Very little horizontal movement this week for me, though on Tuesday Dot went to Hull and back in a day, against all sensible advice (mine and others). To be fair, it wasn’t her decision, because Barbara was driving, and the Philosophy session went well.
Dot has been very busy this week, and has now been asked to write an article for The Magazine. It’s all go for her.
I’ve spent quite a lot of time getting rid of paper from my filing cabinet, and am not much more than halfway through the big one. On the plus side, I have disposed of large amounts of paper, some of it shredded, and have discovered some interest historical items (my history, that is). I have also emptied a box of miscellaneous items that has been cluttering up the study and redistributed some of it. Most of this is done sitting down, but it’s still very tiring.
Both bins are practically full, and they won’t be emptied for over a week. The brown one is nearly full of leaves, since it’s been quite windy. One binful of leaves went on Monday.
The piano tuner came yesterday, and earlier in the week I took Dot up to Dipples to buy her birthday present – a rather nice watch. She seems quite pleased.
I have just written an e-mail to the vicar making it clear than I am not acting for the church in the matter of Anglian Water, who have now decided the leak is not fixed as stated earlier but is probably on church property, and therefore it’s up to the church to find it and fix it. It’s costing huge amounts of money (we’re paying over four time the amount we were paying last year at this time) and needs to be sorted. I have suggested the vicar and churchwarden are responsible. I may be excommunicated, but at least I won’t be losing sleep over it 🙂 I hope.
Another busy period. I started writing this on a train to London on Monday, where we went to catch The Mousetrap, which is a kind of role reversal, I guess. Reverting to chronological order…
Last Tuesday was Amy’s 11th birthday, Dot was in Hull and I was in the city, paying in cheques and buying Amy a silver Parker pen. In the afternoon I went to a PHS trustees’ meeting at Rob’s, after which I dropped in a thankyou card to Jessie, thanking her for the meal on Sunday.
After a brief lull on Wednesday, Dot and I drove to Coventry on Thursday to see Andrew, who’s still in hospital at the Caludon Centre. We were with him for just under an hour. He seemed pretty disengaged and under strain, but I’ve seen him a lot worse.
We then drove on to Caddington, arriving in time for a quick meal and a handover of Amy’s presents before David went to his history group. We then played Dixit using Amy’s new extension cards – a great game!
On Friday I roused myself to go with David to take Oliver to school in Aylesbury, leaving at 7.30am. Oliver read all the way, finishing off A Cuckoo’s Egg – a story of computer hacking that I read many years ago and have forgotten. Later Dot and I took Amy to St Alban’s for some shopping and a meal at Jamie’s. Amy didn’t really like what she ordered but didn’t make a fuss: she’s very considerate. We got her some bread to supplement her sauce, which she did like. Got back to Caddington as David was leaving to fetch Oliver.
We drove home at 6pm because we’d agreed to feed Ellie’s guinea pigs (before we knew about our Coventry/Caddington trip). Got back at 8 despite dire warnings from our satnav about a major hold-up. Happily it melted away just in time.
Bit of a kerfuffle at church on Saturday when Stuart got worried about hirers (a church plant) making too much noise at the hall. Called in to check on the way to Cromer, but nothing was happening. Got worse later, apparently. Ran into Phyllis and vicar David, who had rushed down from the Enneagram session check what all the fuss was about. Conflicting reports about what happened next, but apparently one local resident was very upset, and since then storing of excess equipment has proved impossible to handle; so they’re probably going up to St Luke’s. Good luck, St Luke’s.
At the Cromer History event I saw re-enactors Diana and Lisa, as well as Peter. Small hall, lots of people – even more earlier, it seems. Very wet day.
On Sunday after church we went to the Hendersons’ for lunch, which was delicious, and heard about Uganda. At home, saw some of US Grand Prix, but too tired (because of putting clocks back) to see the end. However, it came to my attention that Hamilton won and is world champion again. When we eventually saw the highlights yesterday, it turned out to be quite exciting.
London worked out well. The hotel (hub by Premier Inn in St Martin’s Lane, was extraordinary: lots of technology but not much space. Our room was tiny, taken up mainly by the bed, but everything worked well and of course you don’t go to a London hotel to stay in the room. Comfortable and clean, anyway. We went for a walk and took in some of the National Gallery before heading to Brown’s for a pre-theatre meal, where I was extremely impressed both by the efficiency and by the quality of the food.
The Mousetrap was fun: well-acted first half especially, though the second act was barely credible. Obviously I can’t tell you who did it. Interesting theatre in that you walked straight off the street across about ten yards of entrance hall and into the dress circle. Very good seats; the ice cream was good too. Not sure why three large people left at the interval. Maybe they were uncomfortable, but surely you’d want to know who did it.
Not a great night’s sleep, but my fault, not the bed’s. We went up the road to eat. for breakfast because Dot wanted a croissant. I had sandwiches. After that we went to the National Portrait Gallery and saw quite a few portraits, notably several of those used by Simon Schama in his TV series, which was interesting. After that we checked out from the hotel and took a tube, catching the 12.30 from Liverpool Street, which was pretty good going.
As coming down, we were in first class, and this time Dot didn’t spill her coffee. We were home by just after 2.30pm, and too tired to do much. However, we did take our old TV and DVD player round to a guy in Churchill Road, who seemed appreciative.
This morning was miserable, and I got wet checking the car tyres (still not happy with them). Later we went to Morrisons and bought much food. Traffic was horrendous. I walked home and got back about a quarter of an hour before Dot. Spent quite a lot of time on writing three pieces for Parish Pump, on Slavery, Refugees and In Flanders Fields.
Dot on one of the more remote paths at Hever Castle.
The plumber did sort the leak out, but he discovered that we need a new stopcock. Meanwhile, we have bought a new 48″ TV (Samsung 4K), a BT YouView replacement for our Humax box and a Sony CD player. We managed to get them all home from John Lewis in our car, though it was a much tighter fit than I thought it would be. It’s a taken few days, but I now have them up and running, together with our Apple TV, though the day-to-day operation is far from smooth. It goes without saying that we are not using any of them to their full potential, or even correctly.
The whole operation was so all-consuming that we totally forgot that we had tickets to see Brian Patten at Halesworth on Sunday before Dot had arrange to have an evening meal with Jessie, Roger and Debbie. Clearly Brian Patten couldn’t compete. I offered the tickets on Facebook and rang a couple of people, but sadly they went to waste. Still, we had a good time at North Walsham. Jessie’s cousin Margaret and the Vicar of Suffield came round to discuss family history, with particular reference to Lacey Pike, who was killed at Gallipoli. I was able to contribute a small amount, but not much. Lacey was Dot’s grandmother’s brother, unless I’ve very much mistaken.
As I write Dot is in Hull with Barbara, training some teachers there in Philosophy4Children. After she left yesterday (at about 3pm) I walked up to Revelation with a heavy bag of secondhand books, then continued to the church hall, where I found Carrie and Sophie. I was able to retrieve some cash from the safe and remembered at the last minute to check the meters: I need to speak to British Gas at some point soon.
From there I progressed to Halfords and bought a digital tyre inflator, which I felt we needed, and then proceeded home via the Riverside Path and The Close. Pretty tired at the end of all that. I found I’d done over 4 miles in the day. So I cooked myself a pie and watched Norwich lose 6-2 to Newcastle without looking at all bad, and Ireland and Scotland lose in the rugby world cup quarter-finals, the latter because of a very bad refereeing decision.
I forgot to mention that last Thursday, in the midst of my electrical challenges, I went up to the Theatre Royal to see Martin Laurance’s new exhibition (Dot decided to give it a miss). Very good selection of pictures; if I hadn’t just bought a television, I might have been tempted. Ran into Rupert Mallin, who was in rude health, and on the way out poet Hilary Mellon.
Two roses in front of quite a lot of thorns. Amy and Dot walking the Whitlingham path last weekend. Today the weather has been sunny but bitterly cold, and snow is apparently on the way. Yesterday was extremely wintry, with sleet and high winds, but I managed to get into a break between the showers, and bussed up to get Andrew’s money.
Today I drove down to Annette’s then – after picking up her car from a “garage” in the middle of several fields at the end of a track, and after she then taxed it – she drove us to Colchester to pick up the PVM from The Minories. We were given a hand to transport it to the car via Rupert’s trolley. The Minories is being abandoned because its lease has come to an end, and the spectacular new building isn’t finished yet. The PVM made a measly £27 during its six-week stay, and I didn’t sell any books.
Had a chat with Annette about the future of InPrint. The feeling generally seems to be that we may be heading for a looser group with less ongoing commitment. But we’ll see at the meeting tomorrow. Sadly, I seem to be getting a cold, which is not helpful.
On Tuesday I went by train to Hull to assess the four reporters at the Hull Daily Mail. Weather was quite good both days – especially so on the way back, and the trains were amazingly prompt. Going up I had one change at Grantham, which was about as good as it gets. Coming back earlier than I had anticipated, I had to change three times, at Doncaster, Peterborough and Ely. All trains were pretty full, especially the Stansted Express (Peterborough-Ely). Best run was Doncaster-Peterborough on the very fast National Express to King’s Cross. These are very frequent, quite luxurious and make you realise what you’re missing living on an outcrop like Norfolk.
I was favourably impressed by Hull Trains – clean and modern – and by the station staff. I went to the inquiry desk to ask where I had to change on the way back, and the clerk quickly (very quickly: I had hardly finished talking) produced a slip of paper with all the details very clearly set out. At the Pumpkin buffet on the station the woman in charge was also highly efficient and clear about what was on offer. The Ibis Hotel was good too, though basic. Had fish and chips in the evening which was excellent, as was the continental breakfast. What they offered generally was limited but quite sufficient, and just the job, really.
The trainees did very well, and three of the four just have to complete their shorthand to finish their NVQs. Sadly, this may not be as easy as they think it will be. The date of my next visit has been left open.
We enjoyed Whitlingham so much that we returned there on Sunday with Vicky and the children while David watched Spurs lose 3-1 to Liverpool in the FA Cup. Parts of it are very picturesque, the only problem being that it tends to be overrun by welly-wearing dog walkers talking intensely about cultural matters. Oliver went on ahead, and we found this lovely spot by the Broad as the sun was progressing down the sky: a small wooden landing stage about 30 yards off the main path. I shot the picture into the sun (of course) and told Oliver that he would be in shadow, which intrigued him. He didn’t seem to like the idea, but it made a good photo. Well, I like it.
Had a really good weekend altogether – went into the city on the Saturday to swap one of Oliver’s Christmas presents at John Lewis (he’d been given the same thing by two different people: I’m amazed it doesn’t happen more often). I used the opportunity to buy a new guitar tuner before rushing home in advance of the others to turn on the lamb stew. Quite nice weather, though coldish.
Went to church on the Sunday in the morning to do the music and wished I hadn’t. The two of them would have done just as well without me – “just as well” in this case meaning pretty bad. Tendency to rehearse in meticulous detail and then forget it entirely during the actual service.
Actually won a chess game last night: I was offered a draw in a position where my opponent had lots of pressure, but decided to carry on because I couldn’t see anything forcing and assumed he couldn’t either. Eventually won a long endgame, which was satisfying.
Today I head north to Hull – by train for the first time. The weather forecast is not good, but at the moment it’s fine here.
Still nothing in the EDP about my page ending, and no sign of the last one as promised – even though they had a stand-in piece today. I have tried to ring the deputy editor, but he’s not there. Again.
And Rupert has resigned from InPrint, which is a tremendous blow, as he was the driving force. I think he became fed up with being the driving force. So a few of us are having a meeting on Saturday to see where we’re going. More news when we find out.
This a view from under the Humber Bridge on Hessle foreshore, taken about a month ago. I went to Hull again yesterday to assess some young journalists – stayed the night at an excellent Premier Inn with an equally good Brewer’s Fayre restaurant adjoining (chicken and leek pie). And a view of this bridge in the distance. Spent most of the evening on Tuesday catching up with newspapers and magazines I’d been meaning to read, when apparently I should have been watching Spurs beat Manchester City in the Carling Cup. It’s so hard to keep up with what’s going on.
Journey up was pretty straightforward, via the A47, Peterborough and the A1. On the way back I decided on the shortest route, over the bridge and down the A15, but at Lincoln I got fed up with the funereal progress behind crawling HGVs and veered off back to Newark and the A1. The trip was still about 12 miles shorter, but half an hour longer, not helped by a hold-up near Stamford. Because only two of the journalists were available to be assessed, I got home at teatime and spent too much time watching TV, when I should have gone out for a brisk walk. But the weather is still very cold, the air is damp, and it’s not inviting. As I write this in my study, the house is mysteriously chilly – partly because two of the radiators are half-cold. This is something I shall have to get sorted in the new year.
At the end of last week we had a couple of good evenings with friends – the first with the Greens, who are the perfect hosts, and the second at home to four other friends who we know far less well. On Sunday my drama-cum-carol service was extremely well received; a new song I wrote was even clapped! The barely rehearsed actor-readers were all pretty good, the music went well and the atmosphere was warm. It was followed by a superb meal cooked by Vicky and Jared – the sort of Christmas fare you might expect to have been cooked for three or four people rather than a roomful. Delicious.
I played in the Christmas chess event on Monday while Dot went to a leaving do for Marion at Alburgh. Wrong choice by me: I scored only 3.5 out of 8, and the leaving-do was a lot of fun, apparently. Dot gave a speech which was much appreciated. She gave it to me before she went, and I have to say it was excellent. Well, I don’t have to, but I will.
Before I went to Hull I called in at Prospect House to internally verify a portfolio for Bernadette and chatted to a couple of people, including J, who is much improved and working part-time. Tonight we are off to close friends Salmon Fillet for nibbles, and tomorrow we will be doing the North Walsham run.
Dramatic action picture of Oliver being chased by a dinosaur. You can see the terror in his face.
Meanwhile, I have just returned from the chiropractor, who told me my back would probably be a bit sore tomorrow but should improve over the weekend. As it was extremely painful before I went, this wasn’t as bad news as it might have seemed. It does seem to have eased a bit at the moment. I see him again on Monday, shortly before a 90-minute stint with the dentist. O happy day!
The back probably got worse because I drove to Mansfield on Tuesday, then on to Hull and back home on Wednesday. Why Mansfield? you may ask. Was it because my grandparents used to live there? No, it was because the Premier Inn at Mansfield had a room spare at a fairly convenient spot between Coventry and Hull. Quite comfortable, too.
I’d called at Coventry to take some property from Gareth’s house to Andrew’s new home – mainly clothes and photographs. Andrew seemed very well. I also retrieved a letter to him that explained he’d left some stuff in the hospital safe, which may explain where his building society book is.
After assessing the reporters at Hull I spent a bit of time down on Hessle foreshore, on the banks of the Humber under the bridge – a spot I’d previously visited when I took David to have a look at Hull University, probably 17 years ago. Very beautiful sunset to accompany my cheese and onion sandwich.
Drove home by the shortest route over the bridge and via Lincoln and Sleaford, which was pretty dire as far as queues and slowness were concerned – not to mention the thousands of speed cameras in Lincoln – but it still got me home quicker. Stopped thirty miles short of Lynn for a Little Chef mushroom omelette and chips.
Today Dot has been at a head teachers’ conference at Mangreen, just outside Norwich. Weather is very unpleasant: quite bit of heavy rain and unrelentingly dull and wintry. My computer was offline for most of the day, but I managed to persuade it to come back eventually.
Almost forgot to mention the most significant event of the last couple of days: the Ballater cottage is being sold after 17 years of its being a home away from home for us. I think we’ve stayed in it almost every years since 1990 or 1991. David and Vicky stayed there with us; so have Anne and Philip and Roger and Barbara. What will life be like without it? Certainly a major change.
This is a special spot for us – about a third of the way down Gley Ey in Scotland. A couple of larch trees guard the ruins of an old settlement in a valley that was once quite well populated. On our first visit to the Glen this is as far as we got; this year we went all the way.
Andrew went into his new home, The Langleys, on Monday, and so far all seems well. Reports from the manager and from his social worker are good. On the same day we had our central heating serviced and discovered it needed a powerflush, which is what I thought you got anyway when you reached about my age. As Dot and I are both over 60, we qualify for a £300 discount. So clearly if a General Election is called I will vote for Mr Brown. Probably would do anyway.
Lost my first chess game of the season – also on Monday – so I am at 50 per cent so far. Made a mistake in the opening and never really quite recovered, though it was close at one point. On Tuesday we had three new people at the weekly meal – 11 people altogether. And on Wednesday I went to Hull.
Furthest I’ve driven in a day, I think: well over 400 miles. Got there almost exactly on time after stopping for ten minutes for a sandwich. Start 8am, arrive noon. Saw all four trainees, who did better than I expected, and left at 5pm. Felt very tired but at first intended to head home down the shortest route, the A15 – as an experiment. But police had closed off the A15 for some reason, and I went back to the original route. Suddenly felt very tired and tried to get a room at the Doncaster services on the M18, but they were full. Had a burger instead – not very inspiring, but after a short walk I felt more like driving, and I headed south, with the intention of probably stopping for the night nearer home. But the driving was quite easy and I kept going until Wisbech, where I stopped for a toasted teacake and mug of tea. Waitress called me Darling, which was quite invigorating, and I made it the rest of the way by just after 10pm.
Since then I’ve had a filling replaced, pretty much painlessly, and written my page for the EDP. Took some clothes and other stuff to the charity shop (Break) with Dot on Friday. Last night I watched France hammer Ireland at rugby and today I’m about to watch England try and avoid losing to Samoa.
Yes, it’s France again. This is the branch line from Cabourg to Deauville, taking to the road at Dives.
Meanwhile another busy week. On Monday, Andrew’s birthday, I went to visit him and possibly take him out, but he was the worst I’ve ever seen him. Very sad. I had a long talk with him, but nothing seemed to make any impression. He was tired and frightened.
I drove on towards Hull, stopping at Corley services for a bite to eat and then at Nottingham to see if I could catch the Evetts in. But no, so I carried on to a Travelodge on the M18 (Doncaster North), where I had booked a room. Quite nice, but the kettle didn’t work. Went for a walk in the evening and then had fish and chips, which was adequate: tasty but chunky. Spent the rest of the evening catching up on reading – I had taken the precaution of loading the car up with newspapers and magazines I hadn’t had time to tackle.
After breakfast the next day I drove into Hull, arriving 40 minutes early for my 11am meeting. Had to wait in Reception, but eventually met with three trainees and did the induction. Went quite well. Left about 1.30pm: the journey home was tedious in the extreme – road works and dithering drivers all the way. Took four hours.
On Wednesday we had the carpet cleaned – had to get up early and move the furniture out because Dot had injured her back. This now seems to have cleared up. In the evening attended an Ambient Wonder review which I can’t say I enjoyed, possibly because I was very tired. Good pizza, though.
On Thursday, after lunch at Park Farm, I drove to Yarmouth to watch the penultimate day of the British chess championship. Was there for about four hours, most of which I spent watching the four top boards, which were on demonstration. But also spoke to a few friends and watched some other games. Repeated this yesterday for the last day but left before the end. Watched a nice game by Ketevan Arakhamia-Grant, a Georgian “Scot”, in which she demolished Simon Fowler to take the ladies’ title. A Danish “Scot”, Jacob Aagard, took the British title on 8.5 out of 11, after he beat Glenn Flear, who left his king too exposed. The only person who could have matched him, Stephen Gordon, was held to a draw by Tony Kosten. Fascinating to see so many peple whose names are so familiar and whose games I have played through in the past. Good also to see so many young girls doing well. The website is at http://www.bcfservices.org.uk/livechess/british/2007/
Today – the spell of good weather continuing – Dot and I went to Reepham to get our hair cut and then on to North Walsham. Left flowers at the cemetery and then visited Jessie and Frank.
). And a view of this bridge in the distance. Spent most of the evening on Tuesday catching up with newspapers and magazines I’d been meaning to read, when apparently I should have been watching Spurs beat Manchester City in the Carling Cup. It’s so hard to keep up with what’s going on. 
