Gloves were soggy after half an hour and all I wanted was to tidy the woodpile. A hammock was abandoned after getting caught in some of those abysmal rains of September and wood was getting harder to access. I have put the hammock away now. It just needs to get put into the shed…

And a few weeks later, life is no better as I no longer wish to be outside. My woes are really high as I’ve been applying for jobs like crazy, I’m really broke and on going into the loft my husband has confirmed mould has been overtaking the roof beams… we spent so much time heaving insulation up there is there something that we did wrong? We need to store things up there, without it getting mouldy. And we brought down the Christmas decorations, which bemused the dog.

Dog follows me round looking for her favourite things. We haven’t worked out what those are yet! The Korean toy my eldest brought back is fairly popular but indoor only. Leaves are everywhere, and in my anal attempts at clearing them up I am getting rid of shelter.

And today there were lots of places having Christmas fairs but when you have reached the extent of your overdraft it’s hard to go there to be honest. Cambridge on Friday (inset day) also felt like I was bringing the Grinch to life. And laundry has meant a constant round of wet clothes… the tumble dryer is really not working well, and we have three hanging racks filled to the brim.