Dear Clare,

I know I don’t really need to apologise as I guess you’ve been as busy as I have over the Summer with the children off school (were you going hairless in the final week?) but it’s been too long. I always think, ‘Right, I’ll catch up when they’re back at school’ but it still takes me about a week to absorb the shock that they’re going into another year. In my case I now have two children at secondary school, one a sixth former! I don’t feel nearly old or responsible enough.

But of course my real news is that I’ve won the village annual allotment award and have my ceremony tomorrow night! I shall get the children to take photographs to prove I’m a worthy winner. Actually I don’t think I’m a worthy winner at all as despite a ‘name and shame’ article in the Parish newsletter a few years ago about

‘certain allotment holders growing too many flowers’ my allotment has been awash with cut flowers again this year. But I think the parish have changed their minds now home grown cut flowers are trendy again, the ethics and economics of growing a dahlia five minutes down the road rather than flying it in from Nairobi being more current than it was a few years ago. I still expect the old guard to be tutting into their beards at me though. I shall report back…

And how are you? Frazzled? And how’s the allotment?

Caro xxx