Thank you for your concern over my hand, it really isn’t so bad and here is a picture to prove it.  I’m sure it would have blistered badly if I hadn’t kept it doused in cold water for a long time, it is still hot to the touch all these hours later, but I’ve been lucky and the red area has diminished a lot from last night.

You might have spotted someone in the background.  He’s not quite a life-long friend, my parents bought him when I was five or so, tired of my quarrelling with my sister over ownership of her Big Ted.  I believed strongly in the principle of sharing.  I was slightly discomfited when bought my own teddy, which was far too new and yellow to love like Big Ted, but I no longer had an excuse to claim him.

He used to live in a spare bedroom, but he went to a party a couple of years ago and it gave him a renewed taste for company, so now he remains in my study.

When the sun is shining through the window, I find that he has moved across to bask in its rays.