Looking over my shoulder

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Chronicle in action at Dragon Hall. From left, Rob Knee, Caroline Gilfillan, Kay Riggs, Tim Lenton

Well, it happened. Reading the Pastons dawned sunny and reasonably warm last Friday, and everything fell into place. The speakers all turned up and did a good job; I operated the laptop for the pictures and struggled through after one or two initial blips. The two performances by Chronicle (the first to about 25-30, the second to half a dozen) went well and got good feedback. The exhibition and re-enactors performed well.

Dot brought Jessie, and Jude came too. From church Ray and Christine were joined by David Archer. At least two people came from London, including a man who used to be admired by Dot at primary school; unfortunately she wasn’t feeling well enough to chat him up: her catarrh lingered on, and still does to a much lesser extent. Anna’s sister Nicola also put in an appearance.

In the afternoon a number of USAF children came and joined in the re-enacting as well as one or two other things. The favourable weather meant that we could spill into the garden and was also good for Rob’s tour of the Norwich Paston sites. For more information, click here.

Afterwards Dot and I had a meal with Jessie back at 22, and we then took her home, continuing on to Paston to deliver various items to the Barn. Lucy was still not too good (she hadn’t been well enough to come), but she showed us details of a couple of houses in Bacton she was interested in.

Elizabeth had left her memory stick behind, so on Saturday I delivered it to her home in Little Melton before driving dow to see nephew Joe’s photos at a New Buckenham Photo Exhibition. Liked his stuff very much, and there were other good photos on show too. Dot would have enjoyed it, but she was still suffering a bit, so didn’t come. Bought some cards.

From New Buckenham I drove across country via Hapton and Hempnall to Ditchingham, where I picked up Joy from her retreat house. Arrived a bit early (I hadn’t been sure how long it would take), but Joy was pretty much ready. Drove her home, buying some milk on the way.

Meanwhile Andrew had taken a turn for the worst and was sectioned because they felt he wasn’t in a position to remain at the hospital voluntarily. Apparently he has been quite hostile to staff. I decided to go over to see him on the Monday, partly because I was worried about what was happening to his stuff. In the end I didn’t go because A Ethel was taken ill and had to go into hospital, where she remains. Dot and I saw her last night in the company of Angela and Rodney, who returned here afterwards for coffee.

I managed to get in touch with one of the carers (Paul), who assured me that Andrew’s stuff was being taken care of, and I’ve now decided to go over next Monday, in the company of Phil, who had been in Southampton last week while Joy was in Ditchingham. I spent most of yesterday dealing with church money and taking it to the bank, then sending out invoices for hall use. We also finally got a visit from a gas person, who serviced our system. It was OK, though of course we were urged to buy a new boiler, and of course we didn’t.

Today I shall be heading to the hospital shortly for an x-ray on my left shoulder. Or a look over my shoulder, you might say.

On the brink of a major event

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One of my former homes – 191 Beanfield Avenue, Coventry (early 1950s)

We’re on the brink. Tomorrow is our major, much-anticipated Reading the Pastons event at Dragon Hall, organised largely by me and therefore the cause of much disquiet in my brain over many weeks. Who will turn up? Too few? Too many? The announcement I thought I had put in the event section of the EDP wasn’t there this morning, but according to Sarah at Dragon Hall there have been quite a few inquiries. So we’ll see.

Today I went out to Paston to collect various items for the event, such as the content of the bookstall, some costumes and some exhibition boards. Lucy was in a pretty bad state and will probably not come tomorrow. Rob also brought some stuff from the Barn and we both found our way to DragonHall by about 4pm. Also there: Anna and Elizabeth, two of our three speakers, who brought their Powerpoint presentations to see if they worked. They didn’t at first, but I think Sarah has it under control. (Elizabeth also brought Karen’s.)

After that had been sorted, I helped Sarah put out the tables and chairs, having mistakenly allowed Rob to go, thinking the heavy moving would take place tomorrow morning. Ah well. Home by 6pm, and Dot did me steak and chips. She is very much better, although still suffering bouts of coughing.

I eventually remembered to get my blood test results, and I have now reached almost exactly five years since my operation without showing any signs of a relapse. My PSA is still less than 0.1. Haven’t been feeling 100%, but that’s brilliant news. Rang up Warwick Hospital today, and Andrew seems to be much improved. Joy M, however, has been in a lot of pain, but still manages to produce some good poetry, and we’re continuing our  tanka series.

Joy L has been at Ditchingham all week, in retreat while Phil spends some time in Southampton. I took her there on Monday, and we spent some time looking for Lavinia House, but got there in the end. I stayed for a cup of tea with her and the woman in charge of the guest house, Barbara.

Because of Dot’s illness we had no Tuesday Group this week. Yesterday I had lunch (chicken soup, bread and cheese) with Rob and Penny at North Walsham to discuss the sections we’re putting together for the Paston DVD, and then Caroline and Kay arrived for a Chronicle rehearsal. Made a few slight changes, but it went pretty well. We’re performing it twice tomorrow.

Dot and car both unable to go out

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A rare picture of our new wall (usually inaccessible or hidden behind Wildlife vehicles)

Ok, that’s far too long a gap – yet again. In self-justification, I was going to do it at the weekend, but someone decided late on Saturday afternoon that they weren’t going to be able to do a sermon the next morning, so I had to write one. As part of my sermon was about how self-justification is unnecessary and not very appealing, you can ignore that last bit. Oh dear: too late.

Dot has been ill too. She gets really bad colds that don’t normally last all that long but are extremely unpleasant for her while they last. They’re also quite frightening, especially when she can’t stop coughing and can’t breathe. She’s been in bed for a couple of days, but is now improving (though still in bed at the moment).

Last night of course she was unable to go to the final concert of the Norfolk and Norwich Festival at St Andrew’s Hall – a performance of Verdi’s Requiem by the London Philharmonic and the Festival Chorus. I took Judy instead, and she was most appreciative. Rightly so, because it was  superb. This is really not my sort of music, but it was top quality. I was particularly impressed by the soprano. At the end one of the cellists mouthed to one of her colleagues that it had been a good performance. She was right.

We saw the Cracknells in passing. Wouldn’t have thought it was their sort of thing either, but their eclecticism shouldn’t surprise me any more.

The weather yesterday and today is really summery. It wasn’t too bad on Saturday, but there was a cool wind while Colin and his son were rebuilding part of our wall at the back and erecting a new trellis. I have to say it looked really good, despite Dot’s not being able to supervise.

Dot’s car is ill too. It sprung a leak in the power steering fluid reservoir, which had to be replaced, but it will apparently take three weeks to do so; so we are a one-car family. I have looked carefully at our diaries, and I think we shall be able to cope. Perhaps we only need one car… Dot doesn’t think so.

It went into the garage last Monday, and the same evening I played my last game of chess this season, beating Andy Pandian (Oh yes) to reach 6/8 in my tournament. I still don’t know if this will be enough to win it. I suspect not. But as it may be my last game for a while, and it features a very nice finish, here it is (well, the finish, anyway):

At this point I envisaged a nice sacrificial finish, but I had to persuade him to allow it, so I played 40 Qd6. Exchanging queens would give me an easily superior position, so as I expected, he played 40…Qc3, whereupon I played 41 f6. This wins whatever he does, but happily he didn’t see the main threat and played 41…axb, and on my 42 Qxf8+ he resigned immediately. He has to take the Queen, when 43 Rd8 is mate. Not difficult, but quite pleasant.

Longish meeting of the Paston Trustees on a very chilly Thursday. Dot dropped me at Rob’s while she took Jessie to the crematorium at Horsham St Faith’s (it was the anniversary of Frank’s death), and Rob gave me a lift to Paston. Much discussion on many issues, which I somehow managed to translate the next day into coherent minutes. My preparations for Dragon Hall seem OK (I had seen Sarah again) and they were fairly impressed by my new flyers. I’m OK at producing publicity, but I’m not sure what to do with it.

Much else going on in the background. A has now been transferred to a smaller ward after he had become very hostile to other patients for no apparent reason, but on the plus side he is now getting visits from church friends who I got in touch with. Phil is in Southampton with Sam, who has just got a new job at St Swithun’s Girls’ School in Winchester, which should suit him down to the ground. Meanwhile I’m taking Joy to Ditchingham this afternoon for a five-day retreat.

 

 

Close to heaven on earth

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David and Chrissy

Another packed week, starting last Sunday (as weeks do) with an evening meal at the Greens’. The four of us were joined by Anna’s sister, Nicola (Mendikova) and her friend Jane (John) from Trowse. Fantastic evening: good food and wine, plus excellent conversation. Suggested to Howard afterwards that this was pretty close to my idea of heaven on earth: good food, good wine and conversation with four beautiful women.

On Monday I managed to beat Norman Thomas at chess, bringing my score to 5/7, but even if I beat Andy P tomorrow, the tournament result depends on other scores. I’ve decided that I’m going to have a proper break from chess next year.

Tuesday saw Dot and I on the road to Warwick to visit Andrew in hospital. The day started bright but deteriorated sharply later, with quite a bit of rain. Andrew was in a sorry state, possibly the worst I’ve seen him. We were able to talk to the nurse, the doctor and Andrew’s new care worker, Elaine (bubbly), plus his old case worker, Paul, who is pretty tight-lipped. Afterwards Dot and I went to look at Andrew’s prospective new home, Minster Lodge, which is for people with mental health problems. The room earmarked for him is quite nice, with steps to the garden, but the place is a bit of a warren, and I’m not sure how he’ll get on with the 23 other residents. I was however impressed with the manager, Helen.

In between Warwick and Minster Lodge, Dot and I had fish and chips at the Burnt Post on Kempas Highway. Excellent. Bit of nostalgia there: very close to one of my childhood homes in Beanfield Avenue. Of course we would never have darkened the doors of the Burnt Post in those days.

On Wednesday I had a blood test, and in the evening a DCC meeting – on my own, while Dot was at an orchestra rehearsal. On Thursday we installed Infinity, or at least BT did. The engineer was outstanding. He arrived shortly before I had to leave for a session with Sharon, my physiotherapist and was extremely helpful, brushing aside fears that our set-up, featuring a hole in the wall, might present problems. By the time I got home he was about to leave, and everything was working fine and fast.

The next day we travelled down to Mottingham to visit the Hendersons. Maryta’s father was also staying, and he is in good shape mentally for 88, though rather fragile physically. After lunch we walked round the grounds and had a look at the new school Gallery, with its Mervyn Peake exhibition, in the company of the headmaster and his wife!

The following morning we left just after 10am to travel to Caddington – a 1¼-hour trip through the Blackwall tunnel and along the M11 and M25. We arrived shortly before David and the children got back from swimming in the company of Chrissy, who had arrived from Canada the previous day. We all went for lunch at the Red Lion somewhere in the country (beyond Markyate), a lovely pub with excellent service. Amy was not feeling too well, and we left without having sweet. However, this was compensated for somewhat by Chrissy’s pavlova, which she completed after the children were picked up by Vicky. Before that however I had a good session of cricket in the garden with Oliver, who is a promising bowler. Others joined in now and then.

We left not long after enjoying the pavlova, and Dot drove back to Norwich in close to a record time. I was feeling shattered. Meanwhile I suspect that Caddington was close to heaven on earth for those left behind.

Alien experience at the Cathedral

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Rêve d’Herbert in the Cathedral Close

Pressure has eased somewhat, although we still remain pretty busy. Weather is a bit cooler, but not unpleasant. Gave my talk to the Norwich tourist guides on Thursday evening, and it went well after an initial panic when the projector wouldn’t work because it was switched to video instead of computer, something with my limited experience I didn’t know it could do.

About 15-20 guides present, including the unique and obscure Jude, who landed me in it in the first place. Surprisingly, she brought Roger with her. The talk lasted about an hour, with a few questions afterwards, and the guides were quite complimentary. I had been worried about speaking to them because of their vast knowledge, but I must have come up with one or two things they didn’t know.

One of them came up with something I didn’t know: one of the many John Pastons – this one a brother of Erasmus, Clement and Thomas – is buried in Huntingfield Church in Suffolk. Will have to go and look at some point. Did a bit of research on it when I came home.

I had managed to complete the brochures on Pastons in Norwich and Dragon Hall (a new, smaller flyer) by the time I gave the talk, and so was able to make them available. The Pastons in Norwich one was Vistaprint, and I had to manually correct an error in all 100 of them (my error), but managed to do it without spoiling the look. The other one I created myself on Pages. Left a few of them at the Library yesterday after attending a talk there by Dr Karen Smyth on Julian of Norwich.

This is Julian week, and after the talk (and a chat with Karen, who is speaking at Dragon Hall on the Pastons, and Louise Øhrstrøm, the Danish Julian expert who spoke at St Augustine’s) we went up and looked at a display of books on Julian. Interesting map of medieval Norwich.

March of the aliens

Afterwards Dot and I had lunch at Presto and had a long chat with Kathy and Roberto. In the evening we went up to the Cathedral Close for the opening event of the Norfolk and Norwich Festival, which was an amazing performance by a group of French artists unlike anything I’ve ever seen. They were rather like Iain M Banks’ Culture books, in that any attempt to describe what was going on would fall woefully short. Basically they were on stilts, shrouded in white, and used inflated costumes and lights to produce eerie, alien effects as they walked through the crowds, ending down on the Green with a kind of dance and launch of lighted balloons. Incredible. Dot and I were so intent on taking pictures that we lost each other in the crowds at one point, but were reunited under a lamppost by the Green. I am not easily impressed by spectacle, but this was totally exceptional.

Thursday had been a good day even before the talk at Central Baptist Church to the guides. It was one of those days when everything falls into place. After taking Dot up into the city I left the car at Kwik Fit for a slow puncture to be fixed, and while there noticed that they did windscreen wipers. Dot had broken one of hers, so when I returned with my car later in the day, she took hers, and they did it on the spot. Also arranged for BT to come and install Infinity (there’s a poem in that somewhere) and British Gas to do our annual service. And I got in touch with Andrew’s carer, had along chat and got her mobile phone number. Should be going over there on Tuesday with Dot, hopefully to catch the doctor on his ward rounds and to see Minster Lodge, which Andrew said would “do for now”. Deep shock.

On Wednesday I had a nice surprise when I visited the doctor: my blood pressure had dropped considerably, despite my not taking the additional pill that the doctor had been under the impression I was taking. He still tried to persuade me to take it, but I declined.

In the evening Dot and I went to the Christian Resource Centre to hear the coroner, William Armstrong, give a before-dinner talk. He is an old admirer of Dot’s (they were at City College together), and the two of them had a chat afterwards while I was talking to Régine Godfrey and her husband Peter, next to whom we had been sitting. She is French and writes for an Archant magazine; so we had something in common (complaints about page designers). I was also able to keep up with her remarks about French politics and the French words that she used on and off, so I was quite pleased. They live in the old hospital complex on St Stephen’s.

The talk was excellent too, as was the meal, though I think I prefer the usual format of having the meal first.

On Bank Holiday Monday we called to see Jessie for tea and cake, then I walked to the cemetery to get a bit of exercise. Dot joined me there, of course. A beautiful day, and I think we did well to keep clear of the crowds who apparently, and understandably, flocked to the coast. Today we’re awaiting the arrival of Linda to cut our hair. Much cooler now, with a bit of rain.

If it’s not one thing, it’s another

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David, Kristine and Dot at Strumpshaw Fen

Not so much a hiatus, more of an abyss. Been working hard for days (I know it doesn’t sound like me) and I’ve still got piles to do. Don’t really know how it happened. Also I haven’t been sleeping well: watching wrens in the garden at about 6am today. So I’ve let the blog/diary slip a bit.

It started with the Paston Open Day a couple of weekends ago. There was the set-up on the Friday, which wasn’t too bad, followed by a full day on the Saturday. That was also quite enjoyable. With Caroline and Rob read a couple of letters and poems from the pulpit, then partook of a tour of Paston Hall grounds with guidance from Lucy and the owners, Mr and Mrs Clark, an accommodating couple who also let us see into their cellars. There’s obviously still lots to be dug up in the garden of historical significance, but I’m not sure how much of their garden they want dug up. Been very good about it so far. It matters very much to certain of our society exactly where the hall used to be, but I can’t get worked up about it.

In the evening of the same day Dot and I went to Prezzos with the Robinsons and their friends, Jean and Alan from London, to celebrate Philip’s birthday. Had a Fiorentina pizza purely to refute Philip’s announcement that I had nothing else but pollo al funghi, and very nice too. we indulged in prosecco beforehand and they all returned for coffee afterwards, so it was quite a full day.

On the Sunday I preached in the morning in the absence of Dot, who had a concert at Hindolveston in the afternoon with the Sillars Orchestra. She needed to get there in good time to rehearse, so went on her own. I joined her about 15 minutes before the concert began at 2.15pm, and sat with my old school colleague Neville Thrower, whose wife Mary is also in the orchestra. Enjoyed the mixed music: the violins sounded particularly good.

All through the week I was catching up with mainly Paston paperwork: for instance, I had to write an hour’s talk which I am giving to the Norwich Blue Badge guides this week. It’s written, but I have to try to work out some pictures, if I can get hold of a projector. Then on Friday I was presented with some stuff to edit from South Norfolk Healthcare, and I also put together a brochure on the Pastons in Norwich and wrote a piece for my website, but I’m not sure about that yet. I’ve also been updating the Paston website, which threw a frustrating wobbly at one stage.

Meanwhile I won a good win at chess on the Monday (against Yosif Antonov) and attended the Paston Heritage Society annual meeting on the Tuesday (with Dot). This meant missing the church agm, but it was a good evening, with excellent sandwiches afterwards and some cider in the bar with Rob and Penny before. Good attendance of 19: I said a few words about Dragon Hall, and Peter Stibbons put on a much lengthier presentation about his research website and the DVD he’s putting together.

On Thursday (with the weather all week sunny and reasonably warm) I had another session with Sharon, who decided to book me in for an x-ray, as the shoulder was not showing much improvement. Afterwards Dot and I had lunch with the Eagles (Sue and Roger, not the group) at Mambo Jambo in Lower Goat Lane: they had a voucher and treated us. Really good time (we get on very well), and good food, but I took the rest of the day to recover from it. Sort of Mexican-American, and very filling.

A lapwing at Strumpshaw

On the Friday we had booked a tour of the Cathedral Library, which turned out to be extremely interesting, being much more extensive than I thought. It was led by librarian Gudrun Warren, who cuts an unlikely figure for a Cathedral librarian, but is very knowledgeable and helpful. I must pop up to the library one day and have a browse. The tour ended with scone and tea in the Hostry that was worth the price on its own (£5). Got talking to a nice couple from Beccles.

So a nice relaxing weekend? Not exactly, though it was very pleasant, except for the disappointment of Norwich City managing to lose to Aston Villa at home and put themselves in real danger of relegation. We heard this when we were walking around Strumpshaw Fen with David and Kristine, who were up for the weekend. This had meant of course that Dot couldn’t go to the match, so we used the ticket (from Jonathan) for Fred, who happened to ask on the offchance and picked it up just after lunch.

Another warm day, and Strumpshaw Fen was beautiful, though I was pretty tired by the end. Dot cooked in the evening, but on Sunday we had lunch at Prezzos after going to church and listening afterwards to a talk on Lady Julian by Denise Treissman, who was very stimulating and has a nice manner. After lunch we walked up to Julian’s shrine, which was surprisingly empty (it was Bank Holiday weekend, and Julian Week starts today). Popped into the garden afterwards. Very peaceful.

On Saturday morning, pre-Coomes, I had a call from Andrew’s named nurse Vicky at Warwick to see if we were coming over because they needed more clothes for him. Happily, they were willing to fetch them from The Langleys themselves. Feel I ought to go over, but not sure I have the energy. He has an additional medical problem, but we’re not sure if he might be trying it on. The nurse says that a prospective place for him had been located: Minster Lodge in Earlsdon. No doubt a visit will be arranged there for Andrew soon. He will have to agree it, and then there will be all the problem of moving his stuff. Phil is feeling better, and is keen to help, so that’s all good.

Nostalgia and a good buffet

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Banner outside Paston Great Barn, affixed by Rob and myself

Started the week by playing two chess games in a day: the first one, in the afternoon, I played at Andy Pandian’s flat and managed to win. Then in the evening I played Yosif Antonov at the club and drew after not being able to make anything of an advantage. Now I have 3/5 in the club tournament, and three games with white to go. Even if I win them all, I may not win the tournament, because Chris has 4½/6. And I probably won’t win them all.

So I was pretty tired after that, and the week didn’t get any easier. On Tuesday I went to the Archant annual meeting, which was quite entertaining. Spent some time chatting to the Look East business editor, Richard Bond, who I know very well from my EDP days. Also several others, including Mike Almond, Ivor Harvey and Doug Bird, who introduced me to director Mike Walsh. Chatted to him for a while, and he expressed an interest in what Dot is doing, so I’ve sent him her website address (at his request). The meeting was rather more exciting than usual, with some rather pointed and challenging questions.

Good buffet as usual, but staff too keen to take away my wine when I put it on the table. Left with James Goffin, a former trainee made good, and on the way back to the UEA to catch the bus ran into Peter Jeffery, a face from so far in the past that I almost didn’t recognise him: he was an EDP sub way back in the 70s. Warm day. I did a couple of things in the city and got so hot I ended up with hay fever: not a common thing nowadays. Still, I managed to get to the Archers for our Tuesday Group.

On Wednesday I went with Phil to St Michael’s Hospital,Warwick, to see Andrew, who was not in a good state. Made little sense at first and clearly thought we’d come to take him away. We left to get him some clothes and his diary from The Langleys. When we got back he was a little more lucid, but not much. Also his missing clothes had reappeared from the laundry, so he now has more than he needs. We weren’t allowed to take him out.

Phil and I drove home via Northampton and had a meal at the Thrapston Little Chef. I had an Olympic Breakfast that was beautifully cooked. Surprised but grateful.

Pretty tired after all that and again didn’t sleep well. had to be awake and up by 9.30 the next day for the man from Sonata to service our alarm, which needed a new battery. I knew the feeling. Later had another session with Sharon, which was less painful than last time. Today I had a bit of pain, but it has gone now. During the last couple of days I’ve managed to write a sermon for Sunday and pick the hymns.

This afternoon I drove out to Paston to help set up the church for the open day tomorrow. Sunny in the main, but quite a bit cooler. Dot met several colleagues for lunch in the Waffle House and got home after I did, getting ambushed by a shower on the last stretch.

Not stringing her along

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Jack Earl at 100. One of the others is his eldest daughter, Loveday.

Dropped Dot at Elm Hill on Thursday morning, where she met a violin man (sounds like the beginning of a folk song) who told her her violin was worth quite a lot of money and he would certainly bring it up to scratch for her. Meanwhile, he has lent her one that is unusable, so this morning at church she switched back to her electric violin, which worked well. Later in the day our piano tuner, Joe Logan, vouched for the guy, so that’s OK. He was not stringing her along.

Between violin and piano I called in at Dragon Hall to tidy up some loose ends concerning the Dragon Hall day next month. Sarah Power is very upbeat and bouncy, so I was feeling quite encouraged by the time I left. Dot and I went to Park Farm for lunch, which was even more relaxing: long time since we’d done that. In the evening Dot went to Little Plumstead, where she’s a governor, and my Find-a-Friend iPhone tracking device played up to such an extent that I got quite worried. It had her in the middle of a field for a long time. She assured me she wasn’t, and as she was still apparently in the middle of the same field after she’d been home for a while, I totally believe her.

On Friday, while Dot was at a Nafpht conference losing her glasses and the weather was getting more springlike, I created  an account on Twitter for Margaret Paston and then spent a couple of hours wondering around taking pictures of Paston sites for my talk in a couple of weeks’ time. In the evening we went to the Hostry for the launch of a new edition of a Robert Llewellyn book on Julian. Liz French was there, as were Nicholas and Heather and of course Tim Mace. Nice refreshments; interesting event.

But it couldn’t compete with Saturday’s event, which was a party celebrating Jack Earl’s 100th birthday. We arrived at Sea Marge Hotel, Overstrand, in bright sunshine quite early and helped with the balloons, as well as getting tea and coffee. Jack looked unsurprisingly frail, but was relatively fit and clear-headed. He gave a short speech in reply to his son John and survived the photographs. We spoke  to Nicola and Andy among others (Edna Jones, who lives at the Great Hospital, plus the owners of the home where Jack lives, plus various Earl relations).

Jonathan left early to go to the football match – a critical encounter with Reading. We left just before 3pm, and Dot managed to reach Carrow Road in time for the second half. Just as well. It was 0-0 at half-time, but her arrival sparked two quick goals and City eventually edged out 2-1 ahead. Are they safe? Who knows?

After church this morning Dot and I drove out to Mangreen to see if we could find her glasses, but without any success. Had a brief chat with William and Naomi, then came home for lunch. I sat in the garden and read some material that had backed up; so it must have been quite warm. Got chilly later, though.

Singing at the Seagull again

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Dot at Strumpshaw Fen with her new short haircut.

Feeling a bit down; not sure why. Went to the UEA with Rob this morning on Paston business. The UEA half of the conversation (or two-thirds, to be precise) were very keen to create new projects for which they might get additional funding, which was quite exciting, though I may have to juggle creatively to accommodate one of them into Dragon Hall and the NRO.

Then to Paston in the afternoon for a trustees meeting, which was equally full of potential life-consuming items. After supper, went out for a walk while Dot was at orchestra rehearsal and returned too tired to get to grips with the many things that demanded my attention; so watched two or three Bob Dylan videos. Not satisfactory at all, especially with another busy day tomorrow. And my teeth hurt.

The weekend was quite busy too. On Saturday, after a delightful walk at Strumpshaw Fen and then listening to Norwich City getting cheated out of a win against Arsenal by incompetent refereeing, we went to Cafe Rouge for a meal with Angela and Rodney, primarily to discuss Aunt E. Nice meal, though, and A & R came back for coffee afterwards. I invited them, not reflecting carefully enough on the state of the house, as Dot pointed out.

On Sunday I led the service, and in the evening Dot and I went to the Seagull Theatre at Lowestoft and played four of my songs for the assembled thronglet. We had to manage without our lead guitarist, but it seemed to go OK. We sang my new song, Woman at the Window, inspired by a Dali painting, and then Man in the Mask, Sunset Woman and The Band Played On.

While we were there Dot unexpectedly arranged with Ian to visit the theatre again the following evening for a concert by Brian Houston: she was doing P4C at Gorleston in the afternoon, then had a meal at Ian’s and went on to the Seagull.

Meanwhile I was playing chess, trying to catch up with my tournament games. I managed a draw against Chris Tuffin after getting an advantage and being on the brink of losing. Hard work. But hey, at least spring has arrived.

On the minus side, Andrew has been admitted into hospital at Warwick (no beds in Coventry). The manager at The Langleys was concerned that he was not safe following his drugs regime change instigated by a new doctor. He was apparently so affected by drugs that he might have walked into the road. So we now wait to see where they might place him on a more permanent basis.

End of a Scottish era: the cottage is sold

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The wee house at Ballater: our home from home for more than 20 years

End of an era. The wee house at Ballater has been sold – back to the council from whom it was originally bought. One can only hope they now do something constructive with the whole site. Today we received a parcel from Ella with a memento: a small column with a Farquharson crest on it. It will be really strange being somewhere else in Ballater. It’s like losing a home: we had become so familiar with it.

Meanwhile, Dot was sitting in the garden during a momentary burst of sunshine and slight heat yesterday  when a Wildlife vehicle backed into our wall. No damage this time, but it heightens our suspicions that the fallen section mentioned earlier was indeed provoked by a collision. Maybe the cutting back of the hedge makes it easier for the rear of vehicles to reach the wall. Unexpected consequence. No word from NWT yet.

It seems a long time ago now, but David and the children left last Thursday after a really nice few days, and our ex-best man Fred arrived around 7pm the same day, staying the night so that we could all go the CNS Old Boys’ event at Dragon Hall the next morning. The latter was sunny but still pretty chilly, but it all went well. Dot immediately met someone she knew: Mary Thrower, who plays clarinet in the same orchestra as her. She is the wife of former classmate Neville, who I never knew all that well.

Adrian O’dell, the organiser of all this reunion stuff, gave us a tour of the Hall that was surprisingly informative, and we then had a talk from Peter Bussey on the Large Hadron Collider, where he has worked. He did well with a difficult subject, but it left our brains a little fuzzy. Then on to Yellows for a meal that was described later as “not quite Premier League”. But the company was good. As well as Fred, we spoke to (the Rev) Graham Drake, and others including Barnard, Chadwick and Cowell from the L stream.

We spent the rest of the day recovering from the food (amount rather than quality), but on Saturday we were out again – first at Winterton, looking unsuccessfully for an earring that Dot had lost earlier in the week, and later at the Kibbles’, where the conversation is even more filling than the food. The next two or three days were spent catching up with things that had been set aside while the grandchildren were here and exciting things were happening: I caught up with some Chronicle stuff and sent a potential blog to B J Epstein at the UEA. I was quite pleased with it, but I haven’t heard back.

Yesterday I struggled to get out of Norwich for a Chronicle meeting at Kay’s. Big hold-ups on the inner ring road and on the Aylsham road; so I diverted on to the Reepham Road and approached Wood Dalling from behind, as it were. Happily I was able to find Kay’s rather remote cottage without much trouble. We spent much of the meeting discussing the potential recording of a CD, and we did trial recordings of small sections that worked well in the end, after David (Kay’s husband) struggled to make the machine work properly. And he’s an expert. Why is sound technology so difficult?

We also talked about out plans for the year and allocated a few tasks. I am producing a script for Dragon Hall and printing some letters for reading at Paston Church at the open day in a couple of weeks’ time. We also fixed a date for rehearsal, which is good.

Now I am about to have my hair cut by Linda, then my shoulder massaged by Sharon. One of my better days.