Wolds Diary: Lush valley walks at that planting time of the year

Sue Woodcock has enjoyed a sociable week.

On Monday, I drove to the nearby village of Allerthorpe, where I had spotted a couple of plant stalls and here I found the most wonderful selection of vegetables at reasonable prices. I acquired cucumbers and tomatoes and headed off home.

Having planted them I noticed that slugs and snails had consumed several plants leaving some gaps, so I determined to return to the plant stall at a later time.

That evening, at Pocklington Singers Practice, where we worked hard on parts of Brahms’ Requiem, during a coffee break a lady from the choir asked if she’d seen me at the stall earlier. As it transpired the stall was outside her beautiful house and was to raise money for the church.

I returned to the stall during the week and was invited in for a coffee by the lovely couple and shown their beautiful garden and house. The stall so far has raised nearly £2,000 for the church.

Having purchased more plants, I headed home to plant them, and then watered them in. This of course precipitated heavy rain. I really should know better.

On Wednesday, I was invited to a birthday party and thoroughly enjoyed the excellent company (and great food), while Thursday brought a speaking engagement in Shipley at the Conservative Ladies Luncheon Club. The journey wasn’t ideal, as the traffic was heavy. Having arrived at the hotel I was made very welcome and sat down to a delicious lunch in excellent company.

The journey home was no better but as I left Leeds outer ring road I noticed red kites soaring above and their tranquillity had a calming effect.

That evening I went to the first rehearsal of the Pirates of Penzance.

The following morning, I went out for a calming walk with four of the dogs, at Millington woods. We saw just one gentleman with two beautiful golden Labradors, who were happy to play with my dogs for a while.

Heading onwards, I discovered that the path at the top of the woods had been refurbished and we enjoyed a pleasant walk looking down into the valley with mature and graceful trees everywhere. I glimpsed, in the distance, a deer wisely removing itself from the area. There was a plethora of wild birds around and I enjoyed watching them and listening to delightful birdsong.

Saturday was cricket. The match was against a team from Heworth. One of our batsmen, Neal Jackson, scored 146 not out, a wonderful display of skill. As soon as the match was over, the heavens opened and it was time to head home to walk the dogs. This was not a success, as none of them wanted to go out in the rain.