Feeling pretty exhausted after some hectic days. Dot is still not well, coughing a lot, though she is getting around and doing stuff. Weather fairly cold and dismal.

Last Thursday Dot and I picked up the remaining sugar from Kinsale Avenue school and took it over to Swafield, where we put it in a bin to be collected. Fortunately it was dry. Met an “old” guy who turned out to be 67 and to have permanently dodgy knuckles after being in a local gang when he was young. Very friendly. Drove on to see Jessie before returning home.

In the evening Dot went to her Sillars Christmas meal in Eaton: I delivered her and picked her up. She emerged with conjunctivitis as well as everything else, but seemed to have enjoyed it (the meal, not the conjunctivitis). I had a chat with Neville while picking her up.

The next day I picked David Archer up at 12.30 and took him to Cromer for an operation on his piles. He had a long wait because the surgeon was held up in gridlocked traffic in Norwich, which is a bit ironic. All went well, though, and we got back surprisingly easily by using the part of the ring road I rarely touch.

On Saturday it was very cold – just “right” for cleaning up the church in preparation for Christmas. I assisted with some sweeping, putting out the tea lights and erecting the small artificial Christmas tree. Many others there, including Carrie, Howard, Judy, Matt (a new member of the congregation) and Ray and Christine. Before getting there I had picked up Dot’s car from Harvey Lane, walking up through the Rosary and Lion Wood but avoiding the up-and-down section because I didn’t feel up to it (or down). Car excellent value at £160. I gave Steve £180. Dot didn’t feel well enough to help at church.

On Sunday Dot still didn’t feel well but was determined to play in the afternoon concert at Blofield. So I went to church without her, intending to see her at Blofield. However, despite checking (or that’s what I thought I was doing), I took both car keys; so had to rush home after church to give her one of them so that she could get to the rehearsal, then returned to church to get all my stuff. Hectic. Didn’t seem hardly any time to grab a toast cheese before driving to Blofield. Had to park a considerable distance from the church, but Dot had asked Robin and Shelagh Limmer to save me a seat.

Pretty good concert – not quite as long as usual – with good refreshments. Spoke to Sue and Roger Eagle as well as the Limmers, and Barbara Pilch told me about a Footprints meeting in January. Also spoke to Neville again, plus a few orchestra members.

Monday turned out to be even more frantic, but at least it wasn’t raining. I tried to post some parcels at both post offices, but they were packed out, and I had arranged to meet Dot up at the Apple Store, where she had fixed an appointment for someone to look at a problem with Safari not opening. I was making my way there after abandoning the second post office, but was clearly not going to make it; so I rang her. The appointment was at 3.15; so I went home while Dot had her waxing at Jarrolds. She was still feeling bad; so she went to the drop-in centre, where she had a 2½-hour wait.

I had been to Morrisons to get food for a meal with Jude in the evening, and had just got in the door when Dot rang to suggest I go up to the Apple Store, as she wasn’t going to be ready. I called in to the drop-in centre to pick up her computer and give her a book, and while I was there (about 2.45pm), she got a call to say they were ready for her at the Apple Store. So I hurtled up there, and eventually a guy sorted it out by preparing the MacBook Air for me to install a new version of Yosemite when I got home. I called in the drop-in centre on the way. Dot was still waiting.

So I went home, saved her Desktop material by dragging it into iCloud, and installed the new version of Yosemite. This took some time, of course, but I was able to get the food ready while it was doing it, and Dot got home just after 5pm. We were just about ready for Jude when she arrived at 6pm. After that it was quite relaxing, but I walked almost six miles altogether.

Yesterday, after I’d posted the parcels at the empty sorting office, we had our hair cut, which always has a bad effect in winter, and I haven’t felt really well since. Anne came round for lunch, and later we went to see Jessie. We arrived at about 5.50pm, and Jessie was asleep. When she woke up she thought it was 6 in the morning, and what were we doing there that early? She sorted herself out eventually, but didn’t seem too good, having had quite a bit of pain.

From there we went to the Scarborough Hill House hotel, where we had our wedding reception 50 years ago, and had a meal with Angela and Rodney, Teresa and Peter. The place was a bit the worse for wear, but the food was quite good, and the six of us had a good chat. While we did so it started pouring with rain, and by the time we drove home there was an impressive amount of standing water just about everywhere.

Today I picked up my trousers from the cleaners and then spent the rest of the day finishing the Christmas cards and wrapping presents. Dot went and bought food for tomorrow night, when our neighbours come round, and Howard called in around 5.30pm with the cunning study table he’d made for us, which makes the bed bigger for Oliver (or anyone else). After phoning off and on during the day (and all other days) M chose this moment to arrive. But she didn’t stay long.

It did get colder. The past few days have been hovering around freezing but dry. Dot has developed a cold and I’m feeling a bit fragile, but nothing serious.

Last Friday, however, I decided not to go to the Mangreen Christmas celebrations because I was feeling distinctly shaky. Dot had been to King’s Lynn on a Religious Education Quality Mark assessment and was very tired, but went anyway, starting at the Eagles and then continuing for the singing etc.

The next day was pretty quiet: Dot went to see Norwich City beat Bolton 3-2, again scoring in the last minute. We both felt well enough not to cancel Kristine, who arrived at 10.40 on Sunday morning and was met by Dot. With Anna in bed after a Philharmonic concert the previous day, and Phil in Cambridge, this meant I was sorting out pretty much everything: music, Communion equipment, toys for children, Advent candles (which we’d bought from Revelation because the church ones had gone missing). The only thing I didn’t check was the service sheet, and this caused chaos because several different ones were distributed, with panic ensuing after five minutes of the service.

At the end of the service (led by Eleanor, with Sarah preaching) no-one could get the combination padlock to work; so I fetched a “manual” one from home as a temporary measure, leaving a note with my phone number in case of emergency. Needless to say this alarmed Stuart, who wanted to put a cheque in the safe but didn’t think it was an emergency, and so Carrie bought a new combination padlock the next day. I told her where I’d hidden the key so that she could unlock the temporary one, but she couldn’t find it; so I had to go up to the church hall to unlock the old one and fit the new one. The key was where I left it. I hope you’re following this.

Back on Sunday, we decided not to go to Blofield to hear Hexachordia, because it would have left too little time for Kristine to catch the train she’d booked. Right decision, I think. It was nice to see her.

On Monday , with frost on the ground, I took the MX5 up to Harvey Lane to get its dents fixed, then walked home via Pilling Park, Lion Wood and the Rosary. Quite crisp, except where it was muddy.

The next day was the Archant Christmas lunch, where the company was much better than the food. Fortunately M didn’t show up; it would have been too loud for her. Andy Russell and Tony Wenham came over and had a chat, which was nice. I took a few pictures, but they weren’t very good. On the way home we met M, who had clearly been attempting to catch us in, but she caught a bus instead of coming home with us. At home the piano tuner (Joe Logan) was waiting for us – it was only 2pm, and we’d said 2.15pm. He charged £92. I said we would soon not be able to afford him. While he was there Paul came round: he had been seeing off his old chaplain from Eltham College, who had come up on a pastoral visit.

In the evening the usual suspects came round for Cake and Compline. Dot had provided plenty of nibbles and more, but everyone brought something, which was very nice. Really good evening, ending upstairs with a Northumbrian Evening Prayer I found on the internet.

Yesterday was solid Paston Heritage Society. In the morning Rob and Peter came round for mince pies and a trustees’ meeting (while Dot was at Morrisons’ cafe, meeting Valerie Fairhead and Karen Dukes). Afterwards I gave R & P lunch from leftovers the previous evening and then Peter drove us up to the UEA for a Footprints Steering Committee meeting. This proved a little fractious at times, with Rob and Peter clashing with Matt, the project manager, over education plans and the website. Karen was well enough to be there, and Rebecca was there too. Rob was a bit annoyed because he’d discovered that Matt and Rebecca knew each other from way back – which had not been disclosed at interview. There’s a suggestion that Matt is manipulating various things to suit himself and his friends, but it may be that he’s simply making use of people he knows can do things.

Peter stayed for a coffee after returning us to Aspland Road. Rob caught a train. During the remains of the day (and while Dot was at orchestra rehearsal) I managed to complete the minutes of both meetings, which was something of a relief.

Another miserable wet and windy day today. They’re not all like that, but it seems to be a good 50%. The only good thing about it is that it’s fairly mild, but I understand it will get a lot colder from this afternoon. Dot is borrowing my car to drive to King’s Lynn, where she has a Religious Education Quality Mark assessment. She should have left by now, but unfortunately she had too much time to get ready… Now she’s gone. It was tipping it down as she got in the car.

Yesterday was a bit better, in that it was mainly dry. Carrie was supposed to be going to Emmaus at Ditchingham with us to look for a table for us and a side cupboard for the church, but she wasn’t feeling up to it; so Dot and I went. Had a bit of trouble finding the right entrance, but eventually had a good look round and photographed four cupboards. No appropriate tables, though they had a pine one that came from Canada.

On the way back called in to see my Aunt Thelma, who is 90. She looked and sounded surprisingly well. I mentioned my visit on Facebook and was taken to task by Sandra for not taking a photograph.  Oh well.

Later we went to North Walsham to see Jessie and found her asleep. She woke up while Dot was out of the room, and I helped to get her out of bed and into her chair. She has a cold; so clearly we’re both worried about catching it. I do feel a bit under the weather, but nothing debilitating.

After we got back Dot went to a Safeguarding meeting at the vicarage which went on for over 90 minutes. Needless to say, Howard didn’t make it. My attempts to keep track of Dot’s movements were thwarted by (I think) an O2 problem that meant 4G was not working properly.

On Wednesday Howard came round early to take measurements for the installation of an extension to the bed in the study, so that Oliver can sleep more comfortably. Later Dot went with Paul to a DSSO lunch at the Showground – a farewell event for one of the other DSSOs. I finished the PHS magazine (Edition 7) and sent it to Rob and Peter for checking. Since then it has gone to the printers and is now awaiting collection.

Tuesday was the monthly Archant coffee morning – another big attendance, with David Wakefield the latest new face. Maryta came round to ours after having been to the doctor’s, and we walked up together. I noticed on the way that she had parked at the side of the road with no permit; so with some misgivings I put a permit in. She did leave the coffee morning early (though not as early as I thought she would), but astonishingly she both found the car and put the permit through the door as requested.

The previous day I had taken Dot up to the URC on Chapelfield, where she and three other violinists were performing carols for what may have been the WI. She walked back afterwards, doing some Christmas shopping on the way, and I met her halfway down Prince of Wales Road to assist with the carrying.

A quiet day so far today, in that a certain person only came round once (while we were getting dressed) and hasn’t phoned, though Dot received several e-mails. Over the past few days more and more people have asked her not to come round; so she has few places left to go. On various days  she has rung the doorbell at 7am (four times), tried again at breakfast time on the same day and has actually made it through the front door on a couple of occasions. Happily she’s going to see the doctor on Tuesday. All very sad but also annoying.

I have managed to prepare a manuscript of poems to submit for a competition, but I don’t hold out much hope; I had to choose mainly nature poems or spiritual/environmental ones. I also wrote a sermon for today: I wasn’t particularly happy with it when I delivered it, but several people said they liked it.

Yesterday I got the chance to go with Dot to the football – it turned out to be a good match, with City beating Rotherham 3-1 after going 1-0 down, but the weather was pretty dreadful.  Wet and windy. Today is not much brighter, but it’s dry and quite a bit milder. Before  going to the match Dot had a flu jab. She now has a sore arm.

On Friday we took part in a quiz at St Luke’s. We were part of Carrie’s team, which included her husband Al (rarely seen, but a nice bloke), Sophie and a guy from her Saturday group called Chris, who appeared to know a lot but wasn’t always right.  Some of the questions were ludicrously difficult, and we might have done a bit better if we hadn’t wanted to encourage Chris, but we finished about halfway, I think. There was a buffet and a raffle, and all in all the evening went on rather too long (7pm to nearly 10.30pm). Still, glad we went.

The previous day I went to the doctor’s to check on my medication and had to wait 40 minutes beyond my appointment time. I saw Dr Dani Carlile, who is very pleasant, and got a relatively good result, except that I have to check my blood pressure for a week. My condition is obviously regarded as urgent, as I was booked in for a blood test on December 31, which on the plus side is this year. (It was eventually put off till January 7.)

On Wednesday we went so see Jessie, bearing figs on advice from Roger, and found her relatively cheerful. The previous day Dot had been to London with Anne and had a very tiring day, largely because they couldn’t find a tube station when they wanted one and walked over the Millennium Bridge, then down Fleet Street and all the way up Chancery Lane in pouring rain.

Still, they enjoyed much of the Tate Modern, and Dot also managed to buy some jewellery she wanted from Regency Street (Uno de Fifty) as a birthday present from me.

Some slight respite today after a very busy six days – until M turned up at lunchtime and wanted a lift home. She’s becoming quite annoying: I was in the middle of writing some articles for Parish Pump. Even more annoyed when some idiot walked out in front of me at some traffic lights on the way back, and then seemed to think it was my fault. Presumably colour-blind.

Last Tuesday I did go to Jurnet’s and read a couple of poems. Quite enjoyable, because Rupert was there and seemed pleased to see me, and the guest poet was Helen Wells, who turned out to be very good.

Wednesday was the Paston Heritage Society’s big day. We were all in costume for a meal at the Maids Head to celebrate the anniversary of the first mention of the hotel/inn in a Paston letter (in 1472). I had written a script including letter excerpts and poems to be read out during the meal – all went down very well, including the food. Jude managed to get there despite her injuries and said she enjoyed it.

It was also of course Dot’s birthday, and she took the birthday cake to heart. I also arranged for her to read the last poem. Altogether a very good evening.

The next day we popped out to see Jessie again before going to the Cote Brasserie on Exchange Street with the Robinsons for Dot’s real birthday meal. All very good. Had a steak.

On Saturday we popped over to the D’Souzas for a drink before walking up to the Cathedral with them and friends (plus Jessica, their daughter) to see and hear the Norwich Community Choir, which was 100-strong on this occasion. The nave was absolutely packed, and the choir were good – particularly good at the Miserere, surprisingly. David Archer and Chris D’Souza were singing.

To the Cathedral again on Sunday, but not until after a Communion service at church led by Liz Cannon. Over 20 present again. I tidied up the noticeboard and we then gave Phil a lift home. Then after lunch we walked up to the Bishop’s Farewell Evensong, which was extremely moving and very well done, as you might expect. The place was crammed: we were in the north transept but had a good view of one of the screens. Dot decided she wanted to shake the Bishop’s hand; so we had to queue up for quite a while – much like a wedding. Ran into John Drake, Nick Miller, Heather Cracknell, Suzi Heybourne and Philip Butcher.

Really glad we went.

Yesterday was the funeral which, as predicted, was too big for the crematorium chapel: so we were standing, although we were some of the first there (we took Des and Chris). Quite moving, but we still haven’t seen a copy of the service sheet. Queued up again afterwards to speak to the family. Then, after we’d been home for a while and had a coffee with D & C and they’d gone home, we were invited round for a wake which we hadn’t known was happening. They were very apologetic that they hadn’t asked us, but of course you can’t think of everything. D & C didn’t come: I think they’d already started on their evening meal.

We stayed for a long time, talking to Sean and Kiera, Bob and Mary from next door, Maureen from No 6, a nurse friend of Mairead’s, an Irish cousin, Maria – a half-Greek who’s the wife of Sean’s friend and really nice – plus Mairead’s friend Rachel and her sisters Teresa and the other one, plus briefly Freddie and Phoebe, both of whom seem to be holding up. Very difficult day for them. Really like Sean and Kiera: it will be nice to see more of them.

Lots of things going on in the background: my knee has been quite uncomfortable for a few days, and after seeming much better yesterday is now not so good again. Mairead’s funeral has been fixed for Monday at Earlham – quite surprising, as we thought it would be the RC Cathedral, like her husband and mother. And the Thursday Paston dinner at the Maids Head is looming large: yesterday Dot and I called round the Knees to try on costumes. Dot and Penny looked terrific, and I looked as bad as usual.

Meanwhile we have seen Jessie a couple of times. Yesterday, pre-costume, Dot bought her some new slippers by request, and we delivered them to her. They fitted, and she liked them, which was nice. On Saturday Eleanor visited her and Roger turned up too, which was ideal as far as Jessie was concerned (Eleanor will be taking Jessie’s funeral). We didn’t go – thought it would be over the top.

Reading a lot of poetry at the moment. On Friday I went to what used to be Pinky’s at Halesworth but is now the Swan, since Pinky’s burned down a few months ago. The pub is much noisier, but we have quite a big room upstairs. Had a chat with Nina Roffey, an artist/poet from Beccles whose poetry I like very much, and I read three poems, including (by request) Chasing the Moon, which was commended in a recent competition.

On Sunday Dot and I went to the Seagull, where she read a series of tanka I had written about a Canadian bear, and I read six poems altogether. Oliver the thatcher was there and his usual exuberant self after a successful gig at Edinburgh! Tonight I shall be going to Jurnet’s – all being well – and will read one or two there.

Before I went to Pinky’s – and Dot went round the Greens for a mass reading of Mark in the King James version – we went to Swaffham for lunch with the Higbees in their new house. Yes, they have moved again. Very pleasant, though the weather wasn’t good enough to go outside. As a result I have been asked to speak about the Pastons to the local WI some time next year.

I got back from Halesworth before Dot emerged from Golden Dog Lane, and as the result of a mix-up I went to pick her up before they’d actually finished. So she missed the last two chapters of Mark and will never know what happened. I understand there was a good meal, though. As I write, she is meeting Sue, Helen and Karen for lunch at Presto’s. And it is raining and cold.

A last-minute offer of a ticket to Norwich City’s match against Millwall meant I was at Carrow Road last Saturday to witness one of the best matches I’ve seen. Norwich were 1-0 down at half time, but playing quite well, and it was no surprise when they went level just after the interval with a really good goal by Pukki. It was even less of a surprise when Pukki missed a penalty shortly afterwards, but then Leitner scored a great long-range goal to put us 2-1 up.

We then turned off and lost two goals very quickly, which meant we were 3-2 down approaching full-time. At this point I’m delighted to say several people went home, but not us – which meant we saw City equalise through Rhodes in the 90th minute and then score the winner through Pukki  in the 95th. Interesting player, Pukki. He seems to score from the most unlikely situations. We were quite excited.

Afterwards we walked up to Hungate for the Vanishing Points exhibition, which comprised photographs by Nick Stone with a first world war battlegrounds theme, and information about local people who had died – particularly those from Paston School. Very effective: Rob and Penny were there, but Karen is in hospital again after her insulin pump failed.

Sunday was Remembrance Day (the big one – 100 years) and following the service at church we had a talking circle which I think was supposed to be about church services but never really got that far. However, Sarah said she had felt very welcomed and had a sense of belonging – which was not what she had been led to expect. And our two newest members – Marjorie, who is in a wheelchair and nearly 100, and her daughter-in-law Sharon spoke about about how much they enjoyed being there, which was very moving and worth all the rest put together.

Dot had various appointments in the city on Monday morning (she had a brief coffee with Maryta in Jarrolds), but afterwards we went to see Jessie. Before that I had had a call from Jude Sayer to say that she had been one of the two women stabbed in an incident that made the papers last week. We told Jessie, who was quite upset and gave us money to buy flowers. Both of us felt Jessie seemed weak.

So did we after the PCC meeting at St Luke’s, which ended at about 10pm.

On Tuesday we had our hair cut in the morning, and in the evening we gave Judy a lift to the Archers’ for cake and compline, which was nice as always. Vicky was there, but not Claire, and Eleanor was on duty.

Dot was out till about 1.30pm on Wednesday. I did quite a bit of work, but spent 90 minutes with Jude in the morning, taking her flowers round from Jessie – and a card from all of us. Jude was a bit shaky but looked Ok apart from her arm, which was in a sort of crafted basketwork cradle. Her fingers are Ok, but the thumb is numb, and there are worries about the nerves in her arm. I opened some mandarins and a packet of soup for her before I left.

It turns out she was injured while defending a friend of hers from the friend’s husband, who had been abusing her mentally for a long time but hadn’t been violent before. A neighbour intervened and took the man’s knife, but he did quite a bit of damage. He later tried to commit suicide but the police got him to hospital in time. One is tempted to add “unfortunately”, because it means he is still a threat in his wife’s eyes, but of course wishing someone dead is not good.

Today Dot has been walking and I’ve been compiling the next edition of the Paston magazine, which is going quite well, though I had the usual problem with page numbers. When Dot gets back we are going over to Jessie’s again.

Dave and Julia have been with us most of this week, but on Monday we were the sole St Augustine representatives (apart from Carrie) at the Bonfire event at St Luke’s. Dot had been intending to play in the ceilidh band with Phil and Anna, but Anna was ill; so it was called off – fortunately, as it turned out, because it wouldn’t really have fitted in with the rest of the evening, which which was a combination of hot dogs downstairs and bonfire and sparklers outside.

We ended up in the kitchen, serving the hot dogs, onions and chips to a throng of local families, while several St Luke’s people cooked them. Dot helped with the washing up and I  put quite a few tables away. Felt rather virtuous afterwards, which is obviously a bad thing.

On Tuesday morning Dot and I made it up to the coffee morning (no Maryta, and Paul is in Sri Lanka), with new members Bill Woodcock and Geoff Doy. It’s getting to be quite a gathering. We hurried back, but no need: the Evetts didn’t arrive till 1.30pm.  After lunch we went for a walk in the city, and in the evening had dinner at the Ivy, which was pretty good, I thought. Had the same excellent dessert as last time.

On the Wednesday, which was a bit blowy and not too warm, we went to Blickling with our new NT membership and visited the bookshop and cafe before going into the house. Quite interesting; as usual the volunteer room guides were first-class. Thought about going for a walk afterwards, but it was chilly and we turned back. Dot had intended to cook, but Julia didn’t like beef, and the other projected meal would have taken quite a long time; so we ate out so that we could go to the cinema.

Started at Coast-to-Coast, but they had no steak, which upset Dave; so we had to leave. Instead went to Queen of the Iceni, where the food was quite a bit cheaper and pretty good. Dot and I had fish and chips, and Dave was able to get his steak. Afterwards we saw Johnny English Strikes Back, which is not, as Dave said, very intellectually challenging, but by way of compensation was extremely funny. Dot  was laughing out loud a lot.

On Thursday we drove to Snape, which at one point seemed to be a bit too far, what with the dithering traffic and Suffolk’s ludicrous speed limits, but it turned out well. It was a beautiful sunny day, and after eating lunch in the cafe near the entrance we walked the path by the south of the River Alde towards Iken, which was extremely picturesque, with boardwalks and great marsh and river views.

We didn’t get all the way to Iken Church, because the path was getting muddy, and we wanted to see a bit more of the Maltings. We returned for a cup of tea in the same cafe, and split up for a walk round the shops. The  two exhibitions I had intended to see proved elusive: one had closed the day before and the other (a Maggie Hamblin installation) had shut down for the night by the time I got to it, though I got a glimpse of it in the dark. Dave and I went over to the concert hall entrance complex, which was actually quite interesting. Dot and Julia visited some shops.

The drive home was much easier, though it was dark and very busy (mainly in the opposite direction) and included a tour of Beccles instigated by yet another road closure. We ended up exiting via Gillingham. A little local knowledge is sometimes quite helpful. At home we had some lamb shank and tried to interest Dave and Julia in some songs, but I don’t think they’re really into songs, except possibly for those by Nina Simone.

Yesterday morning we walked up to M & S, where I got a new shirt and jumper and Dot got a new medium-sized handbag. I don’t know why: it all started with a voucher. After meeting with Dave and Julia, who seemed to have gathered in quite a lot of stuff, we went up to Presto and had a light lunch, before D & J left us to go to the bank and get some lingerie (two separate events, I believe). We walked home.

The Evetts left at about 3.15pm for Blakeney, where they had booked for three nights at the Manor. We left just after them to go to see Jessie, who was cheerful enough, but neither of us thought she seemed too well generally. We returned home and more or less collapsed. A quiet evening ensued.

This morning we heard the very sad news that Mairead, who went into hospital earlier in the week, had died overnight.

Have just had Adrian and Tish from Wales with us overnight – Tish’s first visit to Norfolk for many years. They came of course to see Jessie, but arrived yesterday afternoon, and after chatting we walked up to Ali Tandoori in Magdalen Street for an Indian. As usual had trouble eating it all. Had a chicken biryani. Think I might try something else next time.

Spent the rest of the evening watching football – Norwich had beaten Sheffield Wednesday 4-0 away, and Liverpool had just failed to beat Arsenal. This morning after breakfast Tish and Adrian set off for North Walsham via Morrisons (for flowers). Have just heard (6.30pm) that Jessie was over the moon to see them and flung her arms round Adrian, which is quite an effort for her!

We went to church of course: I led the service, and Howard did a very erudite sermon on “one God”. This afternoon I worked out a tune for Highway Nine, and we did some other songs, but Dot eventually went on to play her ceilidh tunes.

Actually we were at church yesterday morning too: six or seven of us doing some odd jobs like painting the toilets and putting the gate back on its hinges. The latter was achieved by one of Carrie’s clients, and another couple of them helped me with the gate. Or maybe I helped them. Phil arrived late because of a domestic crisis relating to heating, but then did a thorough job of removing mould from the windows. While we were having food afterwards, three people arrived looking for the Quaker graveyard at Gildencroft. We gave them a drink and chatted to them – very nice people who looked vaguely of Indian extraction – before Carrie showed them the way to the graveyard.

Last Tuesday went to a Paston talk at Hungate by Dr Vic Morgan. Quite interesting though scholarly, lightened by many slides. Jude was away in Hampshire, and Dot didn’t come because it was very cold and she’d had a busy day and was tired (Anne had been round). Ron and Penny were there, as were Karen and Liz, and of course Matt. I think I’m safe in saying that it was the coldest lecture I’ve ever been to. He stopped just in time (after 50 minutes), with ice creeping up everyone’s legs.

The next day Rob came round at 9.45 and we walked up to the Maids Head for a meeting with Georgina and Paul about November 22. We have a problem with poor advance bookings, and  my idea of subsidising it and offering cheaper tickets hasn’t made much impact – at least not yet. Paul took some pictures of Rob in costume for publicity.

On the way up there we were accosted by a sight-impaired man who was trying to find a solicitors’ office on Cathedral Street. I walked there with him while Rob went ahead. Nice to be able to help (cf encounter with graveyard-seekers). Seem to be reading a lot about hospitality recently.

On Thursday Dot and I walked up to see Rupert Mallin’s latest exhibition at Studio 20 in Wensum Street. Very interesting, as always, though I have my doubts about the machine gun (which, to be fair, wasn’t his but his colleague’s). Met Martin Laurance and Tonia Jillings, two artists we’ve known a long time. Bought a very small print for £10.

Have more or less decided not to have Dot’s MX5 repaired through the Mazda recommended people (£975), and I think it’s now too late to claim from insurers, who would probably want to get rid of the car anyway. I toyed with the idea of doing it myself, but Carrie has recommended someone who will do a much cheaper job; so I’ll take it up there (off Harvey Lane) this week.

Celebrated Amy’s birthday a day late last Sunday (21st) after she, Oliver and David had arrived early in the evening. Dot had baked another fine cake.

On Monday we went to Carluccio’s for lunch after discovering that Presto was shut on Mondays. Nice try. We then drove to Cley by different routes but arrived at more or less the same time.  Very interesting cottage, with our bedroom leading into the bathroom, a toilet leading off that, and the children’s room leading off the other side of the bathroom. This required some care, obviously, but there were no embarrassing incidents. The children’s room had another staircase from which they could access a downstairs toilet/shower after crossing the living room and kitchen. Interesting. David’s room was opposite ours, off the main staircase. I hope that’s clear. The cottage was called Hambledon and was very comfortable.

The first three days after that were fine, if a little chilly, enabling us to do some walking. On Tuesday we walked to Blakeney – Dot and I via Wiveton Hall Farm and the others by the coastal path. Had a good lunch at The Moorings, then walked back to Cley: I took the coastal route with David and Oliver while Amy accompanied Dot the other way. Found it hard to keep up with the boys and wrote a poem about it.

Later we visited Jessie on the way to Norwich, where Dot, David and Oliver went to see Norwich beat Aston Villa, while Amy and I watched The Impossible on Netflix – a very good film about the 2004 Thai tsunami as seen through the eyes of one family. Earlier we had a takeaway from Nando’s, ordered online and fetched by Dot and myself. Unsurprisingly, the place was heaving.

We stayed at Norwich overnight after the match, and in the morning David and Oliver went to Morrisons to get some chocolate rice cakes for Amy before we all drove back to Cley – or to be more precise, David drove us back to Cley. Interesting experience – I learned a lot about driving hybrids.

Later that day we walked to the nature reserve, where we saw some art and a video and bought a book on being green for Amy – a possible coals-to-Newcastle situation. Afterwards we walked round the reserve via the East Bank and shingle beach, which became a bit wearing. I was pretty exhausted by the time we got home and had a short sleep upstairs. Ate some local fish that Dot had bought next door, and played Sleeping Queens – a card game of Amy’s that I think we all liked. Early night.

I had been finding it hard to gauge how cold it was and got a bit overheated, I think. Thursday was cooler at first, but with less wind. David and Oliver went out for a very early run which they cut short. I  created a quiz for Amy, using the Notes app in a way she showed me. Enjoyed the experience. Drove to the Anchor at Morston for a very good lunch (fish and chips followed by a brilliant blackberry and apple crumble). After that I walked with David, Oliver and Amy to Blakeney while Dot drove, having a bad coffee at the Manor while she waited. Then she walked to Blakeney with the others while I drove back, and eventually everyone did the quiz, which Dot won – not the plan, but what can you do? Following this some homework was done while I rested on the bed again.

Friday was very wet at first, with showers later. Much colder and windier. Drove to North Walsham with Jonathan’s season tickets, and he told me how his daughter had failed to stand up for him when he was abused at the Playhouse when he tried to take in a medicinal drink which contained a small amount of alcohol. We bought pies at the deli for lunch and some fish at the smoked fish chip, as you do. Later we checked the George for next day’s lunch.

Saturday was very wet. Lunch at the George (fish and chips again) , then Dot drove into Norwich to go to the football match (Norwich 1-0 v Brentford). David and the children left about 3pm in pouring rain, the four of us rushing their luggage up to the car, which was parked as usual on The Fairstead. Good journey home, apparently. I had intended to go for a walk while Dot was away, but it was too wet; so I had a bath instead. That was even wetter.  Dot arrived back about 7, when we played patience.

During this an amazing thing happened. When I had my go, three cards disappeared completely. We searched the table and the floor, inside a magazine, under piles of stuff and couldn’t find them anywhere. It was as if they’d vanished off the face of the earth. Really mysterious. As a last resort we tried to shift the table, which looked as if it unfolded. It didn’t, but it did swing round on its support, and when that happened, the cards suddenly appeared on the floor: they must have slipped through a crack in the middle of the table as one of us shuffled.

After this we watched Match of the Day and put the clocks back. Glenn Hoddle had a heart attack and was in hospital, very ill. Meanwhile, the owner of Leicester City was killed in a helicopter crash just outside the ground.

Yesterday seemed very quiet. We drove to Morston, parked in the National Trust car park (£4) and went for a walk on the marshes out to the left. Reached Freshes Creek not far from Stiffkey, but it was too damp to walk further out, as I had stupidly left my boots in Norwich. Afterwards had ice cream in the lookout, which was very pleasant (out of the wind) and spoke to a couple who we had seen further out on the marshes. They said it was possible to do a circular walk if you timed it right and had the right footwear. It’s even possible to get out to the Point.

Had lunch back at home, and there was suddenly quite heavy rain and hail: so we were fortunate. Dot did some work and I felt exhausted again: my knee and ankle were playing up a bit. In the evening we went to the Wiveton Bell, where we each had a nice steak burger. It was quite empty when we arrived (6pm), but soon filled up, mainly with dogs, which is not really what you want.  Drove home and watched TV, learning some disturbing  things about the Mediterranean, particularly Ceuta and the south of Spain.

Played cards a bit and went to bed fairly early because we knew we had to leave by 10am today.  We actually achieved that fairly comfortably and called in to see Jessie on the way home. While Dot visited Catfield School in the afternoon I went to the supermarket. As I write, she is meditating…