I’m sure there are times in everyone’s lives when they just feel completely and utterly wiped out. That’s how I feel at the moment. It’s certainly a case of all work and no play makes Linda a dull, dull girl. My cogs are going round but they’re full of muck and grime.

When I’m not working at my day job as a corporate whore, I’m trying to establish myself in a second career, sell David’s skills, renovate a house and keep about a million and one balls in the air. Today it just feels like I have to start to let some of them fall to the ground or I will come falling to the ground myself.

This place is in complete chaos still – it’s now more than three weeks since the builders started and we seem little closer to getting some sort of order back. There are wires hanging out of walls (what walls we have left anyway), there is one room that you could describe as in reasonable shape and every corner of the house is full of dust.

I have spent the afternoon today doing something extremely pleasurable if very hard work. I’ve been doing portraits. Portraits of women just like me. Women with low self-esteem, who are worried sick about their bodies, their image and their fading youth. What’s nice is that through my photos, I have been able to give them back some of their belief in themselves. They had great fun and ended up with a whole load of photos that I am sure when they see them, they will be very proud of. I am certainly sure in my mind that they’ve got some really nice shots.

Just before I left this madhouse to go to do my ‘other job’, an electrician came wandering out into the front garden with this in his hand. He said ‘shall I chuck this down here for the skip tomorrow?’ I said ‘no, that’ll be my pic’ for today. It’s a coin-operated electricity meter that was in our flat. We don’t know why it was there other than the previous occupants may have been planning to let it out as a holiday let, although we’re pretty sure that never happened.

So, for the second day in a row, another bit of dirty, worn-out old machinery – just like me.

On this day last year, I was also complaining about tiredness - then I was one day away from my personal abyss - I don't think it can get that bad again....she says!