1. Tilda and Strange investigate the garden together. I tell them to enjoy the sun, to make the most of it before winter. I wonder if they’re used to the cycles yet, if they know the cold is coming and that it’ll go away again at some point too.

2. I clumsily unpick the sentences to find their meaning. It’s slow going but my vocab list grows quickly. I reach a sentence I can read without looking anything up and it reminds me that progress is being made.

3. I get a phone call: John has lost his tiny quadcopter in the horses’ field – could I help him find it? I take Lily with me (which I think again confirms her suspicions that whenever John & I leave the house on our own, we’re just hanging out in the woods or the field – because where else is there to go?) and we stroll in the sunshine amongst the clumps of long grass and drying summer wildflowers. The tiny machine turns up, then John swoops it around us until the batteries run out.

4. I finally hit 1000 on BustAMove 2. I thought the score would roll over to 000 but it doesn’t. I like seeing all the numbers squeezed into the space designed for 2 or 3 max.

1. Recently, I feel like I’m making progress on my Duolingo. For a little while, I was struggling to do anything more than just practise but now I’m whipping through lessons as well as keeping my tree a shiny gold.

2. The chillis are letter box, the goji berries vermilion, and the raspberries are so deep and dark, they’re almost verging on plum.

2b. A little bit of work – that goes by in a flash thanks to some interesting podcasts – and the paths look a lot neater.

2c. A plane charts a straight line overhead but just before it turns into a tiny dot, it turns right – quite a sharp turn, not a slow veer.

3. Just before dinner, I read something about pancakes and it makes me want not pancakes, but a waffle. After a healthy, veg-from-the-plot filled dinner, we go for gelato and waffles. It is good.

1. I had plans for today but after the cats disturbed my sleep, I don’t feel like doing any of them. I read for a while then do some Duolingo, then after lunch, I head upstairs to put away the pile of clean laundry that has been accumulating in the bedroom. Tilda sees me sorting it on the bed and jumps up for a cuddle amongst the clothes. When she settles down for a nap, I join her. I’m glad I can have this sort of day if needs be.

2. A dog walk in the golden hour. John declares all our walks should take place at this beautiful time. I point out that due to our disorganisation/tendency to leave things to the last minute, they do.

3. Cooler nights means more cuddling – snuggling together for warmth. Hurrah for autumn.

1. I stick my face into a sun-warmed Kaufman belly.

1b. Tilda and Lily have a little cute moment initiated by Tilda. Then when Tilda is done, Lily potters after her, wanting to continue the sniffing.

2. A more exciting invitation interrupts our lazy evening plans.

2b. The moon – full and low – shines through the gap in the cloud. We chase it the whole way to Leeds.

2c. The rounds of meat sizzle into more conventional shapes on the grill. Later, we watch the prawns transform from grey to pink.

3. Little tiny pink buds on the end of the Christmas cactus leaves.

1. The vivid blue sheet. The colour is freshly vibrant and the cloth itself is in an fine condition – quite amazing given it’s older than me.

2. I listen to a podcast extolling jam-making while pruning my raspberry bushes.

2b. I cut back the holly bushes too – a largely thankless task since it doesn’t look much improved at the end of it and my arms are ripped to shreds but there are some nice bits: saying hello to Lily from somewhere she doesn’t expect and the moment when the branches finally submit to my secateurs or saw.

3. The tart raspberry cuts through the rich chocolate. The texture change between cake and jelly is pleasant too.

1. We can’t resist the giant meringues – they look like colourful clouds. John probably wins with his raspberry one but my vanilla has delicious toffee undertones.

1b. After the deli at the abbey, we go to Coopers. The server mentions the pie of the day as part of his spiel and my ears prick up. The slice I get is filled – utterly filled – with chunks of succulent chicken and smokey chorizo, and the whole roasted carrot & parsnips stacked on top looks as marvelous as they are tasty.

2. Out of the blue, my old friend A provides me with an answer to a question I’d asked myself (but not him) a few weeks earlier about a camping trip we went on 18 years ago. He also sends over some photos that I didn’t know existed.

3. The smell of the dough that John’s kneading in the kitchen.