My day went downhill after this morning's walk. So downhill, in fact, that I'm feeling a bit narky. So steeply inclined, in fact, that I want to make use of one of the new words I learnt today. In fact, I learnt several new words today, as I spent most of the afternoon on a building site. But none of these new words about drainage systems quite fits the bill (well, maybe one of them - no, I am not going there).

My new word is shivaree. It sums up nicely how I felt after plodding around on a frozen muddy site for a couple of hours. And it also provides untold opportunities for making myself feel better.

Shivaree: In the Middle Ages, one way to express displeasure with a neighbour was to hire a band of urchins to stand before the neighbour's house to bang on pots and pans, making a ruckus that the French called a "charivari". It was so common a disturbance the Council of Trent banned it in 1563 under pain of excommunication. In England, where it was also practised, it was called "rough music". The custom survived in the Appalachians, where a newly wed couple would be treated to a "shivaree".

So, if my neighbour's interpretation of "rough music" is my fledgling attempts to teach myself the piano, my interpretation of "rough music" is to stand outside his house at midnight, banging a frying pan with a soup ladle.

If one of you has had a rough day, feel free to grab that saucepan and kettle and join in my shivaree.