Yes, I’ve become a secretary again and took the minutes at my first meeting today.  I should be writing them up now.  *Shrugs*

A long shot, but I don’t suppose Anyone Out There lives in the Ipswich area, is free on the first Wednesday afternoon of most months and is interested in joining a branch of the Decorative and Fine Arts Societies?  The Orwell branch is relaunching, in a new venue (Rushmere St Andrew) and moving from evening to afternoon.  Their first lecture is on 1st September and will be given by Andy McDonnell, of Antiques Roadshow, who will be giving an illustrated lecture on glassware – I don’t know what the title of the lecture is.  In future, they will be having Neil Faulkner (The Greek Myth), who is brilliant, and Chloe Cockerill (Helms, Hatchments and Hedgehogs), who is too.  I’d go as a guest to the first one to support them, but it’s on the same day as one of the societies that I belong to and I can’t manage two lectures in a day.

If anyone is interested, let me know and I’ll put you in touch with the chairman, or else be the middleman and book you in myself – just as a guest, no obligation.  I expect, for a one-off, it would be around £6 or £7.

I have found out what caused the problem with my phone a few weeks ago.  It was a glitch in an update to an app.  Guess how I found out.  Unfortunately, since I hadn’t done any updating for a few weeks, there were 26 to be done and I don’t remember, even, which ones.  I’ve been over to the Apple shop (I can’t be doing with calling it the Apple Store, that was what I had it in the diary as and I didn’t understand it.  As far as I’m concerned, an Apple Store is where you store apples) and had it wiped again, reinstalled everything and it’s fine.  That’s the thing, the app works okay, it’s just the download that doesn’t.  Very odd.  The only way of finding out will be, in future, only to do one at a time and do it by elimination.  I said to the chap that I’ll be back in due course.

A lot of wet weather.  At least the garden won’t need watering any more.  I must do the greenhouse tomorrow though, I didn’t yesterday because I didn’t feel up to it and I didn’t today because I was out.

It was dry but cloudy first thing, but Dave emailed about half past eight to say that there were spots of rain over his way.  We looked out, and the clouds coming this way were from his direction, so it was agreed to put off bricklaying for the day.  It was just as well, it rained heavily, on and off, although it was sunny for part of the day.

I had a headache all day, which I assumed was caused by the oppressive weather, but it got much worse in the afternoon and an hour’s sleep didn’t help.  I felt really ill for a while and the pain made me feel sick – in the end I was, which helped and another sleep put me right.  I’ve got a lot to do for my meeting in Bury tomorrow though, so I should be doing that rather than this.

You come first, darlings.  Mwah.

Yesterday, Dave and I agreed that it’s now necessary to start on the ornamental bricks.  The pillars can’t be built up any more without knowing how far along the first one will be and we’ve only a couple more courses on one side of the central pillar, which one of us can do in a session.  We were, as I mentioned yesterday, looking ahead to see if we are likely to finish this summer – we would both like to, for several reasons,  but it doesn’t really matter.  As I pointed out, extending the job will give the Sage and me the pleasure of Dave’s company for longer (it’s not that we can’t see each other for sociable purposes, but we’re not likely to so often).  “You could finish the job yourselves, of course,” he said.  He explained with some care and waving of hands the knack he has worked out for putting the large bricks in – they are heavy and getting the level right isn’t easy because the mortar tends to be squeezed out by their weight before it sets, so he now puts in small sections of brick to support each brick.  He explained with such care and detail that he started to sound a note of valediction.  “Either you think your health is going to recover sufficiently to go to work again, or else you reckon the job will take so long that you’ll die before we get them all in,” I suggested.  If Dave doesn’t make it to the end of this project, a memorial will have to be incorporated into the wall.  On the East side, of course.

During the morning, I had another ‘market research’ call.  I said quite snappily that I was being repeatedly bothered by these calls and I was working and the man apologised.  Today, there was another.  The Sage picked up the phone this time.  “How did you get our number?” he said sternly.  He was told we won a telephone competition and pointed out that we hadn’t entered one.  He, being polite, was ready to extend the conversation so I held out my hand for the phone and said that they were not welcome, please will our number be deleted from their list.  The man said it would.  It wasn’t a foreign call in this case, the Sage dialled 1471 to find out the number where the call came from, and was surprised to find it wasn’t withheld – it was 08887052280.

On another subject entirely, I thought you might like to see a picture of Wink.

Our backs aren’t really to the wall, of course.  If we don’t get done this year, there’s always 2011.  And we still might get it completed, given a fair wind and a bit of mutual spare time.

I had the children this morning because their mother was working for a while.  It was the first time she’d tutored this particular boy and he looked very nervous.  People are often surprised when they see her – we think that they expect to see some sort of Victorian governess figure, and she’s young and pretty (she looks younger than she is, even) with a cheerful Norwich accent.  She admitted to him that she was nervous too – it’s always a bit nerve-wracking to go to someone for the first time, wondering if the work you’ve prepared hits the right spot.  In fact, she said, he’s a bright and willing boy, but can’t do mental arithmetic as quickly as his teacher requires, so is struggling a bit, so some one-to-one tuition should help, and she’ll teach him a few multiplication shortcuts.

Pugsley and Squiffany played with Lego and stuff for a while, then asked to watch my Horrid Henry DVD.  They sat together on my armchair and I put it on the computer.  I’d given them each a biscuit and they were perfectly content – Pugsley turned to Squiffany and gave her a kiss on the cheek.  He rarely kisses.  Boy-kisses are given only to his mother, sometimes.  Squiffany, surprised but pleased, kissed him back on the side of his head and then looked at me.  I did an open-mouthed, wide-open-eyed look and a thumbs-up and we grinned at each other, Pugsley not noticing.  I went back to my cooking.  I was making rock buns.

I haven’t made rock buns for probably 30 years, so getting the consistency right was guesswork.  Well, not entirely.  That is,  I knew when I’d got it slightly too wet, so added a bit more flour and decided that was probably all right.  I couldn’t find any mixed peel in the cupboard – it’ll be there somewhere, but probably rock’ard – so added 2 oz of sultanas and 2 oz of raisins instead, didn’t seem to have any mixed spice so used allspice and grated enthusiastic quantities of nutmeg.  While they were cooking, I mixed a Victoria sponge mix and put it in the Aga cake baker.  I usually use sandwich tins, so (instead of looking it up, sensibly), guessed the timing – and took it out too early.  It was bulging enthusiastically, but pallidly, at the top of the tin so I shoved it back, set the timer again and when I went back it was cooked with a deep dip in the middle.

Ho Kay.  I tipped it on to a cooling rack and, when it was done, cut a circle out of the centre, cut it in half across, sandwiched it with jam, put it back together and slapped cheery icing on the top.  It would be fine.

Dilly and I sampled the rock buns and approved.  I went to the church to play the organ for the funeral.

It all went a bit disorganised after the service.  I got back – oh actually, I’m wrong, it was then that I iced the cake because it wasn’t cool enough before.  Then Dave arrived, so I made me and the Sage sandwiches, Dave and me tea and we chatted while waiting for the Sage, who was still at the church talking to people.  As I said yesterday, Reggie, who had died, was a village man and so lots of long-time residents had come, people that the Sage has known all his life so it was quite understandable that he wanted to talk to them.

He arrived home in the end, ate his sandwiches and drank the tea I made him and then the phone rang – it all took a while but he ended up being interviewed live on the radio.  I’ll have a look and see if I can find it for you – Dave and I tried to listen but couldn’t get it either on my phone or his car radio.

It was more than an hour after Dave arrived when we finally started work, but we got a good amount done.  And here are the pictures.

Next time, we’ll have to start on the ornamental bricks.  Well, Dave will.  They’re a bit tricky.

I couldn’t get a very good angle for the pictures I’m afraid, but at least this shows how fabulously accurate our straight lines are, hem hem.

You will observe that I’ve given up weeding the pumpkin/squash beds.  There was little weeding to be done when I left here, nearly a fortnight ago, but it’s rained a lot since.  It isn’t going to happen now, I’m afraid.  If I get around to it, I’ll cut flower heads off before they seed, but that’s the best I can offer.

As you see, we’re mostly at the level of the ornamental bricks – those in the final section will be a couple of courses lower than the rest as the ground drops away – we should have enough bricks for that, we think.  We’ve got seven ornamental bricks, but we’ll have to see if that looks too busy.

After we’d finished for the day, I went to get the cakes.  Tilly was lying asleep in the drive and she was so still and limp that I was anxious for a minute.  I went and stood looking, saw the rise and fall of her ribs and then, sensing I was there, she looked at me in a “What?” manner – I reassured her and went indoors.  Noticing on the way that there was no table on the lawn, I remembered that it’s still in Al and Dilly’s garden, as we’ve had a couple of family parties there.  So I took the cakes and then asked permission to have tea with them and, of course, invited them to join us.

After a while, I realised that Pugsley was looking at me.  “Would you like another piece of cake?” I asked.  “Yes please.”  He hadn’t been doing the hard stare that his father did as a child (his Paddington stare) but had been very polite, merely hoping.

Al was surprised that the rock buns could be demolished quite easily.

I give you ‘before’ and ‘after’ photos.  I insisted that there should be something left for our elevenses tomorrow, assuming it doesn’t rain.  Rain is forecast, but that doesn’t necessarily mean much, as it doesn’t rain as much in this village as in some others.

We’re expecting to start bricklaying again tomorrow – just as well we didn’t opt for today, because it’s been raining.  The Sage had several things to do – he had a sale he wanted to view in Beccles, he needed to see a couple of people about things (I don’t ask, if he wants to tell me I’ll listen) and then he went to fetch Dora’s car for her, which needs major repair because of poor advice given her by breakdown recovery people.

You know that work I was talking about yesterday?  I hin’t done it, as we say in Norfolk.  I have done stuff, I cleaned the kitchen and hoovered the drawing room and I watered the greenhouse and picked vegetables, but I only answered a few emails and not the tricky ones.  Well, not that tricky.  But there was a bill to the church that I queried in writing and the bloke looked me up and phoned – I pointed out that I’d not put in my phone number because I needed a written reply for the records – he said he’d check out things and write, but three months have passed and a new copy of the original bill has turned up, with no covering letter.  I’m none too pleased.  I’ll email my reply – reluctantly, as I don’t really want to send out my address, but nor do I want a new one to have to keep checking – as I really can’t be doing with more phone calls.

The other email I know I have to reply to is another nice lady whose china is not Lowestoft and I’m going to have to tell her.  I’ll do it tomorrow morning, I promise.

I’ve had several annoying phone calls in the last few days.  We’re registered with the Telephone Preference Service for both our phones (not had any problems with the mobiles as yet)  but I had a phone call on the internet phone on Saturday and two on the landline today, each from the same marketing company wanting to carry out a survey.  I’ve checked, they aren’t covered in the TPS regulations.  In each case, the caller has been Indian and I’ve been brusquely polite – twice I’ve put the phone down and once it was put down on me.  Tonight, I was cooking dinner when the phone rang again and the Sage answered.  A minute or two later, he brought it to me and an Indian man was starting to ask questions.  I said that my husband had just given me the phone, was he from a marketing company?  He said, oh no, he was phoning on behalf of my telephone provider.  Okay, I replied, who is that?  He didn’t want to answer, but when I pressed, he said it would be either TalkTalk or BT.  Neither of those is my telephone provider, I’m registered with the Telephone Preference Service not to receive cold calls and I don’t want to answer any questions, I said.  And put the phone down.  I used to be polite – well, I’m not rude in the least but I am not welcoming.  I am heartily fed up with this sort of thing.  I do have sympathy for the people phoning, poor devils are up all night as India is 5 1/2 hours ahead of us and it was 7.10 when he phoned – but that’s not my problem, I’m afraid.    Next time I’m phoned by that marketing company, according to the advice on the TPS website, I have to ask them to take my number off their calling list.

Al and Dilly have looked after the greenhouse beautifully, tied up the cucumbers which were in a right pickle, and weeded thoroughly.  I have picked a lot of cucumbers, tomatoes, peppers, aubergines and chillies, and made ratatouille this evening.  It was about half a pound of each vegetable-worth, and I thought I’d add a little chilli to give some zing.  I nibbled the end of a small one, which was okay, so I cut off the other end and tasted again.  I just touched my tongue to the bit I’d cut off.

I downed my glass of wine rather hastily.

It was a very small chilli that, deseeded, I added to the pan of ratatouille, but when we came to eat it, it was still notably spicy.  Very good, but not quite classic.

Tonight, I’m going to watch University Challenge (I’m sure I’ve mentioned that Bamber Gascoigne was my childhood heartthrob so it’s a sentimental thing, though Paxo isn’t the same at all) and then read.  Possibly an earlyish night.  Maybe not.  I’ve got lots of books to read, more buying and borrowing than reading recently.

As I said in the comments earlier, the rumour that the fire in the flat at the weekend was started deliberately has been confirmed as a fact.  Some people are horrible, aren’t they?  A minority of course, but a nasty one.

I’ve avoided everything but personal emails for the past week, but tomorrow I’ll have to get back to normal.  I’ve no work to do yet, that is, paid work – and I have passed business email messages on to the Sage – but there’s always plenty of other things to get on with.

Wink phoned to say that she arrived home safely.  It’s quiet here without her.  Not that she’s loud, but there’s an empty space.

We were having coffee after church today when Brenda brought in two women who had been visiting the church for a look round.  Turns out that one was Dutch, the other American and they are Mormons, staying at the Temple in London while they are spending a couple of years here, presumably going door-to-door.  They were very charming and friendly and asked to take a photo of us, which was quite sweet.  Such people (Mormons or Seventh Day Adventists, usually) occasionally make it down our drive, but we’re usually forewarned, simply because they always come to the front door which, in true Norfolk tradition, we rarely use.  In the winter, the porch is used to stack logs for the fire and in the spring, a pair of wrens nests high up in the corner.

Which reminds me, now that the nesting season is well over and the hibernation season is still far away, there’s an overgrown patch of shrubbery that needs attention.  Oh good.

Al was woken by a phone call from the delivery driver, who had arrived at the shop to find that the flat above the gents’ hairdresser opposite was on fire and the road was full of fire engines.  Of course, he couldn’t get to the shop to make his delivery and Al, realising that he wouldn’t be able to open up this morning, asked him to take everything back to Norwich.  He got on his bike and went in to find out what was going on.

Here’s a photo I took from the church tower a few years ago – it’s the right hand side of the white building in the foreground.  The flat is badly damaged – it’s the one next to where Badgerdaddy used to live, and the roof of that one is damaged too.  The hairdresser is badly damaged by water, but it seems that the butcher’s shop next door is all right.  He couldn’t open up either today, of course.  There’s speculation about how it might have started – it’s untenanted and empty at present – but I daresay the truth will emerge.  Fortunately, it rained heavily in the night (I was woken several times by the noise) which probably helped to stop it spreading along the row.  I’m so sorry for Suzanne the hairdresser, but apparently she has already found somewhere to move to temporarily.  It was only a couple of years ago that the landlord had the buildings renovated – the same chap who did Al’s renovations last year, he’s really good and understands old buildings.

Al enjoyed his day off.  We went and had lunch at the café at the garden centre.  The woman who runs it already had an established catering company and the food is jolly good.  Al and Dilly wanted to go to the cinema this evening, so I offered to give the children their tea.  Weeza and family were coming over, but ended up arriving quite late so I suggested we all ate at about 6 o’clock – fortunately, I’d bought a couple of pounds of sausages and some bacon, and I added carrots, chips, tomatoes and macaroni cheese to the menu. The children were all really good and ate lots.  Now that Pugsley has stopped being difficult about food, he’s much happier and so are mealtimes generally.  They are also extremely good about going to bed, and each chose a book for me to read, I chose a third and then gave them ten minutes to read to themselves before switching the light off.

After our lengthy journey down, the one back was much quicker, only 4 hours driving time plus 20 minutes or so for a cup of coffee.  We caught the Sage out, he had done no shopping as he thought he had an hour in hand and the fridges were empty.  I put a pizza in the Aga and afterwards we went and stocked up a bit.

We went to Bath today. The city, not the tub. We went to the best bookshop I’ve been in for years. It was brilliant in a way that has almost vanished now, not a bestseller in sight (I’ve nothing against bestsellers as such, but you can get them anywhere, they hardly inspire) and you can easily browse for hours and end up with a huge pile of books. I restrained myself – I’ve got a pile of books to read already and just bought one plus one for the children. I bought three books in Sherbourne yesterday and I’ve only read two and a half of those I brought down. The good thing is that there is another branch, which happens to be in Ely – this seems a bit odd placing for just two branches in the whole country but no doubt there’s a good reason for it.

We called on Bod’s mother for a cup of tea on the way home. Her other son, Tig, is staying with her this week and he and the Bod went to a cricket match at Cheltenham today. I think it’s fair to say that Bod is even keener on cricket than Dave is. He and Wink have suggested that I go on holiday with them in the autumn, which would be delightful but I can only find one week in October and one in November that I could manage to clear. I’ve noted when they are and Wink will see how Bod is fixed.

We come home tomorrow. Wink is spending the weekend with us and then coming back here on Sunday.

The Sage isn’t having the best week, one way and another. He wasn’t able to use his new phone because he’d forgotten the charger, but a neighbour has a similar one so he has borrowed it. Other cow-related problems that I think I’ll gloss over if you don’t mind. Altogether, he’s not the happiest person this week.

We went to Shrrborne today for lunch and a friend called in for a drink this evening. Sorry about the typos, I one-finger type quite quickly pm the phone but it’s a nuisance to make corrections so I don’t bother. I use all fingers normally, of course. I ‘can’ touch-type but I generally look. Because I can, of course.

I’ve been reading “the diving bell and the butterfly”. I’ve seen the film but not read the book before and it’s very moving. As one does, one relattes it to oneself. Scrubvthat, I relate it to myself and realised he must have been about my age; indeed he was a year older. And he had his catastrophic stroke in 1995. Saddening.

As usual when I’m away, I’m reading a lot. I used to read all the time at all times, but have stopped. I’ve read too many books that were well reviewed but were not up to scratch. So now I read fewer books than ever before and am readier to give up if I’m not enjoying it.

Wink just came to say goodnight. “what would I do without you, kiddo?” she asked. “you’d be totally fucked” I said. Probably not what she quite expected me to say but she couldn’t disagree.