Wolds Diary: Busy week takes Sue to unexplored corners

As well as all the usual things I have to do I try to make time for the things I like or want to do as well. After a busy Monday when my right shoulder jumped out of its socket for no apparent reason and was causing me to slow down considerably and which I found very irksome, I made it to choir practise.

And the next day I drove down to Shiptonthorpe and caught the bus from there to Hull. The reason for this visit was to return the orchestral scores from the Mozart Requiem to the library there.

Being retired I have the time to do such small tasks and I do like Hull. Having delivered the parcel at the library to charming staff there I sallied forth to look at some of the stores and shops. I found a huge shopping precinct and wandered round feeling quite bewildered at times at what were apparently essential as gifts for Christmas. In the end I decided I was just getting old and instead found a good Polish supermarket.

Heading back towards York was the X4 which doesn’t go to Pocklington but direct to York after Market Weighton. It took me to parts of Yorkshire I’ve never previously discovered before dropping me off in Shiptonthorpe. A lady at the bus stop was waiting for a Pocklington bus so I gave her a lift. She was a lovely lady and I think I made a new friend.

The next morning my dear dog Loo Roll was very ill with a high temperature and feeling very sorry for herself. I made an appointment at the vets but first I had to go to the doctors to check my shoulder was back in the right position - fortunately it was.

The vets gave Loo Roll an antibiotic injection and painkillers and once home she just wanted to sleep. But by the evening she was much better, her high temperature had almost gone and she was much more herself. Next morning, she was ravenous and if I thought she wasn’t coming on the daily walk with the others I was much mistaken! I gave her a pill and some pate and she leapt into the car with great enthusiasm.

The walks with the dogs have been my time to relax. I went up to one of my favourite walks with them in a dry spell and met two other dog walking ladies. I managed to get Brock on a lead and the other dogs played happily with the most beautiful two-year-old Basset Hound called Scrumpy. We then met two terriers, one of which was fascinated with my dogs and even tried to follow us when we parted ways.

I drove back from the walk by Stamford Bridge and my animal feed store with the dogs excitedly gazing out of the car windows at new sights.

Friday was most exciting. I led my friend’s chickens out first thing as she is away and then took Loo Roll back to the vets for a check-up. I was relieved to be told that she was doing fine and just to keep giving her the antibiotic tablets. Then I set off to visit a very kind lady Wendy who wanted me to have her spinning wheel and a great deal of wool and materials she needed to clear out. I had a cup of coffee with her before being shown her magnificent garden and then I moved on to Harrogate.

The traffic in Harrogate is often a nightmare and on this day it was no exception. Fortunately I’d allowed plenty of time and got to the hotel when expected. I then spoke at a meeting at the University of the Third Age and they were a very alert and attentive audience. By the time I got home I was pretty tired.

I had recovered by the next morning and with a friend went to Doncaster, mainly because I have never been before. I was impressed by the two sculptures by Sebastian Boysen of a sheep and a pig at the entrance of the huge market which I found wonderful and also quite cheap.

There were some very fine sculptures and architecture in the town centre and some good shops too. I was delighted to find a fish market and purchased some delicacies there. The town centre was very busy and I enjoyed my visit and the friendliness of the people there. I really rather liked Doncaster and will return.