Monday 7 April – Weather much the same: bit more cloud. Got up very late, feeling depressed. Caught up with stuff on computer and got the guitar working properly. Dot and I rehearsed a bit – she is still quite nervous about it. Watched football: always good to see Liverpool lose. Spurs won but didn’t look convincing. Didn’t feel too good generally.
Decided not to go to parochial council meeting. Dot took me to St Augustine’s and I walked back via river path, doing over 4000 steps for the day. Made myself lamb steak and cleared kitchen up. Watched some rugby highlights. When Dot got back we watched a chess programme and part of a dangerous roads programme – this time in Java. Seem more uncared for than dangerous.
Tuesday – Weather much the same. Cold wind in the evening when we went to watch Norwich City draw 0-0 with Sunderland. Surprisingly, it was a good match, though no one could shoot. We took Phil Gazely with us. Got talking to a young boy at interval after his father offered us two of the seats at their table. He was great! Father was nice too. Earlier in the day we practised my song for Saturday again. Think it’s coming together.
Earlier we joined Brian and Tricia for breakfast at Un Café – very good as usual. Dot bought a plant. Rang Robin but couldn’t get through; managed to speak to Jennie Downing’s daughter – she’s still in hospital but improving. Researched Old Testament structure for tomorrow(!). Dot did quite a bit in the garden. Over 4000 again.
Wednesday – Grey and quite chilly, but dry. Drove to church and did a Bible study – sort of a look at part of the structure of the Old Testament, mainly the Pentateuch/Torah. Seemed a bit chaotic to me, but people seemed to like it. Ellie there for the last time for a bit, plus Dot, Debbie, Jude and Steven, who seemed a bit down afterwards – not sure why.
Call later from Anne to Dot: Louise might have quite serious problem in her head: needs a scan, but she’s in Thailand with her family. Rehearsed song again. Still not really happy with it. Dot had a night off from orchestra following concert. Watched a couple of episodes of House of David on Prime. Ok, but a bit slow. Arsenal beat Real Madrid 3-0. Not a big admirer of Declan Rice, but he scored two brilliant free kicks.
Thursday – warmer; dry. Managed over 8000 steps. Bridget came quite early to do cleaning. She was heading out for Greece in the afternoon! After she left Dot and I went up to the travel agents (Heys) on the bus and spent an hour or two with Kerry, who fixed us up with tickets to Canada on September 2 and suggested a couple of things for another holiday – eg Switzerland or Channel Islands. Didn’t decide on those.
Walked down to Jarrolds and had light lunch / scotch egg plate and Provence rosé, which was excellent. Dot had Malbec. Walked home and practised song for Saturday. Getting there. Lay down for a bit, then had bacon sandwich. Walked up to Vue with Jude and met Kim, then all went in to see first two episodes of Series 5 of The Chosen, just released. Very good as usual. Saw John Drake outside – seem to run into him a lot. Later FaceTimed Amy, who has arrived in Canada, and had a chat. Told David and Chrissy about our Canada dates.
Friday – warm, sunny and dry. Linda came and cut our hair. In the afternoon we stocked up at Morrisons after retrieving my jackets from the cleaners. We rehearsed the song again several times: still not entirely happy. Street meet with Sarah, Ciara (both on chairs because of back and leg injuries), Matt, Jonathan, Joe and Sam. Joined briefly by drunk but harmless man passing through. Afterwards I cooked salmon with potatoes for me, bread only for Dot. Listened to Norwich City playing badly against Burnley and going 2-0 down by half time. Stopped listening and watched Beyond Paradise, during which they pulled back to 2-1, which is how it ended. Des and Chris in Florence. Also watched a documentary on a guy with Parkinson’s who drove through Africa, and a second episode of Austin, which is very funny. Starring Ben Miller and Sally Phillips.