0. I wake in the night to crunching – Lily finally finding the bedtime treat I hid under her blanket.

1. On the bus on the way to the pottery studio, I read about some tiny changes being made to the Alterac Valley battleground in World of Warcraft. (I don’t play any more but keep up with the news.) AV is/was my favourite PvP battleground and some of my best WOW memories happened there (I’ve 3BTed about some of them). At the start of just about every battle, the teams, 40 strong, would charge en masse from their starting points to the first flash point. 40 people running together as a pack, brimming with optimism. I wish all life could feel like that.

2. After various comings and goings, I’m alone in the studio for about an hour and half. I learn so much from other people but equally I learn a lot when I’m left to play on my own, without the fear of looking (more) strange (than usual). I experiment with a new construction technique then try my hand at slip trailing (which is on my learning goals list for this term): I made lot of little dots and thanks to some guide lines, they’re pretty evenly placed.

3. We make dinner together – a rare event as we usually live by a literal interpretation of the “too many cooks…” cliché. It’s nice after a day apart (another rarity).

4. Cats bouncing, vertical take offs and springy landings.

1. Tilda’s eyes widen until they’re almost completely round and she rises up, not quite full meer cat but close: “OMG what is happening out ther- oh, it’s just Kaufman”.

1b. Later, in the evening, the girls are wappy and bounce around the living room. At one point they run towards the same armchair and are confused when they don’t collide – Strange jumped up onto the seat while Tilda ducked below. They peek at each other around the cushion.

2. A lunchtime belly laugh at something utterly puerile.

3. I switch to a new toothbrush.

I linked to this video, featuring Ira Glass, on my Really Good Life blog post about trying to do stuff better. It really is what I needed to hear right now.

1. Two rows of underwear and socks on the airer, all in turquoise and purples.

2. Peeling back the fabric to reveal perfect stiples of slip.

3. I haven’t had Bourneville for ages. I dip the little chunks into my tea to soften them first: mmm, smooth and slightly bitter!

1. The ick peels off in a pleasing layer.

1b. Tilda is seemingly bewildered by the fact I can stroke and pick up the chickens. I hold one near her so they can meet but it’s a little too much for her: she jumps back a foot to watch it from slightly further afield.

1c. The garden is slowly, and not entirely intentionally, beginning to achieve coherence.

2. We watch the numbers go up and down until we’re in the perfect spot.

3. I gnaw at the chocolate.

1. Lily’s happy shadow on the wall.

2. An avenue of trees.

2b. Last time I was looking for the neolithic stone carving in that area, I found a badger sett. Today, while taking John to see the badger sett and to look for the carving again, we found someone who hand carves bowls from fallen trees. I almost hope we never find the carving: the search is proving strangely entertaining and informative.

2c. I stand on the top of the bank, surveying the long curve of the path below. I feel like I’m guarding an encampment in Post-Apocalyptica.

3. The whitest onion I’ve ever seen: not a hint of green in the layers.

1. Kaufman cries and cries: he wants to plaaaaaaaaaaay. I’m sure he wanted one of his sisters to respond but I reply instead. He runs into the bathroom and attacks my hand. He gnaws at the knuckles and kicks at my wrist with his back legs. The micro scratches that result begin to hurt after a couple of hours but the memory of the playing – and the long satisfied blink that followed – was worth it.

2. Pizza Pieces. It’s 16 years since I first had a slice and it’s still great.

3. A short walk in Heaton:
– a old Volvo estate, nearly 30 years old with window stickers that look even older somehow. It’s in a deep cornflower blue and it stirs strange associations within me.
– it starts raining as we walk through the graveyard. Video game style ambience.
– the striped rope looks like it’s a snake, clasping at the young tree.
– we share stories from our not-misspent youths.
– on the hill looking out over the valley and the further rises to the north, bright white lights cut through the mist.
– Lily runs, helicopter tail on full speed, when she knows where we are.