Feeling better on Sarah's Birthday

Wake at a quarter past seven, Norman is still asleep, but I pick him up and massage him awake, before letting him into the garden. It is a misty morning and the sun has just risen, crimson behind the trees to the south and east of me. A more perfect Autumn morning is difficult to imagine! I cough up lots of evil green phlegm again and don't really feel like a fry up this morning, so make a couple of boiled eggs and some whole meal soldiers, with tea rather than coffee for a change. Normy, of course, is a bit disappointed until I dig out a surplus lamb burger from yesterday's dinner, that I had put away in the fridge. After breakfast I read the Guardian on my iPad and then follow a link to Marxism today. Whilst my reading of Marx is one that concurs with the relational nature of social interaction, I get continually irritated by the need of Marxists to invent their own vocabulary, in particular the use of "surplus value" instead of "profit". Notwithstanding the niggles, Marx has much to offer as a valid analysis of the contemporary ills of global capitalism. Today I plan to trim the big hedge at Cherry and I will also need to mow the lawns, as rain is forecast for tomorrow. Wash, dress and pick up Dolly and Teddy for nine fifteen, before heading off to the Westwood. The woods are magical this morning, the sun shines down from a clear sky and is diffused into a golden glow by the mist that clings to the hollows. The birds are singing higher up, in the treetops as they sit above the sylvan phantasmagoria. The grass is wet with dew, and the wind out of the northwest still persists, but it is much lighter than yesterday. When we get to Black Mill, I resist the temptation to extend our walk, as I have a lot of work ahead of me, and I am less than fully fit. We get back to Cherry before eleven and my first job is to mow the lawns, it doesn't take long, despite the grass being wet and I am finished by half past. Armed with secateurs, pruning shears and long handled bolt cutters, I squeeze round the back of the hedge and make a Start. I am working in a very confined space, between my neighbours wall and my hedge, which means I have to work to my side, the cedar branches are still wet with dew, so I get a bit of a shower as I work my way along the wall. After half an hour I arrive at the end of the wall, which is marked by a brick buttress, and which I have to climb on top of, in order to get to the next section of hedge. The buttress also marks the boundary between my gardening and non gardening neighbours, and once on top of the buttress I spend twenty minutes pruning an overgrown elder that has been neglected for years and whose branches are invading my hedge. Elder branches can grow six feet in a year! On the other side, I am now working on top of a five foot wall, that is less than a foot wide, so have to be quite careful with my balance, it is fairly straightforward work until I get about two metres from the end. This is where my two non gardening neighbours properties conjoin and it is a jungle of ivy and fast growing jasmine. It takes a good half an hour to hack a clear path through this, disentangle my hedge and dump the resulting detritus on my side of the boundary. It is now almost half past one, thank God this side is finished! Andrew comes into the garden and asks if I want a pot of tea, so I take a break at this juncture and chat with him for a while. We are going out for a curry and a few drinks in Beverley tomorrow night, so we firm up on times. We are to meet at eight at "The Spice of India restaurant", it used to be called "The Naseeb", and was a regular favourite on a Friday night, when we lived down Eastgate. I resume work, and the other side of the hedge is much more straightforward and by three o'clock it is finally completed. I don't even have to pick up the clippings, as they make an excellent mulch and weed suppressant, so just rake them under the base of the trees. On our way home, I drop Sarah's birthday card through her letter box and then continue to the doctors to arrange for my annual health MOT, Tuesday October 23rd at 9:20. I call at Tesco's and buy Norman some tins and also get bread, milk and a bottle of Chardonnay from their chiller cabinet. I took some pork chops out of the freezer to thaw this morning, and intend to make schnitzels, chips and salad when I get in. Surprisingly, I don't feel too tired, although I am very hungry. It takes less than half an hour to make lunch when I get in, and by four o'clock we are sitting in the garden enjoying the last of the sun eating. I cut the bones out of the chops before pounding the meat flat, and I fried these up for Normy, along with the remains of the egg that I used to dip the schnitzels, before coating them with breadcrumbs. This may be the last meal in the garden this year, it is a simple but exquisite pleasure, no restaurant compares. One schnitzel is enough for me, so I save the other in the fridge, it will make another meal. My next door neighbour, Kath, brings me a parcel which the postman delivered whilst I was out. It's a pair of cords I bought from eBay, they were supposed to be "thick" but weigh about the same as my handkerchief, so they are going back. After washing up, I make a pot of coffee and then do a puzzle until it is time for Norman's tin. Afterwards we walk down the lane It is almost dark, but there are still a few other dog walkers about, Normy duly does his business and then we play "praise and pat" all the way home. Surprisingly I don't feel tired, so strip the beds and change my summer duvet over for a winter weight and then put on clean linen. The soiled bedding is placed in the washing machine with other whites and put on to wash. I then bathe Norman's eyes with cold tea bags, gradually we are clearing his conjunctivitis. He likes the feeling of them on his eyes and sits quietly on my knee while the treatment is taking place, then afterwards runs and wriggles on his back on the carpet. He has had a very good day, lots of walks, friends and food. I hope my improved energy levels are a sign that I am shaking the chest infection without the need for antibiotics, the glands in my neck are still up a bit, so will wait to see how I feel tomorrow. Have a long soak in the bath and then go to bed around nine with my book, another by Ismail Kadare, called "The Accident".