Sunny and quite warm on Friday, April 24. Dry. Up quite late. Felt a bit odd to start with, but improved after taking paracetamol. Did usual Friday tasks – bank account, picture editing – and wrote to doctor complaining about a letter I’d received from hospital which implied I wasn’t following instructions with catheter. I pointed out the defects of the entire department. Lucky him/them. Very popular street meet – Mary, new guy Simon, Matt, Mark, Sarah, Jon and us with brief appearances from Joe and Sam. Left a little early to cook lamb shoulder, and after eating it we watched Grace, whose plot seemed very familiar. Something we’d read? 

Saturday – Another bright blue day: warm except for a little coolish wind towards evening. Had a bath and caught up with some papers – chess, puzzles etc. Again felt slightly below par until I took paracetamol – ok after that.  Jonathan called round just after lunch with ticket, but Dot and I walked to Carrow Road on our own. Dot is walking very well now. Nice to see Gerald! Went up in lift and reached seat all right after having gin and tonic each. Not a great game: each side gave away pointless penalty and to be honest Swansea looked slightly better. Result 1-1. Stayed around a little while to watch end-of-season celebrations, with little kids frolicking on the pitch. Then walked home without seeing anyone we knew, and I cooked pies for supper. Earlier I had written some of Parish Pump for June, but plenty to do. Watched some football, some Attenborough stuff on garden wildlife and the first two episodes of a Canadian thriller which was also quite funny because of the (deliberate) ineptitude of the characters. 

Sunday – Sunny and warm. Amy home again from Canada – apparently she was quite well after first week. Had long chat with David and Chrissy on FaceTime about her, and marathons and books and vegan meals, not to mention a fox almost catching Tinkerbell. Earlier in the day we went to church for Communion. Graham was leading and Eleanor preaching – on Jesus being the gate, safety and risk.  Just under 20 in congregation. Ray apparently not well enough to come. Chatted afterwards, of course. Did some work in the garden after lunch – mainly cutting back ivy and moving concrete slabs. Chat with Mark, who goes back to work this week. Watched a lot of television, including the end of The Murder Line, which was quite compelling. Set in the Thousand Islands area of the St Lawrence. Also caught up on some football. Dot watched Countryfile while I cooked salmon. She feels drawn to farming. 

Monday – Bit more cloudy, but dry and fairly warm. Had a bath and wrote some more Parish Pump – Marilyn Monroe. Dot and I went to Morrisons and bought our first ever over-£200 food shop. To be fair, we needed quite a lot of stuff. Chatted to Ciara and Des on way back. Late lunch, watched another Attenborough garden programme and then drove to hospital, where I had an appointment at the gastro clinic. They were very happy with my results and said there was very little wrong with my liver. Drove home surprisingly quickly. Earlier Dot contacted the plumber, who will see us on Saturday, and texted the expert about our broken small table, who will see us on Friday. I cooked duck and we watched the start of a new thriller called  Secret Service, which seems promising. Dot has agreed to look after Ciara’s plants while she’s away for a few days.  

Tuesday – Little bit of rain overnight; otherwise dry with a coolish wind. Ciara came round with some plantlets to put on our windowsill, which had been recommended to her by Des! I finished my Parish Pump pieces – one each on John Constable, Marilyn Monroe and G K Chesterton – three people you will not often find in the same sentence. Also caught up on other computer items, but was annoyed to find further money had been taken from our account for a subscription we didn’t want and hadn’t asked for. Have been promised again that it will be returned, but will contact bank to make sure. Des popped round to survey the windowsill and bring me a Private Eye: he too is going away for the weekend – in his case to Lincolnshire  in an Air BnB with his family from Lichfield. Cooked yellow cod and watched a couple of thrillers – four (short) episodes of one and two of another. Earlier adjusted letter to doctor to avoid attacking gastro department and concentrating on urology. As you do.