Olivia wants a rat. Two rats, to be fair to the social little rodent-people. I like rats, but I do not want a menagerie. She also wants a tuxedo cat (black with a white neck) called Loki, though she knows she can't have one because our dog is a vicious cat-killer. So she wants a rat instead. Our dog will also be a vicious rat-killer, unfortunately, because DNA will out, in these cases. Terriers are terriers.

God help me, though, I don't want anything else to look after. I want someone to look after me. An editor whose latest book I proofed wants to send me a present as a thank you. She sweetly asked online what people would buy if they had twenty something dollars in their pocket, and I sent her the link to that Orla Keily recipe box nobody magically bought me for Christmas. And she sent me paypal dollars the other day, to buy it as a thank you gift.

I'm so grateful. I feel I should say, no no, don't worry about it, but then, throwing gifts back in people's faces isn't so couth, and like I said, I really need someone to look after me a little. I can't resist the kindness of a present.