Tag Archives: curry

Funeral of Peter Beales gets TV coverage

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Signs of spring in the Rosary today

Rather a lot going on at the moment, which explains my lack of posting. Dot took quite a while to recover from her cold after Buxton, and she still has a bit of a cough, as have I. Feel more or less all right, though, especially as I’ve just booked a fortnight in Ballater at a house called The Coyles in Golf Road, just round the corner from the legendary wee house.

Today is a lovely winter’s day, with blue sky and not really cold after an initial frost. I walked up to the Rosary for about half an hour, under doctor’s orders. He took my blood pressure last Wednesday and pronounced it too high. I declined his offer of more pills, and he gave me a month to show some progress. Have booked an appointment online for March 15. It was the only one available.

Took Phil to the doctor’s last Thursday, and after returning him home and calling on the vicar with cheques, took the car in for servicing, which came out at an unexpectedly high £400. Walked home (of course), but Dot drove me up to fetch it at tea time.

The service included cleaning the car, which was fortuitous, as the following day was Peter Beales’ funeral, which was big enough to make it on to TV as well as into the newspapers. Dot and I drove to the nursery and took advantage of the coach into town to avoid problems with parking. Fortunately seats were reserved at the front of the church for us (as family), and I managed to keep three chairs plus a wheelchair space for Angela, Rodney, Vicki and A Ethel. The latter survived the whole thing remarkably well, even when the lock to her bungalow jammed when we took her home, and we were stuck outside in the cold for about quarter of an hour waiting for the warden.

She had been taken to the church by a specially adapted taxi with R, A and V, and she also came to the refreshments in the nursery bistro, which coped splendidly with about 200 people. She got lots of attention, and it was a nice occasion. Richard and Mandy both gave good tributes (read by the vicar), and the service featured the Shipping Forecast, by special request of Peter. No-one knows why, but it certainly got people’s attention.

The taxi did the same return journey with Angela & Co, but we met them at A Ethel’s, which is how we came to be involved in the jammed lock situation. After we go tin and they left we stayed with A Ethel for a while, but she was nowhere near as badly affected as we thought she might be. Ironically (I suppose) I received an e-mail while we were there telling me that our friend Jan Miller had died of cancer at the age of 64. Totally unexpected; we had no idea she was ill.

On Saturday we had booked to go to a Riding Lights performance at Lowestoft, but the tickets never turned up, and Dot was coughing quite badly, so we decided to give it a miss instead of ringing up and demanding action. Not very good on their part, though, especially as when I originally tried to book, their website malfunctioned. Spent most of the day finishing off my sermon on Jesus’ temptations, which I delivered on Sunday, of course.

On Sunday evening we met Heather, Simon and Sam at the King’s Head and progressed to the Ali Tandoori for our usual Indian meal. Miraculously, Dot did not cough while eating, though she did have quite a lot of red wine. Had a really good evening: we get on very well with them. Pity they will soon be going to Bournemouth: Heather has a job at the university there (she is already commuting) and Simon is looking for one in the area. Sam is due to go to Chester University next year, and his band, The Upgrade, is playing at the Waterfront next month.

Monday afternoon saw another Paston event: a cafe conversation led by Elizabeth McDonald at the White Lion Cafe. About a dozen took part, and it went well: I was able to make some contributions. Kay Riggs was there, as was Adrian Ward, which was nice. In the afternoon Dot and I did a mammoth shop at the supermarket and ran into Barbara Vidion, which was also nice.

Drama, rain and confusion

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End of the road at Happisburgh

I know I keep going on about this, but it’s still raining, and the forecast for the rest of the week is about as wet as it can be. I wouldn’t mind if it was going to have any impact at all on the drought, but of course it isn’t. Don’t you just love water companies? On the plus side, there’s just a remote possibility that the weather might have got it all out of its system by the time we go to Scotland. Or more likely, it will have no effect on it whatsoever.

While our pitch-and-putt was rained off last Wednesday, Dot and I beat the Robinsons at table tennis, 3-2, 3-2. Not bad, since we were losing 3-0 in the second series. The next day we had the Greens round, but somehow table tennis didn’t crop up, and we spent the whole evening at the dining table devouring an excellent curry and other goodies provided by Dot.

On Friday it was curry again – this time with Heather, Sam and Simon at a rather upmarket curry house called the Merchants of Spice in Colegate. I know it was in Colegate, because it used to be called the Merchants of Colegate, before it suddenly became Asian. Delicious meal, preceded by drinks at the Playhouse. Exceptionally convivial evening.

The drama continued on Saturday, when we went to the Maddermarket to see Present Laughter by Noel Coward. Not the most brilliant play I’ve seen, but a bravura performance by the lead actor, and some nice performances elsewhere too.

More drama on Sunday, when after I preached the sermon at St Augustine’s one of  our occasional visitors arrived and promptly collapsed. He has mental health problems, but in this instance he also had stomach pains, so one of our congregation phoned 999, and eventually we got the attention of a very pleasant paramedic on a bike. Unfortunately I had to go out and guide him in, which meant I got wet because – astonishingly – it was raining. Eventually said member of congregation drove him to a drop-in centre (the ill man, not the paramedic) – at which point, I was told later, he took fright and walked off.

Today Dot has been observing at a school in the east where they are choosing a new head teacher. She arrived home tired and then had to prepare for the next couple of days, involving more observation and then a visit to Thames Ditton for a P4C session (staying overnight). Meanwhile I was having a Chronicle meeting with Rob and Caroline, trying to unravel the confusion Lucy has inserted into what was going to be a pretty straightforward concert at St Peter Hungate. More on that story later.

Fish, chips and curry

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Walking meditation

Just back from a brief visit to the chess club. I had been due to play a Bulgarian (Yosif) in the club tournament, but he rang to say he couldn’t make it. However, I was second reserve in our cup team, so I thought I’d better put in an appearance. Had a quick offhand game, then CP put in an appearance and said he was “fighting off flu”, which I guess is OK if you’re particularly self-centred. I turned down an offer to play him and his flu army, and returned home.

Quite relieved at not having to play, actually, as I’ve had a busy day catching up and preparing stuff to take to Coventry tomorrow for an interview with a woman from the council finance department. Andrew has just reached the stage where his money has reduced to such an extent that the council will have to pay his residential fees, and this has to be discussed. I also had to summarise some Board minutes for HG as well as fill in a Gift Aid form for church. And so on.

The catching up arose because Dot and I spent a couple of days assisting at a speaker event. The visitor this time was Fr Robert Kennedy from New York, who has some interesting ideas on zen and Christianity. Some of these ideas prompted me to write some poems, which got read out on the second day, but generally he was a little too radical for me, seeming unwilling to commit himself to anything, which I suppose is very zen. It clearly worked for him (and for some others) but not for me, despite the poetry. The poetry worked OK. The first-day weather was beautiful, which was fortunate because part of his “thing” was walking meditation, in which the entire audience (about 100) processed around the car park in Japanese style. On the second day it rained, and the walking meditation ended up indoors, which was a bit crowded. To be honest it all looked a bit silly, but I guess that’s a failure of imagination on my part.

The weather had also turned colder again, and it was still cold on Sunday – but dry, which was fortunate as we had to walk up to Magdalen Street to meet Heather, Sam and Simon with their friends Luke and Jenny. After a beer in the King’s Head we proceeded to the Ali Tandoori as usual for a curry. I was a bit nervous about this, as some unexpected fish and chips the previous night (first for ages) had given me a very bad night with acid reflux. But the curry worked out all right, perhaps because I took an extra pill. Or maybe I didn’t take the first pill. Who knows?

Had a very jolly time at Ali’s, ending with a sambuca. Luke and Jenny are moving to Loughborough, so it may be the last time we see them. However, I am now following Jenny on Twitter. The curry was in celebration of Sam’s 17th birthday and is becoming traditional. Hope his grandfather, with whom I went to university and played golf on Wimbledon Common, would approve.

Getting back to last Thursday, my dental appointment for crown preparation went surprisingly well. No pain, just rather lengthy discomfort – especially when taking the impression. No problems since with the temporary crown, despite my partaking enthusiastically of the sandwiches the same evening at the Ship Inn, Mundesley, venue for the Paston Heritage Society’s agm. Quite a pleasant evening. Chatted with Rob and Penny Knee for a while, and with others for a bit less of a while. We are getting to be almost regulars at the Ship Inn.

Missing the private views

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Loft boards unloaded from the lorry and waiting to be fitted

Friday was bitterly cold, so we gave a miss to two open studio private views: Annette’s at Diss, and Rupert and Martin’s at their new home above Fitt Signs in St Augustine’s. We hardly stirred, in fact, but we did make it to Fitt Signs on Sunday after Morning Worship (it’s about 100 yards from the church) and found the dynamic duo in good form: spent some time talking to them and so gave the other two studios in the building a miss. Bought a few small things. St Augustine’s has at last, after many months, reopened to traffic, which is pretty exciting. To be more accurate, not at all pretty and only mildly exciting, but it doesn’t take much… Still lots of work going on in the vicinity, and I’ve no doubt there will be for many, many months.

On Saturday we had been invited to the Kibbles’ for evening meal: had a very good time, with the conversation registering a high number of words per kilo. Rod is pretty intellectual in a nice way and tells a good story: Val knew several people I used to know in my youth at Surrey Chapel, as well as several others (different ones) that Dot still knows in the educational world: so plenty of fuel there.

Our main meal on Sunday was taken care of too: one of our regular visits with Heather, Simon and Sam to the Ali Tandoori for curry, after a brief foray into the King’s Head, where we ran into artist Martin Laurance again and Dot claimed to be stalking him, to the apparent consternation – or was it bemusement? – of the two women he was with. Good meal and even better service at the Ali, where the staff treat Heather – and therefore the rest of us – like one of the family. Excellent conversation again, but I got acid reflux afterwards. Interestingly, it was exactly the same meal and the same result as last weekend. Must be very sensitive to something in it. Pity.

Don’t think I’ve mentioned that we now have a VHS player/recorder: a Christmas present from Dot and me to ourselves. Have played bits of one or two old tapes – one of them a film I took when I borrowed Derek’s camcorder and filmed extensively on our first visit to Scotland, plus a bit on our return, featuring several relatives and our son! More excitement: the skirting board man (who Dot taught, if you remember) came on Saturday and fitted out the living room – an excellent job, as far as I can see, and very reasonable. Then today Colin came and put some boards down in the loft: he’s finishing off tomorrow. Another guy who’s very thorough and, as a big plus, didn’t fall through the ceiling.

Dot and I popped into the city around lunchtime to do a bit of shopping and exchange a sweater, and we somehow ended up in Jarrold cafeteria. Don’t know how that happened. Had a scone. Am rather concerned because I’ve started putting on weight again; so I shall be watching what I eat for the next couple of weeks, before succumbing to Christmas. Well, you can’t watch what you eat over Christmas.

It’s still very cold, with a sprinkling of snow overnight and a lingering mist today. But much easier to walk around in that it was last Saturday, when the temperature was actually higher. Thass a mystery, as we say in Norfolk. On the way home from the curry restaurant on Sunday we thought we saw smoke and flames coming from the Cathedral, but it was just mist lit up by the floodlights. I hope.

Heady feeling

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Another picture from Lisa's party, with daughter Blossom bemused by her large portion of pizza. Or more accurately, the large plate of pizza that had inadvertently been placed in front of her.
Another picture from Lisa's party, with daughter Blossom bemused by her large portion of pizza. Or more accurately, the large plate of pizza that had inadvertently been placed in front of her.

Strange heady feeling at the moment. This could be down to some sort of virus, or the fact that I won a chess game this morning in 17 moves. I was playing Andy Pandian (oh yes I was), who was kind enough to come round to my house to play a much-postponed club knockout game. After a fairly innocuous opening he allowed a winning pawn sacrifice. In fact it was so winning that it wasn’t even a sacrifice.

After 13 f6, White must win a piece.
After 13 f6, White must win a piece.

Quite a relief after a series of long games, most of them lost, like the one yesterday against William Boulton of Norfolk & Norwich club, who is a really top-rate junior. Good game, but he had the edge almost all the time. One of my recent games has been annotated by our star annotator Mike Read, for inclusion in the January edition of En Passant, the Norfolk chess magazine. He is very complimentary, but as I suspected, I missed a couple of things. Using “couple” in a rather loose sense.

Spent most of Sunday recovering from Saturday’s lunch, but then had a date with a curry on Magdalen Street. With the curry came Heather, Simon and Sam – Heather with a new dark-haired look, as well as a new no-smoking lifestyle, and a new intention to move in with Simon. Sam is very pleased with this, as it means he gets a larger room. They all go very well together. Good curry, too, at Ali Tandoori, where the waiters quickly become personal friends, which is sort of extremely nice and rather over-the-top at the same time. Had my usual Biryani, which was as usual good. Not much to eat at all yesterday. Caught up on phone calls, in-tray etc.

Dot is now off to see Barbara, leaving me to organise tonight’s Tuesday Group meal, which will be quite fun and extremely straightforward. When it comes to meals I only do straightforward. I may be earning a little money again soon. Three of my poems have been bought for a website, and a teacher has offered me a fee to go in and talk about poetry. I am also planning a course for church magazine editors with Anne Coomes, who runs the website in question. This will not be paid for initially but could lead to some income later. Dot’s accountant was round here yesterday finalising her accounts for the year. His daughter has written a book, and I was able to direct her to the right place to get some publicity in the EDP. I hope.

Weather is slightly warmer than yesterday, but very cloudy, in an anticyclonic sort of way.

30 March 2008

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Yesterday we swapped the new sidelights for the sitting room, which had proved to clash with the new paint, and decided to go for a walk. Earlier it had been bright and promising, but by the time we reached Hemsby it had grown rather dull, and it was very windy. We negotiated quite deep water at the entrance to the car park and then walked along the valley and up into the dunes, where I took this picture with my mobile phone. I hadn’t really gone prepared: I think I thought we’d be going home before walking, so I had no camera and the wrong shoes. We walked back along the valley, and not long after we got back to the car it started raining.

As it was a day for taking things back, we called at Sainsbury’s and swapped a bright blue bath mat for something browner.

I had been feeling pretty brown the previous day – very down, in fact. It had rained all day and been extremely grey. Several things got on top of me, and it just felt like a wasted day – not part of real life. Strange, because the previous evening we had had a lovely time, going out for a birthday curry with Heather and Sam, who was 14, and some of their friends. Excellent food and company, and the weather had been good enough to walk to and from Ali Tandoori’s on Magdalen Street.

Today the weather was much improved. It could almost be described as warm, which was appropriate as it was the first day of British Summer Time. Happily I remembered to put the clocks forward, unlike LD, who arrived at church with her guitar and looked astonished to find that the service was well under way. It’s always nice when someone does that (he said sadistically). One day I will do it myself. Anyway, we decided to go for another walk – down by the river beyond Heigham Street – a path I’d discovered a couple of weeks ago after visiting the chiropractor. Quite a pleasant three-mile walk (back along Marriott’s Way) but although the river level has dropped dramatically, the edges and fields are still very wet.

In the evening almost forgot to go to Ambient Wonder, but made it in time. Seemed to go well: Annette liked my poems, which is always nice.