Saturday 6th January 2018

It am the weekend.

And much to my surprise, and I suspect hers, Jools was awake at half four, and so went to Tesco before six. I was only aware of this as the car started up and I heard her pull away up the drive to leave.

I get up and find the coffee is ready to go, but I wait for Jools to return so we can have a coffee together.

Molly is still locked in the bathroom, and might be that way for a week. She has settled down to life in there, apparently the cooler queen has been broken. But she is in good spirits, and eating very well indeed. As much as we can give her in fact. Which is heartening.

After a lazy start, once Jools is back and we have more coffee and croissants for breakfast, we have t take Molly to the vet for another check up, and she is still fine. She must be kept in until at least Friday, so that the healing process is well under way. They are really pleased with her progress, now we wait for the results of the biopsy and then hopefully we can all get back to enjoying life.

Back home, we put Molly back in the bathroom with some fresh food, and let her get over the stressful events of the morning. Jools goes into the garden to do some weeding, and I think I will go for a walk. I should point out that we had both also done a session on the cross trainer too, so we are really trying to change things.

I was going to do the wild flower hunt last weekend, but with the weather and just not being bothered, I think, meant it did not get done, but on the walk back from Dover at the start of the holidays, I had noted several wildflowers looking fine, if struggling on, so wanted to snap them wit the new camera and macro lens, as I just had the compact back then.

I walk down and up Station Road, then past the village pond to the lane that runs at the back of the school where I had previously seen a colony of Winter Heliotropes, an invasive plant, even still, nice to see in flower t this time of the year. I found about half a dozen flowering spikes, some already beginning to fade. A passer asked what I was snapping, and was really pleased when I took time to explain the plant.

From there I walked past the doctor's surgery, across to Lighthouse Rad and through the "private" estate. I hey have put up all sorts of unwelcoming signs and parking signs. Really unfriendly and horrible to see. But I wanted to snap a wild rose I had seen previously, then walk through the wood hoping to see some Dogs Mercury. The rose had just one bloom left, and no Dogs Mercury to eb found, just an fly-tipped washing line.

From the wood it was tough going over the ploughed field, then through the village, and near to the playing field, I came across a whole back of Winter Heliotrope, looking very much the aggressive invader. Hmm, not so good in such numbers, crowding out native plants.

From there I binned out the final walk along Kingsdown Road down the dip, instead walking straight down Station Road and home, getting home at quarter past one, just in time to make lunch as Jools had just finished in the garden too.

On the radio and TV there is football, 3rd round of the FA cup, which means I am going to spend the rest of the afternoon on the sofa, relaxing and trying to stay awake with Scully. Norwich don't kick off until half five, playing Chelsea at Carrow Road. It ends up 0-10, and not a bad result for us, and we should have been one up at half time. But we resisted in the 2nd and hung on for a replay.

I didn't watch it because, 1. it wasn't on free to air, and b. we were going to Jen's for an evening of hot card action with her and Uncle John. I took the rumtopf to share, but only I was brave enough to try it.

We play Meld and something called "Queenie", and in that way the evening and part of the night passed. We leave at midnight, and am pooped.