Well, it all got a bit interesting when the awards were handed out at Chelsea this year. Golds were given to Sarah Eberle, Chris Beardshaw, Ruth Wilmott, Andy Sturgeon, Joe Perkins, Lulu Urquhart and Adam Hunt – which all seemed about right – but Best in Show went to the last of these two designers, for their ‘Rewilding’ garden.

It’s back. It’s back. Oh, what a wonderful thing!

Those of us old enough to have watched Open All Hours will remember Ronnie Barker’s catchphrase, “it’s been a funny old day”.

I think that’s what you call the nick of time. The last card posted (next door), the last present wrapped and dinner is in the oven. Phew! Never has Christmas Eve arrived quite so quickly. And not without a few false starts (and the odd cough), but here we are: Mum, Dad, Paul and I, all lateral flow tested, sitting around the fire with glasses of mulled wine, relieved to not be having a repeat of last Christmas.

I’ve had to have a rethink. 

As the first rays of sunlight peeped over the horizon and the darkness started to ease, I noticed the silhouette of two small ears outlined against the white garage doors.

Just when you think the garden has finally ebbed for the year, along comes the September mist and love is once again restored.

It’s getting quite autumnal now, but I feel ready for it this year. We’ve had so much rain and hence, so much growth, that I’m looking forward to a reprieve and a slowing down. 

I’m never quite sure what I’ll see when I look out of the window here. I could happily gaze out most of the day; there is never a moment when some animal or other isn’t up to something.

Roses: you have finally got me.