1. John gets up earlier than normal to make me breakfast.

2. Her work is just beautiful.

2b. The process is surprisingly simple but wonderfully effective.

2c. When the excess chemicals wash away and the paper turns from a slate grey into just the richest blue.

3. I find some handthrown bowls in a charity shop – the glaze is absolutely perfect. I buy them for cereal – and for inspiration.

1. I surprise myself by picking the fancier option for lunch. It’s nothing like I expected but delicious.

2. The chaffinch hops back and forth along the balcony, looking in through the window. I want to feed it some crumbs but know that if I’m not careful, I’ll find the chaffinch’s head in a cat’s mouth. And that’s why I spent a portion of my Friday evening trying to throw bits of slightly stale cream crackers into the gutter above the bay window.

3. I notice how the shape of the finished stitch changes depending on whether I hold the loop to one side or another. I feel a new level of understanding and control.

1. I spend the day tidying my craft supplies – I refold yardage, I ball yarn and find new homes for dozens of different things.

2. Lily starts grazing on grass and cleavers just past the elder tree – we’re so close to the house that Strange, then Kaufman, join us. As a green-eating, meowing group, we slowly make our way to Wood Hill then Lily leads the charge down hill and we loop back through the woods. Strange leaps through the bluebells and Lily rolls on her back in the leaves. Kaufman, meanwhile, is the king of cool.

(Strange going into the bluebells was cuter – those big leaps all the way, but I only videoed her exit.)

(Some dogs roll in horse or fox poo. Lily is, thankfully, not that type of dog.)

3. We go down the road for dinner. It’s busier than normal so we’re stuck on a table that’s a little exposed, a little in the way, just next to a doorway. Then as the waiter takes our order, he mentions that a booth has opened up and would we like to move? Yes, yes we would.

3b. A faint smell of food clings to me after we return home. I couldn’t tell you what it is but I eventually remember what it reminds me of: the “kids club” at the hotel we used to go to in Cornwall when I was little.

1. Even though there is a third cup to throw me off, I boil exactly the right amount of water.

2. I stand in the silver birch wood and watch the wave of the wind pass along the tree tops.

3. I’m utterly hypnotised by this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VG1VVFfOnYQ&feature=kp. The song becomes an instant earworm.

1. I join Lily outside for a mid-morning survey of the land. We pad about the top patio to see what’s sprouting. (Answer = lots of things: the gladioli and one of the dahlias, the radishes and the lettuce, oxalis, fuchsia and chives; the dogwood and crocosmia have been growing their green for months now and the aquilegia and dicentra are already in full bloom; finally, there are the perennial herbs that have leafed afresh again and the zombie nasturtium that forgot to die over winter.)

2. A parcel arrives from Canada, covered in pretty stamps. The book inside is wonderful: old but in good condition, an interesting cubist picture on the cover and the undamaged edges of the pages dyed a deep orange.

3. As I crochet, I listen to some podcasts and talks – they’re funny fluff really but I pick up a gem of knowledge or insight from each one.

1. John’s sat on the balcony when I come down. I stand near him and watch the cats padding around the gardens below us. Eventually most of us go back inside and we have breakfast: when I call Tilda, she bounces the full length of the kitchen at top speed.

2. A series of puns using our favourite pun structure, bookended with even more stupid jokes. We had been a little grumpy when we left the house – a combination of circumstances and low blood sugar – but we’re light hearted again by the time we reach Morley.

3. We decide, as a group, we’re good at assembling spreads of food.

3b. A titter of appreciation from the other sofa.

3c. The man throws a ball and the little fat dog tries to run as fast as her long-legged sister.

3d. From a low angle, the colours are arranged just perfectly.