Wednesday, March 11 – Dry, some sun, wind developing in evening. Plumber scheduled to arrive between 8am and 6pm: eventually arrived at about 2.30pm and agreed with my diagnosis of the leak, then fixed it in pretty short order (new washer). Nice guy – off to Brundall after us. Dot had shower and practised violin. Went to shop after plumber (Callum) left. Dot got very tired; so she sat out most of the shopping and the unpacking. New cover for iPhone arrived. Very good. Cooked pies, which were very nice. Took Dot to rehearsal at alternative venue – the Diamond Centre in Sprowston. Lots of traffic going because of City match; but it had vanished by the time I came back. City beat Sheffield Utd 2-1 after being 1-0 down at half time. Dot over the moon when I picked her up and gave Nova a lift home. Watched an episode of Ellis, a police drama. Interesting, but not entirely sure about it.
Thursday – Dry but very windy, getting worse: rain forecast overnight. Took washing line down. This morning we took the bus to visit Paul Henderson and spent a couple of hours chatting and drinking tea/coffee. Then took my Skecher shoes back and got a size 9 (instead of 8) and they seem OK. Dot bought a pair for indoors. They were in the sale and discounted further for Mother’s Day! Got bus home, but Dot was aching a bit by the time we got there. Bridget came to do cleaning, and Dot and I watched football, including a horrendous European loss for Spurs thanks to their players slipping. Very suspicious.
Got letter from consultant saying there wasn’t much wrong with my liver or pancreas, which was extremely reassuring. Definitely no cancer. Des brought us some fish and chips, and we watched more TV, partly so that Dot could rest. A Woman of Substance was good, but the first episode of a travel documentary on India, fronted by Andrew Alexander, made me even less desirous of going there than I was already. Which is saying something. Mumbai and New Delhi seemed like hell on earth to me/us. Cancelled recording of rest of series. Rang Joy/Phil earlier with birthday wishes. Phil’s 74th birthday.
Friday – Dry and quite bright, but windy. Yesterday Dot got a phone call offering her a bone scan today, at 1.20pm, because of a cancellation. We were able to take it, so we drove to the hospital just after lunch and everything went so smoothly that it was all over by 1.25. (We had arrived just after 1.) Des and Chris away in Lichfield, but Dot and I met outside with Matt and Ciara – and later Sam. Mary had a cold, so stayed indoors. Joe’s father died a day or so ago; we had met him several times because he often brought Cleo home – nice chap. She was very upset, as was Joe. Death was quite sudden – of cancer only about a month after diagnosis. We had yellow haddock and watched Death in Paradise. No sign of end of Iran war. David FaceTimed and we had a long chat. It’s snowing again in Waterloo.
Saturday – Quite bright and dry but a bit chilly. Was about to have a bath when Leanne contacted Dot and asked if she could come round. Obviously we said yes and quickly got up – it was about 10.30. We had coffee and cake with her and she stayed for three hours. Lovely talking to her. She has a hard time with her children but is a really loving mother.
After she left we had something to eat, and I then watched three rugby matches – last day of the Six Nations. Ireland beat Scotland 43-21, Wales beat Italy 31-17 and France beat England with the last kick of the match, 48-46. All good matches. Quite glad France beat England because they’re a better team, but if they hadn’t, Ireland would have won the tournament. Ideally would have liked Scotland to win, but Ireland were just too good. In the midst of all this Norwich beat Preston 2-0 and moved up to the top half of the table. Sadly Dot still not fit enough to go to the match , but she is actually progressing well.
Sunday – Bright and dry to start with, but dull and rainy later. Bridget came round to park her car before getting a train to Bury (via Diss) for a Mother’s Day outing with her sister. However, it turned out that the trains weren’t running, and the replacement bus service had gone. So she drove, and it all turned out OK.
Meanwhile David and Chrissy FaceTimed: they had sent a bouquet of flowers and some chocolate that were on the doorstep when Bridget arrived. Had quite a long chat again. Dot was obviously very pleased. After lunch (avocado and egg) we watched quite a bit of football, and I whittled down my e-mail collection, as well as cleaning, tidying and making the bed. Sent some money to Open Doors. Had duck for supper, then watched first two episodes of drama The Other Bennet Girl, which was good. Finished evening by watching Spurs get a 1-1 draw at Anfield. Among other games. Dot is worried about swelling in her ankle, but it’s not painful. Tried a bit of massage, which seemed to help.