Friday, March 6 – Bright first thing, gradually deteriorating. Rain in the evening: so we invited Streetmeeters to ours. Des and Sue came: also Mary and Matt. Drank Des’s wine by mistake. Earlier looked through some family tree stuff and discovered I had a number of birth/death/marriage certificates Also discovered my great great grandfather from Harlestone was a baker. War in Middle East escalating. Dot found a leak in cupboard under sink, but I can’t see where it’s coming from. It doesn’t seem continuous. Cooked trout for supper. Very nice.
Saturday – Cold with some rain. Haven’t solved leak problem but have taken precautions. Still can’t really see where it’s coming from. Will probably have to have it fixed. Dot had shower and washed hair. After lunch watched amazing rugby game; score Scotland 50 France 40. Meanwhile Italy were beating England. Dot was making cake; so we went to shop to buy cocoa powder, marmalade and cooking butter. In evening took Des and Chris to Poringland for supper with John and Tara. Nice meal (salmon) and chat. Evetts rang halfway through, and Dot said we’d ring back later, but when we did just after 10pm Julia was in bed: so have postponed till tomorrow afternoon. John and Tara have lovely chalet bungalow near pylons. Watched an episode of Motherland and went to bed after checking leak again.
Sunday – Grey with a few drops of rain. Fog in the evening, especially on my way back from Lowestoft, where I read six poems at the Seagull: Heading towards Icy; I knew you’d come; Signs of life; and Linn of Quoich, Mist and Fire and A Question for David from my 2003 book. Only eight there including Ian. Lynn Nesbit the only woman: she explained how to live life by using a pendulum. (Don’t ask.) Earlier we listened to a really good service from Ruanda on Radio 4. Dot iced cake and did some practising. Early lunch: watched recording of Italy beating England 23-18 at rugby and EFL matches. I did quite a lot of clearing up, as did Dot while I was at Lowestoft. When I got home we watched highlights of FA Cup matches, including Norwich losing 3-0 to Leeds.
Monday – Grey but dry. Not too cold. Had a bath, then took Dot’s thank-you card for John and Tara up to the sorting office, passing Sarah on the steps. We both (me and Dot, not me and Sarah) made sure the house was clean. Leak still there, but small. Dot checked that Amy got home OK from London last night. I went over to station to meet Kristine, who arrived at 12.45. All went down to Gem for lunch – had mezes and a bottle of rosé. I finished with Turkish tea. Home for chat – Dot did stunning cake, but we forgot Kristine is gluten-free. I took her back to the station at 5.30pm and she messaged later to say she was home. Meal cost £117. Didn’t do much for rest of evening except watch last episode of Call the Midwife and an episode each of Songs of Praise and Death in Paradise. Had been feeling extremely tired all day with head cracking. Took paracetamol, which helped and was much better by the time I put the bins out and we went to bed. Quite good chatlet with Archbishop Sarah on Songs of Praise.
Tuesday – Quite bright and not too cold. Discovered that Paul had fallen out of his bath and had been in hospital with broken ribs and collapsed lung. Dot did some washing. After lunch I took the bus into the city – a 15, which stops outside Chantry Place. Went to Apple and got the protective glass on my iPhone replaced – £34. Then bought some shoes at Sketchers. Walked up to dentist and dropped off hospital letter. Receptionist Charlie very welcoming! Walked home – very tiring. Over 4000 steps for second day in succession. Had to lie down for a while. Cooked duck for supper, and we watched a number of things, including an early episode of The X Files, which they’re rerunning on Channel 5. Shoes I bought were uncomfortable; so Dot has adopted them. Ordered a cover for iPhone from Amazon and booked a plumber for tomorrow.