Tag Archives: josephine

In search of a pirate ship

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Amy hands the crabbing net to her assistant during our visit to Sheringham earlier in the month

Four years ago I was coming out of hospital after my radical prostatectomy operation and feeling very fragile. I would like to say I’m now fighting fit, and indeed a blood test showed last week that there is no sign of the cancer re-emerging. A further test also revealed that my blood pressure has fallen dramatically to 140/75, which is not far off normal. So of course I have to keep taking the pills. But  I’m also taking antibiotics at the moment , following root canal work last Tuesday. That seemed to go OK, but the infection still appears to be there; so I thought I’d give the pills a go. Not sure if that was the right decision. What can you do?

Just back from a foray into the city to pay in some cheques and cash for the church. This morning’s rain has gone, and the temperature definitely rose between my leaving the house and getting back again. So perhaps we’re due for another dash of summer. Ran into Sophie, who is resplendently pregnant and looking wonderful, and then the Eagles, who were looking pretty good too and searching for a pirate ship birthday cake. Well, you never know when you’re going to run into one. In fact, I see form the website that M&S sell them, but as I don’t have the Eagles’ mobile number I can’t let them know.

Yesterday we went straight from church to North Walsham, taking in Sainsbury’s, the cemetery and Jessie, in that order. We ate our sandwich lunch in Jessie’s summerhouse with her tea and cakes, which was extremely pleasant, then on the way home we put some flowers on my parents’ grave at the Rosary. Earlier in the week (Monday) I had visited my aunt Josephine, who was on quite good form but looking a little frailer than before Joyce died. On the subject of death, Pete S rang me after I e-mailed him following Jan’s death, and we had a chat.

It was a busy week for Dot, who stayed overnight at The Old Bell at Grimston on Wednesday before inspecting the village school at Ashwicken. B&B highly recommended. She also had various other schools to visit during the week and has just returned from one at Bradwell. Meanwhile England are still in Euro 2012, having beaten Sweden unexpectedly 3-2 and drawing 1-1 with France. Of course when they lose to Ukraine tomorrow, they will still have to go home. In other news, wrote a new song called Far Cry. Quite pleased with it.

Number crunching

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No, I'm over here

As we move into summer (or at least BST), the air gets cooler, but the sunny skies remain. Friday and Saturday last week were quite warm – the sort of weather that tempts you outdoors, and so of course we were indoors most of the time, at an Enneagram workshop at St Luke’s. The ideas behind the enneagram are fascinating (click here), but the practice turned out to be a bit tricky because of the size of the group, which reached the 100 mark. A lot of time was spent on panels featuring the various personality types, and as there were eight out of nine that weren’t you, attention tended to flag. Some sections of the group resorted to setting up a new enneagram, which began 8 = irritating, 9 = boring, 1 = impossible. Of course this referred entirely to the panellists: I know some lovely 8s, 9s and 1s. Where were they? Obviously I can’t reveal my personality type, but it came between 4 and 7. Yes, you’re right: it was 5½. Which doesn’t exist. Ho, hum.

All very mathematical and probably not essential to life as we know it. Last week we had a bit of social interaction, starting at the Castle Museum on Tuesday. Because of a miscalculation, we arrived on time, but the lecture hall was still packed. Fascinating talk on Ovid and his effect on medieval painters, which is a lot more fun than it sounds. For one thing we saw some great pictures; and for another the speaker was a witch. Of course I didn’t know that till afterwards. She certainly spoke entertainingly and triumphed over a stutter that would have defeated a lesser person. An elf, for instance.

On Wednesday we entertained the Higbees, which is always good. They appear to have sold their place in Italy, which is frustrating for Dot, who never got to see it, but probably good for them, though they put a lot into the place and will undoubtedly miss it. On Friday it was the Eagles: as a bit of a challenge, Dot invited them on the evening of the Enneagram event so that she had plenty of time to prepare. Or not, as the case may be. Nevertheless we did a quick shop and it was all very nice. Another entertaining evening, which didn’t end till nearly 1am. Sue and Roger are off to Hong Kong now. We may not go very far, but we have friends who do.

In between these two social whirls Dot and I visited my aunt Josephine, who is still languishing in Cromwell House on Cecil Road, which she admits is very nice, but wants to be elsewhere – preferably at home, looking after herself. She doesn’t react well to being looked after. I ought to know what personality type that is, but I don’t. To be more precise, she would rather be in her own little place in Hethersett, because she admits the house she shared with people who are now dead (her father, Joyce, Frank) might be hard to live in. She is very entertaining and a lovely person, but I think it might be hard to take care of her.

Ethel is in Hethersett of course, and Marion Roberts Court might suit Josephine. One day last week (I don’t remember which) Dot went to see her and dropped me halfway there so that I could get some exercise. I walked 2½ miles and had a cup of tea. It was warm (the weather, that is: the tea was very hot). Ruth is in Hethersett too; so are Joe and Birgit. It’s very popular. I don’t know what number it is. Countries have numbers too, apparently. England is 6.

Working up a head of steam

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Our Sudbury hotel bedroom (open window), with getaway boat

Paston is working up a head of steam leading to the Big Weekend atarting at 10.30 tomorrow. On Leap Day (Feb 29) I attended the last library session and was astonished to find 18 people attending – far more than the other three sessions put together. I didn’t hang around for long – just checked with Lucy that the quiz and survey I had put together for this weekend were OK.

Then yesterday evening it was out to Dayspring again for a trustees’ meeting with an additional member – Rebecca Matthews – who I believe is from the local tourist organisation and who might become a trustee. She certainly knows a lot about funding. We discussed forthcoming events for the year, which left me feeling rather exhausted. I need to get writing monologues, dialogues, songs and poems. Meanwhile we have to hope the weather tomorrow and Sunday is as good as it has been these last few days.

Yesterday I visited my aunt Josephine in her temporary abode at Cromwell Court on Cecil Road, and after taking her for a short walk we sat on a seat in the sun for a while. She’s keen to get home and independent again, though it will be difficult for her. The sudden loss of her friend Joyce means that she’ll be on her own for more or less the first time in her life. She’s a strong woman, though, and good to talk to.

Today I made my second visit to Sudbury in a week because my brother Phil wanted to pick up a bike he’s ordered online from Halfords. He doesn’t like driving on his own. Took us some time to find the shop, because it was wrongly marked on the map, but we eventually tracked it down. Not too bad a trip really, though I’m not feeling 100 per cent. Think I may have a slight infection. Again.

Delicious remains

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Blossom in the Rosary

Caroline’s poetry book launch party at Fakenham on Monday turned out to be brilliant, with crowds of people sardined into her terraced house, and just enough room for her and her friend Dee to punctuate the afternoon with songs and poetry. It was a cold, windy day, so inside was a good place to be. At first we knew no-one but Caroline, but later Annette and Mike turned up, plus Martin Laurance and Geoffrey Lefever, another artist from Bally. Also Kay Riggs, one of the Paston poets. Met quite a few new people, and renewed acquaintance with Alex Gilfillan, who used to be a subs’ runner at the Eastern Daily Press about the same time as David. She is also the daughter of Susan Lee (a former sub) and a niece of Caroline. She now has a husband and two young girls. Good to see her again.

Interesting week food-wise. As well as some lovely sweet items at Caroline’s, we have also benefited from the delicious remains of the church Sunday lunch at our Tuesday Group evening, and braved an adventurous paella at a friend’s birthday meal yesterday. The adventure consisted largely in deciding how much of the chicken to eat, as it was clearly undercooked, but there was also the added challenge of sitting down at the table, as the house was beyond description: to use the word cluttered would be an understatement of huge proportions. Six of us managed to get near enough to the table to eat, and the sweet was actually good, but there was not a lot of hanging around afterwards. Dot offered to wash up, but it became clear that there was actually nowhere to put anything. Felt like ordering a skip and depositing the entire contents of the house into it. Make that several skips.

At the other extreme, this morning we called on my aunt Josephine in her immaculate Cringleford bungalow and had some lovely scones and biscuits. Very civilised. Spent a long time talking. Tomorrow we are going to Delia’s Restaurant with the Robinsons to celebrate Anne’s birthday, and on Saturday we are having friends round here. From the sublime to the very ordinary, in a few minutes we are having fish fingers. Earlier we had our hair cut and tomorrow we shall have what to do after firing – no, wait, that’s a poem by Henry Reed. Earlier still Dot and I played a round of pitch and putt on Mousehold and both broke 100. This may not seem much of an achievement, but it is a long time since we played. We were pretty evenly matched. Just before that we went and voted (differently). I changed my mind as I approached the polling station, and still probably got it wrong.

Anyway, the more important selection story of the week was Spurs qualifying for the Champions League by finishing fourth in the Premiership, beating Manchester City 1-0 away to do so. So a good season for both Spurs and Norwich, who seem to mirror each other’s ups and downs surprisingly often. Meanwhile the bank cleared a large cheque just in time for me to pay my credit card bill, which was nice. Getting on well with the book editing, though I didn’t manage to fit any in today. Planning to give it a real go tomorrow.

31 May 2009

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Bit nervous because the computer is going in tomorrow morning to have its long-standing video RAM problem fixed. I shall be without it for two or three days. Aargh! I expect I shall manage.

The picture is of Sophie Robinson and groom Richard Smith emerging from Shotesham Church yesterday and getting surrounded by confetti. Their wedding day couldn’t have been more perfect. The sky was blue, and the weather pleasantly warm without being sweltering. Dot and I started it by having our hair cut, then hastened to Dunston Hall to meet the Walpoles, who were over from Canada for the occasion. We had a sandwich, then headed for Shotesham. I made the mistake of letting the Walpoles go first: they had a sat-nav which took us a long way round and eventually got us heading for the Suffolk border. After a brief consultation I led the way back and found Shotesham without much trouble. Still in good time, fortunately.

The service was very good, and I got a lot of interesting photographs afterwards before we all headed south (correctly this time) for Hoxne, home of the groom’s parents, where the reception was held. We went our own way and managed to emerge on to the A140 ahead of the bridal car, but by the time we had parked in a field at the village they had arrived. The usual long hiatus between service and meal was made actually enjoyable by the amazing garden, which had several levels, a pond, a stream, a hill and a Celtic cross, not to mention a couple of fairground organs in working order. We took advantage of the many hors d’ouevres and a couple of Pimms and chatted to the Walpoles and the Robinsons, who had eventually arrived.

Very pleasant meal, and an amazingly good speech by Philip, the bride’s father, who used one of my jokes. Chatted for quite a while afterwards with Peter and Karol; also with Jean and Alan, friends of Anne’s from Mitcham days. Eventually a band came on the scene and were very good value. Dot and I had two or three dances. Too loud to talk, though, and we left by about 9.30pm.
Sophie looked lovely and very happy throughout, and her two sisters were stunning bridesmaids. As we left the party was resurrecting with barbecue and a bar, and many more people arriving.

Earlier in the week – on Thursday – my aunt Josephine invited us to a family meal at Oaklands Hotel, which was a very good carvery. Present were Phil and Joy, Joe and Birgit, Paul and of course Josphine, Dot and me. Also present unexpectedly was one of Dot’s childhood friends, Carol, who accosted me in the carvery queue, and who I thankfully recognised. Another very pleasant time. Josephine looked well, and Paul apparently hasn’t an ache in his body at the age of 85, going on 60.

The weather has entered a very warm and calm spell, timed to coincide with the return of the Murrays to Canada, where the weather is apparently not so good. This afternoon we went to Adrian Ward’s Open Studios exhibition at Cringleford and had a pleasant chat. We bought some of his photographic cards. Now, after some time in the garden tying up…oh, one of those plants…and watching the birds, Dot is preparing for a day of philosophy in a Yarmouth school tomorrow. Anne’s school, in fact. There could be some wedding talk.