It's a conspiracy.....

.....up sharp to help Mairi with bed construction before her visitors arrived and back home for breakfast and a read of the Saturday Guardian, set aside for fire-side reading. 

Owen ventured forth with local lad William for some sea fishing from precarious rocks, much to Nancy's unease, and I inspected the house for repair jobs and things to keep me busy (busy doing nothing). 

The weather was being kind so after lunch Owen and I went cycling up the peat track. Nancy remained inside, snoozing in front of the fire and the festive TV offerings.

Later still, I stepped into open space instead of the top ladder rung and fell backwards to the hall floor from the attic space. I blame the hiking boots I was wearing (big, clumpy, indistinct things), but the modest number of drams I'd consumed after our bike trip just might have played a part too. I spent the remainder of the evening nursing a sore coccyx, tender head and a suspiciously red and painful elbow. 

To conclude an inauspicious start to our break, the oven started smoking on first use and looks to have ended its useful life.  That's the second defective oven in two weeks.  Where will I roast my Beef Wellington now?

As D:Ream and New Labour once said, "Things can only get better".