And relax. On Tuesday afternoon I collected my van from the garage. David, the garage owner, was at pains to remind me again about how very lucky I had been. I replied “why is it that I don’t feel all that lucky having just given you £800!”. But he was right of course, apparently I was within a whisker of ruining the engine, so I patted myself on the back for recognising that there was a serious problem and took the correct action by pulling over immediately. A new engine would have cost thousands, as would have a new vehicle if it was not economically viable to have repaired it. I am just very grateful to have it back on the road.

The other panic that I told you about last week turned out not to be one at all. I have to admit to being a bit of a drama queen when describing my ‘broken’ foot. A week on there is little more than discomfort if I press my finger to the direct spot where the ‘break’ was. Granted it was a bit sore for a couple of days, but it didn’t prevent me from doing anything at work, so thank you for your sympathy and advice, but it was actually not required so now I feel like a fraud.

However, it seems that there is always something with me, and now I’ve got a very puffy red eye that I can’t stop rubbing, which I know is exactly what I should not be doing, but it feels as though I’ve got a lump of something in it that will magically come out with one of the rubs. It has been closely inspected and no foreign bodies could be detected, so perhaps I did have something in it that scratched it but it’s no longer there. It’s a theory. Anyway I’m bathing it with salt water and trying not to rub it. Well I say bathing it, you know, with one of those contoured plastic eye baths that you fill with solution and press to your eye surround and tip your head back. You may or may not have noticed that my eyes are somewhat deep set, so I can never get a good seal with the eye bath, so most of the solution runs down my cheek, front and neck.

Oh, more rain, what joy! The field out the back of us is running like a stream again. The river will burst its banks only a week after it last did, and the orchard will be oozing water when I go pruning again tomorrow. What silly weather we are having. On Thursday it was close to 18°! It’s no wonder that nature is confused – blackthorn is flowering, I saw forsythia in full bloom in a customer’s garden, some oilseed rape is throwing up its flower stems, birds are building nests, and one of our ducks laid an egg a couple of days ago, a sure sign that she thinks that it’s spring. The main photo this week is of Jemima with beak fully loaded with mud. They are such fun to have around the place, you just can’t help but laugh at their antics, even though they make such a mess.

This is a gentle nudge to those of you that let your bills add up a bit before paying. The great majority pay very promptly, but there are a few that settle up after allowing the total to accumulate for a few weeks. With all of my recent expenses it would be useful if the bank balance received a bit of a boost, so an injection of cash would be gratefully received. Thank you.

There are one or two changes to the contents of the shop this week. There is no broccoli and no tomatoes. For reasons unknown to me the prices of both shot up last week, so I’m going to give them a rest this time round and hope that they become affordable again soon. However, for a change I am taking a punt on some courgettes from Spain, which might be welcome after weeks of root vegetables….though they of course continue to dominate the offering. Kale is back and there are still Brussels sprouts and Savoy cabbage if you want greens. I lost my shirt on those whopping great oranges last week, but I am assured that they will be sensibly sized when they arrive later in the week. I will be making some Rocket pesto this week. You will probably have noticed the absence of apple juice in the shop in the past couple of weeks, at the time I forgot to mention that that’s it until late summer. I hope for a much better harvest this year.

In the nursery paddocks in front of the potting shed I am looking out at two beautiful foals at the moment, one black colt and a bay filly. They are respectively 2 and 3 weeks old. I am particularly taken by the black one with its one white sock, he’s a little darling.

The sun is shining now, I ought to go out and do a bit of tidying up. Towards the end of the week the overnight temperatures are set to drop, so I hope that you haven’t packed away your hot water bottle yet. I will need to make sure that the greenhouse heater has plenty of gas as I really wouldn’t want to lose my tender seedlings now.

Have a good week.

Phil