Wolds Diary: Top billing at the library

The grass in my garden is growing. There are buds on my fruit frees. The birds in the garden are feeding well and obviously gathering fibres for nesting. I’ve even offered them some nesting boxes and places, so far, they are ignoring them, but it takes time.

On Monday afternoon went over to Leven, in East Yorkshire, to talk to the Wives Group there, which was at a charming small Methodist chapel. I had earlier discovered their Post Office, recently incorporated in a village store. The talk went well and they were such a pleasant group of ladies.

The AGM of the Pocklington Singers was held in the evening and we rattled through it and had time for some singing after business was done.

On Tuesday I needed to go to see my doctor for a review. I asked her if she could provide me with a reversing remedy for getting older, but she couldn’t, and advised me to consider slowing down a bit. Then I went out with the dogs for a long walk on one of the best walks we do, on the Minster Way but well out into the countryside.

The sun was shining, the sky was blue and the weather mild. At times like these I can clear my head and really relax. We walked some way, and the dogs returned to the car pleasantly tired. So was I.

I should have gone to a meeting at Bridlington in the evening but was rather exhausted and forgot all about it.

The next day I was talking at Driffield Community Centre, not for the first time. I had time to do some shopping before arriving and once home it was a quick walk with the dogs and then off to yet another meeting, this time of the parochial church council. We needed to make some rather important decisions, mainly about finance, and about advertising for a cleaner for the church.

The next day I had a morning at home, apart from a short walk with the dogs, and then in the evening I headed off to Anlaby, near Hull to their wonderful Anlaby Park Community Library, that is superbly run and financed by volunteers, and is a wonderful centre of culture and community. The place was full and they had produced a splendid advertising poster for my speaking event.

If anything deserves support this establishment does, and I was pleased to help. The audience laughed a lot and I felt it was a good evening. I donated a copy of each of my books to them.

The next morning the weather was glorious and I rang a friend to see if she wanted to come for a walk with us, but she wasn’t free until lunch time, so I collected her then, and we set off to one of my favourite walks, just south of Huggate. The views are superb and suddenly you come across a hidden valley called Well Dale. The whole walk was a great pleasure, and the dogs had a great time, as did we. Then I showed her another walk I do nearby, before we drove back to her house and I had a cup of tea with her before heading home.

I had expected to be called into a choir practice that evening but rather to my relief it was cancelled. I managed to do some sewing instead.

Then on the Saturday, I decided I needed to remove quite a lot of accumulated cardboard, rubbish and items from the house and garage and garden, and I loaded it into the car. I needed to dispose of an old office chair as well and took it all down to the tip.

Earlier in the week I had sold a couple of items of furniture to a friend, and he had kindly relieved me of two old, large, uncomfortable, and scruffy armchairs.

I had been donated by a neighbour, an old but comfortable Parker Knoll armchair that does not cause my back to ache while sitting in it. It is a pleasant shade of green and takes up little room.

My house now looks considerably less cluttered, and my bedroom almost looks tidy. Well, almost...