Sorry for being offline so long – phone troubles, coupled with a bout of food poisoning of unknown origin that you really don’t want to hear about. Moreover,I have a project paper due on Monday. And I was in the middle of my study room refurbishing too…

About that, I have a piece of excellent advice. Never, ever decide that you yourself will put together a piece of IKEA furniture that is too big to put in your car in the first place. Not worth it. If it won’t fit in your car, it’s too complicated for a Ph.D husband and writer wife to assemble. Really. Especially when – because you didn’t read the instructions all the way to the end before you started – you find you have to unscrew everything because you omitted to place a crucial set of screws at the beginning…AARGH.

And after all that, tell me, just how humiliating is it to have to round up a bunch of obliging neighbours to turn the table right side up when you have finally got it assembled, because a) it is huge and b) it weighs as much as a beached humpback whale? (Those silver bits are made of steel, man.)

Once I have this project paper done and have tamed my digestive system into abject submission, I shall finish putting the room back together. Then I will post the “after” picture.