We are time-pushed, cash poor and banned from keeping pets in our rented accommodation. Plants give us something to come home to
I have wanted a dog of my own for as long as I can remember, but as a child, I was never allowed to have one. Instead, I had fleeting love affairs with other people’s canines: Lassie, the lolloping sheepdog in Ireland; my friend’s sprocker spaniel puppies; a neighbour’s tiny bichon frise.
I still dream of returning home to snuggle with my own puggle or miniature daschund, but each time I seriously think about committing, I hear my mum’s voice: “Don’t you dare! It’s not fair on the dog!” She is right. My life is decidedly dog-unfriendly and my weeks are peppered with dinners, classes, meet-ups. So I have settled for potted plants instead.