OK, so I realize I've probably spent more than enough time covering Leeds weather patterns in this journal. But they're insane! When I left the house to take Nika out on her walk, an hour ago, it was bucketing down. Five minutes later, it was blindingly sunny. Two minutes later, it was raining. Two minutes after that....well, you get the picture. I called Patrick near the end of the walk to complain to him. He listened, made sympathetic noises, and said, "Well, it is spring...." Hmm.

I finished Chapter Twenty-Three last night, sat down with great enthusiasm in the cafe this morning...and spent a long time staring at my notebook. Gaarh. Even copious amounts of apple strudel (snuck into the cafe in Patrick's backpack) didn't help dislodge my thoughts. I finally managed a bit under two pages. Sometimes my mind feels like sludge.