Dot and Julia, shopping in hand, approach a cafe in Villers
I think we can say it hasn’t worked – in spades. But at least it’s stopped raining for the moment. That means there’s no water entering the roof space and finding its way down into the living room, via the piece of insulation that soaks it up and redistributes it through one of the two large holes in the ceiling, created when I placed my hand on it (very gently) from above.
I was trying to identify the source of the dampness and perhaps move some stuff to prevent it getting worse, but the smallest pressure on the ceiling was enough to thwart that plan. Now we are awaiting a phone call from the insurer’s surveyor to make an appointment to come and look at the damage. This is likely to involve some quite drastic work in the living room, and a bit on the roof too. I suspect that water had been getting inside and being soaked up for some time. The surveyor seems reluctant to ring: I reported it all 24 hours ago. But at least the water has stopped dripping through, and the room is usable.
The chaos is exacerbated by the fact that Dot is in the midst of redecoration in preparation for new curtains. She has nearly finished our bedroom (a new pole was fitted yesterday), and once that is done she will probably have to abandon painting the living room until we find out what needs to be done, and when. We managed to have our usual Tuesday Group meal and meeting last night, but Dot and I were totally shattered at the end of it. This morning she is visiting a school, but she should be back soon.
My pessimism about England’s football team has so far proved unjustified, but now they’ve reached the quarter-finals, the hype resumes and the players are vowing to put their lives on the line. No, thanks, it’s still just football. Good game, but not war. In further catch-up news the antibiotics haven’t exactly got rid of the tooth infection, but I’m still optimistic.
The weather hasn’t exactly been summery, except for Wednesday, when the sun came out, the temperature rose and we dropped everything and drove to Blakeney, which was basking brilliantly in the unexpected warmth. We had our usual scone and tea in the Blakeney Hotel lounge and followed up with a walk out on to the marshes. I am tempted to use the word idyllic: there, I have. On our return we bought some picture frames in a craft fair and then drove to Cookie’s, where we had a late lunch, followed by a short walk in the Cley nature reserve, where we saw a couple of marsh harriers, among other birds. We returned home in time for a visit from a surveyor who was looking at our house with a view to giving us free insulation. Unfortunately, as I predicted, the operation would have been too tricky and disruptive. End wall too close to neighbour, half of loft too inaccessible.
I completed Rupert Sheldrake’s book (The Science Delusion) in time to hear him speak at Mangreen on Monday evening in the company of Tim Mace and Judy Reynolds: Dot was occupied elsewhere, to her annoyance. The room was full, and Sheldrake spoke very well. Some of hiss ideas are extremely interesting, and it is hard to dispute his basic premise that science is a method of inquiry and not a belief system, though it tends to be portrayed as the latter. The title of his book is clearly designed to create sales by mirroring Dawkins’ The God Delusion, which may alienate some scientists, though Sheldrake himself is a distinguished scientist and does not attack science as such. Good evening, but it’s a pity that the questions, as usual at such events, were really excuses for the usual suspects to put forward their own philosophies instead of querying relevant points.
Another talk on Tuesday, this time by Bishop David Atkinson at the Norwich Christian Resources Centre. Much smaller audience – about 25-30 – and I attended with Tim: female members of the Tuesday Group were at Vicky’s talking about bags. Bishop Atkinson was promoting his new book on Healing in the Church, aiming for a much wider interpretation of healing, which he identified with the Hebrew idea of shalom: inner wellbeing and peace. He focused on the New Testament ideas of love casting out fear and truth setting you free. Here the questions were much more to the point. I bought the book afterwards, but I haven’t read it yet, though I am using one or two of his ideas in my sermon tomorrow!
On Thursday I was disturbed to learn on Facebook that Mark Tuma was heading for Lincoln, as he and his wife were due to come round for an evening meal. I texted him and received the reassuring reply that he fully intended to do both – and he did. Amazing what some people can fit into a day. I bought some rather nice stuff from the supermarket, and we had a good evening.
Dot has had a very busy week writing reports of one kind and another, as well as visiting various schools. On Friday she went for a meeting at Little Plumstead school, where she is going to be a governor. I saw the name of the current chair of governors and deduced that she was a former subs’ runner of mine called Jo Rokahr (now Quarterman). I told Dot to ask her if she played the bagpipes, and it turned out that she did – one of Jo’s more unusual talents. There was a certain amount of reminiscence. Also on the staff is a very nice member of St Luke’s Church who we sat next to at the last joint lunch. Dot also really rates the head teacher, so maybe her governorship could be a good move, though I’m trying to get her to cut down on her work.
She does “relax” sometimes, but when she does it can prove expensive. We are in the process of buying new curtains for the living room (I’m not even going to write down how much that will cost), and this will of course also involve repainting the room. Aargh. There is also going to be some work done in the garden in July. Happily our Devon holiday is now paid for, though there was a nasty moment after I transferred the money and couldn’t get in touch with the owners: their e-mails bounced back, and their phones went to voicemail. Could it be a scam? Well, I suppose it could have been, but it wasn’t. I eventually found a different e-mail address that worked, and all is well. Especially as I’ve now written a tune for Far Cry, my latest song.
