It’s a coldness that is hard to shake and so I lit the fire first thing. I get expenses for working from home and it just struck me that means I’ve got money to come for the three months I just claimed… so fire can be lit!

It’s cold because it’s January but we are fast approaching February and the shops are full of perennial roots to hopefully grow in the summer. My favourite Woolworths is selling off a lot of my must-haves. So when visiting Hitchin for work I picked up some Astrantias and rudbeckia which will balance out the black lilies I bought last week. Astrantia is pink so you can be sure it will grow wildly when planted. And the rudbeckia doesn’t necessarily like where I’ve planted it before but hey I live to be surprised.

It’s lovely out but cold. I feel virtuous for having gotten out of the house (for work) and slightly amused at handing over a package to a stranger in a car park. You can’t make this stuff up the reality is pure gold. I have filled my boot for a journey across the county tomorrow and hope I don’t get in a muddle with new boxes with different quantities from before. Mental maths is being challenged but it’s so nice that folk seem to be welcoming our deliveries. I just never saw this being part of the job. Keeps me fit even if I have an occasional wobble.

It was Burn’s Night this week and despite remembering haggis I didn’t realise we were short of potatoes and had no turnip, so it was served without mash of any kind. But it was served with orange- and white-coloured veg. My tastebuds were tantalised by the new combination. Our tradition can change? Can’t it?