The early morning cool breeze and soft folds of blanket were tempting me back into bed. I dashed my husband’s hopes and justified my desire to have one cup of coffee in bed whilst leafing through my new book.   ‘Why not? We have had early mornings because the grandchildren stayed over and we sat chatting and sipping wine until after 1 am.’ However, I resisted as I had things to do that wouldn’t wait. ‘If I am not going back to bed, then we have to make it,’ I said.

Why I have this compulsion to make the bed once I am up intrigues me. There is no logic for why a messy bed wrecks my day’s organisation as our bedroom is tucked away at the end of the veranda and I don’t need to walk past it once I am up and dressed. In fact if the bed wasn’t made, I might not notice until later that night. If all our problems can be blamed on our mothers perhaps I will add this to the list. Mum always insisted that her children tidy their rooms and make their bed before going to school.

But getting back to a messy bed. Who cares? The bedroom isn’t my office so why does it make such an impact on my efficiency? I haven’t got an answer but I just know that I am calmer and easier to work with when the bed has been made. Muttering about hang-ups and hangovers, I reach for the covers.

A claw sinks into my hand and anchors me to the blanket. Ouch! Obviously Cat doesn’t mind a messy bed. I extract my hand and very cautiously lift the blanket to find said Cat, curled into a lovely warm hollow and displaying no intention of leaving any time soon.

The Cat won the day and I left him there while I pondered on blankets versus doonas. If I were a retailer I would be persuading customers to buy doonas because then they need a doona cover that must match the décor, the season, the latest colour trend etc.

Moi, I prefer blankets. One of my best decisions and investments (and I mean investment as we ate sausages for weeks) was to buy a pair of gorgeous very light mohair blankets that 20 years later I still adore cuddling under.

I particularly dislike the trend of hotels to provide a doona in a sheet bag but no additional sheet. This is great in winter but means in summer you need the air-conditioning on very low to keep the room cool enough to sleep under a doona. I wonder how a committed ‘greenie’ feels about this use of energy. You either sleep with nothing or under the doona and by the middle of the night I find I am having nightmares because I am too hot. Most recently my husband was staying in a Hyatt hotel during a 35-degree evening where all he had was a doona. He phoned to say he had finally understood why I always take the doona out of the bag, so that I can use the bag as a top sheet with the option of the doona. This does cause great confusion in the morning when the hotel staff come to do the room.

However, I do love the way the doona plumps up around my body when I sit up having coffee in the morning. There is truly something very sensual about being wrapped in a doona and having a Doona Day sounds so much catchier than having a Blanket Date.