March was a very unhappy month because we had to say goodbye to one of our dogs at the start of the month and adjust to being a one-dog household after being a two-dog household for over ten years.

There are some positives; huge savings on food, vets and medication for a start. It is also a lot easier to go away because the remaining dog is not so clingy and in any case is easier to take with us. The house and garden both smell a lot better. I can eat a biscuit without getting pestered. But I think we would gladly put up with the smells, inconvenience and costs and have him back. We are still not sure if Diablo knows what is going on. He is obviously getting spoiled rotten and getting lots more attention, but when he comes back from a walk or visit somewhere he checks all the rooms – to see if Noche has come home?

Anyway, life goes on and for me that has mostly been working and reading – another dozen books read in March! I also continued to get carried away with buying vinyl. There were a couple of record fairs, which are mostly to blame.

Apart from that, I got very wet a few times. I had the motorbike booked in for a service on one of the rainiest days possible so had no choice but to go out and get soaked. I also decided to walk down to the market while visiting my mum and got caught out there, to the extent that I had to wear mum’s old gardening trousers while my stuff was drying out. As compensation, there were also a couple of dry days that I managed to get out on the bike to remind myself that it can actually be fun.

Yet again, I didn’t get to watch a lot of TV. I was spending more time listening to all the new vinyl and reading, but I did binge-watch the second series of Our Flag Means Death once the last episode aired. The only time I dipped into streaming was to watch a film called Zero Contact, which was immensely disappointing. It was made during the pandemic and everybody filmed their own parts. This worked for the story because the main characters were all in their own houses on a conference call, the problem was that the story just wasn’t all that great.

We finished the month by redecorating the kitchen over the Easter weekend. That is something that would have been even more chaotic if Noche was still around. It isn’t finished yet because we still need to sort out all the cupboard contents, but already it looks a lot better.

We finished the month not significantly richer than we started. While I continued my winning streak on the Premium Bonds it was only £100.