Blackberry's journal

Feeling quite good today, even though it's been a mouldy grey old day.

John was able to transfer some money to me and it's miraculously arrived in my account after only three days. Today I received a telephone bill wherein I found an overpayment with BT, the equivalent of a quarter's bill, which I have asked to be repaid, all without the intervention of a Real Human Being. I'm amazed at how good their mechanised telephone line is, although I suppose if anyone should get it right it should be them.

Enquiring further into the fuel suppliers, I find that we haven't had a bill since January. John rang them yesterday and they promised to put everything in the post today so that we can get it tomorrow. We'll see! They're apparently supposed to send us 6-monthly statements of account, but we haven't seen one since last January, so we've had no way of knowing what money they're holding if any. I'm appalled at the service and once it's sorted out, shall be looking for new suppliers. I'm a bit cross that John hasn't done anything about it, since it's one of his tasks ever since he decided we should swap suppliers. I agreed provided that he dealt with it all. It's not as if I haven't been complaining about the costs for several months, every time I see how much they've had out of my bank account every month, in fact! I shall get Charles to keep an eye on it in future; he's very conscious of us being hard up, and of what we spend and he loathes large corporations and is only too keen to find them wanting.

Yesterday I was in the kitchen doing something when a cat shot through the cat-flap and when I looked, I found it wasn't Bramble as I thought, but Morgan, who had finally taught himself how to do it. He spent a lot of the previous day lying on a pile of dirty laundry watching the other cats going in and out. He got so confident that later on Charles saw him launch himself through the cat-flap and slide across to the other side of the room on his bottom, unintentionally, we assume.

On Tuesday it was a nice day so in the afternoon we drove to Derwent reservoir, where I took some photographs.  The light was beautiful - there's something about autumn sun-light which transforms everything.  I also managed to walk further across the dam than I've been able to do for ages, although I did keep stopping to take photos.  It seems as though my self-imposed breathing exercises may be having some results!

It was brilliantly sunny, but incredibly cold so we only stayed for about an hour, which was just as well because I'd forgotten I had to collect a prescription till we were almost home and I'd run out of something important.


Tonight we're having fishcakes.  It's so long since I made any that I've consulted cookery books.  I think I'll go with Nigel's recipe.  I suppose I'd better go an cook the fish so that it will be cool enough to flake when I want to make the cakes.  I expect swarms of cats to enter the kitchen a couple of seconds after I unwrap the fish from the foil I put it in.