What Did You Do Yesterday?

A Day in the Life

I've recently been listening to a podcast called What Did You Do Yesterday? In each episode, the hosts interview a celebrity (usually comedians) and ask them one simple question:

What did you do yesterday?

Not last week, not their most memorable day, just what they did yesterday.

After enjoying a few episodes, I recommended it to my daughter, Layla, and she liked it too.

‘Are you going to write a Substack post about What Did You Do Yesterday?’ she asked me this morning.
‘I hadn’t thought about that,’ I replied. ‘I suppose I could. What would it be about?’
‘Duh! About what you did yesterday, obviously.’
‘I know. I mean when would I write it? I’d end up deliberately picking the day after I did something exciting.’
‘Do it about yesterday then!’
‘Yesterday? But what did I do yesterday?’
‘I don’t know! You tell us.’

So here goes. This is what I did yesterday.

6:00 am
My alarm went off at 6:00, like it does every morning (Monday to Friday). Sometimes I ignore it and go back to sleep, but usually I try to get up. Yesterday, I reluctantly did get out of bed. So did Rachel. She was feeling more energetic than me, though, and was heading out for a run before work. I went downstairs and put the kettle on.

I picked up my phone and did Wordle while my tea brewed. I hate Wordle. This confirmed why. The word was CORER. Stupid word. I failed to guess it. It feels like Wordle has run out of words.

Sunrise is not until after 7:30 at the moment, so Rachel put on a headtorch and headed out the door at 6:05. I sat down on the sofa next to our dog, Ludo, to drink my tea.

I’ve always been envious of people who can do cryptic crosswords as I have never had any clue how to solve them. For the last few weeks, I have been trying to teach myself. I do a daily clue on an app called Minute Cryptic and am having success some days. Yesterday was not one of those days.

The clue was: Seize control of greeting card (6).

Click here if you’d like to know the answer.

I failed to get it. I hate cryptic crosswords.

Failed at Wordle, failed at the crossword clue. It wasn’t the best start to the day.

Rachel returned from her run after about three minutes, complaining of back ache and stomach pain. She did some yoga on the kitchen floor instead and I put the kettle on again to make her a cup of tea.

6:15 am
I moved through to my study and turned on my computer. I made some changes to this Substack post I was writing about my ten years as a full-time author.

6:40 am
Kitty’s alarm boomed from the room above. It was so loud I knew it would wake Layla too, and she and Kitty would have an argument about it later.

Kitty is doing her Bronze Duke of Edinburgh Award and has chosen running as her physical activity. At 10:00 the night before, Kitty had asked me if I would go for a run with her before school. I said yes, but didn’t think there was any chance she would follow through with it.

6:50 am
Kitty came downstairs.
‘I don’t want to go for a run,’ she said.
‘Ok. You don’t have to. It was your idea.’
‘Fine. I’ll go back to bed then.’
She trudged back up the stairs and I heard the door of her bedroom closing.

6:52 am
Kitty came back downstairs.
‘I’m up now,’ she sighed. ‘I suppose we might as well go.’
‘Ok, great. I’ll just get ready.’

6:56 am
This was not a typical pre-school activity for Kitty. She’s 13 and this was our first-ever run together. It was still dark, so we took a torch each, neither of which stayed on for more than two seconds at a time.

Kitty is not a runner. She is a very fast sprinter but doesn’t understand the concept of jogging. She dashed up the yard at full pace and then had to stop to regain her breath and recover from a stitch after 50 metres.

We began with 30 seconds running, followed by 30 seconds walking. This soon became 20 seconds running and 60 seconds walking. But she did really well, and we managed two miles in 29 minutes.

‘I really hate running!’ she said, as we reached our front door.

‘I know that feeling well,’ I said.

7:25 am
We entered the kitchen just as Rachel was getting ready to leave for work. I made her a flask of coffee to take with her and sent our dog Ludo in to wake up Leo. Ludo responds to the command ‘wake up Leo’ by running into Leo’s room, jumping on the bed and licking Leo's face. Leo prefers it to an alarm clock.

Layla appeared at the bottom of the stairs looking grumpy.

‘Morning Layla!’ I said, cheerfully. ‘Sleep well?’

‘Worst night’s sleep EVER!’ (she says this most mornings). She glared at Kitty. ‘And then some IDIOT’S alarm clock went off at 6:40!’ Kitty didn’t offer any apology.

‘Kitty, it was very loud,’ I said. ‘Can you turn it down next time?’

‘Don’t worry!’ she said. ‘I won’t be going out for a run again.’

7:40 am
We said goodbye to Rachel, and then I made the same breakfast smoothie I have most days, which I poured into two glasses – one for me and one for Layla. Rachel will usually have some too if she’s not left for work. Kitty and Leo look at the greeny-grey sludge and categorically refuse. It’s delicious though. Here’s what’s in it:
Milk, banana, frozen spinach, frozen blueberries, fresh ginger, turmeric, cinnamon, and peanut butter (100% nuts).

I made some Marmite on toast and another cup of tea and helped Kitty make her chicken salad wrap for lunch.

8:20 am
I drove Layla, Leo and Kitty the ten minutes to school.

8:50 am
Returned home. I was still in my running kit at this point, so had a shower, made a coffee and some more toast, and was at my desk by 9:10. I eat an absurd amount of toast. Since I started making sourdough back in June, my bread consumption has tripled. I think I might have a problem.

9:10 am
I spent the morning writing. I am currently working on a new version of The Self-Help Bible but aimed at teenagers. I’m hoping it will be out before Christmas.

10:30 am
I put on my walking boots and tried to encourage Ludo out for a walk. He reluctantly climbed off the sofa, looked out the door at the rain, and then climbed back onto the sofa. I couldn’t be bothered to protest and agreed with him anyway, so took my boots off and made a cup of tea.

Since Tan – the dog next door – stopped coming on walks with me, Ludo has become a lot more stubborn. It’s like he’s suddenly realised walks are optional and that he too can refuse to go. It’s quite annoying, as dog walks are often my favourite part of the day. Thankfully, Milo, the neighbour’s labrador, is always up for a walk, so maybe it will just be me and him soon.

10:35 am
Back to my desk.

12:10 pm
Lunch was a bit weird. We had a fennel bulb sitting in the fridge that I’d meant to use for something else and forgot. It was looking a bit sad. I sliced it thinly, added olive oil, the juice and zest of a lemon, salt and pepper, and grated parmesan, and ate it straight from the bowl I mixed it in. It was surprisingly tasty. But nobody has ever felt satisfied from a bowl of fennel. So, I had two pieces of toasted sourdough with cheese and garlic pickle. And a bag of crisps.

12:30 pm
Back to my desk for more writing, procrastination and self-doubt.

2:00 pm
I remembered something Kitty had announced just as I dropped her off at school.
‘Oh, by the way, Moomin was sick in my bedroom this morning.’

Cleaning up cat sick hadn’t been top of my list of ways to spend the day, so I had successfully blanked it from my mind. I decided I should go and clear it up, rather than let it fester there any longer. Here is the text exchange I had with Kitty.

When I said, ‘give the carpet a clean’, what I actually meant was a token wipe with a cloth.

3:10 pm
I drove to pick up Layla from school. Leo and Kitty both had after-school clubs, and Rachel would collect them later on her way back from work.

3:50 pm
I realised I had missed the deadline to book slots for Layla’s school parents’ evening, so sent the school an apologetic email asking if there was any possibility of booking an appointment.

4:30 pm
It was still raining, but I tried again to coax Ludo out for a walk. Again, he looked reluctant. But then I uttered the two magic words that I knew would get him off the sofa and out of the house: ‘swimming pool’. There’s a muddy pond in a nearby field, formed from the flow of a culvert that comes under the road. We call it Ludo’s swimming pool, and he and Milo would happily spend all day there retrieving tennis balls and sticks that I throw into the water.

After all the heavy rain, the pond was bigger than normal and the stream fast flowing. Layla and I spent 40 minutes standing in the rain while Ludo and Milo raced around and Tan stood and watched them.

Tan still won’t come on walks with me, but she’ll come to the ‘swimming pool’ as long as Layla is there too.

5:15 pm
We arrived home at the same time as Rachel, Leo, and Kitty.

6:00 pm
I cooked some rice and heated up a chicken and lentil curry from the freezer that Rachel had made a few weeks ago. We usually all eat together, but Leo was midway through some ‘once-in-a-lifetime’ Fortnite tournament that only seems to happen about three times a week, so he took his meal to his room.

6:30 pm
I went out! On a weeknight. I very rarely go out. And almost never on a school night. But I’d had a text from a friend asking if I wanted to go for a beer, and as tempting as it was to make an excuse, I said yes. I walked the 30 minutes to the pub in the dark and pouring rain and arrived at 7:00 pm.

7:00 pm
There were four of us out, and we had a really enjoyable evening, sitting at a covered table outside as the rain pummelled the plastic roof. We talked about the ‘joys’ of helping to coach kids’ football, artificial intelligence in the healthcare system, and the price of olive oil. You know, just your classic lads’ banter.

The rain got heavier, and Layla sent a concerned message in our family group chat.

10:00 pm
I regretted the third pint but was grateful for a lift home to avoid getting soaked again. Rachel had also been out too, to her monthly book club with a group of friends. She doesn’t go out much either, and it was just a coincidence we were both out on the same night. We talked in the kitchen about our evenings, while I ate two more slices of Marmite on toast and a piece of some strange but oddly delicious pumpkin cake that Rachel had taken to book club.

10:45 pm
I went to bed at the end of a pretty good day, all things considered. It was not typical, but not exactly out of the ordinary either. Just a fun mix of writing, parental duties, failed word games, soggy dogs, unexpected beers and too much toast.

And now it’s your turn. You don’t need to write 2,000 words. But I would love to know… What Did You Do Yesterday?