… all of the excitement here this morning. A lorry was delivering to the front of the hospital across the park from here, and because it’s all so tight for manoeuvring, the only way that he could leave was to drive 20 metres the wrong way up the drive, reverse back around a corner, and then go back the right way.

That’s exactly how I would have done it and this was indeed what he was trying to do, but some old woman in a car coming up the drive had deliberately blocked him in, refused to move, and told him to go out of the hospital via the exit – totally oblivious to the fact that it’s too tight for him to turn his lorry around the corner.

And there she sat, and there the lorry driver sat (not that he had much choice in the matter) until Yours Truly and someone else intervened . And then, instead of reversing 20 metres backwards, she pulled forward and blocked off the turning down which he needed to reverse. And we were back once again in the impasse.

I tell you – you can’t make up stories like this in Belgium, can you?

But we’re back with our old sleeping habits, so it seems.

Not exactly 100% though, because I did manage to stay awake to watch the whole of a Boris Karloff “Mr Wong” film. And then I couldn’t drop off to sleep straight away – must be my guilty conscience I reckon.

But then I awoke sometime during the night to go for a ride on the porcelain horse, and the 05:00 dawn chorus finally managed to arouse me from my slumber and that, I reckon, was that.

I did manage to drop off to sleep again at some point because I was on my travels with Nerina. We were at some place down the east coast of the USA and I’d arrived at the hotel which I had booked (in advance, not like me) to stay the night, and I was parked up at the side of the road on rather a wide verge waiting for Nerina to appear. She came along eventually, via the golf course, where she was playing a round of golf. Not that I know anything about golf, but this golf course was weird. There weren’t greens as such, but what would normally be the “green” was gravelled over with tiny loose chippings and the “hole” was a small, narrow trench that conducted the ball to where the hole would be. But Nerina was clearly enjoying herself. Away in the distance on the skyline was another complex, of buildings, hotels and a huge amusement park and this was where I had arranged to stay for the following night (none of this sounds like me, does it?) which pleased Nerina even more.

I’d switched the mobile phone off yesterday and had forgotten to switch it back on before going to bed, so that accounts for the reason that I didn’t finally awaken until 08:45, and it was a grey, miserable, overcast day that greeted me this morning. Nothing like the last two days that we have had.

That patisserie that I mentioned yesterday – it was closed today too so I reckon that we can rule that place out for the rest of my stay. I ended up at the Delhaize further on for my baguette. And I’ll have to go back there tomorrow too because my shredded lettuce mixture stuff has gone off and I need to buy some more. A small pack is only €0:51 in there.

After lunch, the weather brightened up considerably and it was a lovely, warm summer’s afternoon while I was in here working (with windows that don’t open either). But tonight I went out to Caliburn and cooked the second part of my meal. And with it being so nice, I sat outside in the evening sunshine and ate it.

Exactly the same meal as last night, in fact, and it tasted just as beautiful. But tomorrow, I’ll have to try something else. Maybe a ratatouille with tinned mushrooms, or chick-peas perhaps. That sounds like a plan.

It’s a gorgeous evening, with the late, low suns streaming into my little room. I’m going to settle down now and watch a film or something, and see where I end up tonight.