Today's Diary:

Annoyed, I woke up late, I thought it was much earlier than it was. It is still so dark in the mornings. I'll have to start setting the alarm.

Took car to garage to check there was no seepage from battery,other than really cold weather, lights, heating the car,wipers, media, and short runs, all of which caused it to go flat earlier in the week. Collected car two hours later, (nothing wrong with it)no charge. Nice man...

Entertained myself in the warmth of a café while car being examined, (perishing cold outside) and read my papers without interruption - sheer luxury. The trouble was, the first three pages of the main paper read like old news. I checked I had the newspaper for today; it was. Further on, the articles became more sensible and worth perusing.

I took the car exhaust to be checked. Good news, nothing obvious needs doing just now, and if it does become necessary, it won't be as expensive as I thought it might be. (I'd been given duff information in December on the type of replacement that would be required).

At home, there was unexpected DIY in progress. Made some necessary phone calls and invited myself out to coffee with a friend who lives in the country. It was good for giving the car a bit of a run to charge up the battery.

Friend has lost her second flock of ducks in about eighteen months. She usually has six at a time. The last of the current flock was re-homed this week so it wouldn't be lonely. There are many natural predators, however, there is growing evidence that these losses are down to a rather large otter that has been seen in the vicinity. In the meantime, said friend will stick to keeping her dog and cat plus a small herd of Highland cattle.

So, the car has had a twenty miles return run today, which, hopefully, will help to boost the battery's flagging resources, I've been out visiting and I'm going to relax for the rest of evening and get back to the newspaper to read some of the interesting articles I haven't completed.

:DD