Saturday, January 24 – Dry but chilly. Up in time to welcome Paul Henderson, who came by car and so I had to move our car down the road. He brought sweets for Dot and we had a long chat, including an interesting interchange between Paul and Dot on the subject of self-flagellation among Greek philosophers.
After lunch of overripe avocado on toast and an attempt by me to poach an egg without means of support, Kim arrived and stayed all afternoon. Kai did not come because he was mourning the death of his cat in Saudi Arabia – not a sentence you can write often. Kim brought flowers and took away her Christmas cake – a bit late, but there you are. I gave her a lift home and then cooked salmon with courgette, which wasn’t what it might have been. The salmon was good, though. Watched University Challenge and went to bed early after rearranging the duvet. Also sorted out charity candidates. Quite tired. Going back to my post-polio-syndrome theory, which is probably just as wrong as Kim’s theory, which centres on vaccine side-effects. Dot is progressing really well . Oliver is in Milan, where Inter beat Pisa 6-2 after going 2-0 down: Amy is in Bristol.
Sunday – Dry and not too cold. Not exactly a day of rest. Did giant crossword in yesterday’s paper, then got breakfast; afterwards sorted out utility room a bit and refilled bird feeders as well as cleaning out the water for them. Found a new bulb for lamp by the piano and put others out in the utility room. Dot did quite a bit of ironing and I sorted out the bedrooms afterwards as well as putting the clothes away (and getting them out). Had a bath before that and narrowly avoided dropping another book in.
Later did lunch – ham on toast – and watched yesterday’s Premier League matches and Songs of Praise. Then sorted out books and put most of mine in the study, looking sort of tidy. Got rid of dead flowers. Dot watched more of current series of Riviera. Noticed there are riots in Milan, but happily Oliver seemed to have moved on to Como – later back in Milan again. Cooked chicken Kiev for supper, then watched Call the Midwife, which has a good feel about it, and The Night Manager, which doesn’t but is very good anyway. Lots of snow in Canada.
Monday – Dry but grey. Cold. Woke quite late: breakfast in bed. Afterwards rang my cousin Barbara, who seems in good shape except that she has bought a groundsheet “for sitting on on the beach” which it turns out is too big. The groundsheet, not the beach. I think. Dot had a shower. Usual cracker-based lunch. Afterwards went to Morrisons to stock up as usual. Asked about my More card, but customer services didn’t know what to do. Gave me a number to ring. (It’s not registering on my phone) Put food away and tidied up. Had some prayers. Watched yesterday’s Match of the Day and did a little washing. Had soup for supper followed by toast. Put rubbish out. Dot listened to Norwich beating Coventry 2-1 after being 1-0 down. Adrian praised their play, largely because he doesn’t like Frank Lampard. David FaceTimed to congratulate Dot. Watched another episode of Blackshore. Good.
Tuesday – Very grey, cold and wet. Still, much worse in other parts of the country, with deep snow in some places and flooding in others (eg South-West). Still loads of snow in Canada, as well as parts of USA to the south. Very quiet. Dot managed to change her next dermatology appointment. Only emerged to retrieve food caddy and wash it out. For some reason have developed a cough, which is more irritating than anything. Not much happening; so watched fair bit of TV, including two episodes of Blackshore and two of After the Flood. Dot watched repeat of yesterday’s match. Earlier had a bath and read a bit of Diaries book that Kristine bought us. Very interesting. Also finished big crossword. Dot much better and can get around without frame. Oliver back home; Amy in Southampton.
Wednesday – Bright but mainly grey. Dry. Woke latish, got breakfast and then went to sleep again. Not feeling great: cough and feeling tired. Had bath and then made lunch. Watched A House in Time, which was brilliant – story of what happened to two up-market blocks of flats in London and Berlin and their occupants during the Second World War. Very moving. In the evening felt rather hollow: eventually cooked yellow haddock, and we watched the second two-thirds of Chariots of Fire, an excellent and very Christian film – even if you don’t go along with the central premise about Sundays. When I was at school I did something similar, declining to take part in a schools chess congress that I would probably have won, because it was on a Sunday. No film made about it though.
Thursday – Pretty dull and cold but largely dry, unlike elsewhere in the country, where there has been snow and/ or flooding. Cough is worse. Feeling tired. Nevertheless made breakfast and lunch as usual, and Des delivered us fish and chips. As Bridget had already delivered us a large cake I wasn’t particularly hungry and left a lot of the chips. Kept a fairly low profile to avoid infecting Bridget – or David, who came to pick her up. Watched Euro football (Spurs won 2-0) and then a few episodes of comedy. David FaceTimed with Chrissy and after that I went to bed, using my new hot water bottle for the first time. Earlier I picked up pills from chemist and asked surgery about blood test letter. They suggested I ring the hospital. Not helpful.
Friday – Grey and sometimes damp. Cold. Felt pretty ill most of the day, with coughing and streaming. Despite being warned about this, Amanda and Matt came round. Interesting talk about old Norwich. Managed to keep going but felt worse later. Cooked egg and avocado for lunch, then chilli con carne for supper. Watched a few things on TV. Slept in spare room because I was pretty disruptive.
Saturday – Nondescript. Terrible day for me – can’t remember the last time I had such a bad cold: continual sneezing, water pouring out of stinging eyes, coughing. Managed to do what needed to be done for Dot. Thank goodness she’s quite mobile now. Made meals. Norwich lost 1-0 to Middlesbrough but played well, apparently. Freddie H-W made his debut on Final Score – lots of followers from Aspland Rd including proud aunt Ciara.
Sunday and Monday – Weather not much different. Cold still really bad yesterday, but I managed to cook all right for Dot, who is making excellent progress. Felt rotten all day and was in bed when I wasn’t getting food. (I didn’t feel any worse while I was getting the food.) Improved a bit today, but couldn’t eat much. Put bins out. Watched last episode of The Night Manager, which was awful.