It is one of those perfect late spring/early summer days. The garden is growing well. Every time I walk by I look for signs of new growth in the wildflower meadow. It will come.
The doors to the shed are flung wide open and there is cricket on the telly. I am not alone. Son Tom is busying himself with his laptop on the leather settee and the Head Gardener strolls occasionally by checking on progress in the borders.
Joe is also home and has brought some old Uni friends. Not totally sure how many. Last night it was four but two more turned up this morning and there could yet be others. They have gone into town but I believe are returning to watch the FA Cup Final and intend thereafter to fire up the barbecue.
This morning I pottered. Foster’s butcher, the Anne’s Vans depot and Waitrose followed by some tidying up jobs. We moved my childhood chest of drawers, recently retrieved from our house in Peel, into the shed where it will continue to serve me as a repository for interesting things. I have some Manx first day covers and a wad of old Manx postcards.
With me on the boat also came eleven posters of varying sizes. Too many really but I just can’t turn down a good poster. One thing that did not make it back from the Isle of Man was the model of HMS Victory. Aside from the fact that the seller decided he wanted more than the ninety pounds we had agreed there was absolutely no room for it in the car. It was either the chest of drawers or the ship. I did the right thing.
We are off back later in June and may yet ship it back with us to the mainland. Geddit.