Wolds Diary: Fruitful week of sorting things out

I managed to stop them making a beeline for the bed and the delights of rolling on my duvet and towelled them off before banishing them to the garden and utility room until they were a little more acceptable.

It has been a week of sorting things out and getting things done. My lovely gardener friend came and trimmed my large hedge and fixed the latch on a gate and then fitted a cat flap into the shed for the cats to take shelter should they be outside.

I popped back to the community shop at Market Weighton and purchased a bed settee which is a much better item than the two-seater settee I had.

Two lovely chaps came and delivered it, and we had to remove my post box from by the front door to get it in. They took away the settee, two foot stools and a nest of tables I had no use for. This of course meant I had to set to and clean my living room.

I was invited by the Fridaythorpe Countrywomen’s Association to give them a talk at Fimber village hall. Although it is not far from where I live I had never been to Fimber before but had seen signs to it. I arrived rather early and found the charming little village hall just down from a splendid church.

I went for a little walk round the village. The church path is lined with very fine yew trees, and the church yard is well kept and the gravestones are a history of the families that have lived in the area. The views over the nearby Wolds are impressive and I was intrigued by the very vociferous quacking of several ducks nearby.

I discovered there are two substantial ponds and once in the village hall saw the story of the two ponds displayed in pictures and accounts on the walls there. The group of ladies were delightful and I even won a raffle prize. They were a good audience and I enjoyed their company.

The next day I took my car in to the garage for a major service and its MOT. The MOT was no problem and having done the service the garage found that the filter they had fitted new was faulty and they rang most apologetically to say they couldn’t get another until the next day.

The car was there for almost two days so I managed to find time to do those things I had been putting off at home. Once the car was back I dashed round delivering some wool to a friend, doing some shopping and taking the dogs out. Then I couldn’t open the tail gate of the car, despite trying for a while.

The next morning I took the car back to the garage arriving early so I went and got a coffee at the kiosk, came back to the car and tried the door yet again and it was working perfectly!

The previous night two lightbulbs had blown in the house so I hoped this was the third thing to go wrong. After leaving the garage I headed into York and did a couple of things there before coming home and walking the dogs.

I had picked the crab apples from my two trees and with some beautiful dark red crab apples a friend had given me I made some crab apple jelly. It took a couple of days to strain the juice but the result is tasty.

On the Saturday the glazier came and fitted a very posh new window in my lounge. It is double glazed and perfect for the room. He also fixed the catches on some other windows and kindly reattached my post box for me.

He had his two very well behaved and intelligent daughters with him who happily occupied themselves listening to their music in his van and making things out of loom bands. One of them was rather frightened of dogs so I put my lot in the bedroom.

My friend asked me to shut her hens up overnight and release them in the morning. I arrived a little early and the birds had no intention of retiring early. I fed the cat and waited until dusk. The next morning they emerged happily checking their runs for food.