The electricians have arrived for what they claim (and I hope) will be their last day on the premises. The washing-up tackle has been removed from the laundry hole (where the electrical panel is located), and all food secured. The cats have gone to ground.

Today's plan includes a visit to the gym and some grocery shopping: frozen entrées, because preparing raw ingredients is just too messy for our current situation, and salad ingredients. I am already heartily sick of lasagna and cottage pie, but must acknowledge the great improvement in the quality of such ready-to-heat comestibles over the last 20 years. Himself wants salmon ...

The electricians are invading the sitting room today, and when that task is completed every single space in the house will have been affected by the kitchen project. Truly, a modern house is a framework containing a web of plumbing and wires, and we live in the heart of the web like a couple of spiders.