Oliver caught the train back to London on Sunday (23rd) at 2pm, and we walked a bit before going home. Sat in garden for a bit: very warm, but much cooler in the evening. Dot still has a bit of dizziness, but I think I’m ok. Des back from Lichfield, complaining it’s cold here. Cooked fried egg, bacon and mushrooms. Watched quite a bit of TV , including a documentary on the Amazon (the river, not the company) and another on abseiling into canyons in Oman. Then an episode of Protection, a police thriller which is quite good. 

Monday was cooler, but sunny and dry. Slept late. Spent most of the day sorting through papers in my four trays. In the afternoon took Dot up to surgery to hand in her blood pressure results. On the way bought some paper for printer – huge amount really. Should last a few years. Cooked salmon and later watched England beat Latvia 3-0. 

Tuesday was rather grey, a bit cooler with a few drops of rain – but nothing measurable. Dot drove up to see her friend Joyce, who lives near the Mazda garage. She is doing quite well, considering her mobility problems. Dot then filled the car up with petrol. I spent most of the day choosing hymns and writing a sermon for Sunday.  Managed to do over 3000 indoor steps.  Dot still has some dizziness. Cooked cod for supper – quite nice –  and amazingly we also managed to watch four (yes, four) episodes of The Flatshare –  a really good comedy drama – plus another episode of Protection. 

Wednesday – Dry, bright and quite mild. We went to church at noon for Bible study, only to find Matt and a leak in the water pipe where he had been digging – so the water was turned off. Didn’t affect the Bible study, which was Dot, me, Judy and Debbie, with Ellie on the phone. Finished Acts. Went quite well. While we were there a guy from Anglian Water turned up, and we heard later he had sorted the problem – a great relief for Matt.

After lunch suddenly realised Dot had a foot appointment; drove her up there and went for a walk up to the Catholic Cathedral by a devious route. Dot’s appointment went well, and her dizziness is about the same. Matt has it too. After pizza Dot went with Janet and Nova to orchestra rehearsal, which went well, possibly because Dot has been rehearsing quite a lot. I did about half of my Parish Pump stuff. Graham got in touch to ask mysteriously if I was ok to preach on Mothering Sunday. I said yes. Not sure why he asked. Watched the end of documentary on Eric Sykes, who came out very well. 

Thursday – Mild and dry.  Finished my Parish Pump articles –  on VE Day, the siege of Mafeking and the death of the Venerable Bede. Went to Morrisons and stocked up. Dot did quite a bit in the garden. Bridget came and cleaned the kitchen floor, and I had a late bath before going out in the evening. We went to see Mary and Neville Thrower and had a lovely meal – salmon pâté starter, chicken fishermen’s pie and frangipane tart with fruit. Good talk afterwards, mainly about music and the orchestra, but not entirely. 

It’s Sunday afternoon, 23 March, and very pleasantly warm and dry. Oliver is on the train on his way home; we went with him over to the station to catch the 14:00 train. He is impressed by Greater Anglia trains, I’m happy to say. Earlier we played a couple of games of chess (lost first on time but won the second) and listened to a lot of Bob Dylan vinyl, after I had remembered how to make the turntable work. Lovely weekend with him. We missed church, of course, leaving Matt to of the music on his own. I’m sure he was memorable. I hit my head while getting some records out.

Back to Monday last week (17th), when it was cold but with some blue sky. Dry. Drove out to Uplands – Chris and Helen Lamb’s home – for “Fizz and Fingers”; in other words, a review of the sugar charity collections last year, with sandwiches and fizzy white wine. Tea, no sugar. Many absentees because of illness; other than Helen and Chris, there were Sue and Roger Eagle, Louise and some guy whose name I don’t know. After discussion we had food and long chat. Chris very interesting; he was high up in the Worshipful Company of Butchers, which he attributed to his name (Lamb) and Helen’s maiden name (Butcher). Dot went out for walk in afternoon: I walked indoors. Later I posted a sympathy card to Owen Hindle. We watched some chess on TV after a documentary about Irish islands and the first two episodes of Protection, a police procedural about protecting witnesses. Wrote up blog. Oliver FaceTimed us to confirm his visit. 

Tuesday – cold air, warm sun. Up at crack of dawn, had a bath and drove to surgery. Seen by Fatima Patel, who was in a hijab, very sweet and seemed about 16. Looked at my mole and thought it was benign but referred me to the hospital. They will get in touch – goodness knows when. Huge amount of traffic going into city. In trying to avoid it found route through to Kett’s Heights road and down past fish shop. Parked in Chalk Hill Road, having turned car round, and shortly afterwards returned with Dot to drive to The Foundry for breakfast.

Another huge hold-up on A140 near Dunston, which I avoided on way back by taking Stoke road. Had lovely breakfast with Brian, Tricia, Robin and Sheila, then Dot bought some plants and seed. Home around 1.30. Later drove up to Rosary and cleaned Andrew’s grave. Saw two deer moving very quickly.  Dot did a lot of cooking. Watched first three episodes of The Bay: pretty good except for the high percentage of people who are constantly angry. Great episode of University Challenge in which Dublin pipped Imperial on a tiebreaker. 

Wednesday – Busy day. Warmer and sunny. Dot did some shopping after forgetting her list. I took a pic of it and sent it to her. Then she drove me to church  for Bible study: she returned home for delivery of bathroom cabinet. Needless to say it didn’t arrive till nearly 3pm.  Meanwhile we had a good session with Debbie, Ellie, Judy and Steven – nearly at end of Acts. I then walked home and felt exhausted – perhaps partly because I was hungry.

Was asleep when cabinet was delivered but quickly woke. Nice guys – had driven from Birmingham. Spent some time clearing up and helping Dot with preparing spare room for Oliver. She put some stuff in loft. Later cooked beef bourguignon. Dot went with Janet (and Nova) to orchestra and I chose hymns and then (after a rest) sorted out the drawers in my room and on the landing (formerly in bathroom). Also disposed of stuff in bins and made our bed. Dot was a bit late back, but we managed to see the final episode of The Bay, which was pretty good although a trifle predictable in its motivation (exposing pollution).  

Thursday – warm and sunny till evening, when it became chilly. Dot spent all day preparing for visit of Kim and Ellie in afternoon and Oliver arriving later. I did some clearing up too. Afternoon discussion about medical matters, in particular vaccinations, ivermectin (which I knew about), and airport check-ins among other things. Ellie got quite excited. Bridget came and did some cleaning while we were talking. I went over to meet the train, and Dot arrived just before the train did. Dot did sticky chicken meal followed by apple crumble sundae. We watched an episode of University Challenge and the last episode of Amandaland, both of which we’d seen before. Oliver went to bed, and Dot and I watched an episode of Bergerac. 

Friday – Little bit cooler, but still pleasant. Oliver working from “home”. Spent far too long looking at old pix I found in Dropbox. Dot did work in garden then went to shop after lunch. At about 4pm the three of us walked up to Kett’s Heights. Nice view, despite cloud. Walked home via Rosary Road and back lane. Rested for a while, then went out for street meet. Introduced Oliver to new neighbours. Des and Chris away, but Mark, Ciara, Mary, Matt, Joe and Sam there, with Cleo for a while. Afterwards I cooked chili; then we watched some of England beating Albania 2-0. Not bad. Afterwards washed up, set off dishwasher and unblocked the sink using the boiling water method. Too much rice and fat. Had intense itching on left side: don’t know why. 

Saturday – Cooler, dry at first but lightish rain later. After breakfast we drove to Hemsby and parked  near the Lifeboat station, then walked along the Valley and up into the Glebe to show Oliver the bungalows we used to use for holidays. Then back onto the beach and walked back – encountering a seal on the way. Looked rather the worse for wear. Drove up to Winterton  and had a cup of tea in the Cosy Shack, then decided – partly because of the rain – to go home for lunch. Relaxing afternoon  – did a quiz and watched Only Connect and Mastermind. Oliver FaceTimed his father. Went to Gem for an evening meal hosted by Oliver: really nice. Dot having problems with balance following her taking statins after review with doctor/nurse. Annoying.

Wednesday 12 March was cold, with several showers. Hail at Dereham. Rainbows. Drove to church with Dot, and we had Bible study with Steven, Debbie, Judy and Ellie-on-phone. Continued through Acts, with Paul escaping from attempts to killl him. After lunch Dot had a review of her medication – by phone. She held her own.

I drove to Dereham with Phil’s birthday presents. He’s 73. We got most of them at the Mellor shop in Hathersage. Chatted about the Rapture, the money-grabbing evils of the Labour government and the evil plan to make people our age retake our driving tests. Didn’t know about that. Also the preaching of Joseph Prince. In the evening Dot went with Janet and Nova to orchestra. I chose hymns, edited some pictures etc. Oh, wine came this morning. Didn’t hear the guy as I usually do, but it was there all right. Watched last episode of Amandaland – really good – plus a bit of European football. 

Thursday – showers. Quite cool. Dot drove to see Anne, and they went for a walk round Poringland. I walked to Morrisons, and we met there and did a large amount of shopping to restock. Then home for late lunch – shrimps. Bridget came to do cleaning and did a very thorough downstairs job. I put water in piano and had trouble standing up again. Annoying.

In the evening we drove to Cake and Compline at the Archers. Very good cake. Gave lift to Judy and Eleanor, who was waiting at end of her road and then ignored us when we stopped for her. Bridget led compline and spoke about St Edmund. Had trouble parking in George Borrow Road and then only just managed to turn round at end of Eleanor’s road (Maida Vale). Must have been about a 12-point turn. Sheer genius. At home watched documentary on Mexico. 

Friday – Pretty chilly still but dry. Linda came to do our hair – later than we thought; so threw our morning out. By the time I’d had a bath it was lunchtime. Dropped book in bath again because I went to sleep. Again. Watched Bergerac after lunch and a couple of documentaries in the evening – one on air force training and one (third of three) on Israel-Palestine pre-Oct 7. Then Death in Paradise. More or less the same thing. Somewhere in there we went out for street meet (Des, Chris, Mark, Ciara, Matt, Angela, Joe and Sam). Bit cool, but good. Fish and chips to follow. 

Saturday – Cold but dry. Went with Dot to chemist in the morning to pick up her pills. She dropped me at Pilling Park on Harvey Lane, and I walked home through Lion Wood and the Rosary. Some quite steep bits – felt pretty tired afterwards. Most of the rest of the day spent watching TV – rugby and the final four episodes of The One that Got Away, a rather good Welsh thriller with a pathetic male cop but a good female one. Tension at end worked very well. Oh, and the second half of No Direction Home, the Bob Dylan documentary by Martin Scorsese. 

Sunday – Cold but dry till evening. Church in the morning as usual. In the band. Anna absent ill. Unusual service in that Howard interviewed Steve about his life at St Augustine’s going back to when he was a chorister and on through several interesting encounters. Interview was pretty long, but held everyone’s attention. Well worth doing both for him and us, I think.

Took Ray home. Did a bit of walking indoors and got up to 4000. Had a long FaceTime with David around teatime. Quite a bit about politics. Nice message from him afterwards. Newcastle beat Liverpool 2-1 in Carabao Cup Final. Yes! Sadly Spurs lost to Fulham in league. Saw last episode of Toward Zero: excellent Agatha Christie adaptation. Dot is in the middle of a week of measuring her blood pressure and taking new statins. 

Last Friday (March 7) was dry, bright and fairly warm. Spent quite a long time writing my sermon for Sunday, and after I’d written it felt very tired: so I lay down for a bit. Then unpacked and put stuff away, including cases in loft. Dot was busy preparing for visit of Peter and Caren tomorrow. Out for street meet at 5.30: Des, Chris, Matt, Ciara and Joe. Mary ill with shingles; Sam preparing to go to party. Mark going out for meal with his son Morgan before football match. Had good talk, then Dot and I came in for bacon and egg before walking with Des up to Carrow Road for match against Oxford. Should have won, but drew 1-1 after taking early lead. Watched a bit of European football and went to bed. 

Saturday – Dry and fairly bright. Not too cold. Phil and Caren Gazley came at 11am for lunch, which Dot had taken great pains in preparing – soup, lots of bread rolls with multi accompaniments plus banana cake. Had good time, talking rather too much about illnesses but also other things. They left about 3pm and I had to lie down because I was feeling quite ill – not quite sure why. Felt better later and had a good tea. Watched some rugby – brave attempt by Scotland to lose a totally won game by trying to bulldoze over line instead of passing wide and then screwing up multiple lineouts. Later watched other things, including Death in Paradise and Bob Dylan film – No Direction Home (part one).  

Sunday – Dry and bright. Bit of fog in evening. For some reason had plenty of time to get to church – and a good parking space too. Played in worship band, but not all songs. Dot did reading, and I preached on the temptation of Jesus. Several people said they liked it, and I sent a copy to Nikki. Dot invited a family round to watch rugby on TV – they were visiting from Harrow and were in a hotel. They intend to get a place in the new co-op housing scheme in Angel Yard on Sussex Street. England beat Italy quite easily in the end but only through brute strength. Italy more entertaining. 

Afterwards I did bacon sandwiches and David FaceTimed. He and Chrissy seem well. Then Dot and I went to Lowestoft for poetry but went for a walk to the cliffs first. Fair number at poetry, including Joan, Lynne and Kaaren, plus Ivor and Pete. Sadly two dogs, including one owned by a woman with a cold who sang a song and sat in front of us. She left at interval. If she hadn’t, I would have. Recited six poems: The Broomway; Before the Sun fell from the Sky; Am I Nearly there?; Vanishing Point; Nearly; The Owls See Everything. Fairly quick drive home: fruit and toast.

Monday – Mainly dry, but some very light rain in afternoon. Duller. Caught up with acres of e-mails and their implications; sent off meter readings; ordered and paid for stuff; wrote report on Sunday worship for church agm. Spent quite a bit of time pruning roses, and dug up small tree in tub which had been nagging at me. Nothing worse than a nagging tree – even a small one. Dot walked to shop, partly to add steps. Watched a bit of football, including Spurs salvaging a draw against Bournemouth. Also a half-hour programme on chess which was sort of interesting in the ways it tried to popularise the approach – partly successful, but a bit strange. Then the first episode of Toward Zero , an Agatha Christie adaptation criticised for being woke, but we thought it was very well done. Didn’t really matter what colour the actors were. 

Tuesday – Colder with a little rain. Finished off pruning the roses in the morning. Booked alarm service for next month. Felt very cold on the afternoon. Arranged to visit Phil and Joy tomorrow. Meanwhile Anna came to give Dot her violin lesson. While she was here I finished watching rugby highlights. After lunch watched second episode of Toward Zero. Excellent. Lay down for a while before cooking lunch, then we went to watch Norwich City implode and lose 3-2 to Sheffield Wednesday after leading comfortably 2-0 at half time. Astonishing: went from very good to very bad – as if someone had paid them to do it. When we got home cleared up and watched one of those village-by-the-sea documentaries – this time Johnshaven in Aberdeenshire. 

Just back from Buxton. Last Friday (the last day of February) saw signs of spring, with quite a bit of sunshine. I drove to the garage to get a new battery for the car key. Discovered offer on new cars which I had received might include a petrol version. On to Cromer, where I called on my cousin Barbara, who had an unexpected visitor called David, who she met on the beach and has apparently known for a while. Had quite a long talk with them both – he seemed a very nice guy but has recently had a back operation which makes it difficult for him to move. He cycled over because it was easier than walking.

After he left had a further conversation with Barbara about her various Christian experiences. I think she has a healing gift. She also played a hymn on her keyboard. Uplifting visit altogether. Drove home – heavy traffic with beet harvest lorries and many road works and closures. At home had late lunch and wrote to Christine Potter, my cousin Eddie’s widow. Then out for street meet with Matt and Angela, Mark (just home) and new neighbours Joe and Sam with their daughter Chloë. All good. Made chilli con carne and we watched Passport to Pimlico, which was weird, and Death in Paradise of course. May have drunk a bit too much. 

Saturday – Dry, calm; slightly chilly. Got bus to Red Lion Street, then walked to Jarrolds, where we bought chocolates and walked to Kim’s, where we had lunch. Celery soup and extensive nibbles: really nice. Great deal of chat, mainly from us. Kavana has handed in her thesis on gut bacteria. Stayed till late afternoon, then walked home, getting message from Des on the way. As a result he got us a reduced fish and chips order: I eventually just had some chips with a couple of fried eggs. Got rid of a few e-mails and tried to renew my parking permit, but couldn’t get website to work. Frustrating. Dot wrote her prayers, and we watched the start of a new Welsh thriller, which was very promising. City went 1-0 up in the 93rd minute against Blackburn, but still managed to draw 1-1. Also frustrating. 

Sunday – Dry, fairly sunny. Cold start – ice on car windows – but a bit warmer later. Drove to church, had to keep overcoat on. Just over 20 in congregation. Played in band and Dot did prayers. Ray’s leg quite bad. Phil led, and Anna did lectio. Apparently Howard still quite ill. Watched football, then did preparation for holiday – stuff out of loft, packing etc. Before that David FaceTimed – Chrissy’s birthday. She thanked us for presents. Oliver still there – flying back tonight. Watched final episode of Call the Midwife. For some reason felt extremely tired. Earlier Dot took car up to be cleaned –  £20. 

Monday – Dry; sunny most of the way to Buxton, but greyer when we got there. Frantic packing and preparing for journey: got away at 10.30 but didn’t realise until we got to Buxton that Dot had left her computer and associated items at home. Borrowed charger plug from hotel. Stopped at Cambridge services and Donington. Dot drove most of way. Arrived 3.30. Evetts in town, and by the time we’d unpacked they were on their way back. We met them on the hill. Had bath before supper and forgot to look again at letter I’d received from Louisa re Phyllis estate. Drinks downstairs, then really nice meal: rib-eye followed by pear tatin, plus a few drinks and a good talk – surprisingly similar views on recent events, at least in this country. Oliver is safely home.  

Tuesday – Bright and dry, but chilly. Woke up pretty early and had cooked breakfast as usual – as usual in hotels, that is. Saw Ellie, waitress of yore, afterwards. Dave drove us to Lyme Park, and we had tea, then walked round the gardens. Lovely sunshine. Had lunch in the Ale café at the house, then walked up to the tower – at least Dot and I did. Dave and Julia couldn’t make it all the way. Great view – Dot saw plane landing at Manchester airport. Drove to hotel by slightly different route: amazingly the front car park was full; so for the first time ever, Dave had to park at the back. After a while had a sleep, then a short bath, then drink and supper – this time lamb. Main course very good. Followed by a couple of drinks. American in bar making loud phone calls that everyone could hear. 

Wednesday – Dry and bright. Very cold on Snake Pass but warmer later. Dave drove us to Glossop and on up the Snake Pass, which at its summit crosses the Pennine Way. Lots of roadworks throughout day. Risk that Snake Pass may be closed to vehicles soon, which would be a great pity. We stopped at the top. Bitter wind. Man asked us if we knew where the wreckage of the B2 was. Couldn’t help him. Even Dave didn’t know.

Continued downwards and took detour skirting Ladybower Reservoir, where Dot and I and probably David hired bikes in the distant past. Toyed with parking and walking but Julia wasn’t keen;  so continued to Hathersage and David Mellor’s kitchenware shop and museum. Bought a few things for Phil’s birthday, then had lunch – carrot and coriander soup in my case. Had to wear Dot’s dark glasses because of sun blazing in. Drove into Hathersage and did shortish walk, then drove home painfully slowly via Castleton. Hampered by camper van and wedge of selfish cyclists. Arrived back at hotel around 4pm and got space because several people were leaving. Had bath but probably should have slept. Bar and restaurant quite crowded. Couldn’t eat all of main course – steak – but did manage pear tatin. Went up to bed fairly early.

Thursday – Another bright and dry day, not too cold, although Julia’s phone predicted rain. Dot and I walked down into town after they left, had a cup of tea and bought some chocolates, among other things. Drove down to Ashbourne together with several lorries, and before we reached Ashbourne (20 miles) were held up four times by road works lights. On the A50 called in at the second worst Services I’ve encountered, just outside Derby (Derby and Burton). Directions appalling and Services consisted of little more than Shell station and Waitrose, plus toilets. Much of it appeared to be falling apart, though the Waitrose store itself was OK.

Had a sandwich and somehow miscalculated the time so that we arrived at Heather and Simon’s in Leicester half an hour late. Had a great time there. Lovely to see them. Simon was able to walk down garden. Sam and his girlfriend Grace have moved out, which is good. He is working in cybersecurity. Back on road, I drove to Cambridge Services: very long hold-up on A14 before that. Then Dot drove, taking care not to run out of petrol till we got to Morrisons in Norwich with about 20 miles left in tank. Home around 7.45pm. Took stuff out of car, had pies we bought at Waitrose and watched Amandaland and Bergerac. By that time totally exhausted; so went to bed.