It was a short break but it was lovely.  I like LT’s house very much and feel at home there and we didn’t have much that we had to do, so treated it as a holiday.  I did need to buy a new kettle and we wanted a few other bits and pieces in the town centre, so spent an hour or two there, and the next day LT took me out for a particularly excellent lunch, and I spent one afternoon reading an entire book – this used to be a regular thing but hasn’t been for the last few years.  Perhaps it was the stabilising effect of that which enabled me to sleep well every night.

LT had intended to do some work on the catalogue but he didn’t get around to it, which I was glad about.  It was supposed to be a break – if he’d really wanted to do it then that would have been one thing, but I didn’t want him to feel obliged.  It’s a bleak, wet night now – I was just able to feed the animals in the dry at 4.30 – and we’re sitting with a lovely log fire, having eaten shepherd’s pie for dinner.  With ketchup.  LT was gratified when he found that we both feel that tomato ketchup is indispensable with shepherd’s pie.  Eloise cat was equally gratified to have us home and has sat on both our laps – LT was thoroughly, though tranquilly, kneaded – and to be given her own share of the leftover meat before I mucked it about with onion and so on.