Foul weather in Ottawa today: rain deteriorating to sleet and, eventually, to snow. Before the freeze began, I struggled downtown in the slop to retrieve a picture from the framing gallery only to find them closed, as they always are on Monday. Colour me peeved — at myself. I should have checked.

On the way home, I hit the Farm Boy, the dry cleaner’s and the public library, so the trip wasn’t entirely wasted. But I still have to get that picture, and pay for the new frame, before New Year’s Day — all debts must be cleared at Hogmanay.

Watson isn’t exactly happy with his new diet, but he’s putting up with it. Although he evidently gets enough to eat, I still get lots of feline nagging. He’s used to having kibble available whenever he feels the urge, but now I pick up his dish when he walks away because I don’t want Isobel to hoover up what he leaves (she has her own dish on the counter). So now he gets a small serving up to four times a day. So now I get ejected from bed in the morning with even greater emphasis.