1. Bacon butties as a hangover cure for John. Bacon butties as a delicious naughty lunch for me.

2. We’re whistling a duet of the Mario theme when a squirrel appears on the woodstore. It runs along the roof, jumps down a level to run back, then trots down the steps in perfect time with the tune.

3. Early in the day, I’d read about someone’s encounter with a very friendly cat and I’d felt an almost physical craving to have the same experience. Later, Strange demands a tickle, standing inches from my face to capture my attention: it looks like I got my wish.

1. A sudden rainstorm vindicates my laziness – if I’d got up and put the washing out, it would have ended up wetter than it started. Hurrah for inclement weather!

2. I lose Lily in the woods – or rather she loses me because the path takes me behind some trees while she’s busy sniffing something. I rush back up the path (one I don’t recall ever seeing from that direction) and to the millstone steps, aware that she could easily have gone in three different directions – but then I see her, standing a little way down the top path, looking out over the hillside trying to locate the sound of my voice. We’re apart for perhaps a whole minute but are both very happy to reconnect again.

3. The variety of textures, shapes and colours in the pan.

1. Things go smoothly: I make my bus, I find the building, and the code for the elevator works first time.

2. A quick stop for a wee changes my perspective on my plans: I no longer feel the need to rush home straight away and instead wander around some shops (buying comic books and boots I’ve been dithering over for weeks), and have some delicious lunch.

2b. I burp delightfully complex flavours all afternoon.

3. I suddenly appear in a gap in the wall which surprises the woman and her beagles. Her dogs bark but are settled with some tickles. Like always when I stroke beagles (and beagle-adjacent) dogs, I’m surprised how bouncy their fur is.

3b. After a day thinking about old pictures, I find some pictures of the woods from 100 years ago and plan my walk to take current day photos en route. The great Needle’s Eye gatehouse is long gone (replaced by a boring metal access gate) but the top of the Cutting and the bridge are very much as they were, just surrounded with more greenery.

1. As soon as the strange men with their strange chainsaws leave the garden, the cats all dash in with tales to tell.

1b. Lily sniffs the branches that have been dropped into the garden. They probably smell like squirrels.

2. I pull up the remnants of the bolted lettuces and the yellow-leafed volunteer potatoes to give extra space for the autumn/overwinter crops. It neatens up the crop to a surprising extent – the patches of soil look strangely clean in their nakedness.

2b. I won’t harvest anything today. Well, maybe just a couple of courgettes for dinner tonight and Thursday; and maybe the tomatoes that are ready to drop; and of course the fat raspberries … I end up with a bag full and we have to carry a pumpkin too.

2c. A column of rainbow rises from the valley. By the time we come down the hill a little, it’s filled out into a full, strong arc stretching from Apperley Bridge to Woodhall. But its beauty has competition: looking around as we cross the road, we see the sunset is painted in an equally amazing array of colours.

3. When I start a 100 Mario Challenge on Super Mario Maker, 99 little Mario sprites dash onto the screen in tight formation, followed a second later by Mr 100. It slays me every time – so cute!

1. We both feel rested after a relaxing week: our heads clear, we skip through our tasks for the day.

2. Dinner is inspired by the contents of the fridge more than anything, but it fills a craving we didn’t know we had.

3. As I let Lily out for her last wee, I see the fuchsia has bent over under the weight of its flowers and it forms a vivid pink blur in the dark.

1. I have a dream that I’ve lost Lily and thankfully get to find her before I wake up. We hug in the dream, then when I get up, we hug in the same way in real life (except John joins in too).

2. I finalise my Game of Thrones themed Mario Maker level – an epic journey across Westeros rendered in Super Mario Bros 3 graphics. I hit the tile limit filling two full courses (above ground and below) with multiple paths through each stage and dozens of references. It turns out far better than I expected.

3. John saves a ring of green pepper to decorate the top of the curry. With turmeric yellow, seeded rice, the dish looks as pretty as it’s tasty.