SPENT: Goodness knows! £5.70 per day bus fare; £16 train ticket to Oxford; £12 Primark (socks for Toesles); £3.20 toy stuffing; £16 top-up shop; £1.80 buttons (for eyes); £5 charity shop jars/bottles (for Christmas gifts)
BOOKS BOUGHT: 4 on BOGOF thanks to Waterstones’ generous “discovery” staff gift card freebie
INTERVIEWS ATTENDED: 1
INTERVIEW INVITATIONS: 2
HOURS WORKED AT WATERSTONES: roughly 30, but time passes so quickly there it feels like three!
FAIRY SALES: 8 x large, 4 x small = £52
SCHOOLGIRLS WHO ARE “ACTUALLY GOING TO DIE” BECAUSE THEIR IPHONE HASN’T ARRIVED: 1 (I wonder if Apple know they’re responsible  for “actual” teenage deaths…)

Apologies for the absence, the 12 hours out of the house each day are leaving little time to do much in the evening. I get home physically exhausted, cook my dinner, answer my emails and collapse in an exhausted heap. The upshot of this seems to be no blogging – that and a throat and ear infection which is my body’s favourite longstanding way of telling me I’m burning the proverbial candle.

I’ve said before that autumn light has a particular quality to it, a golden sheen. This week I’m discovering that dawn light has its own quality, a sort of cool lilac, waiting to be warmed. Being a night owl I can’t remember the last time I saw dawn… but this past week I’ve been leaving the house in sync with sunrise. And it’s kinda pretty!

In further phone-related news, mine appears to have developed an ironic sense of timing. Twice now it has cut out as I said the words “my phone might cut– ” Amusing, yes – irritating – more so!

FAVOURITE OVERHEARD CONVO OF THE DAY:
WOMAN ON MOBILE PHONE: Yes, yeah, we’re just doing some Christmas shopping. Where are you? Oh, we’re just around the corner – come meet us! You come to us? Okay, okay, we’ll see you in a minute – we’re in Smiths.

Ummmm…. no, you’re really not! Smiths? Our bookselling rivals? Next door but one.