It feels quiet this morning. Dogs and doors, pigeons and screaming seagulls are all I can hear in the cul-de-sac. Cars of course; you can always hear cars, but this morning the drone from the highway is almost inaudible – more distant than usual. Clear blue sky, light breeze and, of course, it is dry. The fields paving the land up to Dartmoor look like a very dirty beige quilt; the only relief from the burnt-hay brown being the green of the hedgerows. Thank goodness for hedgerows.