Out and about

A frosty, cold, bright day. Dog and I went to Lynn's house to oversee a television aerial being installed in her absence. I gave the aerial fitters a mug of tea, noticing too late that one of the mugs was cracked. Fitter 1: "I'm ex-Army, so don't worry." Fitter 2: "I'm from Barnsley. We 'ave jam jars there."

There is a huge drop from Armstrong Bridge to the park below; the dog likes to look through the railings in the hope of startling a pigeon or two, but this terrifies anyone nearby, who thinks she will fall, or worse, jump. I am used to this now, and my stomach no longer clenches when I see her do it.

The Dene is full of birdsong and robins, very uplifting.

PS It's suddenly become warm outside. Shelagh tells me that Toronto is bracing itself for yet more snow, and that the temperature is around 6F - that's about minus 14C, I think. Here, where it's 8C/46F today, that would liven up our national obsession with the weather...