1. Nick has to stand over me while I do it -- but at last I submit my tax return. 2. We have the fancy Christmas pasta for supper: striped sombreroni baked in tomato sauce; and for pudding Nana has sent four small ginger curd pastries. 3. I'm not sure when on my walk it happened, but the rain has eased and now I can see a few stars between the clouds.
1. My goddaughter is now grown enough to move out. To bask in her parents' pride at the unfolding story over WhatsApp -- and to admire the way she has cleaned the stickers off her door before leaving. There's something to give parents hope (If you know you know!) 2. There's always something to surprise and delight at an open mic night -- and here comes a youthful folk duo, Drover: beards and bright eyes and big jumpers with original songs telling old, old stories. 3. When asked if I have something for the second half, all I have is 'this old thing, that duologue that you've heard before', but Peppy says it will do nicely. On a lark, I freshen it up by press-ganging a stray actor to sight read the other role, and I am pleased with my boldness, and his gameness.
1. What will eventually be leek and potato soup simmers gently and comforts the house while I wash up. 2. My daughter is wondering how to go running without looking awkward and feeling cringe, but I am distracted by deer poo, still black and glossy, on the path, and I wonder if the deer are watching us from the shadows among the trees. 3. At teatime, she slips me a chocolate mini roll decorated like a sausage dog. We leave a trail of bone-shaped sprinkles over the kitchen floor.