Tax-rolls for the names, the Agas Map of London, rope (or not rope) ferries, lute music, woodcuts and their elements, leagues and miles, Estienne’s Guide des Chemins de France, post horses, ruffs and collars, the (not very long) way from the Quai des Bernardins to the Rue des Anglais in Paris, the right way to take a bow, original frontispieces,  light hours in November, and Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day, Cadiz 1596, wives inheriting, Channel crossings, Thomas Platter…

What with one thing and another, I’m spending a lot of time in the 1580s and 1590s, lately…

One thing is, of course, my current project Tw; the other is that one of the readings of our tiny summer season is my adaptation of Shakespeare’s Sonnets – and I’m directing it. And I have a wonderful cast. Mostly quite experienced – which is good, because we don’t have all the time I’d like for rehearsals. And meanwhile the deadline – oh dear, the deadline…

Hence the tax-rolls, the ruffs, the ferries, the music… with occasional breaks for Alice in Wonderland (also in the Summer Season, if only a scrap of it) and more practical concerns.

Only, it seems I’m not terribly good at more practical concerns, because last night I put the napkins in the fridge, and – this being the umpteenth piece of absentmindedness of the day – was  invited to come home from the 16th century, at least now and then…

Ah well. The Sonnets will be next Wednesday, and then I’ll be supervising the thing with Alice in it next Saturday, and then I’ll have Nellie Bly on the 25 – and after that…

Well, there will still be TW, and on the whole I’d better make no promises – but perhaps I’ll be here just enough to put the napkins in their drawer?