Bit of a gap there, but I’ve had a busy eleven days. One of the highlights was taking Dot for a birthday night at The Norfolk Mead, a beautiful country hotel at Coltishall. We had the whole place to ourselves apart from the stand-in manager, Linda, and a couple from Blofield Heath who came for a wedding anniversary meal. The setting of the hotel by the river could hardly be improved (give or take the odd mountain), and even in the soggy weather it was idyllic. Good food too.

After we had turned the light out to go to sleep I had this sensation that there was a woman standing in the room – but it was not in the least frightening. Quite the opposite. Probably a dream. I didn’t see anything.

David, Vicky, Oliver and Amy came up for the previous weekend, and we had a relaxing time with them. Again the weather was indifferent, so we stayed indoors mostly. David extricated a lot of stuff from the loft, with the result that Oliver suddenly found himself with a cornucopia of old cars. I now have several bagfuls of old stuff in the garage to sort out. Ho, hum.

Last week, as well as the birthday treat, I was also busy writing my column and writing a piece for the coming Sunday’s Ambient Wonder event. Oh, and and I had to write a sermon, too, and choose hymns. I also assessed one of the trainees at Yarmouth. Happily, the other one postponed again. Then there was the chess match at Wymondham on Friday night, when I manage to score my first win of the new season, though I didn’t play that well. I’m playing again tonight.

Dot is at East Rudham today, in the wilds of mid-Norfolk, shadowing the inspection of a school there. She’d left the house by 7.30am!

Oh, the picture. That’s a rather nice one of my son and his two children at Attenborough – where, coincidentally, he was married. Well, just down the road – not on that particular seat.