Z hasn't quite let go yet

The Sage's head appeared out of the bedroom window as I clambered heavily onto the saddle. He offered to come and help put up the heavy outdoor shelving. I said, insincerely, that I could manage, but when he repeated the offer I accepted. He was at the shop before I was and I looked after him enviously when he passed me in the car. He's older than I am, by the way and it would not be reasonable to expect him to start cycling everywhere.

It was a lovely morning, until about 11 o'clock when the showers started. They were heavy, accompanied by squalls of wind and it was, frankly, annoying and tiring to have to keep checking what was being wetted by the wind that time - yesterday's rain came straight down so that things under cover did not get wet. I brought in the peaches, which should not get wet at all, and put Victoria plums in their place; later I put them in shallow boxes lined with paper to give them a chance to dry out and not rot. I did the same with the local Worcester Pearmain apples, which were picked yesterday and on sale within half an hour of being on the tree.

The Sage brought in spinach, peppers and tomatoes from our garden. I rescued most of the Black Russian tomatoes which are too delicious to let go.

It has not exactly been a high-earning week and I took about £150 less today than I did last Saturday. But that was not unexpected; last weekend was the last of the summer holidays and people were probably enjoying special meals; isn't it good that they include lovely fruit and vegetables in that? I've had to throw away a lot of mushrooms, funnily enough, as people just haven't been buying them as usual. It is an awful waste but there is little point in reducing prices as everyone wants everything to be perfect and when it isn't, you might as well chuck it away. They will sometimes buy soft tomatoes or ripe bananas cheaply, but not otherwise. I gave away some apples, each of which just had a bruised spot, as they were going to be cut up for cooking with red cabbage for Tom's 21st birthday on Monday. Happy birthday, Tom. Mind you, it seems a lot but the actual loss was probably about £10. I didn't make any major mistakes and things have gone pretty well.

Al and family have just arrived home, safe, sound and happy. They are coming through for dinner in a while; I'm cooking roast chicken, sausages, roast potatoes and parsnips, carrots, broccoli and spinach out of the garden. Then there will be raspberries; the final two punnets from the shop - I'd had three left yesterday which were still fine today after a night in the fridge, so I did sell today's two boxes plus one; I also had left half a punnet of strawberries which I brought home. He needs to sell 13 out of 16 to break even (I reduced the price at his suggestion, the margin isn't usually this tight) so 15 1/2 does mean a small profit (before staff and other expenses) so I haven't lost him money there.

Excuse me sounding a bit obsessive here, I will wind down, eventually.

An extra little snippet, which amused me mightily - Ro received a leaflet from Auntie Wink which she wants him to add to a website. It is splashed with what are, unmistakably, red wine stains.

That's my big sister...