Monday 10th January 2022

Back to work.

It is cold and dark when the alarm goes off, and I rolled over and went back to sleep, waking up 50 minutes later as Jools is getting ready for work.

Best get up, then.

Dawn was spectacular, the underside of the blanket of cloud stained red like bloor. A portent of doom, perhaps. But then it is Monday.

Jools leaves for work, leaving me with a podcast to listen to and a second coffee, sweeter this time as day comes.

I set up the office, and power it up at seven, eight e mails drop into the inbox, seven are meeting invites.

So it goes.

I make some toast to go with my third coffee, and I feel just about human.

Just about.

Outside it is cold and grey, not looking much like walking weather I think. Turns out I was right.

Apart from work, my main task of the day was to make a pan of jambalaya. I had a book of instructions and the ingredients, so all was good. I made it in time to allow flavours of the herbs and spices flood out.

Things are settling down with the cats now. Poppy goes out through the cat flap during the day, and if dark lurks around the front door until we let her out. Fighting is much reduced, and there seems to have been no repeat of Mulder's spraying.

Which is nice.

In fact, three of them now lay on beds near each other in the living room, though they play budge with the beds, they seem happy enough. Indeed that night, I had both Poppy and Scully on the bed with me, and no hissing or fighting.

Work is much the same, a contant source of disappointment, really. So it is always a relief to swth the computer off for the day and put the radio on. Its 90s week on Lamaqc, not as good as last week's 80s week, but good enough. Outside darkness falls and I add the rice to the jambalaya, the chicken now so well cooked the meat had fallen off the bone.

And it was good eatin', though not attractive to look at, but enough for the two of us and two more portions for the freezer.

There was football to watch in the evening, Man Utd v Villa, and Utd won thanks to some friendly refereeing.

So it goes, so it goes.