19 April 2008

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An old cutting of the Acton Gazette five-a-side team that I found while thinning out my filing cabinet a couple of days ago – in between feeling fine after the biopsy and the onset of the anticipated infection. Yesterday I felt pretty rotten, with a raised temperature and a really bad cough; went to bed early after just making it through Pirates of the Caribbean (excellent film) and had quite a good night. Still feel really tired and fragile, with a headache, but the temperature has gone down and the cough is not nearly so bad.

The picture dates from around 1970. As well as me (on the right), the team consists of reporter Andy Moreton; chief reporter Mike Crozier, who went on to help redesign The Independent; Dave Gemmell – then sports editor – and his non-playing first wife Val; and guest player Dave Searby.

While I was thinning out the filing cabinet, the electrician came and fixed the new light in the kitchen / dining room. Looks pretty good.

17 April 2008

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Another picture from our visit to Wroxham Barns: after feeding the animals, Oliver felt it was time to feed himself. Today would have been his great-grandfather’s – my father’s – 95th birthday, if he hadn’t died tragically early, 53 years ago. I am taking it easy, after my prostate biopsy under general anaesthetic yesterday. No problems in the immediate area of the biopsy, but I have a cough and a slight temperature. I’m on antibiotics, of course, so I hope they’ll sort it out soon. I had a bad night, getting less than four hours’ sleep, but not because of any pain or even discomfort. Nor was I worrying about anything. I just couldn’t sleep, which is very annoying. I did also have an episode of acid reflux, which I haven’t had for months. The nurse who rang this morning to check on me said it was probably the anaesthetic.

Yesterday at the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital went very well, and I felt fine the whole time. We had just got a late Christmas present from the Cares – some vintage port and a book called The Naked Jape, which is about what makes people laugh and contains a large number of jokes. The timing of this was perfect, because I took it to the hospital and spent much of the waiting-around time reading it, with frequent laughter, which had to be good for me. Dot was with me as well, of course, but although she is also funny, she didn’t make me laugh quite as much. Smile, yes.

The staff were brilliant, from the time we arrived at 12.30pm to our rather late departure at around 7pm – late because [stop reading now if you have a sensitive disposition] I had to produce a relatively blood-free batch of urine, which took several attempts. The two nurses who looked after me – Michelle and Liz – were not only thorough but also friendly and easy to talk to. They clearly deal with people in a similar condition all the time, but they showed real concern. The surgeon and two anaesthetists were also friendly and sympathetic as well as being meticulous in telling you what was going to happen and what might happen. I also lost count of the times different people checked I was the right person having the right procedure, and that the signature on the consent form was mine.

I don’t remember anything after the needle was put in my hand until I came to in the ward. Dot had popped out for something to eat – apparently I asked her what she’d had several times – and arrived back just as I came round. There was no pain or even discomfort, and no obvious reaction to the anaesthetic. I felt as if I could have driven home, though clearly I couldn’t.

On the Tuesday evening our usual group came round, and they ended the evening by praying for me, which was encouraging. I know various other people were praying too. David rang to check I was OK. In the evening yesterday (what was left of it after egg and chips), Dot and I watched a two-parter of Waking the Dead, which was not only appropriate but also very good – probably the best story I’ve seen on the series. Even Trevor Eve’s extreme emotions seemed almost credible, and the acting generally was superb.

15 April 2008

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Snow in Surrey the other weekend – one of a few pictures I’ve posted on Flickr. I’ve also started a photo page on my own website, and the NCMC one has gone live. Amazingly, I think it makes sense of a kind, and I put three of my poems on it to give it a bit of class. Just kidding: I was merely filling a gap in the Resources section.

Had a really nice time with Stella, who has now departed for Yorkshire. She very kindly gave us a signed hardback copy of Legend – which will replace our own paperback, now much fingered and the worse for wear. We’ve been trying to track down the rest of Dave’s books. I’m sure we once had all of them, but there are gaps now. Obviously we recommend them to everyone and must have lent them a little recklessly.

Still very cold, though sunny. I’ve spent a large part of the afternoon sorting out the travel, health, card assist and document-registering services that come with our Alliance & Leicester current account. I’ve been reeling out numbers over the phone, then going through a health screening (Dot too) to see what exactly our travel insurance will cover. Aargh!

Still, tomorrow in hospital should be restful, especially the bit when I’m unconscious, though I don’t like the way they warn you to bring pain-killers with you. I shall be glad when it’s over. Of course.

14 April 2008

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Oliver feeding the animals at Wroxham Barns during his recent visit. The weather then and now is changeable and quite chilly. Yesterday, when I went to Paston to drop in on a workshop run by Annette and Lisa, I drove home through a massive cloudburst, with some thunder and lightning as a an added extra. Stopped by the side of the road and wrote a bit of a poem. Also found a path from the village of Paston over to the cliffs, which I will tread in more clement weather. Took a couple of pictures of Bromholm Priory before the rain set in.

Earlier, Holy Communion at St Augustine’s – and a good congregation. Apart from me, that is. I’m just average. Suzanne preached for the first time: I now know lots about lambs. This morning Dot has been out shopping and is now cleaning the house in preparation for the arrival of Stella, who is staying overnight. The NCMC website is finished and will go live in the next day or two.

12 April 2008

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Grandson Oliver shows skill with a frisbee on Walcott beach on Wednesday, as the few drops of rain faded away to give us a pleasant hour there – even a little sunshine. We had just taken Jessie back to North Walsham after a “pub meal” (Oliver’s request) at the Town House in Thorpe. Very nice, but slow service. Jessie had been to see Frank at his new home – Overbury House in Wroxham – arriving by bus from North Walsham. I picked her up to transport her back to Norwich. All a little more complicated than it might have been, because the electrician was fitting our new sidelights and study light, and Dot needed to supervise the operation! But it all worked out very well. Oliver also did a lot of construction work on the beach involving sand and flint, and thoroughly enjoyed himself.

The same day Dot had a blood test for cholesterol, which meant she had to be at the doctor’s by 8.30am. No need for an alarm clock – nor on Thursday, when Oliver woke before 6am. We went to see Aunt Ethel in the morning (Oliver declining the offer of a bus ride), and headed back to Caddington at about 3pm. We stopped for a drink just over halfway, and I managed to block the PIN on my Goldfish card at the petrol station. (Unlocked today at a machine at Reepham). Lots of traffic on the approach to Caddington, but not as much as earlier, when David had rung to say he had been stuck in traffic twice on the way to pick up Amy from nursery. Apparently the M1 had been shut for a couple of hours, and everything was spilling off it. Shutting motorways should be illegal.

Returned home after evening meal and bath (grandchildren, not us), arriving back in Norwich about 11pm. Never felt more like going straight to bed. Oliver was a lot of fun to have around, though. He has developed a lot of skill at chess, and his drawing and computer handling are both exceptionally good. He can also read really well for a five-year-old.

Yesterday spent serious time sorting our the NCMC website, as well as catching up in other areas. Watched quite a bit of television in the evening. This morning we went to Reepham to get our hair cut and had lunch as usual at Kerri’s. The chain and flex for the light in the kitchen has been lengthened, and Dot is even now knocking on the ceiling to see where we can insert the screw. Don’t ask.

8 April 2008

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A motley crew on a snowy April Sunday. For the record, left to right: Brian and Jacqui Quentin, Dot, Sue and Bob Bushell , Ruthie (Ann) and Ken Caves and yours truly, all gathered at Leatherhead Golf Club for the ruby anniversary of Bob and Sue, who was at teacher training college with Dot, as were Jacqui and Ruthie. As I often visited the college, Wall Hall, and the house where they lived – Otterspool – I’ve also known Ken and Bob for some time (very intermittently), but Brian is Jacqui’s second husband, and it was the first time I’d met him. Also there were Liz and Pete Stabler, who were also a couple back in Wall Hall days. They had just left when this picture was taken.

Quite an epic journey to reach Leatherhead. We came down the previous day (Saturday), and got stuck in a huge, extremely slow-moving queue on the A11. It took us an hour to go about four miles, because the road had been closed south of the Stansted turn, and everyone was merging into a single lane up to the traffic lights. We took the road less travelled – a B-road going south-east, and Dot navigated us across some of the lesser known parts of Essex, like Chipping Ongar and South Weald, with the occasional piece of intuition from myself, until we hit the M25 at the A12 junction. From there, surprisingly, it was plain sailing, and we reached Junction 9 without incident, Dot sirecting us by an interesting route to the Woodlands Hotel. The entire journey took four and a half hours – long enough normally for us to get to Hastings and halfway back.

Very smart hotel in country house style, with a friendly and efficient staff with no discernible English ancestry. Had a meal in the Brasserie in the evening. Expensive and good-average food. On the down side, the five terrestrial TV channels were unavailable (“aerial affected by storm”), so we were stuck with Sky News, which didn’t make me want to get Sky at all. Talk about repetitious. Talk about repetitious. Talk about repetitious. And in the morning the hot water was lukewarm (“maintenance are looking at it”) till after breakfast. You had the feeling that on a good day it might have been exceptional, but it wasn’t a good day.

Nevertheless, it was comfortable, and looked great after the forecast heavy snowfall that greeted us the following morning. Got some rather good pictures of the surrounding gardens. Still plenty of snow around when we left at about 11.45 (after coffee in the lounge – £6.50) to travel the short distance to the Leatherhead Golf Club, which we soon found after a brief excursion up the wrong road. Very pleasant afternoon there with a good carvery meal and wine which left me on the brink, and by the time we left at about 5pm, the snow had amazingly almost vanished. The M25 turned out to be straightforward, and we reached Caddington at 6.15pm.

It’s been very cold for several days now, and it was still very chilly when we left Caddington with Oliver yesterday just after lunch, arriving home after a straightforward journey at about 3.15pm. A former student, Sally Campbell, called in just after 4pm to pick up a reference I’d written for her, and in the evening I won a game of chess against a guy from Dereham – Oliver had been rooting for me, after he played me in the afternoon and “beat” me. He’s very keen on it at the moment. He’s also brilliant on the computer, picking up anything I show him very quickly. He produced a page of comic art in quick time this morning, though I wasn’t in the room at the time.

5 April 2008

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A not-very-good picture of our church music group in rehearsal last Sunday, featuring Dot on violin, Phil on guitar and Matthew (hidden) on piano. When not on camera, I was on guitar. I’ve been trying to take a few pictures to go on the Norwich Christian Meditation Centre website, with limited success. Inside shots of a large area like a church hall are quite difficult.

We got rid of far more books than I anticipated – probably over 100 – and also managed to extricate the small bookcase from its inaccessible position under the stairs and reposition it on the landing. This opens up more space for books and also looks quite nice. Good week for clearing out: Dot spent yesterday afternoon doing the garden after the arrival of our £35-a-year brown wheelie bin for garden rubbish. She’s pretty much filled it. I’ve also got through a lot of the large pile of newspapers and magazines that were waiting to be read, and my in tray is looking almost manageable. We now also have all the new lights ready to be installed: Dot has phoned the electrician, but is pessimistic about whether he will ring back as he promised to fix a date.

I have booked a hotel in York for later this month, when we are planning to see a play and spend a day looking round the city. I’ve also booked the train tickets, and on that one journey alone have made the purchase of our senior railcards worthwhile. Today we head south for Surrey, where we are spending the night in a hotel before attending the ruby wedding celebration of one of Dot’s college friends at Leatherhead Golf Club. A little bit worried about this, because after two or three days of warm and very pleasant weather, snow is forecast again – especially in the area we will be tomorrow when we travel from Leatherhead to Caddington to stay the night before bringing Oliver back home with us. It’s rather critical we get home by 4pm Monday, because I’ve written a reference for one of my former students, who is picking it up from me then: like most former students, she is trying to meet a deadline that is almost impossible.

On Thursday after taking the books to a charity shop (and picking up our new sofa cushions from Multiyork and taking some glass to the recycling centre at Waitrose) we paid our monthly visit to Park Farm for lunch – and a new ear-piercing event for Dot, who had been having trouble with the previous attempt. Then in Norwich we revisited one of our banks (a former building society) to sort out the chaos that had ensued from our previous visit. I think we’re OK now, subject to their updating my ISA without incident. In the evening a lengthy PCC meeting, at which potential conflict over use of buildings was averted by a brilliant and inspired speech from Paul on what church buildings were actually for.

Today Dot is meeting Anne in the city at 11am before “rushing” back to leave for Surrey. Anne’s daughter has just got engaged, and our Italian friend Eugenia has had a baby girl – Francesca. Almost as excitingly, our free national bus passes have arrived, together with the train tickets for York. There will be no holding us now.

2 April 2008

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Dot on a little-known bridge over the Wensum, halfway along the riverside path from the Gibraltar Arms to Sweet Briar Road – our Sunday afternoon walk. Now we’re halfway through another week, and the weather is almost springlike. I’ve just written another piece for my website and made some changes to both the InPrint site and the Meditation Centre site (still in development). I have four websites to keep up to date, which is proving quite difficult, although it will become easier when they are all established. Maybe.

Yesterday Dot and I travelled down to Metfield in Suffolk to see a friend with whom Dot is discussing expanding their “thinking skills for children” activities. While they went into detail I took a three-mile walk through the surrounding countryside and at the end of it found a house which looked as if it might suit us. Nice village, but I’m not sure it has enough pluses: for instance there are no mountains, and it’s no nearer the coast than Norwich is. In the evening we had our usual Tuesday group round – plus one, who said what a nice house we lived in. Which it is, of course.

In between these two events I went to see the nurse, who looked into my ears and said that if she syringed them, she might perforate the eardrum. I asked her how many ears she had syringed, and she said: “Hundreds.” I asked her how many eardrums she had perforated, and she said: “None.” Still, I didn’t go for it. This desire to warn patients about every conceivable thing that could go wrong is clearly having the desired effect.

On Monday I spent a couple of hours with a friend from church showing her how to put a piece on the website. As she had a Windows laptop, this proved a bit of a tortuous experience, but we got through it all right. She has a lovely little house on King Street, in the section that has been done up.

This morning Dot has taken her aunt up to the hospital and left her in the city. We are planning to go through our books this afternoon and get rid of as many as possible, which may not be many, but we shall try to be ruthless. Have just read a brilliant novel by a Swede called Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.

30 March 2008

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Yesterday we swapped the new sidelights for the sitting room, which had proved to clash with the new paint, and decided to go for a walk. Earlier it had been bright and promising, but by the time we reached Hemsby it had grown rather dull, and it was very windy. We negotiated quite deep water at the entrance to the car park and then walked along the valley and up into the dunes, where I took this picture with my mobile phone. I hadn’t really gone prepared: I think I thought we’d be going home before walking, so I had no camera and the wrong shoes. We walked back along the valley, and not long after we got back to the car it started raining.

As it was a day for taking things back, we called at Sainsbury’s and swapped a bright blue bath mat for something browner.

I had been feeling pretty brown the previous day – very down, in fact. It had rained all day and been extremely grey. Several things got on top of me, and it just felt like a wasted day – not part of real life. Strange, because the previous evening we had had a lovely time, going out for a birthday curry with Heather and Sam, who was 14, and some of their friends. Excellent food and company, and the weather had been good enough to walk to and from Ali Tandoori’s on Magdalen Street.

Today the weather was much improved. It could almost be described as warm, which was appropriate as it was the first day of British Summer Time. Happily I remembered to put the clocks forward, unlike LD, who arrived at church with her guitar and looked astonished to find that the service was well under way. It’s always nice when someone does that (he said sadistically). One day I will do it myself. Anyway, we decided to go for another walk – down by the river beyond Heigham Street – a path I’d discovered a couple of weeks ago after visiting the chiropractor. Quite a pleasant three-mile walk (back along Marriott’s Way) but although the river level has dropped dramatically, the edges and fields are still very wet.

In the evening almost forgot to go to Ambient Wonder, but made it in time. Seemed to go well: Annette liked my poems, which is always nice.

26 March 2008

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As well as snow over Easter, we had flooding too. Here is Oliver at Pull’s Ferry in Norwich, where the River Wensum came over the pathway.

I stopped writing yesterday before I’d quite finished, because we had to dash out to a meeting of our church ministry team – beautifully chaired by Bridget, who not only created an agenda on the spot but got through it in good time. The lunch at the Red Lion on Sunday was good, although hardly anyone got through it, except Joe and Ilona, who devoured some very English fish and chips. They were on good form and clearly enjoying their holiday despite the weather – or maybe because of it: Joe said it was colder in Germany. Afterwards our family went to St Augustine’s, where I had promised to clear up, but found it had been done. Instead the grandchildren got a lot of pleasure out of running up and down the hall. Clearly what we need is a running service. I must suggest it to the vicar.

Monday was the snowiest day, and Oliver and Amy had fun outside with Nana (see yesterday’s picture) before (a) it melted (b) they got so cold they had to come in. Later we debated what kind of expedition we might try, but ended up with a short walk up to the Red Lion and back on the Riverside Path (see today’s picture). The wind was bitterly cold, and we were glad to get back.

Over the weekend Oliver showed off his expertise on the computer. He now has an account on mine and can initiate chats and send e-mails, among other things. When they all went home they encountered a blizzard on the A11 just outside Norwich and nearly turned back (about 7pm), but carried on and found much calmer weather beyond Thetford, arriving safely. Oliver, who fell over and banged his head before Easter, is still feeling a bit fragile, which is probably the result of mild concussion.

On Tuesday I cooked a chili con carne for Ruth and Steve, two friends who have a new baby. We took it round, admired their house and baby, and then visited the nearby lighting store, where we bought four sidelights and two other hanging lights – one for the study and one for the kitchen. On unpacking them today, Dot has decided the sidelights are wrong (blueish and not white, as we thought), and so they will go back. Ho, hum. They were the only ones I felt sure about.

The weather is still unpleasant – grey, cold and damp. Dot is about to go in the city to meet some friends. I decided to stay in and get some stuff done for Sunday’s Ambient Wonder. Besides, the vicar is coming at 2pm to discuss the church website.