We had an enjoyable weekend – made even better by our granddaughter calling us yesterday evening on FaceTime and having a long chat about what she had been doing. Showed us a really good drawing she’d done of Jenna Coleman (which we gained Brownie points by recognising!), plus a game she is designing and making as part of her graphics lessons. Really nice talking to her.
Most of Saturday and Sunday was spent at Walsingham, where we were on retreat with members of our Cake and Compline group. We took Judy with us, and the Archers and Eleanor arrived separately at about lunchtime on Saturday. We all had lunch together in Norton’s café. Dot and I shocked the others by also having a gin and tonic: gin is a bit of a speciality there. Claire arrived late, which was not surprising.
We had lovely – though quite small – rooms upstairs, which gave us a good view over the complex. We also had the use of a meeting room for our sessions, which I had prepared under the loose heading of Lost in Translation. I made use of Prayers of the Cosmos and Water into Wine, as well as some other material, and it all seemed to go down well. Claire didn’t make it to the first session.
Eleanor went home after the evening meal, because she is now a vicar and had to lead a service at St Helen’s the next day. The rest of us played a few games, including Dixit, in another meeting room. The meal itself was good, and large numbers of other people suddenly materialised: it turned out that they were groups from different parts of the country. The shrine priest had a chat with us. Nice bloke.
On the Sunday we had breakfast and eventually a third session. We were delayed by David having a long phone call from his mother (his father is very ill) and then by Claire deciding to have a bath. However, we did get through it all, and ended the day with a roast beef lunch. The weather was beautifully sunny, but with a very cold wind, getting colder in the afternoon. Dot, Judy and I visited the farm shop before heading home, arriving about 4pm.
The previous day we had our hair cut. These things need to be recorded. On Thursday I spent quite a lot of time at the UEA Sainsbury Centre refectory, where we had a couple of meetings attempting to sort out the Paston Footprints project and then having a meeting of the Steering Committee. I have only a vague idea of what happened, and I did the minutes. I think a good way of getting more out of life would be to avoid going to as many meetings as possible.
On Wednesday Dot and I walked up to Presto, where we managed to secure a table for a light lunch. Our main reason for going was to say goodbye to Kathy and Roberto, who are retiring again. They have many loyal customers, and most of them had booked tables for the last two weeks, but we were early enough to sneak in at the back. Spoke to the retiring couple and to both waitresses, who we have go to know quite well.
On Tuesday evening I went got Jurnet’s poetry evening. I never feel totally at ease there, though the quality of poetry is pretty good. On this occasion Colin Payne, the chess player/musician/poet, turned up unexpectedly, and there was quite a large gathering altogether. The theme was March Hares, and although I usually forget about themes, I did write a poem with that title, which I read. Also one called Birds of Prey.
Today is a bit sombre in mood, as Jessie’s funeral is this afternoon. I still have a b it of a cough (not helped by doing a lot of talking over the weekend); so no doubt I will be rather on edge. David is driving up.