Picked up Amy from Caddington on Tuesday – the first time she’s stayed with us on her own. Plenty of rain on the way: Dot drive down and I drove back but got tired near the Memorial at Elveden so let Dot drive the rest. While we were in Caddington we helped a very little bit with the packing of some books and had a cup of tea.

Back at home we had adapted our usual Hello Fresh! order so that it was vegetarian. The first night we had halloumi burgers, which were very good: I did some extra chips, and we had some additional halloumi. On the Wednesday we had some kind of gratin, which was also quite good; and on the Thursday vegetable chilli, which was just about all right, though Amy seemed quite keen on it.

While Dot took Amy to Wyevale Garden Centre on the Wednesday and bought some plants for our exciting new garden, I went into town and got some Canadian dollars for her, as well as a book from Jarrolds for Andrew. On the way up London Street I saw Harriet at Harriet’s cafe, and then Linda (Lily’s niece) and her boyfriend, whose name escapes me. It was actually Linda’s birthday; so a happy accident. We had sent her a card; so bonus points there.

Still on the way home met Judy and her granddaughter Rosie in the Close. Judy is still recovering from a longstanding cough; Rosie seemed quite shy. There should have been a Footprints meeting at the UEA on Wednesday, but I hadn’t intended to go. In the event it was cancelled by Rebecca after both Rob and Karen sent long e-mails which they wanted discussed – but neither of them was going to be there. I give up.

We thought about taking Amy to the cinema, but she wasn’t keen; so instead we watched Back to the Future, Back to the Future 2 and Back to the Future 3 on successive evenings, resulting in late bedtimes for all of us. High scores on the nostalgia front. Had WiFi problems on BTTF2, but eventually got it going after I unplugged it downstairs and started it up again. The other two were fine (Netflix).

Amy was a bit off colour on the Thursday, and so was I. It eventually transpired that she had a headache. I was pretty listless and achey. Still, we did a Picture Quiz and played Cluedo, which I lost twice as usual. Amy has a foolproof method, but Dot beat her to the draw in the first game. I beat them both to the draw, but I was wrong.

We took Amy back to Caddington on Friday, deciding at the last minute to make halloumi burgers at home instead of eating at Elveden. Traffic was very heavy, and we didn’t get to Caddington till just after 4pm. Stayed for another cup of tea and then drove back, starting during the rush hour. Traffic was heavy again, but with Dot driving and me navigating we avoided some of the problem areas (Royston, Barton Mills, Thetford). However, this took extra time and we did not get back in time to go to Joy McCall’s party (5-9pm).

Yesterday Dot went to Anne’s for lunch, and I was doing fine until the printer stopped working because there was no ink in the (new) cartridge, Barclaycard locked me out of my account while I was trying to open their app and then Santander’s site wouldn’t open. Then Dot’s printer didn’t work for no apparent reason. After she got home she was getting stuff printed by sending it to me and I was using her printer to print it, which is ridiculous, since her printer is next to her computer and my computer is downstairs.

The Barclaycard helpline got my account unlocked, but I declined their offer to sort out their app because it causes too much trouble. Their site itself is bad enough. Anyway, posted a birthday card to Andrew; so had a short walk. Steps are doing very badly this month.

In the evening Dot and I went to Denise’s 75th birthday celebration (her actual birthday is tomorrow) and had a really good time. Keith, Clive and Elaine were all there – Elaine with her husband David and sons Oliver and Tommy. Also Madeleine and Geoff Jary, Mary and Bernard Pitt, Clive’s girlfriend and stepdaughter, the couple living in our old house and Linda and Paul from down the road – who we’d met before but I temporarily forgot. Very nice couple. Particularly good atmosphere: Denise was on good form – we had a long talk – but Peter is beginning to look his age.

This morning I led the service, with Liz Cannon preaching. Again, all very pleasant and we were last to leave. Since then Des has been over to ask about using our drive while we’re away, followed closely by Paul and Maryta. The latter is having more trouble with her feet, but not much else changes. They didn’t stay long.