Valuer came just before lunch – just after I’d had a cup of tea, so I didn’t offer him one. He had a quick look round, did some measurements, took a few photos, and went. Hopefully his valuation will be similar to the valuation we’re basing the mortgage application on. The photos included the central heating boiler and the fuse box. I have no idea how they would contribute to the valuation, other than proving that the house has heating and power. Maybe it wasn’t anything to do with the valuation at all, but he contributes to “sad persons post pictures of boilers and fuse boxes” web site.

I was giving blood this afternoon; the donation venue was the other side of Eastleigh. It was a pleasant day so I decided to walk there; it took about 35 minutes. I’d allowed an hour, so turned up a bit early for my appointment.

They were busy. Really, really busy. Appointments were running late, so I had a long time to sit in the waiting room. Some people were grumbling about the wait, but it didn’t bother me at all. I’d taken my kindle so could sit and read for over an hour. When do I ever get the chance to sit and read for over an hour?

Yes, I’ve joined the dark side and bought a kindle. I know it’s not a book and will never replace a book (in fact, most of the books I have on it I also have paper copies). But for something you can slip into your pocket, and for ease of reading in a waiting room or when travelling, it is great.

I finally got to the tea and biscuit at 4:00 when I realised that The Future Mrs Barefoot would be finishing work soon, and worked just down the road. Quick text, and she offered to pick me up on the way home, but I offered to walk to her workplace. It was further than I thought, and took me about 20 minutes. Would have been almost quicker to walk home!

Finally let me tell you about my solution to a culinary near-disaster yesterday. The Future Mrs Barefoot accidentally put in more chilli than intended. “No problem, “I said, “just add chocolate”. We didn’t have any chocolate, but I hit on the jar of Nutella. “that’s just chocolate and palm oil,” I said, as I stirred a generous helping into the mixture. “What about the sugar and nuts?” asked The Future Mrs Barefoot. Oh well, too late. It solved the too-hot-to-eat problem. And gave the dinner an interesting flavour – it was a bit like eating main course and dessert at the same time.