I have been uncharacteristically busy recently with room painting and home-making activities. Ann goes to Thailand on Tuesday and will not be back for six weeks, so she wanted to make sure that everything was ship-shape in her absence. Indeed it is, now.

I have received some criticism for publishing more personal posts over the past few months but I stand my ground - blogs are not unlike diaries or can in fact be just the same, depending upon the intention of the author. Diaries are a place for both public and private thinking, this tradition being strong in the West though less so elsewhere. So be it but I stand my ground.

Painting, on the other hand, is something I get around to every decade or so and it takes me a while to get up to speed. Little tricks I learnt are forgotten and have to be re-learnt at some cost, each time, to the finished product and the pocket. But the old house is starting to get a lift from our efforts and will be a good home for JJ when she arrives. This year will likely be a watershed of sorts, for the better I hope. Lacking a crystal ball, I cannot foretell an outcome, though my road ahead is paved with good intentions.

I am re-reading A Pilgrim's Progress and can attest that such intentions do not always end up in the infernal regions, contrary to popular belief. Sure, I understand that good intentions and the good works that may flow from them are not a means to salvation, but they beat hands down doing nothing or thinking malign thoughts.