Our dear friend, the sun, favoured us today with its warmth, but the unwelcome cold wind did not abate, so while we were in the sun we did not want to step out into the strong wind. [Just as I was writing now, I heard a snap and immediately I knew that a mouse had been caught. Now I must free it from its misery. People continually offer to help, but who would come out at this time of the night?] Now that I have completed the unpleasant task to dispose of the uninvited rodent, I can continue with this diary entry. I was surprised, startled and even shocked to see what had happened to our monastery road. Gone were the trees and shrubs that kept creeping onto the road. Andy and a friend of his who has some heavy machinery cleared all that in order to improve the road and to widen it where possible. Even our dear little old cherry tree was cut down and I was reminded of Chekhov’s The Cherry Orchard. In the long run, however, this will be to our advantage as we can plant suitable trees and shrubs to make the driveway beautiful, instead of having wild shrubs and invasive trees marring its beauty.