Our Jo and John were going to a ball at a place in Much Wenlock, Staffs. Peter and his girlfriend, Claire, were going to Skegness for the weekend. Who goes to Skegness in November? Come to think of it, who goes to Skegness at all? There was a reason for them going but, I've forgotten what it was.

So, Travis needed to come for the night. He duly arrived at 1.30 p.m. with his bed, his bowls, his food and his lead. He bounded in and panted up to the cat who hissed at him but didn't run away - well done, Maddie. As his mum and dad drove away he watched through the dining room window but there was no whining and he just trotted to me for some fuss.

An hour later he was put on the lead and walked round...

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It was exercise class # 2 today.

We all did our exercises, diligently, me with the ton-weight on my shoulder, and then we settled down for the coffee and biscuits and the TALK.

Steve, one of the physiotherapists, did the presentation. How to conserve energy - not global energy but one's own - was the theme. They were on about not overdoing it when cooking, cleaning etc. and I just thought about me sweeping up the leaves, today, in my back garden and down the side of my kitchen and garage before I went to the class. Well, yes, it left me a bit breathless but I reckon it would have done the same 30 years ago when I was young and fit.

Anyway all was fairly serene until they gave out the handouts....

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Laura's been learning the clarinet since September and she's coming on in leaps and bounds. She knows D E F G A and with those 5 notes you can play some pretty good tunes. The quality of the notes has improved in the last few weeks, too, and her playing sounds more mellow and controlled. She's chuffed to bits with herself, also, that she is learning to read music. I don't think that had occurred to her but it has now dawned on her that she knows what all those notes, rests, pauses and time signatures mean and where to apply them.

The other night she was having a little "jam session", after her formal practice, and as she tootled I realised she was playing the start of "Begin the Beguine". A bit of...

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I went to my first get-your-lungs-back-in-some-sort-of-shape exercise class today. It's at the Warrington Wolves R L F C Stadium which is massive and leases out parts of the building to the NHS, private functions, businesses etc. I'll be going on Tuesdays and Fridays until Christmas week.

Fridays it's 12 noon until 2 p.m. and I staggered in from the car park, clutching my mobile oxygen cylinder in it's smart little back pack, and sank on to a chair in the waiting area to recover. The thing is ridiculously heavy. I had parked in the designated car-park which said "For the use of NHS at Wolves patients only" but every single bay was a "disabled" one and - I'm not disabled. I resolved that, if I should get...

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Dave and Laura, the plumbers, finished the bathroom at 1.30 p.m. today, Saturday. They have done an excellent job and I can't praise them highly enough.

I used to have a champagne bath, sink and loo (leaking for the last 5 months) with dark walnut panelling, vanity unit and loo seat, champagne cabinet and shelving, biscuit-colour tiles half way up the walls and gold coloured taps and fittings. I had dark pink flotex carpet tiles on the floor. When my late husband installed the champagne suite, 27 years ago, it was the latest style. Now it looked, well, dated and dreary.

I now have a white suite, with a shower-bath (with the wide, round bit at the shower end) a power shower and a clear curved screen. There's...

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