it's snowing again and work has been closed all week, tomorrow included. there are no cars out, the buses have stopped running, and John is in his new bed that g bought him before the snow fell - he is as snug as a bug in a rug. John is a large cat and the covered bed is for a medium sized feline, so while he fits in there nicely, his fat face tends to frost up with snow every few seconds. he appears to be immune to the cold though and often treks off for an hour or two, unbothered with having to walk through almost a foot of snow. i covered his new house with rabbit pelts (on g's suggestion), so the fabric house is now extra cosy and that's what i tell myself is most important - nobody cares if it looks like something out of Dances With Wolves Gone Wrong.

i've not left the house other than to knock away some icicles that are massive and treacherous - and they hang off the gutter 2 storeys above John's house. i use a highly sophisticated tool to kill the icicles (that are more like stalagtites) - a broom. it's highly effective but when i use the handle end, it fully utilitizes my hand eye coordination (which is rather in the negative). so all in all it's a great workout for me and makes John's world that bit safer.

g picked up some heat lamps for John's living quarters yesterday - when the store man heard what the bulbs were for he gave them to him for half price and also gifted him with a recycled shopping bag. what a nice man. g was rather chuffed that his philanthropy had at last been recognized.

i am sitting here in what i slept in last night. it's 8pm. what a slob. i so don't care though as i have been feeling a bit under the weather. and bored. nothing worse than not feeling 100% and being bored to death. i have discovered several new websites that have me bordering on obsession.... www.yoox.com for some great shoes and this one Whippet Grey based in the UK.

i love the wicker sandpiper and can envisage them scattered around the garden (when it finally reappears from under 4 feet of snow and ice). i have my eye on the leather and oilskin garden kneeler and also the chestnut wood apple holder.

i think i have spent almost 7 hours surfing the internet today. that is quite a sad discovery - but it wasn't all in vain. kate spade handbag on its way to my eager grabby little paws :-)

tonight's supper will be veal milanese....