Today has been extremely productive.

I've phoned and sorted out gas, electricity, phone and internet connections for the new house, filled in multiple change of address forms, paid all the bills which need paying before the move, and filed away all the paperwork which accumulates on my desk.Downstairs has been tidied and hoovered, and I'm going to do upstairs before I relax for the night.

I'm doing anything to avoid packing.

This is especially for Fiona, who left a message asking where I was. I felt loved.

I'm still here, and ever so busy. So here's a quick rundown of the main things.

Apart from all the overtime I'm doing at work, we're also up to eyeballs with house things. The house buying and selling is going through well, we're hoping to be moving in to our lovely new house overlooking the moors in about 3 weeks. So lots of packing and planning is going on. Phone calls with solicitors, estate agents, mortgage advisors, insurance advisors and what feels like a billion and one other people too. It's tiring and confusing and scary. I'll be so glad when it's over.

I've also had a birthday, combined with a holiday. Porl, Jimmy and I went camping in Derbyshire. We walked, we ate, we played cards and we watched lots of cricket in the picturesque village of Ashford-in-the-Water. Picture limestone grey tudor houses, village cricket green, balmy days, hot air balls overhead. The boundary line of the cricket pitch was the fence which kept the sheep next door in their field and off the pitch. It was lovely, and a much needed break with a couple of ace lads.

Of course in between all this I've been de-stressing with crafty pursuits. There's lots of new jewellery dangling off the corner of my shelves. I've also tried making beaded flowers and I have some cute bunches of pansies. I've had my first go at book binding, it turned out well, but there's a few things I'll do differently next time. Finally, the Spinning. I've been persevering with the drop spindle. It's going slowly, but I will get there.

So that's a rundown on the basics. Plenty of other stuff has happened, like Lynskey gigs for example. But it's far too hot to think about them, or type about them, so I'll leave it there. I'll try to write more often, but don't keep your hopes up. My new catchphrase seems to be "I'll do it after the move".