As predicted, Monday was an absolutely glorious day. I cycled over to St James’s Park to meet up with some friends to chat over some beers in the sunshine. It was so good to see them in person after such a long time. I never thought of myself as particularly gregarious, but I’m really not a hermit. I definitely need a lot more in-person social activity than I’ve had over the past year.

On Tuesday, I went to give blood. As some good new cycling routes have been built over the past year, I decided to explore a slightly different route. I took a wrong turning and stopped to check the map. As I rode off in the right direction, I heard a voice calling – it was another friend whom I hadn’t seen in a long time! Although I wasn’t able to stop and talk for long, it was a joyfully serendipitous moment.

I’ve done it 33 times now, so I’m very accustomed to donating blood, and I’m not usually affected much afterwards. But on this occasion I felt more tired than usual, and had a long nap on the sofa on Tuesday and Wednesday afternoons. I don’t know whether that was because I’d given blood, or just that I had stayed up too late watching luthiery videos on YouTube.

There’s still no significant progress on the house purchase. Perhaps the latest piece of documentation I sent to the mortgage underwriters will finally placate them. On the positive side, the solicitors seem to have received everything they need from the council – I had thought, after hearing others’ experiences, that it might be a slow point. I’m glad it’s not.

Happy Easter.