Second week got off to a shakey start when I failed to take a photograph. Some Mondays are like that, of course. You roll out of bed and spend a desperate hour watering the garden (which is grumpily withering in this awful September drought), jog down the tow-path into work while peevishly fielding emails on the pocket monster, don't stop all bloody day (and still fail to clear the job list), come home just in time to empty the roomba, feed the cat, check the moodle in case term began when you weren't looking, cook and then collapse into the chore list which today included, well...

September 8th - Winnowing the wardrobe



I keep a daily sketch diary. Only the occasional picture makes it onto the internet because as you can see I don't bother finishing the pictures (and often it's a bit, eh, personal). It's great for supporting my memory and identifying what happened when. It's going to end up needing its own shelf, though! Today I was clearing out the wardrobe. The dress I'm wearing is a little black sequinned number with pockets over the hips deep enough to conceal a bottle of wine. It's awesome, but it does my legs no favours, which I think came across in the picture.

September 9th - On the tow path



The evenings are gorgeous at the moment, so I often end up taking in an extra bit of (more urban than usual) tow path on the way home. I have to cut through a rough little estate to get there, then turn up past a posh bit. This is where there is a row of posh little houses flush against the tow path. One of them had some Virginia Creeper, which has shot across the path and up a willow, where it's making a colossal fuss about autumn. Pretty!

September 10th - An actual lizard



Reading the Guardian. Charlie Brooker on David Cameron. The Scottish vote. I can't disagree with a word of this.

September 11th - PIE



Beef and Oyster top-crust pie, baby. This one was made with wine rather than stout, which tastes lovely but a trace too posh for what is an old London staple. Toast some spices, grind them, toss your beef in the mix as you brown it and then pop in the slow cooker with the usual vegetables. Some hours later, mix in your can of smoked oysters and an appropriate amount of sliced mushrooms, unroll the pastry, pour into the pie dish, top with the pastry, brush the oystery oil from the can over the top. Bake for half an hour. Wonderful.

September 13th - Outside the vet's



We had Harley booked in for the first appointment of the day, and arrived while the door was still locked. I spotted a red car across the road and popped off a shot very fast. Harley is in the cat-box, by my feet, crying like a little furry prima donna.

September 13th - Feathers



I found a pile of feathers under a feeding perch in Mum-of-the-South's garden when we were down to look after her at the weekend. These are coal tit feathers. She thought magpie, but the plucking had been very tidily done; I'm inclined to suspect a bird of prey.

September 14th - Mr & Mrs Fox



We went for a walk through the parks of Gosport, and came across this rather fine wildlife access port in a garden fence in a quiet street. Other discoveries of the day included a fish pond turned flower bed (all the parks are losing their water features at the moment), a mystery of the sea, a ribbon tree, a Redwood and a pet cemetery.



If you're wondering about what happened to Friday, the answer is a bottle of wine.