Clearing the decks!

Wake at seven after a disturbed night, worrying about Sarah, let Norman out to another fine day and then make coffee and breakfast. Full English again, but no fried tomatoes, as we are out, Normy doesn't much care as he is no great fan of tomatoes. Shower and dress and arrive in Cherry for a quarter past nine, collect the dogs and make our way to the Westwood. I have to put my jumper on, as there is a cool Northwesterly wind blowing, but it is a beautiful morning just the same. I resolve to catch up on the gardens today, which means I can't spare the time or energy for a swim. When we get back to Cherry I mow Pip's lawns front and back, before drinking a quick tea with Andrew, who is still on holiday, he promises to look out for Sarah while I am away. On my way into town, I call at the farm shop at Walkington Manor and buy some giant free range, pullet eggs and some fresh tomatoes. The woman from the farm reckons most of my eggs will be double yolkers, they are enormous, the chickens must have been cross eyed squeezing them out! I need a haircut before my holiday, so park on Albert Terrace and get Felicity to baby sit Norman, whilst I nip down Greyburn Lane into town to Tim's. When I arrive, there is a spare chair and my hair is trimmed straight away and I am back to collect Norman within fifteen minutes. It is shortly after midday and I only stay and chat for five minutes, as Felicity needs to eat lunch as she has just injected her insulin. We get back to Tickton ten minutes later, and after giving Norman a drink, make up a batch of oaties and mow my lawns front and back, whilst the biscuits are baking. I edge the lawns and dead head the roses, before breaking for lunch around two. My back garden is shielded from the Northwesterly wind, so after making a corned beef salad and some chips, the pair of us eat lunch al fresco again. There won't be many more days this year that we can do this, by the middle of October the rear garden will be in shadow most of the day, at least until March. After lunch I start up my laptop, which sits unused for weeks, sometimes months, now I have the iPad, but I need to print off the vouchers for our Ferry and the holiday and a map guiding us to the place where we have to pick the keys up. It should be a two minute job, but it isn't, the windows browser won't show the gmail attachments properly, so I have to close it down and launch safari. Then, before I can stop it, the computer starts to download a new adobe flash upgrade, so now I can't print PDF files until its done. Resisting the temptation to throw the computer through the window, I adjourn to the kitchen and clean the fridge out instead. Eventually everything is printed, and put to one side, along with my passport ready for Saturday. Norman is ready for his dinner, so I feed him and walk him down the Lane to the bridge. The old one eyed Jack Russell comes out from the stables to say hello and brings a fourteen week old Newfoundland puppy along with her. Norman can handle old girls like her, but gives bouncing youngsters a wide berth. Opposite the stables are some ancient willow trees, whose gnarly roots provide an ideal sanctuary for a little dachshund. The girls from the stables come out and put the puppy on a lead and take him back through the gate. Once the coast is clear Normy reemerges and we continue on our way. We play the praise and pat game on the way back, until we get back to the willow trees, then Norman decides to check the root system out again, so I wait for him while he has a good sniff about. We get back home for six and after listening to the news, I email my brother Graham and ask if he can buy a few groceries and a smart card for parking, that we can collect from him when we arrive. There are hardly any shops open in Holland on Sundays and all the parking meters in the towns use smart cards. Last year my brother in law, Gino, nearly blew a fuse as it was impossible to park in Rotterdam unless you had one, in the end I had to beg someone to use their card, for which I paid a few euros in cash. A little later I load Sarah's old tv in the car and drive down to the tip, I borrowed it for the Olympics, but only watched two events. She doesn't want it back and told me to dump it. I have been two years without a television and have grown out of the habit. Actually now, I prefer to read or listen to the radio or an audio book whilst I am cooking or ironing. On my way home, I call at Tesco's and buy some baked beans, Italian coffee, filter papers and a charger for my iPhone that plugs into the cigarette lighter in the car. I get back for eight o'clock and make a pot of strong tea and take some oaties into the Garden Room and do some killer sudoku over tea and biscuits. I also bought a new puzzle book to take on holiday. To bed a ten thirty. I just need to buy some GB stickers tomorrow and everything is more or less ready for the holiday.