Tag Archives: turner

A bad day for the roses

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Tim,, Jude and Dot at the refurbished Wensum Sports Hall.
Tim, Jude and Dot at the refurbished Wensum Sports Hall.

They raved about Mr Turner, and the more I think about it, the more I think they were probably right. I should probably watch it again, because it’s a bit of a slow burn. Three excellent performances: Timothy Spall, of course, as the surprisingly unrefined Turner,  Dorothy Atkinson as his put-upon but devoted maid, and Marion Bailey as the “profoundly beautiful” Mrs Booth, a memorably good woman.

Most of last week was spent dealing with church financial matters (including a financial report for the year), and writing and rewriting a sermon. Plus various other sedentary matters. Feeling shivery on and off, and although the weather has turned very cold, I don’t think it’s that. Quite disconcerting.

We also had an unexpected visit from Simon (Wakefield), who had fallen over and injured himself. We took him in, warmed him up and Dot bathed his wounds. He was quite shaken. His leg is getting worse, and there is a risk that it might have to be amputated. Very sad. Such a nice guy.

On Friday I called in to see Joy and Andy, and Joy (a former nurse) suggested my minor problem might be hormonal. Nothing really fits my symptoms; so I shall try to give up thinking about it and hope it goes away. Had a good if shivery time with the McCalls, eating Stella McCartney “sausage” rolls and a bit of carrot cake. I took her a rough copy of my Iona book, which has now gone to the printers, complete with a bar code that I got for free off the Internet and is probably therefore deficient. Took two “sausage” rolls home for Dot, who gave them the thumbs up.

Had an unusually vigorous day on Saturday, which was sunny and not quite so cold. I cut down the roses in the back garden (except the ones making their way up and around the arch) and then annihilated the ones in the front garden. While I was doing this, Bob got me a cup of tea, which was nice. Broke off for lunch and then a walk up to Wensum Lodge, where Roger was assisting at the open day to mark its refurbishment.  They’ve done an excellent job there. A woman tried to persuade us to play pickle ball, but Dot was heading for the city to pay in a cheque and do a bit of shopping, and I had to get back to finish the roses. However, stayed long enough to meet Jude, who had dropped in after conducting a city tour from the front seat of a coach.

Back at the house I finished off the roses and managed to stuff about two thirds of them into the brown bin, and the rest of them into the green plastic tub. Hard work. I may not do it again for a year or so.

In the evening we took Jude II (Reynolds) to Eleanor’s, where we had been invited for a meal, and had an enjoyable evening, featuring burnt roast vegetables, which we all agreed we liked. Really. Eleanor is very sweet.

Yesterday, after a night during which I felt very hot, I reverted to shivery mode and managed to give a sermon on Advent and taking life seriously, which went down quite well. In the afternoon, after taking the rare opportunity of watching Norwich City win a game, we visited North Walsham cemetery and then Jessie, who produced some trademark mince pies. She seemed very well and can get up the stairs with no problem at all.

Today I’ve written a couple of pieces for Parish Pump, sorted out some cards and presents, got rid of some old papers and carrier bags at Morrisons, posted a parcel and some cards and put out the rubbish.  I’ve also written this, and I now have to walk to Howard’s for (a) a meeting about Carrie’s activities (b) a quick meal and (c) a DCC meeting. Dot will be joining us for the latter two. She has cleaned out the utility room and is still working on cards and presents. It’s all go.

Earlier Martin Smith called round with £247 in Enneagram money. I have e-mailed the speaker to find out how much of it he wants.

Blocked in

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Dot on a hill in Wales, probably the Berwyns
Dot on a hill in Wales, probably the Berwyns

One weighty item out of the way: we now have travel insurance for April. After several false starts, someone rung me who not only spoke recognisable English, but actually made sense. We completed the whole thing on the phone in less than a quarter of an hour. Changing the church account is still uncompleted. I have a lot of forms on the kitchen table.

On Friday we woke up to find a Mini Cooper parked across our driveway. As our car was parked in the drive, and there was no way to squeeze it out, we were stuck. After waiting a while, I rang the police, who suggested helpfully I should go round to neighbouring businesses (it had a business permit). After doing this and knocking up the neighbours too, I rang the police back with the registration number, and they eventually contacted the driver’s mother, who had lent her daughter the permit. The daughter was in London, and the mother had no car key.

All this had taken 2-3 hours, so I didn’t get to Joy’s mother’s funeral at Dereham. As there were 300 people there, this was not a tragedy. But we also had to pick up Dot’s pills and  Andrew’s jacket (from the cleaners) and visit Go Outdoors to get me a new jacket. We managed all this because Bob next door came home after lunch and moved his car down a bit, so that I could manoeuvre our car out.

The mother, who came round and knocked at the door, was apologetic but not convincing. Next day we found the coping stone on our wall removed and broken on the pavement. Was this a coincidence?

We had a lovely evening on the Friday with the Higbees, and then on Saturday went down to London to stay with the Coomes at Leyton, which turned out to be an action-packed couple of days.

After  lunch we travelled by taxi and Dockland Light Railway to Greenwich, where we visited the Turner & The Sea exhibition in the National Maritime Museum. This was scintillating: I love Turner’s work, especially the later pictures, and am not sure there’s anyone to compare with him. From there we returned briefly home before travelling by taxi and tube to Covent Garden and an extremely pleasant French restaurant.

Back at Leyton we saw Norwich win against Hull. The following day we went to a Roman Catholic Mass somewhere near Bond Street, followed by a visit to a nearby bookshop and clothes shop, where Dot bought a top. Then by tube to Stratford and the Westfield Centre, which was horrifically crowded with Sunday shoppers but contained an oasis of calm masquerading as a Lebanese restaurant. We had lunch there and then returned to Leyton for tea before setting off home – a quick and easy journey. The weather had been fine throughout.

Yesterday we saw Gravity at the Odeon: a remarkable film (in 3D) that left you wondering how they could possibly have made it, set as it was in a weightless environment. But although the storyline was very straightforward, the acting by George Clooney and Sandra Bullock (especially) was excellent.

On returning from London, incidentally, we found that our water tank was overflowing (through the overflow pipe) into the back garden.  I clambered around in the loft, checked with the internet and sprayed the ball valve with WD40. I also tried to bend the arm slightly, but not sure if I succeeded. The overflow has stopped, but I’m not sure if this is a permanent repair. Obviously if you’re using the water on a regular basis, the overflow is going to be minimal. Still, I’m hoping. Very cold tonight.