More chilly wind – this time at Cromer. No rest for my respiratory tract, which shows little sign of getting its act together. We popped down to the resort after church to put in an appearance at the Crab and Lobster Festival, not through any great love of shellfish but because there was a Paston tent. Most of the action there had been yesterday, but we did manage to catch Peter Stibbons (alias Admiral Clement Paston) in full costume, plus Pat Dawson in a calf-length robe which didn’t seem quite right somehow. Still, because she is from Yorkshire she managed to pull it off – if you see what I mean.
While we were there we made a length of rope (you never know when a length of rope is going to come in handy), bought a driftwood owl and a few other items and had a chat with Keith Skipper and his wife. Amazing how often Keith and I run into one another, given that he lives in Cromer and I don’t. The sun was warm, but the north-east wind was very cold. On the way back we found a restaurant called Rocky Bottoms which has been on Dot’s mind for some time after someone recommended it to her, and we had a brief meal (whitebait and goat’s cheese) before heading home.
Earlier Chris Denton had called into church after the service to talk about Anne’s funeral, and this continued for some while, including a visit to the old church with Howard and Carrie. Anne has left us a gift of a painting of St Augustine’s Church which is really rather good.
On Saturday we drove to Caddington to celebrate David’s 46th birthday. Amy and Oliver are engaged in revision for exams, but we manage to distract Amy slightly with the Royal Wedding (brilliant sermon) while David was fetching Oliver from football practice. He was wearing his Norwich City kit and had scored a few goals – he seems to be a bit of a star. We knew that, of course. Later we watched the Cup Final, much to Amy’s disgust, but before that I went for a walk on my own and discovered a path over a field and into Folly Wood. Quite enjoyable. Lovely food supplied by David; cake by Dot.
Friday was actually David’s birthday. Joe Logan came round and tuned the piano (£88), and later I went to Halesworth. A bit earlier than usual, so that I could pop in and catch Sarah Cannell’s PV at Halesworth Gallery. Very colourful, and she seemed pleased to see me. I emerged to find a crowd gathered outside Pinky’s that turned out to consist entirely of poets wanting to get in. However, for reasons unknown the proprietor failed to turn up, and eventually Sue (not the one in the picture) popped into the Swan Inn round the corner and arranged a room there for us to meet in.
This worked quite well – a bit more spacious – though there were several complaints from the usual suspects about the light not being good enough. Fate decreed that I was positioned, for the second time in five days, to follow the Beowulf lady, who does about ten or twelve minutes of Anglo-Saxon poetry to the beat of a drum. Better than it sounds, actually. I did three poems – From a Distance, Before and After, and Black Cat – which were quite well received, especially the first and last.
The previous day Dot and I went to hear Mary Chapin Carpenter and her band at the Theatre Royal – part of the Norfolk and Norwich Festival. She was on top form, and was preceded by Emily Barker, who was equally brilliant, though without The Red Clay Halo. Instead she had Lukas Drinkwater on bass and a number of other instruments, though not simultaneously. Worth a watch here for a flavour. Great evening, made greater by running into James and Anne Knox Whittet in the bar.
Seems a long time ago, but last Tuesday we had the Eagles and Howard round for a meal. We had intended to have Anna too, and had indeed invited her, but at a fairly late date she discovered she was booked into Belper. At the last minute I discovered that Mary next door was on her own, so invited her to make up the six, and it worked pretty well. The Eagles and Howard were able to talk about India together (the original idea, as they had just returned from the sub-continent, as they say on Test Match Special), while – as well as joining in – we were able to talk to Mary about various other things.