Thursday 1st October 2020

A new month.

And another page on the calendar, and so another month closer to economic Brexit. Here in the UK already toilet rolls are being panic-bought. It is going to be a long, long winter.

Meanwhile, in the Jelltex house, I wake up at six with two kittens looking at me from the bottom of the heard. They seem to think spragging the carpet repeatedly to make enough nose to wake me.

I get up, go down stairs to feed them all. All four want feeding. At once. Mulder is happy with Molly's old trick of feasting out of the kibble tin whilst the others get wet food. By the time I make myself a coffee, Cleo had evacuated under the table, so I clear that up before smell gets too bad. Is this is what its like to have children?

I make coffee, while outside the rain falls in the darkness. The cats are not impressed.

Jools arrives home with tales of the factory flooding. She is cold and tired. I had made a tea, she takes that and goes to bed.

And for me, I have eight more hours of auditing. Or listening to auditors and auditees ask and answer questions. I know this is dull stuff, but believe me, you did not have to go through the actual experience. Working via teams is not that bad, but it means you experience the working day different, get overly tired whilst not actually apparently not doing any work. Tuesday night I was so dog tired, so the following days I took breaks when it became clear the day was getting bogged down.

Time passes, but any hope of an early finish was dashed by their requirement for over an hour of preparation for the closing meeting.

So, as Jools was up and had a shower, we nip out for a quick walk now that the rain had stopped and there was some blue sky, crossed by clouds being whipped by the breeze.

We couldn't go far, just over to Fleet House, looking at the fast fading flowers and other wild plants and shrubs. The recent heavy rain had made plenty of mud, which meant that a walk down to the top of The Dip would probably be out, as would a walk past the farm the other way up to Windy Ridge. But a walk is a walk.

Of the few flowers out, the ivy bedecking the hedges were swarming with ivy bees and other insects.

We slither over the fields, to find that in the little paddock which up to a few weeks back was a dumping ground for old car trim, is now home to a fine new two stall stable. No horses there yet, though.

We walk on. No butterflies in the glade, and just the drid stalks of teasels and willowherbs.

Its looking a lot like winter.

At the top of Norway Drove, there is deep mud and puddles to the top of the Dip, as I thought. I look at my watch and we just have time for the short loop shy of Windy Ridge, but at the bottom of the slope by the farm, the puddle looks a good two feet deep in mud.

We turn back down Collingwood and home, needing to get back in time to prepare lunch for Jools, before she goes to work for her last shift of the week.

So, which is why, I was peeling aubergines and then slicing and egg and breadcrumbing them whilst listening to the closing meeting on my headphones. I hope they don't hear me working.

I don't think so.

There was just enough time to shallow fry them, then much our way through the plateful of golden and crispy slices.

And like that, Jools is gone.

Leaving me with the cats and kittens. They are pooped, so are all scattered around the house, sleeping.

I put on the radio, make a brew and catch up on writing and posting shots.

There is yet more League Cup football; Liverpool v Arse again, though the teams were a mix between youth and full teams. NOt very good, but I do watch it all right to the penalty shoot-out that Liverpool loses.

I was already on the whisky by that point, but Cleo was looking at me from the stairs, hinting that it was time for bed.