Pictured above is my favourite tool of the moment. At this time of year I get a daily dose of leaves falling from the huge sycamore tree at the end of my garden, so a light plastic spring-tined rake is the perfect tool to round them up, whilst giving me a good half hour’s vigorous exercise in the process.

When out there on weekdays I will most likely be annoyed by the persistent noise of council gardeners using petrol-powered leaf blowers on the roadside to do the same job. Such a waste of time and petrol – and annoying to have the peace of a lovely autumn day broken by such a pointless task, as more often than not they are blown back by a south westerly within moments of the gardeners moving on!