We’re off
Having got the introduction to the collections book off to the designer, we’re snatching a week away in the north Pennines. It’ll be very quiet and low fuss, and if the weather isn’t with us, there is a woodburning stove. We’ll also see Dr Biswell, which will be very nice. I have just acquired a lovely new toy, which fortunately, arrived in time, a nice little computer the size of an ordinary quarto, and only weighing a kilo or so — it took three hours to get it up and running, but it now seems to have got itself connected to the internet, sorted itself out, and acquired enough bits for me to write on it (one of the hazards of new computers is being in the middle of trying to download or sort out one thing, while another suddenly opens up windows and tries to get you to start doing something else, but I think I’ve wrestled matters to a conclusion). Thus I can get on with the edits to Helena, which I’ve been hoping to get back to since I saw my agent in London. It’ll be a bit tiresome writing on that tiny keyboard, but the real or quotidian laptop is appallingly heavy - I can see this toylike little article being genuinely useful. It’s actually quite a powerful beastie - it’s a very naff colour so it was discontinued, and therefore, was something of a bargain. I feel quite affectionate towards it already.