Where is Ann, I hear you cry.

Well, ever the intrepid reporter she is continuing her quest to find which local hospital serves the best hot chocolate.

She started by getting herself admitted to St Peter's Hospital in Chertsey after finding it increasingly difficult to walk – we think a side effect from steroids she was taking to counteract the bad reaction she had had to the immunotherapy.

She spent almost two weeks there sampling the hot chocolates and various biscuits. Bourbons or anything with chocolate seemed to go down well, the plainer biscuits saved for visiting grandchildren. She does not share millionaire shortbread with anyone so don't even try.

Then she decided at long last that the only local hospital she hadn't tried was Woking Community Hospital, so she is currently there getting physio and enjoying a room with a door that opens to a little courtyard.

If all goes well, by the time you read this she will be back at home enjoying her own garden, demanding cocoa and the best biscuits from her poor daughters.

When I assumed responsibility for the column in mum’s absence I was asked to include mention of both No Mow May and the Chelsea Chop.

We all took part in No Mow May but unfortunately as it came to an end things have been a bit hectic so it continued in to "haven't had the chance to June".

My sister was going to do hers finally but we spotted a small tabby cat that seems to have taken up residence in the long grass of her front lawn and is now using it as a hunting ground for the very bugs we were protecting by not cutting the grass in the first place.

I had to look up the Chelsea Chop and accidentally put in to Google Chelsea Cut, which comes up with a hairstyle for women that has the back of the head shaved with long bits around the face. I can confidently say this is not what mum was recommending.

No, the "Chelsea Chop" is a pruning technique used on herbaceous perennials to control their size and extend their flowering period. It involves cutting the plant, typically by a third to a half. This usually happens in late May around the time of the RHS Chelsea Flower Show.

To that handy list of memorable gardening hints I can now add the Hampton Hack, so called because it is usually carried out in early July to coincide with the RHS Hampton Court Palace Garden Festival.

It refers, the RHS website tells me, to “cutting back early perennials after they have flowered to promote fresh growth and often a second flush of flowers”.

Unfortunately, as we're not as green fingered as mum, there has been no Chelsea Chop this year, and little prospect of a Hampton Hack.

I did, however, carefully cut a selection of roses and flowers to take to hospital so mum could enjoy a bit of her garden.

But I was stopped before entering the ward and told that due to potential allergies flowers were not allowed; I left them outside and took them with me when I left.

When reporting this to various people they were as surprised as I was, we all thought that grapes and flowers were standard things to take to someone in hospital – turns out this has not been the case since 1996!