Stormy.

Storm Francis has been blowing all day. The news reports tell of 80 mph gusts, flooding and power cuts across the country. The empty wheelie bin stayed upright in the middle of the grass until midday when it gave up and hit the ground. It's now been blown half-way across the grass.

This morning a lovely bouquet from Vytas and Sally was delivered by a local florist. Speedy took an interest in the flowers so after checking I made sure that the larkspur which is poisonous to cats if eaten in large amounts, went in a vase in our bedroom. Luckily I hadn't yet packed away the big glass vases.

This morning I spent a full hour cleaning grease from the cooker controls. That sounds like the cooker was really grubby which I didn't think it was. I do wipe the cooker over most days but grease has habit of sticking. Even after using detergent and a green scrubby thing I find it has to be physically removed. Today I found that cotton buds were the best to use to clean out every nook and cranny. I'm happy with it now.

In the afternoon I filled up a couple of big moving boxes with loose stuff from my study. Still a bit more to go before I can tick off my study as packed.