Winging it

I saw this rather dishevelled duck on the path alongside the Serpentine on Saturday. One of the friends I was with said that the outstretched feather was a sign that it was ready to mate. I have no idea if that's true although she said it quite authoritatively and is not one to say something implausible for a laugh. I have been a bit zombie-like today as we had yet another power cut in the early hours of the morning, the 4th in the last three months.. Unfortunately it set off our burglar alarm, or at least the bell at the rear of the house. It is supposed to cut out after 15 - 20 minutes but didn't. Despite following the instructions of the on-call engineer I rang at 3.30 am, it didn't go off until the power was restored at around 5.30 am. The system was due its annual service soon and I have arranged it now for Monday 2nd October. We must keep fingers and everything else crossed that we don't get another power outage in the meantime.