I have arrived back in Sandhurst tonight, heavy of heart – back to the office tomorrow yet there is so much needing to be done at home – both here and in Cornwall. Flap, flap, panic, panic.

The garden here is huge and I regard myself as the referee – I step in when something is in danger of smothering something else or when something looks sick. Basically it’s all I have time to do in my time-poor life, what with work travelling and Cornwall. I’ve been looking at weeds growing up between the cobbles of the circular patio I laid a few years ago with the help of my buddy Colin and thinking I must get round to pulling them out.

Tonight, as I raced up the garden to let the hens out for a bit of a run around after three days cooped up in their run, to my delight one of the straggly plants that had pushed its way through the cobbles was an evening primrose that had self-seeded from some I planted last year. I’d failed to notice what it was from the foliage.

So, it makes a great metaphor for my continual theme to these pages – enjoy your brief time here on earth – you don’t get another go! These flowers bloom for one day only, sending a heady scent out into the night air so moths and other night-time fliers can pollinate the plant and develop seeds for next year’s new plants. Each day, the open flower is higher up the stem, reaching for the stars.

I hit a brick wall today metaphorically and have travelled the two hundred mile journey from my spiritual home to here, my economic home in a semi-trance of jetlag, tiredness and general exhaustion. This little plant revived my flagging spirit without me even needing to find its oils – just the sight of it alone has been medicine enough for my soul.

Now I must end today’s posting because I have a date with the bath to try to scrub the paint off my skin before returning to the office tomorrow!

Last year's sprout bags pic was the catalyst for two lots of pleasure....the first I knew about it was my ex-colleague and friend Clint Anglo (mentioned in the text of the pic) contacted me via pbase after around fifteen years or so that we had been out of touch for. That was the first bit of pleasure - Hi Clint if you are looking in these days. The second was that he told me the story of how he'd found me...his friend who he'd lost touch with googled his name and came up with two references - Clint's footie club and my photo. The amazing coincidence was that the guy who googled Clint was the person who originally coined the phrase 'sprout bags' for fishnets when the two of them worked together in the late 70s in a greengrocer's shop! Apparently he was 'made up' to have his phrase recalled in that way. He passed on to Clint the URL of my posting and the rest, as they say, is history.

Two years ago, I also had an event that was a catalyst. I was out with DM taking pics at dusk - he with his G2 and me with my Fuji Finepix and he was able, through the superior functionality of the Canon, to get shots long after my camera had given up in the poor light. The next morning, I went online and bought myself a G3 - the re-start of my relationship with photography, rather than the 'happy snappys' that I'd been taking until then!