New ferns unfurling are so architecturally beautiful I can’t resist snapping them at every possible opportunity. This one looks much like the caterpillars I fear are invading my cabbages. But I won’t hold that against it. It’s been damp but warm – a little like being out in a jungle. The cicadas singing added a raw quality to our basset walk today. Things are lush in the bush but not perfect. I love the way that things are thriving and dying. Renewing and growing. ... The first thing I was taught to cook at school was Shortbread. I remember how mine made a wonderful frizzbee when it was finished it was so hard but beautifully shaped. That experience has always made me slightly reluctant to repeat the experience. I tend to... I am getting seriously worried about Little Basset’s phobia of water. It’s getting to the point of you can’t even take him to the water let alone see if he’ll drink. You should see him tip toe on the paving stones to avoid the wet grass. ... I still get nightmares if I think of triffids so I’m ever so careful checking what’s happening down in the kitchen garden in case something starts to stir where it shouldn’t. You never know what these beans might be in disguise. It’s the... 