What I didn’t mention is that my car is out of action as well as the computer. It’s all a bit bothersome. There is, as ever, a good side to this, as I’m going on holiday, so I’ll have to leave the Sage to sort out the car and Ro the computer; that is, I won’t have to.

But enough of that – it’s only machines and it’ll be put right one way or another, although probably rather expensively. The important thing is my sister’s birthday. Yes, my lovely sister Wink is 60 today – she won’t mind me saying so as she has had major birthday parties and everyone already knows.

I was really sorry not to be with her this last weekend, though in one way it’s just as well, as undoubtedly my car would have broken down on the way. I missed an excellent party though.

A bit of a problem on the computer front, which is rather a bugger as I still have a couple of pieces of work unfinished which I can’t get at. May be back in a day or two, may not. I’m borrowing Ro’s laptop at the moment.

Little did I know, as a dedicated Hanna Barbera cartoon watcher in the early 60s, that knowing that Mr ‘I hate meeces to pieces’ Jinks was the cat that chased Pixie and Dixie comes in useful in quizzes.

I didn’t know I remembered the name of the computer in Red Dwarf.

It was surprising how many people didn’t know, in a Food and Drink round, what deglazing is.

It was even more surprising that we won – with two rounds to go, we were a quarter of a point in the lead. It was BBC TV comedy and Trivia that let us romp home.

We have a wooden plaque! With little shields, on one of which will be etched our name (that is, the name of our parish)!! Not only that, and rather embarrassingly, we won £10!!(!) – which we decided to put in the church plate on Sunday.

I went to lunch today for a friend’s birthday lunch – she was 87 last week. There were 18 of us, mostly old friends – there was only one couple I hadn’t met before – and we all enjoyed ourselves very much.

It was a lovely spring day and I trotted along Castle Meadow with an anxious frown on my face as I worked out what to say in the awkward phone call I’ve got to make within the next few days – can’t do it at the weekend, it’ll have to wait until Monday. Someone accosted me – not like that, it turned out to be a chum and we had a brief chat while I reassured him that I wasn’t actually sunken in gloom, but that I always look like that when I’m thinking.

Towards the end of lunch, there was a torrential downpour of sleet and we were all, in our light clothes, rather dismayed. It had stopped when we left, but rained as I walked back to the car. I couldn’t run as I can’t run, and besides I was wearing new shoes for the first time (not the first time I’d ever worn new shoes, just those ones except for trying them on in the shop)* and I was carrying a flower arrangement as well, so I simply got wet. I won the flowers – a helpful friend of the Birthday Girl had done table decorations and BG put names in a metaphorical, or should that be virtual, hat and mine was one of the names drawn out.

I was wearing, by the way, a cast-off skirt that my mother gave me about ten years ago – I still wear some of her redundant clothes – but that I never wore as it was not quite ‘me’ at the time, and then I grew out of it anyway. Now I’ve grown back into it both in size (though in a reduced sense) and age, so I hauled it out of the wardrobe and put it on. Charity shops don’t do too well out of me as my clothes rarely get too worn out for me to carry on using them and if they don’t fit now, well, sooner or later…

Earlier, I bobbed into the Co-op to spend £40 and thus gain a 4p-off-per-litre** token for petrol. A man was collecting for charity – properly licensed, badge and all – and I said I’d give him some money when I came out as I only had £20 notes. When I returned, I fumbled in my purse, emptied out the change and put it in the tin. “You look like you’d be fun to have around!” he said unwisely. I probably looked startled. “I mean, you looked cheerful and friendly, I noticed when you came in,’ he dug harder. He only meant to be friendly, it wasn’t a chat-up line – but a bit naive to say it quite in that way.

Another £60 on petrol, four weeks after the last time. Hmm.

*It has come to my notice that I often don’t make myself clear; I’m attempting to rectify this.

** ‘cough, cough’

I arrived home from dinner and did a few things and chatted to the Sage and then just sat here listening to music and writing. I decided to have an earlyish night, but it was a bit too early, as I’d wake in the small hours if I was asleep much before midnight. Then Ro came and chatted a bit while he was getting his lunch ready and the Sage asked me to let Tilly out before I went to bed, so I said I’d only be a few minutes and asked Ro when he was going for a bath. He said at half past, at which time I realised it was nearly half past eleven, which isn’t very early, and now it’s ten to twelve and I haven’t let Tilly out yet nor, of course, in again and locked up and so I won’t be going to bed early after all, since I won’t sleep if I don’t have a bath and wind down a bit.

Goodnight

Honestly, some people can be quite inconsiderate. It’s my sister’s birthday on Monday, so I thought it was quite helpful of me to arrange delivery of her present to her workplace for tomorrow, as I know she’s taking the day of her birthday off and it’s always a nuisance to have to toddle down to the post office to pick up parcels. I rang her, to check the address.

“Oh, I’m taking the day off tomorrow too.”

What? Really, didn’t it occur to her that I leave things as late as possible – but, on the hand, not to the very last minute? Doesn’t she know, after all this time, for she’s known me all my life and most of hers, that I rely on people doing what I expect although I reserve the right to du different* myself?

Anyway, it’s all right (it always is) because she’s going into town on Saturday to go the hairdresser so can pop into the office and pick it up.

I had a phone call from the electricity chappie, who was down at the church, wanting to make an appointment to put in a replacement meter. After a brief chat, I suggested that the best thing would be to lend him a key to the room where the meter is – the church itself is always open and I leapt with awkward agility on my bike and went to meet him and show him around.

Yes, I looked at his ID before entrusting him with the key.

I noticed that I used my most professional helpful manner, to the extent that I remembered his name and used it when saying goodbye (you think this always happens? My memory is rubbish). Natural charm would have been quite sufficient, but I was doing the full “it’s my pleasure.”

*this is what we do in Norfolk. It’s our motto.

So although there is no problem, it has been decided that one more scan will be done as a final check and, as it’s the day after I return home from holiday, my daughter has invited me to go with her. So we’ll get back from Madrid on the evening of the 21st and, instead of going back to Norwich with the rest of my party, I’ll abandon my luggage – pfft – and head for El and Phil’s flat and stay the night with them.

This is all vastly exciting. When I was expecting Ro, scans were just coming in and I had one done but it didn’t show much except that there was something wriggling in there and one wasn’t routinely offered a picture. It’s very thoughtful of El to ask me and I’m thrilled.

I’ve had a couple of busy days with meetings and have been given extra work to do with no chance to catch up on the backlog. I’m giving myself until 9 o’clock to do what I can and then taking the rest of the evening off. Tomorrow, I have a free morning and then am looking after Al’s shop in the afternoon and out in the evening, and on Friday I’m pretty busy. Some intervening deadlines, but all must be done by Monday night as I then run out of time – Tuesday afternoon is for wondering what I’m going to take on holiday and wishing that all my nicest clothes didn’t have to be handwashed and carefully ironed. I have taken the precaution, however, of buying some new clothes, *just in case* I don’t get around to it.

…in a happy way. El has just sent photos of her baby and there’s a lovely profile with the features clearly shown.

Dilly and I were talking and she said it made her feel quite tearful too. “If it were a friend’s baby, I’d be interested and pleased, but I wouldn’t feel like this,” she said. “It’s different when it’s family, isn’t it?”

And it is, so I won’t go on about it here – though I won’t promise not to show you a picture when the baby is born.

I’m plugging away at my list, which I mentioned the other day, and I’m actually doing quite well with it. A friend came to stay the night – she had to come to Cambridge, so it wasn’t far off her route (we’re about an hour and a half from Cambridge and she lives about 3 hours drive both from there and from us). I’d made a kedgeree the day before, so that I wouldn’t have to spend valuable chatting time cooking while she was here.

This morning, knowing I had a whole lot to do, she went into town to do some shopping and I prepared lunch for oneish. She finally rolled back about two o’clock, admitting that she’d lost track of time and had received a parking ticket as a result. She brought a box of chocolates, amongst other presents, and congratulated me on my weight loss – not quite thought through there, I suggest. I have given them to Ro and asked him to keep them well out of my sight.

I’m feeling mildly hysterical because of multi-tasking, which is taxing me to an absurd level and makes me feel at least my age (maybe older, but how am I to know what that feels like?). One vital item hasn’t been touched yet and I haven’t picked up the clarinet, and am too drunk (I’m not drunk, but have to be entirely sober to play) to do it this evening. However, I’m doing well otherwise. Sadly, I have a meeting tomorrow morning which will result in more work, and one in the afternoon which I hope will not, or not much. Of the 9 items I mentioned, 6 are done and one is more than half done. “course, there were things I didn’t mention…

It took me three hours to complete a reply to one email because I kept having to move on to other things, and when I finally pressed send it said I’d been signed out and I’d have to send it again, whoops, they’d lost it. I didn’t know whether it had gone or not as, I discovered, it was in my sent rather than draft box. Why do they do it? Efficiency is all I ask for. I sent the bugger again with an apology if it was received twice.

Anyway, it snowed again this morning and is really quite cold now. I’ve left the heating on in the greenhouse for the last two days, but at least a lot of seedlings are up. I’ll go and breathe on them tomorrow – breath is awfully good for plants, I find.

Haven’t sorted out holiday insurance yet. Oh damn.

I didn’t think it was likely. But they were right.