Sassie

I was hoping for a blip of the newly hatched cygnets (five was the most recent total I heard), but the swan on her nest was in deep shadow and the faint impression of something beside her turned out to be just another Sainsbury's carrier bag when I looked at it on the computer. She was evidently still sitting on the lot of them (must be getting increasingly uncomfortable!).

It was very nice to bump into Trev at the market - having not seen each other in the flesh for so long we blethered somewhat randomly about kittens, gigs, vaccinations, swans, and even the remote possibility of being able to meet up again one day for....a meal? Indoors? Cooked by someone else?

Then I spied Mel and while we were chatting and M was buying some bhajis I became aware of a light scrabbling on my calf. Gosh, I hadn't greeted the wee dug or scratched behind her ears, and she was pointing this out to me as forcefully as she could. She's still so wee that even on my stumpy legs she can scarcely reach my knee.

As I type, it's 22:45 BST and I can hear slightly inebriated young voices in the street outside - gosh, used to hear that most nights but this must be the first time I've heard it for over a year.