Thursday, March 26 – Quite cold, bit of wind. Dry. Tidying up etc, then drove Dot to the Marsh Harrier for a very pleasant lunch with Allan and Julia. I had steak followed by a delicious blackberry and apple crumble with ice cream. Got home just in time for Bridget – 3.30. Had chat and cup of tea with her, then caught up with computer stuff. Had a light tea and then David FaceTimed, and we had quite a long talk. All seems well over there. Afterwards we watched Love Actually, which I think is a superb film, very clever in its construction and extremely funny. It also has great actors and is quite subtle in recognising different kinds of love.
Friday – Cool with showers. Grey. Window cleaner came at 9.30; so had to get up. Then rep came to talk about new back door. Nice chap with local connections. Agreed to get new door and paid deposit. After lunch Kim came for chat and tea. She seemed tired – has probably been doing too much with her damaged hip. I took her part of the way home after we’d picked up my prescription pills from pharmacy. Dropped her near Maids Head.
No-one around for street meet and weather was bad; so did not go out. Mark getting home tomorrow. Des and Chris on holiday in France. Made salmon en croute and watched a bit of football – England v Uruguay – in which England were poor and Uruguay routinely fell over as if mortally wounded. Pretty pathetic. Then Beyond Paradise and an episode of A Woman of Substance . Had diarrhoea for no apparent reason. Bit of a headache.
Saturday – Sunny at first; some rain; chilly and windy in the evening. Wrote two pieces for Parish Pump – one on the Great Exhibition of 1851 and the other on the General Strike of 1926. This was mainly (but not entirely) after I’d taken Dot to rehearsals at St Catherine’s Church on Aylsham Road. After sardines on toast back home I picked up Kim from near her flat and took her to Dot’s concert. We somehow managed to get a seat in the front row, which was fun, sitting next to Angela and Rodney. Also spoke to Adrian and Jane and to Mary and Neville, among others. Concert was very good, with music allegedly from every decade of the orchestra’s existence. Bit cold, though, as were interval drinks. Afterwards took Kim home: continuous talking from Nova, though I’m not sure what it was about. She gave me a bar of chocolate when we dropped her off at home. Watched a bit of news: little progress in Iran war. Might even be spreading.
Palm Sunday – Clocks forward. Cloudy and dry at first, becoming windy and very wet in the evening. Did not go out but watched St Luke’s Communion on YouTube, then Songs of Praise. Dot watched Norwich City football while I caught up with messages and other things. Got quite a lot done. Had pies for supper, then watched two more episodes of The Other Bennet Sister, followed by The Capture, which becomes less credible by the minute but nevertheless very exciting. Speaking of less credible, the final episode of the current series of Death in Paradise reached new depths of impossibility. So impossible in fact that it became very funny. Buying chair from John Digby. Awaiting delivery date. Had diarrhoea again. Don’t know why.
Monday – Cold, especially in wind. Snow over Glenshee. Felt dodgy, but could eat all right. Had a bath and did hard sudoku. After lunch put out bins and added a bit to the garden bin from leaves and overhanging twigs. Then answered e-mails. Felt better after second lot of paracetamol. Cooked salmon. Dot and I tidied up kitchen: looks much better. Watched first two episodes of Hidden Assets, which is not a game show but a thriller – and a very good one. Also University Challenge. Trying to rearrange visit from Sam after I got Dot’s hospital visit at the wrong time in the diary.
Tuesday – Bit of a strange day. Sort of expecting Sam to call round in late afternoon, but he didn’t – may come tomorrow. Dry and not too cold. Most of the day feeling quite below par, but decided to ignore it, and so quite enjoyed most of it, except the bit where I discovered one of my tyres was flat. Saw Mark early on and had a chat in the street: he seems glad to be back. A bit later Dot and I went up by bus to Red Lion Street and then walked to the Ivy, where we met Angela and Rodney and had lunch. Very good meal – a belated birthday present from them to us. I had a minute steak and one of my favourite sweets, whose name I’ve forgotten. Oh yes, crème brûlée – thank you, Dot. Also Provence rosé and tea to finish. Good service and had a long chat centring on Angela and John’s family tree, which I’m beginning to get the hang of. Left them with some minor jewellery from my aunt Thelma, which they confirmed was not worth very much, but will value at the shop.
Walked with them back to Red Lion Street, ,from where we got the 25 bus home, calling at the station to get some milk. But they didn’t have any. After some recovery time I checked the tyre and discovered that it had lost about 10psi in a couple of hours; so drove round to Kwik Fit and left it for the night. They will sort it first thing tomorrow. I hope. Then back home lay down for a while. Had some thawed hot cross buns and watched some of the Agatha Christie Seven Dials mystery on Netflix, plus a bit of the under-21 game on YouTube at Carrow Road between England and Moldova, which England won 4-1 without impressing. Norwich City’s Fisher came on towards the end.