Tag Archives: cold

Speculation about past

4 November 2014Uncategorizedancestors, angela, cold, creation, evolution, fossils, jessie, roger, sam and lucyTim Lenton

Julia, Dot and friend in the Higbees' garden. — Julia, Dot and friend in the Higbees’ garden.

Right on schedule, the weather has turned wintry: it is, after all, Bonfire Night tomorrow. Happily the cold conversion was preceded by some unseasonably mild weather, during which Dot and did some tidying up in the garden. But yesterday I ventured into the city with some cheques (accompanied by Dot on a different mission to Dipples and Jarrolds) and a very dark sky presented us with some unpleasantly chilly drizzle.

Ah well: all good things come to an end, they say, and I have also come to the end of my Find-my-Past credits. They warned me their time was running out, so I had a blitz, during which I discovered some stuff about my cousin Brenda, who turned out to be older than I thought, and then a little about my grandmother’s family. I have now decided to abdicate from FMP and stick to Genes Reunited, where I have my Family Tree.

Further speculation about the past occurred last week, when Dot and I went with Judy to a talk at the Quaker Meeting House on fossil evidence for the Flood and a young Earth. It was interesting enough to get Judy and me to a debate two nights later (Friday) at the same place, where the original speaker debated with a vicar who championed Evolution. I had some sympathy with the former speaker, but I don’t think he quite understood that the Bible wasn’t written in English and that references to well known figures could be to legend rather then history. The other guy was more appealing but his dependence on statistics and consensus was not terribly convincing. As always, they didn’t really answer each other’s points.

Why was Dot not present at the debate? She had a ticket to watch Norwich City beat Bolton, about which there was no dispute.

Between these ventures into the past Dot and I had a meal with Angela and Rodney at Prezzo’s, who were understaffed and hard pressed. Still, the meal was nice enough, and it was a pleasant evening, catching up on Auntie Ethel’s latest confusions.

On Sunday, in the absence of Nicholas, en route to Aspen, I led a joint service at the hall. This was because St Luke’s had given the day over to a kind of installation in which people read from the Bible for 24 hours and there was a brazier outside (not sure why). After the service Dot and I went along to hear Judy read from one of Peter’s letters. Our service had 14 Augustinians joined by ten from St Luke’s, and Howard speaking on All Souls, All Saints and Hallowe’en, and suggesting we should pay more attention to All Saints Day.

In the afternoon Dot and I visited Jessie after calling in at a gloomy cemetery to drop off flowers – almost literally, as there was not much space for parking and we were late for Mason Villa. Roger was also with Jessie, and I talked to him quite a bit about his recent America trip and about the flow and power of showers. Nice afternoon. Sad news from Phil about Sam and Lucy, who is still very unwell. Phil and Joy have just spent two weeks with them.

Cold, cold, cold – and that’s just indoors

3 February 2011Uncategorizedboiler, central heating, coldTim Lenton

dotice — Dot surveys a spectacular icefall in the Goyt Valley last weekend

Beginning to get a true appreciation of what it is like to feel cold. Our central heating has now been off for 48 hours, and as the fault is in the boiler, we have no hot water either. The engineer came at lunchtime yesterday and diagnosed a broken fan, but needless to say he did not “have one on the van” (man, van, no fan), so said he would return at 3.30pm today – about 15 minutes ago, in fact. No sign as yet, and no comforting phone call to say he’s on the way. We have had an open fire going in the lounge and, since this morning, a fan heater in my study, but nothing can disguise the fact that the house is, on average, very, very cold. I have five layers on, and Dot has gone to the shops. I would quite like to go out for a walk, because it’s a beautiful day (though cold), but I have to wait for the British Gas man with van and fan.

Yesterday, after the engineer’s visit, we went to the cinema to see Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1, which was pretty good actually, and the cinema was warm. Not the sort of film I would want my grandchildren to see. They would be totally terrified, but I was only mildly frightened. Besides, it was warm. We locked ourselves in the lounge for the rest of the evening and watched TV. I know doing something physical would have made more sense, but somehow being cold puts you off doing anything constructive. I suppose it’s like wanting to lie down when you have hypothermia, though we have not quite reached that stage yet.

The heating failed before the Tuesday Group came round, but happily the house had not lost much heat by that time, and we were relatively comfortable. Just as well, because the group included George Myers, aged about six weeks, who had some unusual theological and prophetic insights but is a bit sensitive on environmental issues.

One good thing: I am now feeling quite a lot better and am hoping that whatever it was has gone away permanently, rather than slipped off for reinforcements. Dot still has some back pain and visiting the chiropractor twice a week. On Monday I managed another win at chess after trying an unusual gambit – knocking my opponent’s drink over while he was out of the room, and having to clear up the broken glass while he tried to concentrate on the game. Fortunately he is a nice bloke, and I stopped his clock for a while, so he wasn’t abusive when I won.

Biting wind, hidden snow

2 December 2010Uncategorizedcold, pizza, snowTim Lenton

Jo Stone

Strange week so far. Unusually cold weather, partly because of a sharp east wind over the last couple of days. Not so much snow as expected, but plenty in other parts of the country. Haven’t been out much; Dot has been driving my car to various appointments. I took her to get her blood tested on Tuesday, and driving was fairly straightforward, though side roads were slidey with slush.

Today she went to the shops at Longwater and came back with armfuls of presents, though not the table coverings she went for (on order). I was meanwhile meeting Sue Moore and Jo Stone at Pizza Express in the Forum: as one of them came from near King’s Lynn and the other from Sheringham, I was surprised they made it, but we had a good chat about times past and present. On emerging just after 3pm I was so frozen by the biting wind that I didn’t call in at the shops as planned, but hastened home. Even indoors it was hard to warm up.

Hoping the wind is behind them

1 April 2010Uncategorizedcold, drama, snowTim Lenton

snow in ontario — Flashback: not the A93, but snow in Palmer Circle, Ontario, last month.

Spent much of the morning editing my most recent pictures, so that they look as good as they can when viewed on Apple TV later today. Yes, son and grandchildren are due to arrive this afternoon. I hope the wind is behind them, because I just got frozen taking some of Dot’s shoes into the city to be repaired. No problem on the way back. I got a hint of the iciness of the wind when I opened the door to the window cleaner at lunchtime and took several steps backwards. Glad to see the recyclists have braved the wind and emptied our brown bin. Nothing to grumble about really: the A93 between Ballater and Braemar is blocked by snow, which is very hard to believe: it is pretty much flat, though not at sea level, of course.

Dot is doing a school inspection today, and it’s 50-50 whether she gets home before David arrives. Yesterday we had our house alarm serviced, and I’ve changed the code so that I can’t get in. Sorry, that should read “so that other people can’t get in”, but I have already put the wrong code in three times. Dot was feeling pretty ropey yesterday until she had a glass of wine, when she suddenly felt better. That was after we’d done a mammoth shop at Morrison’s and she’d spent most of the day working on DSSO stuff and preparing for the inspection.

Wrote a couple of new, shorter Umbrage pieces and sent them to Anne to see if they would be any good for parish pump, but I haven’t heard from her yet. Last time she e-mailed she was not at all well, so perhaps she’s taking a break. Have also prepared the service on Sunday and led the meeting at Ed’s on Tuesday; so I’ve been reasonably busy. I have ideas for three more poems, but they’re just ideas at the moment.

Have now seen the last episode of Married, Single, Other, which is one of the best drama series I’ve discovered on TV for a long time. Beautifully written, acted and directed. Either the director or the actors knew exactly how to put the lines over, which means the writer was very lucky, or very good at telling them what was needed. Lucy Davies was superb, but so were all the others, including the lovely Miranda Raison, ex-Spooks and Norfolk-born. I hope there’s a second series: pity Lucy won’t be in it, unless it suddenly becomes supernatural or has lots of flashbacks.

Across the park

22 December 2009Uncategorizedcarol, cold, Sam, snowTim Lenton

Aspland Road after the true grit treatment. Car in drive, stage left.

Weather still very wintry, but nowhere near as bad as at Caddington – to pick a village at random – where the snow has been deep and the power off. On Sunday we inched down the icy road to make it to church for the alternative carol service. Surprisingly large congregation: Ruth made it from Hethersett just in time to read my long poem, which she did beautifully, and Dot and Matt made a great job of the dramatic interlude. The music sounded pretty good too: Emily guested on violin, and Matt brought a small accordion. Amazing: I had been intending to do the blessing after Communion and found a Christmas prayer by Robert Louis Stevenson that I was going to use. However, Nicholas went straight into the blessing, using – unbelievably – the same prayer. It’s not well known; I just came across it on the Internet the same day. Spooky. Nice meal afterwards: Vicky and Jared excelled themselves, despite Vicky being under the weather. Took Anne Travis home, then despite going the long way round to get a run at the slope, failed again to reach the critical point and had to park at the bottom. So more grit-spreading etc on Monday morning, which freed the road enough for me to get the car to the driveway again. All this exercise ought to be good for me. I walked into the city to buy a few presents, mainly books, but then relaxed fairly thoroughly. Missed the Christmas chess event. Too risky.

Today made a fairly early start. Got the bus up to Eaton Park and delivered Paul’s Christmas card, then walked across the park to George Borrow Road to deliver Sylvia and Jack’s. As I was putting it through the door, the Number 35 bus pulled up opposite and I was able to get it back to the city centre, once we’d made it past a big traffic jam by the RC Cathedral. Walked through to the Forum in case any ice sculptures remained. They didn’t. On to Jarrolds, for bin bags (very Christmassy), and another book from the new independent bookshop, the Book Hive. This time for Philip. Think I have all the presents now. Dot is busy wrapping as I write. She loves doing it, and I’m no good at it.

Made brave attempt to fix the shredder, but suspect the motor has gone. Did manage to put the alarm clock together after it had fallen apart – which certainly impressed me – and also repaired a tiny chess rook which had got smashed in the bathroom. It would be better if tiny chess pieces didn’t drink – they can’t handle it. Then Michael came and fixed a plug and a cistern, so it was clearly a mending day. Meanwhile, Dot had gone shopping – mainly for Amy. I walked to Morrisons to get food for tonight’s Tuesday Group. Turning quite nippy again. Heather S rang to say her son Sam had been very ill for quite a while, with flu followed by pneumonia, necessitating several trips to the hospital. Happily he is now recovering, but it has been a difficult time for them.

Stranded cars

19 December 2009Uncategorizedcold, Nabokov, pensioners, snowTim Lenton

Our two cars in their overnight slot before my attempts to dismantle the road.

Cold, cold, cold. Just back from Morrisons, where we ran into a crowd of Norwich supporters en route to the game against Huddersfield. Another first for BBC Look East, who listed the fixture as an away game last night – so that was nearly right. Pavements not too bad on the way there, but much icier on the way back. Managed to stay upright, however. Might be tricky for homegoing supporters. Quite a pleasant day, other than the cold, with mainly bright skies. Spent most of the morning retrieving our two cars from the bottom of the hill, where we’d had to park them last night after a lot of slipping and sliding. Took a spade and chipped some icy snow away to make some clearish ground for my car to make it to the top, but Dot’s MX5 was much more difficult, as it has rear-wheel drive, and the back end kept threatening to slip away. Linda arrived to cut our hair and made it to the top, encouraged by me from a strategic spot at the bottom! While she was doing Dot’s hair, I spread some sand on the road from the store at the top, using a spade and our brown bin as an improvised wheelbarrow. I also cut some more ice away. By the time she’d left, the sand had caused some ice to disappear, and there was also a slight, short thaw. As a result, my next attempt to reach the top – after Linda had left – was successful. The MX5 is now in the garage, and my car is in the drive, ready to slide down on its way to church tomorrow. During all this I chatted to Michael and to the family from number 11, as well as waving to Ellie at her bedroom window. She told me she’d made a snowman yesterday, and I think I spotted it up in the Old Library Park on the way back from the post office. Also helped a guy in a van to get out of the bottom of the road, with some use of the spade and a certain amount of traffic direction.

Yesterday was also cold and saw a lot of snow. However, Dot decided to go on her planned trip to Park Farm, Attleborough and Hethersett, which she completed successfully until she reached the bottom of the road: then, while parking the car on ice, she scraped the wheel that she’d just had refurbished. Not a happy bunny. I went to the Archant Pensioners’ Lunch at the Holiday Inn by the airport, though not everyone made it. Frances rang to say it was snowing hard at Cromer, and she didn’t make the trip, though Su Edgeler made it from Bacton on crutches. Well, not all the way on crutches. She did use a car. Sat with her and Robin and a group of ex-printers; we were joined by the current head of Archant Print, and all the printers had a go at him about the mistakes in the EDP. He took it very well. Had a chat with the new editor and others including David Paull, the input pool, Peter March, Alan Atherton, John Barlow from the stone, Ian Cunningham, Tony the ex-chief photographer, Ray Church, the guy from Surrey Chapel and Frances Pearce. Plus others. Signs of some cutting back: very small sherry to start and only one glass of wine, though that suited me fine. Meal was very pleasant Christmas fare, and there was a supplementary mince pie. Well staffed and organised. On the whole I preferred it to the previous venue. No sign of Brian or Bruce, however. Bruce has just been in hospital, but Brian’s status remains a mystery. We got a Christmas card from him and Tricia, but he shows no sign of emerging. I dropped off a Christmas card at his house afterwards. As usual, no reply to the doorbell.

The snow started on Thursday, when Sharon came for lunch, arriving mid-morning during a brief blizzard. Had a good time, featuring a variation on my chili con carne, using chick peas, which seemed to go down well. Dot took Sharon home (the snow had eased), chanced on Denise and elicited an invitation for Christmas Eve drinks, and went to Morrisons afterwards to pick up a cake for the evening, when we managed to reach church for a get-together for members of the various groups after picking up Matt from Lakenham, where it seemed to be snowing harder than it was our side of the city. Weather not at all good, but about 20 turned up for a bring-and-share, and we ended with a recital of various Christmas poems. Not one of the great evenings, but reasonably pleasant.

Have finished reading The Defense by Vladimir Nabokov. Beautiful writer: there’s a fantastic comic description of two guys making their way home from a very jolly evening and finding the protagonist, Luzhin, sitting on the pavement. As I write, Norwich and Huddersfield are drawing 0-0, and play has just finished in the South Africa test. No, wait, Hoolahan has just scored. Can Norwich hold on? England, 352 behind, look likely to lose, but you never know. (Norwich 3-0 Huddersfield – result)

12 November 2008

12 November 2008Uncategorizedchess, cold, leavesTim Lenton

A surreal sign in the dunes at Winterton.

I managed to win my chess game on Monday night, and the team won 5-1. I gave Jonathan Wells a lift home afterwards. I’ve known him since he was a schoolboy player thousands of years ago. He is now very strong and plays on top board for North Norfolk, though he lost on Monday. My game on Board 5 against Peter Hodkinson ( I was White) went like this: 1 c4 c5 2 g3 g6 3 Bg2 Bg7 4 Nc3 Nc6 5 Nf3 Nf6 6 d4 cd 7 Nxd4 0-0 8 0-0 a6 9 e3 e6 10 b3 Qa5 11 Bd2 Qc7 12 Rc1 d6 13 Qe2 Bd7 14 Rfd1 Rfe8 15 Be1 Rad8 16 b4! Nxb4 17 Ncb5 ab 18 cb Qb6 (if Qa5, Bxb7 and the knight cannot be saved) 19 Bxb4 d5 20 a4 Rc8 21 a5 Qa7 22 Nb3 Bf8 23 Bc3! Nh5 24 Bd4 Qb8 25 Nc5 Bxc5 26 Bxc5 Ng7 27 Qb2 Nf5 28 e4 Ne7 29 Qf6 Rxc5 (if Kf8, Qh8 is mate, and White was also threatening Bd4) 30 Rxc5 Qd6 31 Rcc1 Bxb5 32 ed Bd7 33 de Qxe6 34 Qxe6 Bxe6 35 Bxb7 1-0 With the exchange up and the a-pawn about to queen, White wins easily.

Yesterday I wasn’t feeling too good – couldn’t get warm – but while Barbara and Dot were in in-depth discussion about Philosophy4Children I drove down to Bally and picked up the two pictures I’d bought from Rupert: one of his own and one of his mother’s. In doing this I discovered it actually was very cold, which made me feel a bit better, especially after we lit a fire when I got home. Before that I called in at Morrisons to pick up food for the evening meal – for which we had six, including us.

Today I felt quite a lot better. We had our hair cut by Linda in the morning, and then Dot went into the city to meet Carrie while I filled our garden waste bin with leaves. Surprisingly I felt OK after this.

4 March 2008

4 March 2008Uncategorizedamy, chess, cold, goat, grave, nurse, oliverTim Lenton

Granddaughter Amy turns on the charm – something she’s extremely good at. Meanwhile her brother Oliver has learned to swim underwater. I personally have no problem getting under water, but I can’t swim there. I can sink quite well. Oliver has also started e-mailing us, so it’s clearly just a question of time before he has his own website.

Dot has pretty much finished the living room, and all the pictures have been rearranged, because some of the frames didn’t suit the new paint. All looks good, I have to say. We’re just back from the city, where we ordered new insides for our sofa cushions to try to stop them falling forward. I wonder if I would stop falling forward if I had new insides. We also put some money in Dot’s ISA, so of course we got the hard sell about switching to an online one. I really can’t be bothered arguing any more, so we’re going to do that. Needless to say, we’ve heard nothing from the insurance company. What would it take to get them to react? A pile of manure on their doorstep? No, I’m not going to do that. Oh, I don’t know. It’s an idea.

Bought some food from M&S and then had a look at some lights in John Lewis. Weather is very cold and windy, as it was on Sunday (Mother’s Day), when we went to North Walsham cemetery and also to the Rosary, where we found that my parents’ grave had been totally refurbished, with a new headstone and words. Looks really terrific. I haven’t had the bill yet.

It was cold yesterday too, when I played for my club’s A team at The Goat, Skeyton, which is so in the middle of nowhere that I suspect the home team were hoping to pick up a few points from defaults when opposing players couldn’t find it. Well, we all found it (I know it well, of course), but we might as well not have done because only our captain managed to avoid losing. I played weakly again after my momentary resurgence in February.

Saw the nurse again this morning, who repeated her usual mantra that my blood pressure was just below the level where they would start prescribing things. I’m amazed it’s not higher after this last week, but even if they do prescribe things, I have no intention of taking them.
Instead I have an olive oil spray to get rid of some of the wax in my ears. How romantic is that?

I’ve submitted a couple of poems and short piece of fiction for the Fish competitions. I think the piece of fiction is really quite good, so it clearly has no chance. That’s the way competitions work.

20 December 2006

20 December 2006UncategorizedcoldTim Lenton

Not quite as obviously wintry as this yet, but very cold today. I doubt whether it scraped above freezing. Apparently high pressure is stable over the country for several days to come. No snow, but fog out of the city, and over the country as whole. Heathrow was closed today, and it’s possible the fog may stick around for some days. Ideally, we would like it to lift on Christmas Eve: others may prefer it to go earlier. This picture was taken in 2004.

I had my hair cut today so that I could feel the cold on my head properly. Dot drove down to North Suffolk to truly appreciate the fog. Both of us survived – so far.

Time after time

I'm trying to trace a few ancestors, to check if I really exist, and if so, who is to blame.