I spent the day training a colleague how to measure and sex lobsters and crabs. I can't believe it's been nearly two years since I was being trained to do the same thing... My speed has definitely improved, but I still find crabs a bugger to hold with one hand. They're hella strong, and I've got fairly small hands, so trying to grab both claws (whilst avoiding being speared by their legs, which are really pointy) is tricky.

When I got back home, the various marriage and birth certificates I ordered for family-tree-climbing had arrived, so I've spent most of this evening trying to squeeze as much meaning from them as possible. No gentry or famous names - most of them were paupers; the birth certificate was for a great-great-something-grandad born in a workhouse - but lots of decent clues, and a bit of a breakthrough on some maiden names. As a result of being buried in my own family history, however, I completely forgot to watch Who Do You Think You Are?, and find out about Griff Rhys Jones'.

The cat seems to have forgiven me now for what I'm calling "The Jeff Incident". The cat flap is one of those four-way locking ones; you can have it so it's open/shut both ways, or open to go out but shut to come in and vice versa. I normally shut it at night to keep the cat from getting run over or shot or something; the other night she'd not yet come in so I set the flap to allow her in when she was ready, but then not out again.

I was woken up the next morning by a tinkly-bell sound, and then a little ginger cat jumping on my bed. Jeff is a lovely, friendly cat I'd said hello to before, outside. It was still a bit of a shock to find him inside, and I'm surprised I wasn't woken up sooner by angry cat sounds, because Beba was not impressed that I'd let an interloper in the house (or that he'd got in, but not been able to get back out), and she was skittish and nervy even when I'd released Jeff back into the wilds of the estate.

Before signing off, I'd like to wish a very Happy Birthday to copperbadge (today), and to the lovely atropos87 and rian219 (both tomorrow). I hope you all have a cracking day, however you celebrate it :D