Thursday and I wake up decidedly less snotty than I have been for days. I sniff the wind of change. Down stairs the same old same old, TV politics and the office murmur. Breakfast and I am ready for the day. So after a studied breakfast time I set about rebuilding the water terrace with the replacement tanks that arrived yesterday. So much muck and water leeches wash around in the old and split top tier tanks. First job is to get it apart and fit the right pipes, bungs and trays. Its wet and fiddley work but it starts to come together.

Slowly but surely it all comes together. I test each level to ensure the overflow works until finally it is complete and working. I improve the overflow outlet so that it flows more directly into the drain. It’s a good job well done and should see us through the winter safely.

I clear away the debris from the work, recycle the packaging and wash up. Its lunchtime by the time I finish and so I prepare a dish of tomato soup and chat to my partner. She goes off to see her mother with her brother. I fancy a post lunch bit of chocolate and go to my eldest daughter who has been entrusted with our “secret” stash. She has eaten it all because she’s not been feeling well. Nothing for it but to go over to the shop and replenish our supplies. I will see how it goes. I note on my news feed (I’m so down with the kids, so well gnarly) that Annie Ernaux has won the Nobel Prize for literature. I read a review and decide that she sounds like my kind of author, so I order a couple of her books from Amazon to arrive tomorrow. I’m hoping that I have discovered a new author to devour. I will let people know what I think after tomorrow. As I am feeling much better than I have done recently I decide to train. It’s been 34 days since I last trained adn 29 days sine i last swam. I am appalled that I have let this go for so long. In fairness I have been feeling shit, but I am nagged by the thought that I should have made more effort sooner. I go and get changed including the full track suit. I already know that this session will be 30 minutes, on a low level and slow, hence the track suit to keep me warm and protect my out of practice muscles. I climb aboard and tentatively take the first pull on the rower, from then the muscle memory takes over and I slowly stretch out. It goes quite well, and I am pleased to have made the effort. My heart rate at the end is up to 123, which is okay however the time to reduce takes more time than usual which is what I would expect with a loss of fitness over the last 34 days.

I get out of my training gear, make coffee and open a bag of peanut M&Ms. While I enjoy these, I start to draft the blog. As it is Thursday the rest of my day is predictable. The garden guy will turn up and have coffee, my partner will cook tuna pasta before going to her online singing lesson and as it’s a European football week I will be watching a football game. I’ve already got tomorrows to do list in my head and this time it includes the gym. But before any of that can happen, I need to check Fort Hog and ensure my garden beast is well fed and protected.