Thursday Sep 8 – The Queen is dead. She died at Balmoral in the afternoon. We shall be out of the country for the funeral, which is sad. In local news, the weather has been showery but fairly warm. In the morning Dot was washing and ironing, and I was writing a piece for my website. In the afternoon we picked up our pills and then went to Go Outdoors, where I bought a new raincoat at a ludicrously low price after Dot noticed my old one was a bit ropey. Very pleased.
Bridget came round to clean, and it was not until she left that we heard that the Queen had died. All normal TV stopped after that, of course, and an increasingly tired-looking Huw Williams soldiered on, saying much the same thing, quite professionally, over and over again. We veered off to watch some cycling and an episode of Shetland, during which David FaceTimed us to commiserate.
Friday was cooler, with quite a bit of rain. Sorted out a lot of stuff, partly in preparation for tomorrow. In the morning I took my aunt Thelma out for a drive: we went to Bramerton Woods End, or whatever it’s called nowadays. Rained on and off, but not while I picked her up and dropped her off. She seemed to enjoy it, but not a huge reaction. Drove past both her old homes, but she seemed not to remember them, which is odd. Mostly she has a good memory. Her older house on Shotesham Road seems to have burned down in a field fire – just a shell left.
Drank to the Queen on our usual 5.30 meeting – mainly the four of us and Matt, with Ciara popping in near the end and Mary momentarily earlier. Watched some more bits and pieces on the Queen and new King as he was driven from Northwood to the Palace, where there were hugs and crowds of “ordinary people”. Also watched first episode of new Doc Martin.
Saturday was warm and mainly sunny. Up early to greet Robin and Colin, who were here to fix the garage fascia, the cistern in the toilet and the shelves in my study, which Robin moved down from Dot’s room. As a result I had to reshuffle just about everything in the study, moving my computer on to the far desk, which entailed resetting the Wi-Fi and moving a couple of other plugs. Looks good, though. Also involved moving the gateleg table upstairs, which was quite a challenge.
In the midst of all this I walked up to church and back to receive visitors (with Stacey) for the heritage church bike ride. Chatted with Stuart and a couple of visitors. Watched a lot of royalty on TV, mainly to do with Charles’ accession but also about the Queen in the 50s. Lots of church services, which must be a good thing. Faith in the spotlight, from Charles too. Also watched Ridley, a police drama, which was pretty good. Very tired at the end of the day.
Sunday was warm and dry. Up early to watch cricket, then to church for Communion led by Graham. I played guitar. Traditional hymns, of course. Dot led prayers. Leanne popped in afterwards: lovely to see her after several weeks – she’s had a busy summer with her boat and boyfriend, Adam. Got the cases down out of the loft and did a lot of packing. Also spoke to Andrew on the phone. Then had FaceTime with Oliver – it’s his 20th birthday! Our parcel hadn’t arrived because of a postal strike – probably same goes for the card. In the evening watched more cricket and the last two episodes of State of Happiness, which were very good. Also a concerto performed by Nicola Benedetti – brilliant violinist.
Monday was a strange day. Warm and mainly dry, till evening. Made final preparations for travelling. Finished Canada app and checked other things. Redistributed some books in my room and out of the bathroom. Didn’t go to church, but probably could have. Answered several e-mails. Put out rubbish. Des came over and we showed him what needed to be done (very little). Watched funeral service at St Giles. Karen Mathieson sang in Gaelic. Later watched another episode of Ridley – not quite as convincing as last time. England won final test against South Africa.