Naturally, his mummy was a bit teary once we left him there. He was a little unsure at first, but with Miff by his side he was soon diving in to the educational wooden toys with gusto. He’s used to coping on his own for two days a week at his childminder, so dealing with nursery school isn’t too much of a challenge for him. Hels and I are just having a cup of coffee and a piece of cake before we go back in a few minutes to collect him and get a report of how he has got on. No doubt he will have flirted with the girls, carried Miff everywhere and generally had a fun time. And the fear of it will be reduced - so when he does go for the first time, hopefully we won’t have too much of a scene.

Part of the reason is that this weekend sees the 14th Garden Event at West Dean. Last year we were royally rained upon - 32mm in the first few hours. I’ve confidently been telling people that we couldn’t possibly have two years in a row like that, but the forecast suggests that I might be wrong. Oh well, at least Sunday looks a bit better, and West Dean is on a shallow soil over gravel, so drains remarkbly quickly.

Anyway, do come along. It will be good - plants, tools, equipment - in fact, pretty much everything garden related, plus a good selection of food and drink. Bring an umbrella to keep you dry and some cash to spend. And your mere presence will cheer me up.

UPDATE: the forecast now says that we should miss the worst of the rain tomorrow during the day (it will be damp, rather than wet, when we are setting-up in the morning). The heaviest rain will pass through overnight tomorrow, so I’m hoping we might just get away with it.