1. Tilda’s fur is warm from the sun. (The young cats are Spring babies who came to live with us during the hottest weeks of summer so they didn’t learn to appreciate the sun before The Cold Came. Now they seek it out whenever they can, like proper cats :) )

2. I stretch out in front of the fire with Kaufman and Carla, and Lily and Strange, and read about a woman becoming the person she is.

3. A deliciously simple dinner.

1. I get up momentarily and Tilda steals my spot. I return to the bed and curl up around her. I read and she pads the towel underneath us.

2. I’m in a new pottery class this term – new tutor, new people (although I already know about half of them from “drop-in” sessions). My piece doesn’t go terribly well – first, the clay is too dry, then I work a little too fast and it threatens to collapse – but by watching other people work (and by openly eavesdropping on the tutor working with them), I learn so many new things.

3. The orange glow from the embers brightens the dark room.

Lots today!

0. The ruby coloured jam is perfectly fruity and exquisitely sweet.

1. One dog, two cats and six chickens: I like having company as I go about my garden chores.

1b. The hose coughs up shards of ice.

2. We’re just finishing lunch when the doorbell rings: it’s our neighbour R asking, essentially, if we’re playing out. We are. As always, our conversation flows at 100mph and bounces from topic to topic but every moment of it is interesting and I learn a slew of new things (and suddenly have another pile of things to read up on).

2b. R gets my fascination with the history of rope. At last, someone understands!

2c. M, R’s dog, wags his tail as R strums the ukulele. Later, after a post-walk nap, he demands a constant flow of tickles.

3. Eight fat rolags prepared before bedtime. Future me will be pleased.

1. The dog’s hopeful expression, eyeing my sandwich.

2. In the distance, the gold and pink drops behind the Welsh hills. Inland, the  blue is turning mauve. The wind makes my mum’s hair stand on end.

2b. The pool looks shallow but under the water, the sand must suddenly drop away. Lily finds herself swimming – something that she usually avoids – and she does it well, with no fuss and no danger.  She’ll only fall for it twice though – after that, she skirts around the shallows as she runs between us.

3. I joke but it is really the truth: you really can’t turn off a game of Tetris in the middle. Our conversation continues but is punctuated with exclamations over mis-dropped blocks.

1. Kaufman thinks the cardboard box is a solid surface to land on but the unsupported flaps give way underneath his weight. He crashes through but doesn’t stop playing – he still grabs after the toy while wearing the box like a tutu.

2. Slowly scraping and shaping the clay.

3. D has bought Lily some treats. This touches me greatly. (He has also bought the humans some surprisingly nice popcorn.)

3b. I love that my friends get it when I make obscure jokes about things that happened 20 years ago.

1. The beck is very busy – it has clearly been raining a lot – but right now, there is nothing but glorious sunshine.

1b. Strange stretches out on top of the wood store to sunbathe. All our cats have liked sunbathing there: it is a sun trap, close to the house and sheltered by a holly bush so no one (feline, canine or human) can sneak up you from behind. Strange is a bit too lively to just sit back and relax though: she lies still for a moment then is up, chasing flies.

2. I don’t really do revenge in real life but in this computer game, when their little sprites have repeatedly attacked my village and destroyed fleet after fleet of my ships, I mentally tell the Greens and Reds: YOU. WILL. PAY.

3. As tops, the wool is navy and a cold violet, the silk is white and red, but all blended together and spun finely, they make the most beautiful, rich purple.