First Chapter, Tuesday Teaser -- A Surrey State of Affairs

Every Tuesday, Diane at Bibliophile by the Sea posts the first paragraph of her current read. Anyone can join in. Go to Diane's website for the image and share the first paragraph of the current book you are reading.
I picked up A Surrey State of Affairs by Ceri Radford yesterday as I accompanied my husband to a walk-in clinic to find out if he damaged his eye when he got a cleaning chemical in it. The book immediately caught my attention because I had just been talking to my mom about helping her start a blog. You'll see. Here's the intro:

I suppose that this, my inaugural "blog," represents at least one new element to the New Year. If my son, Rupert, is to be believed, it may be read anywhere from Milton Keynes to Mauritius. This would certainly be a marked expansion from the usual audience for my reflections, which consists mostly of Darcy, my Eclectus parrot. He is a magnificent specimen who has been a great source of comfort since the children left home, but his attention span is not unwavering. Occasionally, he punctuates my stories  -- on Natalia, the housekeeper's, blunders, or Miss Hughes, the bell ringer's, bunions -- by breaking open a Brazil nut with a resonant crack.. At that point I usually try calling my daughter, Sophie, or Rupert, who suggested last time that I might like to tell the World Wide Web all about it, rather than him. He is such a thoughtful boy.

 Also this week is Teaser Tuesdays.
Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along!
Open to a random page of your current read and share a teaser sentence from somewhere on that page.
BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS!
Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers.
Here's mine from page 14:

My attempt to discipline Natalia has backfired. Yesterday, Jeffrey came home from work and headed upstairs toward his study. I followed him so that I could tell him all about the latest Aga malfunction on the stairway. He opened the door to his study and we were both greeted by the unsettling sight of Natalia cleaning the room in her underwear, which was scant, back, and dotted with little shiny red hearts.

This woman is kind of bumbling, oblivious and definitely loveable.