What an odd week with the brief heatwave earlier this week which laid me low for a day despite being careful and these last two days as temperatures dropped and it is very cool today. Plastering stopped for two days because of the heat and cracking plaster but back on track with the plastering hopefully finished today and the skirting in next week. We are having to replace a door and I am negotiating that with one of the joiners but our plans are for weekend cleaning and a general tidy up. We are also buying a couple of large carpet offcuts as a temporary measure as redecorating and some other works are planned before we have some new carpets fitted. The thought of having the downstairs rooms back and a return to some normality is eagerly anticipated. I will post pictures of the completed work at some point.

The cats are behaving as expected and are very confused and anxious with lots of fussing and reassurance provided. But I was not happy with the little bleeders when I found this unusual poor bird in the garden on Tuesday.

After some research via the RSPB and other sites I finally discovered it is a Diamond Dove, a native of Australia but can be kept as pets. The RSPB site states some might have escaped to live in the wild but I suspect this one was an escaped pet. We're unsure if any of our cats were responsible or any of the feline visitors to our garden. Two birds killed this year and both either rare or unusual.

During the past four weeks of the work I have read through seven books and currently on numbers eight and nine. No TV and it is simply marvellous, focusing on reading again and catching up on music and various podcasts. Very little modelling done and I am itching to get back to the table. I ordered some more reference books although the one model I ordered hasn't been delivered and I have contacted the seller to query this. I have informed evil bay and they will intervene if it isn't sorted but I also pay for any purchases by credit card so there is some protection there if this turns out to be a scam purchase.

No.1 son has flown off to Sweden to spend time with his girlfriend and a well earned break from work. He was recently promoted and has been working hard but he is also saving up for his own place although he admitted he would rather move to Sweden. He wants me to apply for my Irish passport as he believes once I have that it will be easier for him to apply for one and he'll also be able to access the EU including employment and living in Sweden. I will do this once we have the house back to normal and I can access some of my paperwork. Odd to think he will flee the nest but potentially move to another country to do so. The circle of life...

TTFN.