Gardening Leave

Yesterday I decided I'd had enough of form filling and went off to the allotment for the day! I've been letting things slide because I've been so upset at leaving it after all the work I've put in over the last five years... But I've begun to come to terms to leaving it, and I've decided to enjoy all the summer fruit and give up the allotment in September. So all I have to do is to keep the weeds down sufficiently to avoid an eviction notice from my friendly site representative and I'll be able to eat strawberries, black currants, red currants and white currants all summer long! In fact, I may even manage to eat some of my lovely autumn-fruiting raspberries and pumpkins if they get their act into gear.

Today, of course, I've got back ache because I rather over-did things up there, but it was just good to get away. I saw my friend Charles up there, who had retreated up there to get away from the stress of recent invasive medical examinations, and we were talking about our neighbour Jeff whose wife is dying, and how he's coming up there to find a little bit of peace in the middle of his darkness. We concluded that all of us use the allotment for escape, and it's true. With all the stresses and strains of the last few years: Mum dying, Ella's birth, problems with the kids, my health problems, going up to my allotment has been a saving grace. I know I'll be able to have a bigger garden in Australia, but will I find the same social gardening? I don't know!