Quite wintry the last few days, though there has been no rain today. We are back at church under the new regulations, but still masked and distanced. It’s Advent of course, and I preached on darkness and light. Had a long chat outside with Matt afterwards, taking in the general topography of Norfolk, our experiences of the CNS and the Paramoudra Club. Dot spoke to Carrie and Kim, whom she has invited to our Compline group. At home watched final of Young Chorister of the Year – something I wouldn’t have seen myself doing 20 years ago – and the wrong boy won. Still, they were all excellent.
Spoke to Andrew on FaceTime. He seems much the same. We struggle to have a conversation, but I’m glad we have contact.
It was very cold last Tuesday too – the first day of meteorological winter, as we were informed by the weather people. There was a north wind, which made a difference although it wasn’t strong. I posted Sophie’s parcels to Canada, and Dot went to her violin lesson with Anna – she took me halfway (entrance to the gym), and I walked home. In the evening we watched the original Dambusters film, which was good. A three-part documentary by Dan Snow on the next three nights corrected a couple of factual errors and rubbed home the high cost in lives among the air crew.
It was cold again on Wednesday, but there was blue sky; so it didn’t seem so bad. Best day of the week really, which was fortunate, as I took the car up for a service and had to go for a walk while it was being done. I walked as far as I could up Holt Road, which turned out to be just past my cousin Mark’s house. I then crossed over and walked back to the airport, noting a surprising number of take-offs – most of them grey planes. The non-Ingrid person on the service desk took for ever to do the paperwork, but I was eventually able to get back home for lunch. Dot spent most of the day on another Zoom art retreat: she gets a lot out of it. In the evening Norwich lost dismally to Luton 1-3. They were very poor, and so was the referee.
Thursday was very wet, with a dark sky all day. Hello Fresh arrived, and so did our groceries courtesy of Des, whose gouty foot seems to have improved. Dot had a Zoom session with the head at Cringleford. Defying the rain, I sent a parcel to David, then bought some cards and candles from Revelation. Dot cleaned the stair carpet and went to Morrisons for some more (*carpet) shampoo. Later we watched Enemy of the State – a fast-moving thriller with a brilliant ending. Also watched The Man in Grey – an old b&w film featuring a young James Mason and Margaret Lockwood, who was my father’s favourite actress, I think. Most of it was set in Regency times, and it was quite nicely done but with nowadays quite unacceptable racist undertones at times. I suppose the time will come when they refuse to show it.
Friday was wet and grey again, and still cold. Linda came to do our hair at 9am, and I had a bath afterwards. There was was a touch of sleety snow mid-morning (not lying), and an ice warning. Finished my sermon and later watched Whistle Down the Wind – another old film about some children who mistook a murderer on the run for Jesus. Not as bizarre as it sounds. I thought it was excellent in just about every way.
Much better weather yesterday – dry and not as cold as forecast. Dot went into the city to buy presents, and I went up to meet her. Norwich rather luckily beat Sheffield Wednesday 2-1. We played badly for about 80 minutes and should have conceded a penalty (though not two, as was claimed in some quarters). Scored our two goals in the last ten minutes. All three goals were excellent. In the evening we watched Hang Em High, another Clint Eastwood western, which bit off a bit more than it could chew. Thought-provoking, but the structure was odd.