Tuesday 11 July 9:00am

Rose early (6:30am!) and decided to do some piano practice, which I have neglected of late. I was halfway through my Grade III Scales and Arpeggios when Mum came downstairs, pointed to an egg, and said: “Cook it yourself if you feel up to it. I am going out.” Whatever it was must have been urgent, because it was only a quarter to seven am when she slammed the front door shut and left me to my own devices.

Mum has been behaving very strangely of late. It is either hormones or the onset of the Middle Ages, which I understand can affect ladies in peculiar ways such as interfering with their cooking abilities.

An uneventful morning otherwise, though my egg, boiled for exactly three and a half minutes, was perfect.