Doesn’t time fly? And so much happening… Last Friday, for instance, it rained quite a bit. We had excellent lunch with the Higbees at Newton Flotman, made a quick visit to Diocesan House to pick up documents for Dot, and then made for Bungay in the evening. There was a private view at the Cork Brick gallery : Annette and two other women, Diane Griffiths and Georgina somebody. The theme was animals, so not really my cup of tea, though Mike’s incidental drawing of a horse was stunning. Annette had some interesting new ideas as well, and Diane had some pretty nifty book work on show – particularly liked one called Book of Salt. Martin and his girlfriend were there, and we spoke for a while to Jane West (McClintock), who writes poetry and is from Norwich.
Down in Suffolk again on Saturday, when we were invited at short notice by June W to an early pizza supper (home made) at Beccles. Preferred the crumble afterwards, and the budgerigar – though the latter was not part of the meal. It appears to have replaced a dog, which has to be good. June seemed on good form, though she deteriorates markedly when you speak to her on the phone, as I did a few minutes ago. She has an appointment with the gynaecologist, which is a good thing: she has been trying to speak to one for ages.
On Sunday I preached a Pentecost sermon and Dot led the prayers at short notice. I had forgotten to mention to her that she was on the rota. In the afternoon we went out into the chilly, soggy winds of North East Norfolk and took flowers to the cemetery (it was the anniversary of Dot’s mum’s death). Afterwards we visited Judith Rand at Bacton: she is recovering from a double bypass-plus operation. She showed us around her impressive Great Barn house, which would be worth well over a million if it was not in Bacton but Blakeney. Still couldn’t believe it when she said she didn’t think she’d get more than £400,000; she will be selling soon because she can’t look after it on her own, especially now. Afterwards called in at Jessie’s, where we found Roger waiting for his evening meal. Still managed to fit in a cup of tea, but we were home before 6pm.
Monday’s weather was much improved – quite warm, in fact. I called in to see Kathleen. She looks very frail but seemed pleased to see me. She finds it hard to talk and can’t hear easily, so it was bit hard going, but I was very pleased to be there. Read to her a bit from the Bible at her request. Am now involved at Paul’s request in getting him power of attorney. Earlier I bought Dot a new printer, as the wi-fi is so erratic on the one we have. After consulting David, we now have two printers, both connected by wire to their respective computers. That should sort it out. There are times when advancing technology is just not worth the bother.
Yesterday I returned to 12 The Close, where I had tried unsuccessfully to pick up some library lecture tickets the day before. It turned out that I should have been picking them up from the Cathedral Estates Office, and not Friends of the Cathedral, as I had assumed. Well, which would you have guessed if you just had the address? Tuesday Group in the evening featured a rejuvenated C, who had experienced a big improvement after we prayed for her the previous week. Today I have had a high number of phone calls, all from real people and relevant to life as we know it. Exhilarating.