David and Oliver are now safely in Canada, having flown out on Saturday (two and a half hours late). But last Tuesday we took the opportunity to see them before they left, and to relieve them of most of their airing cupboard in preparation for their house sale, which they hope will happen while they are away.
On the way to Caddington Dot and I took the opportunity to call in and see Joan at Baldock, choosing (accidentally) a particularly circuitous route to approach it. She seemed pretty well, which was a relief, as it was a long time since we had seen her, and she hadn’t replied to my e-mail. Turns out she had changed her e-mail address. Not sure why… Anyway, it didn’t work.
We had Indian takeaway at Caddington followed by some cake provided by Dot. Amy was also there, but she had to go off to school early the next day, whereas Oliver stayed behind till we left about lunch time. He and David were then both going to Aylesbury, after which it got quite complicated. We ourselves drove home, calling at Elveden for a very pleasant snack (me whitebait, Dot soup) and a bit of food purchasing. In the evening Dot went to orchestra practice.
The next day I had a game of pitch-and-putt with Paul. I was particularly poor, feeling extremely tired, but managed to halve two or three holes in the middle section.
Friday saw us playing host to the vicar, Sarah, and her husband Mike. Dot cooked some intricate chicken, and we had a really nice evening. The weather was getting warmer, and it hit the heights on Saturday, but we went in the city anyway, to buy some birthday cards, a diary for Andrew and to collect some tickets from the Theatre Royal. We also called into the Forum, where there was an exhibition featuring several Christian organisations. We chatted to one woman from Fishergate/St Stephens and I also spoke to Keith Morris of Network Norwich. We had an ice cream and sat on the Forum steps surrounded by teenagers doing tricks on bikes, and watched a wedding emerge from St Peter Mancroft. It was really hot.
Yesterday it was slightly less hot but very pleasant. After a joint service at St Augustine’s, where I sang one of my songs during Communion, Dot and I went to Walpole, near Halesworth, where there was a poetry afternoon in the atmospheric Old Chapel, plus an excellent a cappella group called Triangle, and some nice refreshments. I read three poems: Breaking up; Orford; and Etretat – all quite old but on theme, which was bridges/crossings. Knew quite a few of the poets – Sue Foster, Charmion Watson, Kaaren Whitney, Mike Bannister, Sue Mobbs, Elizabeth Bracken, and several others by sight.
Unfortunately the afternoon was somewhat marred when I was showing Dot where I read poems in Halesworth, and in turning round in a narrow gateway scraped the side of the car – not badly, but no doubt expensively. Despite that, the journey home down Suffolk and Norfolk lanes was very pleasant. Later, in the cool of the evening, we went for a short walk to bring our steps up to something respectable.