Monday morning I actually managed to sleep right through without waking up in the middle of the night! It was a good thing that I managed to adjust in just a couple of days. Simon's advice to just stay awake all day and keep busy rather than succumbing to it and taking a nap was right, hard as it was at times to fight the urge.

We've been really busy all week cleaning and clearing out the house which Simon is preparing to rent out while he's in Australia working. Among the things I've done on the house, I've put up curtain rails, plastered, sanded, stained doors and painted door frames and doorsteps. We've had to make a few trips to B&Q, a huge D.I.Y. warehouse to pick up a few bits and pieces for this maintenance work. Occasionally I'd go over to Tosh's place (one of Simon's friends) to use his broadband internet connection to check on the eBay auctions and catch up on emails.

Yesterday was the first time I'd gone into Leeds city centre proper, apart from that day trip to Doncaster where we got the train from Leeds station, and dinner one evening with Caroline and Jackie. Simon's nephew (Jamie) and niece (Emily) are here to stay for a couple of days, and we went into town to do a bit of shopping and for me, some sightseeing. As the weather forecast was for thunderstorms, we headed straight out to catch the sunshine while it was out so I could get some photos taken. It was a whirlwind tour of the major spots in Leeds. I saw the imposing, but magnificent Town Hall, Millennium Square and the adjoining Nelson Mandela garden, the Civic Hall with the gilded owls and clock, down a few of the shopping arcades including the beautiful Victoria Quarter. Popped in briefly to the only Harvey Nichols outside of London, which is priced waaaaay out of my range.

The Corn Exchange however was a very interesting and eclectic mix of shops. I absolutely love the roof/ceiling of the building, which is an oval, exposed lattice dome and because of the sheer size of it, it has a mesmerising, hypnotic effect when you look at it. Simon, Jamie and I were in the Corn Exchange when the skies opened up and it was absolutely pouring down and we just couldn't make it back to where the car was parked and rejoin the other half of our group, Emily and Mrs Robinson. Just had to stay put and wait for the rain to die down.

Tomorrow we're going out to York, a historical city that was conquered by both Romans and Vikings, and one of the few cities left in the world with an intact city wall around it. There's also the National Railway Museum which I'm really looking forward to.