Just before Xmas my very old and tired bathroom extract fan went on the blink. It chose to continue to suck warm air out of my living space and thrust it into the now vacant loft above the flat ad infinitum with no apparent means to switch it off. I contacted the lovely handy-person who carries out such jobs on behalf of my letting agent and he said he would put a quote in to same. Naturally enough, approval for a replacement needed to be sought from my landlord, which has since been received and so the handy-person contacted me to ask whether or not Saturday would be convenient. I let him know that I would be leaving at 10:30am to visit my mum, but if he arrived before that then I was happy to let him in and allow him to let himself out. I did say that I could catch a later train if 10:30 was not convenient.

His response was that mums are far too precious to be mucked about and that he would carry out the work on Monday using keys from the letting agent's office. Bless him! It's been ages since I last saw my mum, far too long as it goes. and yes, mums are very special people.

So I spent a lovely day with my dear mum and on my way back home to a chilly flat I spotted this house all twinkly in the darkness. It reminded me so much of The Nutcracker, a ballet my mum took me to see when I was just a tiny person.