Minimalist poet, minimalist lifestyle

I was taking the rubbish out to the bin earlier this morning and I noticed that some soil had been disturbed in the garden, probably by a cat. It looks like some of my escholtzia seedlings have been dug up.

With so many cats living in the locality I just have to accept a high level of attrition for my plants. I'm not actually starting planting anything for several weeks yet though.

My parents returned on Friday from one of their regular midweek breaks, this time to Lytham St. Annes (near Blackpool.) They go on three or four of these short holidays every winter and have already got stays in Bournemouth and Clacton booked for the next few weeks. They never go anywhere in the summer though because it's too expensive.

My father retired from his job as a coalminer twenty years ago, aged fifty, and during this time they must have been on dozens of these short breaks. Of course, they're both pensioners now and much less active and mobile than they used to be and so most of the time they just stay in and around the hotel.