1. I have breakfast in the newly re-emerged garden – the first time it’s been snow-free in nearly a month. I count up how many of my garlic bulbs avoided being stolen by squirrels and watch the cats as they refamiliarise themselves with all the smells of the neighbourhood. The pond is still mostly frozen but the beck is flowing quickly, filled with melted snow from the hills.

2. We go out to the Dogs Trust and meet a beautiful but very shy dog called Scooby. The trainer explains Scooby’s social problems and we laugh because they match mine almost perfectly. The trainer admits they match his too.

3. We slide the mints from their packets at the end of the meal and the wrapper sticks to our fingers with static electricity. We walk them between our digits for a few minutes then store the wrappers in our pockets for future enjoyment.