Still feeling pretty down: tubes clogged up and hardly any energy. However, yesterday we did manage to get out to West Runton to visit Fred and Sue in their caravan. Fred was our best man 40 years ago. We had a very pleasant time with them and drove to where the picture was taken – Cookies restaurant at Salthouse, where we had a large lunch: a “royal” salad consisting mainly of fish and other seafood. I skipped the crab because I have a slight allergy sometimes, but it was all very impressive. We took our own bottle of wine, so the whole thing cost us only about £25 for four. Afterwards we wandered around near the caravan, saw the cliff edge falling away (the steps down to the beach now end in mid air) and noted the kind of price you could pay for a log cabin on a caravan site – a mere £140,000.

We took the MX5, so Dot was driving, and we navigated home across the wilds of North Norfolk, through places like Sustead, Calthorpe, Ingham and Banningham. Almost a straight line, actually, but narrow roads in many places. Lovely scenery, though.

I cancelled the chess tournament I was supposed to be playing in this weekend, and donated my entry fee to the prize fund. Pity, but the right decision: I would probably have lost all my games and been even more depressed. Elsewhere my aunt in South Africa is not at all well, and a friend at church – Anne – is in hospital with a blood disorder. So things could be sunnier.