One of those weeks where you seem to have plenty of time to do stuff, and so you fritter most of it away. Weather has not been brilliant – wet and dull all day yesterday – but at the moment the rain has relented, which pleases Dot, as she’s scheduled to have lunch in the city with Anne a bit later. It’s a bit autumnal: cooler without being anywhere near cold. I’ve had my second ear-syringe (note the hyphen) which seems to have cleared all the wax, though the ears (and head) are still strangely crackly. On the plus side, I can hear better. The sound of the rain on the car roof as I returned from my appointment with Martine (we name the guilty nurse) was strangely loud. I’ve also had my teeth cleaned by a hygienist, who is so highly skilled that it doesn’t really hurt at all. So I should be in good shape.

I’ve managed to write a Paston poem, linking the last Margaret with the first of the family who arrived at Paston from France. Think it just about works. Need to speak to Annette in more detail about the workshop. The church magazine editors’ training plans have been laid aside temporarily, because one of the key guys is too busy and Anne’s dog is not well. Not sure if it will ever happen. However, I have written most of my sermon for Sunday. Most of the church will be either  at Greenbelt or some other holiday venue, so I am prepared for a very small congregation.

Played my first chess game of the new season on Monday, after negotiating quite deep flooding on the road approaching the club. Hesitated to go through at first, but saw a bus a negotiate it, so followed. When I reached the club several other people were there, so I felt a bit of a wimp. However, recovered enough to draw a tight game against Jon Burrows, who’s graded about 30 points higher than me. As it was a knockout competition game, I have to play him again – probably on Monday.