Resilient, novel and I don't mind.

1. I gave up on edibles in the woven willow bed this year and threw down a handful of flower seeds. They have been smothered by nasturtiums, 'watered' by Alec with bird seed and dug up twice by a mysterious night visitor. But now two of them have put out midnight blue trumpets striped with butter yellow.

2. To stretch out in a bath with Carnevale, a novel rich as tiramisu... at half past nine in the morning because Alec has gone down for a nap.

3. Alec gets bored and walks off halfway through storytime. I am left gazing happily at Eric Carle's illustrations in Pancakes Pancakes.