a jolly good way to start 2014:

it’s 14:50, i’ve got the house all to myself today. i got up late, i’ve just cooked and eaten a nice little lunch (two fat seared scallops and chopped bacon with linguini, olive oil and lemon juice), and now i’ve found the good spot at the dining room table, just under the skylight, bright enough to read comfortably, and not directly under the fan so that it turns over your pages. the last episode of neverwhere is on the radio, the kettle is on the boil, and soon i shall make myself a steaming pot of tealuxe raspberry green tea (newly brought home from cambridge by yen) and settle down to read.

the lark’s on the wing the snail etc etc all’s well with the world.