It’s been quite a week in Gitaland.

Last Tuesday I was asked to be a Trustee of the branch of the charity with which I’ve volunteered since 2013. This nomination came out of nowhere and I was hugely flattered by it. I’m not sure exactly what I’ll bring to the table but it’s going to be a valuable learning experience for me.

I took Fergus to the groomer’s for the first time last week. Oscar had only been groomed once in his long life, when he was taken to represent his breed at Discover Dogs (he spent a goodly amount of time mounting other dogs, I gather) and our kitchen floor was covered in drifts of his silky black fur, which I found not a little traumatising. I’ve decided that Fergus ought to be exposed to lots of different experiences, and it saves me lugging him into the bath. He looked very smart afterwards, and more puppylike, but I think I do prefer a more Byronic look.

On Friday I set off for a residential training weekend with the LibDems. The drive to Staffordshire lasted five hours and took in every single possible traffic jam on the way. During this drive I learned that we had finally exchanged contracts on our house in Norfolk after a bit of an inexplicable delay, but all was well and amicable so it’s fine. I’d left home after signing up to a fairly high profile (for me) project which will have to become more clear in time.

The weekend was spent learning and plugging gaps in my knowledge about the main functioning of a local LibDem party, including our canvassing software, which was used so effectively in the Obama campaign to Get Out The Vote. Networking was also important, and hasn’t come naturally to me in the past but I have now learned to steel myself and get on with it. It’s a “tits and teeth” approach. The perspectives of the Labour-facing area delegates were eye-opening and served as a reminder that the party is a very broad church indeed and that our local issues call for diverse solutions.

Yesterday I took Fergus to class for his Kennel Club Good Citizen Tests and I’m pleased that he reached the required standards for both the Puppy and the Bronze awards. I’ll admit that we must have passed some of the exercises by the skin of our teeth, the teeth being Fergus’s and the skin being that on the judge’s hand, which he found delightful.

And breathe. It all resumes on Thursday with lesson of final preparations for my Schubert solos (I haven’t done enough practice this week so it’s making me fret) before driving “up there” to complete on the house.

This week I’ve learned and practised skills that I could have done with a few decades ago when I was unemployable. I’m surprised and pleased that all of these people have put their faith in me. Reflecting on this has made me wonder at my personal development over the last ten years. I’m a completely different person and I like this me.