The evidence? Within the space of nine days

1. answerphone dies
2. freezer ends a long and productive life (while still completely full, of course)
3. large cherry tree comes down in gales just feet from our house
4. phone (landline) dies. First engineer sent to site on Day 2, foreign to neighbourhood, can’t track lines, defers problem.
5. battery for car-key malfunctions once car full of assorted valuables parked in city
6. internet connection lost for no reason known to man …
To quote the wisdom of ages: ‘all is vanity and vexation of spirit.’

Conclusion? Must be a jinx. Or …

I read a terrific book in the midst of the chaos listed above. Still Alice by Lisa Genova. Alice has dementia; it’s her story. I’m glad my own novel on the subject is written or I’d be tempted not to write it, because Still Alice fits almost all my own criteria. I entered her world … I found myself testing my memory with mental lists … I could almost believe the phone, the tree, the car-key, were a figment of my dementing mind … what a relief to find all those annoying things really had happened.

Well, they do say, truth is stranger than fiction. Speaking of which, I must get down to writing it. Much catching up to do after a frustratingly hamstrung week.