Odd being without Dot. I should explain that she is in Wales, at a hotel in Brecon, not far from the school where she will deliver a day of philosophy training with Barbara tomorrow. Last night she stayed with David at Caddington; she left there at about 11 this morning and arrived in Brecon, via the M25 and M4, at about 3pm.
This was about the time I arrived home from a walk at Caistor Roman Camp, where I had gone to look at the Tas valley flooding. It had nearly vanished, and I was able to go round the bits that were too wet and reach Dunston Field on the far side of the river. Bright, but very, very cold, and a small plague of dogs marred the beauty of the moment. I can only assume at some time in the past a huge number of people were unwittingly programmed to believe that you can only go for a walk in the country if you have a dog – preferably one that’s noisy and untrained.
Earlier of course I went to church and did the music with Anna, then enjoyed a sermon from Howard on the star that guided the wise men and how astronomy and computers backed it up. That was one of his points anyway. I slipped in one of my songs during communion (the Nunc Dimittis one), which was well received. Then David A dropped in and told us about his new job in Oldham, starting after Easter. I had two mince pies, because Dot wasn’t there to stop me. As she doesn’t read this, she will never know.
Yesterday Dot left at 1pm, and I went for a walk along the river and up into the city by a devious route, then found myself in Exchange Street and bought some acidophilus. Did more steps than I anticipated and was pretty flaked out the rest of the day. Watched Norwich City draw 0-0 with Chelsea in the Cup (BT TV), made myself lamb chops and then did a bit of computer work before flaking out and having a bath because I felt cold. From there, it was a short step to bed.
The previous day Dot and I had been to North Walsham, starting with Sainsbury’s and the cemetery, and then picking Jessie up outside the church, where she had attended a funeral. We bought some fish and chips in town and ate it at hers, followed by a mince pie. I felt quite full. I don’t know why.
The day before that (Thursday) I had picked up some pills from the chemist and was told I couldn’t have any more Lansoprazole because it shouldn’t have run out. I popped immediately round to the surgery and explained that the doctor had doubled my dose for a couple of weeks or three, and while we were in North Walsham I got a text saying they were ready at the chemist. So we called in on the way home after driving down the latest section of the Northern Distributor Road to open.
On Wednesday I had a reassuring eye test, which showed that I was pretty much the same as last time and had no signs of any long-term illness. Dot and I celebrated by going to the Rembrandt exhibition at the Castle, which was on its last week and where we tagged on to a tour, which started as we arrived. The drawings were amazing, of course, and as a bonus we ran into Stephanie Caine and Liz Cannon (separately).
Back on Tuesday, Dot had her debut as a member of a ceilidh band, provisionally called the Hippo Ceilidh Band for reasons not unrelated to St Augustine. The band consisted of Anna, Phil and Dot, with Carrie as caller. Not sure about the calling, but the music was good, and Ray and Christine really got into the dancing. I only saw the last hour or so, because I came to pick Dot up, after having dropped her off about 3.30pm for rehearsal. Quite a few local families there, and it seemed to be a big success. There was food too.