Three Beautiful Things

1. Ed has been bickering with me about: which Simpsons characters we most resemble; whether the ban on talking about yoga covers classes or just positions; whether when I offered to make a drink I told Ed I was making real coffee and whether I should have known that when he said he wanted tea, what he really wanted was coffee. Oli listened for a while and then asked Charlotte if she wasn't pleased to be back at work. 2. Making a big fuss about leaving work on time and reaching the bed shop in the last half hour of their sale. 3. Opening a box and finding a book I thought I had lost.

1. My father dropping me off and staying to help put books on shelves. 2. The smell of sage, oregano and thyme (present from my cousin) and compost (present from my father) as I planted them in a big blue ceramic pot (present from my aunt) out on the balcony. 3. The magic of Freecycle means that instead of cluttering up our new flat, the boxes I moved with are helping other people.

Extra special Midwinter Beautiful Things to Sgt Dub in Afghanistan, and to Kimono Hime in case she is homesick for England; and to everyone who is far away from the ones they love. 1. Waking up under my new blue cotton quilt from India. It's a present from Katie. She has a matching one in red in her room. She carried them both for nearly her whole holiday. 2. Scrambled eggs on crispy toast. They are bright yellow because they come from freerange chickens; and they are the first thing we've cooked in the new flat. 3. Opening a box and finding the Christmas decorations.

1. Finding my toothbrush and toothpaste when I thought they had been left behind. 2. Waking up and hearing birdsong. 3. At our office Christmas do, looking down the darkened dining room and seeing Jason and Charlotte sitting in a spot light.

1. Parents who are willing to give up a Christmas preparation day to help me move and who leave bottles of Champagne in the fridge. 2. Our man with a van freely offering Werthers Originals because they help with moving. 3. Oli once again cheering me up -- this time by arriving at the front door of the new flat with a pomegranet, a traditional Mediterranen housewarming gift.

1. Dark green holly leaves edged with a rime of frost; and in the window, frosted cobwebs have been arousing wonder. 2. Watching sunlight move across the office as the day progresses. It turns from orange at sunrise, to pale yellow, to pink at sunset. As the sun sinks, on the hills to the east of the office, a high window in a house hidden by the woods reflects a little spark of the sunset. 3. In exchange for dinner, Andy comes round to get things off top shelves, laugh at my shoes and help me deal with more frightening items hidden in dark cupboards and high places.

1. Douglas for his luxurious car and his clockwork reliability at providing lifts into work. 2. Coming into work early as the rising sun turns the sky salmon pink. 3. Lou's help made packing up the breakables a simple and pleasant task.

1. All the shop assistants who took the time in a busy day to find boxes to help me move. 2. BBC 7 is playing one of my favourite Christmas books -- The Box of Delights . 3. The cavalry arriving in the form of Katie with pheasant stew, vegetables and baked potatoes.

Check out England's Dreamers for a magical collection of Tunbridge Wells street scenes. Cheers Anonymous Bosch. 1. The greengrocer at the market waving to me as I zipped through on my way to somewhere else. 2. Geoffrey in the card shop telling me that he's going to a Christmas party with 30 women. 3. Amid all the chaos of packing for a move, managing to keep the sofa clear.

1. Oli's tales of his neighbour. 'At the neighbours' association meeting, he kept calling me Oliver and poking me with his finger and saying the windows needed repainting.' Afterwards, once it had mellowed into a sociable drink, Oli learnt that this undesirable sideburned character, who sunbathes naked in the shared garden, was once a Teddy Boy . Complete with flick knife, which he still has. And he doesn't like the previous owner of Oli's flat. The story is: 'That bugger, 'e took the floor up. 'E shouldn'ta dun that.' So we spent the day threatening each other in raspy criminal tones. 'Mr Flicky doesn't like that.' And 'That bugger took the floor up and nah 'e's undah it.' 2. Ellen bemoaning the fact that it was her last day working with He-Who-Shall-Not-Be-Named and she missed her chance to pinch his bottom, which is described as 'like a peach caught in a wood vice' by those who like that sort of thing. H...