The chief beauty about time is that you cannot waste it in advance.

The next year, the next day, the next hour are lying ready for you, as perfect, as unspoiled, as if you had never wasted or misapplied a single moment in all your life. You can turn over a new leaf every hour if you choose.

From Arnold Bennett, prodigious novelist, 1867-1931. I like his style...but I find using...how many fingers do I use? Let me check. It's forefinger and thumb on LH and middle finger, forefinger and thumb on RH - plenty enough to be getting on with without employing toes as well.

This is how I've been feeling for the past ten days or so:

No, not feeling like the woman (Could that be Margaret Thatcher?) but like the limp rag going through the mangle.

Today, I DON'T feel like a limp rag going through a mangle.

By Victoria Kirdy

Ready to test my wings again...

Note to self: Don't fly too close to the sun.