An eventful week – more eventful than we had anticipated after David’s car (our old one) broke something at Little Plumstead on the way home from Ranworth on Wednesday. We had been out for a walk and had been intending to return home for a cup of tea before going for another walk from home. But on the Plumstead road there was a lot of noise from the back nearside, and we couldn’t pin it down, even after pulling into a side road and exploring the underside of the car.
After driving a few more yards rather gingerly it appeared that the engine protector had come adrift. David called roadside assistance, and I headed off to look for a bus (in case the assistance was a long time coming). In fact help came quickly, and it was established (apparently) that the shock absorber was broken as well as the engine protector). So David, Dot and the children got a lift back home, and I eventually walked to Salhouse station and caught the 16.34 into Norwich.
The next day (Maundy Thursday) there was some delay before the low-loader arrived to take David and family back to Caddington, but they got back just in time for Amy to be given a lift by Miranda to her sleepover at Amilie’s. Meanwhile Dot and I were having a long rehearsal with Phil for our Good Friday event, running through the songs and hymns and watching a few YouTube songs by way of a break.
This paid off the following day when we had an audience of just over 30 at St Augustine’s – two-thirds of them from St Luke’s. Dot had been to the football at Carrow Road, and we were delayed by football traffic; so it was all a bit frantic as we prepared to start, and I completely forgot to get my guitar out and tune it. Fortunately it was sufficiently in tune when we got to the first hymn, and the whole event went reasonably well, though I was never able to relax. Happily it was all very well received, and everyone enjoyed Dot’s giant Easter cake afterwards.
On Saturday Dot travelled down to Dunstable and picked up the family outside the Leisure Centre after their swimming. Following a quick break at Caddington, they drove home and arrived mid-afternoon. Meanwhile I did a big shop at Morrison’s and cleared up. At some point during the visit there were several Easter egg hunts and other games, including Cluedo, which I somehow managed to win. I also managed to beat Oliver at table tennis a couple of times, which may not happen again.
On Sunday Oliver came to church with us. I was leading and preaching, and he seemed to enjoy it. He even played piano at the end when we did All Will be Well, and he did it very well. Later we tried some other songs at home and recorded one on my phone. He’s very musical and quickly adjusts if I change the timing, which is more than some people do. We had roast chicken in the evening, which I cooked.
Earlier we had watched Rogue One and Fantastic Creatures and Where to Find them, both of which were well worth seeing. Slightly preferred the latter.
The weather during most of the weekend was not all that good; so we stayed in mostly. I drove David, Oliver and Amy home late on Monday afternoon. We encountered quite a few hold-ups, especially on the Elveden stretch, but after Newmarket everything was straightforward. After dropping them off I went back to buy petrol and then had some toast cheese while watching David and Oliver play computer football. All to bed by 21.45.
I was up first yesterday, and everyone was busy. David took the car to his local garage, where it later transpired that it was not the shock-absorber that was broken, but the piece of metal attaching it to the car. Ironically, this will be more expensive to replace, as it has to be a genuine Mazda part. After checking with the hospital at Warwick that Andrew was still there, I left about 10.30 and took it fairly easy, stopping at Watford Gap, where I explained to a guy handing out leaflets why smart motorways were so dangerous. He didn’t argue with me.
I drove on to Coventry (isn’t the M45 wonderful?) and parked at Memorial Park, where I rang Dot and then went for a short walk before proceeding to Warwick, arriving about an hour early for visiting hours. I parked in the cemetery and walked down by the canal, then drove to the hospital and decided to see if I could get in early.
It turned out that I could. The only person who seemed to take any responsibility for this was a large cleaner, and I wasn’t going to argue with her. Nurses were very thin on the ground and not really interested, beyond showing me to Andrew’s bedroom. Andrew himself was amazingly good – better than I have seen him for a very long time – and we had quite a conversation about various things, much of it based on a magazine I had bought him and a couple of books he had borrowed from the hospital’s stock.
I left about 3pm and drove back to Norwich, stopping at Cambridge Services and arriving at about 6.30pm. Fortunately the weather as a whole was good for driving. In the evening Dot and I were given a lift by Judy to Howard’s for a Julian evening, which was very enjoyable. Somehow I managed to stay awake, which was quite surprising in view of the white wine I drank. Sadly Anna was upstairs with a migraine.
This morning Dot had a fasting blood test, and this afternoon we may drive to Holt.