Today Lalu, James, Pel, and I spent the large part of the day and evening in my garden, luxuriating in this Arabic-style cushion fest. It was the most beautiful day and the sun shone through my favourite birch tree in dapples. (Pel is dappled, too. A dappled dachshund.)

We gorged ourselves on Camemzola (a hybrid of Camembert and Gorgonzola), fresh bakery bagels, and pepper jelly in the afternoon and feasted on Indian deliciousness in the evening. Arabic culture has got it right: there is nothing like lounging and eating.

The secret garden was a little piece of heaven today.