Tuesday and I wake in a strange bed with unfamiliar sounds around me. I am of course at conference, so it’s time to get up and find breakfast. I manage this successfully and get into the conference room in time for the first keynote speaker. From that moment the day did not stop except for food, coffee and toilet visits. I took a few minutes out to cancel my professional insurance that was due on the 1st of December. The conference dinner was brief really and was followed by the communal poetry reading and entertainment. I performed two of my poems and was applauded, but in fairness everyone was. At 10 o’clock most people went to the pub but I retreated to my room to draft the blog, pack and get some sleep. There have been ups and downs during the day. Somebody, a person who in my mind will be for ever “pony woman” gave a really good presentation on the way horses interact therapeutically with difficult children. There were some boring history bits but generally it was stimulating and of course there was a group crisis when the only black woman walked out of the group with no explanation. I am glad I am here; I think I’ve coped quite well with it, and it’s been nice to be reminded of some of the things that made it possible for me to do what I’ve done in therapeutic communities. By the end of tomorrow I will have had enough though.