I was going through some writing exercises I scribbled in a class 2004 - when I was rather scarily unemployed and trying not to panic.

One of these was to describe an ideal environment…

I couldn't read the whole page (at some point coffee must have leaked into the notebook) but what there was described the Stone Caravan.

The fire, the coffee pot on the hob, the book, the sound of water, the view of the sky, the bench by the door for watching weather…

the only thing the Stone Caravan lacks from the list is access to the sea for walks and swimming.

The only thing the list lacks is - a toad under the bed.

I never showed the list to anyone, and I wouldn't discover the Stone Caravan for another 18 months after I wrote it.

But my sister must know me very well, because as soon as she saw it, nestling high above her new home in the North, she said "this is Tanya's".