Yes, we made it into a new year. Oliver and Amy survived well, right up to midnight, with the help of various games and quizzes. I felt surprisingly coherent the next morning, and we were all up and about when Paul and Maryta Henderson arrived not long after 11am, staying for a light lunch of salmon and new potatoes before heading to darkest Suffolk and leaving Paul’s glasses behind.
David and the children left at about the same time, heading in their case for the M1, where Vicky was meeting them to transfer the children and take them to Nottingham. We tracked David’s car on a convenient App. The house seemed very quiet when we had cleared up.
During the next two days we were recovering, and in my case working on the church accounts and returning Paul’s glasses to him, which prompted a phone call from him praising our grandchildren, which is only right; eventually the weather changed, becoming dry. I was developing a rather sore growth on my eye – or to be more accurate, the small growth on my eye had become sore, probably because I had damaged it while rubbing my eyes.
On Friday I went to the dentist and got a clean bill of health as far as my teeth were concerned. I then popped in to John Lewis’s, where Dot and Anne were having tea and scones. Dot and I then ordered a kingsize duvet because she hasn’t been sleeping too well and suspects duvet slippage. This of course also involved new pillowslips and duvet cover. These we took away with us, but the duvet cover had to be ordered online and delivered to the shop. We ordered it online at home and picked it up yesterday afternoon before going for a healthy walk around Whitlingham Broad. One way or another, Dot was determined to get a good night’s sleep – and did.
Between the scones and the duvet on Friday Dot and I ran into Rita, of Al and Rita fame, who we hadn’t seen for years. Unsurprisingly, they have just been converting a barn, but it will probably be their last one. She was in fine form.
Today I preached again at church – this time on epiphany and epiphanies – with Liz Day leading. All went well until Judy noticed that the collection box was missing. We could only assume that a man who had been loitering in the doorway had snatched it while we were praying. Nicholas wanted me to tell the police, but instead I put a notice on Streetlife (a local online site) and warned Carrie that there might be a thief about.
Dot and Barbara left for Dudley just before 3.30pm, and as I write are in the Birmingham area. I walked up to the church to make a thorough search, but without success. I then called in to see Phil and Joy and return Joy’s glove, which we found in our car. (We had found the other one a couple of weeks ago, but this one suddenly materialised.) I used Walkmeter to measure my walk, and the other App to track Dot and Barbara. Isn’t technology wonderful? Until someone starts tracking me, of course.
The sore growth on my eye seemed to crack in the night and spill blood. It’s much better now. Don’t read that last bit if you’re squeamish, like Dot.