Pancake Sunday

We wake up five minutes before the alarm goes off at half past six, I let Norman and the terriers out into the garden, to a bright, chilly, sunny morning and then make breakfast. Smoked salmon and cream cheese for me and Baker's for the dogs. As I drink my coffee, a text comes in from Sam to say that Laura has had a migraine attack during the night and that she will let me know later if they are going to make it. I reply, hoping she is better soon and then shower and dress. By eight o'clock I haven't heard anything, so run some hot water into a bucket and begin washing and cleaning the windows and paintwork. The work is pleasant enough at the back of the house, which faces east, into the sun, but significantly colder at the front, that is in shade. Around nine thirty, Sam texts to say they will be arriving in ten minutes, so I put away the bucket and my new telescopic squeegee, which works well enough, and return to the kitchen to make some pancake mixture. I sieve some plain flour into bowl, add some Lo Salt and then crack a giant pullet egg into the mixture and beat it into a batter with the judicious addition of a little milk. The batter is just about free of lumps, when the girls arrive, Rebecca runs into the house and Teddy immediately goes bonkers, he is so happy to see her, Laura still looks a little peaky, but says she can manage a few pancakes. The three of them then sit at the kitchen table, while I cook and toss pancakes, before serving them with a choice of lemon juice and sugar or strawberry or apricot conserve. The only setback being the loud sounding of the smoke alarm, which is particularly sensitive, and is soon solved by removing its battery, (which I replace afterwards). After the pancakes we clip the dogs on their leads and set off for a walk around the fields, Rebecca leading Teddy, Laura, Dolly and Norman walking with me. We follow our usual route down to the little bridge, where we let Dolly and Norman off the lead and then head into "almost straight wood". The early sunshine has been replaced by high clouds and when we are exposed to the southwesterly wind, it feels quite chilly. Laura is wearing the navy, quilted, body warmer that I bought her for her birthday and as it has no sleeves, she finds it cold, so I take off my brown blouson jacket and put it round her shoulders. Laura insists on putting her arms through the sleeves and it looks a little like the brown robe worn by Obewan Kenobe in Star Wars. I take her photo with my phone and she pulls a face in disapproval. We swap Teddy for Dolly off the lead, at the corner of the field and continue on our way, Rebecca striding ahead and obviously very happy, she is autistic and suffers from epilepsy and doesn't say a lot, but shrieks with laughter as Teddy keeps bobbing back onto the path after hunting up and down the steep banks of the dyke. Just past half way, Laura asks to be carried and so Sam picks her up, I ask if she wants to ride on my shoulders, but she is still a little fragile from the migraine and needs a cuddle, rather than a lift. After two minutes she asks to be put down and then walks quite happily, as we make our way back home, pausing at the farm to say hello to the Alpacas and waving at the stable girls, who are mucking out the ponies. We return home just after midday and Rebecca plays on her Nintendo DS, which she takes everywhere she goes, while Sam and Laura sit on the sofa and stroke the dogs. It seems obvious that any plans they may have had for setting off for the day are now gone, so I ask if they would like to have lunch, explaining that I have enough schnitzels for two and also a packet of chicken nuggets in the freezer. Sam seems relieved and accepts gratefully, so I ask Laura if she would like to help making a tossed salad and some oven chips to accompany the meat. We sit in the kitchen and I reprise my performance from Louis' school cooking class last Monday, although we chop the ingredients into smaller pieces and I make a vinaigrette dressing, which Laura finds delicious. The oven chips take eighteen minutes and the nuggets ten, so we set the timer on my phone for eight minutes, so that we will know when to add them to the oven. Rebecca only eats a limited number of things, but fortunately she likes panini bread and tortilla chips, which I have in abundance. We sit down to lunch, Sam and I eating schnitzel and Laura, nuggets, although she asks to try the pork, finds that she likes it and then shares ours and leaves most of her chicken, which is later shared out between the dogs. I pour a glass of Chardonnay for Sam and I and Laura and Becky have cream soda. After lunch I get out my water colours and some paper for Laura, who wants to paint, but needs some ideas, so I show her the pictures of the Westwood and Carr Lane that I drew using the app on the iPad. Laura wants to know how the app works, so I show her the basics, which she rapidly picks up, and then she spends an hour composing a picture, while I wash up and then chat to Sam and Rebecca. When Laura is satisfied with her work, she shows us her picture, it is a very decent portrait of a beautiful, rather idealised, blonde woman. Which we duly praise and then I ask if they would like to go to the cinema to see the new cartoon feature, "the Croods", about a family of cave people. The next showing is at three o'clock and it is now two thirty, so we pile into Sam's car and drive to the cinema, after first calling in at the Village Shop, to buy sweets, as the prices at Cineworld are astronomic. We arrive five minutes before the film starts, Sam insists in paying, as I have made breakfast and Lunch, and then we enter screen seven. After the obligatory adverts, which are targeted at children and consist almost entirely of promotions for sugary cereals and confections, the film begins. It is entertaining enough, a sort of twenty-first century version of the Flintstones, but with a contemporary American flip, that shows all the males as emotionally blocked idiots and the females as athletic super women. Laura claims she didn't like it much, which perhaps shows some incipient signs of taste, but the rest if us were more or less satisfied with the experience. We drive back to Tickton on the windy road through Wawne, and when we arrive back home, the girls help to feed the dogs, before giving me a hug and driving home to Beverley. The dogs and I take a walk down to the bridge and meet Bowie, the Bassett hound and his owners, on our way home. My plans for spring cleaning and gardening this weekend have been overtaken by events, but speaking for myself, there is nothing I enjoy more than playing with my grandchildren. My body might be ageing, but the spirit of my inner child is alive and well. The dogs and I have an early night and turn in at half past nine.