Wolds Diary: Getting to grips with the undergrowth

A skip was ordered to get rid of all the unwanted undergrowth and I collected two huge bags of plant pots and trays that I’d accumulated and took them down to the stall where I’d purchased so many plants, for future use.

It was totally necessary to have a bath before choir practice. We worked hard on Brahms. It wasn’t that relaxing, but it was needed.

On the Tuesday, my handyman came and continued clearing the garden and in the evening I took off to Beverley to speak to the Arthritis Care Group.

The next morning it was out early with the dogs and we didn’t go very far. The heat was oppressive and it was very muggy. I refilled the bird feeders as families of starlings and sparrows are consuming large amounts of food. There are at least three pairs of blackbirds nesting in my hedges and they need feeding too.

That evening was a delight. A fellow choir member, Robert Peel, accompanied by our musical director, Michael Cooper, gave a talk on The Golden Age of Art Songs. Not only is Robert an excellent lecturer, he has a beautiful tenor voice and I learned a great deal that evening. I recognized some of the songs from my childhood when my grandmother listened to them on our ancient (allegedly) portable Pye wireless.

On Thursday, I needed to go to Market Weighton to meet a lady who was giving me some Herdwick sheep fleeces. As we met the rain became so heavy that in the short time it took us to transfer the fleeces from her boot to mine, I got drenched.

That evening, I took myself off to the rehearsal for Pirates of Penzance and had a great time singing rousing songs.

My handyman returned the next day and I was a little startled when we disturbed a mouse nest in the garden - they all ran off and hid. Then I planted some more clematis against the garden fences.

Later, on a short walk with the dogs I saw kestrels, red kites, a buzzard, jackdaws and magpies. Linnets sang their hearts out in the fields, most of which had vivid red swathes of poppies in full bloom.

On Saturday I was pulling up some stubborn weeds when I managed to dislocate a finger joint. Thankfully it went back into place and I headed off to score for our cricket team at Bishopthorpe. The main winner of the match was the wicket, which was very green. The match did not last long and once home, I put the remaining weeds into the skip before taking the dogs out.