I feel quite disoriented having a day off when I’d normally be working - but in an excellent way. Sadly, my small spitfire is unwell, and has been asleep for the last four hours. When we woke up she wasn’t herself, and by the time mid morning rolled around she had a temperature and was shivering.

Miss M is almost (touch wood) never sick, and really doesn’t know how to deal with illness at all. She’s good at feigning it, but can’t quite grasp the idea of being an invalid, so after she’d watched some television, I suggested she try to relax in bed - I learned some time ago to avoid the word “nap”.

I put on some relaxing music which she scoffed at, calling it “boring”, but two minutes later she was out cold and is showing no sign of waking up.

We did manage to go for a walk with Mr Dog before her illness struck, but I’ve spent the rest of the day housebound, cutting up old magazines and, even more disturbingly, ironing! Only things I’m going to sell on eBay, but it’s still against everything I stand for. Nature has paid me back by ensuring I burnt myself while ironing, so every time I flex my thumb, I renew my love of crumpled clothing.

Today I’m loving: finding an awesome recipe for Scotch broth, and having every ingredient needed to make it.