Tag Archives: welborne

Queen Dot, approximately

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Lovely picture of Dot taken by the head teacher at Little Plumstead school. Yes, that is a pine cone on her head. Don’t ask.

That was a rough week, bringing with it the return of the dreaded upper respiratory tract infection, which caused me so much grief in my younger years. Thought it had gone for good, but it all came back again with the usual unpleasant symptoms, and I was in bed for three days with everything streaming. In essence I think it was the virus Dot had (and she had it bad enough) but it seems to debilitate me completely. I am now feeling OK, though rather tired, and a little clogged up. Dot still hasn’t got rid of her cough.

I missed leading the service and the visit to Oxnead Hall on Sunday, and a meeting at the Norfolk Record Office and the Launch of 26 in Norwich (Paston connection) on Monday, all of which was disappointing. Dot went to Oxnead, Phil took the service, and Rob went to NRO (which he would have done anyway).

While the virus was getting into me, and before it reached its three-day apex, I went with Dot to Judy’s for supper on Thursday – lovely fish pie and Eton mess, amusing cat – and paid a misguided, fleeting visit to Welborne Arts Festival on Saturday while Dot was visiting Auntie Ethel in hospital (yes, she’s still there – Ethel, not Dot). The weather was chill and coming on to rain, but I had a brief chat with organiser Mike and, unexpectedly, top artist Kate Coleman, who had a small tentful of paintings. Then I ran for the hills, getting back to the hospital just in time to give Dot a lift home.

That reminds me, I ‘ve written a new song called The Rolling Hills of Pakefield, which I like quite a lot.

I’ve spent the last couple of days completing preparations for Sunday (though I made a brief foray into town today to pay in cheques and buy paper). An unexpected complication – and I realise I’m looking at this from completely the wrong point of view – is that our friend and church member Geoff Saunders is on the critical list in Papworth following an operation to replace his aorta. Nicholas rang, concerned that my leading of the service on Sunday would be affected if he dies, and it certainly would, but I think I could cope. Hope I don’t have to, of course. (Nicholas himself is leading a Developing Consciousness course at St Luke’s and so can’t step in.)

Half a dozen of us had a prayer meeting at St Luke’s yesterday during the operation.

17 June 2007

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My grand-daughter Amy at the wheel, pausing for a moment’s reflection. Women drivers, eh?

Welborne is over – an exhausting but fulfilling weekend, with quite reasonable weather on the whole interspersed yesterday by a couple of half-hours of torrential rain which brough a chill as well as sogginess to the air. I think our marquee looked pretty good, and the poetry reading went well, despite meagre attendance today and competition from live music and a town crier yesterday. Very little sold, sadly, though I did manage to get rid of a couple of my original books. Dot came along this afternoon, and we both attended a reading by novelist Tessa West which was excellent (although only six of us were there). Dot bought one of her books, which she signed. Much higher numbers for live music outside and clowns: maybe community activities and more serious stuff don’t really mix. I still love the Welborne Arts Festival, though. Lovely setting.

We spent most of Friday transporting the pictures etc to Welborne, hanging and organising.

On Saturday Dot went to a Wall Hall reunion in Suffolk which I was sorry to miss. I spoke to a couple of the “girls” on the phone – Liz and Jeannie – when I rang to check that Dot had got there all right (through the driving rain). I got myself on an outrageous rump steak in the evening on the assumption that Dot would have eaten, and she had – but she was still back earlier than expected at about 8pm. So we were able to have a relaxing half-an-evening together. Tonight she has gone to an Ambient Wonder event at which she is taking a leading role, but I decided to stay at home because I was very, very tired and because I thought she might do better without me. This evening, I mean. Not generally.

PS There has been an outbreak of very slow driving on the lanes and roads between Norwich and Dereham. On returning from the Welborne Festival yesterday I got caught behind a red Toyota whose driver seemed to think 30mph was a bit excessive, and today I had a similar experience behind another elderly driver on the same road. In each case the driving was so bad it required a real effort not to unintentionally tailgate them on corners, and overtaking was out of the question because you couldn’t believe the driver in front would keep far enough to the left on the narrowish roads. Extremely frustrating and inconsiderate driving. Amy would do a lot better.