And so it goes on. April Fool’s Day was notable for an absence of the usual jokes, possibly because real life was so absurd anyway. I was convinced for a minute that the third obituary in the Daily Telegraph was an April Fool, but then I read the other two and decided perhaps they all were – or none of them. Most coronavirus pronouncements are in much the same mould. Now PM Boris is in hospital and, it has to be said, not looking too good. But then…

I have finished clearing out the study, and it looks refreshingly neat. Sadly my paper-shredding machine is failing to work again for no apparent reason; so I have a pile of paper to cut up, burn or expose to a virus of some kind. We managed to get the slide projector to work and looked at my mother’s slides of the Holy Land. It’s amazing how different the place looked a mere 30-40 years ago. Far fewer buildings.

The smaller slide viewer, which is much better for a quick look, has given up the ghost, mainly because the batteries corroded and messed up everything else. I have sent off for a new one, which is only about £20. I can’t make the gizmo that transfers slides to my computer work, apparently because it’s now unsupported (too few bits, or something. Ho, hum.) Also can’t get the Super 8 film projector to work, but have located a shop in Norwich that can transfer my films to CD; so will give them a try eventually – whenever that is.

I keep on working on Paston site material. My latest achievement (a pretty small one) was to write sub-headings for some of the Paston Places articles. I am still modernising some of the letters, but to be honest it’s a bit of a burden, because the Middle English is often obscure. If it was just a case of making normal English more readable, it would be quite enjoyable. Peter obviously really loves the obscurities, because he keeps coming up with more and more obscure things to do.

I have written the Norwich Paston walk in leaflet form, but this can’t really be taken any further while we’re in isolation. I’ve also produced a liturgy for St Augustine’s Way, and Howard has just produced a reply to it, which I will have to have a look at. Meanwhile Dave Evetts wrote to ask for help with his family tree investigations, but I don’t think I was much help.

We’ve been in the house mostly, but last Friday we drove up to the chemist’s in the afternoon to pick up my prescription. We then called at the petrol station to fill the car up, which may not have been essential but didn’t expose anyone else, and I was careful to spray and wash my hands after handling the pump. (Paid with credit card at pump.) Earlier in the day the D’Souzas had got some groceries for us from Morrisons.

Saturday was very warm, and we decided to go for a walk for our exercise. We found the Rosary open and walked round it, encountering hardly anyone, and staying clear of them. It was actually very pleasant. On Sunday we joined in the St Luke’s service using Zoom. Surprisingly, it worked, especially when people muted themselves so that we could concentrate on Sarah, and sing the songs without sounding awful.

Cooler today, but still quite pleasant after early rain.