NORTHERN PLANNER

As funky pancake demonstrates

I'm increasingly in awe of the heroism you find in everyday life, from the crushingly ordinary guitar band, long since given up on a career in music still playing pubs out of sheer love, to the checkout girl who never fails to smile.

I love all that stuff about objects and what they really mean to us.

Somehow all the stuff is more precious to me than ever, in an increasingly knowing, ironic, transient and throw away world. Not least with a little boy who is growing up too fast.

So I'm quite taken by the idea of making more moments really count. Adding a little ceremony to ordinary stuff, a pause in the usual hurtle through the day. Searing lumps of more memory into your mind and others too.

We only remember the extra ordinary stuff – very good or bad, so why not make more stuff a little out of the ordinary too? So you're not just left with, lets be honest, super edited collection of photos or Facebook doodas, but proper memories.

Little gestures and rituals – obviously making tea in the pot everyday, but there's other stuff too. I know a family that has a singsong after their evening meal, don't laugh Mr and Mrs Hipster, if you can bring yourself to do something uncool, it's a lot of fun. There's having a winter BBQ instead of just grilling food inside – get wrapped up warm with mugs of mulled wine and it's a joy. Dressing for dinner, at home on a Wednesday night, just because. Writing a proper letter with proper pen and ink, rather than an email or bloody poke on Facebook. That kind of stuff.

Anyway, moving on