I have a new friend who is in his 60s and he was just telling me that he rides up the hill to our house with NO switchbacks.

Riding to my house, from the ferry is a short distance, but the hill is a killer. Today, I attempted the Harrison Hill and inspired by Sebastian, I won (with switchbacks, mind you)! Then I came home and cut the grass (thank you adrenaline) and this afternoon it was onto planting some roses and digging them in with compost.

My partner will be so thrilled that I used the words “planting” and “compost” in the same sentence as I am a careless planter and in my haste to get my beloved new roses into the garden I often resort to “hoping for the best” with my soil.

And as if everything wasn’t coming up roses, My English Garden magazine arrived today and I spent at least 15 minutes (between helping my kids with homework and learning spellathon words) sitting with my tea and soaking in the sunshine.

Mabel will have to wait until tomorrow to peek back into my life, and as we near the 100 pages mark, I feel some very surprising things are a foot.