Hilary Seabrook - writer, podcaster, musician

Just a few weeks ago, this view from near the end of my dog walk was brown. Completely brown. No leaves on the trees, freshly-ploughed fields and mud everywhere. Now the paths through the woods are half as wide because of the vegetation and we're not wading through puddles. I wonder if it's all turning green so quickly because of the very wet start to the year. While we were bemoaning the mud, maybe the seedlings beneath were thriving and beginning to grow. Maybe good stuff comes because of the bad stuff, not just as a reward at the end. Just saying.

Today marks the end of my 100 Happy Days challenge. It coincides with World Book Night 2014, which is why 18 copies of Gorky Park feature in this photo. In case you're interested, the other items all mean a lot and go back many, many years. There's a CD of My Favourite Things , my favourite album by my favourite sax player (John Coltrane). Then there's a pair of 1980s Ray Bans. The kids call them vintage. There's a brand new Fisher Space Pen which is a copy of one given to me in 1985 by a guy who was special at the time. I love the pen. I knew I'd begun to have some disposable income of my own when I could afford a Moleskine diary and a notebook. Couldn't be without them, no matter how much I enjoy using modern technology. The mug was my birthday present this year from Florence and Freddie, with pictures of them, us, dog and cat. If it's not full of green tea at any point, it soon will be. Completing the 100 Happy Days challenge was an interesting...

Because you probably know more about something than a lot of other people. Share. Posted via my iPad

My first site of Formby beach, just after seeing a red squirrel in the National Trust sanctuary. And I even dabbled my toes in the sand (the water was way too cold). Posted via my iPad

Because your competitors are. Not that you should do everything they do, but they're busily getting noticed and I'm sure they don't say anything more interesting than you. But they're doing the equivalent of shouting louder.

Animals. In preparation for snapping people tomorrow.

... so I went into Waterstones and bought this book. I need to be able to compose my pictures better and understand light settings etc. I don't have a great camera, but the more I understand about what I'm using now, the better. Then, maybe, I can invest in a better piece of kit.