly dry. Dot and I caught bus up to bus station via All;

Saints Green (Castle Meadow is closed for roadworks) and walked up to the Assembly House, where we had tea with Kim. Dot and I had a fruit scone each : very good. Chatted for about 90 minutes, then Kim went into concert. Met Andy Russell and had a chat – he had his prostate out three weeks ago. Then Dot and I went to Chantry Place to get some trousers, but they didn’t have the ones so wanted; so progressed to Slaters at bottom of St Stephen’s, where I got some Dockers, similar to the ones I bought in Canada. Not quite so good, though. Quite upmarket shop. Dot called at a different shop, where she bought handkerchiefs.

It had been raining, but by the time we exited Slaters it had stopped, and we walked home. Expected to see lots of road works on Castle Meadow, but practically none, and only two workmen. Tired by the time we got home and lay down for a while. Then Bridget came round to clean: she is thinking of writing a humorous book on her cleaning adventures. Watched a Lauren Bacall film in evening – Designing Woman – then the first half of Bridget Jones’ Diary. 

Friday – Quite mild, but wind getting up a little bit. Started on Parish Pump but watched a lot of TV, including more Bridget Jones and in the evening Death in Paradise. Just about all our neighbours are away, having visitors or under the weather; so Dot and I went outside for a few minutes and drank some wine on our own, and caught Sarah  coming back from a funeral near Wisbech. Dot did quite a lot of violin practice. Felt OK most of the day, but my head was a bit funny in the evening. However, got a letter from the hospital to say I had no significant kidney stones. Yippee!!

Saturday – Mainly sun with some cloud, and mild. Finished my Parish Pump pieces, on Turner, Einstein and Madame Tussauds. Quite interesting. Walked with Dot to Carrow Road, where she saw City beat Stoke 4-2. I was exhausted by the time I walked back and lay down for half an hour before clearing up and making the bed. Made a large portion of salmon for supper and noticed that Oliver was en route to Canada: sent him best wishes. Watched second half of Calcutta Cup – a lucky win for England by one point. Watched the third Bridget Jones film but missed it on Channel 5 and had to pay to see it on Prime. Saw City highlights on YouTube. 

Weather more of the same, with small variations. Last Thursday (Feb 13) Dot dropped me at the dentist: no problems, but had an x-ray and a clean. Walked through Back of the Inns to Leathes Prior in The Close and managed to see someone who wasn’t Louisa: she promised to get me an interview with her. They sound very overworked.

Walked back to the station and on the way took a look at the new Paddington statue on a bench. Took a photo. Intended to buy flowers for Dot in the station, but they were ludicrously expensive; so I didn’t. Instead, when she went up to Jarrolds for one of their evenings with Kim and Kavana, I took the car to Morrisons and bought some flowers there, as well as a few other things, including petrol. Meanwhile Dot managed to get her money back on her broken necklace and bought another one: very nice. Earlier Bridget came to clean and guessed what my favourite soup was, which is a bit alarming. It’s pea and ham, in case you were wondering. Watched football and went to bed. 

Friday – Valentine’s Day. Miraculously, we bought cards for each other, and I received another Barbour jumper, light brown, which is very nice. Dot was pleased with her flowers. Lingered in bed awhile, as it didn’t look very inviting outside. Caught up with e-mails and so on, and thought about leading on Sunday, which I am doing unless Howard makers a sudden recovery. Apparently he hasn’t got malaria, but what he actually has is still not known. Rather worrying. Feeling chilly and quite itchy, especially later. Went over for drink at Des’s with Chris, Mary and John (who moves on Monday). Des fetched fish and chips. Later watched Dr Zhivago, which we saw at the cinema (Leicester Square) the first time we went out. 

Saturday – Grey; dry at first but wet later, with sleet and a bit of snow. Lots of snow in Canada. In the morning Dot went into the city for a minor cosmetic assignment. After lunch I dropped her at church after she’d posted a card through Howard’s door, and she went to the Peace Catalyst last meeting, which apparently went well. I picked her up on her way home, as it had started raining and was very cold. As I was making supper she went to Morrisons for a few things. Later watched football and a real life murder trial documentary. David FaceTimed us while we were clearing away, and we had quite a long chat, partly about peace. Watched a bit of football before going to bed. Howard hasn’t got malaria, but he could have anything else. 

Sunday – Cold but dry – some sun in the afternoon. Went to church but did not play in the band, as Steve was there – with an electric bass! (I have nothing against Steve; it’s a numbers thing.) Uplifting service led by Howard “I haven’t got malaria” Green. No fever, but he seemed a bit unstable. Good sermon from Carrie and prayers from June. Took Ray home. Road works still much in evidence.

Watched a lot of TV, much of it football. Spurs beat Man Utd 1-0 and Liverpool were lucky to beat Wolves 2-1. Dot and I drove up to Ketts Heights in mid-afternoon and walked up to the top and then round the perimeter. Bit dog-heavy but very pleasant. Later Oliver rang – he is going to Canada instead of Sophie coming here and changed his date for visiting us, which means we need to change Kristine’s date. In evening watched first two episodes of Hebridean murder mystery The Island – quite good, especially the scenery. John has been spending weekend emptying his house into large van and transferring stuff to tip and/or new house. 

Monday – Again quite pleasant and quite cold.  New neighbours moving in – Dot introduced herself while pruning roses.  Felt quite shivery today for some reason – better in evening as usual. Watched too much TV including a new Apple film, The Gorge, starring Anya Taylor-Joy. Very good but a bit horrific. In response to a message from Dot, NWT have adjusted their light so that it doesn’t glare into our guest bedroom. Late on, plane crashed at Toronto airport in snow. No one killed but three badly hurt. Very cold and stormy in Canada and USA. Hopefully less so when Oliver goes there soon.

Not very nice weather recently. Last Saturday (Feb 8) was still cold but mainly dry. Went with Dot to football: Jonathan also there. Norwich not at all impressive but went 1-0 up in the second half. Still no urgency, though, and they managed to give away a penalty and only drew. Adrian: “That’s an hour and a half I’ll never get back.” Watched rugby and one or two other things later. Oliver rang us earlier: he had been on a run at Finsbury Park. Spoke about where we lived in London and sent him the addresses. Later he went to see the Bob Dylan film and texted to say he really enjoyed it. 

So – he is 22, living in North-East London, travels by tube to work in central London and loves Bob Dylan. Sounds familiar – though of course he has a much better job (and home) than I did in 1966-67.

Sunday – Now Kristine too has enjoyed the Dylan film! Quite a cold day, but dry. Drove to church and played in worship band. Graham gave excellent talk on Isaiah 6, and we sang my favourite hymn – I the Lord of Sea and Sky, which is obviously linked to it and more or less changed my life at one point.

Took Ray home as usual. His legs are quite bad, but he still gets around. Watched football in the afternoon, and went to a concert at the Theatre Royal in the evening. It was Dot’s Christmas present! Prague Symphony Orchestra playing Tchaikovsky’s violin concerto and Dvorak’s Symphony No 9, plus three other pieces, two of which were encores. Brilliant violinist. Ran into Kim before the concert and had a chat, before and at interval (+gin and tonic) then walked a little way back with her afterwards. At home, watched Ski Sunday. Howard and Anna back from Guatemala; Anna had stomach upset while they were there, and Howard now Ill – not sure what with, but feverish and in bed.  

Monday – Grey and rainy. Quite cold. Dot cleaned out cupboards in kitchen and utility room. I put out bins. Caught up on computer work. Did rota e-mail.  Watched a bit of football, plus Call the Midwife and Miss Austen, both of which were OK. In the evening Judy came round, and we took her to Cake and Compline at Claire’s. Guinness cake – very nice. Vicky’s mum has cancer of pituitary gland. Howard still ill. General Synod has voted to insist on alcoholic wine and non-gluten-free bread at Communion. Everyone except us outraged!

Tuesday – Grey and still a bit rainy. Not very inspiring. Hair cut in morning, and finished my excellent but weird China Miéville book this afternoon while Dot did some more cupboard clearing in the kitchen. Forgot to contact solicitor, but sent birthday card to Dave Evetts. Cooked separate meals – I had lamb, which was delicious – saw first two episodes of new series of Unforgotten (very good) – and then we walked to football. Cold and a terrible match, City losing 1-0 to Preston. 

Wednesday – Weather grey and cold but dry. Drove up to church – had a bit of trouble parking after being held up by bin lorry. Bible study went quite well, and Dot and I then went round Steven’s for a chat and to give him a bit of advice. He is doing a degree course but having trouble with part of it: he had an option to change, but we advised him to persevere, because of the time factor (he’s 45). Drove home via city centre and had a late lunch. Dot went to orchestra rehearsal in the evening with Janet and Nova. I tried several times to sign in to chess.com but failed. David FaceTimed and we eventually got his and Oliver’s game on screen – a win for David, but quite close. Trump has made no executive order on chess yet, but I expect him to ban Freestyle and Blitz.

Saw second part of Katya Adler on the Balkans. Just as good as the first, and just as scary.

Monday Feb 3 was dry and not too cold. Actually went outside in the afternoon to clear up a few leaves and put bins out. Tried to get small tree out of ceramic container, but too difficult – ended up very tired and had to lie down for a bit. Generally feeling a bit better, I think. Watched quite a bit of TV including a couple of Wessex Tales from way back – 1973, I believe. Good stuff. Young versions of actors we know well. 

Tuesday was again dry but mostly dull – clear sky in the evening. Dot drove me to hospital in the morning for an ultrasound on my kidneys and bladder. All seemed ok. Bit of a wait, but the process didn’t take long. Got a 26 bus home. Felt pretty chilly in the afternoon, for some reason. Tidied up my room and got bins in. Quite interesting end to the season for Silent Witness, but a bit smarmy. Very interesting piece on the Balkans by Katya Adler, who I discovered is half German. Really well done , and frightening. 

Wednesday –  Sunshine, a bit chilly but not too bad. Bridget came to do some cleaning about 11am, but at about 11.45 we left her to go to church for Bible study (Acts 18), which went pretty well.  Then home for a quick lunch and walked up to Vue cinema to meet Leanna, Nikki and Luke for a viewing of A Complete Unknown, starring Timothée Chalamet as Bob Dylan. Comfortable chairs (an innovation) and a good film, very well acted, about the outset of Dylan’s career up to Newport 1965. Chalamet was brilliant at Dylan’s singing style (and guitar playing). L, N and V loved it too. On the way home we called in at the travel agent to show them Dot’s passport, then caught a 25 bus from Orford Place. After supper Dot went with Janet as usual (and Nova) to orchestra rehearsal. Chose hymns for Sunday. Felt quite a bit better today. 

Thursday was sunny but cold. Frost in the morning. Drove to charity shop, deposited some jumpers and bedlinen and then moved on to Morrisons, where I met Dot, who had walked it. Stocked up fairly heavily , then I drove home and she walked. Took some time to unpack. After lunch watched a documentary on Mary I with Lucy Worsley, which was quite interesting in terms of phantom pregnancies. Felt very tired afterwards for some reason, and lay down for a while. Better in the evening: had some mushroom soup, which is not my favourite, but it was ok. Then watched Top Gun: Maverick, which was surprisingly good. So two first-class films in two days. 

Friday – Pretty cold, often overcast but mainly dry. Drove to Swaffham for lunch with the Higbees – really nice: haddock pâté starter, variation on cottage pie with chicken and ham; and pears and yogurt. Journey both ways fairly straightforward, though a big stretch of the A47 is now closed for the weekend. Not tour fault.

Street meet in our house, with Des, Chris, Sarah, Mary. All told stories of how we met our other halves! Afterwards watched a Yellowstone documentary and Death in Paradise: not sure which was harder to believe. As we were going up to bed David FaceTimed and we had a chat with him and Chrissy. Very cold over there, but they seem fine. John and Tara moving into new house at Stoke Holy Cross today. 

Odd start to the week. Dot got a phone call when she was still in bed from Caroline, Surrey-dwelling daughter of Maureen at No 6, who was worried that she couldn’t get through to her mother – it turned out largely because someone refitting a shower had cut her phone line. Maureen had apparently been “a bit odd”, and Caroline had fixed up a doctor’s appointment for her, but was worried she wouldn’t go, which she wouldn’t because she didn’t know about it.

Are you following this? Caroline rang Mary next door, who is somewhere up North but gave Caroline Dot’s number. So Dot got dressed and went to see Maureen, who was indeed confused. Dot phoned a taxi, which eventually turned up – Dot kept getting updates, because it had been booked on her phone. Eventually she went down and made sure Maureen got in the taxi. And so the story ends – so far.

Getting back to Tuesday last week (Jan 28) – Quite a bit of rain; not too cold. Drove  Dot up to dentist, and she walked home via several shops; later she cleaned out her airing cupboard. Strange mixture for me, healthwise. As usual I was worse in the afternoon, and went to sleep after a while, then had a bath and cooked salmon. Was feeling pretty low but took paracetamol and felt much better. Eventually watched second episode of Silent Witness, which had an interesting plot but finished too early: you really wanted to see the aftermath. 

Wednesday – Beautiful day, though it rained during the evening. Not too cold. Felt well enough to drive Dot to North Walsham to put flowers on grave: it’s her mother’s birthday. Big hold-up at Coltishall – road up for no apparent reason. Knew it would be chaotic in centre of North Walsham so took circuitous route to get to Sainsbury’s, where we bought a few things, including flowers, and then drove to cemetery. Sat in cemetery and ate sandwiches, then put flowers in graves. Nice feeling in cemetery. Drove home: cleared up and sorted out newspapers. Dot did quite a lot of violin practice, which must have paid off because evening rehearsal went very well, apparently. We had pizza for supper, then some jelly and fruit when she got home. I caught up with computer stuff while she was out. Felt quite tired; watched a bit of winter rescue progs, then David FaceTimed, and we had a chat about where we wanted to be buried, among other things. 

Thursday – Much colder, but blue sky and dry. Anne came for coffee, and then she and Dot walked into the city to book a holiday in Rhodes together, plus have champagne lunch at Jarrolds and visit a few shops. I was feeling a bit chilly and tired, but could be worse. Had a bit of trouble with the TV, but it seems to have sorted itself out. Chose hymns for Sunday. Bridget came and did cleaning. Dot and Anne got back about 5pm. I had a bath and Dot went to Morrisons. Had really nice pea and ham soup – one of my favourites. Think I’m feeling better. Much less tired, and coughing seems slightly productive. Watched a bit of TV.

Friday – Grey and cool. Quite a bit of rain. Felt ok to get about, but a bit shivery and heavy.  Drove to Dereham in morning to exchange Christmas presents (!) with Phil and Joy. They seemed ok. Had a nice time with them, discussing health and other things, including our families. Then moved down the road to Angela and Rodney’s, where we had a snack lunch and a couple of teas. Stayed till about 3.30 – again a very nice time. Weather too bad for street meet (anyway Mark in America, Sarah in bed, Mary  and Bob in Hull – John’s father’s funeral at Stoke). So the two of us went round for a drink with Des and Chris, and Des got us fish and chips, which we ate while watching a documentary on Yellowstone. Felt quite ill afterwards and went to sleep, but then recovered to watch the start of a new series of Death in Paradise, which went quite well. Went to bed after news while Dot watched a bit more. 

Saturday –  Not too bad. Not too cold. Feeling a bit better, though ended day with heartburn, possibly because I didn’t take lanzaprosole this morning. Dot was going to go to Peace Catalyst talk at church but got involved in buying insurance for her holiday, then listening to football, which was on unexpectedly early. Norwich beat Watford 1-0 away. Before that Amy FaceTimed and we had a chat about holidays and things that were coming up. She seemed well. After the football, caught up with my e-mails and while Dot was taking stuff to charity shop I cleared up the kitchen and packed up broken glass. Not shivery today (hadn’t taken pills!) cooked oven-ready cottage pie with extra dauphinoise potatoes, which were good. Dot stewed some apples. Watched end of Dead and Buried thriller, which was unsatisfactory because the unpleasant lead character didn’t really get comeuppance. 

Yesterday (Sunday the 2nd) was Candlemas. Mainly sunny: had to scrape ice off car. Decided not to play guitar, because PhIl and Steve F were both there. Wouldn’t say I was 100 per cent by any means, but was able to function OK. Liz Cannon led, and Liz Day gave rather off-the-wall talk which was more of a lecture and extremely abstract. However, it had its good points. Steve B did prayers, gaining in confidence. Afterwards took Ray home. Road works beginning to seem permanent. Watched football in afternoon (Spurs beat Brentford 0-2) and watched a particularly depressing Midwife and then a new series about Jane and the other Austens. David FaceTimed us when we got in bed, and we had a chat about politics, mainly. I was a bit distracted because I was getting a muddle with my pills. He and Chrissy seem well. Took pills late, which was probably a mistake, because I didn’t have a very good night.