I'm back at my desk in lovely, leafy Stratford. I went to the Y this morning for pool class, and did a little light housework -- I washed the dishes and polished the brass. Procrastination completed, I am now settled down to answer my email, pay whatever bills I have to pay "by hand" (as it were), but first a visit with the Cat.

I could not access Mudcat at all when I was away because of the licence problem, which bothers an iPad far more than my desktop computer, although that, too, is an Apple machine. So youse all were spared the account of the back spasm that hit me last Tuesday and ruled out about half my agenda. Museums are off limits when one's back is complaining. The return drive was tolerable only because I budgeted more time to rest and loosen my back by hiking around parking lots, but most of Sunday was spent recovering from the coffee I had to drink to stay in my lane even when my biorhythms had hit rock bottom. Edmund was always perky after lunch so he would drive through my post-prandial slump, but now, if I'm to get home by dark, I have to get hopped up on caffeine to push through it.

I'm always glad to come home to a clean(ish) and tidy house, although achieving that state before leaving is always a bit frantic. Last week's back misery is almost certainly the result of carrying the dratted vacuum cleaner around before subjecting my poor old frame to eight hours of road.

The choir season begins this week, and I think I'm ready. Let the games begin!