Quite an exciting day in prospect. Dot is busy practising for her concert this evening (for which she given up her football match) and is spending just about as much time on it as she did choosing her skirt. I exaggerate, of course. It’s a dry day at the moment, with some sun, but still pretty cold. I am catching up with a number of things on my computer, including writing this. Fred and members of his family are on their way from Banbury: he will be taking advantage of Dot’s ticket to watch Manchester United beat Norwich.
Meanwhile a “new study” states that there will be a huge increase in Covid cases in January. We need to stamp out new studies.
Monday was pretty miserable, sending with a DCC meeting at Graham’s house, at which I expressed my views about Covid restrictions. Ended up with a “compromise” about closing the door but opening windows, plus a headache, which is very unusual for me. Possibly a result of frustration. And of course it will all be worse now.
Horrible weather again on Tuesday. We had intended to walk to the Town House (Stonehouse) for the Archant Christmas lunch, but it was about to start raining, and it was very cold. So we drove instead and got a spot in the car park because we were early. Had a carvery (excellent turkey and beef) and some profiteroles containing ice cream, which were not so good. Nice group of about 15, including Brian and Tricia, Robin and Shelagh, Su Lee, Eric and Linda, and Bill. Pouring rain as we drove home, and it kept on during the rest of the day. Windy too. Wrote most of my sermon for Sunday. The window cleaner arrived just before the rain. David FaceTimed, and we had quite a long conversation.
Not much improvement in the weather on Wednesday, though I didn’t go out. It was mainly dry, admittedly. II wasn’t feeling too well, actually, and not sure why. Seemed to be the stomach area, and I was worried during the night that I might have gall bladder problems again. But I think it was just an upset stomach – possibly those profiteroles. Dot went to a DSSO meeting followed by another Christmas lunch, and I sorted some stuff out and updated my Alternative Carol Service, which is now about finished. Will it be held, though?
Also wrote a short piece to go in some Christmas cards or Christmas e-mails. Dot came home about 3.30pm and we watched a couple of episodes of Friends. Janet came round shortly before 7pm, and she and Dot walked up to St Stephen’s Church for their orchestra rehearsal. Meanwhile I more or less finished my sermon, wrote some Christmas cards, did some Paston editing and then wrote a piece for my website, as well as transferring a recent poem there.
Oh, I also walked up and down the kitchen until I had amassed 4000 steps. They are now on their way home (10pm) and I’m feeling quite tired. Bet they are too.
Thursday was cold. We drove over to Philip and Anne’s for a visit. Philip didn’t seem too bad. Then on to Hempnall, where we picked up a considerable amount of sugar that Roger had collected from schools for charity. Sue has had a bad fall outside the dentists’s (ironically) and broke some teeth as well as injuring her wrist. She was surprisingly cheerful. Had another drink there. At 4pm I took the car up to the garage to have mirror glass fitted (£83); meanwhile Bridget had arrived to do the cleaning. In the evening we went to Gem with Mark, Des, Chris, John and Tara – our neighbours – for a meal. On the way we ran into Eleanor, who seemed quite perky, considering. Very pleasant time at Gem. Rained a bit on the way home. Idiots at Westminster have instigated Plan B, with more mask-wearing, etc etc Amy told us she hadn’t been too well for some time and was awaiting the result of tests
Fri day was very cold but dry. Quite a strenuous day, actually. Started by driving to Worstead School to pick up some bags of sugar (less two they forgot to give us, it turned out later). Then on to Swafield, where we unpacked all our sugar and put it in the bin at the farm, to the great relief of our suspension system. Then to Sainsbury’s in North Walsham, where we did some food shopping and Dot bought a top for her concert tomorrow. Then home.
In the afternoon I swept up quite a lot of leaves, then ran hot water over my hands to thaw them out. Amy FaceTimed us for quite a long time about her medical results, which were good: she just needs more Vitamin D. She also spoke a lot about pupil-teacher relationships. We sorted out our present list and watched the second episode of a very good thriller, You Don’t Know Me. Read the diocesan guidance on the new Covid restrictions, which was depressing. Changed my sermon a bit as a result.