I unceremoniously celebrated our official six month anniversary in Ireland sick in bed. I suppose standing atop Knocknarea with a stiff wind blowing in my face ultimately got to me. The only good thing about lying flat in bed is that you are restrained to thinking, reading, listening to tunes or watching the tube. (If we had wireless, surfing might be an option as well.)

I spent the day reading the second installment of Phillip Pullman’s Dark Materials Trilogy. I’m not ready to pronounce it as the best thing since Lord of the Rings as some people do on the dust jacket, but it is an engrossing fantasy story, geared toward an advanced Harry Potter reader (yes, it is a children’s book), treading across parallel worlds, quantum physics and a treatise on the evils of organised religion. If that is your cup of tea, it comes highly recommended.