“Darling, can you spare a minute? The Sage is so polite that it’s impossible to know whether this means good news or bad, a request for help or a rather splendid present.

In this instance, he was being wonderfully co-operative. He wanted to know what I wanted done in the greenhouse. I explained, he got going and I returned to the warmth of the house. And my second glass of wine.

Well…the clocks change tonight, of course, which means that I’ll lose an hour’s sleep. And I so need my sleep. Some time ago (well, it must have been last autumn at least), a friend and I agreed that we quite like the clock changing in autumn, for it gives an extra hour the next morning. “One can get so much done”, he said, keenly. I admitted that I appreciate the extra hour in bed. Get more done? Phooey.

Having said that, I’d prefer to stay with Summer Time all year round. I know that we gave Greenwich Mean Time to the world, but I have no wish to eat my cake and have it too – the world can keep it, if they wish. I like light in the evenings. I don’t have my eyes open much anyway on a winter’s morning. I have every sympathy, of course, for the Scots, and have no objection to them doing their own thing.

Mind you, with a Scot as Prime MInister, a Scot in waiting to be the next one and a Leader of the Opposition called Cameron, I don’t see any changes in prospect.