Yesterday we arrived at church just after 10am below grey skies, light rain and the familiar chilly wind. When we emerged at 3pm, after a rehearsal with Phil, Emily and her boyfriend Lawrence, the sun had come out and it was perceptibly warm. Spring had crept in. Later in the day Dot and I went for a walk beside the River toward Carrow Road and got quite hot (and very tired).
The rehearsing is taking its toll: my right arm is still sore from the fall and was aching a lot last night. But I have taken advice from the chemist, who says nothing is broken. I do find that I can do a bit more with it every day. This morning it’s not so bad, but Dot wants to rehearse again. Then Far Cry (all five of us) will rehearse at the venue at 6pm, and then – at last – play for real. It will be something of a relief.
Dot’s seminar at the UEA went very well (no surprise there), but the parish annual meeting was not so thrilling, although the food by Karen Wimhurst and friends was excellent. Several no-shows from both sides, but Adrian turned up and mopped up quite a lot of the spare food. St Augustine’s were hardly mentioned, but that was partly my fault. I had kind of expected Howard to be there, and so had not prepared a talk, though I would have said something if asked.
Howard did eventually put in an appearance – on Saturday night at St Peter Hungate, where Louise Øhrstrøm was speaking on Julian, as part of the Julian Week events. Very good talk, though you had to listen carefully, and it got very cold towards the end. Had a quick chat with her – she came to St Augustine’s when she was at UEA, but is now back in Denmark. Howard seems on top form after Sri Lanka – perhaps too enthusiastic, as his sermon on Sunday lasted about 45 minutes!
On Thursday a bit of cunning forward planning – I postponed my bath and was rewarded when (a) a parcel I was expecting arrived about 10am and (b) shortly after it, the Sonata alarm man arrived two or three hours earlier than scheduled. Dot was out; so I was able to answer the door and then have a late bath. Sometimes these things work out…
On Friday evening we were invited to No 11 by Des and Chris, the new owners. Sam, Chris and Ellie also showed up, which meant we found out less than we might have done about our hosts, since Sam is not slow in coming forward. Still, we enjoyed the evening. The white wine was nice.