'Wasps in the Greengages' by Joyce Hayward

I enjoy gardening but do wonder why I bother sometimes!
This past few days of good weather have, at last, put me in a good mood - that was until I went to harvest the fruit and nut trees.
To begin with I planned to pick the greengage plums, a bumper crop, but they had ripened behind my back and fallen off the tree. The rest were either full of wasps or the birds had pecked them.
My husband’s hazel nut tree had a super crop last week, but they were not quite ready then. This week there was not a single nut – that so-and-so squirrel had got there before me.
To crown it all the caterpillars have completely stripped the sprout plants and the dog has dug himself a crater in my stone flower trough!