What we do on dull days at home in The Doldrums

• Look at the heaps of papers on the kitchen surfaces and think about sorting them before they overflow onto the floor
• Make a cup of tea instead
• Walk the dog, posting that letter of complaint to British Airways at last
• Read the post - my sister's postcard from Egypt, sent on April 14th
• Feed the half-starved cats - after all, it is about an hour since they were last fed
• Hang washing out, always strangely satisfying if you do it nicely, attending to colour co-ordination
• Read emails; weep a bit nostalgically over one from Australia
• Reply to emails, trying not to write "Put the kettle on - I'm booking a ticket to Sydney right now! (but not with British Airways)."
• Look at the heaps etc
• Make a batch of very lovely simple little cupcakes with raspberry jam in their middles
• Make a cup of tea and eat two cupcakes while still warm, congratulating oneself on one's (partial) domesticity
• Browse the Lakeland catalogue, and note that the Poach Pods that I was delighted to find in Melbourne are now available here at less than half the price
• Clean the cat litter tray; a particularly life-affirming activity, I'd say
  
• Look at the heaps etc
• Tidy the already-tidy sitting room, the only presentable room in the house
• Worry for a bit - about China and Tibet, the Lovely Son's finances, Harry's bald patch where he pulls his fur out
• Read the magazine promoting the city centre shopping mall; think about writing a venomous letter about the grammar and spelling, but be vaguely pleased about Waitrose coming soon
• Look at the heaps and consider putting them in a carrier bag to tackle another day. This is a proven technique for high-speed tidying when short-notice visitors are on their way; who says I can't use it today?
• Have a cup of tea but not another cupcake; see, self-discipline is not totally dead
  
• Wonder about getting a hobby - maybe one that doesn't involve cake
• Notice that the dog went back to bed hours ago; clearly, she can read the runes that say nothing interesting will happen round here today. Sensible beast
• Now, those heaps...where was I.....