OK – I know this won’t win any prizes for technical brilliance or even too many for being just pleasing to the eye but it’s all I’ve got (again) unless you’d prefer a pic of a Corby trouser press?

It was taken very early this morning from my bedroom window in the rather splendid Horsley Towers, where I spent a night in a sumptuous, spacious, light room overlooking the towers themselves, this view and another similarly lovely view from the other window. The best bit was I had four opening windows, so, unusually for me in an hotel, I managed to sleep because I wasn’t sweltering in a ‘manufactured environment’.

Once again, my working day has literally just ended as I have only been in the house a few minutes after getting off a late-running train so I must confess to not really being ‘up for it’ in terms of making myself a fantastic photo.

Why a Corby Trouser Press? Well, because somewhere in last night’s fug, I was challenged to mention said item twice in my presentation this morning. It had to be twice because they didn’t want me to grab my fiver for doing it by just saying ‘I have to say Corby Trouser Press’ – their somewhat warped rationale was that you can only get away with that once, so the other time at least, it would need to be slipped into my presentation in a manner that was more-or-less contextual.

Never being one to resist such a challenge, I thought of a way to weave a story of trouser presses into my presentation and about five minutes after this shot was taken, I was shooting pics of trouser presses.

Now I know a number of things that I didn’t know before and one-or-two I suspected but hadn’t fully considered and even some out-and-out confirmations of things I already was certain of in my heart. One of the things I didn’t know was that Corby is not alone in the ‘trouser press making department’ because apparently Morphy Richards also supply them! Another thing I now realise with complete doom is that I have joined my colleague who I described last night as an ‘anorak’ for knowing this fact and I too join the realms of anorak because I have felt the need to expound on this subject here in my diary.

Anyway, you’ll be pleased to know that I raised a laugh with my photos and story and won myself a fiver into the bargain, even though the chap concerned has been very reticent to get out his wallet. However, I do intend to take my money from him…..and then to drop it in to Shelter’s hands to help those folks who don’t get to spend their nights in places like Horsley Towers.

Things in my world were starting to fall into place last year.....even though the following few months did turn out to be the worst of this long journey into the grand plan.