Belle was in town (hurrah!) but she was leaving on the next train (boo!) When she confessed to me that she had arrived two days ago to stay in her Edinburgh New Town pied à terre I did my best to hide my disappointment that she hadn’t contacted me earlier. Then I borrowed a bag of lettuce from her and left to attend to my other priorities.

First there was the huge articulated lorry that I had parked unlocked in Drummond Place in the snow. I had forgotten to insert any coins into the meter and probably now owed the council half my bank balance.

The other worry was the out of character super-friendly behaviour of A. Why had he turned all touchy-feely with me, and what was the meaning of his generous gift to me of a Looney Tunes Garmin watch screen?