Ana the Jack Russell at the 2025 Crufts dog show. (Submitted photo)
The Patterdale Hall Diaries | Life’s what you make it — celebrate it
- Published: April 6, 2025
By Chris Wyatt
Feb. 17
A week of brutal temperatures and work.
Feb. 19
Like, really, really cold. Should get above freezing in five days. Archie is not happy at all. Everything in stasis as the wood out at the Hall is locked in ice.
Feb. 22
Tomorrow it is predicted to rise above freezing for the first time in 10 days. This is exciting. It means I can break apart the frozen woodpile with a sledgehammer and maybe even dry some of it. However, rather unusually, I have a social engagement, so maybe that can wait.
I have been invited to play cards with a Facebook friend. Chris is a writer and performer and has developed a card game called “Towers.” The game recently featured in two of his books (“The Blacktongue Thief” and “Daughter’s War,” available at Dark Star Books); and my friend Skip, Chris and I will test the rules in reality to see if it plays well.
This should be fun; I haven’t met with a group to play games for about a year now. We had a fun group that would play “Dungeons and Dragons” out at the Hall, but in the end good weather arrived, everybody got busy, and we never reconvened. I’m not really very good at nonroleplaying games. When they were younger, I would try to play board games with my kids, but my heart was never in it, and ultimately I just taught them how to play D&D, which was a lot of fun.
Tomorrow I’ll find out if I enjoy “Towers,” but to be honest, I’m really only in it for the social aspect. If Chris and Skip absolutely thrash me, I’ll still have had a wonderful time.
Feb. 25
Well, this is nice. Temperatures in the 50s. It’s a shame I have to go to work; I could be digging manure and wood ash into the ground.
March 1
And it’s below freezing again, with a low of 18 degrees Fahrenheit expected. Happy St. David’s Day. I will do chores today and then stay out at the Hall with a fire and a couple of books. The water is back on at the Hall now, which seems luxurious. A flushable toilet, just imagine. We are so fancy.
I enjoyed playing the card game Towers. It was lovely to meet Chris, his wife Jen and their ancient dog, Duck. The game played really well right up to the end, when some clarification was needed. I nearly won the war chest but was pipped at the last minute by Chris’ two queens, which defeated my two towers and two soldiers. I’ll buy a deck of “Towers” cards once the design has been completed; the artwork looks stunning.
March 2
I didn’t stay out at the Hall last night. I lit a fire, banked it up, turned the airflow down and left to hang out in Yellow Springs with my dog. Consequently, I now have to go out to make sure the house isn’t frozen solid. It dropped to 17 F, but the temperature is now rising. It’s 8 a.m. and I have had my cup of tea and let Archie out. Time to drive out and check on things; watch this space.
The Hall is bathed in sunlight, it is an absolutely beautiful morning and about 22 F. Inside it’s above 40 F, which is fine for the pipes, and it will warm up through the day. I still need to split wood, but will do that after I have made a curry for Morris, washed the dishes, started laundry and picked up a dressmaker’s dummy from Kettering. A busy day, but I should be able to fit a cheeky pint in around 4 p.m. As the lord intended.
March 3
Last night I learned a new trick for lulling myself back to sleep. I began to plan in great detail which vegetable beds I would be preparing this month. What needs weeding, what needs feeding with wood ash and manure, what needs a really good dig and whether or not I should sieve the soil like my grandfather did. Then, what exactly would I be planting? I really do fancy some French beans, but I’m not planting quite so many squash as we still have some left! And so, I drifted off to sleep; lovely.
It’s spring break, but I still have stuff to do at work, so will be going in to work for at least part of every day. Bob is hiking in Tennessee and Morris still has school, so it will just be me and Karen who are around during the day. I see digging in my future.
March 5
I took three days off, so of course we have high winds and rain. Still, three days of cooking and reading with Archie will be a lovely break. I see a biryani in my future. I have no desire to go to a beach and every desire to go to the sofa. Happy spring break to me.
March 8
Of course, I caught a cold and have had three miserable snotty days with a cough and sore throat; still, at least there was no fever or headache. Influenza is out and about, and the last thing I need is that. The last time I had flu it was very bad: a temperature of 105 F and I could hear voices in the walls of the bedroom and helicopters landing on Mills Lawn. Fever is bad news. The good news is that the cold is fading, and I now feel like walking Archie rather than just hiding under a pile of tissues while watching Crufts dog show. I hope the little Jack Russell terrier wins best in show; it’s a very sweet little firecracker of a dog.
March 9
It lost.
*Originally from Manchester, England, Chris Wyatt is an associate professor of neuroscience, cell biology and physiology at Wright State University. He has lived in Yellow Springs for 18 years, is married and has two children and an insane Patterdale terrier.
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