Eric Has A New Girl.

 Tuesday 28th October 2025

It’s school holidays in some places this week, so today Mum was looking after Heidi while her mum was at work.

She arrived just before nine—perfect timing to help with breakfast, both in the cooking and the eating of it. The cooking part mostly involved fetching and carrying for Mum, but she took her duties seriously and did a good job.

Having breakfast with us meant she also got both entertained and educated by Eric. I actually felt a bit neglected this morning. The entertainment centred around Eric’s finger trick. I can’t explain it properly—my eyes barely understand it themselves. It’s all about how you interlock your fingers, and somehow the result looks as though two of them are broken or twisted. Heidi thought it was marvellous.

Then Eric asked her what she was going to do all day and whether she’d be coming out to help him.

“Don’t you go putting ideas in her head,” Mum said. “I want to be able to return her in good fettle to her mother when she calls for her.”

Before he could think of another suggestion, Mum told him they were going to spend the morning baking.

That, of course, reminded Eric of his famous tale about the time he baked currant buns but accidentally used rabbit droppings instead of currants. How anyone could possibly do that by mistake I’ll never know. Naturally, it earned him another telling-off from Mum, which Heidi found hilarious.

They spent the whole morning in the kitchen baking and cooking—Heidi making cakes for a Halloween party she’s having with her friends, and later some scones with currants and cherries for us. Mum made a big pot of homemade vegetable soup for our dinner tonight.

At lunchtime, Heidi presented Eric with one of the scones, telling him—with a little prompting from me—that it was a special one made with rabbit droppings. Eric played along beautifully, saying how delicious it was and how much better than ordinary currants. Heidi's face was a picture as she sat watching him. I'm sure she believed the play to be true.

After lunch, she did some crafty work with Mum. Mum had bought some air-dry clay in all different colours, so they spent quite a while making Christmas ornaments.

Around four, I took her out to watch Eric feeding the cows. She loves the cows. It was a bit wet and muddy around the yard after all the rain we’ve had, so we had to be careful where we went.

And that was my day really—just doing bits and bobs while joining in where I could. Watching Heidi, I couldn’t help thinking it would’ve been lovely to have a sister.

Later, when the house was quiet again, the smell of vegetable soup heating up on the stove drifted through the rooms. Mum sat in her chair by the window, tired but smiling faintly to herself. I thought about how full of laughter the house had been only hours before, and how quickly silence returns once the door closes.

There was something comforting in that quiet though—like a deep breath after the joy of company. It reminded me how lucky I am now, to have somewhere that feels so much like home.