At 3:30 a.m. the alarm went off, dragging me from slumber, even disturbing the kitties who looked aksance as if to say "but Mummy it's not breakfast time yet" - quite strange not to have them racing into the kitchen, tails up, purring like motorbikes whilst I stumble, bleary eyed, behind them.

At 5:00 the taxi arrived with ten seconds of me putting the phone down - I raced down three flights of stairs, out into unexpected drizzle, then leaped in.  In under five minutes I was at my destination.  Plenty of time to grab a skinny decaf Fairtrade latte before boarding my train.

An experiment today - on the grounds that the quiet coach is always packed, and that usually there are people wtih VERY LOUD VOICES who ignore the 'no phone calls' rule, I booked a seat in an ordinary carriage.  And so far it is totally, utterly blissfully silent... until the train manager starts an announcement anyway.

So I have now completed some work, played around on social media (it seems other people are up are silly o'clock too) because for once the on-train wifi is working.  And now I'm posting this.

There was a time, even relatively recently, when I would not have attempted such a long day, but today it just seems to make sense, my week is cram-packed with stuff and the early-late day with snooze time potential on at least one train is the least challenging option.  Funny to think that five years ago, had someone said I'd be doing this again, I'd have thought they were impossibily optimistic, but here I am.

Train now chugging out of Carlisle on its way south.  A busy day of charity trustee work ahead - but I am grateful to God that I am able to do so.

Time to check my emails, read the papers for the meeting then maybe snatch a quick snooze before the train fills up.