My friend Renate left today after a two-day visit. She is one of my pre-marital friends who I shared many happy singleton days with in Cambridge before she moved to Brighton and wed. I took her to Wicken Fen and we reminisced about our party days as we trudged along the boardwalk. Later in the evening we watched a recording of Micro Men and she reminded me how Sir Clive Sinclair once surprised us by arriving at one of my parties in a taxi when I lived just off Cherryhinton Road. He was, of course, a generous host, and I spent a few very happy New Year’s Eve at his home.

I spent today with my mother as we often visit a church in Norfolk for the Good Friday service. Because of so much rushing around, I somehow got it wrong this time. I set my sat nav to take us from Wisbech to Terrington St Clement without checking if we were going to the right place. I later realised the sat nav was taking us to the wrong village. I ignored its instructions, and we almost ended up back in Wisbech, and then heaed back over the border into Norfolk again.  After this confusion, I stopped and read the map which I retrieved from my boot and found that the sat nav was in fact correct in directing us to the outskirts of King’s Lynn.

When I saw Terrington St Clement Church standing proudly on its Marshland mound surrounded by daffodils and centuries old cottages, I thought we were at the right place. But when I stepped inside, I realised we were not because of its lighting. What I remembered most about the church I had taken my mum to the three previous Good Fridays was the brilliant lighting in the church and its ornate interior. I realised instantly that we were not at the 5-star Norfolk church which Simon Jenkins had ranked in his book, and which I loved so much, and that we should have been in Walpole St Peter. I will have to return there another soon because I have an aching to see it once again.

Because I had been in such a rush, I didn’t double check my info, though the welcome we had couldn’t have been warmer. “Haven’t you been here before?” asked the very kindly Terrington vicar to my Greek Orthodox mother, who thanked him for a lovely service. Terrington St Clement church well deserves its 3-star ranking.

*Good Friday is the day for pilgrims, but seemingly not all for Jesus Christ. Fans of Pink Floyd’s Syd Barrett (pic) who lived in Cambridge and died in 2006, set out on a three day walk from London to Cambridge in support of the Syd Barrett Fund. I did not realise that when Syd decided to leave London and return home to Cambridge 30 years ago, he chose to do it on foot, and the walk will include some of the key places in his life along the way.

*Today SamCam also chose to write her first blogpost, which I am delighted to see, but I wonder why it has taken her so long when David Cameron has been a big fan of the social media. Is she twittering yet? I know I could make some great videos of her during the election campaign supporting her husband and letting us get to know her better.

*I’m hugely disappointed to learn that our kerbside collection of plastics in my home in East Cambridgeshire has been stopped because the council can no longer afford to run it. This is a terrible backward step and proves that the whole target system regarding recyclables is wrong, that it should be focused on landfill diversion rather than the weight of recycled materials because plastics are a complex item to recycle and weigh very little. How can huge states like New York collect old sofas and unwanted books from your doorstep and take this much more seriously? We are light years away behind on recycling. I wish we had some intelligent people leading on this.

*It is lovely to have my son David home for Easter from Hull University. He is so happy there and has been offered two internships in September as part of his Economics-Marketing course. He has accepted the offer from a top UK retailer after being one of 9,000 applicants who made it through to the end, and one of only 40 in the UK to be offered a position. This will look great on his CV and I tell him he’s now set up for life. The company he declined not only offered £1,000 extra salary (yes, he gets paid real money unlike parliamentary interns), but suggested he contact them at the end of his uni course to discuss a job offer. Both of these companies are in the top Fortunes 100. Lucky David, though I know he has earned his success. I just wish the redundant 50-year-olds could have the same opportunities in our youth orientated workplace.

My younger son James meanwhile, passed is theory driving test on Thursday, which is also a great cause for celebration. I do find it bizarre because he has only had a few lessons with a driving school and not been out on the road with me. James’ success was achieved by revising this on the computer, by using dvds which helped him master the intricacies of learning about “hazard perception”, rather than from experience on the road.

As you can see, we have much to celebrate and will be meeting up with Uncle Peter at the Peterborough dog racing course tomorrow evening who has yet to come up with a winner for us, in spite of all his tips and calls to those in the know; there are so few places you can take teenage boys for a for evening night out,  so this is ideal as we can sit and have a three-course meal while the race is going on. Pa-in-law is cooking a turkey dinner on Easter Day and this will give me a welcome break from our weekly roast.

Happy Easter to you all. I hope it is less complicated than mine.