1. I try some new nail varnishes – one nail in each colour. The dark purple is nothing of note (I already have one that comes out a similar shade) but the flat grey-aubergine is very pleasant indeed. It contrasts strongly with the third: a cheerful turquoise that is sublimely summery. The different colours remind me of using multi-coloured nail varnish when I was a teenager. I very rarely paint my finger nails at all – I abuse my hands too much, these will just be for use on my toes – but these tests catch my eye all day.

2. I take a couple of bowls of fruit and veg scraps down to the chickens. As I throw in the outer lettuce leaves, the mange tout & courgette ends, and the strawberry tops, I tell the chickens that everything is local and organically produced (since it’s all from the allotment). It’s nice that nothing goes to waste.

3. Someone turned up the contrast at my allotment after the recent rainy weather. All the greens are more vivid, the strawberries shockingly red, and the soil a healthy almost-black (compared to its usual grey top coat).

3b. The weight of the bag of produce that I carry home.

4. I realise that my feet are cold at the exact moment that a cat (Strange) decides she wants to sit on them and warm them up for me.

1. Tilda and I reach the dining room at just the same moment – she meows proudly at the bird in her mouth. I tell her we don’t like them catching birds and I see, when she drops it, that it’s still breathing: at least she could have put it out of its miser— oh! As I lean down to pick it up, it takes to the air, flying up the stairs into the bedroom. We (aided by Tilda) catch it again and release it in the garden.

2. Lily’s vet appointment is conveniently at the other branch – over in Shipley, where I had been planning to go afterwards anyway.

2b. Amongst other chores, I pop into Hive to pick up some pottery: there are the usual disappointments but two bowls have come out wonderfully – some of my favourite pieces to date – and a few of the little pendants are very pleasing too.

3. I make a good onion gravy for with dinner.

1. John cooks my scrambled eggs longer, even though it pains him to do so.

2. The sweet firmness of the chargrilled courgette.

3. A new spin on an old game. It gets a little silly.

1. It looks like it’s going to rain as we leave the house but it doesn’t. The sky gets clearer and brighter as we work.

1b. The chickens pull at the bolted early lettuce – at least someone is getting something out of it.

2. Lily walks up the stream. The tinkle of splashes as she drags her feet.

3. The shadows of the chilli plants, projected onto the dining room walls.

1. It’s two years today since we got the cats – Tilda celebrates by going missing for 24 hours. We – me, John, Lily and Strange – go out into the woods to call for her. I don’t know if it helped but Tildy is waiting for us when we get home.

1b. As always, Strange is playful when we’re in the woods together. She hides in some undergrowth to jump out as us as we pass and after a pollen-inspired sneeze, bounces through the long grass in on Wood Hill.

2. A day off. We have fish and chips for lunch.

3. Tilda brings home a little vole and because she’s an inept hunter, it escapes from her and runs behind the armchair in the dining room. John and I try to catch it but Lily, slow old Lily-dog, somehow manages to swoop in and snatch it up in her mouth instead. Then it escapes from her and runs behind the armchair in the living room. Later, when it emerges from its cover, Kaufman catches it – and again, it escapes. This time though, we catch it in an tub. Despite being in the mouths of two cats and one dog, it seems perfectly unharmed and we release it outside. (I have expect Strange to bring it back in later, just to complete its Team Peach interaction bingo card.)

A hugely disappointing day: the planning application we’ve been fighting against for eight months was approved, despite being shown to be full of massive flaws. I try to be as positive as I can about my adopted hometown but today, I’m totally onboard with the naysayers who call the Council incompetent.

1. It’s the first time I’ve been in City Hall: it’s as impressive inside as you would expect. The meeting is held in the banqueting hall, which is just gorgeous: stained glass windows, heavy wood panelled walls and a huge inglenook fireplace that looks carved out of lined marble. The thing that catches my attention though is the newly made three-piece textile artwork hanging near my seat. During the break, I sneak a closer look at the different fabrics and stitches used.

2. The lollo rosso lettuce conjures up a specific memory of being at school while the raspberry vinegar dressing reminds me of Scotland, where we bought it this spring.

3. John asks what I’m looking at online. I explain that at that moment, I’m watching a gif of Adam West’s Batman doing the fingers across the eyes dance from Pulp Fiction, “obviously, what else would I be watching?”