Finally...

.. I reached a point where I could abandon work and head to the allotment.
Task1: a rescue job on a friend's plot where their polytunnel cover had been blown off and a  small storage shed blown over.
Task 2: the saffron harvest - another 5 flowers picked and stamen harvested later at home.
Task 3: clearing the  bed where the courgettes have been growing ready to receive a few random kale plants that have been lurking in the polytunnel.  
Task 4: removing all the foliage from my Christmas potatoes as blight has hit.  All bagged and sent to landfill. :-(
Also spotted the nasturtiums still thriving without blackfly on the communal compost heap and some late arrivals in the wild border - cosmos, one with a rather sleepy visitor hanging underneath.