Happily I finished the collection of short stories in time for the Paston exhibition yesterday, and it was well received – in fact so well received that I have to almost double my print run and produce another half dozen. The exhibition itself went reasonably well, given that short-story supremo and workshop leader Anna Metcalfe had a stomach upset and couldn’t come. The church, as expected, was just as cold inside as it was outside, but we survived. Dot came along at 2pm, just in time to hear me read from my short story, and afterwards I joined her at Aunt Jessie’s after assisting with the clearing up.

I have two more writing commissions – both of them unpaid (though I can probably claim something for the Paston stuff). The first is a narrative for Peter’s one-hour wide-ranging Paston video, and the second is the main feature article for The (diocesan) Magazine next month. I have to interview people and everything. Just like being a journalist, whatever that is.

But the outstanding part of the week was Wednesday to Friday, when David, Chrissy, Oliver and Amy came up to see us. They arrived in time for evening meal (we had had our hair cut earlier in the day), and stayed until after lunch on Friday. In the meantime we did a bit of shopping, Oliver did a bit of an essay, and I accompanied Amy up to the Book Hive to see the others (she had already been to Morrison’s with Dot). After that we all went to Prezzo’s together for an evening meal.

David did a fix on our wi-fi, using the Airport Express device he’d given us for Christmas, and I’ve sent away for a second one to do the job the first one was doing. The system as a whole seems to be working well, and my computer is much faster too. Always very pleasing. Sadly, Chrissy is now back in Canada.

After church this morning we had a long discussion concerning the vicar situation  that went on and on, interspersed by comments from a rather drunk citizen who had wandered in (someone we knew). In the end I got quite angry with him, and he left. I know how to increase our congregation… Meanwhile, e-mails go backwards and forwards.

This evening Howard and Anna are coming round for a meal and mutual consolation. I am keeping up with my Lent poems so far…