1. Strange cuddles into her floppy-eared sister to form a yin and a mini-yang.

1b. Toes stretching on a white paw.

2. Lily wants to play. Her eyes shine and her tail wags as she chases the ball around the room.

3. I finish my quicky crewel project – a small Jacobean tile kit. As I approach the end, I take the time to unpick two sections – I know I can do them better. The flourish becomes more curved, the spine of the leaf smoother. There is still room for improvement (especially in my silk shading) but I’m proud of my work: a year after my first attempt at crewel work, the progress has been enormous.

3b. I’ve brought a pot home to burnish. I alternate between rubbing it generally and specifically filling in divots and scratches. On each iteration, the imperfections become smaller and the surface smoother.

1. Crying with laughter at videos and finding out about just the woooooorst films.

2. The shower’s hot water on my back.

3. Strange dreams of licking things (as she often does) and later, Lily wakes from a deep sleep to find a treat tucked underneath her lip – she gobbles it down.

0. I’m confused when my alarm goes off because I haven’t woken up the requisite amount of times during the night.

1. My class is canceled at the last minute but I’m happy rather than annoyed: I can focus on my other (neglected) projects instead.

1b. Scrapping out the inside of a curved pot then tipping out the excess curls of clay.

1c. John holds up Lily so her wagging tail bangs against the glass that separates us.

2. There is always a special quality to the garden on a light, sunny evening. The thrill of bonus daylight?

3. I feel strangely cold all evening until I swap my socks for a thicker pair.

1. Prawns and a good sharp cheddar – one of my favourite lunches.

2. It’s a little cold in the woods – a pleasant contrast to yesterday’s humidity. I pick up the pace to build up a layer of warmth underneath my coat.

2b. Two white tails wag a hello.

2c. I inhale the bluebells’ perfume until it makes my sinuses tingle. The next time I breath in, all I can smell is the most delicious curry.

2d. Lots of Jack by the Hedge by the road.

3. The thread looks like cotton but I’m assured it’s a blend of wool and silk. It’s smooth and wonderfully lustrous: a muted, truncated rainbow from red to green.

3b. As a break from my map project, I start a quicky Jacobean tile project. The design photo is surprisingly poor – the use of the wrong type of fabric makes it look blocky, wonky lines, blatantly uneven stitches — my work looks so much better. It gives me confidence in my stitching skills and also in creating my own designs.

1. I gasp, suddenly noticing the greenness of the elder tree and the woods beyond.

2. The richness of the rice pudding.

3. I surprised myself by not sewing while we were away – I took my current map project and supplies for two new projects, in case they took my fancy but in the end, I just read while we were in the cottage. It’s nice to pick it up again now we’re back home though: I stitch the next stage (footpaths, fields and the start of some walks) while listening to people talking passionately about our shared addiction.

1. Our eyes both stop at the same line on the menu. We definitely made the right decision about where to go for breakfast.

1b. The fog is so ridiculous that we ache from the laughter. A group of people in hard hats and hi-vis jackets near the cliffs make it seem sinisterly artificial; ghostly dark figures in the distance make it spooky; and a family still building sandcastles make it even more bemusingly surreal. Though we’re scared of losing her to the mist, Lily doesn’t seem phased by it at all – she gallops ahead and sploshes in the water as normal.

1c. I find a crab in the shallows and pick it up to show John. It hangs on with its rear pincers and when I put it down again, I’m left with a series of deep dimples along my finger.

2. Away from the coast, the sunshine is glorious. Fields of bright yellow and fresh green line the road back home.

2b. I’d forgotten how nice it is to go away at this time of year and return to the garden sprouting, blossoming and blooming. The cats circle me as I visit the chickens, then I sit down on the steps (with feline company) and just enjoy it all.

3. I’m flanked by Kaufman and Strange for much of the evening. I think they’re glad we’re back.