House-share

Isn't she beautiful? Look at those joints! She knew she was being photographed and she's quite camera shy, so this is an action shot, with blurred legs - when I moved the camera away, she stopped running. I spend quite a bit of time explaining to these creatures that, though we love them, we can't share our space with them for too long

I view their presence as an indicator of a healthy home. We once rented a modern house in which no insects or spiders wanted to live, and it made both of us unquiet. We also host silverfish, woodlice, long-legged flies that sit motionless on the walls for hours, colonies of reticulated ladybirds in the window frames, and many other occasional visitors. We don't mind ants in the foundations, but they are currently trying to move in - Mrs M had to remove several from the Simnel cake this morning - despite the strategic deployment of dunes of table salt to convince them that there are better options. It's not the first such standoff - last time we prevailed

We draw the line at woodworm - which we once brought home in a large table - and carpet/clothes moth, which have already cost me one suit. In both cases, I'm afraid we fight dirty. Likewise wax moth in the bee shed, against which I deploy biological control

We keep plastic pint glasses - the salvage from various festivals - dotted around the house so that we can pick these spiders up safely and invite them to make a home in the garden. I don't mind picking them up, but it's easy to harm them - not least because their legs and feet are so delicate that you cannot actually feel them in your cupped hands

Spring appears about to break. Tonight was a long, slow sunset - a promise of summer nights. Today was chilly, but the forecast is for warming over the weekend. An agile beekeeping response is needed and plans have been made. Grape hyacinth and Amelanchier are indicators that, finally, the year is turning