Sue Woodcock: Trained and ready for that emergency call – all one of me

The chickens have joined in and started laying in earnest. I have a few new ones who, despite being half-bald, are quickly adapting to the conditions, and I am finding eggs all over the place.

I also have four new geese. At their previous home, they were getting possessive over territory with a footpath across it, and they were attacking walkers. The owner was so fond of them he didn’t want to have them put down, so now they just attack me.

I was asked to consider being a community responder for the Yorkshire Ambulance service for the Grassington area, and I went to the lovely school, at Kirkby Malham, for a two-day course. I have been a first-aider since I was a small child in the St John Cadets, and later in the police.

In remote areas such as the Dales, it is almost impossible to get the ambulance to an incident in the expected time, at present eight minutes.

There is no way the responder replaces a fully-trained crew of paramedics, but they can start things off and try to keep a person alive. I learned to use a defibrillator and how to administer oxygen.

I have asked several people if they are interested in joining and most of them think it is a great idea but they would worry about getting it wrong or what would happen if someone died. Most incidents are just a matter of keeping someone breathing and calm until the ambulance gets there.

At the end of the first day’s training, I returned home to discover yet more lambs had arrived. A friend popped in and, in the evening sunshine, we watched a pair of hawks hover over the mire.

When I saw them diving, I realised they were peregrine falcons. We were entranced until they moved off to hunt elsewhere.

Back at Malhamdale for day two, we all passed the course, and when checks have been done, our new team at Grassington will get a kit and spring into action. The only problem is that the team consists of one person – me.

I am sure others will volunteer. We do have an ambulance station but it is not 24-hour, and the one ambulance is often committed elsewhere. When people realise that the help the community responder could be for their mother, father, wife or grandmother, I think we will get more interest.

My friend, who broke her hip, needed something from town, and I was pleased to go and get it. She is mending well but still needs to be careful. I treated myself to a few items, mainly clothes.

After giving a talk at Skipton library, I had discovered that my smart(ish) shoes had disintegrated, so I needed another pair. I do wear things out and mainly get what I can from charity shops. I found some good stuff but also took advantage of some good bargains at the market and in the sales.

I needed to clear the kitchen as another, better, Rayburn is arriving this week. The dogs thought this was great fun and carefully inspected everything. I had accumulated so much rubbish and found all sorts of things behind furniture that I thought I had lost.

For the first time in months, I let the fire go out and immediately realised how cold it quickly became. I did have a fire in the sitting room so I managed to keep the chill off. My Rayburn has been dying for ages and over the winter it has been so vital I left it until the weather warmed up before seeking to replace it.

The new one will improve my hot water situation and I can indulge in more frequent baths, much needed with my grubby lifestyle.

I have been given a roll of floor covering which I will put down as soon as the kitchen is straight. Then I shall tackle the rest of the house.

The weather has been so glorious I have spent as much time as I can outside. The nights have been clear and during the day there is so much wildlife to watch. I need about 36 hours in a day.

Life is too short to wonder what might have happened if you had tried something, so I try to fill my days. I am seldom disappointed.