1. The dull knock of the trees banging together in the wind.

1b. As I throw seeds to the chickens, I hear a “meeeeeow! meeeeeow! meeeeow!” approaching quickly from behind me. I turn to see Kaufman running towards me – first we were out then he was out, so I haven’t seen each other since yesterday teatime. I think he’s missed me. I pick him up and we enjoy a cuddle in the sun.

2. Just as we’re about to set off on our walk, R and M appear at the door wondering if we’re playing out. We are.

3. The colourway is better this time so the greens slide into each other perfectly.

1. We bury Carla next to her brother Carbon at the bottom of the garden. Boron is on the other side of Carbs and beyond him, we dig a little hole for Sili’s ashes* – Lala wouldn’t have wanted to be too near Sils. The original pride back together again. I’ll plant cat nip and cat grass there this summer.

1b. The pick axe’s smooth handle.

1c. The soil is perfect: a mix of sand and fine compost which is strangely stone free.

2. It’s such a nice change to not have to dry off a muddy dog following our walks.

3. We pick THE BEST film to watch and are wheezing with laughter by the end of it – even after the end of it, just remembering the craziness.

3b. We don’t know how to top it – we can’t top it – but with Cocoon, we give it a good go.

* Silicon died just before we moved here so we had her cremated. Her ashes have been in a bag, in a box, in a box, in a bag, in a bag (we didn’t realise there were so many layers), since then because we hadn’t got around to scattering them – but it seemed right now.

Our cat Carla, last of the original pride, died early this evening. She was a fantastic cat and will be missed.

1. I wake up spooning Lily and being spooned by John. When I get up, I place his hand on the dog’s (still super soft) fur and they wriggle together to close the gap.

2. We are split into teams to quickly put together a figure – it’s a bit like that childhood Consequences game, with different people working on different parts and there isn’t enough time to collaborate properly. The results are surprisingly effective though.

2b. We teach and learn from each other while the banter flows back and forth.

3. We pour one out for our fallen homie at bedtime: the cats have some pilchards (Carla’s favourite in her last weeks) and Lily has a bonus Bonio. Lily looks up at me, eyes sparkling, while she chews.

* Team Awesome. Yes, that was my suggestion, why do you ask?
* Team SuperAwesome. DAMN SUPERLATIVES!

1. Cleverly designed machinery. This one opens out and there is practically a whole new piece of equipment underneath; and that one has a simple hinge that makes the job simpler but more accurate. I’m stunned and delighted.

1b. I use a circular saw, a band saw and a chop saw (amongst other things) and still leave with all my fingers.

2. A wonderfully inspiring handthrown pot for just £2.

3. The (chicken and spinach) curry is very nice but the (floral, spicy) rice is just perfect.

1. Kaufman buries his head in my hand.

2. The heavy flatness of the folded duvet covers.

3. If you’d told me, even five years ago, that one of my favourite dinners included cauliflower cheese, I would have laughed and called you a silly dink.