Half a percent

So, no longer do I have a lodger who refuses to pay any rent, or even to buy her own food. She's only moved a couple of blocks down the road (just round the corner from Sarah's, actually) so I'm sure I'll see her again before long. As I won't be feeding her then, though, she won't care about me much. Cupboard love, eh?

Things are quiet, mostly, but on Saturday Lara and Seth dragged me down to the Farne Islands (just south of Lindisfarne, and where Grace Darling and her father made their famous rescue) to look at seabirds. Fantastic they were, too. It was mostly auks in abundance, but there were also quite a lot of kittiwakes, shags and terns. And, in the water by the boat as we were leaving, three ctenophores that looked rather like (and may even have been) these ones but pinker. The largest (the one Lara spotted first) was a couple of inches long. The other two were smaller.

The birds were amazingly unconcerned. The paths are roped off, obviously, but they nest within three or four feet of the ropes. Apparently the eider ducks nest even closer.

Aside from that, I've been visiting flats with Ed and trying to tidy up. And rewatching the Brasseye special, as it's all topical again. Anyone else reckon there's a paediatrician in Wales getting very nervous?