Weather has turned very warm. Last night we went on a long guided walk along the river, looking at places where Norwich School painters had produced pictures. Extremely illuminating, but quite tiring. Went for quick meal at the Cafe Rouge – one of my favourite eating spots – on the way home.

Today we have been catching and tidying up. Dot is progressing apace with sorting out the garage, though it would be hard to tell at a cursory glance. I have a couple of boxes in my room to sort through, and several piles of stuff are earmarked for the tip, which should make a difference.

First World Cup game just finished – Germany beating Costa Rica 4-2 in an exciting game, using “exciting” in a fairly loose sense.  Not bad, though.

And the picture? Hard to make individuals out, but it’s taken at Jerusalem in 1980, I think: the Surrey Chapel party led by Pastor David Middleton. My mother is pretty much central at the front (dress even oranger than the rest of the photograph), and there are some other familiar faces.

My grandmother with four of her grandchildren – my cousins. On the right is Barbara, and next to her her brother Adrian. The other tw0 are Pat and Stephen. I think the picture was taken in about 1951 or 1952  at The Hawthorns, the bungalow in Poringland which was my grandparents’ last home together. It had a pump in the kitchen for water, and the ooutside toilet was not connected to mains sewerage.

We had just moved to Coventry. My youngest brother, Philip, was born there in 1952.

Lost in Switzerland – not this time, but it could easily happen. This is my mother (left) and her sister-in-law Dorothy on a mountain in Switzerland, probably 1982, when she went with a prty from Surrey Chapel. The picture comes from an album obtained from Paul, but probably originally Dorothy’s.

Today has been warm and sunny, and Dot has begun clearing out the garage. Some stuff found its way up to the tip. We went to see Vicky Myers, and she is obviously in a lot of pain, though she makes little of it. We’re organising a bit of additional help for her next week, so that she’s not immobile and alone in her house all day when Jared is at work.

Yesterday we had a great day with the grandchildren at Caddington, looking after them so that Vicky could get some work done. Lovely weather there too, though apparently it was pretty unpleasant here in Norwich.

This is not one of my ancestors, but a goosequarterer. If there is one thing the Internet is short of, it’s pictures of goosequarterers, so I am plugging the gap. I hope the goose was dead before it was quartered.  This picture was taken yesterday in the Great Hospital, Norwich, which also features in its grounds a swan pit. Does the RSPB know about this? I do hope not.

The Great Hospital is an impressive place. Dot and I were shown round it as part of the Waterways fortnight: we were in a group of about 20 which happened to include a guy from the last Developing Consciousness course and, even more surprisingly, a guy who e-mails me regular items for my column. Well, irregular items, more likely. Despite the antiquity of the picture on my page, he recognised me. There was no escape.

It was quite cold by the swan pit, and I noticed a complete absence of swans. This was strange because the swan pit is sadistically just not long enough for a swan to take off, and it’s surrounded by railings and a slope. So the swans must have developed a secret tunnel to the Wensum, where they appear in quite large clumps. Last Friday some lanterns were launched on the Wensum as part of the Waterways opening, and the swans were very suspicious of them. Today I wrote this poem:

LANTERNS ON THE WENSUM

Dim, silken lights launch
silently into the twilight
barely breaking the lukewarm surface
of accepted lies –
inconstant stream,
damp, forceless field
filled with mud and weeds:
a trap for swimmers

The lanterns float out quiet but insistent
still small voices
confronting unseen storms –
holes hidden in the featureless river
that masks eternity

In the flat tide they seem to fail
but swans from the nearby pit
dark angels robed in deceptive white
see them for what they are –
draw back

There is power in the smallest light
floating in dark matter
resurrecting reality
drop by drop

And a slightly earlier view of the same twins, I believe. Nice solid pram.

Very quiet bank holiday – sunny in the morning but quite cool and windy. Dot did some gardening, and I caught up with a backlog of stuff I needed to read and then file or discard. We’re going our for a meal this evening, because I’m playing chess tomorrow.

The twins – my aunt and uncle, Ken and Dorothy, on a mountain somewhere. Either Zimbabwe or Israel, I should think. Any other offers?

Feeling better now, and we did make the Waterways launch, with some nice Pimms. Another Pim, Keiron, was there with Rowan, as were Rachel Hore, John Drake and the amazing Mr Rupert Mallin, who made a short speech and looked the part. Dragon Hall superb. Dot and I went along with one of the walks, but she wasn’t feeling so good, so we went home after a bit. Her throat still (today) isn’t better, but we did do a bit of Open Studios:

• to Salhouse to see Marilyn Thomas’s superb, esoteric knitwear
• to Musp0le Street to see Lucy’s new range of stone-look pots, plus some wonderful silk and photography by June Croll, Malcolm Mitchell’s classy prints and a new gallery, which might make a spaace for some of the InPrint people; plus I bought Dot a Hazel Davison necklace to go with her earrings.

Called in at Espresso opposite St Andrew’s Hall for what Dot called one of the best cappucinos she’s had and a more-than-decent cup of tea for me.

Did my second sermon in a row at church after Nicholas escaped to France – fancies himself as the Scarlet Pimpernel in reverse, I think. 

Just watched a totally brilliant Buster Keaton film, The Goat, on TV. Very, very clever and outrageously funny.

Not a very bright week.  Bug comes and goes now, but I’ve had to cancel everything. Hope to be able to make the opening of Rupert’s Waterways extravaganza tomorrow evening. I have written my column though, and I made it down to Whitlingham to check up on a few things for the lead piece, which stemmed from a single source. Weather not inspiring, either.

Happily David, Vicky and grandchildren seem well. This is a great photo of Amy in a sea of pink.

My oldest uncle, Leonard, marrying his second wife, Eugenie, in Africa. I never met either of them, though I did correspond with him for a while, and with his son Howard, who is now also dead.

Not a fun day. Have felt lousy with pains in the head and most other places, upset stomach and extreme tiredness. Had to cancel chess game tonight. Matches the weather, which is also grey, damp and tired.

A very grey day with plenty of rain. Seemed lifeless. After church we spent most of the day watching TV, including the last two episodes of Firefly. It seems unbelievable that a series as good as this could have been axed. Everything about it is wonderful.

Yesterday’s party at Aldeburgh was excellent. We called in at Snape on the way, visited galleries and shops and had a cup of tea. Beautiful place despite the grey and windy weather. Ran into Pete and Ed (almost literally) as we drove into Aldeburgh, and after visiting the famous scallop sculpture on the beach and calling  in at Thorpe Ness, we returned to Aldeburgh to join the dynamic duo, plus Vicky and Jared, for a drink in a pub. The party house was perfect, with a first-floor lounge looking directly on to the beach, and the sea not 50 yards away.

And the photograph? Oh, that’s on the coast too. Not sure where – maybe Dovercourt. It’s me and my two brothers, Andrew and Philip, plus cousin Adrian, who has since died. Somewhere around 1960, I wouldn’t wonder.

This beach scene was taken at Sheringham, probably in the early 1930s. It features my grandmother and my mother (in the background). No sign of my father. The other two may be Paul and Kathleen or two completely different people.

I thought I’d use a beach picture today, because this afternoon we’re off to Aldeburgh for a party for David Archer, who’s 40. Quite a number of people from the church will be there, with the result that I am leading and preaching at church tomorrow following a late-night drive back.  Most of them have booked in for the night.  Must keep arrangements quiet or numbers will be hit. Must remember not to put it on the Internet. Whoops – too late.

Windy and wet – not beach weather at the moment.