I bump into one of my neighbours whilst taking the dog for her morning walk. She senses my mood (I’m feeling very low today) and asks me in for a cup of tea and a chat. While I’m there I assist her husband with manhandling a piece of slate into his car and taking it to a local workshop to have it cut to size, and then sit in the sunshine in their back garden and have a bite of lunch with them.
While I think about it, I email the parish clerk about the allotment to inform her that I do not wish to renew the lease this year, due to ill health. I feel defeated by it, and I hate being defeated, but if I no longer have the energy to tend to it (and I haven’t) then there’s no sense in being a fool about it.