Preparations

Today was a day of - yet again - catching up on developments; preparing for office events over the next few weeks and months; and looking forward to tomorrow when, with a Board member, I visit 2 of Scotland's secure establihments.

This is where the most vulnerable young people can be located for their own or society's protection. But in many instances it means restricting their liberty while at the same time doing everything possible to help them develop and grow so that they may become part of society again.

It is also the time of the year when the preparations for the Annual flower and craft show come into focus. I begin to scour the garden working out what might be ready a week on Saturday for the office show. Will those tomatoes have ripened? Will the marrow avoid nibbling from some small creature? Will the roses still be in bloom? Will I have any sweet pea to enter?

In the past few years my lilies have just come into peak bloom but this year, despite the rain, they seem to be early. May be something to do with all the earth moving last year when preparing for the greenhouse. So in case they have passed their best, they get the blip today.

I get a lot of pleasure - and relaxation - from the garden. All of that took a major dent when we switched on the news tonight to hear of yet another senseless bout of killing in a lovely friendly European city. It put all the anxieties about "preparations" into context.