09/01/2023

At the shop Jim wonders to Susan if he should have stuck with Jazzer’s invitation to be best man, but she won’t comment – her New Year’s resolution is to rein in her strong opinions regarding other people’s life decisions. Meanwhile she reports they’ve lost Maureen, a volunteer, due to a back injury. Susan reckons it might be Jim’s fault for making Maureen clean the stockroom, so she declares that he’ll have to cover all Maureen’s shifts until they can recruit a replacement. Jim feels Susan’s resolution hasn’t lasted long. Jim posts a ‘volunteers wanted’ notice, and Joy walks in. She’s interested, and lists her relevant experience. Jim’s encouraging, but Susan’s not keen, and tells Jim later that she doubts she could cope with Joy’s chatter for hours on end. He’ll have to find someone else. Adam reports to Pat how much Kate is dreading the imminent appearance of Jakob’s brother Erik. Pat agrees it must be tricky. She looks ruefully at the veg boxes, wishing they were more exciting at this time of year. Adam has an idea for reviving the farm and increasing footfall – an edible forest garden. If they start planting now, they could have something up and running by May. Pat’s impressed. Adam wonders how Tom would feel about the idea. Pat agrees he’s not always predictable; Adam would need to be aware it could go either way. But it’s such a great idea, Pat’s sure Tom will see that straight away.