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16 June 2003 A.D. My Ref: GENL0223

Dear Folk,

Tues 20th May. At Gpavesend. Dry-ish. Maggie and I spent the middle of the day in Gpavesend Town. Did some shopping and had lunch in J D Wetherspoon's. In the evening young Richard came round to spend the evening with us. He brung his laptop (computer) with him and did some things on the Internet, including finding where we can buy "Gadabout" folding chairs. All this was done in a matter of seconds.

Wed 21st May. A bit showery. Telephoned Messrs Classic Canes, suppliers of Gadabout chairs. The chairs are not available at the moment, but they will be soon, and they can be obtained from a place in the Dixon's Centre in Hellesdon! Got out Maggie's electric lawnmower and replaced the blade with one that I had re-sharpened in Hellesdon. Cut the lawn for Maggie, luckily before the showers came.

Sesta after lunch, and then we went into Gpavesend town for a quick shopping-trip before going on to Gillingham, where we visited a camping-store in an old cinema. We were looking for an awning for the new camper-van, but didn't find one. In the evening I went round to visit Maggie's Dad and Richard: Richard now shares the house with his grandfather. You will remember that he recently changed jobs and he now works not far away. Maggie didn't come with me to visit them as she has toothache.

Thurs 22nd May. Dry but dull. Maggie in pain with her teeth, but did a lot of telephoning about getting power-steering put in the new camper-van. Then we druv to the dentista and Maggie got an emergency appointment for 2.00 p.m. Next we went into Gpavesend Town and I went and bought a coach-ticket from Vitória to Norwich, travelling next Tuesday 27th May. While I was doing that, Maggie went to the library. We came home for a sandwich lunch. Then Maggie went off for her appointment while I had a sesta. The dentista says that Maggie has another abcess, and several appointments have been made for it to be dealt-with. Had a quiet evening.

Fri 23rd May. Dry but dull again. I went into Gpavesend and back by 'bus, leaving Maggie at home. Did some shopping, including buying in the market a package sealed in plastic descrub on the label as "Made in Belgium. Mushroom Liver Pâté". I said to the man that I didn't realise that mushrooms had livers! He stared at me uncomprehendingly, so I didn't pursue the matter. But I reckon the Trading Standards people would have had a field-day if they had known about it. I got a Quilo++ for £2.00, so I didn't grumble. Also bought at another place a chicken-and-asparagus pie, which I took home for our lunch. Both Maggie and I said that it was delicious. I seem to have developed a nasty backache, and I had a long sesta after lunch.

In the evening I had a nice long bath, while Maggie went round to see her Dad. She took some Mushroom Liver Pâté with her for him.

Sat 24th May. Queen Vitória's birthday. Sunny. Didn't sleep too badly, and my back is a bit betterer. During the morning Maggie and I druv to Rochester for a visit to the fleamarket. Bought some dots and an electric paper-shredder. The shredder brand-new: an end-of-line item. The cost in the shops £230-odd; the cost to me, £30. I have dealt with those people before, and they are always honest and reliable. In fact the low price was because I am a regular customer. Found an attack of gout coming-on during the morning. Another customer in the market saw me buying dots and told me that he has some at home; he guv me his telephone-number. He is a Mr Ryan.

Maggie bought a pocket-watch. A very nice repro, probably made in Taiwan or somewhere like that. Maggie treated me to lunch at the Greasy Spoon, then we looked around the Rochester shops. Went home and I had a late sesta. Laterer Maggie and I watched on the tele an anti-British political programme called The Eurovision Song-Contest. Rang Mr Ryan, and we will visit him tomorrow.

Sun 25th May. Sunny and showers. Spent the day quietly. Repaired torn dots bought at the fleamercado yesterday. Jean Crisfield rang this morning from Scotland. Among other things Jean told Maggie that there are plans afoot to reintroduce trams in Edimburgo. In the evening Maggie and I called on Mr Ryan and bought some dots from him.

Mon 26th May. Maggie's birthday. Bank Holiday. A beautiful day. During the morning Maggie's brother Paul and her nephew Richard came to visit. After they had gone, Maggie and I druv to the village of Meopham and had a celebratory lunch at the King's Arms. Then we druv on to Otford and got mixed-up with a lot of traffic in connection with the Otford Village Fête, which was happening that afternoon. Looked around the shops and then returned to Gpavesend Town. Called at the ASDA supermercado and then went home.

Tues 27th May. A glorious sunny day. Gout not much betterer. Back a bit less painful. Got up early and packed my case. To make it lighterer I left a lot of stuff which Maggie will bring up in the car. At 09H30 Maggie kindly druv me to Gpavesend railway station and I said goodbye and thanked her and caught a train to Dartford. Changed at Dartford and caught a train to Vitória. In the train someone had left a copy of the Sun newspaper. There was an article saying that Bob Hope the comedian will celebrate his 100th birthday on Thursday. Bob Hope was born in Eltham, in South-East London. Coincidentally, the train I was travelling on, stopped at Eltham for a couple of minutes today. Was able to hobble from Vitória railway-station to Vitória coach-station.

Caught my coach to Norwich from Vitória, which left at 13H00. Very nice driving through the sunny countryside. We aruv at Norwich about a-quarter-of-an-hour early, and so I was able to catch the number 12 'bus to Hellesdon. Nice to be home after all that travelling. Ten telephone messages and lots of mail. Rang several people and then had a nice hot bath.

Wed 28th May. Another glorious day. Putting myself on a course of the Colchicine tablets for the gout. Got up early and prepared all the documentation and stuff for my income-tax and Mamma's, and made parcels of them. Went up to the Post Office and drew two weeks' pension and posted the parcels to the accountant. Then took a 'bus into Norwich. Had a quick look in St Andrew's Hall Cloisters and then came home. Had a sesta and spoke to Mamma, Maggie and Cousin Lowenna on the telephone. Gout wusserer, if anything, but back easierer.

Thurs 29th May. Oak Apple Day. Fifty years ago, Mount Everest was climbed for the first time. A hundred years ago Bob Hope was born; he is still alive. Yet another glorious day. In great pain with gout, in spite of the Colchicine tablets. Switched-on the photocopier to let it warm-up for two hours, as recommended by Keith the Copier (please see GENL0222, Page Five), because I shall laterer try and publish GENL0222. Meanwhile I decid to make a start on repairing a lot of torn dots that I have been lazily ignoring for some weeks. Came across a song entitled "The Lonesome Road", words by Gene Austin and music by Nathaniel Shilkret; and something stirred in my memory. I thought that I had in my library a copy of a song with the same title, but a completely different edition, with pictures on the front, which this new one doesn't have.

Now, it is not unheard-of, for two quite different songs to have the same title; so I decid to investigate. I went out to the library and found the other item with that name, expecting the two numbers to be different. However, they were just two different editions of the same song. The version in the library was a first-edition, issued in 1928; the song being from a very early sound-film called "Show Boat". That film was based on the same novel that the later and betterer-known show was based on, the latter with music by Jerome Kern.

But the 1928 film and the Kern musical, of course, have nothing to do with each other -- except for having both been based on the same novel, and both being called "Show Boat", which was the name of the novel. Incidentally, I found in my library yet another version of the same song, with a photograph of the singer Sammy Davis Junior on the front, which says that he recorded the song in the 1950s on a label called "Festival"; so "The Lonesome Road" was remembered long after the film had been forgotten.

My cordless telephone has packed-up, so tried to get a new battery from the electrical store at the roundabout, going by car to save my foot. A new battery unobtainable, so I bought a new telephone, which has easily-available batteries. Came home and set the new telephone to get charged, which takes 16 hours.

Repaired some of the torn dots, and then went out and copied GENL0222. Eventually got it all into the envelopes by late afternoon, and then I hobbled to the pillar-box and posted it. My gout very bad indeed and my left ankle swollen more than I have ever seen it; the pain is really cruel. Let us hope that the Colchicine tablets will work soon. But at least my backache seems to have gone.

Spoke to Mamma and to Cousins Keith and Lowenna, and finally to Maggie, who has decid to come to Hellesdon tomorrow, Friday; rather than on Sunday as originally arranged, which will be nice. Soon went to bed. The pain not so bad when the foot is raised, so I was able to sleep fairly well; especially as I deliberately didn't take a sesta today -- so as to make me tired and thus more likely to sleep during the night.

Fri 30th May. Beautifully sunny. My foot a lot betterer, so I went swimming and saw all my old mates. I saw Derek, who also has to take Allopurinol to keep away attacks of gout; and I asked him how much he had to take? He said 200 mg per day. "Oh, dear!" I thought: "Here am I already taking twice that dose and still I am getting attacks of gout. Where will it end?" Anyway, I am to have a blood-test on Wednesday, and we will see what they find out this time.

Then I had a quick trip into Norwich by 'bus to visit the Bewildering Society. Foot getting wusser, so came right home again. Went to the Dixon's Centre about ordering a couple of Gadabout chairs, but they said that they cannot help me. (Please see Page One above.) I shall have to ring Classic Canes again. Had a sesta after lunch, and then went on repairing torn dots. I have now done about a third of what there is to do.

In the afternoon I set-up the new telephone and it seems to work all right. Laterer I spoke to Mamma and to Maggie. Maggie will set-off for Hellesdon laterer this evening.

Just after midnight Maggie arruv, after a very quiet and easy journey. She came on the M 11 passing near Cambridge and Newmarket -- last time she came she used the A 140 via Ipswich.

Sat 31st May. Yet another glorious day; I really cannot remember another such year for good weather. Did a lot of laundry; the washing-machine worked perfectly. I'm glad I found out what the electrical-trouble was in the garagem, and I must remember to get a new geyser installed before the winter. (Please see GENL0222, Page Two.)

Late morning Maggie and I druv to Thursford, near Fakenham, where there is a famous collection of mechanical organs, etc. It was a special open-day, and lots of our organ friends were there. We had a lovely day with the organs all being played (well, one-at-a-time), and we had rides in a set of gondolas, which are a very old (possibly Vitórian) fairground- attraction. Originally the gondolas would have travelled with the fair and would have been set-up in the open, being steam-driven. But this one is now permanently indoors and runs on electricity. The control-system is now a column which has a handle on it that swings around in an arc; I remarked to the operator that it looked just like the ones used by tram-drivers, and he told me that indeed it was from an old tram!

Of course the original organ is still there as part of the whole gondolas' set-up, and it played some jolly tunes as we went round and round. The best tune that it played was "Chicken Reel"; I have done an arrangement of the tune, but Melvyn has not published it. However, Guru Christopher and I each have a privately-punched copy of the tune for our 20-note roll-playing organs.

The whole weekend of which this is a part was arranged by the Mechanical Organ Owners' Society, and we thanked everybody for a lovely day. The weekend continues tomorrow as you will see . . .

Left Thursford and came back to Norwich. We went to Morrison's supermercado and had something to eat and did some shopping there. In the car-park I saw our old mate John Brasier and we all three went and had a drink at the Adam and Eve pub. Came home very tired and soon went to bed.

Sun 1st June. Beautifully sunny to start-with. I didn't wake up until a quarter-to-nine! My gout almost gone, which I attribute to the Colchicine tablets. Maggie and I druv in my car down into Suffolk. We were heading for Cotton, a village in that county. Just into Suffolk we encountered a terrific downpour of rain; a real cloudburst, but it didn't last very long. When we got to Cotton, they said that there had been no rain, and it was nice and dry and sunny there.

. . . We had come to the Cotton Musical Museum where the Mechanical Organ Owners' Soc had laid-on another day's entertainment. The place is smaller than the one at Thursford (where we were yesterday) and therefore more intimate. But of course no fairground rides to enjoy. Still, we had a lovely time. At Cotton I saw Bob Essex, from whom regular readers may remember I bought a paper-roll punching machine for producing organ-music. That punch has never worked satisfactorily, and Bob asked me if I wanted to sell it. I said yes.

On the way home, seeing road-signs pointing to Ipswich, I was suddenly reminded of the title of a song. In Vitórian and Edwardian times and laterer, people used to have Musical Evenings, and those invit used to take along the sheet-music of a song that they particularly enjoyed singing. My great-uncle Henry Edwin Warren, always known as "Jimmy", was Cousin Pam's father; and he lived to be, I think, 96; he died about 1980. But before you say "What a long-lived family!", I must tell you that Great-Uncle Jimmy was merely a relative by marriage: his wife Great-aunt Rosie being my grandmother's sister -- and she died quite a time before he did.

Anyway, Uncle Jimmy had a song that he used to sing at those parties; and his very own copy of the sheet-music was guv to me a few years ago, I think while he was still alive. It is now in my library. It is called "Which Switch is the Switch, Miss, for Ipswich?", from a 1915 show called "Rosy Rapture", and I have never encountered the song anywhere else. It dates from the days of the manual telephone-system, and recounts the problems of a person who wants to speak to someone in Ipswich; but the telephone girl keeps switching his call to Northwich (a place in Cheshire). Anyway, the road-signs mentioning Ipswich put me in mind of that song. Although I never heard him sing it, I am sure Uncle Jimmy used to give the song a good rendering all those years ago.

Monday 2nd June. 50th anniversary of Madge's Coronation++. Wet. Didn't get up until 10.25 a.m. -- the latest I can ever remember lying-in when not ill. I guess I must have been very tired, what with being up after midnight on Fri-Sat night. Did a lot of laundry, and sharpened the spare blade for Maggie's lawn-mower. During the morning Maggie and spent half-an-hour or so with Grace next-door in her conservatory. Also, I checked about getting a couple of Gadabout chairs. I found that they are now called Out-and-About chairs, and I can order them from the Dixons Centre, but at a different department. So ordered a couple of them by telephone. In the afternoon it was dryer, and after watching on the tele several royal programmes, Maggie and I druv to Moreton-on- the-Hill and bought some asparagus at the farm there. Guv some to Grace when we got home. We had some for tea; it was delicious.

In the evening Barbara Haycock rang. She had been to Llandudno and found a Charity Shop with an enormous quantity of dots in it. Barbara very generously bought some of it for me.

Tues 3rd June. Got up and had a bath and then I druv to the BUPA Hospital to undergo my usual four-weekly blood-test. Came home and drew my pension from the Post Office. Then Maggie and I prepared things for the new camper-van. Had a cold lunch and then Maggie druv off to see various people. I stayed at home as I was still feeling very tired. I wonder if it is a withdrawal-symptom after ending my course of Colchicine on Sunday?

Val, the accountant rang. She is dealing with my Tax Return and had one or two things to ask. I was able to sort things out for her, so I hope that is done for another year. Apart from my signing the Return when it is filled-in. Colin the gardener came. He told me that he and his twin brother have bought the plans for a build-it-yourself organ-grinder's organ. I asked if they were plans supplied by our friend John Smith, but Colin couldn't remember.

Maggie spent a jolly afternoon visiting Wroxham on The Broads; I stayed at home. I cooked a nice meal of asparagus and sausage and mash and onions, which was very nice, though I say it myself. Maggie enjoyed it, too. Laterer I did my Portuguese homework.

Wed 4th June. Showery. Still very tired. A nice letter from Aunt Joan in Eastbourne. Maggie went into Norwich while I stayed at home. After lunch I went to Teresa's for a Portuguese lesson; the first one for about six weeks. The break cannot have done me much harm, because in the ditado++ I made only one mistake: I wrote "noturno", which is the correct Brasilian Portuguese spelling, but Teresa wanted "nocturno", which is the correct Portuguese Portuguese. Cooked sausages, etc., again, for tea, which we both enjoyed. I know it was the same as yesterday, but I was finishing-up the pound of sausages, etc. Anyway, I think we both enjoyed it. Good old-fashioned plain English cooking -- you can't beat it. Laterer I rang Mamma, and also Lowenna and Keith, and Aunt Joan.

Thurs 5th June. Sunny. Got up at about a-quarter-to-eight and got ready to go swimming, leaving Maggie to sleep. On the way to the Hotel Hilton I cast my vote in the local elections. When I got to the Hilton I found that the swimming-pool was closed for repairs, so came home again. Val the accountant rang to say that Mamma's Civil Service pension details are missing from the stuff we sent her. Mrs J rang to say that there is a Feed The Minds meeting tomorrow.

Laterer Maggie and I druv to Hoveton to spend the day. Hoveton is on the Norfolk Broads, but has a busy shopping-centre which is dominated by "Roys of Wroxham", a large conglomerate known as The Largest Village Store In The World. Several premises dotted about the streets of Hoveton, containing the different departments of Roys Stores. And no, I am not making a mistake. Although they call themselves Roys of Wroxham, the stores are not in Wroxham but in Hoveton. (Although to be fair, Wroxham is just on the other side of the river.) The reason that they call themselves Roys of Wroxham, not Roys of Hoveton, is that the railway station which serves both Wroxham and Hoveton is called Wroxham station; and so goods to be sent by rail to Roys Stores have to be consigned to Wroxham.

Anyway, we bought some things in the main department-store of Roys, and then went across to their supermercado and did some more shopping. Then Maggie bought me a hamburger lunch in the Roys branch of MacDonald's. After that we had a look in the two Charity Shops in the village; no dots. Then we had a drink at the King's Head; we sat in the garden in the sunshine and watched the vai-e-vem on the river; cruisers going to and fro, and all manner of bird-life: swans, geese, ducks, coots and moorhens. One proud pair of ducks with eight fairly grown-up ducklings, all keeping together in formation as they swam along.

Maggie thinks it might be a jolly idea to hire a cruiser for a day sometime, and so she gathered a few leaflets about it. Then we came home. After a tea of bread and cold meat, etc., I rang Mamma. Asked about the Civil Service pension details, which I had carefully schooled her in keeping, but of course she has forgotten everything. Arranged to go over to Hunstanton tomorrow and try and sort it out, so cannot go to the Feed The Minds meeting tomorrow. Prepared a letter for Mamma to sign, telling the government Paymaster that she has changed her address, and the new address is my house in Hellesdon; but of course her banking arrangements have not changed. This means that the Civil Service pension will continue to be paid into Mamma's bank-account, but the notifications and the P60 will in future be sent here for me to deal-with. I hope.

Fri 6th June. Wet. At 8.30 a.m. I druv off to Hunst'on, leaving Maggie at Hellesdon. Hadn't slept very well, so felt very tired, but eventually arruv at Mamma's and spent some time sorting-out the Civil Service pension. Unable to find the P60 form, so reconstructed the pension from the amounts credited to Mamma's bank-account. Luckily the pension is paid quarterly, so only four amounts to deal-with. Copied it all down so as to be able laterer to write and tell Val the accountant. Got Mamma to sign the letter to the Paymaster, and posted it.

We went into Hunst'on Town and went to the Bank and to the Bewildering Society. Mamma and I had lunch at the Club. Lamb chops, not too bad. After lunch we returned to Mamma's house and I druv home to Hellesdon. Today is Cousin Keith's birthday, and he and Lowenna kindly invit Mamma to tea with them. I got home very tired, but forced myself to write to Val the accountant telling her about the Civil Service pension. Posted the letter right away and then had a long lie-down. I have no idea of the result of the elections in which I voted yesterday. (Please see Page Five above.)

Late afternoon Maggie and I were due to go on an Art Fund outing to Elsing Hall, but I really didn't feel equal to going, so Maggie went on her own. Elsing is a village about ten or a dozen miles from here; the Hall is a moated Elizabethan mansion with gardens full of 20th-century sculptures. The Art Fund members were treated to wine and sandwiches, and also to a lecture on the Newlyn School of Painting, which Maggie said was very interesting. Nigel and Jennie will be interested to know that Sheila and Martin Jefferies were there and they asked after me; Maggie told them that I was indisposed.

I slept a lot of the evening, and Maggie returned from Elsing about ten o'clock at night. She said that the outing was very interesting and successful; she had made my apologies to everyone.

While I was in Huns'ton this morning, I noticed that the awful pierhead building (burned down a few months ago) is being rebuilt almost identically as it was previously. So Martin Jeffries seems to have been unsuccessful in trying to have the pier rebuilt and the environs restored to their Vitórian state.

Sat 7th June. Wet to start with, then drier. Maggie and I went into Norwich and visited the bi-monthly Fleamercado in St Andrew's Hall. Found some dots. Had lunch at the Expresso Italian Café, the returned to St A's Hall. Chatted quite a long time with Peter Screen the Dealer, who had a stall there. He came over from (King's) Lynn, but he didn't have a very good day. Also saw Michael Meakin, the squire of Hunstanton, who was, of course, a customer.

Then Maggie and I went to a small jeweller's shop in Elm Hill and Maggie bought a couple of things out of the oddments box: a stick-pin with an eye-agate, and a sort of seal for putting on a watch-chain. Both made of pinchbeck, but quite nice.

Came home and found a message on the answering-machine; I had had a guided tour to do this afternoon, but it had quite slipped my memory. Oh dear! Very tired and went to bed soon after tea, which was scrambled eggs followed by fresh strawberries.

Sun 8th June. Showery. Didn't get up until gone nine a.m. Very tired all day; I'm sure it is withdrawal-symptoms after my recent course of Colchicine tablets. Walked to the round- about for a Sunday Express and also (for Maggie) a Sunday Telegraph. Spent the rest of the day indoors, repairing torn dots. In the evening I spoke to Mamma, who had been to Pentney Priory for lunch.

Mon 9th June. Sunny. First thing I sent an Email message to the Tourist Info Centre to apologise for forgetting the tour on Saturday afternoon. Went to the Post Office and drew my pension. Laterer, Maggie and I druv in her car to Southwold in Suffolk. We spent a jolly day there, having taken a picnic lunch. The weather was perfect, although it was windy and the sea was choppy. We saw the newly-opened pier; to me a disappointment, because the pier is covered with buildings all the way along it; not much chance to have a stroll without having to skirt around pavilions and things. Still, Southwold is betterer-off than Huns'ton, which nowadays doesn't have a pier at all. And not likely to have a new one now.

Tues 10th June. Showery. Maggie went into Norwich to try and arrange some power- steering for the camper-van. I remained at home to repair more torn dots. Colin the Gardener came today. He shue me the plans for the organ that he and his brother are building; and yes, they are John Smith plans (please see Page Five above).

Laterer Maggie returned. The power-steering has been ordered for the van. Spent a quiet afternoon and evening. Still haven't finished repairing those dots. A nice Eamil message from my goddaughter Ellie, who is in Austrália, but is shortly returning to the Old Country.

Wed 11th June. Sun and cloud. Got up and was quite all right to start-with. But poor Maggie not too well, and remained in bed all day, sleeping a lot. We both had stomach-trouble, only mine didn't manifest itself until after lunch; we had chicken-soup out of a tin. So before lunch I was able to keep an appointment with Doctor Gaffney, who said that he thinks my gout has been stabilised and he doesn't want to see me again for three months. So I have to continue with 400 miligramas of Allopurinol per diem. I have just run out of them, but I hope to see Doctor Tolley in the morning and get a prescription for some more. After lunch my stomach-problems started; it was very painful as well as everything else.

Presumably Maggie and I have both eaten something which disagreed with us. We have looked back over the last few days, but really cannot pin it down, unless it was some bread which went a bit stale with some mould on the edge of it. We didn't notice the mould until too late. Anyway, I was unable to collect some books for the Book Fair which I was going to do from Hilary and Ken, and also from Janice Mansell. I had to ring them up and apologise. I myself retired to bed and was able to sleep a bit in the afternoon. Laterer I felt betterer, but Maggie still not too good.

Thurs 12th June. Sunny. My stomach betterer, but Maggie still not very well. Got up early and went to see Dr Tolley the GP at 08H30. He prescrub more Allopurinol, although I hadn't run out of it like I thought I had. Laterer went to the Dixons Centre and picked-up the Out-and-About chairs, which are very good and very comfortable to sit on. Laterer I spoke to Mamma on the telephone, and Cousin Keith was with her, which was nice. Also had a quick chat with Joan Gregory and with her daughter Wyn Hurst in Newark. The Hursts are definitely moving to Norwich in July. They will sell the Newark house, after their daughter Ellie has returned from Austrália (please see Page Seven above) and redecorated it. Apparently Ellie is dab-hand at decorating. Anyway, it was nice to talk to Joan and to Wyn.

I have now finished what I call the "immediate" repairing of torn sheet-music. That doesn't mean to say I have finished all that need to be done. But I have repaired the easier ones. The rest (a pile about two feet high) consists of things that are really very far gone and which each need a good ½-an-hour's work on them.

Fri 13th June. Beautiful sunny day. Glass rising. I went swimming first thing. During the last few days I have been in Internet contact with Ingmar Krause, the man who wants to buy the punching-machine (please see Page Four above). I have packed-up the wretched thing in a parcel, and I am now awaiting Ingmar's advices as to my sending it to Canada.

After lunch I had a sesta and then Maggie and I druv into Norwich City for a shopping- expedition. Maggie decid that we will have a trip in the camper-van tomorrow if decent weather.

Sat 14th June. Dull start to the day. Glass rising by a fraction. My barometer now stands at 29.85"Hg, but of course it may not be calibrated exactly. Maggie decid that we should go for an outing to Holt and Wellsnextthesea; but by car, not in the van. An Email from Ingmar, who now wants the punching-machine to be sent to Germany and not to Canada. Watch this space!

Maggie and I druv to Holt mid-morning, but we never got to Wells. We didn't realise it when we set off, but in the town there was a Car-boot Sale and an Antiques Fair. We went to both events and found some things, including a silver-plated marrow-scoop going very, very cheap; laterer in an antique- shop we found another one. Also got some dots, and Maggie found a sort of shut-knife with a button-hook as one of the "blades". Had a very filling lunch in the Owl Tea-rooms where we have been before. Came home very tired.

With best wishes to you and yours

Organ-grinder, Noteur, Dowser, Registered Blue Badge Guide, Computer Consultant By Appointment to the Nobility, Tax-Efficient Businessman, Advanced Motorist, Landlord, Carpet-Bagger, Coastal Navigator, Inventor, 1950s Film Actor, Amateur Plumber, Amateur Electrician, Scissors-Mender; and hoping my Gout is stabilised.