1. The gammon slices neatly into strips.

2. Lily’s questioning face as she looks back: “do I really need my lead? I can be trusted — no, wait I can’t.”

3. We’ve bought some new spice jars to finally get our out-of-control spice collection in order. They take up the top rack of the dishwasher: neat in lines.

1. The cats are wappy – expending their energy running around the bedroom rather than the cold outdoors. They wrestle and chase – but always have time for a tickle on the way by.

2. As we set off, it starts snowing and by a mile up the road, were in a blizzard. We call off our planned journey halfway to the motorway and battle along the icy roads to get back home. There though, and for the rest of the afternoon, there’s blue skies and brilliant sunshine.

3. We play a new game and get to make a whole array of new jokes.

3b. Waiting until the right moment to play the card leading us to our first win.

3c. To get home safely

1. A hush for the sudden burst of snow.

2. We head out to a local pub for lunch but nearly abandon our plan at the main road because the traffic is so bad. We pull into the petrol station to give us time to decide and by the time the tank is full the road is flowing smoothly.

2b. Lily is being mopey, hating the fact she’ll have to go into the car again. At the height of her sulking, she puts herself in doggy prison: penned in by the chair legs.

2c. I’d decided to be daring and wear a tunic dress but at the last moment I pull on a pair of jeans too. When I see the height of the stools in the bar, I’m very glad I did!

3. We rewatch Gravity. The dialogue is poor but the direction is still breathtaking.

0. I dream that, after saving them from a fire at the shelter, we’re adopting three more dogs. At first they’re shy with each other and with me but then we all run together as a pack – through some woodland and a park – then we’re all besotted with each other.

1. We have some slices of bread and cooked meats for lunch – a regular lunch, not one filled with exciting, delicious leftovers or large amounts of New Year’s cheese. It’s lack of novelty is just delightful.

2. I put together a misc selection of snapshots of 2014 – both a fun process and a lovely set of memories:

3. Lily displays perfect comedy timing – not only farting while I’m walking up stairs behind her but immediately after I’ve made a comment about her not really smelling as bad as some of our songs would suggest.

3b. Lily has only been sick three times in the nearly five years she’s been with us – and is growing more considerate each time. The first time, it was a full lake of vomit, all over our duvet, at 3am. The second time it was in the garden, but right in the middle of the path. This time though, tonight, she stands up to vomit off the bed and on to the only hard surface in the area, allowing me to wipe it up quickly and without any fuss.

1. When I wake up, the room is unusually bright and I have high hopes that it has snowed heavily overnight – I’m disappointed though: it hasn’t, it’s just sunny and dawn being earlier than the week before. But within minutes, the view from the windows is almost totally obscured by flurries of fluffy flakes. It’s not quite what I wanted but it’s better than nothing. I gaze out over the garden as I eat my breakfast.

2. I grow tense as the time approaches to start experimenting with the underglazes – I need a clear picture in my head before I start and today I have nothing. The tutor has teased me in the past (on numerous occasions) that I can’t just let fly & make Art and I’m worried I’ll be in for another round of ribbing. Then I notice what one of my favourite tutors (here a classmate) is doing: a simple colour chart. It’s perfect, methodical and neat, and will be more useful to me than a pretty picture. I copy her, and together we explore lots of different possibilities.

2b. I turn the bottoms of the pots I threw last week. I want to keep more than I had originally thought: a good set, especially considering my throwing hiatus.

3. A comfort food-ish dinner with my best boy and later, a new episode of my favourite comedy. A most excellent evening.

3b. I start a new stripe on my crochet blanket and revel in how quickly it grows in the first few rows.

1. We get a free gift with the latest pet food order: a play tunnel for the cats: it is immediately put to use. Strange’s white paws dart out of the side entrance and a head soon follows them.

1b. Lily becomes a puppy again in the evening. (We are convinced she is currently Benjamin Buttoning herself.) She runs back and forth, goading us into play.

2. Leftover curry for lunch – too much really but oh my, it’s delicious. There is a fish in a light-ish sauce and a chicken dish with mint: the flavours clash and contrast beautifully.

3. I remember to take my bag of textures to class. The filet crochet pieces create wonderful relief on the clay.

3b. As I walk from the studio to the bus stop, I’m coated in a flurry of snow.

3c. Droplets – melted snowflakes – cling to the girl’s hair.