Thursday was a good day all round. The Ship’s Dog had a ‘yelp’ free day, my pack mule (the Deckhand) walked with me to the supermarket for a top up shop, and we had a deliciously simple, simply delicious dinner. The house alarm has been sorted. I received one of my due refunds.

Tuesday, we took the dog to the vets for a check-up. He was in fine spirits though his pain killers have started to upset his stomach. It’s only 0.3 miles, walking, so we walked him. He was bouncy, and excited, and I did my best to calm him. The vet checked him out, and to my great surprise and delight, we weren’t charged for this follow up. Later that day, he was obviously in pain again, so no more walkies, and a day or two of rest. Either the walk, or the vet moving his front legs around to check them had caused his pain to flare up. Thursday, he seemed well, and happy, and Friday morning he had a very slow, short walk – no point overdoing things.

Wednesday I did a shop at Lidl on my own, sans Satnav. It’s a good feeling now that I’m starting to get the lie of the land and can find my way home without the use of technology. Now and again, I intend to drive out and explore, and have the Satnav in the glovebox in case I get disorientated - basically lost lol

Thursday morning, before 8.30am, an electrician arrived to sort out the house alarm. As regular readers will know, the alarm goes off in a power cut and can’t be disabled. The thought of a major power cut here, and an alarm sounding for hours, has, quite frankly, been stressing me. I have a loaded Ship’s Dog here and have never felt the need for an alarm that most people ignore anyway, and the landlord kindly agreed for it to be disabled. The electrician disabled it in the house, the alarm sounded, then he shinned up a ladder outside and disabled the actual alarm. Peace! The stupid little motion sensors now don’t ‘click’ each time you move in a room, and the gentle humming from the control box upstairs has stopped. What a relief! He also disabled the outside security light. At the slightest movement outside, the light comes on for a second, then goes off again. The neighbours’ trees set it off, and of course it’s costing me money. Staying on for a second is no use to (wo)man nor beast, so now it too has been disabled.

Mid-morning, Thursday, we walked to Sainsbury’s and did a top-up shop as Lidl is good for many things, however they don’t stock everything that I want. We didn’t buy much, and the Deckhand packed it all into one bag and insisted on carrying everything. He’s a good lad. That evening I made ‘fried’ chicken – it’s cooked long and slow in the oven without any added fat, and I defy KFC or similar, to make such delicious crispy chicken – served with sweet potato wedges (homemade of course). This was followed with chocolate fudge cake and vanilla ice cream.

I confess, I like cake. I often look at cakes in the shops, and either the ingredients list that are as long as your arm put me off, or else I buy them and am invariably disappointed. Thursday, I made my own cake. It’s a tad involved and takes a while to cook but it’s worth the effort. Day one, it’s moist and delicious. From then, it lives in the fridge and just gets more fudgy as the days go by. It freezes great too, in slices in foil, and is simply wonderful if heated in the microwave from frozen. Cheaper than most shop cakes too…

Checking my bank statement, I noted I’d had the refund from my dental check-up. I’m now waiting for a (small) cheque from the water board in settlement of my account from the previous house. After the vet bill, this is all a very welcome addition to the coffers.

So, a silenced alarm, a yelp free dog, good food, and a little extra money; a good day indeed.