This morning it felt like the perfect day to be visited by the Hay Guy.

But then the clouds tumbled in, the thunder rolled, and before I knew it I was being pelted by hailstones. So was the cucumber seedling I’d just tucked into the vegetable garden; it seems to have withstood the onslaught with everything intact.

You see, it’s important we get hayed soon. Very important. Firstly, we’re running a little low but – more significantly – we have a paddock cricket rematch planned. Originally named The Union Homestead Boxing Day Test it was decided, over one of those meandering Singapore lurk-in-the-air-conditioning lunches, that it be renamed The Union Homestead Post-Hay Test to take away the sense of urgency. Luckily I hadn’t got round to engraving the trophy.

I don’t think we’ll be seeing the Hay Guy tomorrow, either.

The clouds have tumbled back in again. Keep safe little cucumber.