:: meanwhile ...

... back in the real world (as opposed to holiday world), I'm going through a slightly frustrating bumpy patch.

First there was the mysterious puddle that appeared on the kitchen floor every time I had a shower (gap between bath and wall identified as culprit); then one of the car's tyre's sprang a slow leak (new shoes for one lucky car!). The annoying-breakdown rate seems to have speeded up this past week though: Bertie cut his foot on some broken glass the other day, and today as I was tending to him, I caught the cord of the headphones of my radio on the doorknob and ripped them apart. Wah! The car's engine coolant is emptying out at a rapid rate, which no doubt means a cracked pipe or something. And while buying a book and a CD on Amazon to cheer myself up, I managed to have them delivered to Norway. I noticed the mistake right away, but due to various gremlins couldn't put it right. Amazon couldn't put it right either, not even when the parcel was still in the building, as it were. I even emailed the Norwegian post office, but they can't put it right. So I just have to rely on the people who now live in Anthea's old flat to be honest and return the parcel to sender.

My philosophy has been Stoical: to just slog through the practicalities of putting things right and not get dragged down into negativity. Reasons to be cheerful! Etc.

Poor Bertie is not cheerful, however. He's miz. I decided to try and get his paw healed up at home, thus avoiding the horror of trying to keep an expensive bandage dry and clean in the wet and mire of late autumn. The cut was doing pretty well until this morning, when he took off in a giddy sprint and it broke open again. Limp, limp, limp. We might have to limp along to the vet after all. I'll try putting a sock on it for walks, see how that goes.