I come a family with a long tradition of preserving food – bottles of jams, jellies, marmalades, sauces, chutneys, and pickles. Bottled sunshine. Essence of labour, and of love. Dad would maintain the fruit trees and the vegetables, and Mum would bottle the harvest surpluses. I didn’t fully understand it at the time – it was all part of the flow – but Dad’s expression of love was in the richness of the crops, Mum’s in the beautiful artistry of the preserves. Together, in winter, making toast on the open fire, enjoying each other’s company and the bottled sunshine.

Manifesto
18. Every day express love. Some people need to hear it. Most people need to see it. Don’t take it for granted.
30. Every day use all your senses. Touch. Smell. Taste. Hear. See.
50. Every day has an ending.

The triceratops eyed me shakily. I took that for a yes.

“Mr. T – what’s your thoughts on MPs blowing tax payer money on extravagant international travel? On the economic conditions? Global warming? World peace? The whole shebang?”

The triceratops looked me square in the eye and said, “Are you insane? I am a plastic toy used in this cafe to signal to the serving staff that the food they’re heating and the coffee they’re bringing is for you. Do you not see the irony that some of my ancestors gave up their lives to become the oil that formed the plastic that I’m made out of? And – reality check – that bottle of sauce. It’s not fuel for rockets. OK? Get a grip.”

I noticed all the other plastic dinosaurs were staring at us so we ate up quickly and left.

Manifesto
17. Every day look through a new lens.
28. Every day you will be tested.
32. Every day have a laugh.