The fittings for the new bathroom up in the loft arrived today. Yesterday, Homebase phoned to narrow the delivery time down to "between nine and four". Thanks for that, getting that specific time slot really helped me plan my day. We would have all had to stay at home all day today (my folks are spending a couple of days with us), except that Stephen kindly volunteered to be on delivery duty so that the rest of us could go out. The fact that we were going to spend the morning wandering through the antique shops in the rather picturesque, if oddly named, neighbouring town of Dorking may have had something to do with this display of altruism... Can't imagine why a teenage boy wouldn't want to spend a morning looking at furniture with his mother, sisters, and grandparents...

I bought a couple of books in the Oxfam bookshop while we were out; it's always nice shopping there because you know the money is going to a good cause, and - which sort of negates my first point - you're not spending very much. So right now I am reading The Oxford Murders, by Guillermo Martinez, and, as a fellow foreigner from a warm climate living in England, I'm finding it very amusing. Here is the passage I've just read :

"It was the beginning of April but I was glad I'd kept my coat on: there was an icy, cutting wind, and the pallid sun wasn't much help. Even so I noticed that almost everyone at at the fair occupying the square, as well as the Pakistani driver who opened his taxi door for me, was in short sleeves. I gave him Mrs Eagleton's address and as we drove off I asked him if he wasn't cold. 'Oh no, it's Spring,' he said, waving towards the pallid sun as if this were irrefutable proof'.

That said, even I am enjoying the weather today. Beautifully warm, yet crisp and clear ... like the best possible winter's Durban day, really.

Em's cortisol test tomorrow... It'll be good to get that out of the way...