1. The allotment site is full of people: the sunny afternoon has brought us all out. I finally get to meet up with my plot neighbour again – I haven’t seen him since before I took the plot last July – and we catch up with changes we’ve seen taking place on each other’s plots. Everyone is generous with resources and laughter.

1b. The shears trim the path bald in next to no time.

1c. Clouds suddenly pull over and it looks like it’s going to throw it down. I rush home from the allotment and gather in the dry washing from the line. I wear socks like mittens to save the laundry from my dirty hands.

2. A good version of one of my favourite dinners.

3. Throwing stitches into the spaces. I’m always surprised how fast I can make granny squares.

3b. Lily stands on the sofa, her tail wagging, as she sniffs new arrival Strange.

1. I take a seedling census so I know what I still need to plant and I’m pleased with the results: lots of healthy seedlings.

1b. With a little shuffling and an additional shelf made from a piece of wood, I manage to fit in dozens more extra plants.

1c. The cats all sit in odd places during the day: what is the fascination with sitting in bare soil today?

2. The sun dapples the woodland. Lily looks beautiful in the clearing.

3. I finish the coloured squares and begin with the grey borders. I measure the first: it’s just the size I need it to be.

1. A lift to the studio from my lovely neighbour.

2. I don’t particularly like my work in my class today – it smudges and skews too much. I try putting it on end – making a vase out of one piece and a … thing out of the other – which improves it — but more importantly, offcuts from making the latter inspire the rest of my afternoon.

2b. Pleasant curves appear from nowhere.

2c. I finally, FINALLY glaze a project that’s been hanging over my head for months. Who knows if I’ll like the finished piece but at least now it’s finished.

3. I eat a snack on the balcony. Kaufman, at my feet, and the neighbour’s cat a floor below want to share my ham. It’s good ham and I want it all to myself but they’re too cute to resist.

1. A morning in the garden (or at least in the greenhouse). The pleasantly repetitive nature of potting on (I could never be my dad – pricking out thousands of tiny lavender seedlings – but a couple of dozen aubergine, chilli and courgette seedlings are enjoyable.)

1b. Strange stretches out in the daffodils.

2. R pops by with good (or at least improving) news and once that’s established, we nerd out about stars.

3. An afternoon at the allotment. I work on my herb beds in my original plot – between weeding and covering the soil with pine needle compost, they’re starting to look rather smart.

3b. More weeding at the other plot: there seems to be more strawberry plants in the bed now it’s not cluttered with bittercress, rosebay and dandelions.

3c. I’m without my canine companion today – it’s a bit warm, and she’s still sleepy from the weekend. But that means I get a cat joining me instead. She starts meowing at me cautiously from the other side of the plot but then comes over for a purring hug.

3d. The weeds I bring home for the chickens look unbelievably green. They create a thick edible carpet in the run.

3e. Blacksy the chicken waddle-runs after me as I walk over to where I keep their seed.

1. Despite having to pack up, clean up and “enjoy” an … amusing altercation with the woman next door, we still manage to get up and out in good time without being rushed.

2. The first seals we see are young pups, born last autumn and still wearing their pale fuzzy coats. Another colony is more active, slithering down into the sea and coming over to investigate. We sit just a few metres away from a big group: they sniff the air and looks at us questioningly – us strange creatures that pull up in strange contraptions every few hours and stare at them for a few minutes, then go away. I wonder what they make of it all.

2b. A cormorant walks around less than gracefully, making me laugh out loud. Similarly, a puffin takes off from the water, stumpy little legs hanging back from its round body.

2c. To imagine what life would have been like living in the light houses, or to be a fisherman, out at sea when the waves were/are considerably less forgiving than on a still, spring day.

2d. We all wobbly on our legs when we return to solid ground. Lily surprises me by not vomiting on the pier. John too.

2e. We’ve had better fish and chips (they’re not bad, just we’ve had better) but the donuts and coffee from the van on the harbour are surprisingly good.

2f. We drive along to the sandy part of the beach. It’s not far over the sand dunes and I think Lily knows what’s waiting for her. Again, she helicopter-tails down to the water and plonks herself in. She much prefers being in the sea rather than on it.

2g. We find a tennis ball at the shore line and though she’s never been a big fan of doing it (and certainly not in her older years), Lily fetches it for throw after throw. One fetch leaves her drips wet from head to tail and we laugh at how much she looks like a slick seal. Later, we find an oversized tennis ball at the high tide mark: it’s a little too balloon-like for Lily but it amuses us.

3. The row of solid chimneys and the graceful wind turbines in the foreground.

3b. The field’s furrows flicker from dark to light as we approach.

3c. Dancing to the Detroit Cobras in the tunnel under the airport runway.

4. Everything has grown in the short time we’ve been away and our world is greener again.

4b. I didn’t see Kaufman before we left on Friday so I’m glad that he’s waiting for us when we get home. It takes a little while for the girls to appear but when they do, they seem glad we’re back too.

4c. Lily is, at first, very excited to be at home and she checks everywhere (and every creature) for new smells. But soon, the day – the drive, the sailing, the sea splashing – catches up to her: she makes herself a nest with some cushions and a blanket, and curls up to go to sleep.

1. A walk to the shop turns into a beach stroll around the Heugh. Lily ambles along beside us for some time until she suddenly spots the water and runs towards it. She sits down with a satisfied pant. Later, she tries to chase stones that we skim across the flat surface.

1b. The distant islands are so indistinct that they blur into the sea, making it look like the horizon has gone a bit wobbly.

1c. I buy some local kippers for lunch, from just down the coast at Craster. We enjoy the Game of Thrones related puns.

2. Another walk later in the day. We’d planned to go towards the castle but the wind deters us. We look at it – and seals, and the islands in the distance – through binoculars again instead. The island on the horizon is barely visible with the naked eye but with the lenses we can see the windows on the buildings. Magic!

2b. I can see it so clearly that I can almost feel the texture of the seal’s fur. The sun makes another’s whiskers sparkle silver.

2c. The clearness of the water at the shore, the blueness beyond.

3. The brownie is a blondie tonight and it is delicious. The best bit about the whole meal.

3b. Until a sudden cloud hides them from us, we stargaze from the back garden. We both see things we’d not seen before and come back inside with a fresh sense of excitement.