People are coming back to their allotments because they think they're going mad at home. Just one more walk around the block, just one more box-set, just one more zoom session and they'd go over the edge. But the allotments are grand. It's not just the therapy of being muddily and sunnily close to nature. Nor just strangers' company at 2 metres distance. It's the possibility of 'fiddling about' (as Faith put it) - doing what you jolly well want - with no pressure. The guys in my sketch were flying a kite! And I was sketching Elaine's apple tree. It was leaping into the low sun with its wild hair of twigs. The compost bins, sheds and poly-tunnel seemed quite alarmed by its unschooled vigour. There are still some plots to let, if you're interested. |