Nadfas, as it used to be known, gives the accredited lecturers a change to give a presentation every year – or rather, they used to give some of them the opportunity, because time constraints didn’t allow all of them to be involved every year. Since meetings etc had to be held online, it’s been realised that it saved a huge amount of money and now they give the Directory Meetings, as they’re known, online too. It was an all-day thing, back in the Spring and they’re doing a bigger event this week. Two full days, with a couple of hundred lecturers giving two minute online presentations,

I watched over 120 of them today. It was too much. I couldn’t really concentrate this afternoon. I’ll be out in the morning, so will watch the afternoon ones and catch up on the morning talks over the weekend.

There are ten lectures over the year and the season runs from September to June. Next year, I’m all set apart from September and, the year after, I have March booked. So I need something really enticing to start the season well. October is Van Gogh, I’m thinking maybe a city as a subject would be good.

Yesterday’s lecture was on Raoul Dufy and it was brilliant. He’s well known in France, Japan, the US but, puzzlingly, not here. I recognised his art, once I saw it, but didn’t know who the painter was. Just that it was quintessentially French. He sounds like a really lovely man, too. He died the year I was born.

I haven’t done much else. I scurried into Yagnub first thing, as Pete, the fabulous baker was on the market, I needed petrol for the lawnmower and I was almost out of fruit and veg. I had to be back in time to put away the shopping and be at my computer for 10 o’clock. I told Wince about the deadline and he advised me to get going. “I will, I’d just been waiting for you,” I said, unintentionally worrying him. He looked at his watch, thinking he was late. I had to reassure him, it was just that I’d waited for 9 o’clock. Anyway, I did it, was back with a cup of tea and a bowl of fruit, nuts, seeds and yoghurt for breakfast, on the dot of 10.