Good Friday – Dry with quite a cool wind but warmish sun. Jonathan rang to say Naomi was ill and so he had an extra ticket, which resulted in my going to the match with Dot. Met Phil and Joe outside, amazingly. Match was appalling, City going down 3-5 to Portsmouth, who are threatened with relegation. Very poor in all areas; don’t seem to have any desire to win.

Went out for street meet and were invited into Joe and Sam’s housewarming party. First part in garden; pretty cold. Had good conversations with Mary, John and Ciara and Sean, plus one or two others (mainly friends of J & S from Jubilee pub). Moved indoors, which was more comfortable. After about 9pm went home and had thin steak sandwiches. Slept through most of Beyond Paradise. Watched an episode of Outnumbered and went to bed. Nice to have a warm house. Sean prefers duvets and was astonished how warm we kept our house! Longish discussion with Ciara, Sean and Sam’s nephew earlier about history of Northern Ireland. He’s 18 and studying history.

Saturday and Sunday – Dry and mainly sunny. Just as I missed Christmas through illness, I have now missed Easter. Ok in the morning, but in the afternoon had a severe stomach pain and intense shivering which lasted a few hours. I managed to write the prayers – which Dot eventually delivered – and went to bed. Pain and shivering eventually eased but I felt groggy and couldn’t eat anything. Went to bed and slept a bit. This morning, no pain to speak of, but I felt exhausted and pretty rough. Didn’t sleep all that well.

Dot wanted to stay home but I persuaded her to go to church. I was ok – eventually had a hot cross bun. In the afternoon both David and Oliver rang to wish us a Happy Easter! Long conversation with Oliver. Carrie came round and tested my water: she said there was an infection but fairly low grade, and I should just drink lots of water. Felt better, but at bedtime my water was very dark. Still, I felt better and had something to eat. We also watched The Messiah and another part of the documentary on The Americas – this time the Caribbean. Fewer than 1000 steps last two days (together). Aaargh.

Monday – Grey, with a bit of rain in the evening. Felt pretty rotten at first but varied during the day. Symptoms of cold on top of UTI. Lot of sneezing. Ate a bit more than yesterday. I got up after lunch and Kim came round with cake. I managed to keep conversation going ok, and we had a nice discussion. Later I had some fried potatoes and rhubarb crumble. I turned a switch on for Des and discovered Robin is not able to come to the Foundry tomorrow; so I cried off too. Slowly catching up with e-mails.

Tuesday – Dry, cool; some sun. Felt pretty ropey in the morning, but got up and went to get pills with Dot. Also returned library book at Plumstead Road library. Then down to Morrisons, where I stayed in the car and possibly slept a bit while Dot shopped fairly briefly. I did a bit of research on Parish Pump while Dot was at violin lesson with Anna (I took her) but felt very tired and lay down for a while. Took Paracetamol and after an hour or so felt better. Cooked salmon meal and we watched Grace, during which Dot gave Anne a ring (it was Philip’s birthday). Later watched chess and University Challenge, then FaceTimed Canada and spoke to David and Amy, who seemed tired but not as ill as I’d feared. Hard to tell, of course. Late in bed but managed over 1000 steps. Just. Saw goldfinch earlier on tree outside bedroom. Made me feel better. May be over the worst!

Wednesday – Again dry, mix of cloud and sun. Felt pretty groggy when I woke but soon improved. Had an early bath because Bridget came to clean at about 9.30am, and then got on with Parish Pump pieces, on Martin Luther’s marriage, Kitchener (the man, not the town in Ontario), and the first ascent of Annapurna. Turned out quite interesting: finished while Dot was at orchestra rehearsal. Felt tired during the day, and so did Dot, but she was quite busy. We are getting old, of course.

At midday (as Bridget finished) we went to church for the Bible study. It was a bit of a blur to me, especially as Carrie and Phil were there, and Debbie and Ellie weren’t. But Dot said it was OK. Des and Chris got home from Italy around 9.20pm, feeling the cold (it had been much warmer earlier), and I gave them their keys. Dot arrived around 9.50 feeling a lot better: think I’m improving too.

++ Suppose I should mention that Norwich City have fired their manager after another loss on Monday (3-1 at Millwall).