On a clear day

the view from our top floor bedroom window at the back of the house is a panorama of roof tops and beyond this, mountains in Wales. Today was a little too autumnal for a good photo but the shadow of the mountains is visible- just. It was warm in the direct sunlight but quite chilly in the shade. That did not deter me from tidying the garden, putting away the garden table and chairs, and emptying the tubs of dead flowers. While I did this Mike was busy getting the remaining painting completed, on the side of the house, before the scaffold is finally removed.

Let me introduce you to Topsy, Tog and Tom

they are beginning to slow down in preparation for hibernation, but as you can see they enjoy every bit of warmth they can get and still come out to sunbathe. We had Topsy first, bought by my mother as a present when we moved house in 1970. My mother saw her in a cardboard box outside a pet shop and felt sorry for her. I believe she paid equivalent of 50 pence ( 10/- before decimalization) Sam who was 4 years old at the time was delighted and Beccy who was just a few months old was too young to be interested. We had Tog next, she originally belonged to a friend of mine and we used to look after her when they went on holiday. When they moved to another part of the country Tog became a permanent resident and company for Topsy. A few years later Sam came home and begged me to take on Tom (it is a tradition that all our pets' names began with 'T'). Tom was found wandering in the road and the family who found him couldn't find his owners and didn't want to keep him and he's been part of the family ever since. They usually hibernate from November to March.

It's my food co-operative meeting tonight and I am off to order my organic dried food... I think this might be a future story.