I planted some hops to scramble up through our trellis fence last spring and they have flowered/fruited(?) for the first time this year. I noticed them peeking out from the melee of passion vine, clematis and hop while watering first thing this morning.

Something about the simplicity of growing food (well, drink really I suppose) just fills me with joy so here is a shot of one of the whatever-they-are-s. For the second day in a row, I have ended my day feeling glad instead of sad – woo hoo. Just to achieve this at the moment seems like a huge feat.

Maybe my resurging buoyancy has come from the countdown to Saturday, when we will be taking that trip across London to take up our seats for the first day of the new campaign. I am soooo excited about going to the game that I have almost (but not quite) forgotten that it’s my birthday that day too so I’ll be celebrating being another year older with my pals on dog shit hill.

As is often the way, my folks rang me and asked me what I’d like for my birthday. That’s such a hard question for me to answer because this year, as most years, I don’t actually want anything. I’ve got pretty much everything I need in life except time to enjoy it.

Most often my request will be for something really utilitarian like a new hosepipe, a wheelbarrow, an iron or a shredder – yes, these things have actually been my pressie from them for the last few years. This year though, we’ve got an excess of things like this because we’ve still got much of the stuff from David’s house.

The one thing I want is the one thing I can’t buy and that is time to enjoy my good fortune, my love and my home. I wonder if it’s possible to buy a bag of time that I could open and it give me an extra couple of hours in the evening each day for a week or an extra day at the weekend. That’s what I’d really like for my birthday.

In the meantime, I’m going to crack open a bottle of Cornish beer and get round to a few chores ‘Dreckley’.

Last year I was looking after our nest and two years ago, I was also looking after our nest! I must say, I didn't realise what a creature of habit I am until I started this diary and can now see the cyclical effect of everything I do.