To conclude on this thread ...

Since i had some time last night - I got onto the chat help line with Apple - and ended up being completely frustrated.

I have no idea if it was a bot or a human I was chatting with - probably a bot - but 'support center' people do run on very specific scripts - with copy and past replies - so it is sometimes hard to tell.

Bottom line I kept being asked the same questions - no matter how I answered.
Told over and over again that their systems were all running normally.
They even sent me a link to 'prove it'.
I gave up, went to bed and this morning everything is working normally.

The problem was no connection to iCloud of any kind.

I changed nothing - before I had the problem.
I changed nothing - while in the conversation. I changed nothing - after the conversation.

This morning - all was as it should be.

To be fair - maybe Apple's stuff was running ok - and it was a glitch in the matrix - but why Apple's immediate response is to have me check and reset all my stuff - before they even get to running network diagnostics is beyond me.

/endrant