Checking, baby's view and a good deed.

1. The pile of pages still to be read gets smaller, and the pile of proofed pages gets bigger.

2. Watching Dee Dee appreciate bubbles and cats. Spending time with babies makes me look at the world quite differently.

3. Fenella and I go up to the park to enjoy warm evening. She says: 'Andy will come up later, and he's going to go to the fish and chip shop to get your supper.' What a wonderful husband.

Speculation, fewer worries and small person.

1. On most mornings I pass an old man who is almost bent double. I've seen him coming out of a house which is labelled as belonging to a respected woman's organisation. I speculate that he might be the illicit boyfriend of one of the residents and that he sneaks out every morning at 8.30am so he is not caught by the warden. Or he might just be the husband of the member of a respected woman's organisation on his way to get a newspaper.

2. It is not sunny today, which is much more natural for April. If the sky is clear and blue and the air is balmy, everyone mutters dire warnings about global warming. A dull day means fewer reminders of the handbasket in which we are all going to hell.

3. The anonymous nephew of an un-named colleague is brought in so we can admire him. He has grown considerably since we last saw him -- the anonymous mother, the sister of the un-named and very proud colleague -- says that it's like having a little boy around the house, intead of a baby. Anonymous nephew is also a lot stronger, and when I sit him on my desk, leans back, pushing against my hands. He also grips my fingers, and has to be pried off when it's time to go.

Have at thee, new territory and magic that the camera makes.

1. A couple walking up Madeira Park fencing with pieces of dowel.

2. Exploring a new bit of woodland with Lou.

3. The BBC recently did a short feature on local goths, which included the presenter dressing up to show how the look is achieved. The sample goth used in the programme explained that he had lent the presenter a pair of trousers, and they hadn't fitted over his paunch. But luckily the gaping fly was artfully hidden under a frilly shirt.

Gravel, antiques roadshow and ahhh.

1. Scrunching on gravel.

2. Pete popping round while he waits to see a client. I get a good load of gossip with light analysis and information about my furniture -- my mirror might be Regency or it might be an Edwardian revival (in either case it could do with a clean) and my table is 1900s French and much influenced by arts and crafts.

3. A yoga position that stretches out my aching muscles.

The Mother, G&T, slurp, you wag and night out.

1. It was Robert's birthday, but he was too busy being in Scotland to speak to his travelling sisters when they phoned. But it was good to hear The Mother's voice for the first time in almost nine weeks, and she told me that PaulV has won a prize -- he is photographer of the year for his newspaper group.

2. My feelings towards the barman who served me a gin and tonic made with Gordon's, a slice of lemon and some real ice.

3. As if that wasn't enough, he showed me a gecko that was just about to snaffle a moth.

4. Then his friend told me that sometimes tourists refuse to believe in things -- such as communal weaverbird nests, which look like a haystack up a tree. 'They go "that's not a birds nest." So I go "Yeah, you're right. It's a giraffe's food store."'

5. An evening of drinking that included a marriage proposal (no, but it was my first one ever, so naturally it set my girlish heart a-flutter) and a psychotic stroke victim desperate for a fight. He threatened us with a pool cue and some bottles and then threw up on Wayne. Finally, he resorted to begging. 'Hit me. Go on, hit me. You've got to hit me.'

Nordoewer, Namibia

Sandy, it works and romance.

1. Lake Malawi -- love you loads, what with the freshwater swimming, the many coloured fish, your thrilling rocky islands and falling asleep to the sound of your blue waves washing on clean shores, but I have to say: I'm thrilled to be leaving the sand behind -- it gets into our tents, our clothes and our food.

2. The enormous satisfaction I get from finding a cashpoint that will take my card and give me money.

3. Catching Rosey chatting to a BOY in the campsite garden -- apparently he has cycled from Holland.

Blantyre, Malawi

Pancakes, up the table leg, one fish two fish, drummer boy and greens.

1. Pancakes with cinnamon, sugar and lime.

2. There was also a dish of golden syrup. It made a ring on the table and ants came to drink from it, lining up round the edge like little cattle.

3. Lake Malawi is described as being like a giant aquarium -- we saw little blue fish and some spotted ones.

4. Andi from Kande gave me a drumming lesson in his shop. He and his friends gather on the full moon for a few beers and bonfire on the beach. I tell him that I do the same with my friends sometimes -- we go to the woods though.

5. One of the souvenir sellers tells me that they roll joints out of maize leaves. ‘Do you get the munchies?’ I ask. He laughs. ‘It’s best right before dinner and then you can go home and eat two platefuls.’

Kande Beach, Malawi

Rain by day, waterbabies, local gossip and miracle cake.

1. It has been raining at night, but I wanted to see some rain falling by day. And I got it -- much to Anne’s disgust. I was forced to spend most of the morning sitting in Soft Sands Cafe eating chocolate cake.

2. There is an island about 500m from the shore. From the moment we saw it, Rosey and I knew we would have to swim to it. After a lot of umming and ahhing -- can probably make it there, but don’t know about back -- we set out, accompanied by Other Claire. It was a good slog, but we made it and felt very pleased with ourselves -- not one of the men thought they could do it. We clambered all over the rocks, gossiping with the local boys who had paddled out on their canoes and having our swimming prowess admired by a lady tourist. Once we were rested, we swam back without any trouble at all.

3. Andy from Kande telling me about the crazy old hermit who lived on the island. He came from Andy’s village, maybe 70 years ago and decided he wanted to live on the island. There was plenty of fish, and plenty of water, but not much else. He relied on people occasionally visiting him with other supplies. The headman of the village asked him to come back to the mainland, but he refused. Then one day the weather was so bad that no-one could get to him for five days. After that, he was more willing to leave.

4. A mysterious pot had been boiling on Francis’ camp stove all afternoon. ‘What’s in there?’ He shook his head and grinned. It turned out to be a beautiful brown cake. I would never have believed that it had been steamed, not baked, if I hadn’t seen it with my own eyes.

Kande Beach, Malawi

Supergeeks, bump and conversation stopper.

1. I like seeing the trainspotters at London Bridge -- look at the very ends of platforms one to six as you come in from the country; or you can see them photographing the engines on the concourse of the terminal platforms.

2. The way my friend Cat is glowing in the last third of her pregnancy.

3. After a day chewing over life and love with one friend, watching television with another.

Open jar, berries and orangutans.

1. Opening my first jar of damson jam. I had it with malt loaf; and it was fine -- a bit stiff perhaps. Next time maybe I won't cook it so long.

2. Berries in the hedges. There's ropes and ropes of glowing scarlet bryony on twisted vines; clusters of red holly in its dark green leaves; rosehips, which stand out all the more because the leaves are going; blackberries (which don't last long with me around); and best of all, spindle berries. These are a bright silky pink colour and the burst open to reveal bright orange seeds. They look like little plastic toys that someone has thrown away.

3. Marion Hough came to talk to the writers about her life. The story I liked best was about the time she went on a PR jolly to meet some orangutans at London zoo. She was propositioned by the alpha male 'He winked at me!'; and chatted about babies with a nursing female. 'Their eyes are so full of understanding and gentleness,' she said.

Burnt sugar, pink wine and familiarity.

1. Oli's Toffee Aero. I didn't actually have any because I am too stuck-up to eat chocolate containing less than 40 per cent cocoabutter; but the caramel smell was divine. It filled the office for an entire afternoon.

2. Fenella coming through the door with a bottle of pink wine and a whole pile of news.

3. Wandering into a pub where people know your name.

Race that knows Joseph, secret garden and rolling rock.

1. In L. M. Montgomery's Anne books, a character called Miss Cornelia Bryant describes people she likes and who understand her as 'The race that knows Joseph'. I don't know where the phrase comes from - I always imagined it must be from the Bible. A Google search turns up nothing but Anne references.

2. Sitting in a little garden behind high privet hedges talking and drinking wine as the sun goes down.

3. Watching a fat, egg-shaped moon roll over the rooftops.

Class, off the train and got to tell you.

1. People who always look stylish and elegant because they carefully match their jewellery to the rest of their outfit.

2. At 9pm there are still some families sitting in the park. Most of the fathers are wearing shorts and T-shirts, except one who is in smart casual and carrying a briefcase - he must have come straight from work.

3. PaulV waking me up with a phone call at midnight because he wants to tell me that his archnemesis is about to be dumped but doesn't know it yet.

Cooler, plans and Captain Jack.

1. Walking in the shade.

2. Eating icecream and talking weddings with Fenella.

3. Captain Jack Harkness in Dr Who. If it moves he will try to seduce it - this includes a robotic version of Trinny and Susannah.

Talk, flowers and veggies.

1. Eating lunch and gossipping in the shade on the Common with Katie.

2. The Mother has filled my flat with flowers - there is a vase of Gertrude Jekyll (comforting pink with tight layered spiralling petals and scent you could get drunk on); a vase of Rosa moyesii; some daisies in a Coke bottle; a vase of Alchemilla mollis and roses white and red and a vase of ranunculus ranging from butter yellow to orange squash colour to creamy white to regal purple.

3. Courgettes cooked in mint.

Chinese, stew and glorious matrimony.

1. Crispy seaweed and sesame prawn toasts.

2. Cooking a vast pan of spicy lamb tagine for my brother and PaulV.

3. PaulV's stories about disasterous weddings - this one involved poor wine, the bride going to punch her mother-in-law, the groom suggesting an anullment and revolving-restaurant-induced vertigo.

Snooze, fame and confection.

1. Having a kip between breakfast and leaving for work.

2. Chris' story of how when he was 14 he met up with Jonathan King - who has just walked out of Maidstone jail after doing three years for messing around with young boys - for a chat about DJing. They went for a drive in the pop mogul's brown Rolls - stopping at Harrods to pick up a turkey. Nothing happened although King did ask Chris to fill out a form detailing his tastes in pop music and his sexuality. Looking back, Chris thinks this might have been a bit odd. Apart from that, he has nothing but praise for the pundit. And a few years later, Chris met up with King again. This time he took along a friend and a demo tape, which the great man didn't like.

3. Chocolate eggs from Konditor and Cook. They have crispy sugar shells and soft hazelnutty chocolate inside.

Prize, hieroglyphs and catch up.

1. Being given a bottle of wine for taking shorthand notes.

2. When I come to transcribe my shorthand, there is always a horrible minute or two when the squiggles make no sense. And then they resolve themselves into words and I can breathe again.

3. An old colleague came to give a talk at my local writers' group. It was good to see her again and to hear all the gossip.

Iron, spies and sparks.

1. My new ironing board cover. It's pink and decorated with Barbaraella-style girls posing in front of a futuristic city

2. Went for a walk with PaulV through town. We looked in through people's windows and alternately giggled about and envied their living rooms.

3. Watching fireworks from my window.

Decorate, neighbours and discovery.

1. A man in a cherry-picker very carefully putting fairy lights in the small branches of the plane trees up and down Mount Pleasant.

2. Gossipping with Fenella for so long that her boyfriend got worried and texted to find out where she was.

3. My nearest supermarket has changed to a Morrisons. During the transition, stock has been very low and I've been stamping round furious at not being able to find my usual groceries. However, I discovered that they do amazingly cheap candles. Also, there were two treaty things in the reduced-to-clear shelves - a bottle of fresh orange and raspberry and two smoked salmon terrines.