Birthday portrait

Our dear nut cat Petteri and his brother, my parents' cat Jani, are nine today. They have brought so much joy, and in case of Petteri, a few scary experiences to our lives. Long may they live, however unlikely it seems with Petteri's tendency to get into trouble.

First thing in the morning, I got a message from a neighbour who wanted sand on their road immediately. I was tempted to reply something about the delivery times of miracles, but did my best anyway. A front loader bucketful of grit was there within half an hour from the time I read the message. Unfortunately it had been sent 20 minutes earlier and I'm afraid she was late for work because of the delay.

The temperature stayed at about +3°C all day, as it had been also at night, and there had been some rain. The roads turned either to very slippery ice or soft slush, depending on how thick the layer of trampled snow is. Spread sand at home and ploughed the slush on some roads.