When the sun sets in the West

Wake at seven thirty, there is no rush today, Pip phoned last night telling me not to take the dogs out. Norman is still asleep as I get up and make coffee and breakfast, we are out of eggs, so it's just bacon, sausage, black pudding and fried tomatoes. When everything is ready, Normy saunters in and has everything but tomato. The broadband is down again this morning but it comes back to life after resetting the router. I phone my friend Felicity and arrange to collect her and walk the few hundred yards with her from her house to the Poppy Seed cafe in North Bar. She is unsteady on her legs and has fallen a couple of times in the last month. Norman and I drive to the Westwood and walk through the woods to Woodlands lane and then round the corner to Albert Terrace, where Felicity lives. She is ready when we get there around a quarter past ten, and the three of us make our way to the cafe, which is only about two hundred yards distant. We stop twice en route, to let Felicity rest on a wall and arrive in the cafe for ten thirty. Usually most of her friends are there but being the holiday period, today it is just the two of us and Norman, who sits quietly on my knee. Felicity has a tea and fruit scone and I just a tea, she is going to Sewerby, near Bridlington, at the weekend, with her daughter, Melissa and her granddaughter, Ruby, and is looking forward to it. She hasn't been away for years. We chat happily and discuss the possibility of a disability walker with a fitted seat, so she can stop and rest, for her, but she says she can't afford one, so I promise to see if there are any second hand on eBay. By eleven o'clock she is tired and wants to go home, so we make our way back, stopping to rest a couple of times again. She tells me she will have a lie down after we have left and Norman and I retrace our steps back over the Westwood to the car. Poor Felicity has deteriorated markedly over the last few months, I hope her holiday goes well. We get back to Tickton for midday, I have my swimming gear packed, but don't feel like swimming today, so make a pot of tea and take some oaties into the garden and do a puzzle sat in the warm sun. There is a strong Westerly wind, but fortunately the garden is sheltered, but there is a distinct hint of autumn in the air. At half past two, I decide to drive to the Aldi store in Willerby, about six miles away, to do some shopping. I need washing powder, razor blades, breakfast gear and a bunch of other stuff. Aldi's retail proposition, is good quality but less choice and keen prices. It works for me, but it is difficult to get to the store because they are upgrading the road from Beverley to Willerby from a single to dual carriageway and consequently there are extensive roadworks. The shop is surprisingly busy but by the time I arrive at the checkout there is no queue. It is half past four as I turn into my drive. After unpacking I knock together a salad Nicoise and eat in the garden giving Norman a bowl of dog meat, which he doesn't touch until he has checked out my empty plate and smelled the tuna. Only then does he clear his bowl. After dinner I check eBay, and find a couple of walkers for around forty pounds, I will talk to Felicity's daughter,Melissa and arrange to get one. Around half past seven It is time to take Norman for his evening walk, it is a little cooler, which is much better for him, so we walk past the little bridge and round the fields. It is a beautiful evening, the sun low on the horizon, the sky clear blue, and the fields a mixture of swaying corn and freshly harvested stubble. As we get to the half way corner, a young deer, a doe, emerges into the field next to us. We are upwind of her and partly concealed by the hedge, I stand still as a statue and watch as she makes her way to the edge of the drain, less than twenty feet away. After several minutes she hears Norman moving and turns and looks straight at me, and then bounds away in a series of graceful leaps. The sun is shining crimson through the dark pines, as it glides, ever faster into the Earth. I feel blessed and give Normy a pat and tell him he is a good old boy, he wags his tail and then runs like a puppy for a few yards before stopping to wait for me. I pat and praise him again and he scampers on some more, we keep this up until we come to "nearly straight wood", which is cool and mysterious now the sun has set and dusk is gathering. We arrive back at the bungalow for half past eight, old Kath, my lovely next door neighbour, is just finishing up in the garden and Norman says hello to her and wags his tail in anticipation of the biscuit that she has started to give him. After a drink Normy goes to bed and I listen to Hull lose to Blackburn 1:0 before reading my book for an hour before bed time.