We have definitely been having autumn weather. It’s been foggy, misty, wet and dark, interspersed with sun and warmth.

I was at Collegiate on Monday. Got there around 08:00 and had coffee while I was settling into the day. I thought I might go and wash my coffee cup and go to the loo before the students arrived. Got up, looked out of the office door, and saw my colleague Rupert looking a bit shell shocked in the vestibule. Looked further. It seemed rather dark outside, as though the heavens were about to open. Then I realised there were about 70 students waiting outside to come in. Decided to defer my loo and coffee cup washing expedition for a short while. For it had just started bucketing down, the students were all soggy wet – and about 30 seconds later the doors opened and they came streaming in something like a tsunami. Rupert was safely in the office by then!!!

You might remember that last Wednesday I cleaned The Sidings from top to bottom so it was all shiny and glowy. On Saturday morning I got up at about 07:30 and ambled into the bathroom. The bath was absolutely full of little muddy paw marks. So was the sink. Look – so too is the bathroom floor. Looked accusingly at the cat who made “No, no; wasn’t me” type noises. Looked at my feet. Not little paws for me. And The Builder has huge enormous feet so can’t have been him, either. Either the cat was telling me lies, or some strange random cat had come in through the upstairs, top opening, ajar not actually properly open bathroom window and gone on a paw print rampage through the bathroom. No. Doesn’t seem likely to me, either. Had to clean before I could go to work!

We have been busy in the garden and the allotment. Well, when I saw “we”….. The Builder has marked out in the back garden the next phase in the garden redesign. He’s about to order the bricks, wood and soil for it. Should be beautiful next summer. He’s also been to Loughborough to dismantle and collect greenhouses that we bought on eBay. They are now in bits on the allotment waiting for him to have time to reconstruct them. The soil is quite friable so I am hoping to plant over wintering broad beans and garlic on the new allotment in the next couple of weeks. Things are starting to come together.

I cooked a lamb kidney for the very first time ever during the week. There was one in the lamb box I bought last Wednesday. Sent out an SOS for cooking instructions (strangely, there are no instructions in my breakfast books, nor in any of my cook books; I was stunned!). I was fairly stunned when Ian didn’t seem to know how to do it. So I took instruction from Richard. I cut it in half and removed the white grungy bit in the middle. I then soaked it over night in milk and fried it in butter with tomato and mushrooms and served it on fluffy toast. The Builder was fairly surprised to come downstairs on a work morning to find me taking the frying pan off the stove. He was astounded to find there was kidney on his plate. He seemed very happy with it, mind.

I don’t think anything else much has happened this week. The Builder and I’ve been very, very busy. The Builder was asleep for Autumn Watch last night, despite the cute seals, the magnificent red deer and the glorious highland cows (I poked him to look at those but he just growled – and he a Cowman’s son!). He woke up to eat his dinner then went back to sleep until it was time to go to bed. Then he fell into bed and slept right through until Marlo started playing with the tassel on the light cord at 05:05, as is his habit. I think he was perhaps a bit tired. I stayed awake until news time, at least. Now I just have to stay awake this evening until it is time to Talk to Tony. A challenge. I’m yawning vigorously now and it’s only 17:00. (And I’m still in the office – need to relocate to The Sidings.

Mind you – all this evening sleeping means that the alcohol supplies last much longer than usual. Silver linings and all that!

Went to the Post Office and lunch time and got very damp. Looks as though that's about to happen again on my way back to collect The Vixen. Which, by some odd chance, is parked outside The Mudhut. A circumstance which almost never prevailed when we lived there!!!

Must go. There's a beef and vegetable casserole awaiting my return!