the 'odds and ends' quilt pile continues to grow.

today my mood has lifted - i think because i can see some blue sky for the first time in days.

william is sitting on my desk with the muddiest paws i have seen in a long time. he is gainfully cleaning them and making a mess in doing so - spitting bits of mud onto the papers. he has been mole-hunting, i know that because i saw him with his head and front feet buried into the mole-mountain on the lawn. i tried to take a picture but he heard the window open and thought i wanted him to come in..................... i really didn't. the mole lives on..............

william is now sitting ON the phone - i hate it when he does this as he has been known to speed-dial numbers without any of us realising it........... at least i think it is a mistake......maybe william is smarter than i think.

this morning i find that i have spent nearly 2 hours visiting links - i started, as i do every morning, on the country smallholder's blog and kept following link after link. i have added several to my 'favourites' as i know i will revisit them frequently. i have been all over england as well as to canada and australia.....and all before 10am. there are some really beautiful blogs out there and some of the posted photographs are stunning. i have vowed that i will be more proactive with my camera and to this end i have it placed by my desk and ready for immediate use.

i go back onto nights tonight.............. i am sure that i am doing more than my fair share recently. but at least my requests for christmas have been agreed. i am working every day - and all over new year- and on days, not nights! for the last 6 years i have chosen nights at christmas and someone has died on xmas morning on 5 of the 6 years. somehow it is sadder than at any other time and that is totally illogical. maybe it's because the families are so distressed knowing that every christmas will evoke memories of the death. some people do find solace in believing that a death at xmas is a special death. this year will be as unique as the previous ones..no two deaths are ever the same.

it is market day in hereford on wednesdays -so i am not going into town until this afternoon. it will be quieter then and the parking easier. i should not have to go at all - but i managed to forget a vital something when i went on monday and i know that i will not be awake enough to drive to town whilst on nights and for the day after nights have finished. nights are a great way of saving money, i am too disorientated to bother going out! i just have to make sure that i have supplies of cat and chicken food - oh, and enough chocolate for the 4am low blood sugar moments.......