Good things for the last week

• • Almost perfect afternoon tea at the Boatshed café where they not only served superb cheese scones but also let the dog run round with their resident dogs leaving me free to sit in the sun overlooking the river and read the Sunday paper in peace – bliss! (the brown lump in the picture is their chocolate lab Lola having a rest after tiring herself out begging for tidbits)
  
• • I got half the gate mended so it’s much easier to open and close
• • Discovered a couple of lovely reserves and had fun pottering round them with the dog
• • Paddling in the river and confusing the dog by throwing stones in the water beside him
• • A wonderful hot fire that warmed up the whole room on a frosty, bitter night
• • Warm bed on a frosty morning
• • Catching up with a friend while he fed the calves
• Great talks with two close friends from my hometown
• • Crunching round the garden in the frost enjoying the morning quiet and stillness
• • The pleasure of a fresh sheets on the bed
• • Reading books by two of my favourite authors, John Sandford and Scott Turow, both masters of their art
• • Feeling better after two days of being bedridden in the past week