I've been so obsessively focussed on the house for so long now that it feels strange taking my camera out with me and spotting pictures. But I did, on my way to our concert in Abingdon.

The pianist in the Rachmaninov Piano Concerto No 2, Maki Sekiya, was extraordinary. Then I discovered that the slight tenor standing behind me and helping me find my notes in Rachmaninov's Spring is her 11-year-old son. Not only does he have a really strong, accurate voice, but his father is Russian so he could read and understand the words, rather than sing from a transliteration as I was doing.

All this was after a morning of emptying boxes  and deep cleaning.

Both activities get to be repeated tomorrow.