I am fighting a losing battle with fur and cobwebs. I swear that in some dark corner, there is a Rumpelstiltskinesque being maniacally spinning them from thin air and then depositing them all over the house.

Yesterday, I had the hose of the vacuum on the corners of the lounge ceiling to try to get of rid of some of the biggest cobwebs I have seen in a long time. It is only a couple of months since the last time I did it, and yet there they were, back again, and one was about a foot long (30 centimetres to you young ‘uns). Where on earth do they come from?

As for the fur, every time I turn around there is a clump of dog fur defying me, and everything else is covered in cat hair. I could stuff a duvet with the amount I find. Someone needs to find a use for it.

The weather is decidedly Autumnal now and the trees are gloriously gilded. It is a beautiful time of the year, but it feels like a long time until Spring and I have been spending the evenings curled up on the settee in front of a lovely fire reading a book.