Monday 16th July 2018

Back in the jug agane.

Back to work, but with Denmark on two to three weeks holiday, it should be quiet.

And just as well as it is a wonderfully warm and sunny start to the day, with the temperature only going up. And up.

Jools is up before me, feeding the cats and making coffee. I get up at quarter to six just in time as the coffee pot boils and as I walk down the stairs my nose is thrilled by the smell of freshly brewed coffee.

By half six, Jools was gone and I write blogs before the work of the day really begins, swapping seats at the dining room table.

Once the sun is up, I go to the bathroom window to snap the glory that is our back garden. All the flowers are out and it looks wonderful, even f the grass, what is left of it, looks burnt to a crisp.

Then work.

When it is hot like this, the cats eat at six and go to find somewhere cool, only coming back if the sun goes in or they are very hungry, which means I am left to my own devices and to work.

I have the radio on, and so the time crawls by, but with the soundtrack of some of my favourite songs.

The morning passes, and the afternoon begins, with everyone's enthusiasm waning. All my colleagues are offline by four, so I pack up, watch some TV, then sit in the garden to catch up on my reading. Amazingly, Molly comes to sit on my lap, and is purring like crazy and still there when Jools comes home at half five.

I warm two pizzas up, pur beers and we relax knowing that we were 20% through the week.

I had bought Jools a re-released copy of New Boots and Panties, so we play that, marvelling at the sound of Ian Dury on 180gm vinyl.

Outside it gets dark, half an hour earlier now than a couple of weeks ago. And in the distance there is the sound of a combine, working hard. The year moves on, relentlessly.

And finally, we book the final stay on our three stop trip to New England in October, booking a five night stay in a "shagadelic" suite at an inn in the mountains. Should be awesome.