Dave and Julia have been with us most of this week, but on Monday we were the sole St Augustine representatives (apart from Carrie) at the Bonfire event at St Luke’s. Dot had been intending to play in the ceilidh band with Phil and Anna, but Anna was ill; so it was called off – fortunately, as it turned out, because it wouldn’t really have fitted in with the rest of the evening, which which was a combination of hot dogs downstairs and bonfire and sparklers outside.
We ended up in the kitchen, serving the hot dogs, onions and chips to a throng of local families, while several St Luke’s people cooked them. Dot helped with the washing up and I put quite a few tables away. Felt rather virtuous afterwards, which is obviously a bad thing.
On Tuesday morning Dot and I made it up to the coffee morning (no Maryta, and Paul is in Sri Lanka), with new members Bill Woodcock and Geoff Doy. It’s getting to be quite a gathering. We hurried back, but no need: the Evetts didn’t arrive till 1.30pm. After lunch we went for a walk in the city, and in the evening had dinner at the Ivy, which was pretty good, I thought. Had the same excellent dessert as last time.
On the Wednesday, which was a bit blowy and not too warm, we went to Blickling with our new NT membership and visited the bookshop and cafe before going into the house. Quite interesting; as usual the volunteer room guides were first-class. Thought about going for a walk afterwards, but it was chilly and we turned back. Dot had intended to cook, but Julia didn’t like beef, and the other projected meal would have taken quite a long time; so we ate out so that we could go to the cinema.
Started at Coast-to-Coast, but they had no steak, which upset Dave; so we had to leave. Instead went to Queen of the Iceni, where the food was quite a bit cheaper and pretty good. Dot and I had fish and chips, and Dave was able to get his steak. Afterwards we saw Johnny English Strikes Back, which is not, as Dave said, very intellectually challenging, but by way of compensation was extremely funny. Dot was laughing out loud a lot.
On Thursday we drove to Snape, which at one point seemed to be a bit too far, what with the dithering traffic and Suffolk’s ludicrous speed limits, but it turned out well. It was a beautiful sunny day, and after eating lunch in the cafe near the entrance we walked the path by the south of the River Alde towards Iken, which was extremely picturesque, with boardwalks and great marsh and river views.
We didn’t get all the way to Iken Church, because the path was getting muddy, and we wanted to see a bit more of the Maltings. We returned for a cup of tea in the same cafe, and split up for a walk round the shops. The two exhibitions I had intended to see proved elusive: one had closed the day before and the other (a Maggie Hamblin installation) had shut down for the night by the time I got to it, though I got a glimpse of it in the dark. Dave and I went over to the concert hall entrance complex, which was actually quite interesting. Dot and Julia visited some shops.
The drive home was much easier, though it was dark and very busy (mainly in the opposite direction) and included a tour of Beccles instigated by yet another road closure. We ended up exiting via Gillingham. A little local knowledge is sometimes quite helpful. At home we had some lamb shank and tried to interest Dave and Julia in some songs, but I don’t think they’re really into songs, except possibly for those by Nina Simone.
Yesterday morning we walked up to M & S, where I got a new shirt and jumper and Dot got a new medium-sized handbag. I don’t know why: it all started with a voucher. After meeting with Dave and Julia, who seemed to have gathered in quite a lot of stuff, we went up to Presto and had a light lunch, before D & J left us to go to the bank and get some lingerie (two separate events, I believe). We walked home.
The Evetts left at about 3.15pm for Blakeney, where they had booked for three nights at the Manor. We left just after them to go to see Jessie, who was cheerful enough, but neither of us thought she seemed too well generally. We returned home and more or less collapsed. A quiet evening ensued.
This morning we heard the very sad news that Mairead, who went into hospital earlier in the week, had died overnight.