A week into Lent

Holding up well. Caffeine withdrawal headaches very low-level this year; a few weeks back I exchanged a huge dose of caffeine administered via two heaped scoops of Lavazza Qualita Oro in a cafetiere for ever-smaller doses of instant coffee until just before Lent I was drinking essentially hot water with a light brown colour. No meat, no alcohol (the easy bits); cheese (especially Montgomery's Cheddar bought mail-order from Leopolis) I miss immensely. Plenty of fresh fruit, tomato juice (and Fortuna's excellent WW+ vegetable juices with chilli or ginseng).

Exercise - sit-ups I over did on Day One, charging into 30 in my first session, thinking it was easy, then repeating this number in the evening and the next day - disaster! My stomach muscles have only now recovered from the onslaught. I begin again tomorrow - more gently. Press-ups are better. Day One I felt my upper torso weighing down against puny biceps; I just about managed ten, this morning I did 12 no sweat.

I've been going to bed earlier too. Lots of new thoughts going through my mind, which I shall expound upon presently - consciousness and flashbacks, memory and observation - and more lucid, vivid dreams.

My first Lenten recipe: King prawns in coconut cream with rice and spinach. Method: Heat some olive oil, fry up sliced hot chilli peppers and garlic, through in shelled prawns (15-20 per portion). Add 150g coconut milk, stir thoroughly. Throw in some pre-boiled Basmati rice (Tilda the best brand), and some leaf spinach that's already been stewed for a while. Cook for 8-9 mins. Garnish with fresh corriander. Et voila!

Top: Misty winter's morning, waiting for the snow to clear the fields. The structure under the middle tree is an outdoor privy put up for the builders of the house to the right. These wooden outhouses are called 'Sławojki' in Poland, named after the pre-war prime minister who ordained that these be built in rural parts for the good of the nation's hygiene.