Change of direction today. Elder son was ill so I’ve been running his greengrocer shop. This is an enjoyable job but hard work; a 10 hour day on my feet with lots of lifting and carrying and no breaks. But the customers are lovely and we swap recipes and talk about the best varieties of potato for mashing or roasting.

So no time to read today, but younger son and I went to the cinema yesterday to see ‘Everything is Illuminated’. Elijah Wood played a young American whose grandparents had been refugees from the Ukraine in search of a woman who had helped his grandfather escape. Very good. Skilfully interspersed humour and darkness, which could easily have jarred against each other.