This is probably going to be my shortest ever blog. I’m just not in the mood for it, call it writer’s block if you like. Yeah, that’s it, writer’s block. My mind is blank and I can’t be bothered to sit here for hours thinking of things to type that not many people are going to read.

The weather is a bit like me at the moment – grey, grumpy, grouchy, and yet mild with very fleeting periods of brightness. That high pressure is stuck over the top of us and is going nowhere fast, so it looks like another week of the same. At least it isn’t raining, and we are not using too much energy on the heating at the moment. You see, my glass is really half full.

So I’ll outline what’s in the shop then I’m out of here. There is a good choice of greens again this week – curly kale, Brussels sprouts, Savoy cabbage and purple sprouting broccoli. An equally impressive selection of root vegetables are also available – swede, parsnips, beetroot, sweet potatoes, red and brown onions, regular and rainbow carrots, and a welcome return of leeks, albeit a limited supply of them. There are squash, mushrooms and mini plum tomatoes. The oranges are from a different grower this week and are an improvement in quality. Apples are Adam’s Pearmain, and there are still some cookers.

Yesterday afternoon I had the pleasure of seeing a beautiful white buck deer, complete with a fine set of antlers. Well it wasn’t pure white, more cream really, but a very handsome chap. He was out in the parkland at Moyns Park, but too far away for me to get a decent picture with my phone camera. He was alone, and it is my first sighting of him, so I am wondering if he is an opportunistic intruder hoping to take his chance with the ladies. If he is to be successful he will have to see off the resident alpha male in the forthcoming rut.

Also yesterday I received my photo driving license in the post. I didn’t want one, I was more than happy with my ancient green paper one, but without one with my mugshot on it I can not get access to my own online data. If I want to see my pension status, if I want to look at my health records on the NHS app, if I want to view my tax records on the HMRC website, and for numerous other purposes, one has to have photo ID. I don’t have a passport because I haven’t left the country in 20 years, so I have been forced into changing my driving licence. If the Government was up front and insisted on ID cards for everyone, as is the case in may countries, I would reluctantly accept it. But this is ID cards by stealth – you don’t have to have one….but actually you do if you want to see confidential information about yourself. Even to get the driving licence I had to send my birth certificate and my marriage certificate. I could have given them my credit history, but I don’t own a credit card and I haven’t owed anyone any money for a very long time, so on that front I am invisible. I am probably overreacting, and I’m certainly being grumpy again, but it just feels a bit Big Brother-like. And to add insult to injury I look like Britain’s most wanted man on my driving licence!

I’ve already written much more than I intended to, which is annoying. I’m off to lay in a dark room and practice some mindfulness before I blow a fuse. See you next week when all will be sweetness and light again.

Phil