Tuesday 29th August 2017

Feeling a lot better today, though the bites look as awful as ever. I never had a single spot as a teenager, but now I can truly empathise with anyone who did. Mum and I went up to the Oasis cafe this morning to say hello to Jo, who used to be the Curate at St Luke's a few years ago and now has her own parish on the Isle of Man. She comes over to see everybody in Tiptree from time to time, and the cafe was full to bursting with friends. She's one of those lovely people who radiates warmth and draws everyone to her, and it was good to see her looking so happy.

We tried out a new garden centre in Little Braxted for lunch, but it was terribly disappointing. Mum's macaroni cheese had a 'powdery' texture and my quiche was burnt on the top but completely liquid inside. We won't be lunching there again. At least I took some nice images of their plants - main pic of ornamental kale, plus Extras of huge orange begonias, violas, hydrangeas, echinacea and asters (all on iPhone 5s). Well, I had to get something from them for the money I paid!

Not sure what to think of the Channel 4 "Bake Off" tonight. Although some of the bakers came up with excellent creations for week 1, the programme felt like it was just going through the motions somehow. Having worked for many years with Sandi Toksvig when I was at BBC Radio, I know her to be a warm and lovely person but this didn't seem to come across and the whole show lacked heart for me.