Laundry maids and ladies in waiting

I am trying to be more disciplined. I am trying not to visit the computer as my first port of call in the day. Instead, I am visiting the washing machine. I have been stripping down beds and filling the washing machine with sheets and as a special treat, the duvet cover too. (This does not apply to our bed - we don't have a duvet - we are the last remaining household in the UK to have sheets and blankets.) Today I am going to remake the bed for Son&H, coming for the Easter weekend. Then I'll start on the next one.

In the meantime, I am expecting delivery of my sample copy of Tainted Tree. I have been chasing this for a couple of weeks and am getting rather tense as time moves on. I have been waiting to receive it, before sending out invitations to my launch party, and, in a sudden panic, I sent out a note of the date to some family and friends yesterday. However, I haven't yet recreated my email address book, so some of the invitations will have to go by post. Last week, I got a call from the art shop in Knaphill where I took Jan's painting to be framed that it's now ready to collect. I went yesterday, combining it with a trip to the bank, but when I got there and had parked myself, more or less on the pavement adjacent to the shop, (because the framed painting will be heavy) I found they were closed for lunch. Yes people still do that, amazingly, in this little backwater. So I will take myself there again today, but not until after the post arrives. I need to make sure my sample copy is safely here, before I go buzzing off anywhere.

We went to my s-i-l's birthday/anniversary party on Sunday. It was good to see the family, and particularly those we don't see too often - s-i-l's son, d-i-l and grandson. D-i-l said I should make a podcast of my book, but we didn't discuss how one goes about such things. We had a lovely meal, followed, at s-i-l's house, later, by lovely cakes - chocolate gateau, goody. Needless to say, the pounds are not slipping off me. They are remaining pretty much where they were - around my waistband and under my chin.