I was duly cuddled and then had a long soak in the bath, face pack and conditioned hair and everything and finally wandered down in pyjamas to find that the Sage had lit a fire and was all set to fetch fish and chips.  Which seemed a jolly good idea.  He opened a bottle of nice red wine, the dog climbed on my lap for another cuddle and I seem to be quite cheerful and relaxed, not least because it’s pouring with rain and I had a sense of urgency, so did all the work while it was still dry.  So all my newly planted stuff will get a good soaking.  Hah.  Once in a while, it’s luck that makes it all come together. If all that long grass had been wet, it would have been impossible to mow and it would have meant a lot of scything and raking, but the rain held off just long enough.

And tonight I’m doing nothing.  I’ve read the papers, I’ll read a book, but I won’t put on the television, especially not the news.  I made that mistake at 6 o’clock and it was so shocking again.  I’m getting to the stage where I can’t take news with pictures any more, I’m so sorry about the dreadful things that happen but I can’t do anything about them and I can’t bear them in my brain.

So I’ll think of five good things.

1 The hen blackbird (and the robin) have been following me about, checking out the piles of grass in the barrow.  The blackbirds are nesting under the eaves of Kenny’s shed, the blue tits in the bird box, but I don’t know where the robins’ nest is.

2 The sun shone today, it was lovely.  I had to go and change into a t-shirt.

3 I wanted an omelette for lunch, but only had enough eggs for one, so the Sage went to squeeze a few chickens.  The eggs he brought back were still warm!

4 Wink rang this evening, not for any particular reason, just for a chat.

5 The Sage has been getting such nice emails regarding his retirement.  People are very kind.