A temporary burst of colour

We are greeted by a welcome blue sky when the curtains are drawn this morning, colour has entered our winter world again, and when I let Norman into the garden, it is noticeably colder and drier, high pressure seems to have returned. After breakfast and a shower, we drive to Cherry to collect Dolly and Teddy, just after ten, and then drive to the Westwood, parking on Newbald Road, where several families with small children are sledging down the hill, as we make our way into the wood. The temperature on the car display showed minus two degrees Celsius, and the snow beneath our feet is crisp and dry, where yesterday it was soft and slushy, Teddy dashes off in pursuit of rabbits and Norman trots along behind Dolly and myself, stopping to sniff trees, in order to see if any friends have marked their passage recently. In TellyTubby Land, the mounds have been transformed into moguls and a group of magpies are caucusing in a large elm tree. Teddy decides to extend his freedom and we are well onto the common, until he consents to come back to the lead and let Dolly stretch her legs. She sprints off into the deep snow, bounding high like a little deer, in the way that she does when hunting rabbits in long grass. The fine weather has brought more dog walkers out and she runs up to, and says hello, to all the other dogs and a real sense of fun and excitement seems to infect them. We pause at Black Mill and let Dolly enjoy her run for an extra ten minutes, before returning to the car, to the west, the boys from the Grammar School are "enjoying" a cross country run along the path by the hedge, that marks the boundary of the common. After delivering the dogs to Cherry, I call in to see Pip and Andrew and let them know about the PSA result, Andrew is working from home and on a conference call, so I give Pip the news and ask her to tell Andrew when he is free. Five minutes later, I arrive at Cedar Grove to visit Leslie, Marjorie Salt, Leslie's neighbour, is struggling to bring her green bin back into, the garage, wearing only her dressing gown. She is also over ninety, so I bring the bin in for her, chat for a minute and then knock on Leslie's door. He is in much better form today, has slept better and reports that his carers are turning up on time and working well. I make coffee for us both on the Tassimo espresso maker and then chat with him for an hour, before driving home to Tickton. After putting fresh water and a few biscuits down for Norman, I set off again for the library, returning the books by Cormack McCarthy and Simone Weil and selecting some large print books for Leslie and Stephen Fry's biography for me, as I need something light to read at the moment. Afterwards, I drive to Morrison's for some salad and more sausages and black pudding, pausing to drink tea and eat a scone in their cafe, before completing my shopping and then calling in on Felicity on my way home. The blue skies have been replaced by grey ones, the temperature has risen by a few degrees, and the colour has drained from the world again. It is slippy and slushy once more underfoot. Felicity has been watching "Most Haunted", on TV, and whilst she confesses that it is "total bollocks", says she can't handle too much reality at the moment. I stay with her for half an hour chatting, until her grandson, Barney, arrives to walk the dogs. Back in Tickton Norman tells me he is starving, so I set about making dinner, we are having lamb steak, tossed salad and oven chips. It doesn't take long, the lamb sautéing gently in a little butter and olive oil, whilst the chips cook in the oven and I chop and season the salad. We eat around five o'clock and then retire to the Garden Room to listen to the news. Pip phones shortly after six offering to drive me to the hospital, if I need it, I thank her, but say that nothing is likely to happen for several weeks. Most likely a further blood test will be taken before a course of action is decided and probably hormone therapy will be the first course option, if action is deemed necessary. Later I read and then turn in.