Tomorrow I go back to work after six weeks off - I had surgery on 4 May and needed time to recover from both the operation and from the horrible flare-up of psoriasis that was undoubtedly the accumulation of the stress of the last six months manifesting itself.

I'll be glad to get back to the office - I'm bad company when left to my own devices, and these last few weeks I've isolated far more than is good for me. I've been comfort eating and have gained weight, but am hoping that being back in the workday routine will also get me back into better eating habits. I had ice cream for breakfast today, for God's sake!

I'm also the world's worst procrastinator, but will be going back to a new caseload, so I've got the opportunity to start afresh with new - and hopefully good - habits as far as my casework is concerned. I always find that the cases I dread doing are never that bad once I get down to them.

Today I made a birdbath. I'd been looking for one, and the only ones I'd seen were either heavy stone things or were too shallow. So at B&Q I got a large plastic tray, the sort you're meant to stand plantpots in, the biggest one they had, and I put it inside one of my large planters and filled it with water. It's about 3cm deep. Within minutes a magpie was having a bath in it, and I stood watching it from behind the patio door with a big smile on my face.

I love the birdlife here.