1. Lily lies on her back, all her paws in the air; her mouth hangs open and her tongues loll. As we’re listening to the track at the time, we declare this to be the Magic Position.

2. R walks by, offering some plums, as I’m preparing my clay. We chat about growing at home and allotments, then he sees the clay and gets rather excited. I show him what I’ve been making at home and at Hive, and he starts coming up with ideas of his own. I will pull him into my addiction yet!

2b. The hollow metallic thud of M’s tail banging on the car door as he and Lily say hello.

2c. F is unsure about holding out the first treat but soon gets into the swing of things. He seems like he’d be quite happy to feed her treats all day, and Lily being Lily would be equally quite happy to accept them.

2d. I slip my hand into the bucket and am amazed: the dry pieces of clay – the remains of what I threw last week – have slaked down in just a few hours. I’ll be able to reclaim it soon and can start the process again.

3. The beef is a tiny bit too rare when I slice it but cooks to perfection in the hot soup.