Apologies for the radio silence over the past few weeks. This really should have been because I was flitting all over the country visiting friends, singing my heart out and basking in the sunshine, and therefore far too busy to sit down at a computer for even a few minutes. The reality however is a little more depressing. I had been concentrating hard on recovery, physical, vocal and mental, but have had a setback in the form of a chest infection and shocking cough (I blame the grey and rainy atmosphere...) which has completely knocked out the top of my voice - the vocal cords are not approximating at all - meaning firstly that I have had to cancel a cover of a role which I was very excited about, and secondly that I am currently that most miserable of beings, a singer without a voice. In a country without a summer.

With any luck, normal communication should resume soon. It does occur to me that being voiceless in my profession is not dissimilar to the disorientation one feels as an expat, and I am sure I can work that up into a wordy, rambling and incoherent blog sometime soon! Meanwhile I must concentrate on my convalescence and work on avoiding that nagging fear, common to every singer, of never being able to sing again... (yes, OK, I admit it: drama queens, the whole lot of us!)