Wolds Diary: Lent clause and Moors beauty the perfect tonic

On the Monday I took the dogs for an extra long walk on one of my favourite routes and all of us returned home full of fresh air and rather tired. It didn’t help that I had a very heavy chest and head cold.

I spent a lot of the next day at the doctors. It began with seeing my lovely lady doctor who asked me to return to do yet another blood test. She referred me to attend the hospital at a later date for a scan and suggested I have an ECG and a spirosis test.

I was offered the blood tests straight away and once I was home the surgery rang me to ask me to do the ECG and the spirosis that afternoon - so I spent most of the day there. The staff are so kind and helpful especially a nurse called Wendy who really looked after me.

The next day I’d been invited to speak to the Yorkshire Countrywomen’s Association at Farndale. I hadn’t a clue where it was and had to look it up and plan my journey. It is actually some distance away and took me to the North York Moors, an area I have never really explored.

I allowed plenty of time and ended up taking a rather convoluted route but once I got north of Kirkbymoorside I realised just how spectacular the district is. I drove through Hutton-le-Hole in sheer wonder and then climbed up the moor and discovered a piece of what to me is heaven as I came down into Farndale as the light was beginning to fade.

My talk was to be at the Band Room, a building of graceful simplicity and charm. I was a bit early and parked in the field next door that was advertised as a car park for the Daffodil Walk. My hostess arrived almost as I did and we chatted and soon the hall was filling up.

They were a lovely group of ladies and laughed in all the right places. After I had spoken there was a welcome cup of coffee and a general chat. Now I had vowed to give up biscuits for Lent but I had not included cake or chocolate in the vow so was very grateful when one lady offered me with the most gorgeous fruit cake as a present and shared this round. I took the remains home and needless to say it did not last long as I couldn’t resist it! Nor did the dogs get any. It was far too good for dogs, even ones I adore.

I had been given in return for some sheep fleeces a wonderful portrait of my old dog Froyle who I lost last year. I asked a friend to frame it as he is an expert and it was returned to me this week to be hung in pride of place with the pictures of many animals I have loved over the years. This prompted a general rearrangement of the pictures throughout the house.

After an early walk with the dogs the following day I set off to visit Hull for the afternoon.

I got caught speeding in Shiptonthorpe a while back and was offered a speed awareness course as I was within certain parameters that allowed me to do so. I was somewhat peeved not at having to do the course but as having been so stupid as to have been exceeding the limit in the first place. The fault was mine.

Now to be honest I really did not want to be there and I suspect much of the others felt the same way but I was very pleasantly surprised. I learned a lot, it was a very well run course with two brilliant instructors and there was quite a degree of humour that made the afternoon go quickly and I came away feeling that the whole thing was a good idea.

I had arrived very early and sallied off into a part of Hull I have not visited before and found a really good charity shop with some great bargains. I had also stopped off in Beverley on the way and visited a large supermarket so the day turned out to be pretty productive.

At long last my cold has finally begun to subside, probably due to the antibiotics the doctor prescribed and I even managed a little gardening the next day.

Almost every day now I have to refill the bird food dispensers.

To cap off the week, on the Saturday evening I went to an opening display of vintage clothing and artefacts and a party at my friends’ antique outlet in Barmby Moor.