Wolds Diary: Chicken catching and fruit picking before weather turns

The harvests have mainly been taken in, leaving fields with either stubble, fallow, or being ploughed. There is something quite pleasing about a neatly ploughed field. Everywhere there are bales, round, huge rectangular ones, or small ones, dotted all over fields looking rather like monoliths or stone rings or circles, ready to be taken into barns for feeding stock during the winter or for providing bedding.

I went down to help at the cricket club where the pavilion was being emptied before the place is demolished and a new one built. Having an estate car, I made many trips to the local tip with all sorts of unwanted items and managed to salvage some things to wash and donate to charity.

My friends with the chickens went away for the weekend and I went round for a few days to feed their cats and put the chickens to bed at night and let them out in the morning. Two of the older hens had other ideas, however. They had no intention of going into their shed at night, preferring to snuggle up in straw outside. This resulted in frantic scrabbling while I caught them and put them into the warmth and safety of their shed. Their two cats insisted on going out at night, and then demanded to be let back into the house in the morning.

One of my cats caused me worry. I’m not sure quite what happened to him but he went missing for two days and then I found him snuggled up in the shed with what looked to be a wound suspiciously the size and shape of an air gun pellet on his forehead. It was not serious but he went off his food for a while. I fetched him back into the house and he is making a good recovery.

On one walk on the Hudson Way the dogs had a wonderful romp, and then after several miles we returned to the car, and I noticed my normally ginger coloured terrier, Brillo, (so named because she looks like a cross between a meerkat and a Brillo Pad) was almost black having found something unspeakable to roll in. She did not smell too sweet either.

Once home I made sure the dogs were shut out of the sitting room and bedrooms and after I had bathed, in went Brillo and I shampooed her and rinsed her off before drying her. Her collar went into the washing machine with the towels and my clothes and the seat covers from the car. She looks quite fluffy now, and smells much better.

One evening I went to a meeting at Nafferton, and on another day I went into York for some shopping. It never ceases to impress me when I pass by the Minster. It towers above the city and is quite magnificent.

One of the highlights of the week was the cricket club dinner, held at the golf course near where I live. I even dressed up a bit for it.

I spent the evening in great company, ate a superb meal and the next morning I was back down at the cricket club, helping to clear the empty club house before the bulldozers come in.

Another highlight was the monthly quiz at our local bowling club and this time we had a fish and chip supper to start with. I was again in good company and the quiz was fun and neither my friend nor I disgrace ourselves, even if we didn’t win.

The weather forecast had warned of high winds so I went out and picked a lot of fruit from my garden. I have been making jams and jellies all week. I have masses of pears, crab apples and medlars, and I also have passion flowers on my fences and lots of passion fruits that have been quite prolific and have been ripening. I have taken advantage of this and they add a good flavour and colour to jams and jellies.

I have been rehearsing songs for a concert in All Saints Church which takes place later today and I have a fairly busy week ahead, with more rehearsals and meetings.

Someone told me retirement was a restful time. Apparently not!