Tonight is to be one of simple, homely pleasure. A hot bath, lathered up with Jeanne’s homemade peppermint and coffee soap…..oooohhhh I can’t wait! This stuff is something to behold. It smells and looks perfect, round bars, rectangular bars and heart shaped bars, all topped with suns and moons. I’ve heard others here on PBASE talking about its charm (certainly John and maybe others too) and I am just about to experience it for myself. Think of me enjoying it about ten minutes or so after making this posting.

A plate of ‘chips and egg’ will follow for supper …..we’ve a surfeit of eggs because the hens haven’t stopped laying while we’ve been away so this is a great excuse for a good, old-fashioned meal. A bottle of the red stuff will wash down the food nicely and, to cap it all off, a veg-out with feet up in front of the TV.

What could be a better end to a day that’s not just been painful because of overwhelming jetlag – those lawyers have been back in my working life today making it a distinctly miserable day. I did suspect yesterday that I’d have ‘stuff’ to deal with because I’d been out of email contact for three working days and my suspicions were proven right when I arrived in my office to see our secretary hovering with a folder and an instruction not to leave my desk because an urgent meeting had been set up for ten o’clock. I’d arrived a bit late because my car wouldn’t start after a week and a half unused so that all added to my stress.

My mad working life continues to pile the pressure on my heart, my arteries and my spirits. I have a meeting tomorrow morning, 40 miles from home that starts at 8.30am. The rest of my day is chock-full with meetings and Friday is much more of the same. It’s all very well having a week out to plan the business and bond with my peers but the merry-go-round never stops and now I have to run very fast indeed to try to get back on. I must confess that I’m flagging a tad at the moment.

When I said we would watch the TV tonight something occurred to me – I have not even switched a TV on in all the time I’ve been away and we didn’t put it on last night either. I think that’s pretty good, even though it was really forced by necessity through working so many hours then just falling into bed as though my body had been switched off at a big switch atop my head.

Off I go then to have a quiet evening…..the NYC gallery will have to wait a while longer! (Sorry!)