She gave a little grunt, swung her bum round and backed up right in to my face. It was just the right height for her. She looked round at me as if to say, ‘Come on, what are you playing at? Itch me!’.

And so I did. 

And as she gave little whimpers of joy and gently nibbled my side, I realised that this is what Easter was about. Having the time to spend with my family, and my 24-year-old pony, Bobby (now retired but itchy as hell when the midges come out).

This is what I come home to – when were you last this excited?!

Other moments that have made my Easter so far:

One of our labradors, Teal, jumping in to our pond at any given opportunity and swimming around with her mouth snapping like that snapping crocodile in the Crocodile Dentist game, trying to eat the fish pellets my dad had thrown out, then desperately doing circles back and forth trying to snatch the one solitary lily pad that we’ve been trying to cultivate right in the middle.

My mum, in the midst of her post cigarette-quitting cooking (seriously, we’ve eaten sooooooooo well this Easter), shooting half a potato off the side and my Scottie dog, Sam, doing a game-winning nose dive to grab it, then the ensuing ten minutes of me with a giant oven mitt trying to convince him to swap this cumbersome, starchy glob of carbs for a delicious tasty morsel of dog biscuit-y-ness.

We threw the potato in the bin.

Sam, by the speed at which it disappeared, didn’t even taste the dog biscuit.

I realise that today I have spent all this post so far talking about animals. For those of you who don’t like animals I apologise, but you’re missing out.

Animals are the perfect example of how to live your life mindfully. They’re not worrying about tomorrow or the next day, or what’ll happen when they’ve finished the tasty dog biscuit or they get out of the pond and start getting cold, they’re diving right in to the moments and not thinking about anything else.

The moments are what make up your life.

Don’t squander a moment on anything you don’t want to do. If you have to do something, make it fun, make it purposeful, daydream, laugh, giggle, scratch a bum or two, and be grateful you have the opportunity to live your life.

Happy Easter ladies and gents!

P.S. I refuse to do ‘Happy Holidays’ – it’s Easter, that’s why we’ve got the day off, so let’s embrace it and eat chocolate!