Thursday, February 19 – Weather terrible – grey, misty, wet, chilly. Dot had a very bad night and decided not to go to her cousin John’s funeral at Hepworth – a decision I fully backed. So I went instead and managed to get lost between Diss and Hepworth, mainly because I took the road through Diss and not the A143. Miraculously managed to get there in time, after reaching the village and being unable to find the church. Asked passer-by, who was torn between telling me and running away in case I tried to drag her into my car.

Parked opposite church in a “car park” where everyone was mutually blocked. So had to get away quickly afterwards instead of staying for refreshments. Still, everyone seemed pleased I was there. Not a sparkling service, but I discovered lots of things about John that I didn’t know. Road home was quite easy, and I managed to get home before Bridget left. Felt cold during afternoon; so took vest off. Sounds silly, but it worked. Wrote up blog. Watched a lot of curling: GB got through to final. Cooked supper, cleared up and watched a bit of football. 

Friday – More rain and greyness, softened slightly by promises of imminent warmer temperatures. Dot had a good night (me not too bad) despite knowing we had to be up by 9am for Linda to cut our hair. It all worked, and Dot had highlights and me a trim, followed by a bath (on my own). Had a slightly less than perfect avocado with our last eggs for lunch and ordered some replacement Papermate pencils for Dot. Watched a lot of Winter Olympics again, and I had a look at Parish Pump material. We went over to Des and Chris for drink in view of abysmal weather and had a couple of hour’s chat with them and Sarah (Mark went back to Brazil this week). 

Saturday – Not quite unremittingly wet, but not all that dry either. Warmer, though. Drove Dot to Boots at the end of the morning, and went in with her to buy a variety of items, not unincluding sandwiches. Traffic surprisingly ok, despite Norwich match looming – they lost 2-1 to Birmingham. On the plus side, Ireland beat England at rugby by a large score. Felt very Irish. Scotland beat Wales – just. Penultimate day of Winter Olympics. GB managed to avoid winning gold in curling but at least got a silver.

Wrote two pieces for Parish Pump – one on Francis Bacon and the other on Richard D’Oyly Carte. Anna and Howard called in unexpectedly on way home from station to say hello and were impressed with Dot’s progress. Watched Death in Paradise and some football. After we’d been in bed for a while Dot saw an email which seemed to indicate her coffee had been delivered earlier. So she made me go outside and look for it. While I was outside she realised she had overlooked another email which said the delivery guy had missed us and the parcel had been dropped off at Matalan. I decided not to go and knock Matalan up. 

Sunday – Weather a bit more pleasant – dry and quite warm. Bit windy towards evening. Another very odd day, doubling as the final day of the Winter Olympics. We got a bronze in the half-pipe for women skiers, largely because the judging was totally arbitrary, as is most judging. Looked good for gold to me. USA beat Canada in ice hockey final, mainly because the Canadians missed two or three open goals. Watched a bit of rugby, France beating Italy fairly easily. Got very annoyed with my different Apple machines failing to sync Mail. No idea why. Arsenal beat Spurs 4-1; so not a great sporting weekend. Head/neck felt very heavy. Watched final bit of documentary on guy who swam round Iceland. Completely mad. Oh: it was Sunday, so we listened to a morning service, watched Songs of Praise and took in an episode of The Chosen. 

Monday – Some blue sky and quite mild, though the wind was a bit chilly. Rain later. Sorted out problems with Mail and then, after Dot had showered and washed her hair, we drove to Morrisons, calling in at Matalan first to pick up the coffee that had been left there (drop-off point). Dot was feeling a bit tired; so had a coffee at the Morrisons coffee bar halfway through while I finished the shopping. After lunch dealt with a few e-mails, having watched last night’s Match of the Day and agreed with the pundits that Spurs disallowed goal at 2-1 should have stood. (I’d already thought that.) played through some chess games in the afternoon, then cooked lasagne. Watched first two episodes of The Lady, about the Duchess of York’s crazy dresser, which was excellent. No Winter Olympics! 

Saturday 14 February (Valentine’s Day) – Brighter day, dry but quite cold. I sorted out much of the charity money in between watching Winter Olympics and various other things. Presented Dot with a Valentine card, and she had sent me a Jacqui Lawson version. Did avocado and egg for lunch, then duck in hoisin sauce, which has become one of Dot’s favourites, for supper. Also had some champagne, which is the first alcohol I’ve had for more than a month (in preparation for my scan yesterday). Didn’t seem to do either of us any harm – in fact we both felt better when we went to bed than when we got up.

Had brief chat with Des and Chris as they passed with Charlie. Norwich beat WBA 3-1 to get into 5th round of FA Cup. Toure scored again. Dot cleared up part of utility room, and I cleared up her clearing up. Scotland beat England in the Calcutta Cup. Felt very Scottish.

Sunday – Backward step for weather – first rain, then quite a bit of snow, but it didn’t lie (lay). Also cold. Didn’t go out. Dot got up before me for the first time this year, though by then she had been brought a cup of tea and breakfast in bed. I finished the charity money, and we watched Winter Olympics as usual – our second gold medal (in mixed team snowboard racing). Also part of curling (not so good) and the second half of Wales v France, with France winning very easily. Felt French.  Dot not feeling very hungry so I made her baked beans on toast, while I had egg and fried potatoes. Had quite a long chat with David and Chrissy, who has had root canal work. Watched Songs of Praise and went to bed fairly early. 

Monday – Mainly dry, but quite cold. Revolutionary sort of day, I suppose. Had quick bath and then took Dot to Morrisons for short shop: she managed by using the shopping trolley to support her. Took a photo and put it on Facebook. Lots of responses. We changed the sheets and duvet cover and returned to our normal method of sleeping – together, with me nearest the door (in case I need to escape). We both still have a cough, but thought we could manage.

I tidied up the bed in the spare room and then spent nearly an hour putting some leaves in our brown bin, then putting the bins out for emptying. During clearing up indoors I broke a glass and so had to wrap that up in a box and label it. Felt very tired after all this. We tidied up the house generally to fit in with our new arrangement! Cooked salmon, which went down quite well. Watched some of Winter Olympics and Call the Midwife, as well as an old episode of Ice Road Truckers and Would I Lie to You?

Tuesday – Dry, some sun but cold. Dot still has quite a bad cough, but mainly morning and evening. Breakfast in bed. Interesting podcast on what happens when you die. Read the rest of How the Church Lost the Way – not brilliantly written but some fascinating insights. Watched quite a bit of Olympics. Got bins in. Dot getting around more easily. Long phone call from Fred about getting a ticket for Leeds cup tie and celebrating Joyce’s 80th next month. GB men’s curling team falling apart (but they got through – Ed). Some good speed skating. Dot made pancakes for Shrove Tuesday. Very nice. I cleared up – in bed quite early. Des brought Private Eye round. Checked route to funeral and moved car on to road to make room for Bridget.  

Wednesday – Very cold, but mainly dry. We’re both gradually improving, and we got loads more responses to Dot’s Facebook pic. Today she did quite a bit of tidying up, and we washed a duvet cover and a sheet, among a few other small things. Slight problem with washing machine, which lost a bit of water. Not sure why.  Had a quick FaceTime with David, who was in a car park, having taken Nova somewhere. Des got us fish and chips because it was Ash Wednesday. Not sure I always follow his line of reasoning. For some reason, I’m going off fish and chips.  More Winter Olympics – quite good curling. Also watched second episode of Call the Midwife. Don’t feel great, but probably well enough to go to John’s funeral tomorrow. 

Sunday, January 8 – Very strange day. Felt sort of lonely, though of course Dot was here. Both of us were feeling below par, but I felt better after I had a rest in the afternoon and took some Paracetamol. Dot also felt better towards evening, as she often does. Both of us still coughing quite a bit. Watched a bit of Olympics: curling was interesting. Also a documentary about bad weather, Songs of Praise and Call the Midwife. Cooked avocado and egg for lunch and pizza for supper, because Dot didn’t feel like fish. Part of bad weather documentary was about heatwave in 2022, which reminded me that it coincided with my gall bladder removal. When I checked back I found that the operation included a liver bleed. Odd, Holmes? 

Monday – Dry and not too cold. Drove up to chemist to get pills for Dot. Both of us still feeling ropey: I was feeling better towards evening Watched some Olympics, but disappointing. Our curling team threw away their match by achieving 0-5 on one end – a near-impossible feat. Big Air skateboard drove me crazy: the commentary team gave the impression of a couple of Year 8 lads with a joint IQ of 50, and the competitors all did more or less the same thing. Cooked sea bass in evening – just about ok. Long talk with Amy on FaceTime after I rang her by mistake. She is interested in coming to Scotland. Dot hardly moved all day. Did some washing and put bins out. Dot cancelled her oral appointment on Wednesday – no problem. 

Tuesday – More greyness and damp, and getting a little colder. Woke about 7am and checked on Dot, who was coughing a lot. In the end I stayed with her and after I got  drinks we both went to sleep again. Didn’t awake till around 11am. Felt quite weary for some reason. Dot had a shower and got up. I eventually joined her. Had very little lunch and watched quite a lot of Winter Olympics. Uk came fourth in quite a lot. Annoying how many events have to have judges involved – eg ski-jumping. Surely the point is how far you jump, which can be easily measured. But no – style is an issue. This is just jobs for the boys. Cooked salmon, which was nice, then I cleared up and we listened to Oxford v Norwich. Norwich scored in the first minute and our new  striker, Toure, from Australia, scored a hat-trick. Result 3-0.  Afterwards watched an episode of Silent Witness. 

Wednesday – Mainly grey and wet again, though there was a short dry period in late afternoon. I think we’re both improving, but I had a headache and Dot mainly stays in the living room after she gets up. I had a bath, then while Bridget was here chatting and cleaning, I went to Morrisons. Arrived back just after she left. She made the beds, which was unexpected. Put together a late lunch and then watched the second episode of Silent Witness before clearing everything away downstairs. Later watched some Winter Olympics – no medals yet for UK, but the men beat China at curling. I then cooked some fish cakes with cheese inside, which were really nice. Got Dot a Banoffee PIe, and I made a jelly earlier; so I had some of that with blackberries. Saw a programme on pilgrimage by Simon Reeves, which was quite good despite his lack of belief. 

Thursday – Another unexciting day, grey and damp. We stayed in bed all morning and felt quite tired. Dot is improving as far as her leg is concerned, though she still has quite a bad cough. I have a generally heavy head, with occasional coughing. All my glasses seem to be not strong enough, although I’ve just had new ones. Made avocado and egg again, which was quite nice. Watched quite a bit of Winter Olympics again and caught up with e-mails. Wrote a small piece for Diderot. Dot walked around a bit and sorted some ironing out. Cooked sausages in the evening: the sweet potatoes looked off (after cooking) so shared my potatoes with Dot. Had only bought the sweet potatoes yesterday. Took some EDPs over to Des – he and Chris are much better after both having colds. Lots of snow still in Scotland. 

Friday – Bad night as expected, since I had set the alarm in anticipation of my hospital appointment. Got up about 8 and made tea – couldn’t eat anything (nil by mouth) till after scan. Had bath and got Dot some Weetabix, then left around 9.30, arriving at hospital with about half an hour to spare. First stage was getting measured: I was 12 stone 8 – a bit heavier than I thought, though of course I had my clothes on – and 5ft 7.5, which was quite surprising. I was told it was normal to shrink, so that’s ok then.

I waited a long time, then went and asked the receptionist how long it would be. She got me through immediately: I think she had forgotten about me. I was fibroscanned by a very pleasant East  European nurse, who gave me the impression that nothing serious was wrong. She didn’t seem to think it would be a good idea if I started drinking again, saying: “You don’t want to keep coming back here, do you?” I smiled. She got it immediately.

So back home through very light showers; Dot was still in bed and we had our usual very quiet day. Neither of us was too hungry; so we had soup, followed by fruit. No-one was keen to street meet; so we didn’t. It was cold and grey, and people were watching the Winter Olympics. Later in the evening we got a gold medal on the skeleton – our only medal so far, but a very impressive one by Mark Weston. Watched Ice Road Truckers and went to bed early after clearing away. Dot is certainly getting more active, though she is stuffed up. I’m not completely better, either. We are a merry duo. 

Tuesday, February 3  – Grey and uninviting. So at Dot’s  suggestion I rang the surgery instead of going there and was able to book a blood test on Thursday at Dussindale – coincidentally Dot has an appointment there slightly earlier for something quite different. I had eventually realised that the Hospital had been expecting me to make these arrangements. I also contacted Sonata to get our alarm upgraded, after paying their call-out fee which had for some reason arrived by post instead of e-mail like everything else from them. I wasn’t feeling great still; so Dot suggested I postpone shopping till tomorrow, when Anne was visiting and could keep an eye on her. So that’s what’s happening.

We had lasagne and watched half the cup semi-final between Arsenal and Chelsea, which was so boring we didn’t watch the second half and didn’t care who won. Later we watched two episodes of Silent Witness on iPlayer because I had omitted to record the first of the new series – then realised it was one we’d seen before.  iPlayer can be useless sometimes. I did remember bits of the first bit, but Dot didn’t (which is unusual); so she wanted to see it all. She is doing very well and manages most things on her own. It remains for us to get to Dussindale on Thursday. I am definitely feeling better, with the occasional doubt. Very late in bed. 

Wednesday – Occasional glimpse of sun. Dry. Latter stages of cold. Occasional outbursts. Anne came round to see Dot at about 11, and I drove to Morrisons to stock up as usual, though I didn’t feel much like it. Annoyingly lost Lowry bag (slipped off trolley, I guess). Asked at customer services and then searched shop without success. Anne had just left when I got back, and Dot checked that she could reach the car for tomorrow (and get in it with the new handle thingy). Mark came out to speak to her, which was nice. He had been enjoying PM’s discomfiture at Question Time over Mandelson issue.

Took pic of Dot by car. Then brought shopping in and sorted everything out. Actually I didn’t finish sorting till just before bedtime, because Bridget came to clean and disrupt. Dot and I watched new Silent Witness that we meant to watch yesterday. Very good. After light supper (sea bream in pan) we watched concluding episodes of After the Flood, though the endings of these things are rarely completely satisfactory. David FaceTimed and we had quite a long chat, shared with Sophie’s cat. Sort of a cat chat, or a chat chat, as the French might say. 

Thursday – Uninviting weather: damp and chilly. Had to be up early to get to Dussindale surgery for two appointments: Dot for bone density discussion at 9.30 and me for blood test at 10.20. Despite unexpected road closure at Thorpe we got to the surgery, which I had researched on Google Earth, at 9.29. Waiting room nearly empty. Dot went in almost on time, and I was called in about five minutes later. Many tubes of blood taken by Olga, who was friendly in a severe sort of way, and vice versa. When I was finished Dot was waiting, and so we arrived home before the actual time of my appointment. Dot had no problem with getting in and out of car using the assist handle. She also didn’t need support frame as long as I was there. Did some puzzles and had a bath followed by avocado and egg. Didn’t feel too great in afternoon but after salmon supper went ahead with Cake and Compline in evening, which went very well: Archers, Vicky, Claire, Judy, Nikki. Nikki lingered on and was very helpful as usual. Dot sneezing a bit – worrying. 

Friday – Weather continues miserable – grey and wet. Dot’s coughing and sneezing continues, but she says she doesn’t feel too bad. Nevertheless we are still sleeping separately, partly because I’m still coughing and sneezing, though I feel better most of the time. Rang Ray, who sounded very down. Think I helped a bit. Eleanor came round for a while through the rain and got the Whole Story from Dot. Des also called in and took away papers. Chris has been quite ill after visiting grandchild in Lichfield; Des not great either but he got us fish and chips. So no street meet or indoor substitute. David FaceTimed and we had quite a long chat about wokeness and various other things. Later on in evening watched Call the Midwife and Death in Paradise. 

Saturday – Odd bouts of brightness, but mainly grey and wet. On the plus side,  Norwich City beat Blackburn 2-0, and on the minus, Spurs lost and Dot seems to have a worrying version of what I’ve had. Lot of coughing and reverting to separate bedrooms. I’m still coughing and full of whatever it is, but managing to make meals and look after Dot. Obviously better than I have been. Did washing, dried it and put it away, probably not quite where it should be. Managing to keep house fairly tidy. Emptied bins. Made the mistake of watching rain-drenched rugby match which Scotland lost to Italy in Rome, then some incomprehensible Olympics snowboarding. I hate snowboarding. Did catch a decent downhill. Also watched first part of documentary about insane guy who is swimming round Iceland despite being prone to seasickness and getting hypothermia after two hours. Couldn’t help liking him. But why? Life is a mystery. Well, his is. 

Saturday, January 24 – Dry but chilly. Up in time to welcome Paul Henderson, who came by car and so I had to move our car down the road. He brought sweets for Dot and we had a long chat, including an interesting interchange between Paul and Dot on the subject of self-flagellation among Greek philosophers.

After lunch of overripe avocado on toast and an attempt by me to poach an egg without means of support, Kim arrived and stayed all afternoon. Kai did not come because he was mourning the death of his cat in Saudi Arabia – not a sentence you can write often. Kim brought flowers and took away her Christmas cake – a bit late, but there you are. I gave her a lift home and then cooked salmon with courgette, which wasn’t what it might have been. The salmon was good, though. Watched University Challenge and went to bed early after rearranging the duvet. Also sorted out charity candidates. Quite tired. Going back to my post-polio-syndrome theory, which is probably just as wrong as Kim’s theory, which centres on vaccine side-effects. Dot is progressing really well . Oliver is in Milan, where Inter beat Pisa 6-2 after going 2-0 down: Amy is in Bristol. 

Sunday – Dry and not too cold. Not exactly a day of rest. Did giant crossword in yesterday’s paper, then got breakfast; afterwards sorted out utility room a bit and refilled bird feeders as well as cleaning out the water for them. Found a new bulb for lamp by the piano and put others out in the utility room. Dot did quite a bit of ironing and I sorted out the bedrooms afterwards as well as putting the clothes away (and getting them out). Had a bath before that and narrowly avoided dropping another book in.

Later did lunch – ham on toast – and watched yesterday’s Premier League matches and Songs of Praise. Then sorted out books and put most of mine in the study, looking sort of tidy. Got rid of dead flowers. Dot watched more of current series of Riviera. Noticed there are riots in Milan, but happily Oliver seemed to have moved on to Como – later back in Milan again. Cooked chicken Kiev for supper, then watched Call the Midwife, which has a good feel about it, and The Night Manager, which doesn’t but is very good anyway. Lots of snow in Canada. 

Monday – Dry but grey. Cold. Woke quite late: breakfast in bed. Afterwards rang my cousin Barbara, who seems in good shape except that she has bought a groundsheet “for sitting on on the beach” which it turns out is too big. The groundsheet, not the beach. I think. Dot had a shower. Usual cracker-based lunch. Afterwards went to Morrisons to stock up as usual. Asked about my More card, but customer services didn’t know what to do. Gave me a number to ring. (It’s not registering on my phone) Put food away and tidied up. Had some prayers. Watched yesterday’s Match of the Day and did a little washing. Had soup for supper followed by toast. Put rubbish out. Dot listened to Norwich beating Coventry 2-1 after being 1-0 down. Adrian praised their play, largely because he doesn’t like Frank Lampard. David FaceTimed  to congratulate Dot. Watched another episode of Blackshore. Good.

Tuesday – Very grey, cold and wet. Still, much worse in other parts of the country, with deep snow in some places and flooding in others (eg South-West). Still loads of snow in Canada, as well as parts of USA to the south. Very quiet. Dot managed to change her next dermatology appointment. Only emerged to retrieve food caddy and wash it out. For some reason have developed a cough, which is more irritating than anything. Not much happening; so watched fair bit of TV, including two episodes of Blackshore and two of After the Flood. Dot watched repeat of yesterday’s match. Earlier had a bath and read a bit of Diaries book that Kristine bought us. Very interesting. Also finished big crossword. Dot much better and can get around without frame. Oliver back home; Amy in Southampton.   

Wednesday –  Bright but mainly grey. Dry. Woke latish, got breakfast and then went to sleep again. Not feeling great: cough and feeling tired. Had bath and then made lunch. Watched  A House in Time, which was brilliant – story of what happened to two up-market blocks of flats in London and Berlin and their occupants during the Second World War. Very moving. In the evening felt rather hollow: eventually cooked yellow haddock, and we watched the second two-thirds of Chariots of Fire, an excellent and very Christian film – even if you don’t go along with the central premise about Sundays. When I was at school I did something similar, declining to take part in a schools chess congress that I would probably have won, because it was on a Sunday.  No film made about it though. 

Thursday – Pretty dull and cold but largely dry, unlike elsewhere in the country, where there has been snow and/ or flooding. Cough is worse. Feeling tired. Nevertheless made breakfast and lunch as usual, and Des delivered us fish and chips. As Bridget had already delivered us a large cake I wasn’t particularly hungry and left a lot of the chips. Kept a fairly low profile to avoid infecting Bridget – or David, who came to pick her up. Watched Euro football (Spurs won 2-0) and then a few episodes of comedy. David FaceTimed with Chrissy and after that I went to bed, using my new hot water bottle for the first time. Earlier I picked up pills from chemist and asked surgery about blood test letter. They suggested I ring the hospital. Not helpful.

Friday – Grey and sometimes damp. Cold. Felt pretty ill most of the day, with coughing and streaming. Despite being warned about this, Amanda and Matt came round. Interesting talk about old Norwich. Managed to keep going but felt worse later. Cooked egg and avocado for lunch, then chilli con carne for supper. Watched a few things on TV. Slept in spare room because I was pretty disruptive. 

Saturday – Nondescript. Terrible day for me – can’t remember the last time I had such a bad cold: continual sneezing, water pouring out of stinging eyes, coughing. Managed to do what needed to be done for Dot. Thank goodness she’s quite mobile now. Made meals. Norwich lost 1-0 to Middlesbrough but played well, apparently. Freddie H-W made his debut on Final Score – lots of followers from Aspland Rd including proud aunt Ciara.

Sunday and Monday – Weather not much different. Cold still really bad yesterday, but I managed to cook all right for Dot, who is making excellent progress. Felt rotten all day and was in bed when I wasn’t getting food. (I didn’t feel any worse while I was getting the food.) Improved a bit today, but couldn’t eat much. Put bins out. Watched last episode of The Night Manager, which was awful.