The cat survived the fire but I have probably smoked out most of the neighbours. The garden is stripped back on the moment. Everything is cut away to the quick, the dead leaves are gone and all there is left to clear up are a few twigs where the snowman was last week. But look closer and there are buds on the apple trees and the blue bells and daffodils are starting to show. There are shoots of montbretia and sedum in the beds and now that we are out of January you could persuade yourself that Spring might be here soon.

Despite the wet of the last month the fire caught well and the great pile of leaves, ivy and buddleia cuttings was soon diminished. It is still smoking now 2 hours later and I smell of burnt leaves.

Food is going to be in two stages this evening. A chicken noodle soup for the girls in the early part of the evening.

Then on the rturn from Sweden a partridge for me and chickpeas in tomato sauce, rice with lentils and burnt onion and aubergine for the rest.