The Traveller Returns

Back in June we were mourning the loss of our friendly robin who used to join us for sundowners on the terrace at the back of the garden, insisting on sharing our bombay mix rather than the perfectly good bird seed mix. Mrs Diary had even begun to train a replacement.

Then, on Sunday evening as we were enjoying a very palatable bottle of German white wine, he returned. His first act was to 'phone his cousins in Australia and then the US - so we knew it was him.

We wonder where he's been, whether, like a modern Marco Polo, he's been travelling far and wide or whether his problem has been a wife he picked up locally who has kept him firmly at home. Whatever he's been doing, he looks older and a little battered.