0. I wake to the sound of John’s alarm and realise it’s the first time I’ve stirred all night.

1. Cheap bus fare there and back – my return journey costs 50p less than a single on the other route.

1b. The afternoon is a bit of a bust – there isn’t as much of the usual laughter and bonhomie and it feels like more things have gone wrong for me than right. But when I get home and review it properly – looking at the photographs of the works-in-progress and inspecting the finished pieces – I see it’s not all as bad as I’d first feared. I do though learn a “do it better” lesson: slow down again, stop trying to take short cuts.

2. We meet a slight dog with a big stick, a very excitable puppy who has to run fast to catch up with her dad, two slow brown labs and a quietly friendly tan chap, whose puppy buddy makes me laugh: she drops and rolls to show her belly every few steps.

3. Good burgers.

4. I restart last night’s embroidery pattern on calico. My outline can be finer: smoother but still bold. I take the time to get it right.

Thurs 3rd

1. The crows circle the ponies in the field.

1b. Daffodils and forsythia. Violet aubretia and grape hyacinths. Magenta flowers on the heather and primroses in the same colour with yellow centres.

1c. The attentive springer watches the ball as its dad takes to a passing cyclist.

2. John’s giddy excitement on the arrival of a new toy.

3. It might be basic but my lightbox does the trick.

3b. The design is stitched quickly. I like big projects that creep forward to a huge satisfying finish but little ones are fun too.

1. The vivid orange and green on the boulders and rocks in the oak wood.

2. I should be cleaning the bathroom but instead I sit in my favourite chair with a cup of tea and read a new comic book. Lily joins me.

3. We have turned over the big box while vacuuming and this makes it new and exciting again. Two cats climb into it together and I expect a kerfuffle but after a period of quiet, I lift the lid to see they’re sat sweetly together.

3b. We decided the inner monologue of prawns is just the word “prawn” repeated in a singsong tone.

4. Just before bedtime I read about something that is very exciting but within my reach: an amazing pottery technique that can be done at home and reuses household items. Perfect.

1. Kaufman sits with me as I sweep the porch then after a quick trip outside, leaves perfect paw prints on the nice clean tiles.

2. Clay is so often too wet or too dry but today it was just right for my needs. Building was a pleasure – even if I didn’t do anything I intended.

2b. The bottom falls out of a too-hastily constructed bowl so I start to think about using it in different ways. I’m not sure today’s creation will be particularly good but it inspires another idea, which will kill two birds with one stone.

3. It doesn’t take Lily long to realise I have brought a bone home. She sniffs my bag then looks at it longingly while we act out an “it’s ours, not yours” skit. Finally, finally, after a bit of chase, she gets it in her mouth – and she doesn’t let go again until it is half the size.

4. I throw the meat mixture back and forth in my hands until it forms a neat ball.

5. https://twitter.com/johnleach/status/451120598258024449 – though I’d say “maniacally”.

0. The street light outside our bathroom window is broken. It’s always been quite useful – not having to turn on the bright bathroom light while going for a late night wee but now the room is dark: lit by just a distant dull security light on the house across the road. It reminds me of when Leeds changed all their street lighting from the traditional orange to white directional lights: the colour of night changed.

1. Good bread with good butter.

2. Evening crafts:

i) the black glaze is perfect – smooth and flat inside the dish, defining the dimples on the rim and there is just enough of a ghost of it on the burnished outside to make it look smoke fired. Possibly my favourite bowl so far.

ii) the low dish isn’t glazed quite as terribly as I’d feared.

iii) freed from the (poorly attached) frame, the stitched squares are no longer distorted.

iv) the fibres stretch into broad stripes on the carding combs but meld together seamlessly on the spindle. The silk lifts the colour of the wool and adds a wonderful sheen.

3. I watch John as he defends his virtual castle and together we concoct traps.

1. The sparse, thin blades of grass; green slivers across the mud.

2. Tilda liberates a ball of wool from a bag and I giggle as she plays with it so stereotypically. When I return from upstairs, there is yarn unwound right across the room and into the dining room.

3. I finish my 25 squares stitch sampler project. It’s taken longer than I thought but it’s been worthwhile: learning lots of new techniques and refining everything generally. My favourite squares are the sashiko two (rows of tiny parallel stitches), the stacked rows of buttonhole that looks like they’ve been drawn with a fine pen, the loose trellis, the diagonal needleweaving and, surprisingly, the seed stitch. I have lots of ideas for my next project.