Tag Archives: Robinsons

I am now 70, so I can do what I like

13 July 2015Uncategorizedanniversary, aylmerton, boiler, cafe rouge, champagne, church, filming, joy and phil, jude, jurnet, kim, paston, peter, Robinsons, rogerTim Lenton

So I have managed to reach the age of 70, struggling across the line after eating and drinking too much over the weekend. Yesterday was my birthday, of course, and we had a celebration at church after my sermon on the beheading of John the Baptist. Dot made a delicious chocolate cake and bought champagne. She invited several people, only one or two of whom could come: Vicky and Paul and Maryta (the latter for the celebration only). Really nice to have so many people wishing me well.

I got texts from David and Chrissy in Italy, and in the evening Dot and I went to Cafe Rouge in the Chapelfield Mall with the Robinsons. The restaurant was fairly empty, except for our dentist and his wife, but the food was excellent: I think this type of food is my favourite, especially the way they do steak and chips. We had a free bottle of bubbly too. Hope this restaurant doesn’t go the way of the previous one on Exchange Street. The service was also excellent.

The previous night had been Roger’s 55th birthday party, at Jurnet’s Club. The atmosphere and food were first class, though we didn’t know many people. The music was pretty loud (though good); so both Dot and I found it difficult to conduct conversations. I spent much of the evening listening to Jude, but I practically had to sit in her lap to hear what she was saying. She is apparently being threatened with legal action by a woman in a wheelchair for suggesting it might be helpful if she (the wheelchair woman) brought a friend to the Red Hat excursions to look after her, in view of her disability.

Also spoke to Fiona, George and Debbie (apparently Roger’s new girlfriend, though he’s known her a long time) and surprisingly, Kim Pummell, with whom he went to school. She works as a secretary to various Archant executives, and used to arrange my company cars for me. Meanwhile Dot was having similarly difficult conversations with men I didn’t know.

Earlier in the day I went to a farm at Aylmerton to assist Peter Stibbons with some filming for the Paston DVD. He was already being assisted technically by Paul Damen, but I was found a role as sound man. I also read one of the letters in costume. The location was Tony Colman’s Park Farm (no relation), and because of an anomaly on the map I found it hard to find. Still, better late… Lovely sunny spot. Most of the re-enactors were there.

On Friday the gas man came to service our boiler and discovered we needed a flush-through. I am awaiting a phone call to arrange this. Nice bloke. In the evening we went round the Hendersons for a light meal. No flush-through required.

On Thursday I had taken Joy and Phil to the doctor’s again. It was their 40th anniversary on Sunday and they managed to get to church to celebrate, which was quite an achievement for them, as they find it hard to walk far nowadays, and both get tired quickly.

This week has turned rainy. Joy is worried because the 23rd (when they plan to go to Southampton) is forecast to be 29C. I tried to persuade her that no-one can make accurate ten-day forecasts, but she remains concerned.

Am I hearing you right?

23 June 2015Uncategorizedagape, finley, hendersons, jarrolds, Robinsons, salthouse, sillarsTim Lenton

June is continuing along its dull and generally unpleasant path as far as the weather is concerned. Today is very grey, and there are occasional spots of rain. Dot is having lunch at Biddy’s with her friends Sue and Helen, and I will shortly be transporting Phil and Joy to the opticians. I have a bit of trouble with my ears and called in at the surgery this morning to see about an appointment with a nurse. It was suggested that I ring up for an on-the-day appointment or go to a walk-in centre. I thought maybe there was something wrong with my hearing…

James Finley came to St Luke’s for a return visit on Friday and Saturday, and this went well even without Nicholas. I was assisting with various day-to-day things, and I also managed to get Agape to record it, and the Christian Resource Centre to come with their bookstall; so that was good. Cathy from Agape bought six of my Iona books, and someone else bought one too, which was an unexpected bonus.

Dot was not there on the Saturday because she was rehearsing for a Sillars concert at Salthouse in the evening. But before that Colin came round to fix the garage door again, and he also fixed the gate and provided a new coping stone. I went to the concert, of course, as did Anne and Philip and Maryta and Paul. Sounded pretty good to me, but of course my hearing is deficient at the moment. Dot took a guest clarinettist, Tammy, in her car.

On the Sunday I was leading the service again, as Eleanor had a double booking. Dot decided this was one of our 2 days (in our 5-2 diet), but this proved difficult to maintain in view of the stuff we were doing, which included a little bit in the garden.

Yesterday we dodged the showers and went up and had a giant teacake each at Jarrolds. I paid in the church cheques and Dot went on to do a bit of shopping and cooking while I made some real headway on the talk I’m giving on the EDP to my CNS colleagues next month. I now have a 30-slide PowerPoint presentation in place and just need to get the final version of the speech sorted out.

Amy has just spent a week on the Isle of Wight with her school, which seemed to go very well. Oliver is having trouble with his dental brace and with his skin (impetigo?), but apparently he now has help with both of these and is feeling happier.

Going for ride after a fall

28 April 2015Uncategorizedacle, eaton, ncfc, paston, red lion, Robinsons, rosary, seagull, shingles, sillars, ueaTim Lenton

Winter is reluctant to let us go; still a chilly wind today, though it was very pleasant (as it often is) at the top of the Rosary when I called in on the way back from fetching my pills from the chemist.

This was my second visit to the Rosary in less than a week: on Thursday I walked up there and fell over while greeting a woman who was looking for her aunt’s grave. Did some damage to my hand and wrist, as well as spraining my ankle. Bruising has spread in strange ways: bits that were bruised to start with now aren’t, while bits that weren’t (inner wrist and outside of thumb) are now badly discoloured. Still quite painful if I get it in the wrong position, but on the plus side (for me) I can still play the guitar and (for the woman I was greeting) I found the grave she was looking for. She was very concerned about me and gave me her bottle of water.

Dot is up at the UEA today giving her presentation as party of a UEA/Schools philosophy conference. She has been very nervous about it. Later I shall be going to St Luke’s for the parish agm and dinner.

After falling over last Thursday I went with Dot to the Paston annual meeting, at which the sandwiches were very good; so as there were only 13 of us, we took some home. All the usual suspects except Lucy, who has shingles. Fred has shingles too, and we’re going on holiday with him in about ten days. Lots of it about. Well, two lots so far. The annual meeting was fine, though the room got rather cold later on. Nice view of the sea.

Big surprise on Friday, when Linda didn’t change the time of our hair appointment. In the evening we went with the Robinsons to the Red Lion at Eaton to celebrate Philip’s birthday. He thinks it’s the best food in Norwich, but it’s not really in Norwich, and I’m not sure about the quality either. Nevertheless it was very good. I confined myself to fish on the assumption (probably correct) that I wouldn’t be able to cut much with my injured hand. Spreading butter was not easy either. Afterwards they came back here for coffee, and I think I went to sleep. Must have been the stress. No-one seemed to mind.

On Saturday, as Norwich City FC threw away their chance of automatic promotion by getting a man sent off and drawing 1-1 with Rotherham, Dot spent most of the day at Acle – rehearsing in the afternoon and performing in the church in the evening with Sillars Orchestra. Obviously I attended the latter, which was very good indeed, especially the second half. I sat with Graham, who we’re going on holiday with, and Neville, who thought the second half should have been first. I definitely didn’t. Refreshments at half time too!

Another busy day on Sunday when, after I preached in the morning and notching up a hat-trick of Sunday sermons, Phil came round in the afternoon to rehearse and eat, before all three of us went the Seagull Theatre and performed three songs. I think Dot was flaked out, but she performed heroically, and it was well received. I also read a poem, and Kaaren filled me in on what was required for the Suffolk Poetry Festival (five minutes).

Yesterday, despite the chilly wind, Dot and I went for a 35-minute walk round the riverside path and, after lunch and a rest, called in at Morrisons for £100 worth of food, plus a new kettle. Then we watched quite a lot of TV.

Little known facts

1 December 2014Uncategorizedadvent, cinema, fish and chips, greens, hutchings, kerrisons, ncfc, pastons, Robinsons, snelling, truce, warTim Lenton

We got our first Christmas card today - from Sue and Roger Eagle, photographed in August at the lovely Linn of Quoich.

Happily Dot arrived back from Liverpool safely after stopping for fish and chips at a pub (the Generous Briton) in Brant Broughton, Lincolnshire. I spent the rest of the week writing an outline for a new Pastons drama for Chronicle (the Pastons in Norwich), among other things. Did very little walking, with or without my app.

Slight recurrence of pain in left side, which I now think may be down to excess acid in my stomach, because I had reduced my lanzoprasole. I have upped it again, and it was better yesterday.

Quite a busy weekend. Discovered at the last minute yesterday that Steve Snelling (a former colleague) was speaking at the Castle at noon on the first world war Christmas truce of 1914; so rushed up there while Dot was getting some tablets from the chemist. An interesting one-hour talk which revealed some facts little known by me. For example, it happened over quite a long front where the trenches were rudimentary; it was almost entirely instigated by the Germans – for the most part Saxons who were broadly speaking against the war; and senior officers were appalled and threatened dire consequences if it happened again.

Jonathan had offered an extra ticket for Carrow Road; so after lunch Dot and I headed in that direction. It was chilly, but not too bad. The football was pretty dire, though. After scoring in the 9th minute, Norwich City conceded within ten minutes and then again (both from corners). They never really looked like scoring again themselves: set-up and tactics unconvincing; choice of players and substitutions mystifying.

In the evening we went to the Robinsons’ for a meal. Other guests: Bernadette and Barry Hutchings. Was a bit worried about my digestive system, and so took it carefully, but no problem. Very pleasant evening with good conversation.

Yesterday I led the Advent Holy Communion, with Eleanor preaching and presiding. Nice service, though only 15 present. In the evening we went for a meal at the Kerrisons’, giving the Greens a lift. A pleasant time after I had found somewhere to park (about half a mile away, and I’m not exaggerating). Fortunately I’d dropped the others off first. Didn’t find the conversation quite as easy as the previous night; maybe we didn’t have as much in common other than church. Perhaps it’s just random.

On Friday, incidentally, Dot and I made our fist visit to the cinema for some time. We arrived early for the 5.30pm showing of The Imitation Game and went to the Queen of Iceni (Wetherspoons) for a glass of wine, which was surprisingly good and amazingly cheap. I suspect it must have been happy hour or something. The film was excellent – not totally true to the history, but then it didn’t claim to be. Benedict Cumberbatch and Keira Knightley were both excellent. Today we’re going to see Mr Turner, which everyone has raved about.

Table tennis triumph

7 July 2014Uncategorizedbacton, chronicle, jamming, kitchen, paston, pcc, Robinsons, sayers, table tennisTim Lenton

Busy day last Thursday: so busy that Dot got confused and ended up doing a presentation at Little Plumstead school instead of coming to the Paston members’ meeting at Bacton, where Susan Curran spoke rather well and then almost had a fight with Lucy about the Pastons’ reputation and origins.

Earlier we had a Chronicle meeting at Rob’s house, preparing the Oxnead event and discussing various other things, including the book. It seems I will be wearing some kind of costume. I may have to leave the country. Afterwards Rob and Penny entertained me to tea, which meant I was pretty full when faced with the fabled Paston refreshments.

Still, at least we all got there, despite signs declaring the Bacton road closed (it wasn’t). Apparently removing road signs afterwards isn’t included in the contract for repairing a road. Not many people at the talk, but a nice evening.

Dot and I missed an extraordinary meeting of the PCC that discussed the parish profile (probably a good thing), but I made some comments beforehand that Howard passed on. I called on him the next day and bumped into Beth, who is looking very well.

On the same day we emerged triumphant in our table tennis encounter with the Robinsons, despite not having practised. It was interspersed with lasagne and a couple of world cup quarter-finals, both of which were pretty dire. Philip went to sleep at one point.

Saturday and Sunday were quiet, apart from a lively Communion service and afters at church. Elvira brought a cake, and there was some jamming with Carrie (using my guitar), Dot and a guy from the farm, who plays the piano by ear.

Today, which has been muggy, Dot visited a couple of schools and continued the task she started yesterday: painting the kitchen. She claims to like doing it; so I let her do it (as if I had a choice). It all makes me feel uneasy, though.

Have had a look at Godfrey Sayers’ book and made him an offer. Haven’t heard from him; so it was probably ill-judged.

Narrow quiz win for Mrs Robinson

4 January 2014Uncategorizedamy, caddington, chrissy, david, floods, grace, oliver, Robinsons, stormsTim Lenton

My mother sitting in the sun outside our flat in Fernleigh Road - with Dot in the background. Early 70s. — My mother sitting in the sun outside our flat in Fernleigh Road – with Dot in the background. Early 70s.

Since the dawning of the New Year and its attendant rain and wind, we have combined two major events with a lot of lying around, watching television and trying to catch up on sleep. The return journey to Coventry with Andrew worked well: a bit slow on the way there, but very quick and easy on the way back.

New Year’s Eve was spent in the company of the Robinsons, and very congenial it was too. Dot cooked a delicious moussaka, with perfect pea soup as a starter, and in between courses I gave them a quiz that I had prepared earlier: 42 questions on 1964 (50 years ago) and 2014, with a few pictures of famous people thrown in. Philip may have still been suffering from the prostate biopsy he had the day before (or possibly the resultant alcohol ban) but he came in third, with Anne beating Dot by half a point. Pretty much a perfect result, you could say. Nothing suspicious there.

They stayed until well after 1am – the three of us imbibing much champagne and prossecco, and Philip enjoying his antibiotics – with some not very good music courtesy of Jools Holland in the background at first. While saying goodbye, we encountered our neighbours – Mary, Bob and Felix – returning in evening clothes from a night out at some Carrow Road function. Dot, being very merry, invited them in for a drink and nibbles, and it was 3am before we went to bed.

Meanwhile Chrissy had arrived at David’s for a quiet New Year’s Eve, and on Thursday (the 2nd) Dot and I went down to join them for a day with the Coomes family. We arrived just after 1pm, and Oliver and Amy some time later, delivered by Dave and Julia. Thereafter the four children busied themselves with computer games (mainly the mysterious Minecraft), partly in the company of Grace from down the road – a delightful girl who seems happy to go along with whatever Amy decides to do. Which is a good plan, it has to be said.

Chrissy and David cooked a very filling lasagne, preceded by rather inviting nibbles, and it was altogether a really nice day. The Coomes left just before us at around 8.30pm, and the journey home was very easy.

Yesterday saw some very wet and windy weather, including some hail, but Dot managed to walk to Morrisons during a break in the wetness. I have done very little walking in the last few days. Inertia is closing in. Still, I have written one and a half poems and have read half a book. I also threw a shampoo bottle left-handed into the bin from the bath, which is why I wrote the poem. There are storms and floods in the West Country but Chrissy has reached the freezing fields of home safely.

Surrounded by bees

20 August 2013Uncategorizedandrew, coventry, filming, florida, hendersons, paston, Robinsons, sophieTim Lenton

Paul Henderson (left) with Chessie and Jozef at their engagement party

It’s coming up to 7am, and I’ve been awake since 4 – up and about since 5.15. This is an aftermath of my endeavours in the last two days to book a flight to Florida for next April: a process that drove me so crazy I had to lie down under the bedclothes yesterday evening with blood rushing round my head. In the end I was making repeated online attempts to confirm that it had gone through, together with numerous calls to both the website operators and Barclaycard. During all this I also booked a car which was probably too expensive, but I had lost the will to even discuss it.

This came after about a week of not getting enough sleep, which is worrying as I know this makes me prone to illness, but there’s nothing I can do about it. Things just seem to pile up.

A week ago we had a Paston trustees’ meeting out at Dayspring. The journey out there was pretty awful, obstructed by a series of dawdling drivers, but the meeting was OK. Unfortunately I haven’t had time since to write the minutes, and as I rely quite a lot on remembering what was said to fill out my notes, this is rather worrying. I feel sure there were some other things I had to do as a result of the meeting, but let’s hope that’s in my notes.

On the Wednesday we had Sophie round for lunch – in the garden – and afterwards I went with her to visit Geoff, who is making more progress. His left side is a bit more mobile, and the doctor was optimistic about his feet. It became clear too that he can read, though he finds it difficult to read aloud and still forgets a lot of words. Sophie took in a cassette player for him. Since then he has been moved to the West Norwich Hospital and according to Sophie is getting a lot of therapeutic help. I am trying to contribute by organising visits, but not with a great deal of success.

After leaving the hospital I called in on Margaret Comerford, who had some money for the church from her meditation group. We sat in her tiny garden in King Street surrounded by bees.

On Thursday Phil drove me to Coventry, and we took Andrew out for lunch. He is vastly improved. He suggested the Post House at Allesley, but on the way there we saw a Harvester and ate there. A very good meal: I like the Harvester system. Afterwards we drove to Corley (where else?) and then to Memorial Park before returning Andrew to Minster Lodge. The journey both ways was pretty straightforward, but of course tiring. I now have to contact the council again to sort out his money, which will reach a critical level again within a couple of months or less.

While I was in Coventry the car went in for a new condenser, and Dot collected it after spending a few hours sorting out papers and photographs with Angela at A Ethel’s place in Hethersett. Meanwhile Amanda has died suddenly, after suffering pancreatitis and a chest infection. Her funeral has been fixed for this Thursday, unfortunately, when we are tied up taking Anna to Houghton Hall for the St Petersburg exhibition. We have sent flowers, and Angela is representing us.

Friday was a bit different, not least in that it rained quite a bit, but mainly in that I spent most of it filming in the city with Peter Stibbons for the Paston DVD. We started in the Briton’s Arms and took in most of the Paston sites. It was quite strange standing in the street speaking to a camera that was not always totally adjacent. Sadly, no-one asked for my autograph, but a group of lads on the Julian Bridge did want to know which channel we would be on. We had lunch at home and ended with a cup of tea there. A fascinating experience. The filming, not the tea.

In the evening we were on the move again, up to Loch Fyne for my birthday meal with the Robinsons, only a month or so late. Again excellent food and friendly service, but very slow. With four of us, it didn’t matter much. Had some excellent halibut. Late birthday gifts of prosecco and chocolate: perfect.

On the road again on Saturday, starting fairly early for a trip to Mottingham, where the Hendersons were putting on an engagement party for Jozef and Chessie. All very agreeable: had some interesting conversations with people from Norfolk and with Maryta’s sister and niece, as well as with Paul and Maryta themselves. Got cut off in the middle of a promising conversation with former head Chris Brown, but ended up talking in depth with Chessie’s mother, from New York State, and her friend Béatrice from Avignon. Click here if you read French. Then we raced the rain back to Norfolk, and won.

Since then I’ve been trying to catch up with e-mails and paperwork. Before the flights fiasco I was spending most of my time sorting out church finances, and I paid some cheques into the bank yesterday. The weather continues warm, which enabled me to slot in a bit of bush-trimming in the front garden, so that the brown bin was suitably charged, ready for emptying today. Yesterday this account was hacked by some Bangladeshis, but fortunately David was able to save the day and sort it out.

If it’s not one thing, it’s another

6 May 2013Uncategorizedandrew, cathedral, chess, coomes, eagles, julian, orchestra, paston, Robinsons, sharonTim Lenton

P1100706 — David, Kristine and Dot at Strumpshaw Fen

Not so much a hiatus, more of an abyss. Been working hard for days (I know it doesn’t sound like me) and I’ve still got piles to do. Don’t really know how it happened. Also I haven’t been sleeping well: watching wrens in the garden at about 6am today. So I’ve let the blog/diary slip a bit.

It started with the Paston Open Day a couple of weekends ago. There was the set-up on the Friday, which wasn’t too bad, followed by a full day on the Saturday. That was also quite enjoyable. With Caroline and Rob read a couple of letters and poems from the pulpit, then partook of a tour of Paston Hall grounds with guidance from Lucy and the owners, Mr and Mrs Clark, an accommodating couple who also let us see into their cellars. There’s obviously still lots to be dug up in the garden of historical significance, but I’m not sure how much of their garden they want dug up. Been very good about it so far. It matters very much to certain of our society exactly where the hall used to be, but I can’t get worked up about it.

In the evening of the same day Dot and I went to Prezzos with the Robinsons and their friends, Jean and Alan from London, to celebrate Philip’s birthday. Had a Fiorentina pizza purely to refute Philip’s announcement that I had nothing else but pollo al funghi, and very nice too. we indulged in prosecco beforehand and they all returned for coffee afterwards, so it was quite a full day.

On the Sunday I preached in the morning in the absence of Dot, who had a concert at Hindolveston in the afternoon with the Sillars Orchestra. She needed to get there in good time to rehearse, so went on her own. I joined her about 15 minutes before the concert began at 2.15pm, and sat with my old school colleague Neville Thrower, whose wife Mary is also in the orchestra. Enjoyed the mixed music: the violins sounded particularly good.

All through the week I was catching up with mainly Paston paperwork: for instance, I had to write an hour’s talk which I am giving to the Norwich Blue Badge guides this week. It’s written, but I have to try to work out some pictures, if I can get hold of a projector. Then on Friday I was presented with some stuff to edit from South Norfolk Healthcare, and I also put together a brochure on the Pastons in Norwich and wrote a piece for my website, but I’m not sure about that yet. I’ve also been updating the Paston website, which threw a frustrating wobbly at one stage.

Meanwhile I won a good win at chess on the Monday (against Yosif Antonov) and attended the Paston Heritage Society annual meeting on the Tuesday (with Dot). This meant missing the church agm, but it was a good evening, with excellent sandwiches afterwards and some cider in the bar with Rob and Penny before. Good attendance of 19: I said a few words about Dragon Hall, and Peter Stibbons put on a much lengthier presentation about his research website and the DVD he’s putting together.

On Thursday (with the weather all week sunny and reasonably warm) I had another session with Sharon, who decided to book me in for an x-ray, as the shoulder was not showing much improvement. Afterwards Dot and I had lunch with the Eagles (Sue and Roger, not the group) at Mambo Jambo in Lower Goat Lane: they had a voucher and treated us. Really good time (we get on very well), and good food, but I took the rest of the day to recover from it. Sort of Mexican-American, and very filling.

On the Friday we had booked a tour of the Cathedral Library, which turned out to be extremely interesting, being much more extensive than I thought. It was led by librarian Gudrun Warren, who cuts an unlikely figure for a Cathedral librarian, but is very knowledgeable and helpful. I must pop up to the library one day and have a browse. The tour ended with scone and tea in the Hostry that was worth the price on its own (£5). Got talking to a nice couple from Beccles.

So a nice relaxing weekend? Not exactly, though it was very pleasant, except for the disappointment of Norwich City managing to lose to Aston Villa at home and put themselves in real danger of relegation. We heard this when we were walking around Strumpshaw Fen with David and Kristine, who were up for the weekend. This had meant of course that Dot couldn’t go to the match, so we used the ticket (from Jonathan) for Fred, who happened to ask on the offchance and picked it up just after lunch.

Another warm day, and Strumpshaw Fen was beautiful, though I was pretty tired by the end. Dot cooked in the evening, but on Sunday we had lunch at Prezzos after going to church and listening afterwards to a talk on Lady Julian by Denise Treissman, who was very stimulating and has a nice manner. After lunch we walked up to Julian’s shrine, which was surprisingly empty (it was Bank Holiday weekend, and Julian Week starts today). Popped into the garden afterwards. Very peaceful.

On Saturday morning, pre-Coomes, I had a call from Andrew’s named nurse Vicky at Warwick to see if we were coming over because they needed more clothes for him. Happily, they were willing to fetch them from The Langleys themselves. Feel I ought to go over, but not sure I have the energy. He has an additional medical problem, but we’re not sure if he might be trying it on. The nurse says that a prospective place for him had been located: Minster Lodge in Earlsdon. No doubt a visit will be arranged there for Andrew soon. He will have to agree it, and then there will be all the problem of moving his stuff. Phil is feeling better, and is keen to help, so that’s all good.

Big Day survives winter’s tail

22 January 2013Uncategorized80, annette, church, david, jessie, kibbles, laurance, meal, Robinsons, rupert, snow, steak, wayfordTim Lenton

The snow is still with us, though it has stopped falling from the sky for a while. Some intrepid guy has spread sand on Aspland Road up to halfway, so there is no problem reaching the top. In fact we have been able to reach the top right through the current cold spell – though admittedly we haven’t been out much in the car.

Yesterday we did, though – because it was the Big Day, Jessie’s 80th, and a gathering had been scheduled to take place at the Wayford Bridge Inn for lunch. There had been a lot of snow late on Sunday, and I was a bit worried about emerging in view of the whiteness of the road; I took it very, very slowly down and reached the bottom with no problem. After that it was plain sailing. We picked Jude up from her house on Riverside Road, and the main roads in the county were more or less clear.

In fact the roads were so clear that, much to Jessie’s delight (and ours), David made a last-minute decision to come from Caddington and arrived in time – before some people who had come from North Walsham! The only person who didn’t make it, I think, was a friend who couldn’t get out of her drive in Acle. The Wayford Bridge Inn was excellent: staff very attentive and a first-class meal. I had one of the best steaks I’ve had for a very long time.

There were 14 of us – Jessie; Dot, David and myself; Janet and Ray with Judy and her husband from St Albans; Roger, Liz and Philip; Jude; and George and Fiona. Afterwards David returned to Caddington and arrived in time for his swimming lesson in the evening. The rest of us went back to Jessie’s for the amazing cake that was our present to her – baked, of course, by the equally amazing Marion Sturgeon from Alburgh.

We headed for home just before 6pm, as it started to snow slightly. No real problems getting back. After we dropped Jude I was about to turn into Aspland Road when I noticed a car doing a three-point turn (!!) so continued right up Prince of Wales Road and turned round to approach from the other – and preferable – direction. This time a car was stuck two thirds of the way up; so I reversed to the bottom, and when he had finished slithering around and being pushed to the side of the road, I took a run at it and made the top easily.

Since last Thursday we had two lots of visitors who were not deterred by the weather: on Thursday the Kibbles and on Saturday the Robinsons, who decided to park outside the sorting office and walk through. Not necessarily a good idea: Philip fell over while pushing a car that was sliding around while turning at the top and coming to rest in the gutter (the car, not Philip). He was OK, though, and we had a good evening: Dot cooked some delicious steak and ale.

On Sunday we emerged for church and had no real problems, arriving very early – but not before Geoff Saunders, who was leading the service. Eventually we had 17, which is pretty good and no different from a normal Sunday, though it was quite treacherous underfoot. Afterwards Dot and I parked near Fye Bridge and walked up to Mandells Gallery for Martin Laurance’s private view. Brilliant exhibition as always; we almost bought a painting, but by the time we got round to it, someone else had bought it. Damn spot.

Spoke briefly to Martin and at greater length to his partner Val; then to Annette and Mike, and Rupert. Several familiar faces from the Norfolk art world. Martin is quite interested in collaborating on some poetry-and-art project, which would be great if it came off. Have spoken to several people about possible book projects recently, but nothing definite. Still, it’s good to have irons in the fire. The tanka collaboration continues.

Meanwhile, Lucy has managed to fall over in the snow and injure her shoulder, as if she didn’t have enough problems. She is in hospital at Cromer, and so Rob and I have to represent her at the Norfolk Record Office on Thursday, which means I shall have to cancel a doctor’s appointment. Annoying, when they are so hard to come by. At present I am trying to make up my mind whether to have a Tuesday Group meeting tonight. No snow is forecast for today, so it should be possible, but there is still a lot of snow up here, and if certain people fell over, we would never be able to get them up again.

Chilly wind blowing round Mr Bunn

11 September 2012Uncategorizedceiling, chess, jessie, Robinsons, roof, southwoldTim Lenton

The weather has turned to autumn, with a chilly wind blowing around Mr Bunn, who has been on the roof for the last couple of days, repairing our valley and replacing some tiles. He should finish later today, as should Tim the decorator (no, not me: this one’s from Yarmouth and knows what he’s doing). Both very pleasant and helpful guys. Tim woke me at 8am yesterday, but today I was ready for him, despite having a lousy night for some reason. Dot is out at Acle school, but I’m expecting her back soon.

So the living room should be completed and dry by tomorrow. Unfortunately we can’t get the furniture back till Monday, but that’s a minor thing really.

On Saturday, when it was still relatively warm, we had our hair cut and then went to Southwold to celebrate the Robinsons’ ruby wedding. We arrived a couple of hours early and after driving round by the harbour (spoiled visually by a lot of construction work going on) we parked on the seafront and walked down to the pier, where we had a cup of tea in a cafe out of the wind. Then we drove up to the Swan and negotiated its parking challenge (the most contorted parking area I’ve ever come across) before Dot went into the loo and changed into her dinner party clothes. The Robinson family duly arrived – children earlier than parents, who brought Francine with them. Eleven of us in all, and a very nice meal.

I was preaching at church on Sunday and completed my preparation less than an hour before the service started. Still, it went OK, and afterwards I sat in the church for an hour waiting to see if anyone wanted to look round – it was Heritage Day. One woman did, the sparse attendance possibly down to a mistake in the Heritage booklet, which had us open only on the Saturday. When Claire arrived to take over, Dot and I made for North Walsham via Morrisons (I was almost out of petrol) and took in the cemetery before visiting Jessie and supplementing our lunchtime sandwiches with a piece of cake. The cemetery was at its best – really warm in the afternoon sun.

Last night I replayed my knockout chess game against Greg, which was again an up-and-down affair. I emerged eventually with a clear advantage, but in time trouble couldn’t be sure of the winning line. I messed it up, but he obliged by taking so long over his calculations that he lost on time. So I am through to the next round.

Time after time

I'm trying to trace a few ancestors, to check if I really exist, and if so, who is to blame.