Helpful chaps

A curious day - a good ol' mix, lots to think about.
Particularly interesting programme on the radio about James Pennebaker and Expressive Writing - one of those programmes which confirms what you always knew instinctively which is always good.

A home baked loaf that grew into a thatched cottage.
A pretty good wild mushroom risotto, if I say so myself.

A bike ride and a local flag flying at half mast which, making assumptions is about a recent death (its beginning to be get like Voldemort ... shall not be named). Finding it all very unsettling on many levels.

A day of helpful chaps, the coal man and the log men (and a dent in the bank balance) and Harold (that won't be his name but anyone living in Penrith will know who I mean) - he checked my tyres and said they'd do another couple of thousand miles no bother even when I'd been told I needed new ones.

Coal Man

Relieved to see you
Down to the last shovel of
The red hot black stuff.

I pressed a finger
A coal dust smudge and smiley
On the receipt. Thanks!

A tough thankless job
Buggers the back, full of grime
But lost without you.

Do you know how much
You bring to me and my home?
More than house warming.

A warmth in absence
Companionship in silence
Comfort in such loss.