Epiphany

I love it when things go back to normal after the long Christmas break. I love the binmen coming back on duty, real post coming through and the shops being open again. The best moment will be when we take down the tree and decorations tomorrow for Twelfth Night. We have the world's smallest crib on our piano and the three kings are moved millimetres closer to the stable each day. One got kidnapped before Christmas but we got him back without paying a ransom. (We think the kidnapper was Lila).

Don't get me wrong - I love all the cards and baubles and mistletoe but by the end I am longing to get back to work, to clear the remains of cranberry sauce out of the fridge and get on with the new year.

I have finished off chapter 13 and written 14 but even more importantly have spoken to my researcher, who is fully back in business and found a mediaeval specialist in Oxford to answer my questions. And I've discovered various important books I need to consult are in the Bodleian. I've been a member for three years but never used it, so next week I shall order up the books online and go in the next day.

Today I've been inundated with phone calls, mostly not for me, but one was a journalist who rang me a few weeks ago about Madonna as a children's writer. This time he wanted to know about Noddy! I said he seemed always to draw the short straw and vented my opinion of the worthlessness of Noddy. Think I was a bit indiscreet because when he was talking of the world domination of the bell-hatted one, I said, "Yes, well McDonalds and Starbucks have world domination too so that's no guarantee of quality."

Happy new year to all!