Woken by the Alsatians at 6 am. Should have been up in any case. Write for two hours. 8.00 am Breakfast. Rice Krispies, long-life milk and an orange. 10.00 am Avoid the workshop. It’s not compulsory to do more than three sessions a week. Continue writing. 12 noon Turn on cricket to hear CMJ telling me that Australia are all out for 190, giving them a lead of only five runs on the first innings. England are still in with a fighting chance. 12.15 pm Lunch. The rule for lunch and supper – called dinner and tea – is that you fill in a meal slip the day before and drop it in a plastic box on the ground floor. The menus for the week are posted on a board so you can always select in advance. If you fail to fill in the slip – as I regularly do – you’re automatically given ‘A’. ‘A’ is always the vegetarian option, ‘B’ today is pan-fried fish – that’s spent more time swimming in oil than the sea, ‘C’ is steak and kidney pie – you can’t see inside it, so avoid at all costs.
