Can't remember quite how I left this one - have a vague feeling it was halfway through, having just decided not to be an inside-out and obese ferret, but anyway, this was the final result, and given that my dear sister gave birth yesterday to her first child, a son named Daniel, it has now been handed over and is officially a (seemingly rather drunk) penguin.

I'm very grateful to my parents for handing it over (given the state of the postal system between Germany and England, it was far safer to go via intermediaries), but of course sad that I couldn't do so in person.  Thing is, you see, once you're in rehearsals over here, that's pretty much it, you're tied to the theatre.  I am very lucky in that my sister understands.  I pointed out during her pregnancy that to me, all babies pretty much look like Winston Churchill anyway, and that all the cooing etc would probably be a pretty lie.  Before the birth, she laughed with me and agreed - probably a good thing we got that over with, mind, as post-partum something happens to mothers' brains, and I suspect she wouldn't find it as funny now!!

First performance of the season went just fine, despite having little to no sleep due to above situation (as the daughters of an obstetrician/gynaecologist, we unfortunately know rather more about what can go wrong than is good for peace of mind...).  Feels good to be back in the saddle again, and I enjoyed the first couple of rehearsals for my Debut Professional Acting Role (this would be the one the director convinced me to do at the bottom of a bottle; actually I think it is going to be a hoot).

And I think I now have my new flat properly furnished.  The furniture had amassed itself bit by bit, and is feeling good; what has put the finishing touch to the thing is a couple of beautiful original paintings by an artist friend in Berlin, which finally arrived last week, having been batted back and forth by Deutsche Post in a surreal experiment in German "efficiency".  Hooray for original art, and ensuing inspiration!

PS sorry, have absolutely no idea why the penguin is insisting on obscuring my first couple of paragraphs.  That's artistic creations for you.  Mind of their bloody own...