The week has been wonderful. The people are chatting, and it’s got me talking — which we don’t do a lot of at home. We’re not chatterboxes.

I’ve done so many things. I just wish my children could hear how many things I’ve been doing. When the rain’s not pouring, people have taken me around the garden, and now I can smell and see all the plants bursting into life.

I love gardens — I’ve always had my nose in a garden. Somebody grabbed me a piece of lavender this morning.

It’s a year since I touched the earth. Because of my mobility, I’m not allowed to scratch around in the garden now — I can’t really kneel down. I can kneel, but I can’t get up. So I’ve been able to go into the raised beds. It was just wonderful to be able to touch.

I think there are so many lovely people here — their enthusiasm and their knowledge. It was lovely to be with somebody that had the same aspirations as I, absolutely wonderful. It was a joy to have your hands in the soil again.

I didn’t do anything last year, and my mobility has decreased. In that year I’ve lost my confidence. But here I’m being taken outside by people who are interested, and I can sniff everything. Being empowered. Having the confidence again.

I feel I’ve died and gone to heaven.