Pigeon Shooting with Jim and evening rendezvous with Wiggly and evening meal at the Wroxham Hotel Restaurant
I had set my alarm radio and, although I had a day's shooting with Jim to look forward to, my cold meant that it was only with some effort that I managed to get up.
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A short routine and then an even shorter exercise for Sam before I loaded him aboard and got going.
I was not early enough to avoid very much of the city traffic rush and only got to Jim's around 8.30am in the end. We took my car and, after giving the dogs a run, put Ben in with Sam and drove over to a field of harvested sugar beet and set ourselves up.
Jim took charge of building a hide by first using my folding saw to cut some ash branches to make hide poles. We used my camouflage netting which, together with a lot of cut vegetation which was woven into the branches, made a good screen.
We set up my lofting poles with a brace of decoys aloft and used the rest of the decoys to set up a good pattern. Leaving the dogs in the car and taking turn and turn about to shoot, we bagged ten pigeons during the course of the day, stopping for a nice lunch in a nearby pub for a welcome break.
Later before dusk, we packed up and transferred to a nearby wood intending to shoot some more as they came to roost but none came to the guns.
This time we took the dogs and Sam was good and sat by me without making a noise but Ben was a real pain and whined incessantly.
I had one consolation at the end of the session as a young cock pheasant trotted around the wood towards me, flew off upon seeing us and I shot it across the ditch.
The problem was that Sam ran in despite my disapproval but at least he caught the flapping pheasant and brought it to me without damage which was a relief.
Back to Jim's house for a cup of tea and I would have liked to stay for longer but they had his sister and family there for tea.
With still an hour or more to go until my rendezvous with Wiggly in Wymondham, I opted to stop off in the town centre and do a little shopping to fill in time.
My cold was quite bad after the day of activity in the open air but the rest and a dose of paracetamol helped it get better. Wiggly was late but by the time she arrived in her car at least I was rested and recovered from the day.
We had to drop off her car at the home of Jimmy Sayer in Wymondham for the weekend so as to have a combined alarm/immobiliser fitted but we soon had this done and we could drive over to Horning together.
A little time to settle Sam down for the evening and a rest and wash and then I took Wiggly out for a meal at The Wroxham Hotel Restaurant which we both enjoyed.
Back for a night together where we overcame her continuing period which had been going on all this while.