The Enigma Of Arrival - pg. 201

In the middle of farmyard dereliction and his own insecurity in his job and cottage, Jack kept his elaborate gardens and did his digging for vegetables and flowers and kept his plots in good heart. So, in the middle of an equal insecurity -- since at any time their employer might die, and they would have to move on with their possessions to another job and another set of rooms -- the Phillipses made their cosy home. Jack was anchored by the seasons and the corresponding labours of his gardens. The Phillipses had a different kind of stability. It was events outside their home, festivities outside, that gave rhythm and pattern and savour to their townish life: the outings, the visit two or three times a week to their pub, their annual holiday in the same hotel in the south.