Very strange that a low mood like I had yesterday was followed by great optimism and enthusiasm today. I went along to a local farm to buy some seven foot bamboo canes for my runner beans, and some compost for Françoise to do her various planting and seeding activities. We are fans of fresh garlic. For this window of two or three weeks in the year, roadsides are absolutely full to bursting with wonderful strong (smelling) garlic. This morning, she picked some and is intending to freeze a proportion.

this is what you make pesto out of. It has to be mixed with oil, pepper, salt, lemon and is delicious on brown bread or any bread come to that. You add Parmesan and walnut or pine nuts or hazelnuts

Today I had the idea of having meetings by Zoom for people in my interest groups, 5G, corona virus etc. because studying certain subjects on your own is a lonely thing and you can quite easily go a little bit loopy without realising it. It’s also a good idea to exchange ideas with people who are on the same wavelength. It’s funny that ideas come when they are ready to be developed. My impression is that it will be a slow start but will build momentum as time goes on.

This afternoon we went for a walk in a local wood.

It is very near high Littleton which is about 10 min drive from where we are. The Woodland Trust certainly know how to keep their properties in good order and it was an absolute delight to walk around and see the dappled sunlight shining through the trees. This is a popular place for runners. We noted that people wanted to keep themselves to themselves and did not engage in any conversation with us. As usual, the boost given by being in unspoiled nature is immediate and profound.