Back to the book...

As anticipated, the everyday comforts of a less-mobile lifestyle are proving irresistible. I can get online without eating in - or parking near - McDonalds. I can access a clean toilet without visiting Wetherspoons. I can hop in and out of the shower without requesting the satnav lady to find me a swimming pool. I can make myself a cup of tea whenever I want (instead of stopping at a roadside caff for a cuppa, a bacon sarnie and some mildly racist banter).

The woodburner provides both heat - and, in the absence of a TV, a focus - to the room. Best of all, perhaps, I can switch on the electric blanket half an hour before bedtime, and enjoy the pleasure of anticipation. I wander round the Old Sunday School, marveling at the headroom. I flush the toilet, again and again, just to see what it can handle. There’s a kumquat stuck in the U-bend, but handyman Darren will sort it out later today.

However, after a fortnight of faffing about, it’s time to open up the laptop and get some writing done. My first job is to do what I can to get the belief book profitably into print. I’m also giving the book another edit; there are still improvements to be made… and anomalous passages to delete.

Licensed today: Lewis Castle, Stornoway, Isle of Lewis...