Somehow I find myself in day 10 of not smoking. (or drinking) and on the other side of yet another afternoon nap. My sleep patterns are all over the place and during the night the most I seem to manage lately is about 6 hours of interrupted sleep. Is it the exercise I’ve been doing to keep busy doing this? No, because it usually knocks me out at night – especially the weight-training. Is it the not drinking? No, because when I lay off the booze regular sleep patterns establish within a couple of days. Then it must be the not-smoking, even though I’ve been using NRT and don’t seem to be suffering anything in the way of withdrawal. Also, scattered through these periods of being utterly knackered are periods when I feel so bursting with energy I can’t keep still, would like to run around the nearby field, in fact feel as more energetic than I have felt in many years. This last is what I have to keep in mind. Once all the upsets are out of the way I’m going to be healthier, fitter! Caroline, meanwhile, is also being whacked on the head by Morpheus and his now getting her own particular reaction to giving up smoking, which is ulcers in the mouth. Of course the anti-smoking crowd never use words like antiseptic or antibiotic in connection with smoking…

I’m sorry to have to report that the writing isn’t going great at all, in fact, it would be more accurate to say it isn’t going at all. Yes I’m writing blog posts but they hardly require the same degree of concentration, and yes I managed to do that synopsis of Penny Royal I: Isobel for Bella Pagan, but actually getting deep into the trilogy to make the alterations and corrections needed is a no-no now. This inability to concentrate is certainly due to the abnegation above, but is also due to the reason we are back in England right now, when we’d usually be on Crete. In fact that might be another reason for my insomnia.