:: playing catch-up

Erm yes, I went to London, just a few days. It's always the same - I think how marvellous it will be to go away for a break, make lots of plans in my head, etc. Finally I book the time off - hugely complicated in this instance because one of my colleagues had taken voluntary redundancy and had to actually stay on longer to fill in for me. I contact friends, make vague plans, book the dogminder... and then nothing, until I suddenly realise it's only a week away and frantically book some transport, which because I left it so late turns out to be madly expensive and un-green (ie Easyjet). I've also left it too late to book anything like theatre or ballet, gah. And in fact I've gone off the whole idea and would rather stay at home.

But despite all that I did have a lovely time. I stayed with Rona, who is a great host. As well as a bed, she gave me an Oyster card and a list of cheap-and-tasty cafes, and off I went.

My first stop was Sir John Soane's museum, which I'd always wanted to see. It is wonderful, literally - full of wonders. It's hard to pick out any one thing, but for me the jaw-dropping surprise was in the tiny picture room, probably six feet square. I was peering at one of the Rake's Progress series when the attendant started unlatching one of the walls. It opened out to reveal yet more paintings - more Hogarth, some Turners, a Fuseli... and then he opened the next set of leaves. More paintings! He turned to the back wall and set about opening that - it really was astounding. The place is so small and dense with treasures they limit the number of people visiting. Because I went on a week day I didn't have to wait long, but apparently on Saturdays the queue winds right down the street.

I also visited the Tate Modern, loved the Roni Horn exhibition there, and the British Museum, where I enjoyed the Shah 'Abbas exhibition and visited old favourites like the mummies and the Assyrian panels and sculptures. One day I took to the river, boated up and down, hopping off at various points and hopping back on again. It wasn't as good as the Batobus in Paris, but still fun.

I also went on a G20 protest march, the TUC one on the Saturday. It was very decorous and uneventful, in contrast to the later demonstrations in the City, where a man died of a heart attack after being shoved over by a policeman in riot gear.

And so back to Edinburgh, where I collected a skinny old Bertie from the dogminder - he had looked particularly thrawn when I left. The other "guests" were an elderly incontinent labrador and a demented bearded collie that kept trying to hump him. I don't think B had a very restful stay. He ate a huge amount when we got home and then slept like a dead thing.

I had a burst of energy and did some gardening - mowed the "lawn", planted onions, swept and scraped moss off the sit-ooterie and scrubbed all the garden furniture. The next day it rained. Sigh. But it looks lovely. I'm growing spuds this year too.

Health news: I've been having regular blood pressure checks for a while now. The only time they've been in the normal range was when I was on holiday, so now the doctor wants me to wear a 24-hour monitor. You wear a BP cuff that auto-inflates every hour. Friends who've worn them say it makes sleeping difficult! A clinic at the hospital organises this - I should get it within a couple of weeks.

I'm pretty sure work stress is keeping my blood pressure up. It's been awful since the end of last year when the economy started going belly-up. Yesterday we had a leaving do for one of my workmates who's taken voluntary redundancy. Another one of the chaps and I went shopping with a big plastic bag full of money we'd collected for him - we got him a TomTom satnav thing and some book tokens, he was delighted. We are going to miss him so much! They've opened the book for redundancies again - sort of tempting, but there's not much work out there and I have a mortgage to pay.

I got a mug with this on it, and it's my motto now: