To do

I generally start to go to pieces if I have more than three things that need doing during any given day. Today I needed to: write the notes for the radio show as well as record it; listen to the interview with Neil Arthur and write a piece to go with it on The Song Sommelier website; prepare for my German lesson; pack for Berlin; and travel down to Salford at some point.

Normally, I manage to deal with this situation of feeling snowed under by making a list, planning my day, and getting the quicker items out of the way first to free up some mental space. Today, that didn't feel like it was going to work.

Anyway, the Minx was setting off back to Salford in her car, this morning, so I reckoned I had about eight hours until my German lesson, in which to get EVERYTHING DONE.

And then, a curious thing happened. Firstly, having attempted to set off, the Minx realised she had a flat tyre, which meant replanning our day, and, somehow, that galvanised me.

Firstly, with her assistance - mainly of the actually very useful "have you remembered...?" variety - I packed everything for Berlin. Then she drove us to Salford during which time we listened to the Neil Arthur interview, and I made some notes, which meant that as soon as we were home, I was able to get those written up.

I followed this by doing some German, and then listened to my playlist for this week's Electronic Ears whilst writing myself some notes. After a little more German revision, I recorded and uploaded the show (which you can enjoy here). And then I did the German lesson. PHEW!

The day completely changed complexion at this point. I walked down to meet Hannah, who then came back to the house, where we were joined by the Minx and Charlie, who'd both just been to a life drawing class. And what followed was a wonderful, relaxed evening, chatting, drinking, and eating the amazing butter pie that the Minx had prepared earlier on.

It was only as I lay in bed, feeling happy and congratulating myself for getting everything done, that I realised the one task I hadn't completed was to take a photo for my Blip. So, here's one of the bedroom ceiling.

PS Here is the post on the Song Sommelier site: Blancmange.