"Butterfly"

Three days of welcome rain meant I was stuck inside so able to complete more packing. I have nearly finished packing up the sitting room apart from pictures on the walls. Two things I will miss about this room are the morning sun which floods in till lunchtime and the lounge suite which belongs to my landlady. It is so comfortable that many a nap time has been spent on the sofa.

The one thing I am dreading moving is the pianola. At the moment people are telling me horror stories about pianos falling down stairs and off the back of trucks so I will be happy when she's enscounced in her new home. When I was little I used to pedal the pianola whom I named "Butterfly" after one of the rolls that were bought with her. I later bought her from my mother many years ago for $200. All her insides were gone (the piano, not my mother) and the bellows held together by copious packaging tape but I had everything restored to working order. I also foolishly had the Canadian Maple/mahogany case French polished so now every mark shows up. There are various cat scratches plus bumps from numerous moves. I can't remember the last time she was tuned but it's well over 12 years ago. My aunt's brass candlesticks adorn the front and I even found a gold and green sparkly butterfly to hang from one of these. The place wouldn't be the same without Butterfly.

The chicks are settling into the hen house although they're the lowest of the pecking order- literally. Whenever I go to feed them Gine flies up on my arm while the others compete with Artemis Fowl for a position on my lap. Speaking of which the old brown hen is laying again at the age of nine. Not bad for an old broad.