Tuesday evening.

We've just finished supper. Zan is on the phone to Emma, and I'm catching up with the email.

Since then, Zan and I had a delightful weekend off together. That was really our vacation! It's been so busy. On Saturday, in perfect weather, we walked by the Thames: Teddington, Hampton Court, Bushy Park. On Sunday, we went to Wisley Gardens, the headquarters of the Royal Horticultural Society. Zan had never been there, and I gave her a year's membership for her birthday. It's a wonderful place. We ended up getting a Liquidambar, a variegated trachelospermum, and a jasmine from the shop. See photo.

Then, a week of practice (I start the solo recording this Saturday), meetings (I've got the job at Trinity College of Music as the Renaissance Lute professor), and private teaching. Then, on the weekend, more practice, plus a trip to the wonderful Lindisfarne Gospels exhibition at the British Library. (VERY cool website: www.bl.uk -- check out the staggering interactive books you can leaf through and magnify to look closely at -- http://www.bl.uk/collections/treasures/digitisation.html -- quite wonderful.) Oh, and a lovely lute concert by my friend Liz Kenny on Saturday afternoon.

And now, we're two days into the new term on the training course, after two months away from it. It's a bit of a shock to the system, and I'm exhausted! During the training, one tends to be very sensitive, and everything seems magnified. Suddenly, I'm very tired. And if I have a difficult day on the course, I feel quite down. If I have a really positive day, I feel elated. It's up and down. But it always blows over quickly. A slightly child-like state.