The ups:
Alice Hoffman's Here on Earth. The dark side of obsession and why it's not always a good idea to go back.
A new mug. Too big for the kind of coffee we drink here but handy for tea. Or maybe pens.
A small batch of basic sponge cakes filled with jam and buttercream.
A quick and easy (no knead, just mix, bung it in the tin, wait a short while, sprinkle on a handful of seeds and bake) wholemeal loaf to eat with hummus.
A delivery of plants (smaller than expected but hopefully they'll flourish) to help fill some of the gaps in the borders.
The downs:
Newly homed plants receiving a battering from giant hailstones. And giant paws.
After being shown how to crochet in stripes by some lovely ladies at a crochet group, it's abundantly clear I'm rather crap at it. Make that very crap.
You may remember I was concerned at the outset that, instead of a blanket, I'd end up with a large triangle.
I think I'd have preferred a triangle to what I've managed to create which, at best, could be described as undulating, at worst, the wonkiest mess.
And there was I, merrily crafting away night after night, smug in the certainty that I'd got it off pat, confident I didn't need to count the stitches on every row (which in all honesty is a right pain in the nether regions).
I decided to iron out all the undulation.
Turns out the application of heat and steam just makes it much much worse.
So I palmed it off onto the dog.
Please ignore the 'What have I done to warrant this hideous heap of woolly undulation?' expression, he likes it.
No, he really does.
Well, possibly.