Thursday, May 14 – A few heavy showers; not warm. Dot spent most of day with Anne: first she came here and received birthday presents and coffee; then they went by bus into the city and booked a holiday at Trailfinders: they’re going to Nice at the end of August. They then went to Jarrolds for lunch. Meanwhile I had a bath and later drove up to Brian’s to await the arrival of Chris the computer man, who installed Brian’s new computer. he was very sympathetic to Brian’s difficulty with remembering how to operate it – it’s a clone of the one he had before. Tricia also is not digitally minded, though she was good at crawling under the table to connect wires.

Think all is well: I also took a pic of Brian for his blue card and sent it to him later. Cost of computer £625 – I think Brian gave him £640. All a bit of a weight off my mind. Bit worried Brian might be losing memory: he gave me an old pic of me from one of the yomps.  Got home just after Anne left, about 5.30. Felt very tired. Had soup (pea and ham hock) and watched a few things on TV, including Race Across the World, in this case Mongolia, which was a bit of a nightmare. Also another Italian detective thing, which doesn’t get any better, plot wise. Kim is back from Scotland. I sent her the Goodness of God video, which she really liked, I’m happy to say. 

Friday – Windy and cool, with showers. Linda came at 12 to cut our hair, and I had a bath afterwards. Felt very tired and not particularly well all day. Dot was having trouble with her shoulder – “perhaps from lifting something”. Too nippy for street meet, so Des, Chris, Matt and Sarah came round. Afterwards Des got fish and chips, and we watched some old Morecambe and Wise – really good. Then walked to the Cathedral for Festival Compline and met Vicky there. Very esoteric service – lots of foreign language and not very tuneful music, though I’m told it was very well done. Not my thing at all and not much to do with Christianity unless you were already tuned in to that kind of thing. Held candles. Afterwards hooked up with Nova, and Vicky was kind enough to give us all a lift home. Watched the news and went to bed. 

Saturday – mainly dry, and warmer. Had to get up early because Robin came and put a new tap in the kitchen, then repaired the cistern in the shower room and put the new shower screen in the bathroom. The last bit he finished while we went to Brundall for David Archer’s 60th birthday party. As a result of some sequence of events I’m still not sure about David, driven by a friend and with Eleanor as a passenger, did not arrive till about an hour after the scheduled start. Bridget partly worried, partly angry.

Met Heather, who I bumped into at Morrisons a few weeks ago and is a friend of Bridget’s. Turned out Heather came to a Developing Consciousness session at St Augustine’s many, many years ago. Dot and I sat with Judy, Eleanor, Vicky and Janet and Derek. Ample teatime fare and several cups of tea meant that when we had lasagne at about 8pm I had eaten too much, and this added to the fact that I forgot to take my pills this morning gave me heartburn and a fear for a few moments that I might be sick.

Meanwhile we watched a bit of the Cup Final, in which Man City beat Chelsea 1-0, and highlights of the play-off semi-finals in the EFL. We followed this by watching Mamma Mia, Here We Go Again, but because of a recording error we watched the second half first. Interesting. Abba music brilliant as always. Earlier cancelled Barclays Credit Card as a precaution against more cash being taken in scam. 

Sunday – Started dry; some rain later, starting happily as we arrived home from church. Liz C led service, with Eleanor preaching. Graham popped in afterwards. Tidied up kitchen and we had lunch out of stuff we’d brought home from yesterday’s party in a bag! then watched quite a lot of TV as usual on a Sunday, including football, Ice Road Truckers, bit of a new comedy-detective series, another episode of Believe Me, about a true-life serial rapist and the women nobody believed. Cooked salmon for supper – really nice, for some reason. 

Monday – Cloudy and still a bit chilly. Few drops of rain. David’s 54th birthday – unbelievable. I was 54 in 1999, when I was editorial training manager and three years off early retirement. Spoke to him early on FaceTime – Oliver was there too, on a visit. Dot went into city to meet Amanda and have lunch with her in Benji’s, one of the Jarrolds restaurants. Large teacake, apparently.

Meanwhile I was being driven mad constructing an e-mail to Barclays about the IQ scam. Found it very difficult to copy my letters to the company over to the one I was writing to Barclays, and then get pix of my bank statements on there too. Eventually made it, but not till she got back. Tidied up a few more loose ends in the paper department. In the afternoon Dot bought a hanging basket from Highways Garden Centre while I tidied up around the house. Neither of us wanted much for supper: I had teacakes, blueberries, honey and a blackberry and apple tart. Oh yes I did. In the evening saw the end of Believe Me, plus some stuff from the Chelsea Flower Show and a flash at the end of Look East commemorating the death of Ros Swetman’s husband, who worked for them (Ros is a violinist in Sillars). Also an old programme of classical music originally broadcast last Christmas. Mainly arias. Spoke to David again from bed about an hour after Dot thought it was. Very warm in Waterloo. 

Tuesday – Warmer, but a fair bit of rain on and off. Up early to drive to The Foundry to meet Brian and Tricia, Robin and Shelagh. Had “American” pancake with maple syrup and bacon. Dot had same but with blueberries instead of bacon. Had good reminisce with R and B while Dot chatted with S and T. Home for brief lunchlet before driving to the hospital in quickest time for years. Dot saw physio – Charlotte – who was very thorough, and we then moved on to dermatology, where she got the all-clear. Had a drink and Twix while we waited. Cooked duck legs for supper and we finished the rhubarb.

Arsenal won Premier League when Man City could only draw 1-1 with Bournemouth. Sadly Spurs lost 2-1 to Chelsea; so it all hinges on final game for them. Meanwhile Southampton have been ejected from Championship play-offs for spying on other teams’ training sessions. Seems a bit harsh. Delighted that Barclays have managed to get scam money repaid by MYIQ/US. Also received subscription cancellation confirmation from them. Still don’t know what subscription was for. 

On Saturday, May 9 I felt distinctly odd most of the day: head was going round and feeling heavy (not an easy trick). Drove to Brian’s and picked up his computer – hard to distinguish which wire was which – and took it home, then with Dot to Magdalen Street, where we were able to park close to the computer shop. Took it in and chatted to the guy I’d seen yesterday: he thought the upshot would probably be buying a new one, but he’s going to have a look at what was going on. Brian is quite happy to buy a new one, and I reported progress to him by phone.

Then we drove to Notcutts, where Dot wanted to buy a hanging basket, but they were very expensive and not particularly alluring. So we got a couple of lavenders and a geranium. Notcutts is a garden centre version of Marks and Spencer or Waitrose. You can tell by the customers. Back home we had lunch and I lay down for a while as Dot gardened. Weather was sunny and warm all day. Eventually I had a bath. Des came round to return a book and suggest setting up a meal at his with Tara and John. We concurred. He is helping to teach a Nigerian refugee – a young lad – some basic English stuff. He said that many in that lad’s position are very poorly served by the services in place.

Salmon en croute for supper, and between us Dot and I tidied the kitchen and elsewhere. Read a bit of Earth’s Earliest Ages by G H Pember – really interesting. Watched the National Theatre production of Under Milk Wood – totally brilliant. Then a bit of Match of the Day. Less inspired. 

Sunday – Surprisingly cold, but dry. Listened to good Worship Service in bed after a bad night. Trouble sleeping. Up late and had suppery lunch of mackerel fillets with mashed potatoes. Wrote to Phil Coomes,  Kristine and Anne about an e-mail I received from a cousin once removed of David Coomes who is compiling a family tree. He wants to contact them; so I gave them his e-mail. Kristine already very positive, but I haven’t heard from the others – not surprising in Anne’s case as she is travelling up to Scotland.

In the evening drove to Upton church with Bridget to a concert by her husband’s choral group, Sine Nomine. Not mad about choral music, but it was quite enjoyable. The conductor was brilliant when the pianist got a bit out of sync. Drove back  and had late tea, watched some football and the first episode of a new serial called Believe Me, about a woman who got raped and wasn’t believed. True story, I think. Also had FaceTime with David and eventually got a list of books he’s interested in for his birthday. Arsenal beat West Ham, which is good for Spurs.

Monday – Cold but mainly dry. Very busy day. Dot and I both had our feet done in the morning – clean bills of health in that area – and afterwards I called at the computer shop to sort out some details re Brian’s computer. Also a couple of phone calls later. All seems to be going well. Home for lunch, and afterwards Robbie (Jake’s mate) came to put some latex on the bathroom floor. While he was doing that I took Dot up to the dentist, where she had a tooth out. She had anaesthetic, so I went and picked her up later at the suggestion of the dentist. Good decision, I thought.

Sorted out a couple of things on computer, including sending books for David’s birthday, then got in touch with bank over the scam payments. I think they’re sorting it – may even get the money back, but my main concern is to stop them taking more. We’re getting a new bank card; so all should be ok. Meanwhile Dot miraculously found a pawn from my small chess set that had gone missing. Actually got entangled in trousers, which were in to be washed. Put the bins out and the car, because we had a call to say Robbie’s coming back tomorrow morning. Soup for supper. Spurs drew 1-1 after going 1-0 up, which is a bit disappointing. Watched a documentary about the ancient Hittites, and the second episode of that true-life drama about several rapes in a black cab that weren’t tackled properly. 

Monday – Cool and windy. Spent quite a lot of the day researching and writing for Parish Pump.   Up fairly early because Robbie came to lay the bathroom floor. Finished by about 11am – looks very good, but we have to stay out till tomorrow. Spoke to Sonata about bill and said I didn’t want the siren done – checked my insurance documents, and there’s nothing on there about having an alarm. No news from computer guy. Des came over to return a book, and we had a chat. Dot went to Matalan and bought a new waste bin for the bathroom. Cooked pies and veg for supper and watched the end of Mint, which was a pretty straightforward drama done in a very arty way. Then watched Rear Window, an atmospheric film by Hitchcock with a few holes in the plot. 

Wednesday – Windy and cool with some sharp showers. Up early to work on Parish Pump, and by the end of the afternoon had completed four articles – one each on the Declaration of Independence, the 1966 World Cup, the cloning of Dolly the sheep and the creation of Twitter. Not what I would necessarily have chosen, but my top four out of the six suggested.

Bridget came round a little late because her next-door neighbour had dropped dead, and his partner was a bit upset. He did have a brain tumour, but he wasn’t expected to die yet. Bridget liked our new bathroom floor, as did Des when we showed it to him later. He had popped in to confirm a lunch date with Tara and John at his house. Ciara also called round to pick up the plants we had been looking after and to give us a bottle of red. she and Sean had been working hard at their cabin in Surrey for a few days.

Liaised with the computer man and Brian about installing his computer, and we have settled on 4pm tomorrow. Unless something goes wrong at the hospital, which Brian is visiting earlier. Went to Morrisons and spent £100 – one of our smaller shops. Later cooked a rather nice pizza before Dot left for orchestra rehearsal with Janet and Nova. At this point my mouse ran out of charge. Fortunately this still leaves my iPad and my iPhone…. However, charged quickly. When Dot got home watched Amandaland (not the best episode) and 2626 (unbelievably, the last). 

Monday – Bank Holiday. Dry but cooler and overcast. Robin the plumber came just before 10am, fixed our shower door and arranged to do other tasks after much discussion. Did usual Monday crossword and quite a difficult sudoku. Watched a fair bit of television. Des came round to tell us John Digby had had a heart attack, but is recovering. Hard for Tara, who is not well herself. In the afternoon went to Morrisons to stock up again, and I cooked duck legs with French fries – cooked in oven. Quite nice actually. Saw the end of The Count of Monte Cristo on iPlayer. Rather sad. Also a continuation of Secret Service, where a second person I liked died. Also 100 years of Life on Earth, which they seemed very smug about. 

Tuesday – Sunny and reasonably warm. Up early to go to the Town House for our monthly meeting of Archant pensioners. Sat with Tricia, Robin and Shelagh; quite well attended. Eric and Peter Franzen, the editor, came over to talk separately. With R & S, we were the last to leave. Then drove up to plumbing shop off Ketts Hill and bought a new tap for the kitchen, plus a screen for the bathroom shower. Hope they fit. Then back home, where Dot read in the garden for a while.

While we were out, they cut down the tree which dominated the view from our back bedrooms. Not a great tree, and arguably we get more light now. Interestingly I noticed a few hours later that I recognised the view from our bedroom window – the tree was not there when we moved in! Meanwhile had a bit of a stomach upset, though I managed to eat shepherds pie supper with no problem. Hope it’s ok tomorrow because I’ve arranged to drive to Swaffham to deliver some old Christian books to a charity that redistributes them in undeveloped countries. Have packed them in the car. Watched a couple of dramas that are ongoing, plus a documentary on the River Dee which I think is an updated version of one we’ve seen. Also last episode of Secret Service, which is set up nicely for a second series. Pity they killed off one of my favourite characters. Well two, actually. 

Wednesday – Grey and light rain for most of day. Chilly. Had a very bad night, getting up several times with diarrhoea, but recovered enough to drive to Swaffham to donate well over 100 Christian books to Books Aid. Went the back way but still a number of diversions. Met Ken Jeffery – a nice bloke about my age and after dropping off books had cup of tea and chat with him and his wife, Christine, who went to the Blyth School! We seemed pretty much on the same wavelength –  he also plays guitar – and ukulele!  Home about 4pm. We had a very light meal before Dot went to orchestra with Janet and Nova. Played through some En Passant games and responded to Tricia, asking for help with Brian’s computer. May go round there tomorrow, after Jake has been to look at bathroom floor. Watched Amandaland and 2026, both brilliant. 

Thursday – Quite pleasant weather. Jake came round to look at bathroom floor and give advice. Felt quite ill and lay down for a while before lunch, which was avocado and egg on toast (fast becoming a staple). Watched football, then drove up to vote; bit of a waste of time. Greens got in. Bridget came to clean, and afterwards I cooked sausages – lovely potatoes. Found compline (Ita 2). Sent out invitation to Compline, including Nikki. All came except Phil and Eleanor. Good session, in which Nikki took a big part. Dot cooked birthday cake for Judy and David (80 and 60). went down very well. Played Goodness of God video, which provoked discussion about different ways of worshipping. Nikki played us a song she sung to an iTunes music video. Great voice, very jazzy. 

Friday – Mainly bright and quite warm. Busy day. Drove to Uncafé for breakfast with Tricia and Brian. Discussed his computer problem. Later FaceTimed David to speak to him about it. And later still Dot dropped me off near Magdalen Street so that I could go to the computer shop at the end and ask about computer possibilities on Brian’s behalf. They were very helpful. On the way back from Uncafé, we picked up the shower screen : not easy. Discovered we could lower the back seats to accommodate it. After dropping me in Magdalen Street Dot went on to Talk at Two, one of Bridget’s series at Christ Church, Eaton – about the Norwich Shawl, which she really enjoyed: heavy on history.

I walked home via The Close and got into conversation with an Irish couple who lived on Mersea Island in Essex but had been very taken by Norwich. They were staying at the Holiday Inn at Carrow Road. In their 70s, I should think. Nice couple. Tired when I got home and lay down for a while. Street meet in the warm for a change: Des, Chris, Matt, Jon, Joe. Pleasant chat: almost no mention of election.  Sad to say Norwich went Green, probably because of students. Better elsewhere. Cooked lasagne and watched an interesting documentary on the evolution of England’s motorways, then a mediocre murder mystery set in Italy where everyone spoke English and an irritating English detective was assisting local police. It would never happen. Writing not great either. Watched a bit of the news. 

Wednesday, April 29 – Mainly sunny with a bit of coolish wind. Caught up with e-mails and dealt with charity money. Had avocado and egg for lunch, remembering how good avocado tastes with white truffle oil. Watched a bit of Outnumbered then drove up to Thorpewood with my letter for Dr Hampsheir, and when I got back walked to sorting office with the charity letters. Dot cleared up the utility room in readiness for installation of new door tomorrow.

Des came round and offered to get fish and chips tonight; later Dot remembered that she was going to orchestra, so I went over the road to check when the fish and chips was coming. It eventually was a bit late – not Des’s fault – but she had time to eat most of it before she left with Janet and Nova, and heated the remaining chips and ate them when she came home.  She got a centenary mug for her efforts. Meanwhile I watched the beginning of Wicker Man and Lord of the Flies, but wasn’t too impressed with either. When Dot got back we watched 2026, which is getting better and better, and two European Champions League games:  PSG 5-4 Bayern Munich; Atletico 1-1 Arsenal. Some ridiculous handball-penalty decisions. Another anti-Jewish attack in London. 

Thursday – Sunny and warm. About to get tea when there was a knock at the front door. It was the guys coming to fit our new back door. I had them down for noon. Oh well. Got them a coffee and they worked till about 12.30. Very friendly – brothers from Brighton originally and probably in their fifties. Door looks very good. Quick lunch, then Dot gave me a lift to Ber Street and I walked through to the dentist. Had x-rays and a minor repair that didn’t need numbing. Also light cleaning. New nurse Kelsey very pleasant.

Afterwards walked through Chapel Loke, down the little path parallel to Ber Street on the other side, down Thorn Lane, across the car park, past St Julian’s, over the bridge and in front of the station and down the steps. Meanwhile Dot was shopping at Riverside – mainly presents for Anne’s birthday. Both felt very tired and we rested. Then cooked cottage pie for supper and we watched a new thriller and Race Across the World, which has reached Kazakhstan. Bed quite early. Des and Ciara have left on their (separate) weekend trips. 

Friday – Sunny and warm. Up in time to greet Bridget at 10am, then drove Dot to Muspole Street to take broken side-table to Mr McPhee for mending. He pointed out it had been mended before but agreed to do it. Nice bloke but works in real dump. Finished reading John Murray’s book about his wife’s death: not really up my street. Didn’t feel I knew much about his wife afterwards.

After lunch caught up with usual Friday tasks and helped Dot with a bit of clearing up outside, mainly sweeping the side path. Felt very tired afterwards. She did much more. Street meet was just us at first, then Matt and Mary, and Joe passed by. Woman walking through said she liked seeing us there each Friday. Cooked salmon en croute and we watched the final Beyond Paradise, which was ok, and then a short documentary on Chernobyl, which was pretty frightening. Apparently it won’t be safe to live there for 20,000 years. Amazing so few people were killed – or were there? 

Saturday – Odd sort of day. Mainly dry, and Dot did quite a bit of work in the garden. Later on it rained a bit, and more was promised overnight. Plumber Robin was due at 9, but didn’t show up and has now rescheduled for Monday morning. Threw us out a bit. I started sorting out Christian books I want to give away and discovered quite a lot I didn’t. Quite difficult to access bottom shelves now. Body not up to it – or down to it. Worrying.

Actually felt very odd today – as if I wasn’t really present. Eventually took paracetamol, which helped. Had a late bath and then a cracker lunch. Read one of the books – obviously a very short one. Listened to second half of Norwich’s last match of the season, which they lost 2-1 away to Hull, thus preventing Wrexham from reaching the playoffs. Should have had a penalty at the very end, but referee chickened out. Or from Hull’s point of view, made a brave decision. We watched the original film of The Winslow Boy, which was brilliant. Then in the evening watched first two episodes of The Count of Monte Cristo, a French film subtitled and split into four. Again, very good. So far. In between, EFL highlights. 

Sunday – Almost entirely dry, though I took an umbrella to church. Got a parking space easily. Very small congregation. Eleanor led and preached, and Matt and Martin (on violin) led the music, which was very trad. Ray was there, but he was very tired. Chatted with most people afterwards and filled in a questionnaire for Steven – part of his dissertation. Teacakes for lunch and bacon and egg and fried potatoes for supper. 

Got together over 100 Christian books for Book Aid and sent my phone number to the guy who collects them. Dot did more work in the garden. Watched quite a bit of TV, including football, Attenborough’s wild garden series and a bit of Secret Service. Long chat with David about various things, including a walk they did in memory of city builder; Anglia Square: food; and adjusting history – or not. Also football: Spurs beat Aston Villa 2-1 away today. Now above West Ham.