Today is Thursday, 11 July, and although it’s reasonably mild, it’s a bit chillier than it has been, and there has also been quite a bit of rain. This morning I decided to visit my brother and deliver him and Joy a bottle of wine and some chocolate for their wedding anniversary tomorrow. I got a link to their son Sam’s sermon on Sunday and a cup of tea. On the way home it rained quite heavily in the Lenwade area. It was dry in Norwich, but by the time I went to get some petrol after lunch, it was raining here. Why hadn’t I got petrol on the way home? Because when I changed trousers this morning I forget to switch my wallet, and so had no money.
Later Bridget came to clean, and Anne dropped in with what I suspect is a present for my birthday tomorrow. We happened to watch the women’s semi-final at Wlmbledon between Paolini and Vecki, which was the sort of match you didn’t want either of them to lose. Unfortunately (or not) Vecki did.
Last Friday, the 5th, was warm but mainly overcast; dry until late evening, when it rained hard. My new adaptors arrived and fit this time. Had an early lunch and drove to Christ Church at Eaton, where after much setting up I gave my talk on my experiences at the EDP. Hard to use mike, read my script and read slides at same time, but other than that it went very well, and I got good feedback. About 20 people there in all. Organised by Bridget. Mike and Amanda came and a couple of people from our Taize group (Steve and Jane). Tea and biscuits afterwards. Had been feeling pretty rotten beforehand but took various pills and was all right. Afterwards lay down for a while, then went out for street meet. Des’s sister and her husband were there: also John, Jonathan, Matt. Mark is away. Forecast rain held off. Dot cooked excellent sea bass and we watched football and tennis. France beat Portugal on penalties after dire match, and earlier Spain beat Germany 2-1. Radicanu won again.
Saturday provided the odd shower, but was reasonably warm. Complicated day. Made sure my sermon was Ok. Drove Dot to St Andrew’s, Eaton, for orchestra rehearsal at about 3.30pm and returned home to watch England play Switzerland in quarter-finals. Cooked bacon and eggs at half-time. England were a bit better but not interested in actually shooting till they went 1-0 down with about ten minutes to play. Then Sako scored with an excellent shot from the right. I had to leave before extra-time, but I suspect they had their eyes on the penalty shoot-out, on which apparently they had done a lot of research and practice. They just avoided losing before that and won the shoot-out 5-3; so that worked well.
I discovered the result while Dot’s concert was in progress. Excellent concert, despite it being music from shows and films, which is not my favourite. Switched seats at interval to sit with Angela and Donna and had a good view of Dot, for a change. Also there: Adrian and Jane, David and Bridget, Bernadette Wapshott and her husband, plus of course Neville and Graham. Spoke to several members of the orchestra, including Mary and Yvonne and her husband, who are Scottish. I had parked quite a way from the church; so Dot sat on a bench by the bus stop while I fetched the car. City centre quite crowded, of course.
Sunday was mixed. Started fine and a bit windy, but dry until about 6.30, then thunderstorm as I left for poetry at the Seagull. Heavy rain later at Lowestoft too. Large attendance at Seagull, including, surprisingly, Liz and David Cannon, who were staying at a local hotel. Liz read three poems – one a very good one about their marriage, based on Naming of Parts. Read five poems –Long Lens, Bungalow Lane, Wildlife, Plain Sight and Holy Island – and the evening didn’t finish till nearly 10.30 – far too late. Home around 11.10pm. Earlier went to church and I did sermon, which went quite well, I think. Dot spoke to Addi afterwards, and Abbay – she’s doing a good job. Dot, I mean. Took Harriet and Ray home again. Harriet still has car clamped but is now paying the fine; so hopefully it will be sorted out soon. Phil and Sharon are trying to fix mike. Caught up a bit on TV in the afternoon, and I cooked some steaks before leaving for Lowestoft. Radicanu out, having previously dropped out of her scheduled mixed doubles with Murray.
Monday was mainly dry, but rain in late evening and overnight. Frustrating day, really. Caught up with blog and e-mails in the morning. In the afternoon Anne came round to see Dot, and I went out. I posted card to Roger Mason (birthday) , then started planning out Treasure Trail for C&C group, starting at the Cathedral. At some point, either before I left or during the walk (though I can’t imagine where or how) I lost my glasses and haven’t been able to find them. Good job I bought three pairs. Dot came out to meet me by the big lawn in front of the deanery, and just after she got there, Eleanor arrived with dog. Walked down to river with her and then home, by which time I was quite tired. Search for glasses yielded nothing. Even rang Anne to see if she’d picked them up by mistake. Watched some tennis and the second episode of Tokyo Vice, which began to make sense.
Tuesday was overcast but mild: rain in the evening. Woke up quite late. Put a few things on Diderot. We went to Morrisons and got some food and plants. In the afternoon I took Dot to Anna’s for a violin lesson and on the way home dropped in at the Cathedral, just in case my glasses had been handed in. Checked with welcome person, who directed me to the verger’s office, where they took my name and phone number. Also retraced steps from yesterday, but no glasses. Didn’t really think there would be. When I got home I walked up to sorting office to post birthday card to Roger. When Dot got home (walking) we watched a bit of Wimbledon. I had done the first few verses of the Cake & Compline trail. Think it works. Cooked eggs, bacon and sausages, and we watched the first Euro24 semi-final. Spain 2 France 1. First half was excellent, but then Spain did an England and it got a bit tedious. Watched Tour de France highlights as usual.
Wednesday – Quite mild and mostly dry. Jude came round to watch The Chosen as usual, and afterwards I drove to church but had to leave the car up by Wensum Park and was five minutes late for Bible study. Dot and Jude came in a few seconds later. Discussed hymn preferences before looking at passage. Debbie disappeared; so it was just Dot, me, Steve and Jude. Ellie was otherwise engaged. Went fairly well. Dot stayed for Taize. In the evening Dot and I drove to Wensum Valley hotel for the Sillars summer party. Pretty good – excellent buffet, and we were able to sit outside for drinks first. Spoke to Penny, Mary and Caroline , and Vicky and Anthony, but mainly to Steve and Yvonne, the bass clarinetist. They’re Scottish, and we had quite a long chat. All punctuated by roars from the bar when England score or thought they had. Semi-final of Euro 24 ended 2-1 to England (against Netherlands). Saw highlights when we got home. Early in the evening Debbie rang about a poem being used by Mike on the new new church website – still don’t know which one it was. Ho hum. (Now I do – Thursday: it was The Nature of Reality, from my Waving from a Distance book. I had to look it up.)