I had a noticeable shift of mood yesterday evening.  I was unhappy and tired and just wanted to go to bed, but I thought I’d have a bath first and see how I felt.  And I lay stretched out in the bath for a long time and listened to the radio and just relaxed in the warmth, and when I finally got out and came downstairs again, I felt quite different.  I lit the fire, poached eggs for supper, watched tv (for the first time since the royal wedding before last) and was cheerful all evening.

It’s occurred to me, what if those of us who aren’t clinically or long-term depressed, but sometimes feel really low, just had lovely long, comforting baths.  How about it?  On a chilly autumn evening, it was just what I needed, yet showers seem to have overtaken baths in the last decade.  Not that I’m knocking showers, but surely they wake you up in the morning rather than relax and comfort you in the evening.  I doubt that baths waste that much water – it depends.  A traditional shower may not be wasteful, but a power shower uses a lot of water and is enjoyable enough to want to stay in it for some minutes.  Russell and I always shared bath water – not the bath, obvs – so I suspect we used no more water than two good showers.  Anyway, whether or not my theory has legs, it was just what I needed and the effect has lasted.

The lovely electrician came round first thing this morning, when I texted him, and spent much of the morning re-routing a cable.  it’s all down to the new fuse board, which tripped out when it detected the screw through the cable leading to the storage heater.  In 32 years, the old board hadn’t, but then it never has done any harm.

I didn’t get my accounts done, but I did rod the drains (the annexe’s, which are puzzlingly prone to blockage in a way they never used to be) and sorted out the squashes and I even hoovered.  So did the electrician, which was appreciated.  And I had a helpful and constructive conversation with an insurance company, which is a pretty damn good thing, and a really kind email from my broker.  So overall, it’s been a good day, notwithstanding the drain rodding.

Tomorrow, I’ll try again to get in touch with the plumber.  The place is cracking up,