Based on the Three Beautiful Things project by Clare Law, I try to write about three pleasant things from my day.
1. A dozen old streams are called into action for the day. Lily tastes tests each one.
2. The stove blazing, Bonnie Prince Billy playing, keyboards clacking, the dog is sleeping.
3. The papier mache mix is different this time and it flows much better. I feel like I’m sculpting soft clay into something elegant rather than a turning torn up Guardian into a silly chicken.
1. The car’s display tells us it’s 5.05pm and 5.5°C.
2. He’s had a hard day – first starved overnight then an operation to remove nearly all his remaining teeth. He’s hungry but his mouth hurts too much to eat and he pulls frantically at his gums with his paws, his claws. All I can do is give him a hug and take him to bed. He calms down and curls up next to me. When he awakes, he eats his food and looks at me with happy, shining eyes.
3. Finding the most efficient solution to a supply and demand problem.
1. Rainbows fill the room. The dog has one on her chest as she waves her paws in the air. There is another on my legs. They dance across the ceiling.
2. The dew glistens on the cobwebs laced between the neighbours’ railings.
3. The woods have never been lighter or brighter. The trees are naked, the floor mottled in yellows and brown. We wander hither thither, along paths that don’t exist in the summer, then we sit on the bench above it all and talk.
(I wrote this as a draft and didn’t write any more from that day – but think it should be published anyway.)
1. Lily has always been soft to the touch but not as silky as the cats. We have a new found appreciation of the cats’ fur since Lily joined the team, especially when the cats touch somewhere other than our hands. Carla sat on my bare ankles is a delightful sensation.*
* I actually started the day with Carla sat on my forehead with the back of her rear leg joints up my nose. While her fur felt just as lovely, overall, it was a less pleasant sensation.
My fake definition for the word “waddy” was the winning entry on Word Imperfect the other day. Yay!
1. The chickens always chatter when I go down to see them. I imagine them like excited children, desperate for attention and to tell me about their day.
2. We stand on the undulating green lawn in the sun. It’s the first time we’ve been to that park when it’s just a park and not a carnival ground, and it’s strange to see it so quiet and empty. I mentally draw in the stages and the food tents, and think about walking up the hill to buy some sugar cane.
3. There is a painting for sale on eBay which looks exactly like Lily – not in appearance but in expression. I point it out to John and we look at Lily to compare – she’s sat in the exact same position, pulling the exact same expression. We laugh.
1. I have lunch – leftover kedgeree – on the balcony. The cats and dog sit together in the soft sunlight.
2. Always on the look out for mushrooms, we find Amethyst Deceivers (Laccaria amethystea) – an amazingly deep, rich purple in the brown leaf litter.
3. As usual, I come home from drama and tell John stories from class. After one story:
Him “it’s just like being back at school”
Me (gushing) “except the cool kids like me!”
© 2025 Louisa Parry