WARMING UP HERE WORSE NEWS THERE

The "engineer" (they used to be called plumbers) came three hours ago and already the temperature of the house has risen from 9 to 18 degrees Celsius. The condensate pipe was blocked inside the boiler and needed flushing clean. A simple job. More on this later when I have calmed down.

Tigger has not been further than an inch from me during these tough few days. She seems to sense my needs and concerns and attempts to sit on me and knead me into quietude.

She has also shown great concern for the news from Haiti, particularly watching the ever changing band of news flashes at the bottom of the screen. No disrespect to human tragedy, but she is so smart, I wonder if she is looking for news about all the cats.
She sat on the upstairs windowsill in between sitting on me and going foraging, and chattered as cats do, to the jackdaws which lurk around the guttering and telephone wires. They live on.
Now we are both back downstairs, in the sitting room with the gas fire on and watching some dancing show on TV. She is curled up, in her little bed, rather fatigued by the last week and I am on the other sofa turning the heel of the sock.
Perhaps tomorrow I shall go on the first walk of the year in Wolsingham.
Cheerful cheers, Gillian