I think it’s pretty well accepted these days, that the best things in life are free, and today I proved that beyond a shadow of a doubt.

For the first time in over 6 weeks I hung some washing on the line. A simple and mundane task in normal circumstances, but today it felt special. The sun was shining, the sky was blue, and although there was a wickedly cold wind, it felt good. In fact it felt very good.

In fact it felt so good that I also spent some more time trying to retrieve the straight edges of flower bed 1 from the ravages of the mole. It was the first time I’ve had a trowel in my hand for ages, and that felt good too.

Later we went for a short walk, and at around 4.30pm I brought my washing in. The air was clear, the sky a beautiful dark blue and the moon a silver crescent.

Quite beautiful and none of it cost a penny.