Caught almost in mid-air, grandson Oliver walks along the back of a dinosaur – no, wait, it’s a row of tyres. But it’s at the Dinosaur Park, which is where we spent most of Tuesday. Lovely sunny day with a bit of a nip in the air, and I was impressed with what the park had to offer, even thought it was out of season and a few things were unavailable. The Dinosaur Trail was very well put together with some nice touches – like reporting to rangers on three missing tyrannosaurus rex. Oliver wasn’t too impressed with the sound effects, but he’s quite a sensitive little soul.

Also had some fun on some mechanically propelled go-karts, and Oliver showed some class on the crazy golf. Some good dinosaur-themed play areas too.

The previ0us day, when we had brought him back from Caddington, we also called in to see Aunt E, who gave him a car which responded to voice commands – at least, it was supposed to, but we had a great deal of trouble getting it to work, much to her disappointment. She unearthed a substitute present, but by the end of Oliver’s stay with us we had got the car to work after a fashion – so we had to return to her on the way back to Caddington on Thursday to show her! Oliver is very anxious that people should be pleased and happy – which is a lovely trait, though it worries him when they aren’t.

On the Wednesday we went to Yarmouth to visit the Sea Life Centre. One reason for this was so that Oliver could go on the train, and from the station we got a taxi, as the buses were so rare (we never actually saw one during our visit). The SLC was interesting but extremely pricey despite being out of season, with minimum staff just about managing to cover all bases. There was a nice touch pool, where O could stroke a hermit crab shell, among other things. He was particularly interested in the sharks, which came a very close second to the shop. The shark exhibit is quite impressive, as are the sea horses.

Another taxi back to the station – this time a much friendlier driver, who not only refused my tip but gave Oliver £1! He was rather scathing about the lack of forethought going into the new harbour plans – or more particularly the inability of the roads to cope.

On the Thursday morning we took a bus into the city (and back). Oliver sat upstairs at the front and enjoyed the view. We also got a couple of boxes out of the Poetry Vending Machine in Borders. The one intended for Amy wasn’t really suitable, so I had to substitute both poem and warning on the box. There was a danger Amy might not know what pregnancy was, or why poetry might lead to it. Had a drink in the Forum and sent Daddy some pictures to prove it.

Got Oliver home successfully, but by Friday both Dot and I were feeling rather ill. I had to write my column, but neither of us did very much. Today Dot has been feeling quite bit better, apart from an occasional coughing fit, and went into the city. I found myself at my old school taking part in a rapid chess tournament, despite feeling very strange – slight temperature and a gradually developing pain at the base of my back. Thought I was getting a cold yesterday, but this happened instead. Ah well, despite it I actually won some prize money for the first time for years, scoring 3/5 in the all-play-all open-challengers section and finishing =3rd. Not as impressive as it sounds (if it sounds impressive), because there were only six in the section, and four of us won something. I drew with the two who finished 1st and 2nd and lost to the guy who finished equal with me. Beat the others – and in a final-round friendly beat the guy who had beaten me.

I have to admire Stephen Orton for organising it – a few of the kids were very difficult to handle and three of them got stuck in the disabled lift. Tempting as it was to leave them there, a caretaker was summoned to extract them. Most were fine, though.