At the end of Thursday Dot went to handbell ringing at the Greens (I drove her), and I did a bit more on my sermon, but nowhere near enough. Felt very tired. Cleared stuff out of utility room into garage. Dry in the evening. 

Friday was mild and dry: foggy to start with. Spoke to Amy on FT and checked arrangements for next day.  Dot did a lot more sorting out, and I finished my sermon. After lunch Dot went to the shops. I put my Canadian poems into final form, and we packed Amy’s presents. Evetts rang around 4pm, and we had a long chat about various things, including Seckford Hall and Vicky’s health. Out in the street at 5.30pm, with Des, Chris, Mark, Ciara, Sean, Mary and Matthew. Waved goodbye to Phoebe as she went out on the town for her 17th birthday. Felt a bit under the weather (probably too much to drink + fish and chips) and laid on bed for a bit, but got up to watch Professor T, then went to bed early. 

Saturday was a very busy day. Fairly mild and dry.  Amy arrived with Vicky and Matt (and David’s table and chairs) at 10.30, and we had a cup of coffee before V&M departed for Reepham to see Kerry. We had lunch with Amy before taking the bus up to UEA for the open day there. Easy journey. She checked in, and we had a look at the library before walking down to the Sainsbury Centre, where she was going to a talk on art history, which she wants to combine with archaeology and anthropology. Very interesting talk by a couple of lecturers, but Dot started coughing and had to go out towards the end. Amy stayed for tour of the Art History area while I found Dot and we went to have a drink. But Amy’s tour ended pretty quickly, and she came up and joined us at the cafe.

Walked back up and caught the bus halfway up. Incredibly slow journey into town. Got off at Orford Place and walked home via The Walk, White Lion Street, the Arcade, Back of the Inns, London Street and The Close. Looked at Canada pix till V&M arrived at 5.30 to take her home. Earlier we had given Amy her presents – some earrings and a picture by Kasia Coleman that she had wanted us to leave her when we died! She seemed very pleased.

In the evening I took Dot up to St Mary Magdalene for a concert. Wasn’t sure whether to go myself, but I was glad I did. They had some singers and did some good dramatic stuff, particularly Gilbert and Sullivan. Dot was worried about her lack of practice, but it all sounded good to me. Beverley Aspinall was playing again. I spoke to Neville, Mary, Vicki and one or two other people. Capacity audience. Earlier Norwich City were 2-0 up against Sheffield United away but managed to draw 2-2. Pukki missed a penalty. On the plus side, Liverpool lost to Nottingham Forest. 

Very wet Sunday. Thunderstorms in afternoon. Had to park car in St Matthew’s Road overnight because the bottom of our road was inaccessible from 9 to 11 because of road runners. Wonderful! At church played guitar and gave sermon on humility (a strong point of mine), which was quite well received, though I’d been a bit worried about it. Afterwards spoke to Nikki, and to the Rev Hilary Wakeman, who comes occasionally and who asked for a copy of the sermon. So either she liked it or I’m in trouble with the Bishop. Fairly quiet day after that: I caught up with my e-mails, and later we watched a couple of episodes of scandi noir Wisting, which was very good. 

Monday – was dry and quite pleasant. Went to church in the morning – dropped off by Dot, who then called in on Phyllis. Had a Bible study with Leanne and Alison. Went pretty well: Leanne brought little Evelyn, but she was pretty well behaved. Dot came later. Annette came to see us at 2pm, and we spent a long time talking and showing her the Canada pix. Caught up on (rather sad) news about Lisa, Caroline etc. Annette stayed till after 5.30pm, when I made the meal. David FTd and we heard about his time with Chrissy in Kingston. Sounds pretty good.  Quiet evening; bed fairly early.

Tuesday was a bit cooler than I expected when I was deciding what to wear to travel to Coventry to see Andrew. Not too bad, though. Caught train at 10am after taking a Covid test! Train fairly full because it was half term – a fact I had overlooked – but not too bad. Got to Liverpool St on time and got tube to Euston Square, walking the rest. Caught train immediately and was in Coventry before 1.30pm. Got sandwiches from M&S and ate them before walking over to Andrew’s via an impressive new Coventry Station building.

Spent about 90 minutes with Andrew – he was bit all over the place and stooping, but not in pain. Spoke to girl with green hair, who was quite impressive: she managed to sort out his DVD player and said she would take him to buy a new razor. Was not asked for Covid test result or required to wear a mask. Got a train to Euston at about 4.15pm (delayed) and found a non-optimal seat near a woman with a cold. Easy transfer via Euston Square again, and just in time to get the 5.50pm to Norwich. Pretty full, of course. Dot met me at the station, and had a meal of smoked salmon on toast before listening to Burnley v Norwich, which  ended 1-0. While I was away Dot reorganised my bathroom, removing the bookcase and putting it in her room. Looks quite good.