Quite a busy few days. Going back to last Wednesday, my birthday, Dot and I had a perfect meal at Côte Brasserie in Exchange Street. It rained hard while we were in there, but happily remained dry as we walked up and came home. I have decided I love French food – on this occasion a bottle of French rosé wine with garlic bread; chicken liver pate; sirloin steak medium rare; crème brûlée with candle; followed by green tea with peach flavour. To round the day off, David FTd from his office in Cambridge. Afterwards we watched Beck and Tour de France.
Thursday was overcast, fairly mild but with occasional rain. Dot bought paint in the morning while I finished Translation State – very good SF novel bought for me by David. Later wrote most of my sermon and an article for my website. Bridget came to clean while Dot went to Ofsted feedback at Sutton. Cooked duck. Watched a bit of Wimbledon.
Friday started grey but dry, a bit windy. By lunchtime it had started raining and turned quite chilly. Rain persisted for the rest of the day. Picked up Alan and June Harrison just after 9am. Alan is a former CNS teacher considerably older than me, and June is a relatively young Asian woman, attractive and very pleasant, dressed in moderately spectacular fashion. I had not met her before.
We drove to Easton College and spent some time finding the right building, then the right room. Huge campus with lots of speed bumps. We were still among the first there for the annual CNS Class of 1961 reunion. Good attendance, including Fred and Roger, plus Neville and Mary and the Houseagos. Autobiographical talk on engineering (Laurence Scott etc) which was very interesting but got a bit bogged down in detail towards the end.
Then we all went in tractor and trailers to a field where the top guy, who was Irish, gave a talk on the farming work there. He was brilliant – an original thinker not interested in all the clichés. He attacked research for research’s sake – just to get your name on a paper, he said. After lunch he gave another talk on the way they were approaching farming at Easton. Really exciting. If only he was Minister of Agriculture! Before that we saw a film on farming in 1945!
While we were out in the fields it started raining and got windy, and I had quite a bad attack of hay fever, affecting my eyes rather than my nose. That got better, but the rain got worse, and it was tipping down when we left. Traffic bad too. Dereham Road very slow, but I got across to Essex Street rather neatly. Food at the college was very good too. Too wet for street meet; watched a bit of tennis and Tour de France, then caught up with newspaper reading.
Saturday was very windy, with a little rain. Moved the car into Chalk Hill Road so that I could get to church the next day when they blocked our road for the Norwich run. Then posted a card to Audrey while Dot pursued her day-long task of painting the dining room chairs. In the afternoon walked up to St Stephen’s Church to take part in a Julian workshop. Received call to say Lucy was held up in traffic; so welcomed them and found room – also bought several mugs of tea. About 12 of us altogether – only one other man. Lucy had to leave again to move her car; so I chatted and read poems. Went ok altogether. Later had delayed street meet with Des, Chris and John, after watching Stuski win men’s doubles final. Women’s singles won by unseeded Czech woman, Marketa Vondrousova. Watched Tour de France.
Sunday was not quite so warm; windy with a few drops of rain. Had to walk to Chalk Hill Road to pick up the car. Traffic was really bad trying to get to church by devious route, and hard to park too. Martyn turned up unexpectedly to play piano. Anna and Matt away. I did sermon and Dot did prayers. In afternoon watched impressive men’s singles final: Djokovic lost to Alcaraz on five sets. Later watched Beck and Tour de France. Sound familiar?
Yesterday was fairly mild, with a couple of spectacular thunderstorms. Started by going to Morrisons on my own, followed by a trip top to the surgery to have yet another blood test, this time related to my kidneys, apparently. Nurse Linda described herself as a minion, so couldn’t really answer questions. She was very nice though, and called me “Dear”, a definite trend at the surgery. Do they know something I don’t?
Didn’t feel too great all day but visited my Aunt Thelma with Dot, just after a very heavy thunderstorm in Norwich (but not Poringland). It was Thelma’s 94th birthday. When we arrived Sheila was there. Had quite a nice chat with her. Thelma doesn’t seem keen, but I think that’s because she depends on her. Thelma is definitely deteriorating. Her deafness is really bad, and she can’t really hold anything. A male carer had to give her tea through a straw. We looked at some of her wedding photographs.
Another thunderstorm in Norwich afterwards; so I took Dot to a safeguarding meeting at the Greens’. Afterwards Dot finished painting the chairs. Watched Murder on the Blackpool Express. – very funny – and the new Paxmanless University Challenge. Caught up with Fever, a really interesting radio programme discovered by Dot on the origins of Covid, and the way it was obscured by scientists.