1
Fiona needs to get off the sofa. She’s read how learning a language improves mental acuity, so picks up the prospectus for the local college evening classes.

2
Improvers Italian is full. She could start Portuguese ahead of a planned Comporta jaunt but a two-hour session from 7pm – 9pm with a ten minute break is not that appealing.

3
Her mother suggests joining the local horticultural society. That is likely to be a rave; the committee is already falling out about its theme for next year’s Tidy Towns award.

4
She is tempted to go back to calligraphy – she has all the gear and it would be useful for adding a flourish to Christmas cards and table settings.

5
Fiona investigates Inchbald’s online course and decides she’d rather spend the course fee on actually doing up one of her rooms.

6
Fiona pours another glass of Pinot. She’s really keen to go to flower arranging but looking at her diary it clashes with her (one and only) Pilates evening session.

7
Trying hard to muster enthusiasm, she looks into acrylic painting. She envisages drawing (and selling) flamboyant florals as a side hustle. The course is full. With a waiting list.

8
Finally she nails an art appreciation course at a local gallery. Pre-Covid she loved its prosecco and paint evenings. Her new Mastermind subject will be: The Paintings of Sir John Lavery.

9
She’s also joined a one-day online Zoom on how to get published. That might galvanise her to write the rollicking memoir she’s been planning on her dating disasters.

10
Talking of which, does joining an online dating club count as an evening class she ponders?

ILLUSTRATION BY BECKY DONNELLY