1. I would like to buy a giant – I mean, really ridiculously oversized giant – Toblerone for the person/people who decided to twist pineapple ice cream and lemon-lime fruit ice around a strawberry fruit ice core. Genius.

2. I turn my usual way of working on a stitching design on its head and it’s suddenly a lot easier. I can’t wait for the tapestry wool to arrive so I can bring it to life offscreen.

3. The neatly trimmed springer suddenly appears from the bushes behind the stream and drops a ball at John’s feet. It doesn’t seem to care that it’s never seen us before in its life, just wants the ball thrown. John complies and with a wagging tail, the dog goes after it, back over the stream and up the hill.

1. At midday, the seedlings are wilted, bent over and looking hopeless. A few hours later, after a little water and attention, they look as healthy as they’ve done.

2. I’m sure I won’t feel this way after I present it to the group but right now, I feel the work I’ve done today has put me on the right track and everything makes perfect sense.

3. This cross-stitch piece isn’t anywhere near as fun as the last embroidery piece I did and the finished design is a little fussy – but it looks beautifully stark and abstract at this point. I almost want to leave it as it is now.

1. Carla-cat is in a cuddly mood today. She sits on my knee while I read the newspaper over breakfast and I stroke her glossy fur.

2. The clean light on the new leaves. I stop on a rock and stare at the fresh beauty of the woods.

2b. When we meet the two blacks labs for the second time, I become completely smitten. Their smart blackness and quiet friendliness reminds me of our giant old cat, Carbon. Our fluffy, mucky dog seems like a complete goof in comparison – but of course, I’m smitten with her too anyway :)

3. The new clock casts a fantastic shadow in the late evening sunlight – a shadow that, like the clock itself, changes with the passing minutes.

1. The contrast between the crunchy cereal pillows and the silky, cold milk.

2. Lily enjoys our both nostalgic and hyper-practical visit to Armley Park. It’s hard to say which was her favourite bit because her tail wagged hard throughout but I think our favourite bit was when she did her puppy-paws dance with the long dog. Their meeting should have gone badly – combining her anti-other-dog shyness with his bigness, strangeness and frankly his ‘his’ness – but instead she decided to play. They danced and she cut across his circle to keep up with his loops. Very cute.

3. The fiddly bits done, I make good progress on my long-stitching project – smooth strokes of blues and greys quickly fill the empty spaces: the lake, the fields and the mountains beyond.

1. We drink our breakfast tea on the balcony and listening to the chickens buck-bucking below. I watch Boron do his rounds, checking on next door’s garden, and when I say his name, he looks up and slow-blinks at me.

2. Lily leans around the steps to look inside the shop, her mouth slightly open in excited anticipation of our return. By the time I step out the door, she’s stood up, tail wagging; the HEARTLESS ABANDONMENT of the previous few minutes forgotten.

3. The stillness of the evening. The silhouette of the oak tree against the fading light.