Skyfall und durchfall!

Wake at five, desperately needing the toilet, then at five thirty and six, fortunately I have some Imodium tablets, but I am forced to the loo twice more before they take effect. Consequently I am up before seven and in the circumstances, a full English breakfast doesn't seem either sensible or desirable. I make coffee and rye toast with marmite, Norman has to make do with dry dog food, and we sit in the Garden Room and watch the day dawn, a crimson hue to the eastern horizon. The cause of my upset stomach is probably last night's Camembert, I like it ripe and runny and so consequently avoid putting it in the refrigerator. On the other hand, the BBC are warning of an outbreak of Norovirus, aka winter vomiting bug, but if it is the latter the Imodium won't hold it. In the circumstances it seems sensible to cancel my visit to the Poppy Seed, if I have got a bug, the last thing Felicity and the old girls need is the squirts for Xmas. By nine o'clock, the diarrhoea has stopped and so I shower, dress and drive to Cherry to collect Dolly and Teddy, with copious amounts of loo roll in my pocket and extra tablets in case of emergency. In the event we manage to get round the common without need of them, albeit on a shorter walk than usual. It is another mild day, but with heavy cloud and a gusty easterly wind, heavy rain is forecast to set in later and to dominate the next few days weather. We return home for eleven and make tea, by now I am feeling a little more secure, so make a fresh batch of oaties and then clean the bathroom. I am collecting Clement from Hull at ten past one and so need to leave the house for twelve thirty, which leaves time for some lunch, if I dare take the risk. Norman is starving, so I serve him a bowl of the beef casserole from the slow cooker and it smells so good that I decide to chance my luck. It tastes as good as it's aroma and should be easy to digest. By the time I pick up Clement from Paragon station, there have been no adverse effects. He is looking well and sporting a very fashionable designer stubble, and wants to go see the new Bond film, Skyfall. He needs a drink and a sandwich first, so we call at Tesco's cafe in North Hull, which is en route to the cinema, and buy him a panini and some orange juice, before catching the two fifteen showing of the film. With my orange Wednesday code, and as he is a student, we both get in for £5:60p. Clement says the cinema is at least a tenner each in London. The film is OK, the plot and stunts preposterous, but it moves along at a rare old pace, is never boring and worth seeing for the performances from Bardem, Fiennes and Dench. There is also a nice cameo by Albert Finney and Daniel Craig is fine as Bond, but for some reason, Sam Mendes, its director has Bond wearing clothes that are always one size too small. Perhaps to enhance his muscularity? Who knows. I drop Clement at Sarah's house at half past five, Sarah and Louis haven't arrived home yet, but Alice is in, so I arrange to take her to see "The Hobbit", tomorrow evening and then drive home. Norman is waiting for his dinner, so after first letting him into the garden, I dish up some more casserole for us both, finishing the pan. Afterwards I make some tea and then tackle another week's ironing, before taking Norman for his evening walk round the village. It is still dry, though the wind is strengthening and there were flood warnings for the southwest on the evening news, we play our usual game of "praise and pat", once we are back on Green Lane and I am able to let him off the lead. Pip rings when we get in, to stand me down from dog walking duties, as Andrew has now broken up for the Xmas holidays. To bed for eleven, with no further bodily emergencies, it seems it may just have been the Camembert!