A thud on the door, a man hands over a parcel. My partner ML shouts “it’s for you!”. She is intrigued because I rarely order stuff. I am intrigued because I haven’t. Sefi is intrigued because she’s a cat and it’s a box. It’s not so much the climbing inside as the crunching of her teeth into carboard she can’t get enough of.

We take the package to the kitchen and work round Sefi’s excited box-biting to get it open: laid next to each other are two drinking bottles: one midnight blue, one sunshine yellow: aesthetically divine individually, but next to each other, off the scale joy-sparking. “Like us,” delivers ML twinkling.

We deduce that these are from our lovely friend R because, well she just would, also due to her recent random text checking our favourite colours. For the record, mediterranean tones make me exceedingly happy.  But anyway, I am so delighted by her gift that I want to use it every minute, meaning I am drinking lots of water!

Anti-depressants plus anti-histamines (prescribed for sleep) is a recipe for dehydration, one of the symptoms of which is fatigue: this is one hell of a vicious cycle for a permatired frequent insomniac. Drinking more water is one of those things you know you should do but resist, for no good reason.

No longer resisting means my yellow bottle is causing a self-care domino effect. More water = feeling better = sleeping better = less coffee = less sleep medication = feeling better. (Maybe my immune system will perk up too – am currently coughing like a consumptive Victorian).

I’m getting ahead of myself, I know, it’s only been a week! But all this yellow and knowing it will soon be spring, and gratitude for my caring loved ones is bringing me hope. Let’s see how it goes.