On Thursday last week we had a short-notice and very welcome visit from David and the children. They stayed overnight, and we had some fireworks in the garden – though not too many, because we realised that several of them required you to be 15 metres away, and our garden is not that big. So David took some home with him. We lit a fire in the chimenia and some candles and had a generally good time. It wasn’t too cold. Dot cooked some jacket potatoes and chicken drumsticks, plus a chocolate pudding thing.
Earlier David had gone into the city, and over the two days we played table tennis, Dixit (Amy brought her new cards) and Coppit. Oliver and Amy both composed tunes on Garageband. Towards the end it became obvious that Oliver had a bad cold – or possibly a reaction to his flu jab.
Things went very quiet on Saturday, especially as Norwich City lost again – 2-1 to Manchester City. Rather unlucky. On Sunday we went to church and Carrie preached on saints. Dot and I both agreed her mother was one, in the sense that her character was attractive and an example to others. I mentioned my aunt Dorothy.
Later in the day Dot left for Kensington, where she stayed the night before doing her philosophy training for a very large group in a primary school yesterday. For a change they stayed in a nice “boutique” hotel. Meanwhile I took that car in to Wrights to have the back tyre looked at, and Wayne the mechanic found a piece of flint was causing a slow puncture. Hopefully that is now OK; I still have to get the MX5 tyres sorted. I also managed to get the car washed (did it myself at the garage) and filled with petrol, deposited the Humax box at the tip and paid the church cheques in. Not simultaneously. Later I peeled some apples.
Today Dot and I went to the Archant coffee morning; Brian and Tricia, Robin and Shelagh and (eventually) Maryta and Paul all there. Afterwards we walked down with the Hendersons to London Street to see their photographs in Boots’ window (ice and gorillas) and then on through the Close and home. This afternoon we entertained Dot’s accountant and will shortly be going to Judy’s for compline and cake. Slowly catching up on a pile of paperwork.
The railway carriage in which Edith Cavell’s body was brought back to England, together with the unknown soldier.
At last our MX5 arrived back this morning, and it seems in good nick, though we haven’t driven it anywhere yet. We got a call from the garage just after 8am, and after trying to persuade them to deliver it this afternoon, we settled for as early as possible – around 10am. It eventually arrived at 10.30am, by which time Dot had left for the Archant coffee morning. After signing a few documents and paying some money I followed her up and arrived around 10.50am, to find Maryta and Paul, and Tricia and Brian already there, with the Limmers following soon after. A very large gathering altogether, and we booked for the Christmas lunch in the canteen.
The Hendersons came back for tea/coffee, and on the way home I picked up our new cordless vacuum cleaner from Doddle in the station (a drop-off shop). I am developing a cold-type thing, which is getting irritating – sparked off by dust from the garage clear-out, I think. Got tired out walking home yesterday and had to lie down. Slept for over an hour.
We had been to Jamie’s to meet Audrey and Bent for lunch, which was excellent: steak frites and a blackberry and apply pavlova. Afterwards we said goodbye to Audrey and Bent (who are buying a caravan at Beeston Regis) outside Jarrolds, paid in some cheques, visited the Forum for an architecture exhibition in which Roger’s redesign of Jessie’s bathroom features, popped in to a mini-display about Edith Cavell in a railway carriage parked outside, bought some birthday cards in Jarrolds and walked home.
Not much happened earlier in the week except for the garage clear-out, which was pretty tiring and is not yet finished. I have had some interest on freecycle for old tapes and German books, but nothing definite yet. Still, we’ve thrown away a lot of paper and have plans for disposing of more stuff. But the weather today and yesterday has not been inspiring, with much drizzle and gloom.
I preached on Sunday morning and got good reviews, and on Saturday Dot watched Norwich lose 2-1 to Leicester, thanks to more bad refereeing. The England rugby team also knocked themselves out of the world cup in a predictable kind of way.
Nearing Wells beach. East Hills in the background.
Norwich City have just gone 1-0 up against West Ham and then been pegged back to 1-1. It’s half time. Dot has just finished doing some sorting in the garage, I’ve pruned the roses in the front and we’ve both been into the city to purchase a white board that will stick on the wall (for p4c). On the way we met Mairead, who was about to go to London for an overnight celebration of Freddie’s 13th birthday, and Martin and Lena, who are about to go to Thailand on holiday following the death of Lena’s mother in St Petersburg.
Death is in the air: June Wallace has died, and we will be heading to Ipswich for her funeral on Wednesday. Ethel’s funeral last Wednesday went off very well. It was sunny, and the little church at Bracon Ash looked beautiful. The vicar was excellent, and I read a poem written by Dot’s mum. David came up from Caddington and was able to stay for the reception at Park Farm Hotel in Hethersett. The Hendersons also came but left Park Farm before the food after they realised there were plenty of people there (Angela had worried there would be too few). Spoke to most people, especially Donna and Andy and Ian and Tina Limmer.
Not many more people turned up the following day for the Archant summer tea party at Dunston Hall: probably about 50, against more than 100 for the average Christmas dinner (now discontinued). The food was nice, and I sat at a round table that included Julie Bedson, Frances Pearce, three printers and the new CEO, Jeff Henry, a Scot who is very easy to talk to. Frances Dyer and Ann Gilliam (formerly Walsh) were at the next table with Terry Reeve, but that about made up the total of those I knew well enough to talk to. No EDP subs at all.
Lot of eating this week: Cake and Compline on Monday at Claire Carrington’s, and cake and fish and chips for Dot and me at Wells yesterday. The cake followed our purchase of a Godfrey Sayers painting at the quayside gallery, and the fish and chips (shared) followed a subsequent walk from the town to the beach. The tide was very high, and the sea was calm. Bubbles of gas or air were rising to the surface by the boardwalk on the main beach, and we watched the sun glinting off fishing vessels returning to harbour. Pretty idyllic really. (Final score 2-2.)
Forget what I’ve said about busy weeks in the past. This week just never stopped. On Tuesday Dot was in Liverpool, philosophising very successfully. In the morning I went to the Archant coffee morning and exchanged photos with Brian and Robin. Meanwhile the Hendersons borrowed out permit while they went to Buckingham Palace (on a tour). In the afternoon I was up in the Forum with Rob, Peter, and Karen, discussing the bid for our forthcoming project and becoming more and more doubtful that we would be able to complete the work in time. Afterwards I stayed in the city (bought birthday card and book for Oliver) until the launch of a book at Mandells Gallery: Searle on Norfolk School etchings, published by Susan Currran’s company.
Earlier in the day I had almost sorted out the saga of the MX5, and the photographer came and took pictures at 7pm. The next morning I rang the insurance company to find they had at last done something quickly and had looked at the pictures and agreed the car was repairable. However their nearest approved repairer was in Halesworth (unbelievable). I agreed to go along with this: said repairer was due to ring me back, but instead they rang Dot’s mobile (unbelievable). She was at Aldborough, delivering more philosophy, but managed to give me their number. I rang back and we fixed a time for them to pick the car up: Thursday the 10th!! (unbelievable) It’s a good job we have another car.
When the man from British Gas came to overhaul our system the following day, he pointed out that one of the tyres on the MX5 was flat! This was a new tyre, and it couldn’t have been affected by the accident. So another problem to sort out. On the plus side, he seems to have done a very good job on the radiators, though there is weird trickling sound…
While he was working Liz Day came round for a cup of tea and in-depth discussion. All discussions with Liz are in depth. Later Dot went to the funeral directors with Rodney and Angel and took a couple of hours to sort out details of the funeral, before returning home just in time for Linda to cut our hair. Later we went to Morrisons to stock up on food for two lots of visitors.
On Friday I delivered the Paston magazines to Rob’s at North Walsham and then picked up Dot’s pills from the chemist. In the afternoon I called to see poet Joy and her husband Andy, where I had a cup of tea and pleasant talk. Before I left Nick from the printer happened to call round and I was able to tell him how everyone at Paston had admired the mags. At some time that day I believe I had a longish talk with a lady at Coventry about Andrew, during which I agreed to represent him in any discussion about what was best for him.
In the evening our neighbours Bob and Mary and Des and Chris came round for drinks and nibbles, and we demolished four bottles of red wine between us, though I feel that neither Dot nor I had a sixth of the total. Pleasant evening, ending at 11.40, when Des and Chris went home.
Yesterday, with the weather pretty chilly (as it is today) Heather and Simon came for lunch, but not before I had walked to Morrisons and got some last-minute food. Had a really nice time with them, and we ended by walking up with them to the Jeff Koons exhibition at the Castle, which ends today. On the whole, it was better than I thought it would be. Later Anne called round for tea and talk.
Today started with my leading the service, preaching and writing the prayers for Dot, who is feeling a bit under the weather. Afterwards she drove home while I went to a PV at Mandells Gallery by Kate Coleman and chatted with Martin Laurance (and Kate). To be honest, I’m not feeling 100% either, but thought I’d go to the Seagull tonight to round the week off! Dot is staying at home.
Line-up at Palmer Circle: Jackson, Oliver, Seth, Amy and Sophie.
Returned on Sunday from a fortnight in Canada, staying with the Murrays in Caledon – most of the time with Chrissy and her children, and all of the time with David, Oliver and Amy. Quite a strange time, really, in that we simply stayed at 88 Palmer Circle nearly the whole holiday and read books, plus playing a little croquet and badminton. The weather was mostly very hot, and the mosquitoes and other insects were biting.
My attempts to get Oliver and Amy to Niagara came to nothing, mainly because none of the three vehicles available could take seven people. Instead David, Chrissy and the children went into Toronto on the second Thursday (making use of the subway from Kipling), summited the CN Tower and visited the Aquarium. Roger and I assisted in the transportation to Kipling, both ways. The next day the Vanderkooy children departed, heading for camp somewhere up north.
Dot came to Kipling with us in the morning, and Roger took us to Glen Williams, a delightful little village with a cafe that served proper tea. There was also an art studio, glass-blowing and a river. We came home the pretty way, close by Forks of the Credit national park on the Niagara Escarpment, which we visited properly on the Saturday morning – yes, the day we came home.
Forks of the Credit sounds more like a financial institution than a national park, but it is in fact a beautiful stretch of wild land (the Credit is a river). We walked to near a waterfall and caught a glimpse of it, but the proper viewing platform was closed for safety reasons. On the way back, Dot and I took a short cut which no-one else believed was there (possibly excepting David and Oliver, who did the polite thing and stayed with their hosts) and got well ahead. A small but significant triumph.
Following this we went to Erin, where there was an excellent fish and chip shop, followed by a stop at Alton Mills Arts Centre, which was impressive. Beautifully landscaped and with good quality artists. Oliver, Dot and I got separated from the others and visited the mill race, which was spectacular, then stopped at the cafe, where Dot showed the assistant how to make tea.
Earlier in the week the girls went shopping at Don Mills shopping complex while the boys went to the Nottawasaga Inn Resort, where we played mini golf, table tennis and table hockey. We also went on various slot machines, and Oliver managed to obtain gifts for Amy and Sophie. We also had lunch in the restaurant, with which we were not very impressed, mainly because of the strangely tasting water. Good view, though.
Other than that our only outing was on Tuesday 27th – our wedding anniversary – to the Blu restaurant in Yorkville, Toronto, for an evening meal. This was excellent; even though we arrived quite late, the staff were very friendly and helpful (I think Roger’s brother Rob knew the waitress and had primed her). The food was first class, and we got an anniversary cake too! OK, the price we paid was very high (over $500) but for a special occasion it was worth it.
I almost forgot: we did have another couple of outings to buy food with David and Chrissy, and I took a couple of short walks, one of them with Dot. Chrissy also took us to the rail crossing on Mount Hope Road, because … well, because we wanted to go.
At Forks of the Credit
During the fortnight we read a number of books, mostly recommended by Barbara. They were: The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry, by Rachel Joyce; Proof of Heaven by Eben Alexander; A Constellation of Vital Phenomena by Anthony Marra; The Great Gatsby, by F Scott Fitzgerald; The Afterlife of Stars by Joseph Kertes; and two funny books by Nora Ephron – I Feel Bad about my Neck and I Remember Nothing.
The Joyce was brilliant, the Alexander intriguing ( a near-death experience), the Marra a complex but mainly good novel set in war-torn Chechnya, the Kertes a clever (sometimes too clever) novel of brothers escaping from Hungary, and the Fitzgerald classy.
I also wrote a few poems and walked into the pool with my iPhone in my pocket. Attempts to save it by putting it into rice proved futile, and yesterday I obtained a new iPhone 6 from O2. I had been planning to get one anyway; so I was not as distraught as I might have been.
The week was haunted by a guinea pig, which was resident in the girls’ room and which seemed to be causing serious allergy problems for Barbara. Fortunately, not for anyone else. She survived, but was clearly uncomfortable much of the time.
Barbara is writing a cookery book, and the first week consisted of meals that were destined for it – all of them delicious. On one occasion Chrissy’s friend Michelle, her children Jackson and Ryan and her parents (Lynn and Jim) came for lunch; and on another a couple of business colleagues – Rick and Shirley – with the addition of Rob Murray, who proved pleasant and entertaining but looked gaunt.
The journey both ways were largely uneventful. On the way there David had organised everything, and he and Chrissy were with us and the children. On the way back it was just us and the children. First problem was that Amy had to unwrap her present for her Mum at customs. This did not go down well, but she recovered. We distracted her agony by going to a restaurant in the airport that used iPads to order, and Oliver demonstrated his expertise. Good food too.
The flight was normal, but in England it was very warm, and we had difficulty finding the bus at first (I hadn’t noticed instructions were on the ticket). It was a long trip to the car park, via the North Terminal, but that was nothing compared to the journey from there to South Mimms, where Vicky was waiting. There were two accidents on the M23, holding us up, and the M25 was agonisingly slow: we came to a halt repeatedly. The children went to sleep until we speeded up nearer our destination.
Vicky, who had gone blonde, was cheerful despite her long wait, and we handed over successfully. Then we had quite a bit to eat in Starbuck’s, as well as drinks and drove home. I almost dozed off once, but was roused by rumble strips, and we paused for fresh air at the A11 Monument.
Happily our brown bin had been emptied, and although our parasol had been blown on to the bird bath, no damage resulted. We watched reruns of the Third Test, made do with minimal repast and went to bed about 10.30pm.
My talk to the CNS Old Boys on the Friday before our holiday went well after Dot dashed home to get a connector for the computer. The food at the White Horse in Trowse was also good, and the tour of the Norfolk Record Office that preceded it was excellent too. our journey to Gatwick was also fairly smooth, although after we were dropped by the APH bus at the airport we had a bit of a problem finding the hotel (there was a tunnel direct from the airport, but we didn’t know that). The room was OK, but we had trouble finding a small amount of food and eventually restored to a bar snack. The staff were all very friendly, though.
Since getting home we’ve been in a bit of a haze, but I had my glasses fixed after getting the iPhone 6, which I’m very pleased with. We’ve also unpacked, of course, been to the supermarket, had our hair cut by Linda (today) and sorted out stuff for the bins, including a particularly ugly food caddy.
I’ve also been to an Archant coffee morning, and Dot has been to see her Aunt Ethel, who is not at all well. Still not back in phase, and we have cake and compline tonight, though I’m not sure who’s coming.
My shoulders are much better, despite (or possibly because of) strenuous exercise in Scarborough. Still, I think I will go to see Sharon on Wednesday and see what she says.
Pre-Scarborough, we enjoyed a compline and cake evening at Howard and Anna’s with Vicky, Judy and the Archers, which was as convivial as regular readers (Dot and I ) would expect. This was followed by something almost as exciting – the Archant pensioners’ coffee morning, though the only editorial presence apart from myself were Robin and Shelagh. We had quite a long chat with Hazel, Alan’s widow.
Dot and I took the train to Scarborough, and the journey up there was very pleasant, with plenty of room in the trains and everything on time. The Evetts met us at the station at about 2.15pm, and after refreshments we walked into town from their flat by the high-level route, which we hadn’t done before, and after a snack in M&S (and purchase of wine and biscuits) got the No.7 bus back– our only casualty being a seagull bomb attack on Julia’s jacket.
The next day was pleasantly warm, and we walked in to town by way of the beach, stopping en route for tea/coffee at the Palm Court cafe and buying hats to protect us from the sun. After lunch at the Cafe Columbus it was suggested (I cannot say by whom) that we talk a ride on the speedboat advertised opposite. Julia demurred, but the rest of us went for it and found ourselves on the faster of the two vessels – the Rocket. It was an exciting ride round into North Bay and back: only ten minutes but pretty exhilarating, with plenty of up and down as well as side to side. Happily, we did not get wet.
Afterwards, we walked round the harbour and had an ice cream before walking back up into the town (quite a climb) to catch the bus home. Quite along wait for the bus on this occasion.
Friday dawned much duller and with a spot of rain to start with. However, that was not repeated and by the time we had driven to Cedar Barn, near Thornton le Dale, the sun was shining so much that our outdoor snack with Janet and John (not the famous literary drop, but friends of Julia and Dave) was eaten under considerable heat. Dot and I had a Sally Lunn (an agreeable kind of Yorkshire teacake).
After leaving J & J we travelled to Sutton Bank (just under 1000ft), where we took in the “finest view in England” (James Herriott) before undertaking quite a strenuous walk to the Kilburn White Horse. This landed us too close to said horse to see it clearly; so after returning to the visitors’ centre for refreshment we drove to Kilburn itself for a fine view of it, thence returning to Scarborough past Byland Abbey and through Ampleforth.
We returned to Norwich on Saturday, a windy but quite pleasant day. This journey was more trying as the trains were pretty full. On the first stretch to York we sat next to two young couples who disposed of two bottles of wine in 45 minutes; on the next stretch (after our own modest refreshment at Costa) our neighbours were sharing what appeared to be champagne and looking extremely guilty. On the final stretch we were adjacent to a woman who had left her “vital” valuables in a hotel safe and was making arrangements over the phone to retrieve them.
In the evening we had arranged to go to a performance by Adrian and Bridget Plass at the Central Baptist Church. We went with Judy and met the Archers there. The new vicar-elect was also present, with some St Luke’s members, and we were introduced to him. Janet and Graham of Montauroux fame were also there. Had the opportunity to chat with Adrian and Bridget and bought the new book. It was an excellent evening, extremely funny at times but also moving.
It was a rare Sunday, as I was neither leading nor preaching, and I managed to avoid falling asleep (we were still both very tired after the journey and Dot had proclaimed a “2” day – we are on a 5-2 diet. In the evening however we were invited in impromptu manner to the Hendersons’ for a drink and both had a glass of wine there. But I had only one crisp.
Today is very pleasant. We discovered an attempted break-in yesterday that had damaged the garage door at the back; so it was fortunate indeed that builder Colin was due to come today to look at a few jobs that needed doing. He arrived while I was in the bath; so I had to get out to speak to him. I then got back into the bath while Dot went to a meeting at Thorpe High School, and Colin came back again to remove the door handle for comparison purposes. So I had to get out of the bath again. What fun.
The best news of the week happened before we went to Scarborough. Dot visited the doctor to get the results of a blood test and was told she did not have diabetes, and the relevant readings were all down. A weight off our minds.
Heading off for Caddington later today, before staying the night there and then catching a flight to Nice for our holiday in Montauroux. Before that the piano tuner will arrive and do his stuff, no doubt reflecting simultaneously on the forthcoming Norwich v Ipswich playoffs and the SNP clean sweep of Scotland in the General Election. With a few votes still to be counted, the Conservatives have managed to get an overall majority – to everyone’s surprise. Resignations of Miliband, Clegg and Farage imminent. Resignations of a few pollsters would also be appropriate.
Our constituency, Norwich South, ousted Lib Dem Simon Wright and gave a huge majority to Labour. When we voted there was, for the first time in recorded memory, a queue at the polling station.
There were other big events this week. On Monday evening our band, Far Cry, performed at the Bicycle Shop cafe as part of Julian Week, and it all went pretty well, with some people from church (Carrie, Judy, Mary…) giving us moral support. Quite a nice number listening. Great to be able to sing my own songs to an actual audience who didn’t have to be there and weren’t performing themselves.
Emily and Lawrence helped us a lot, not least with street cred and the electrical stuff. Lawrence also recorded it, but was dubious about the sound quality. Between rehearsals and the actual event we had a light tapas meal upstairs, which was very good.
Next day we both went to the Archant coffee morning – together with Brian and Tricia and Maryta and Paul. Something of an EDP subs and spouses takeover. Robin had an eye appointment, so couldn’t make it.
The same day Naomi came to stay the night. Always nice to have her around: she had to see someone at UEA the next day; so she left around 12 and so did we, to hear a Julian talk at the library. Had some trouble finding where it was because they had switched it, which meant we were slightly late (and annoyed), but it was a good talk by Sheila Upjohn about how the Julian manuscript had survived in view of its “heretical” insistence that God loves us anyway. It involved some nuns in Cambrai and a few well-placed supporters.
Eleanor was in the audience; we had a chat afterwards.
Yesterday I went to see Paul, who thought I was someone named Kim (clearly my phone voice is not what it might be). I went mainly to ask him about a woman called Irene, but he couldn’t remember anything. However, while talking to Phil on the phone afterwards, it turned out that he did know an Irene, and it may turn out to be the woman Joy’s uncle was asking about (connected to Surrey Chapel way, way back). We shall see.
I was ringing Phil because he’s introduced me to a singer called Malcolm Guite, and I was giving him my reaction. He’s pretty good, actually.
Maddison and Darcy Beales on a visit to Aspland Road last week.
After a warm day yesterday (albeit with a slightly chilly breeze), today turned cooler again under a grey sky. Certain people say this is the hottest April on record, but I don’t know where they’re standing.
On Sunday I was preaching again, standing in for the rota person, who was hard-pressed. I was also leading the service (as per rota), and before that chairing the DCC agm in the absence of a vicar and the churchwarden, who is in Sri Lanka. The vicar-elect is in Marrakesh, but that’s another story. The DCC was pretty straightforward and no-one queried why Ian was standing down. No election was necessary, because all the gaps were filled, with Judy and Eleanor being new DCC members.
Afterwards we had a Far Cry rehearsal, which went fairly well.
On Monday I was up at the Forum by just after 10am for a PHS trustees’ meeting with Karen about the new bid (Discovering Paston Footprints). Went well up to a point, then degenerated into chaos as usual. Lucy has shingles, though this wasn’t known (even by her) until after the meeting.
A new private website has been created to get all the bid material together. I spent ages trying to access it and failing until it occurred to me this evening that my two websites (this one and back2sq1) are not WordPress.com sites but just built on WordPress software. Rang David to confirm this, and then I was able to reach the Paston/UEA site by pretending to create a new WordPress.com site. At least, I think that’s what I did.
Later on Monday Dot and I went to Morrisons, who were woefully understaffed on the tills, and in the evening to the cinema, which had a similar problem: tickets could be purchased only at the ice cream or popcorn counters. Wonderful. We saw The Water Diviner, which was very good, though quite gruesome in the war scenes (Gallipoli). Russell Crowe and Olga Kurylenko were excellent, as was Dylan Georgiades as Olga’s young son. Thought he must be Turkish (or Greek), but he’s actually Australian. Yilmaz Erdogan (a Kurd) was also good as the Turkish Major Hasam.
Yesterday Dot went to see Dr Dar, who said she was diabetic (blood count) but had no symptoms. She is going to be monitored at the moment and will probably have to have a pill to correct what appears to be a problem with the pancreas. Later we went to Poringland, where Dot had a violin practice with Janet Smith from the orchestra and I went for a long walk with her husband Graham, who has a train set in his back garden. They are coming to the South of France with us.
In the evening Vicky, Bridget and Judy came round for tea cakes and compline. David is in a bit of a bad way with his swallowing problem and had to be taken to A&E a couple of nights ago. This may turn out well because he now has to see a doctor and get it sorted out.
Today was the Archant agm, held this time at the Forum, where the buffet was not quite so good. However the new CEO, John Henry, gave a very good presentation and reacted well afterwards when Dot pointed out that the EDP had too many mistakes in it. During the meeting itself Maryta asked about demographics and was misunderstood. She also asked for a job, and this was understood. Robin was there, but not Brian, and apparently Bruce is in a bad way with a lung infection (possibly pleurisy).
Dot had to leave early in the buffet to go to Hopton for a school Ofsted feedback, but I hung around until the bitter end and had two glasses of white wine, which wasn’t bad.
An exceptionally busy week goes by, and the busyness continues. This afternoon I head for Mundesley for a Paston trustees’ meeting, and tomorrow I drive to Coventry to visit Andrew. Fortunately my health continues to improve. But back to the past…
Tuesday last week saw another Archant coffee morning, this one with the addition of Maryta, plus Brian Caldecott and Tricia. Clearly an EDP subs’ takeover is in the offing. Good to see Brian, who looked well although he isn’t (he has rheumatoid arthritis).
Saw Maryta again the next day, when the Hendersons took us on a North Norfolk trip, starting with a longish dog walk at Felbrigg Hall, where we saw frogs mating and enjoyed a light lunch, continuing at Beacon Hill (Roman Camp), where they lost the dog – sadly not permanently; it returned to Dot and me while they were off down the ravine looking for it – and on to Blakeney, where we had a shorter walk and then an excellent afternoon tea at the Blakeney Hotel, overlooking the marshes. Discovered to our surprise that the Hendersons had not been to Blakeney before: that’s what comes of living south of Norwich. Weather fine, with a chilly wind.
On Thursday Dot had a violin lesson with a friend from the orchestra and completely lost track of time, so that I had to ring her and remind her to come home and see Sam, Lucy and Elliott, who had dropped in during a short visit to Norwich. Elliott very smiley and crawly; Sam less so.
On Friday we were off to the north coast again, this time to visit Fred and Sue at Beeston Regis. We visited Cookie’s at Malthouse and the called at the Cley Wildlife centre, which has been much improved, despite being pretty good to start with. Our neighbours the Norfolk Wildlife Trust can’t be short of money. From the centre the marshes looked much more open; most of the trees had disappeared following the tidal surge.
On the way back to Beeston we stopped at Sheringham, where I had a delicious gooseberry ice cream and we watched a girl called Karen lovingly construct a message in stone on the beach to her boyfriend Len (we’re making several assumptions here). Back at Beeston we took a stroll along the beach, where I managed to lose the eyepiece to my binoculars. Again, a lovely dry day, but with a chilly wind in the evening. It even rained on our way home, but that was probably very localised.
On Saturday Dot spent most of the day (if not all of it) preparing for the visit of Chronicle and spouses (Rob, Penny, James, Ann) for an evening meal. This was supposed to include a discussion about the progress were were making on the next Chronicle project, but we had such an interesting discussion on other matters (some theological) that we never got to that. I will raise it today when I see Rob for lunch.
Yesterday I preached a bit, and Eleanor led a Holy Communion in her lovely understated way. Vicky came, as did Ruth and Steve, so we had four children in the congregation. We have discovered that the new vicar is gay, or if not exactly gay, unnecessarily happy. In the afternoon Richard came round with the delightful Maddy and Darcy, and we had an Easter egg hunt followed by other excitement and a certain amount of food. Norwich scored a last-minute goal to beat Bolton, which meant Dot was pretty happy too.
A series of tanka I wrote for Lent has been accepted for inclusion in the spring edition of the Atlas Poetica, published in America. Surprised and delighted.
I still have a bit of a cough, but am feeling considerably better most of the time. The meal a week ago at the Sugar Beat in Swainsthorpe with Julia and Allan was first class, and in a very pleasant setting. So nice, in fact, that we considered booking it for the visit of David and Kristine, but by the time I got round to it (worrying a bit about possible cancellations), there was no room at the inn.
Instead we were lucky to be able to book at the Norfolk Mead in Coltishall for Saturday night, and this turned out to be excellent. Again, the setting was superb, and the food was very good indeed, though I didn’t like their interpretation of an “Eaton” Mess. The service was also near-perfect and worth the extra expense. The place is now under new management and attracting a much bigger clientele than it used to.
Our weekend with the Coomes was beset by bad weather, but we managed to get up to the Cathedral on the Saturday afternoon, where we saw the very moving sculpture installation currently in residence, as pictured above. They are Ana Maria Pacheco’s Shadows of the Wanderer. Sculpture is not normally my thing, but this was sensational.
We lingered in the Cathedral out of the cold wind, listening to a rehearsal of St John’s Passion and visiting the shop, when we happened upon Mick and Gill Stedman, who must be around 80 but seemed very sprightly. We arranged for them to stay with us in September.
On the Sunday David and Kristine came to church with us as usual, where by some mishandling of the rota, I was down to preach. I managed to get through without David heckling, though Adrian did interrupt to ask who Ruth was. Actually it all went pretty well, and we returned home for one of Dot’s special salads with blueberries and chicken. Some furious squalls of rain and wind during the afternoon, but by the time they left things were improving, and their journey home went pretty well.
Yesterday I remembered just in time to go to the Requiem Mass for Alan Atherton at St George’s Church on Sprowston Road. Huge turnout. I entered with Mike Pollitt and sat with the Limmers, but many others from Archant were there. Afterwards I had quite a chat with Gerald Nunn, then with others from the former copy-taking pool, the ex-librarians – Frances, a couple of Pats and a couple of others whose names I’ve forgotten. Also there were Eric from the stone; Patrick, a Mercury sub; plus Ann Crane, Bob Easter and Johnny Hustler, who surprisingly gave one of the eulogies.
Just before I left Philip arrived to park his car while he went over to the station and bought a ticket for his upcoming visit to Sam’s (actually for the journey back, because he will be travelling down with Sam). On Friday I had given Joy a lift to the dentist’s and back, shortly before Linda came round to cut our hair. What a social whirl 🙂
Dot has been quite busy. Yesterday she spent most of the day at Barbara’s preparing for upcoming events, including the university one at the end of next month. Click here. On Thursday she was at the Cathedral for a very good head teachers’ conference.
On Thursday last week we had a short-notice and very welcome visit from David and the children. They stayed overnight, and we had some fireworks in the garden – though not too many, because we realised that several of them required you to be 15 metres away, and our garden is not that big. So David took some home with him. We lit a fire in the chimenia and some candles and had a generally good time. It wasn’t too cold. Dot cooked some jacket potatoes and chicken drumsticks, plus a chocolate pudding thing.
