Norman, ParaNorman, Alice and Louis.

Wake at five as Louis creeps into my bed dressed in a spiderman siren suit. He helps to warm the bed up a bit, as its been quite cold through the night and Sarah still has her summer duvets deployed. By half past six Louis is wanting to get up, so we go downstairs and he watches TV, whilst I make breakfast. It takes a little longer than normal, as I'm less familiar with Sarah's kitchen than my own, but by half past seven, Alice, Louis, myself and Norman, are sitting down to a full English breakfast. After washing and dressing, Louis and I take Normy round Seven Corners Lane for his morning walk and just for fun, we count the corners. Our local MP, Graham Stuart, passes us on the way out of his house and waves to us. He is a decent sort, despite being a Tory. By turning left down the lane at the back of York Road, we manage to stretch the number of corners to ten, which pleases Louis immensely. We get back for five to nine and I have just enough time to hand Louis over to Alice, before making my way to Saint John's, a few doors down, for nine O'clock Mass. It is a cold morning for September, with the wind out of the Northeast and it's even chilly in church. Roy's sermon is short, as there is a sister from a missionary order making a plea for help. The young organist has to be rescued by Father Roy a couple of times, when he loses the tune, but otherwise the service goes without problem. The main point of the short sermon was transcending or letting go of egotistical selfishness, the cause of most personal misery. On this subject Jesus and the Buddha speak as one. After Mass, I drive to Caffe Nero and pick up coffee and pain au raisin and take them to Leslie's house. He has a cut on his shin, which at ninety can easily become infected and has been told to rest and elevate it. Otherwise he is in good spirits and we have an interesting chat until half past eleven, when I promised to be back to collect Alice and Louis. Louis wants to go to the cinema to see an animated film about witches and zombies, called "ParaNorman", it starts at a quarter to two, so we have time to drive to Morrison's to fill up with diesel and buy a French stick to accompany our lunch. We eat in Tickton because Louis wants his favourites again, Parma Ham, smoked cheese and Chorizo, not forgetting the olives. After lunch there is just enough time to walk Normy down to the farm and back before we drive to the cinema at Kingswood. Our timing is impeccable and we arrive in our seats just as the main feature starts. (thus avoiding the adverts.) The theatre is packed and the film is quite funny and surprisingly good, despite suffering from the usual modern American tendency of displaying everyone in a positive light, even witches and zombies. Did you know they are just misunderstood lost souls? Where the film scored heavily, was its excoriating depiction of the dystopian nature of working class America, that the US insists on calling the middle class. Afterwards I rang Sarah, and discovered she hadn't left London yet as they had been to Ikea to buy Clement a desk for his new pad. The kids and I head to the Hayride in Beverley, a postmodern pub, come restaurant, got up as a nineteenth century agricultural barn. Louis wants to play outside, but Alice and I are soon driven indoors by the cold and He follows, a few minutes later. Alice and I order steaks and Louis a Burger, but he ends up eating a quarter of my steak as well. We keep him amused with some colouring pencils and drawing paper, provided by the pub, while waiting for the meals to arrive. The pub itself is very quiet for a Sunday afternoon, but there again, it's the end of the month and the recession is really starting to bite. The food is surprisingly good, but there again it doesn't take a genius to fry a rump steak. Like most places, there is free wifi, and I am able to pick up the Leicester v Hull scores as the match progresses We lose 3 : 1, the last Leicester goal on ninety minutes. I drop Louis and Alice back at Sarah's place just after six, Alice is giving him a bath and then putting him to bed, as it is likely to be nine or ten before Sarah gets back from London. When I get home, Norman is ready for his dinner, which is enhanced by the fatty edge of Alice's steak, cut up small. After his dinner we walk down to the bridge and on our way back we see the bulldog bitch again, and she remembers me and comes over for a pat. Normy doesn't hang around to test her good intentions and scampers ahead of me further along the lane. The first drops of rain are falling as we cross the threshold and we are both grateful to be dry and warm indoors. After unpacking my overnight bag and washing up the lunchtime pots, I make a mug of cocoa and then have an early night.