Tis indeed a quiet day. I've almost cleared out my inbox now, I've not got many stories on the to-do list and I'm just enjoying a cup of fruit tea courtesy of Steve - some rather nice hibiscus, spearmint, cherries, orange peel concoction that wakes you right up. Apparently he got it from Holland & Barrett so methinks I'll have to get some.

Anna cancelled on needing me for decorating. I'm glad she did so before I went out and bought a whole new set of acrylics, as I would have raided The Works and bought a complete set of those big £2.99 tubes; that, along with tomorrow's bus ticket, would have put me back by £50 and that's the last thing I need.

TNG must owe me nearly £70, now, from bus ticket refunds. Not their fault, of course; I've often been too focused on work at the Star to go back there for refunds.

Let me see, what else can I waffle about to pass the time? I'm after a new sketchbook like the old ones I had - the ones that college so graciously chucked out - to restart my art project. I want one that's A3, hardback, coilbound (they're by far the coolest!) but I don't know where in St Helens to acquire such a thing. Normally I rely on Amazon but I'd like my sketchbook LYK NAO.

Wilkinson's is a definite no-no. They only sell the sketchpads where the pages are designed to be torn out. Last time I checked WHSmith their A3 coilbound sketchbooks weren't hardback. I'm not sure if Ryman's would have what I'm looking for, though their prices are good, and Rennie's is bloody expensive, though it might have what I'm after.

If this goes well, I might try buying more sketchbooks to illustrate other works of fiction. It would really help me to go places as an illustrator if I had four, maybe five good sketchbooks to show. I could do '1984', 'The Soft Machine', 'Waiting for Godot', 'A Midsummer Night's Dream'... plus my own novels!