Time to have the heating checked .

Headlights on as we drive into town . A thick morning mist covering the ground and swirling through the trees . The church steeple rising dark above the arcades . The first sign of autumn . With its neon lit windows the newsagents a warming beacon of colour and light . The haar burns off by nine revealing another day of sun and blue skies . A reminder though that it's time to have the central heating boiler serviced .

Wilf positions himslf at the door of the kitchen . Scotland have lost to Argentina in the rugby , 13-12, so a day for an uplifting Sunday lunch . Salade de cou de canard farci au foie gras followed by Dos de cabillaud en crout de brebis, sauce au vin rouge . The old fellow ignores me completely , his attention focused entirely on ' the font ' and whether he'll get some flakes of cod with his lunchtime kibble . He does .

He also gets some sorbet au jurancon et ses madeleines as a treat . He smacks his lips enthusiastically in a way that says ' human food - can it get any better ? ' . Then a four hour post-lunch doze . The hectic life of an old PON.