Electric pruning

Wake at 5:20 and try to go back to sleep but it's no good and eventually I get up just before six. It's the first day since Norman has been staying with me that I am awake before him. There is a light mist over the fields as I let the dog into the garden, he trots dutifully on to the lawn to relieve himself and then runs back, in a scurry of feet, for his breakfast. I make a full English breakfast, but find I have run out of fresh tomatoes so have baked beans instead and my usual black coffee. I feel full of energy this morning, which is useful because there is a lot of work to do in the garden at Cherry Burton. After washing and dressing and posting a happy birthday greeting for my niece, Rachel, on her Facebook wall, I ring Pip to warn her that I shall be taking the dogs out early, in order to make a good start on the front gardens. We arrive at Cherry, collect Dolly and Teddy and are on the Westwood for eight. It is spitting with rain and I hope it won't become heavy enough to prevent working, but fortunately it stops and we arrive back at ten to nine and I am pruning by nine. Normally I prefer to prune by hand, it is more precise, more meditative and much more enjoyable, but such is the backlog of work that I am forced to use the electric shears, if I have any hope of catching up this week. It is a long time since I used them and I had forgotten how heavy they are, but after an hour the hedges and bushes to the south side have been shorn of their overgrowth. I don't like the look of their shape and use the hand shears to titivate them into a more acceptable form. Pip opens the door and tells me there is a coffee in the kitchen for me. I thank her, fetch it and drink it gratefully between bouts of picking up all the clippings. It is the closest to an apology for last nights rant, or thanks for the help, that I am likely to get. Once the leaves are swept up, I weed the flower beds and realise it is half past eleven. I don't feel too tired but my right hip and the joints of my leg are starting to stiffen. I make a start on the bushes at the front of the house, and by the time they are pruned and I have cleared away, it is one o'clock and now I do feel tired. I manage to prune the overgrowth around the hall window and take the worst of the weeds, large dandelions and thistles, out before calling it a day at one thirty. I call at Tesco on my way home to buy bread and salad and then realise, as I am driving away, that I have forgotten Norman's dog food, rather than turn back, I call in at the small Asda and buy a tin there, before driving home. Norman and I are both starving and I am also stiff and tired, so lacking imagination, I make a roast beef baguette, chips and tossed salad lunch and accompany this with a glass of claret. Normy has some meat from his tin. After lunch I take a lanzoprasol tablet to protect my stomach and then 500mg of anti inflammatory tablets, this arthritis in my hip is starting to become a more regular problem, but at least I am back in the land of the living. Norman and I then sleep until six and I wake up a little groggy at first but restored. Despite the late lunch Normy wants his tea and I feed him around half past six and then take him for a long walk around the fields and village, before arriving back home for eight. I make a pot of tea and some bread and honey and then read Andreas Neuman's "traveller of the century", for an hour. It is astonishingly good, here is a major European writer starting to emerge. The anti inflammatory tablet has helped my joints and I will take another before bedtime. Weather permitting, I shall mow the lawns and finish the front garden at Cherry tomorrow, and make a start on the back on Thursday. My cousin Michael is over from Germany and wants to meet up for a walk and a chat in Scarborough on Friday. After three days gardening I will deserve a break. Still haven't decided what to do longer term about Pip, or Norman, will sleep on it again.

A day out to Hull

Wake at seven thirty, Norman has had a lie in, I give him his breakfast and then let him out in the garden for a pee. I make muesli with fresh fruit and coffee for breakfast and then struggle with my recalcitrant broadband service from BT. Every time the network gets busy it locks me out, the one downside to living in the country. Shower and dress and collect Dolly and Teddy shortly after nine for our walk on the Westwood. As soon as we get out of the car a huge black cloud appears from the Northwest and by the time we have left Newbegin Pits it is spitting with rain and threatening much worse. The dogs and I shelter under a large tree and after a few minutes the cloud had passed and we were able to continue our walk. I dropped Dolly and Teddy off about half past ten and was unable to cut the grass because of the rain. Fortunately I seem to be on the mend and Pip's garden, although overgrown, can wait another day. I have four books from Hull Central Library that are overdue and decide I will take them back today, there is a bus from Tickton at eleven, so I drive straight home, give Normy a drink and leave the Garden Room door open so he can get out if he needs to. The bus arrives at five past eleven and drops me off outside the Library an hour later. Once in the library I scan my returned books and then pay the fine of £3.20, before looking for something else to read. I try the usual suspects, AS Byatt, Hilary Mantel, Cormac McCarthy, Philip Roth without success and settle on two translations, one by a young Argentinian, Andreas Neuman, "Traveller of the Century", and one by a young German, Alliser Walser, "Mesmerized". Afterwards I buy a tea and a scone in the Library cafe and browse the newspapers before looking at relatively cheap TV's in Curry's and Tesco, 32 inch LCD with Freeview for about £160. There seem to be plenty in stock so if I decide to buy one I can drive in and pick one up. I haven't had a telly for almost two years and don't really miss the experience. My interest is purely prompted by the Olympics and the fact that I am struggling to get Sarah's old set to work. Whilst I am in town I lash out and replace the flip flops I left at Hornsea pool and buy a new miniature brolly to carry in my bum bag when I take the dogs out or go walking. Total expenditure, £4.50, brolly's last less than a month with me before I leave them behind or lose them, so I never spend more than a couple of quid on them. I arrive at the bus depot with fifteen minutes to spare before the five to three back to Tickton and buy a takeaway tea in a paper mug with a plastic top and then promptly scald my mouth when I try to drink it. It has cooled down to a drinkable temperature by the time the bus arrives and I manage to smuggle it past the driver and then sip from it most of the way home. When I get in Norman is ready for his dinner and so am I, having decided on the bus that pork steak, salad and French fries are the best combination for a quick meal from my fridge and freezer. Feeding Norman and myself simultaneously ensures that the greedy little sod isn't whining for my food after he has eaten his. I put the oven on and the hot plate, put the pork steak, (it says cook from frozen), in a frying pan and then add a
Sausage as the steak is on the meagre side, pop the fries in the oven and then dice some lettuce, spring onions, cucumber and tomato. Mix up a vinaigrette, toss the salad, slice and butter the rest of yesterday's baguette, pour myself a generous glass of vinho verde, make Norman's dog food and biscuits and when that is done, the meat and chips are ready. Norman gets his in the kitchen and I take mine out into the garden. Meat chips and tossed salad always pleases me, and I always have a dollop of mayonnaise with the chips. Despite my best efforts, Normy arrives just before I finish eating, but all he gets is the remains of the vinaigrette and some mayo. Us baby boomers, brought up during rationing, always clear our plates. After lunch/tea/dinner, take your pick! I make a mug of strong black Italian coffee and sit in the sun and try to figure out where I went wrong on last nights extreme killer sudoku. Eventually I rub it all out and start from scratch again. Before I get too far the phone rings and it's Pip, she wants me to take her garden shears back, because she wants to prune. I tell her that now that I am feeling better I will prune her hedges tomorrow and return her shears, which I inadvertently brought back to Tickton after I did her pruning a few weeks ago. Apparently she has spoken to Sarah, who, whilst trying to be helpful, suggested that Andrew did Cherry and I did his house down Copandale Road, that way neither of us would have to see our ex wives. After a ten minute rant about Andrew's wife and then me, she eventually calmed down and rung off. I refuse to lose my temper with her, as she thrives on conflict, but I wonder if taking her dogs out and looking after her garden isn't a mugs game. It just provides opportunities for conflict. However if I don't take the dogs out no one else will, though there is no reason why Andrew couldn't when he is home. The more I think about it, the more it makes sense to cut the ties permanently. I will sleep on it and see how I feel tomorrow. Afterwards I take Norman for his walk down Carr Lane to the bridge and back. Sarah says he is incontinent but I think she doesn't take him out after meals. In ten days I haven't had a problem with him. We get back around seven, it's a fine evening, but the weather is set to become unsettled from tomorrow afternoon, so I set too and mow my lawns and weed the beds, because tomorrow I will be pruning in Cherry. I wrap up at half past eight and make a
pot of tea and some rye toast with honey and then return to my puzzle until bedtime. I am feeling much stronger, there is still some phlegm and a cough but I seem to be on the mend at last. It will take the rest of the week to catch up on all the work that has had to be deferred.

A better day

Norman wakes me at six for his breakfast and to be let out. I still feel tired and go back to bed until eight, and then make a light breakfast of rye toast and honey with black coffee that I take into the Garden Room, outside it's a bright sunny day, although there are more clouds than of late. I decide that I am not up to church today, nor to go for coffee with Leslie, but by the time I have showered and dressed I feel a little better and collect Leslie for coffee anyway. We drive to Caffe Nero and order our usual Americano's and pastries and then chat about our usual subjects. Leslie bets me the economy will be no better in a years time and I counter that it will be better in two or three, but he says that as he's ninety he cannot be sure to be alive that long! I offer to channel the result through a medium, but he doesn't take me up. After dropping Leslie back home, I call at Tesco for more supplies and get home for twelve. Main Street in Tickton is solid with parked cars and I notice there is a fete at the village hall and playing fields, so when I get home I put Norman on his lead and we walk back there via Carr Lane. There are numerous raffles and stalls and even a dog show, but no category for oldest, greediest dachshund. I have a go on the crockery shy and my first throw is really impressive and smashes three plates, the second hits a solid, iron ware plate and fails to break it, putting all the power I can muster into the third throw, manage to miss completely. Norman can smell the burger bar but there is a queue a mile long, so we make our way back home. Surprisingly I don't feel too bad, so when I get in, make a roast beef baguette, some oven chips and a tossed salad and eat in the garden with a pot of tea. It is a pleasant afternoon, sunny with an occasional cloud, so we stay in the garden and I drink tea and read the Observer whilst Norman finishes my beef baguette. Resisting the urge to sleep, I do the puzzles in the paper and then give Norman his tea before walking him round the fields. When we get to the bridge I still feel OK and we walk the extra mile or so round the fields before heading home. I resist the impulse to mow the lawns, as this may be pushing my luck too far. Let's hope it stays dry! When we get in I have some Camembert with crusty bread and a glass of wine and then Puzzle until bedtime.

A day in bed

Wake at 5:30 to feed Normy and let him into the garden and then sleep until almost nine. Any hope of feeling better disappears once I get out of bed, if anything I feel worse than yesterday. Make muesli with some oats, peanuts, sultanas and apricots which I mix in the blender and then add diced apple orange and banana. After breakfast and coffee I try to get Sarah's TV and freeview box to work in order to watch the Olympic swimming heats. Total failure, although everything worked when I set it up ten days ago, it doesn't work now. I suspect it may be the batteries in the remote control, so when I take Norman out for his walk, we call at the village shop and buy some new AA batteries. We walk for about a mile and a half and I feel like I have run a marathon. When we get home I change the batteries in the remote, without any noticeable effect, but am then overcome by such a feeling of exhaustion that it is all I can do to drag myself back to bed. I sleep until one O'clock and then get up and make a cup of tomato soup, which I eat with the last of yesterday's baguette and then stagger back to bed and sleep until four. I get up and give Normy his dinner and drink a glass of milk and a couple of oaties and then collapse back in bed. At half past seven Norman wakes me and tells me it is time for his walk. Reluctantly I get up, pull on my underpants, shorts and a polo shirt, brush my hair and take him down Carr lane to the bridge. Once we get onto the dirt road he does a pooh, no dog wants to defecate in his own garden, if he has the chance to go somewhere else! As we pass the farm there is the rhythmic boom, boom of a bass and a sign on the wrought iron gates to say "The Party is here!" Someone's birthday no doubt, behind the farmhouse the chickens and some young alpaca's graze oblivious to the human racket. It is another beautiful summer's evening, swallows hunting over the cornfields, but a change seems to be in the air, a cooler wind blows from the south and there are more clouds in the sky. We get back at a quarter past eight and I am still standing, so dig a quarter pounder beef burger out of the fridge and some oven chips and put them on to cook whilst I prepare a tossed salad. In fifteen minutes everything is ready and with my appetite restored, I eat with relish. The quarter pounders turn out it be two ouncers and so I complete the meal with some bread and Camembert. After dinner we retire to the Garden Room, Norman squeezes into the armchair next to my left thigh and snoozes whilst I do a puzzle before going back to bed. I resist the thought of cancelling coffee with Leslie and morning mass until I see how I feel tomorrow. One of the consequences of the ageing process is that good health can not be taken for granted. Hopefully I will feel stronger tomorrow, if not I shall just have to patiently endure.

Paella in the garden

Wake at 5:30, let Norman out and give him his breakfast and then sleep until 8:30, not too bad a night despite being woken several times by my cough. Make rye toast with honey and black coffee for breakfast, which I eat in the Garden Room, outside it's a fine sunny morning so put on a wash load of whites before showering and dressing and making my way to Cherry. I still feel a little weak but after collecting Dolly and Teddy, we make our way round the Westwood without incident. I call Sarah about ten thirty and she answers and tells me they didn't get home until 2:30am, but despite the delayed return they have had a lovely holiday. I agree to call in after taking Dolly and Teddy home. When I get there they all look fit and tanned, Louis has hardly been out of the water and loved the giant aqua park. After my walk I feel tired and so don't stay long but agree to drop the change of ownership form into Right Car for Sarah's old Peugeot, which I do after calling at Asda for some bread and a few bits and pieces. Normy and I get home for twelve thirty and as its a sunny day I decide to cook a paella in the garden, but first I hang out my clean whites and put a load of coloureds on. I own an electric frying pan with an adjustable control so I run out the extension lead and plug it in on the garden table. I dig all the ingredients out of the kitchen, onions, rice, prawns, mussels and a small tuna steak, mixed peppers and some peas, ( most of this from the freezer), chile, garlic and ginger, fish stock and some saffron. I put some butter and olive oil in the pan and whilst it is melting, peel and dice the onions and then pop them in to soften on a low heat. Whilst they are cooking I slice the tuna into half inch cubes and knock the ice off the prawns and mussels. Then make a space and add the spices before frying the fish in them gently. When this is done, I add the rice and cook it until the grains are clear and then add the peppers and peas and finally the saffron and fish stock. I give it a good stir and set it to simmer until the rice is cooked and all the liquid has been absorbed. I pour myself a cold beer and chop some fresh parsley from a plant pot as a garnish. It smells very good and Normy can hardly wait, but I have time to read the local free sheets before it is ready. I turn off the power and fetch a leftover glass of Chardonnay from my salad Nicoise lunch, and serve us both with generous portions. I can't quite finish all of mine and Norman too has left quite a bit, it was very filling and tasted rather good, even without chorizo, which I left out because it is Friday. Incidentally there was a Spanish Jewess on radio four talking about the Spanish Inquisition. Apparently they forced the conquered Muslims and Jews who had converted under pressure to Christianity to cook with pork fat and perhaps that is why a seafood paella has chorizo included. It certainly wouldn't be in a Muslim country. Anyway take it from me it's fine without chorizo and fine with it if you prefer it that way! After lunch I did another puzzle until the food and wine and sun took their toll and I had to lie down. I rested for an hour and then took Norman for a walk round the fields, he needed it because whilst I slept he ate all of the leftover paella. It is a lovely evening with enough breeze to riffle the leaves on the willow and poplar trees down Carr Lane, we cross the little bridge and walk through fields of ripening corn and oilseed rape that is almost ready to harvest. We arrive home at about eight and I bring in the last of my washing before making a pot of tea and crusty baguette with bananas, that need to be eaten up. I am surprised that I found the energy for a longer walk this evening, my chest is still wheezy and I am coughing quite a bit but perhaps the antibiotics are finally starting to work. After my snack I finish off the puzzle from this afternoon, if I can do the most difficult kakuro and killer sudoku, my short term memory must be in good order still. To bed around eleven.

Waiting to feel better.

Wake at a quarter to nine to an overcast day, make a full English breakfast and a pot of tea and eat this in the garden. After breakfast wash and shave and then drive to Sarah's with Norman to check on the decorators. As we park in North Bar a text comes from Sarah to say their flight is delayed and they won't be in until 1:00 am. The decorators say they will finish off by tea time with only Sarah and Alice's bedrooms left to do and will come back Sunday to finish off. This leaves Sarah a couple of days to get the house back in order and I text the news to her. No Dolly and Teddy today as Pip won't let me get them when she is not in and she has a dental appointment. Normy and I make our way round the Westwood, the weather mild and overcast with the sun trying to break through but never quite making it. On our way back from Black Mill we meet Elaine and Milo and walk with them for a while. Elaine says she still feels down but I notice she has painted her toenails as they peep through her sandals. I feel no better yet but usually it takes three to four days for the antibiotics to start to work. When we get home I make a pot of tea and take a couple of oaties into the garden and do another extreme mathematical puzzle in the garden. It takes an hour but eventually I crack it, but then feel very tired and so sleep for an hour to recharge my batteries. Norman wants his dinner but we have run out of dog food so I make a spaghetti with the sauce I saved from the other day and share it with the dog, and put lashings of Parmesan on both our portions. I have never met a dog who doesn't like spaghetti Bolognese. Perhaps they have all seen Lady and the Tramp! After dinner Normy and I walk down the lane past the farm to the little wooden bridge over the drain. We get back around seven thirty and feel very tired again, so make a mug of chocolate and sit in the Garden Room and do another puzzle until bedtime. Make a glass of milk and a couple of oaties before turning in.

Convalescence by numbers

Wake at 5:30 to Norman scratching at the bedroom door wanting his breakfast, I feed him, let him out into the garden and then go back to sleep until nine. It was a cooler night and I did sleep a little better, but still feel tired this morning. Make some strong black coffee and some brown toast with honey for breakfast and then shower and dress and collect Dolly and Teddy from Cherry about ten thirty. Dolly is the smartest dog I have ever had, her latest trick is to use her paw to lower the electric window so that she can stick her head out whilst I drive. It's a much cooler day, the sky overcast and a soft breeze out of the south east, after yesterday's heat its a pleasant change. We make our way round our usual loop, the berries are thick on the hawthorn bushes, a reminder that autumn is not too far away. As we approach Black Mill the sun breaks through for a few minutes and it is hot again for a while. We see Elaine with her grandchildren and stop and chat for a minute. I tell her I have got some antibiotics for my chest and she says she wished she could get something for her emptiness now her husband has gone. It's impossible to know what to say, the children, a boy of about seven and a girl who looked nine or ten, looked I'll at ease and unsure what to do either. After dropping the dogs at Cherry, Norman and I called at Morrisons to re stock on German Rye bread, and also bought a crusty baguette, some camembert, a bottle of wine and an extreme sudoku book. When we got home I made crusty beef baguette, oven chips and a vinaigrette salad and ate lunch sat in the garden in the intermittent sunshine. After lunch I started on my puzzles, I like the really difficult killer and kakuro, I have to use algebra to crack the most difficult and it gives my brain a good workout, even if I can't yet do much physically. A text arrives from Sarah, she has got a 2:1 for her podiatry degree, outstanding considering she is a single mum with three children and had to commute sixty miles each way to University. I text my congratulations and update her on the progress with her house decoration, (I popped in on my way home). She texts back to say what a great holiday they are having and asks me to look after Louis whilst she puts her house back in order after the painters have finished. I answer, saying that I still feel to ill, but if the antibiotics have kicked in tomorrow, I will reconsider. Give Norman his dinner around seven and then take him for his walk down Carr Lane to the bridge. Later I eat some Camembert with crusty bread and a glass of wine and then wrestle with my puzzle until bed time.

Antibiotics, the last resort.

Wake at five thirty after a really bad night, coughing keeping me awake and cold sweats. It doesn't help that the night was warm and humid either. After giving Norman his breakfast and opening the garden room doors to let him into the garden, I take a couple of Paracetemol and manage to sleep until eight. Outside it's another hot day already, the sun blazing out of a clear blue sky and no wind. I make myself a full English breakfast and a pot of tea and eat in the kitchen as the Garden Room is too hot. I give in and call the doctor's surgery for an appointment, as this chest infection doesn't seem likely to clear anytime soon. They can fit me in at ten to eleven and as its ten to nine now, I will have to get my skates on if I am to take the dogs on the Westwood first. A quick shower and I arrive in Cherry for nine twenty and on the Westwood for half past. Dolly and Teddy enjoy their time off the lead but the heat is tough if you are an old dachshund like Norman and only a couple of inches of the ground! I offload the dogs at Cherry and tell Pip that I will pick Norman up after my appointment with the Doctor. It is now half past ten and I have time to call in at Sarah's before driving to the surgery. In the event I arrive five minutes early but then wait half an hour to see the doctor. Dr Martin examines my chest and then prescribes a course of aurethromyacin, which he assures me will do the trick. I collect the prescription from the pharmacy and take a tablet straight away, before driving back to Cherry. The lawns are really in need of a trim, the weeding and pruning can wait, so I set too and mow front and back. It only takes half an hour but it is hot and I am whacked when it's done. Although I prefer to use handshears for pruning, I dig out some old electric ones with a faulty lead, that I can fix back at Tickton and try to tell Pip that I am taking them, but she is in the bath. Andrew comes down instead, so I chat to him for ten minutes and he agrees to help me with the garden at the weekend. Normy and I arrive back in Tickton for twelve thirty and I make a pot of tea and some beef sandwiches for lunch and eat them in the garden. After lunch, I fix the electric shears and then get on the phone to Holland to pay the balance of the invoice on our holiday flat for September. Whilst I'm on the phone I also arrange insurance cover for my car on holiday. It is really hot and the only cool room in the house is the lounge, so I lay out the futon and lie down and meditate for an hour. Despite being interrupted by my cough I feel better afterwards, and when I get up make a batch of cinnamon and apricot oaties and a Caprese for dinner. Afterwards I sit in the garden with a pot of tea and a couple of biscuits, and read my book until it is cool enough to take Norman down the lane. We have only had three hot days, but already the muddy paths are drying out. The hot weather must be sexy as we pass some dogs going at it down the lane and see some pigeons mating in a tree. When we get back I drink a cold beer in the garden and read a chapter or two before dinner. The Caprese is spot on and I eat it with crusty bread and a glass of claret. Go to bed at ten thirty.

Convalescing in the garden

Wake at 5:30, let Normy out and give him his breakfast and then sleep until nine. I make boiled eggs, soldiers and tea for breakfast, which I eat in the kitchen. Around ten thirty I take Norman down the lane, Pip phoned and told me not to take Dolly and Teddy today as Andrew has a day off. It is a lovely sunny morning but the breeze from the southwest has eased somewhat, although it still takes the edge off the heat. I am still coughing up phlegm but it is clearer in colour so I think the infection might be subsiding, although I still feel weak. When we get back I clean the kitchen and then vac through the house, before giving Normy a bath and clipping his nails. Afterwards he runs round the garden like a two year old. Around noon I drive to Sarah's and check on the progress with the decorators before calling at Tesco to shop. I buy breakfast things, some salad, a baguette, tins of tuna and some Chardonnay. When I get in I boil up an egg and some new potatoes and then make a salad nicoise, which I eat in the garden with a glass of wine. I read for an hour and then have to lie down as the heat, the wine and my illness combine to put me to bed. I get up at five and give the dog his dinner and then get a phone call from Clement regarding the house he is renting. I seem to spend the next hour or so filling in online forms and then find I need to post proof of income from the post box in the village. Normy and I walk down there and send it off and then head home for dinner, Camembert and crusty bread, which I eat in the garden. To bed around eleven.

Tired but sunny Sunday

Wake at 5:30 again and let Norman into the garden for a pee and then go back to bed and sleep until half past seven. I have less energy today, although I slept quite well. Make smoked salmon on cream cheese and rye roast for breakfast and a pot of strong coffee. Outside it's overcast but warm and there is a stiff breeze out of the southwest. After breakfast I shower and dress and then drive to Saint John's for nine O'clock Mass, leaving the patio doors open so that Norman can get out into the garden. I will take him for his walk after coffee with Leslie, later this morning. The church is less full than usual, perhaps with the school holidays starting quite a few people are away. We have nice hymns today, the 23rd psalm and "all people that on earth do dwell". I do like a good sing! After Mass I call in at Sarah's but the decorators must be having Sunday off. Leslie and I drive to Caffe Nero for our Americano's and Pain Au Raisin. We leave about eleven fifteen and I drive back to Tickton via Tesco, where I pick up the Observer and some coffee filter papers. Normy is asleep in his basket when I get in but He wakes up and I pop him on his lead and take him down to the wooden bridge. I had hopes of finishing Andrew's garden today or at least catching up on more of my housework, but I feel really tired again, this bug isn't letting go without a fight. If I am no better tomorrow I will book an appointment at the doctors. When we get back I make tea and beef sandwiches and take these into the garden with my paper, but it is too windy and the paper keeps blowing about so Norman and I move into the Garden Room. I feel very tired but resolve to do the Observer sudoku and the killer before having a nap. I manage the former but have to leave the latter incomplete until later. I sleep like a log until five and then get up and give Norman his dinner and make myself more tea and toast and honey. I eat this in the garden in the late afternoon sun whilst reading my book. Around seven I take the dog down the lane for his evening walk, when I get back in I have an e-mail from Clement in France, which I reply to straight away. I haven't heard from Andrew for two weeks, I emailed him on Tuesday but still haven't had a reply. Finish my James Lee Burke crime thriller and go to bed at around ten.

Summer Summer

Wake at 5:30 and think about going back to sleep but realise I don't feel tired for the first time in almost a week. When I pull the curtains back the sun is shining palely through a heavy mist in the fields, I let Norman out into the garden and then prepare his breakfast in the kitchen. After he is fed, I make rye toast and honey with black coffee for me and eat whilst listening to the World Service on the radio. After showering and dressing I take Norman for a walk round the fields, the mist has lifted but the grass is heavy with dew. It is going to be a beautiful day, and it is only half past seven. We walk for an hour and I keep bringing up copious amounts of dark green phlegm, perhaps I feel a little better as the catarrh is starting to break up. We get back to the bungalow for a quarter to nine and I make a pot of tea and sit in the garden in the warm sunshine with my shirt off reading my library book for an hour. Afterwards I make a list of all the jobs that have been backed up whilst I have been ill and decide that I will ease myself gently into better health and only tackle some ironing and mowing the lawns today. It is too nice to be inside so I run an extension from the garden room and iron in the garden. By midday it has become too hot to continue, so I take a break for lunch. After breakfast I took a large pork chop out of the freezer to defrost, and I dip this in egg and breadcrumbs to make a schnitzel and serve it with oven chips and a tossed salad, with crusty bread and butter. I cut off the bone for Normy and serve it with the egg left from making the schnitzel. We eat in the garden both under the shade of the sun umbrella. After lunch I read for a while and then lie down and sleep until half past three. When I wake up I drive to Sarah's to check on the progress of her painters and then call at the supermarket for a baguette and some roast beef slices. When I get home I give Norman his tea and then at five, when things have cooled down a bit, I mow the lawns front and back. After I have cleared away, I put Normy on his lead and walk him down to the little wooden bridge at the end of Carr Lane. It is a lovely summer's evening, swallows are flying high in a clear blue sky as we slowly walk home. When we get in I make a beef baguette and a pot of tea and eat in the Garden Room watching the evening close in across the fields. Later I read for an hour and then go to bed around ten thirty. If my recovery continues I may attempt to finish Andrew's garden tomorrow afternoon.

Still under the weather

Wake at 7:30 after a reasonable night, it took an hour for my nasal passages to clear after I went to bed at nine last night and another hour before I fell asleep. This morning the catarrh seems to be drying a little but I still feel achey and feverish. After letting Norman out and giving him his breakfast, I make myself some rye toast with honey and black coffee. It is another cool, cloudy and damp day outside but, according to the forecast, summer finally arrives tomorrow! After breakfast I shower and dress, bag my library books and head for Cherry. We collect Dolly and Teddy for a quarter to ten and make our usual way round the Westwood, it is spitting slightly as we walk and there are few people about. The cows are sat in groups of a dozen or so as we make our way to Black Mill and then cut back to the car. The grass needs cutting in Cherry and there is lots of weeding and pruning to do, but I am just not up to it yet. I call at the library on my way home and change my books, I had read up. We get home around noon and I give Norman a snack and then make lunch. Nothing elaborate, fish fingers, chips and garden peas! All from the freezer. After lunch, I slice a couple of beef tomatoes and then make a Caprese, which I put in the fridge to cook for dinner. I am feeling very tired so lie down and meditate for an hour and feel refreshed, so drive to the supermarket and buy a French stick and replenish cleaning and bathroom materials. It is still spitting with rain so drive straight back home and give Norman his tea and then read the gas and electric meters and send the results to British Gas. I bought an East Riding Mail, because of the headline article saying that the New Flemingate development had been approved, so I read this in the Garden Room with a pot of tea before taking Norman for his evening walk down Carr Lane. When I get in there is a phone call from Clement in Nantes, he needs me to be guarantor for his house in London that he is sharing with four friends. His dad can't do it because he lives in France. Clement is well and working in France, and we agree to go to the football when he comes home before returning to UCL in September. I also get an email from my sister Jackie, she has transferred the money for her share of the holiday to Holland into my bank. After eating my Caprese salad with a glass of red wine, I read a book until bedtime.

One step forward, one step back!

I was sure I would wake up feeling better this morning, but I didn't! I wake at 5:00 am and let Norman out for a pee in the garden, outside a gentle rain is falling and I sit in the armchair in the garden room waiting for him to come back in. After ten minutes I hear the pit-patting of his feet on the path and then let him in and close the patio doors. Every bone in my body seems to ache and there are a couple of ulcers in my mouth, one under my tongue and another on my gum. I climb back into bed and then sleep until eight. When I get up I toast the last of the French stick and then butter it and spread it with honey. I eat my breakfast in the garden room with a pot of black Italian coffee. Outside the rain has stopped but low clouds fill the sky, all this rain and the mild weather means that the grass and weeds in the three gardens I seem to be responsible for will be growing like Topsy. After breakfast I wash and dress, load Norman in the car and then collect Dolly and Teddy from Cherry. We arrive on the Westwood around a quarter to ten and make our way gingerly through the muddy woods of Newbegin Pits, at the corner I join up with Elaine Julien and her dog Milo. We walk round the common together, her face has that look of poor definition that indicates a mind in turmoil. There are no rules for being a widow, none that make any sense anyway, so I just walk with her for a while and provide company and a space for her to talk. She is an intelligent and strong woman and will find her way given time. The last thing she needs is well intentioned advice. I drop the dogs back at Cherry at eleven thirty and feel totally whacked but I need petrol for the car and bread and milk from the supermarket. I call at Morrison's and buy a bottle of red wine, some pop and mozarella balls as well, but forget the beef oxos. I fill up with diesel and then call in at Sarah's to check on the decorator's, they are painting the outside of the house first. I ask them if they need anything but they say they are fine, so I drive home. When I get in I make a pot of tea and some ham and salami sandwiches, which I eat in the garden in the sun, whilst reading my book. By two O'clock I feel exhausted and lie down on my bed and sleep until four. The catarrh seems to be drying up a little but I still feel feverish and find it difficult to breath when I lie down. When I get up there is a text from Sarah to say they have arrived safely in Portugal, that Louis loved the aeroplane and that the temperature is 37 degrees. I text back that anything over 25 is way too hot for me and then make more tea and give Norman his dinner. I still feel tired and feverish, so all I can do is wait it out and read my book, which I finish at six. I take Norman for a toilet walk down Carr Lane to the little bridge, and he duly obliges. On our way back I let him off the lead and then text my cousin Irene's husband, David, and tell him I won't make York tomorrow. Back home I put out the green bin for the dustmen in the morning and then boil up a pan of salted water to make spaghetti, setting my iPhone timer for twelve minutes. When it is ready I drain the pasta and then toss it in the pan with butter and course ground black pepper, before serving it with the sauce from the slow cooker and plenty of Parmesan. It tastes fine, the pasta al dente and only enough sauce to flavour the spaghetti, washed down with a large glass of red vin de table. I can't eat it all, my taste buds are too covered in catarrh, but Norman finishes what I leave. There is enough sauce left for cannelloni or lasagne on Saturday. I have now read up all my library books and so will call in and change them tomorrow. Hopefully I will feel stronger in the morning. If this bug hasn't cleared by Monday, I may need to see the doctor and even resort to antibiotics. At least the forecast is for fine, warm, weather.

Garden Cure

Wake at four thirty, with a raw throat and feeling feverish but after a drink of water and some paracetamol, then slept until eight thirty. I can barely drag myself out of bed but force an English breakfast down and some black coffee, after which I feel a bit more human. I have finally consumed all the breakfast food before it went off. I hate waste. After breakfast I toy with ringing Pip and cancelling the dog walking but defer making a final decision until I have showered and dressed. Take a couple more Paracetemol and, after a shower feel just about well enough to drive to Cherry and take the dogs on the Westwood. It's a cooler, cloudier morning so I'm wearing jeans and a sweater over a tee shirt as we make our way round the loop slowly. Towards Black Mill the clouds start to break and there are increasing patches of blue in the sky. As we did yesterday we shortcut across the common from Black Mill to the car and as I load ip the dogs I feel tired but glad of the fresh air. After dropping off the dogs I drive directly back to Tickton and resolve to make some savoury mince in the slow cooker, (good invalid comfort food), and another batch of oaties before crawling back into bed. Back home, I fry
Up some onions and beef mince in the bacon fat, add an oxo and some nagging seasoning and a little oregano and then pour half a pint of water into it and pop it in the slow cooker. The oaties only take ten minutes to mix, roll out, and cut with biscuit cutters and then pop in the oven for half an hour. Whilst they are baking, I take a pot of tea into the garden and start a new book, Philip Roth's, "The Humbling",. Just into my second pot of tea the oven pings to tell me that my biscuits are ready, so I pop into the kitchen and take the baking tray out of the oven and set the oaties to cool on a bread board. I take two on a tea plate back into the garden, and when they have cooled down, I eat them with the last of my tea as I read my book in the warm sunshine. Suddenly the realisation dawns that I don't feel quite so bad! Perhaps this might only be a short illness. Roth writes beautifully and with great insight and as the book is only just over a hundred pages long and it's so pleasant sitting out, I decide to read on. I finish the book at three and then toast some whole meal pitta bread from the freezer and eat the last of my home made humous and wash it down with the last glass of vin ordinaire. Now at last, I feel tired enough to lie down but meditate and relax rather than sleep. Sarah is calling round with Norman and her house keys, she wants me to keep an eye on the decorators, who are doing the house, inside and out, whilst she is away in Portugal. Around six O'clock I peel some potatoes and take some broad beans and carrots out of the freezer and put these in a microwave steamer to cook. As soon as dinner is ready to serve, Sarah arrives with Alice, Louis and Norman. They only stay ten minutes as they are going to Sullivan's in Toll Gavel and then home to finish packing. As soon as they are gone, I mash the potatoes with a little butter pour over some mince and then add the vegetables. It is baby food, but very tasty and welcome nevertheless. Norman eats the little I leave and then watches for more as I wash up. I add some garlic and a tin of chopped tomatoes to the leftover mince in the slow cooker and set it to the lowest level. It will turn into a pasta sauce for later in the week. The sky has completely cleared and it is a lovely summer's evening, so I put Norman on his lead and walk him through the estate to Carr Lane and then past the stables and farm to the little wooden bridge that spans the drain. On our way back, I let him off his lead and he trots happily alongside me all the way back home. Once indoors I make a pot of tea and take it into the Garden Room and start another book, an Ian Rankin crime thriller. Norman who is only twelve inches long snuggles up next to my thigh in the armchair and is soon snoring gently. It is good to have a little company. The day didn't start well but it is ending on a more positive note, I still have a cough and some catarrh, but the trajectory seems to be one of improvement. Tomorrow will tell, to bed at ten thirty.

Walking wounded

Wake before the alarm at ten minutes before seven O'clock, feeling like death warmed up. The bronchial cattarh has a real hold and I feel feverish and cough up copious amounts of green phlegm. I take two paracetamol with a glass of water and prepare myself for the day. I have promised Sarah that I will take Louis to school whilst she takes Alice for a dental appointment and so I need to be out of the house by eight fifteen. I make a full English breakfast with strong tea and eat in the kitchen, before taking a second pot of tea through to the garden room. Outside the sky is clearing and the forecast is for a mild day, so I stick to my shorts and sandals but take a sweater against a change in the weather. After washing and shaving the paracetamol have. kicked in and I don't feel quite so cagey and feverish as I drive down to North Bar. I arrive at Sarah's at eight twenty five and help Louis into his school shoes before leaving the house to walk to Saint Mary's school. Norman is wagging his tail by the door as we leave, so I put him on his lead and take him with us. We walk down North Bar and then cross the road and walk under the trees of New Walk and then past the cemetery and Bleach Yard Stables on our way to school. When we arrive I tie Norman to the railings outside and accompany Louis to the school door, where his form teacher Miss Hart, is waiting to welcome the children. After I say goodbye to Louis, I collect Norman and the retrace our steps to my car which is parked a few metres North of Sarah's house and then drive to Cherry to collect Dolly and Teddy. The four of us arrive on the Westwood a little after nine and then make our way round our usual route. Half way round the sun breaks through and I have to take off my sweater and by the time we reach Black Mill I am running out of steam and take a short cut diagonally across the common and back to the car. I drop Dolly and Teddy back at Cherry and Norman at Sarah's and then drive home, stopping at the supermarket en route to buy fresh salad. When I get home I make a pot of tea and ham sandwiches and then sit in the sunshine and read until two O'clock. Despite the warm sunshine and the rest, I feel exhausted and sleep until four thirty. When I get up I make more tea and take this and my last two oaties into the Garden Room, where I read until six thirty. Outside the sunshine has given way to a gentle rain, the radio says the jet stream is starting to move North and the exceptional prolonged wet weather should ease from next week, I do hope so because the damp doesn't help my chest. I make bruschetta with mozarella and roast peppers for dinner accompanied by a tossed salad and a glass of red wine. My taste buds are clogged with cattarrh but the food still manages to taste good. If my health had been better I would have used the good weather to finish Andrew's garden, but I am simply not up to it. The illness will take it's own course but I hope to feel stronger in a day or so. After dinner I read until bedtime and go to bed slightly after ten.

A wet Monday

Wake early, around four, go to the toilet and then manage to doze until seven thirty. When I get up I make a full English Breakfast, primarily because the bacon and sausage is just past it's sell by date, and has to be eaten. After breakfast I shower and dress, outside the sky is overcast and gloomy but it is not cold so I dress in shorts, sandals and a polo shirt again. Before setting off for Cherry I text Elaine Julien to see if she wants company walking Milo, but she texts back to say she has made other plans. By the time I arrive at Cherry it is raining heavily, but fortunately I have a waterproof and a golf umbrella in the boot of my car. Because of the rain I walk the dogs round the village, armed with kitchen roll to collect their droppings. My nose feels congested and I feel tired, when I cough I bring up dark green phlegm, perhaps I might have overdone things recently and a couple of quiet days are probably in order to try to shake this cattarhal infection off. We finish our walk about eleven, and I call in to see Sarah on my way home. We go to Rolando's in North Bar for a coffee and a chat, Rolando stops to say hello, I haven't been in for a couple of weeks. I tell Sarah that I have been thinking of getting a TV for the Olympics and she says I can have an old one, with a free view tuner in her bedroom, that she no longer uses. When we get back I load it up and then call at Tesco's for a few bits and pieces. It is still pouring with rain and the weather has turned cold. Back home, after unpacking the shopping, I set up the TV and soon have it working but without sound. It takes me half an hour to figure out that the volume has been turned off manually on the set and that once I have switched it back on it works fine. I turn it off again and then toast some whole meal pitta bread and eat this with some home made hummus from the fridge. After lunch I put the heating on because I feel cold, the first time for months, perhaps I am a bit feverish. I read for an hour and then feel very tired, so lie down and sleep for an hour. When I get up I put some more dumplings in with the last of my casserole and then catch up with my backlog of journal entries before dinner. Outside the sky has cleared and it is quite a nice evening. I eat about eight and then read until bedtime.

A quiet Sunday?

Wake at seven after a disturbed night, Sarah's house is near the corner of the main York road and North Bar Without and last night the traffic noise continued until three. I much prefer the quiet of Tickton, but there again I am a pensioner and Sarah isn't. Anyway, I am up at seven to make a full English for Alice before she sets out to London and I just have time to spin Norman round Seven Corners before attending nine o'clock mass at Saint John's. Father Roy, who I really like, gave the sermon on what it means to be an apostle, his interpretation is the existential choice faced by all Christians to act in the faith now. His sermons are always powerful and thought provoking, although I couldn't entirely go along with his view that we seem to be living through the end of days. Moral and ethical social decline can't really be argued with but apocalyptic signs I am less sure about. My Buddhist insight meditation reveals that Heaven or Nirvana is the appreciation of the "living moment" as it continuously unfolds. The mind of God continuously manifesting throughout the universe and we an infinitesimal part of that mind, and if we are lucky, or granted grace, able to resonate with it for a little while. I don't talk to anyone else about this, because it is not something I wish to discuss or argue about. Religious feeling is arational, the logical mind too small and feeble to encompass anything so vast. The sung Mass with its Latin chorus for the Kyrie, Gloria and Agnus Dei, always move me because of their beauty. After Mass I collect Leslie and we have our coffee and a long chat in Caffe Nero, because I didn't see him last week. After I drop him off, I drive home and sit in the garden enjoying a rare sunny day whilst I read my book, when I get a text from Sam. She needs my help with her garden as she has some people coming to look at the house later in the afternoon. I have to make sure she has OK'd this with my son, Andrew, as they are in the middle of a divorce, but am otherwise glad to help. In the event I end up pruning bushes for five hours, that haven't been touched since last year. I finish at six, the people have been, but they haven't even got their house on the market yet. There is still another full days work left to do when I leave, and weather permitting I will get it done this week. Andrew finds it too painful to go back to do it, so perhaps we could swap and he could do the house in Cherry for me. Somehow I have ended up with three gardens to look after, which I don't really mind if the weather is nice. When I get home I make some dumplings and pop them in the slow cooker with my beef casserole and then sit in the last of the evening sun in my garden and drink one of the bottles of Corona beer that Sam gave me by way of a thank you. I take my stew and dumplings outside to eat and wash it down with another Corona. A hearty dinner was just what the doctor ordered after working in the sun all afternoon. After dinner I sit in the Garden Room to read my book, outside my resident blackbird is having a nice cool bath in the birdbath that I just filled up with fresh water. I don't even get through a chapter before my eyes refuse to focus, so I go to bed for nine O'clock. Just as I am dropping off I get a text from Sarah to say thank you. I text back to say I enjoy seeing my grandchildren and then fall asleep.

Family and a friend for the end of the World!

Wake at four when Louis changes beds and comes in for a cuddle, which is very nice, except Louis wriggles like a worm in bed and can't stand the duvet over him. Consequently I keep waking up with a frozen shoulder as he has uncovered me and sleep in fits until we get up at seven thirty. Sarah's boyfriend Richard is collecting Louis between ten and eleven and driving him over to Harrogate, where they are meeting Sarah. Richard's sister lives in Beijing, where her husband is some sort of executive for an FMCG company and they are back in Harrogate for a few weeks. I make a full English breakfast for everyone and then wash and dress before running Louis a bath and then dressing him for his weekend away. Richard arrives at a quarter to eleven and, once we have seen Louis safely on his way, Alice and I decide what to do with our Saturday. Eventually we settle on seeing a new film with Steve Carroll and Keira Knightly, "Seeking a friend for the end of the world". Show time is at a quarter to two so I arrange to meet Alice at the library cafe at one and then drive back to Tickton. The sun is shining as I hang out my couloureds and I sit in the garden with a pot of tea and peel some vegetables that need to be eaten and then put them in the slow cooker with some beef and onions and put them on a low setting. Tomorrow evening I shall have a beef casserole. I drive to Beverley and park by the Memorial Hall and then walk the short distance to the Library on Champney Road. I return my book and Louis' dinasaur book and then take out three for myself before making my way to the cafe for one. There isn't much choice but they offer to toast a fruit teacake, so I order that with tea and Alice orders the same when she arrives a few moments later. After our snack we drive to Kingswood and are seated in the cinema five minutes before show time. The film is awful, the script dire, and after half an hour I am willing the meteor, that is about to destroy the Earth, God speed. When we get outside it is starting to spit with rain so we drive back to Tickton in the hope of bringing in my washing before the rain arrives. Although my house is less than five miles North of Kingswood, the sun is shining in Tickton and we recover the washing and secure it in the Garden Room. I drop Alice back at North Bar and then drive round the corner to Copandale Road for five O'Clock where I am scheduled to baby sit my son's two girls, Laura and Rebecca, whilst their mum helps out at the school disco. When I get there I find they haven't eaten as their mum assumed they would be having tea at Tickton and I thought they were eating at home.The problem is soon solved, a quick phone call to Alice and we all end up back at the Hayride. Alice and I have steak and chips, Laura, chicken nuggets chips and beans and Rebecca has her usual garlic bread. It is lovely being out with all my granddaughters and Laura loves talking girly stuff with her big cousin, Alice. I drop the girls back at Sam's, then Alice and I head back to North Bar where I take Norman, Alice's dachshund, for his evening toilet walk down Seven Corners Lane. I bought Norman for Alice when she was a baby, they are both fifteen years old. When I get back Alice is talking to her friends about their trip to London. Her friends mum is collecting her before nine so we will have to be up bright and early. I read my new library book, an historical fiction about Saxon England until bedtime and turn in at eleven.

Friday the thirteenth.

Wake to a grey morning around half past seven and breakfast on smoked salmon and cream cheese on rye toast dressed with lemon juice and cracked black pepper. I take my breakfast and a pot of strong, black, Italian filter coffee into the garden room and listen to the news on radio 4 whilst I eat it. Before setting out for Cherry I put a wash load of whites on and arrive to collect the dogs around nine thirty. Despite the lack of sunshine, the weather is mild and I am dressed in shorts and a polo shirt, with a light blouson jacket against the wind on the Westwood. The dogs and I make our way through Newbegin Pits wood, where the trees are in full emerald green bloom after all this rain. As we pass the corner of the wood I see a friend from the running club, Elaine Julien, sat on a bench and stop to say hello. I stop to chat and find that she has buried her husband on Wednesday. He had been suffering from pancreatic cancer for two years. Elaine asks if she and her Jack Russell, Milo, can walk round with us, and of course I agree. The poor woman seems at a loss, all her time and energy has been spent looking after her dying husband, and now, after the funeral has past she faces a void, of inactivity and purpose as well as grief. She is a nice woman and I let her talk out her grief as we walk through the grazing cattle on the common. We walk slowly and it is ten past twelve when I drop the dogs back at Cherry. I make my way to the Leisure Centre and find the pool fairly quiet again, so repeat yesterday's 2,500m medley swim. After showering and dressing I eat a coconut slice with a pot of strong tea in the cafe, where I chat with John the centre manager and Sandra, a friend of Sarah's from the kitchen. I arrive home at three and hang out my whites before meditating and resting for an hour. At five O'clock I drive down to Sarah's house, where I will be sleeping for the next two nights, an overnight bag in the boot of the car. When I arrive she has just finished packing and is about to set off to Ashbourne in Derbyshire where she and her co-graduates are meeting to celebrate their success. Louis, Alice and I set off for the Hayride, a local pub which serves BBQ spare ribs, Alice's favourite, Louis and I order fish and chips on a two for a tenner deal. The food is OK, not brilliant, but Alice works her way through a whole rack of ribs served in a bucket. In the USA, where ribs are staple fare, they usually provide you with a plastic apron, to protect your clothes, but she manages to eat them and emerge unscathed. Louis and I clear our plates. I drop Alice and Louis back at Sarah's and she gets him off to bed whilst I nip back to Tickton and bring in my washing. I put a load of couloureds on to wash before returning to North Bar. When I get there Louis is in bed and Alice goes to her room to spend some time on her laptop with her friends. A group of them are going to London for the day on Sunday and meeting up with some other girls, about fifty, that have formed a group. I read until ten thirty and then go to bed.

Two centre gardening

Wake at seven thirty after a better night's sleep to a lovely morning. It is so nice I make a full English breakfast and a pot of tea and take it into the garden to eat. A rare occasion this summer. After breakfast I wash and dress and drive to Cherry to take the dogs out for nine thirty, it is sunny and warm, though still boggy underfoot and as I am in shorts and sandals, I tread carefully. We get back, without incident, for a quarter to eleven and I take advantage of the weather and mow the lawns. Having finished at Cherry I drive back to Tickton to see to my garden before swimming but in the event spend most of the day weeding and mowing. It's pleasant working in the sun with my shirt off and stopping for an occasional pot of tea and a few oaties. I get it all finished by five thirty and then boil up some rice to eat with the last of my lamb curry. When it is ready I eat this also in the garden with a couple of cans of Hollandia Lager, which is excellent and very cheap because it is only 2.8 per cent alcohol Whenever I can, I like to be outdoors, and the garden has always been my favourite room in the house. As long as it is not raining. Before dinner Sarah called round with Alice to show me her new car but didn't stay long as she had to collect Louis from Hector's House. After dinner Irene's husband, David phoned to ask if I wanted to meet up with them in Scarborough next week and I told him I would ask Sam if I could take the girls on Friday. Later I cleaned my walking boots and a few pairs of shoes in the Garden and then settled down to Philip Roth's "Exit Ghost", before calling it a day.

Two walks and a swim

I woke up several times during the night and did not sleep well, at half past seven I gave up, got out of bed and made breakfast. I didn't really feel like anything cooked so just mad some rye toast with honey and black coffee. At least the weather is better today, the sun is shining and there are patches of blue between the clouds. Around quarter past nine I drive to Cherry and take Dolly and Teddy for their walk on the Westwood. The common is saturated and boggy in the bottoms and around the woods, so we skirt the edge of Newbegin Pits to avoid the worst of the mud. Dolly comes back to the lead at Black Mill and so we complete the walk without incident. After I drop them off, I drive to the leisure centre for half past eleven and find the pool quiet and manage to get a lane for myself. After the bad night I don't feel much like exercising but decide to wait and see how I feel once I'm warmed up, and swim an easy 400m backstroke. By the time I have finished, I am feeling fine. It just goes to show, so I swim 8 x 50m fly next, just focussing on staying smooth and low and swimming without making a splash. If this works for the next few days, I will progress through 75m repeats, to 100m and eventually all the way to 200m fly. But that's for the future not today, so I follow the fly with 400m breastroke and 400m freestyle and then 9 x 100m IM, the last four swum very easily, as a warm down. If you do the maths that's 2,500m in medleys or 100 lengths, 25 lengths in each stroke. Afterwards I have a pot of tea and a slice of coconut cake in the cafe before driving home for 2:30. When I get in I meditate for an hour and the eat a late lunch. Lamb curry and chapattis, with a can of lager, which I take into the garden. The sun is shining and I finish my book of short stories by AS Byatt after eating and am just about to start a spot of gardening when the sky turns black and it starts to rain. Beverley Ramblers have a four mile walk starting at Hull Bridge this evening and as Allan seems to have given up on our walks, I decide to make my way down to the river for seven o'clock to see how I get on with them. It is less than a twenty minute stroll from my house to the footbridge and so I arrive ten minutes before the appointed time on their website. At first I can't see any walkers, but from the top of the bridge I see a group of half a dozen congregating on the other side of the river and make my way towards them. I introduce myself and find that the walk is up the river to the Eske Nature Reserve, a route I know well. Another three walkers arrive and we end up with a party of ten, three men, including myself and the rest women. Our ages range from mid thirties to seventy plus and the pace is a comfortable 2-3 miles an hour. Despite the forecast of more heavy showers, the weather holds and we have a pleasant summer evenings walk. I chat to different people along the way and mostly they seem fine, we arrive back at the Ferry Bridge Inn, next to the river and adjourn to the bar for a drink. We just have the one, and I leave about nine to stroll home as dusk starts to fall. When I get in I toast the half of French stick left over from yesterday and then sprinkle some grated mozarella on it and top it off with roasted peppers. Two minutes under the grill and supper is ready, there is just enough wine left from yesterday to fill a glass to accompany my meal, and after the walk, I am ready for it. After supper I read the Guardian on my iPad, write this and then turn in about eleven thirty. I hope I sleep better, if I don't it won't be for lack of exercise!

Listening to the gentle rain

No dog walking today, Pip called to say Andrew would be taking the dogs out, so lie in until nine and just listen to the rain pit patting against the window. Get up and toast some rye bread and make coffee and then spread the toast with butter and honey and make my way into the Garden Room, where I eat my breakfast, whilst listening to Neil Ferguson's Reith lectures. Is it just me, or is it only academics and politicians who have never had a real job, who seem to think they have all the answers? Part of me agrees with Furguson, about diminishing the power of the state and returning to individual responsibility, but somewhere inside lurks a suspicion that he is just a "useful idiot", enrolled for elitist propaganda. Who looks out for "the little people", like you and me, if the state is rolled back. People who can't afford lawyers to fight their corner, and can't afford private education, much less avoid taxes by hiring smart accountants. What about us! So far my e-petition to separate retail and investment banking has one signature, mine! Perhaps nobody minds that we are being used as a human shield to protect City of London gamblers against losses, so that if they go down, we all go down. Even St Vincent Cable seems to have caved in to the lobby from the city of London!
After breakfast I shower and change and drive to Right Car, to try and pull forward the delivery date of Sarah's new car from Friday the 13th to Thursday the 12th. It might be superstitious twaddle, but I will feel better when she is driving down to Derbyshire in it on Friday. It took a while, an hour and a half to be exact and so I didn't arrive in the pool until one. It has been pouring with rain all morning and so the pool is quiet and I have a lane to myself and swim 100 lengths, 2,500m in medleys 4 x 400m in each stroke and then 9 x 100m individual medleys. After changing, I eat a tea and scone in the cafe before driving to Tesco to park and then having a potter round town. The only thing I buy is an Ian Rankin novel that I haven't yet read from a charity shop for a pound, I adjourn later for a coffee in Caffe Nero and spend an hour doing the Times sudoku and kakura before calling at Tesco for some wine and a few bits of shopping. Finally arriving home around seven, and after unpacking my shopping, put the oven on to warm up, whilst I knock up a tossed salad with slices of Gran Padano cheese. I eat this with crusty bread and a glass of South African Cabernet Sauvignon, whilst my cannelloni is cooking. When it is ready I eat it with another glass of wine, whilst listening to Front Row on radio four. Now I feel that I have, perhaps, had too much wine, but I prefer to believe that I have eaten to much and the extra wine just helped to wash it down. Wine makes me sleepy, and as I type this blog, the rain is still falling steadily outside. There is something profoundly soothing in listening to a gentle rainfall, but you need space and silence to appreciate this. When I was talking to Anne Fahey, after Mass on Sunday, she told me she listens to music whilst she runs, on a lunch time. I find it sad that modern, or rather post modern life, has no time for silence, no time to listen to the sound of the gentle rain as it falls.

Super Heroes and runners up. Sunday 8/7/12

Wake at four and again at six and eventually get up at seven thirty, outside a steady light rain has started to fall, so I am glad that I spent yesterday washing and gardening. I make breakfast of the last of the smoked salmon, which I eat on rye toast with cream cheese and washed down with black, Italian coffee. Whilst the oven was hot last night I roasted some red and yellow peppers that were on offer in the supermarket, I peel them and de seed them this morning, now they are nice and cool and then slice them and cover them in a bowl with cling film. I need to buy some more fresh basil, as my two plants haven't yet flourished due to the cold weather, then I will marinade the peppers in olive oil and fresh basil to make an ante pasta. My friend Leslie can't make coffee this morning as he has relatives visiting, so I decide to attend ten thirty mass, which means I am in no rush. Yesterday, at the supermarket I bought some breast of lamb strips, about a pound in weight, and I dice these into one inch cubes and then marinade them in a bowl with olive oil, lemon, garlic, ginger, chile, tumeric and dried coriander, when I get back after church I will cook this up to make a curry for later in the week. I shower and dress and drive to Beverley, parking about a hundred yards from the church. Saint John's is full when I arrive and I discover the mass is dedicated to the "apostles of the sea", a catholic charity. There are more children than usual in the church and it turns out they are hear to read blessings for those in peril on the sea. After mass, I find Ann Fahy sitting behind me with her two little boys, Ann used to work for me nearly twenty years ago, and we go to the church rooms for tea and a chat after the service. On my way back to the car I call in on Sarah and she asks me to take Louis so she can go shopping with Alice for their holiday clothes. I can't take Louis swimming because he still has stitches in his eye, but eventually he decides he would like to see the new Spider Man film. This leaves us half an hour for him to get washed and dressed and for us to drive the five miles to Cineworld at Kingswood. In the event we arrive five minutes early and then have to sit through half an hour of trailers and adverts. The film isn't bad for a Hollywood blockbuster, but Rhys Ifans, as the mad scientist, steals every scene he is in. After the film we meet up with Sarah and Alice at the Costa coffee shop on the other side of the retail park. Sarah rewards me for my baby sitting with an americano and a cream scone. On my way home I buy some more wine for my leftover cannelloni and a copy of the Observer and then call into see Felicity. She is not in a good place, the new neighbours at the back have torn down all her plants in the passageway to their property that provides access from the main road. The ownership of this is unclear and is being checked by a friend of hers who is a solicitor. Felicity is feeling very sorry for herself and is convinced that they will force her out of her house. As she owns the house, I point out that they can't force her out against her will, but she doesn't want to hear anything positive. The people sound like complete bastards, but Fliss could do passive aggression to Olympic standards, so there may be another side to the story. I leave after half an hour and drive home in time to catch the last set of the Wimbledon final, by this time Andy Murray is being outclassed by a supreme Roger Federer. I eat cheddar cheese and the remaining half a baguette from yesterday, with red wine, as I watch the action, I am too hungry to wait for the oven to warm for my cannelloni. They will keep for another day. After eating I read my paper and then do the sudoku and killer sudoku, just to check that my brains haven't turned to mush during the week. Around nine o'clock I pop into the kitchen and fry up the lamb that I marinated this morning, along with some onions. When they are well browned, I add a couple of Oxo cubes and some curry powder and half a pint of boiling water and then let the stew simmer for five minutes before transferring it to the slow cooker. It will be ready tomorrow, but I shan't eat it until Tuesday, as the cannelloni needs to be eaten first. I am looking after Andrew's daughter, Laura, tomorrow after school. She told me she wants pizza but I shall try to sell her cannelloni instead, otherwise I will have cooked food coming out of my ears.

Making, eating and painting pizza

Began to cough during the night and woke at six with heavy catarrh but managed to sleep on until eight. It is a cloudy morning, but for the moment at least, it's dry. Used up the last of the previous weeks bacon, sausage and black pudding to make breakfast and washed it down with really strong tea. I don't feel too good today and take some lanzoprazole and an anti-inflammatory tablet as that sometimes helps if I have a wheezy chest. The only real solution is to cut out the wheat and glucose products as I did last year, but it's a tough regime to stick to on a permanent basis. After breakfast, I shower and dress and then make my way to Cherry for ten fifteen. The dogs and I make our way round the Westwood, but today I sit on a bench at Black Mill, surrounded by cows, and wait for Dolly to come back to the lead. It is too dangerous to risk them chasing rabbits onto the Newbald Road, as they did last week. After I drop the dogs back with Pip, I call at Morrisons to buy Basil and some new house plants as a lot of the old ones are on their last legs. When I get back to Tickton I make a pot of tea and eat some oaties whilst marinating the peppers I roasted on Saturday in olive oil and basil. When this is done I decide to make some pizza dough for this evening and discover that I am out of yeast and strong white flour. I jump in the car to buy some from the village shop, but they don't stock yeast and so end up driving to Asda in Beverley to fetch some. When I get back it only takes ten minutes to mix the dough , and I leave it to rise whilst I pot my new plants in the garden. After I am done I run the vac over the house and clean the kitchen up before collecting Laura and Rebecca from Copandale Road. When I get there, their other Grandad, Mike, is baby sitting as Sam has already set off for Goole. We arrive back in Tickton for five thirty and Rebecca who is eleven and autistic wants to play on my iPad, whilst her little sister, Laura wants to help me cook. Rebecca is very particular about what she will eat and Mike gave me some chicken nuggets and potato waffles to bring home for her, however I know she likes garlic bread, so Laura and I roll out two pizza bases and paint them with olive oil and garlic, whilst the cooker heats up. Once the oven light goes out we place the first pizza on the baking stone and put Rebecca's nuggets and waffles on a lower shelf. Fifteen minutes later Rebecca's dinner is ready and we serve her on a tray in the lounge and put the other pizza base in to cook. We then roll out two more and I make Laura a happy face pizza, with chorizo slices for eyes, olives for pupils asparagus for a nose and a half slice of chorizo for a mouth. The second garlic bread is soon ready and we take it out and slice it and put Laura's pizza in the oven. Rebecca has eaten her bread and takes another slice, Laura and I share the rest whilst I build my pizza, which has roast peppers, chorizo and olives. As soon as it is finished, Laura's pizza is ready, the dough has worked really well and the bases are golden brown, crisp and have risen nicely. Frozen pizza's don't come near! My pizza is soon ready and we eat ours in the kitchen, Rebecca is deep into u-tube and is much more adept with my iPad than I am. I pour the girls some orangeade and cream soda whilst I drink the last of yesterday's Rioja whilst enjoying my pizza. I am inculcating good cooking habits into Laura, a good cook cleans as he/she goes, and consequently by the time we have finished our desert, peaches and yogurt, there are only our plates left to wash up. After dinner I get my water colours out, Rebecca won't surrender the iPad so Laura and I paint the "happy face pizza", and then I send Laura into the garden to photograph a beautiful rose. When she comes back, she paints it for her mum. By now it is half past eight and time to take them home. I have enjoyed their company and they mine. I look forward to them coming again.

The Art of Housework

Wake to a surprisingly glorious summer's morning. The news after all has been full of downpours of biblical proportions and rain is forecast every day for the next two weeks! And here is the gift of a perfect morning. I woke at half past six to use the toilet and then went back to bed and slept until nine, now as I stretch and think about what to eat for breakfast and my plans for the day ahead, I have this pleasant surprise of a lovely day. I determine to savour it, to take it slowly, with gratitude and due appreciation. I Cook a full English breakfast with tea and eat slowly in the kitchen whilst thinking about what to do. After showering and putting on a pair of shorts and a tee shirt, set too and make a bechamel sauce for the "cannelloni al forno" that I will dine on this evening. Whilst the sauce is thickening on a low heat, I stuff the cannelloni using the rich tomato and mince sauce from the slow cooker, and then place them on a plate whilst I wait for the sauce to cool. In the meantime I put on a wash load of whites and get a second half load of coloured togs in a basket ready for the next run. Once the sauce has cooled, I cover the bottom of an Alsace, red iron ware oval dish with it and then layer the cannelloni on top, adding cubes of mozzarella on the way, repeating the process until all the cannelloni and sauce are used up. I then store the dish in the fridge until cooking time this evening. Whilst I am in the kitchen, I make some more oaties, but once I have processed the oats to make them finer I decide to complete the task by hand, in a mixing bowl. It is slower by hand but it is nicely quiet and much more sensuous and deeply satisfying than using the food processor. I do not need to save time, in fact I really don't care how long things take! This batch of biscuits is slightly different, I have added cinnamon and I am using chopped apricots instead of sultanas. By now it is half past eleven and I decide to mow the lawns whilst the weather holds, unfortunately my only option is to use the electric mower, and so it doesn't take long, even though I work at a leisurely pace. When I have finished I mash a pot of tea and a take a plate of oaties into the garden, enjoying my snack sat in the sun. The temperature is perfect, around twenty degrees, warm enough to work without my tee shirt, but cool enough to make work a pleasure. I read a short story by A.S. Byatt whilst drinking my tea, and when I have finished the tale, seem somehow to have resolved to trim my hedge, which is heavily overgrown. Back at Cherry I have some electric clippers, but there is little skill or enjoyment in using these, and in my shed are an excellent pair of Spear and Jackson shears. However, before I can make a start, the alarm sounds on the oven to tell me that my biscuits are ready, and when I set them to cool they are an exquisite golden brown and the sweet smell of cinnamon fills the kitchen. I take my time trimming the hedge by hand, it's pleasant work in the sun, and soon I am lost in the task, working my way in layers from end to end and from top to bottom. The only sounds the rhythmic clicking of the shears and the sweet song of my garden blackbird, who seems to appreciate the syncopation. When it's done, I hang out my clean whites and put on the coloureds to wash, before raking up the trimmings and putting these in the brown bin. Inevitably, some have fallen into my neighbour's garden and so I knock on her door to ask permission to pick them up. Nora is a reclusive, shy old lady in her eighties and agrees to let me clean up my mess and whilst I work, we chat. It turns out that she has been here since the bungalows were built, twenty five years ago. When I have finished and tidied everything away, I make more tea and try my cinnamon apricot oaties, they are OK, but next time I will soak the dried apricots first. Nevertheless the cinnamon works well with the oats, even if the apricots are a bit chewy. I sit in the afternoon sun and read another short story. The day has flown by, as it often does when you are enjoying yourself, and it is now half past six, so I put my tee shirt back on, make a shopping list, and then drive to Morrisons to do my weekly shop. It's quiet when I get there and my shopping is soon completed. I have bought some fresh salad and a French stick as an accompaniment to the cannelloni. When I arrive home, I put the oven on to heat up whilst unpacking my shopping. The red light on the oven goes out and this tells me the temperature is 200 degrees centigrade, I put the cannelloni in to cook and then make a tossed salad with a vinaigrette dressing and shavings of fresh Parmesan. I eat this as a starter with crusty bread and butter and a glass of vin ordinaire, and by the time I have eaten it, the cannelloni are ready. They look and smell wonderful, I grated nutmeg over the bechamel sauce before cooking and the mozzarella is melting and spitting over the stuffed pasta tubes. I serve myself eight cannelloni and let them rest for ten minutes before starting to eat. The first time I made them, I ignored this advice from the cookbook and burned the roof of my mouth quite badly, the pasta and boiling sauce stuck to my palate like glue. It's a salutary lesson! The pasta is excellent, but as ever, I have enough left for two more meals. After dinner I retire to the Garden Room with a decaff coffee to write this journal and as I finish, it is just falling dark. It has been a lovely, unhurried day, just doing simple things, slowly and mindfully and taking great pleasure in the luxury of knowing that I am rich in time. D.T Suzuki points out that we can't all be great poets or painters, but we can all be artists of life!

Sci-Fi and floods

Wake at six thirty to a dull, blustery and wet morning, breakfast on smoked salmon on cream cheese on rye toast, with strong, black, Italian coffee. There are hundreds of flood warnings on the radio and up to a month's rain is forecast today. I phone Pip to arrange for Andrew to take the dogs later, but she doesn't answer, and so I leave a voice mail. Half an hour later she phones back and it is agreed. After showering and dressing I wash up and then do some admin for an hour before driving to the pool. En route I call in at Right Car with a copy of my driving licence as proof of purchase for Sarah's new Peugeot. Half the pool is taken up with schoolchildren, but before I have finished my warm up they have left and I inherit a free lane once more. I feel much stronger today and complete 2,500m in medleys before retiring to the cafe for lunch. Today, being Friday, the special is fish and chips with garden peas, so I order this with tea and bread and butter. As ever, the food is excellent, and after lunch I check the cinema times and decide to take in "Prometheus", at the Odeon in Hull. First I drive home to drop off my wet swimming togs and to pick up my 3D glasses, and then drive into Hull. Despite setting off an hour before the show time, I only just make it on time, as the heavens open and the traffic is nose to tail all the way. I tend to like Ridley Scott as a director, having seen Black Hawk Down and Gladiator but this film wasn't in that class. Despite an interesting set up, it lost its way to special effects and the narrative and character development suffered as a consequence. By the time the characters were being wiped out you didn't much care because you didn't understand who they were. CGI and 3D can never replace good story telling and direction. After the film I called in at St Stephens, but only bought some cannelloni and some red wine for tomorrow's dinner. The traffic was much lighter on the way home and it only took twenty minutes, arriving back in Tickton around seven. When I got in I toasted some whole meal Pitta bread and ate these with the Humus I made on Wednesday, and I still have half a pound left! After dinner I read until bedtime, and as it falls dark, the big, white, barn owl is hunting in the field beyond the garden.

New wheels for Sarah!

Wake at eight after a reasonable night, the new anti snoring mouthpiece had to be abandoned, as Mark Slater, my dentist had predicted, anything put into the mouth causes it to salivate, and I was constantly having to swallow my saliva or allow it to soak my pillow. Make a full English breakfast with tea and eat whilst listening to the news. Last night I launched an e petition on the government website calling for the legal separation of retail and investment banking. I can't believe they intend to trust the banks to erect Chinese walls. After breakfast shower, dress and drive to Cherry to take the dogs on the Westwood. It is a warm and humid day and I am just wearing shorts, tee shirt and sandals. After Dolly's escapade yesterday I reverse the order and let her off first but then Teddy went rabbit happy on the way back. The problem is that there are lots and lots of baby bunnies around at the moment, we seem to have a population explosion. Back at Cherry I mow the lawns, as heavy rain is predicted for tomorrow and then drive to the pool for twelve. The pool is busy and the high humidity doesn't agree with me so after warming up I stop and chat to Colin, one of the lunch time regulars. Whilst we chat, a young guy in the next lane asks for some tips on freestyle, and as I don't feel like doing much I start him off on some basic drills. He tells me his name is Paul, that he is 36 and that his Mum and Dad are collecting him and he has to leave soon. He tries too hard and the major challenge is to get him to relax, but he makes some progress and seems happy enough. The pool is much quieter now and I decide to try a few individual medleys, I feel much better, so swim fifteen hundred metres before calling it a day and heading to the cafe. On my way there I meet Paul with his mum and dad on their way out and the penny drops, Paul is mentally handicapped in some way, although it wasn't apparent in the pool. If I see him again I will continue to help but be less intellectual in my instructions. I have savoury mince in my slow cooker and fresh vegetables that need using, so I settle for a tea and scone. Whilst I am eating them I see Sarah has called and when I call her back she tells me there is a problem with the business loan from the bank. She needs to buy a new car and some equipment for her embryonic podiatry business. Her old car is ten years old and has one hundred and ten thousand miles on the clock, and is due service and MOT at the end of the month. We find her a 2 year old Peugeot 308 diesel for £6000 and I underwrite it for her. Later I call and see Sam, my son Andrew's ex and arrange to collect my granddaughter, Laura on Monday evening. I arrive home for six, peel the potatoes and vegetables and cook them in the pressure cooker when it's ready I mash the potatoes and the carrots and turnip add the cabbage and then pour the mince over the potatoes. I am starving and clear my plate, there is still half a pan of mince, so I add a tin of chopped tomatoes and some oregano to the slow cooker and will have a nice pasta sauce for the weekend. As I type this a big fat grey pigeon has rousted on the little fence just outside the Garden Room window and has fallen fast asleep. When I put my reading light on she will probably fly away, we will see.
No she is still there!

Lunch with Sarah

Wake at 3:00 am feeling hungry so get up and eat some muesli and then sleep until 8:45am. Make honey on rye toast and Italian coffee for breakfast then wash, dress and drive to Cherry for ten. Take the dogs on the Westwood, the weather is cloudy but mild, Dolly goes Rabbit Crazy, but eventually comes back and leaves me with just half an hour to drive back to Tickton before making my way to the Dentists for my check up. Everything is OK and after my check up I meet Sarah for a celebratory lunch at the Thai restaurant down Lairgate. Now that she has passed her degree, she looks ten years younger, the food, as ever is excellent. Sarah orders chicken satay to start and then a Massaman, coconut curry, whilst I order Pak Tod, Thai tempura vegetables and then Pad Kra Pow, prawns with Thai basil and chile with boiled rice. After lunch I buy a wooden rotary spice jar holder in a charity shop and then drive back to , where I transfer my spice jars to the new holder. The post lady has been and delivered my anti snoring/apnea mouth piece. I follow the instructions and after softening it in boiling water, shape it to my mouth, before fixing the shape with ice cold water. I try it out whilst meditating and find it not entirely comfortable, however once I lie on my side it feels fine. Truth will tell tonight when it is used in anger for the first time. Later I mix up and bake a batch of oaties and then make some hummus with chick peas that I have soaked overnight and a jar of tahine. I have followed the instructions from a Turkijh cookbook I own, and find I have made about a pound of hummus, and have to store 3/4 in a Tupperware jars. I drive into Beverley and buy some pitta bread and Sicilian wine as well as butter, coffee and oats. When I get home I toast the pitta and eat these with my hummus, washed down with red wine.
Later listen to radio 4 before turning in around eleven.

Spog the Pod

Wake at eight to another cloudy morning and breakfast on smoked salmon and cream cheese on whole meal toast and coffee. The nose clips and paper tape have worked pretty well and I have no symptoms of snoring, like a dry mouth or sore throat, but as I live alone I have no real, concrete evidence. After breakfast I wash, dress and drive to Cherry to take the dogs out, we follow our usual route round the Westwood and are entertained by lady folders in a variety of costumes and face paint, it's lady captains day again! After dropping the dogs off, pop to Morrisons to stock up on fruit and veg and a few other bits and then call in to see Felicity. She hasn't been well and is having problems with the new owners of the "Low Fields", bungalow behind her, according to Fliss they dug up her hollyhocks and other flowers she had planted in the access lane and were very aggressive and terribly rude to her. If this is true, it Is appalling behaviour, as she is a sick old woman living alone with her dogs and in quite a delicate state of health. The aggravation could kill her. On the other hand she has a talent for passive aggression, victim hood and politics, so I suspect there may be two sides to the story. The saga will rumble on for some time yet I suspect. Drive to the leisure centre for one and find a free lane once again, I feel a little jaded after yesterday's session but warm up to seen how I go and feel OK so repeat yesterday's 2400m medley session. Afterwards I have lunch in the cafe, the special is plaice goujons, chips and peas, and although it is quite similar to last night's fish fingers and chips, I order it anyway as I can't be bothered cooking. Whilst I am waiting for it to be served I am joined by the "Heart Attack Recovery Group", there are about 40 of them and they are making a presentation to one of the gym staff, Jen, who got married last week. I get a few funny looks when my lunch arrive, I suspect they think I am one of them and have fallen off the wagon! Receive a text from Sarah to say she has been notified that she has passed her podiatry degree and can start practising as soon as her insurance comes through. I arrange to take her to the Thai restaurant tomorrow to celebrate. Arrive back home for four o'clock, unpack the shopping and then meditate for an hour. Later make some Savoury Mince and put it in the slow cooker for tomorrow, and then read until bedtime.

A stitch up for Louis

Wake several times in the night and eventually realise that my bare feet sticking out of the duvet are what is waking me. I pop on some socks and then sleep until eight. What a contrast with yesterday, outside it's cold and cloudy, and according to the forecast, likely to stay this way for two weeks. Breakfast on whole meal toast and honey with black coffee. The anti snoring strategy seems to work and so I have a quick look on eBay and find a mouldable mouthpiece for about six pounds, they also have nose clips to keep the nostrils open, but when I have a closer look, they are identical to the clips I use for swimming. The only difference being that these clip to the septum to keep the nostrils open, whilst I clip mine over the nostrils to close them off to stop chlorine aggravating my sinuses. I get a pair out of my swimming bag and clip them onto my septum and sure enough, they keep my nostrils open beautifully, and they are comfortable. Wash, dress and drive to Cherry for ten and take the dogs on the Westwood, they are glad to see me after the weekend and although it is spotting with rain we get round dry. I meet Elaine Julien from the running club in Newbald Pits with her little JackRussell, Milo, she tells me her husband died last Friday from the pancreatic cancer he has fought for two years. Understandably she is shell shocked, so I walk with her back to the car. Back in Cherry Pip tells me that the bank haven't transferred her money, so I drive into town and go to Lloyds to sort it out. It's their antiquated batch processing billing system at fault the first of the month was yesterday so Pip's money wouldn't be processed until this evening. I get them to do it manually and ring her back to tell her it is done and explain the problem. Whilst I am in town I pop to the Barbers for a trim and then drive to the leisure centre for a swim. My luck is in again and I find a free lane and swim 2,400m in medleys, 4 x 400m in each stroke, ( on fly I rest after each length in order to maintain perfect stroke), then 4 x 100m IM, again trying for perfect stroke and accelerating slightly with each repeat, and finally warming down with 2 x 200m on freestyle and backstroke. The session was very enjoyable but I was just starting to cramp a little at the end. There are no specials in the cafe so settle for tea and cake and then receive a text from Sarah to say she is at the hospital with Louis, who has split his eyebrow on a radiator. I phone her back and they are just about to take him into theatre to stitch him up. I call her later and he is fine and loved the laughing gas they used to sedate him. I get home and meditate for an hour and use the nose clips, which work beautifully. Afterwards I make dinner, fish fingers, chips, peas and tea with bread and butter and eat this whilst listening to the news on radio four. After dinner, I go online and book the ferry for Holland, it's not bad £327 for four adults, with cabins and my car. Later do some ironing whilst listening to an audio book and then go to bed.

Gino wins some and loses some

Wake to a glorious summer morning around six thirty and make a full English breakfast with toast and tea, which I eat in the kitchen whilst listening to radio four. After breakfast I take advantage of the sunshine and hang out my freshly washed bedding in the garden and then shower and dress for nine o'clock mass. Drive to North Bar and park just past Sarah's house, before walking the few yards to St. John's, and arrive in my usual pew with ten minutes to spare. I like to arrive early and have time to check the hymns and find the appropriate service in the prayer book, before composing myself and emptying my mind in preparation for the service. As I mentioned last week, I really enjoy the hybrid English and Latin sung Mass, the Kyrie, Gloria and Sanctus sung in Latin. After the service I collect Leslie from Molescroft and we drive to Skidby for coffee because there is a parade in Beverley for Armed Forces day. Leslie was ninety during the week and his family came up from Hampshire to help him celebrate. We had our usual good natured knockabout discussion over the banking crisis, Leslie's view being that people have an obligation to themselves to not get into unsustainable debt, and my counter that just because some people are not very bright doesn't mean it's OK for spivvey bankers and financial advisors to stuff them up with lousy product. We both have a point but the knockabout is fun, Leslie enjoys it and it keeps his marbles working. After dropping him off I phone Gino and offer to take he and Jackie out for lunch for their anniversary. We agree on the Mermaid and I set off straight away as I need to fill up with petrol en route. Whilst I am on the Motorway he phones back to say that Jackie has exercised her executive override, because she has bought huge amounts of food for the Euro 2012 BBQ they have organised for later, so I drive straight to their house. My brothers Andrew and Christ arrive around four, Chris with his wife, Michelle and their son, Dan. Jackie's girls, Rachael and Rebecca are there as well, so we are mob handed for the meal. Gino, being half Italian loves to cook, and surpasses himself for the meal, later we watch Italy get slaughtered by a superlative Spain 4 : 0, Gino's not too downhearted as he drew Spain in the office sweepstake and won £60. I leave straight after the match and get home around eleven thirty.