I am a morning sort of person. If I have something to do, I want to get on with it, getting up at the crack of dawn if necessary in preference to staying up late. It was frustrating then, to have to wait for the plumber to call this morning, to finish his repair of our kitchen tap (which broke on Easter Monday!) The new replacement hose had arrived from Germany, he’d already replaced the seals and declared that when he finished, it would be like new. I couldn’t wait - of all places to be without a fully functioning tap, the kitchen was the worst. Especially right now.

It was almost 10.30am when he left and we’d put everything back again. I thought back to yesterday and how long I’d needed to bake and decided that I’d wait until after lunch to begin. I had plenty of other things to be getting on with but all the same, I prowled around, eager to get going.

The second verse was the same as the first; another baking day. My plan of work suggested making the other two cakes and informed me that once done, I’d have earned a large glass of wine. I’ll save that till later!

I adjusted the timings slightly so that when the oven pinged the first time, the small cake was done to a T and the second ping was just right for the larger cake.

I am so pleased - relieved - they’ve turned out well. With the four cakes baked, this stage is over and tomorrow, the fun begins with preparing the cakes for the decoration. Except that my efforts to leave this week empty didn’t quite work out and tomorrow I have a meeting. I’m hopeful it won’t last all day - I have a schedule to follow!