The Bear is definitely back to normal after the holiday.

This morning I decided to make a start on the cleaning while he was still in bed, as he rarely gets up before 10.30, but at 9 o'clock he appeared at my elbow wearing a collar and tie and expecting to go out. Yikes, I wasn't prepared for that and said so.

'You've got an hour then', he said, but my unspoken reply was something like 'You'll be lucky' only less polite, and I carried on mopping the floor. Whale was ensconced in the loo after a Normacol so I would have to do a thorough clean in the toilet, after taking advantage of his absence to do his bedroom.

At a quarter to ten Bear was pacing up and down but I had nearly finished. By five to ten I was in the shower but as I emerged from the bathroom, wrapped in a towel, I came face to face with Bear, wearing his coat and an impatient expression.

We left the house at ten past but it was only when I stepped out of the car in town that I realised I was still wearing my indoor sandals. Never mind, it wasn't raining. We went for a coffee during which he moaned about everyone and everything and then we went to collect my new glasses.

At last, the final prescription after the cataract operations and I'm trying varifocals for everyday use, plus some tinted, distance only glasses for driving - when I pluck up the courage to try again.

The optician knows us well and explained in apparent seriousness that while I get used to wearing varifocal s I must take it easy. Therefore my husband must do the cooking and cleaning and bring me breakfast in bed. Also, a weekly bouquet of flowers was on the prescription.

The Bear's horrified expression was proof he had understood.