Wolds Diary: Swotting up to hit the high notes

Rehearsals for the forthcoming concerts are becoming increasingly vital and most of any free time I’ve had has been taken up with doing a bit of homework on the notes I’m not sure of. Then a friend rang to say could he come up and stop for a couple of nights on his way up to Scotland. I explained that my Staffie, Brock, would not welcome his lovely dog but we managed to keep them apart for the two days he was here.

I had a wonderful walk up near North Dalton and watched the field adjacent to the path being expertly ploughed. On the walk Brock managed to find and kill an enormous rat but I doubt the farmer will mind!

My friend likes good food and offered to take me for a meal so off we went up to my favourite pub in Millington to delight in the superb steak they serve. It was so good I was sad that the following night we could not go back as I had to attend a parochial church council meeting. This was after my friend and I had walked our dogs separately and then gone in to York where he found a very good cafe for lunch near the magnificent museum grounds. We walked all round York and returned home and walked the dogs again.

I went to the meeting and dropped my friend and his dog off at a great pub here in Pocklington. The meeting went on for an eternity and when I got back to the pub to pick him up he was well refreshed. He wanted to make an early start the next morning up to Scotland but was rather reluctant to rise that early. It might have had something to do with the amount of beer he had consumed the night before!

Whenever I have guests I do try to tidy the house a bit because housework is not my favourite occupation. I even keep the guest room smart but I needed to clean and tidy the kitchen and the living room. My friend drove off and I had to take Brock to the vet again for some antibiotics as she had managed to infect her scar, I suspect by rolling in something foul. I then went and picked up a fellow performer and we went for a rehearsal with our wonderful accompanist for this forthcoming concert.

Having realised I still need to do a bit more we stopped off at my place for a coffee then I ran my young friend home before heading into town again for yet another rehearsal. By Friday I was actually quite tired. I dosed the dog and took her for a gentle walk with the others. I concentrated on trying to finish a quilt I had promised to donate as a raffle prize at a church event. I even managed to have an evening at home.

On the Saturday after walking the dogs I got an (unusual) urge to clean the living room. After a very short time the desire had gone so I went shopping instead. I needed to get some stamps from our friendly post office and some treats for the dogs, not to mention some cable clips and then headed to a supermarket. I have really tried to stick to my diet this week but it’s been very hard. Feeling ever so virtuous at purchasing such healthy things as fruit and salad I unloaded my shopping, made a salad and topped it with prawns. Someone telephoned me and when I got back to the kitchen the cats had just finished the prawns. I was not best pleased. It was of course my fault for leaving them out.

Then another friend rang to say would I like to swap a few bits of furniture for one of their pieces. We had discussed this earlier in the week and so it was all hands for the removals. It went quite well. They now have a large chest and two chests of drawers and a folding table and I have a long bedroom unit. Having emptied the contents of this on my bed I had a good sort out of rubbish and things I had neglected to dispose of for some time. My bedroom looks much smarter and it has inspired me to sort out the clothes I have been meaning to go through for ages.

There is now a distinct chill to the air. There have also been some beautiful afternoons and I noticed some lovely cloud formations over the Vale of York on some of my walks up on the Wolds.