I have mentioned that I’m contrary, haven’t I? Well, housekeeping is one of those things that brings out my contrariness in spades. When there seems to be enough time and energy to spread things out a bit then I can be all relaxed and que sera sera. Then I get hit with a deadline such as, say, a date for an operation and I lie awake in bed wondering why I haven’t yet finished getting the acre of garden in order, re-decorated the entire house, fixed the shed and mower tyres, dug out the ditch, mended that broken lamp and written a detailed How-To manual on how to run everything, just in case I’m less than 100% when I come out of hospital.

This How-to manual is something I’ve thought of doing for some time – this is an old house which contains some old furniture and there are a few idiosyncratic personalities that need to be soothed and taken into account or life will get difficult – which reminds me, I really must get the chimneys swept and retrieve the chimney balloon from the kitchen chimney before it disappears further than anyone can reach.

So, if you see a bit of partially inflated clear plastic bimbling over the Weald you’ll know I got distracted again and went to clear out the gutters instead.