Winter has returned. There was snow on the roofs this morning, and it’s bitterly cold, which I feel is pretty unreasonable, given the time of year. This morning I was about to get into the bath when the man arrived to service our alarm. He was an hour early – because of the traffic, he said. There wasn’t any. Apparently no-one could get into Norwich because of accidents on the approach roads. I took this with a pinch of salt, which is good for icy roads.
The Red Lion meal I alluded to went off pretty well, though sprats turned out to be something different to what I thought, and the halibut was only average. As we neared the end of the meal I caught sight of Sheila Greenacre having a drink with her husband David; she came over for a quick chat.
There was a cold north wind on Saturday; so Dot suggested going to Thetford Forest to reconnoitre possibilities for the summer – and to do a three-mile walk to boost her exercise ratings. This worked out really well, although the walk made us very tired. We had a sandwich afterwards – the tea and coffee were also excellent. The place we went to was called High Lodge, and it contained many activities, including walking at the top of trees, Segway, cycling, archery and, of course, walking. We decided it would be a good place to bring Oliver and Amy.
On the way home we called at the nearby Warren Lodge, which was the remains of a lodge for people who killed rabbits – formerly a big business in the area. Maybe not for Amy.
On Sunday we had a Communion service with the vicar which seemed really odd: a long, rambling sermon and a strange atmosphere. However, spirits were revived with Anna’s cake for Phyllis’s birthday, and we then gave the Greens a lift up to Unthank Road, thinking Grapes Hill would be OK on a Sunday lunchtime. Unfortunately Grapes Hill is never OK.
Nevertheless we dropped them off and escaped from the city in time to get to Beachamwell for lunch with the Knox Whittets at 2pm. Rob and Penny were also there, and we had a really good time. I unveiled my latest plan for a Norwich-Paston-Walk-with- Poems book, and they seemed to like it. Penny praised my new Paston poem, which just shows how perceptive she is. The drive home was very pleasant: practically no-one on the road.
Yesterday Colin came round early to look at the work we wanted him to do. As result he will be resurfacing the drive on Thursday/Friday and repairing the porch at the back, as well as putting in a safety rail on the steps. I have warned some of the neighbours about the likely noise in the drive.
More excitement in the evening as we went to the annual church meeting, meal and entertainment. I use the word “excitement” loosely. Dot walked to the Greens; I picked her up and we transported Howard’s bottle of champagne to Simon, who had done a lot of work on the accounts. Howard went to see King Lear instead, though it was his last meeting as churchwarden.
We had thought it was bring-and-share, but it trend out to be Karen’s usual delicious meal, which made me wish I hadn’t had a crisp sandwich earlier. Before that there was a brief PCC meeting to accept the accounts. I abstained. After the meal we had some singing from a local celebrity, accompanied by a pianist who Dot knew from her orchestra. The singing wasn’t all that good (or all that bad), but the pianist was excellent.
Afterwards the annual meeting dragged on till nearly 10pm, and I abstained again. Then there was another meeting of the PCC to choose new officers, and I pointed out that I had resigned, as no-one seemed to be taking much notice. As it was getting late, not much was said, and so I’ve written an e-mail this morning to the vicar and churchwardens, pointing out that I’m not going to just carry on, as they seem to think.
Icy showers are persisting outside.