It’s warm and sunny with a nice breeze, and the Murrays departed on the 1pm train, which was about a quarter of an hour late because Greater Anglia had to replace it for some reason. Pretty annoying, because we were at the station nearly half an hour early, which meant they had a lot of hanging about. Still…I think we all had a pretty good and busy time apart from that.
Going back to last Wednesday, it was again warm and dry. Dot felt a bit better, but we both felt very tired. The carbon monoxide alarm went off during the night, but of course it was just because it was getting old – why does this always happen in the early hours? Was awake quite a long time. I went up to the chemist to fetch my pills and found it eerily quiet. Also they had the pills. Odd, Holmes. Walked to church (and back) to do Bible study with Steve, Stacey, Debbie and Judy – went quite well. Had a light lunch in view of what was going to happen later.
Dot felt increasingly better through the afternoon, and we left just after 4pm for Blakeney, where we picked up the Murrays and went to Morston Hall. Being the driver, I couldn’t indulge myself, but I had one glass of wine as well as a non-alcoholic gin and tonic, which tasted exactly the same as an alcoholic one. We arrived at 6pm and left about 9.30pm. There were seven courses, plus canapés, which sounds a lot and is – especially as I wasn’t feeling very hungry to start with, for some reason. Obviously the courses were very small, but they were pretty intense. By the fifth and sixth I was flagging, but the seventh (greengage and almond tart) was excellent. Altogether a memorable evening. A young couple sitting quite close to us had clearly just got married, which was nice. Afterwards we dropped off the Murrays at Blakeney and drove home. Nice to have nearly empty roads. I tried a diversion near Norwich, but it didn’t really work. Straight to bed.
Thursday – Seemed a bit cooler; mixture of sun and cloud. Felt decidedly better. Amy got her place at Southampton with an excellent A, A and B. Spoke to her briefly on FaceTime. So pleased for her – she deserved it. Wrote a positive piece for Square One – not on Amy’s A-levels, but on other matters – but I wasn’t sure how good it was! We went to Waitrose to buy some stuff for the next few days; but it was a trial getting there. Not sure the shop is as good as it used to be. Bridget came round to clean, especially guest rooms! Watched another French thriller. They’re really rather good.
Friday was mainly dry, though very cloudy and spitting a bit; so when we picked up the Murrays at just after 10am, we decided not to go to Felbrigg but drove straight home. Barb wasn’t feeling too good but improved during the day. Stayed in, except that Dot took me to Anglia Square to meet Steve and give him a pep talk. Then ran into Anna and her grandchildren. At home, the TV went wrong and I couldn’t fix it despite numerous attempts. Frustrating. Went outside for the street meet, by which time the weather was warm and sunny. Des not well, but Chris came out: also the four of us, Mark and Sarah; John; Jonathan; Matt; Ciara. Then walked to Delia’s and had nice meal, which Roger paid for. Shattered by the time we got home. Straight to bed: felt a bit sick. Heavy rain during the night.
Saturday was warm and dry. Spent much of day walking round town, starting along the riverside path and having lunch at Jarrolds. Met Stephanie Caine in Bedford Street and Adrian the busker in London Street. Called at market and Forum, where I began to feel very tired. Back to the Cathedral, where we caught a bit of Evensong, then home. Brief chat with John’s partner Tara, who’s also Canadian. Des seems better. Had to lie down for a while. Various attempts to fix TV failed until Roger restarted box. Now seems OK. I cooked salmon and we watched a few episodes of Outnumbered.
Sunday was warm again, unless you’re Canadian. Spent most of the day at Houghton Hall, home of the Cholmondeleys and built by Robert Walpole, the UK’s first prime minister. One of my favourite places, and not too many people there, possibly because the Lionesses were in the world cup final (losing to Spain). Norwich were beating Millwall 3-1. Saw the house and grounds (including the famous Sky Space), and enjoyed food from the cafe, then explored the walled garden and the brilliant flame fountain. Saw the deer. It’s a marvellous place. Highly recommended, though I wasn’t too impressed by the Scully exhibition – but that didn’t matter.
Drove home and had Prosecco in the garden; then I cooked chilli con carne, which we ate with the rest of the blackberry and apple crumble from yesterday. Finished the evening by watching another couple of episodes of Outnumbered, and (after the Murrays had gone to bed) West Ham beating Chelsea 3-1 on MOTD2.
Yesterday I walked more than 12000 steps; it was pretty warm. Had early lunch at about 11.30, and after clearing up drove to Strumpshaw Fen. Walked the full circuit , stopping at both hides. At the first, ran into Ken McEwan and his wife – top Norfolk chess player of many years standing. We were waiting for Dot, who had left her phone in the car and had gone back with Barb to fetch it. Slow progress round main path – very tired at the end. Dropped Dot and Barb off at Rosary, and they walked home. In evening walked to the Ivy for our last meal together. Excellent meal – I had superb duck pate, sirloin and crème brûlée and the service was excellent. Quite expensive, though. About £250 altogether. Outside gave a man £10 to buy food and suggested he come to St Augustine’s. Walked home and watched another two episodes of Outnumbered.