Mark is not very well.
This is troubling. He did not want to wake up this morning, and sat in bed coughing so much he could hardly drink his coffee. He was supposed to be going to adjust the back brakes on the camper van, but he felt so rubbish that he stayed in bed instead.
I do not like this at all. It is uncomfortable to think that Mark is not in a condition to do useful things in his shed and enjoy his life. I pottered about downstairs ironing school uniform and filling the fireplace with logs and feeling lost and uneasy.
In the end he got up, because he said that he was not really sleeping, just lying in bed thinking about upsetting things. This is not at all a nice way to spend a morning. He came downstairs and sat unhappily at the kitchen table, where he coughed a bit more.
I got cross with him in the end and said that he must either go back to bed and think about nice things and concentrate on getting better, or take some drugs and pretend to be better and do something interesting with his day. It is not all right just to sit about feeling miserable.
He thought about this for a while and decided that he was not sufficiently well to bash the camper van brakes about, so he put his overalls on and went into the back garden to restart work on his new hydrogen exploder for the camper van engine.
He has not done anything to this for ages, and it was so interesting that after a while he felt a bit better. He is not reconstructing the old one. This is a completely new one, with a much bigger tank. He built the new tank ages and ages ago, and it is very pleasing to see it starting to take shape ready to be fitted in to the engine, partly because it is a large bit of clutter to have hanging about.
Harry went home and the children restarted their Oliver Improvement project. Today they have been doing chemistry, and learning about the difference between elements and compounds. Mark told them a bit about his hydrogen exploder, but they were not really interested, because we are too old to do anything worth listening to.
Lucy does not know what Oliver needs to know for Common Entrance so they are doing the GCSE syllabus which she thinks will be pretty all-encompassing. I don’t suppose that it will last for very long, but is splendid to listen to them being so happy together. They have never had a fight. I hope they never do, it would be awfully upsetting.
I made picnics and went upstairs to paint pictures on the door for the camper van wardrobe. I painted some leaves and flowers, but I was yawning so much that in the end I went back to bed.
I felt a bit guilty about going to bed, partly because Mark did not want any more sleep. He said that probably I am sleepy because of his coughing keeping me awake. I did not really believe this until I went to bed on my own and discovered that without somebody coughing and fidgeting next to me I slept with instant, blissful peace, so maybe he is right and I do not have a sleeping disease after all.
It is night now, and I am on the taxi rank. Mark has gone home to bed and I am by myself. It is very quiet.
I have been to the gym and for a swim. This has left me feeling a bit limp and exhausted. I still don’t seem to be getting very fit. I don’t understand this, because I have been to the gym loads of times now. I can’t see a single muscle anywhere yet, and it is just as difficult to zip up my trousers as it ever was.
I will not be sorry when it is my bed time.
Just another few hours to go now.
The picture is Roger Poopy looking out of the window at the snow starting to fall. He sat there staring at it for ages until I started to take a picture. Then he moved.
