Three Beautiful Things

1. To swim outdoors. 2. Our laburnum tree is out -- this time last year, I was sad that we wouldn't see its pure yellow flowers again. It's one good thing about the flat sale taking so long. 3. We walk down through the woods on the Common. Bird song falls all around us. A robin scatters notes from a blunt dead oak branch

1. 'Look at the light!' The sun has come out in the rain. I am so busy wondering at the watery gold that Rosey has to point out the rainbow that has landed on the church. 2. Getting into a still, blue swimming pool. 3. A taste of pink damson and plum sorbet.

1. I come to the end of the bay. The sea bed drops away suddenly into darkness and I have a feeling of things unseen below me. I turn to swim back to the beach and in a cleft see a rich orange starfish lying languidly in the blue gloom. 2. Every car journey this week has involved bouncing and jolting in clouds of red dust. It is a relief to speed along a smooth highway. The journey is punctuated by cries of 'Tortoise' and speculations about what people are harvesting and growing. 3. We stop for petrol and Katie and I recall the days when our friends were just starting to drive. 'Do you remember getting £2.17 worth of petrol and paying in pennies?' 4. While we wait to take off, Pauline tells me to look out at the full moon coming over the hills.

1. I feel as if I am flying. Far belwo the rocks on the sea bed fall away into the ultramarine gloom. Flying around me are tiny silver fish, fat black fish and once, a pipefish -- all bones and beak. 2. Sitting on the front deck of the boat and letting the wind and sun dry me. 3. Dish of food keep appearing -- long pancake rolls full of feta and fresh herbs; a salad of fat white raddish slices dressed with lemon flesh and juice; green leaves and tomatoes; chicken thighs spiced and cooked without the bone; crisp-skinned fish with sweet white flesh; and pickled runner beans. Later come dishes of ice piled with water melon, apricots, oranges, bananas and tart green plums. 4. Bobbing at anchor, we spot a forlorn group of walkers wilting on the beach. A tall ship comes in, makes fast and sends a dinghy over to collect them. 5. With sketchbook in hand I am free to observe the colours in the sea without interruption. 6. All holiday, worries about money have been digging cold fingers into my m...

The Bloggies are running again -- I'd be very glad to have your votes, as raising the profile of 3BT could help my book sales for next Christmas. And where readers are concerned, I've always thought 'the more the merrier.' You can put a blog in more than one category -- if you wanted to be strategic about it, Best European and Best Writing would be good places to put 3BT. 1. It snows and I can stop work to look at it. I like it because the movements of the air are revealed. 2. Jules says he 'could stand here doing this all day' -- he means dropping bottles into a bottle bank and hearing them break. 3. I haven't swum in ages -- I always forget how much I like being in the water and how warm and relaxed I feel afterwards.

1. The moment after I decide I am ill enough not to go to work but before the guilt kicks in. 2. A dream about being able to breathe water. 3. Feeling as if I have had as much sleep as I want.

1. Rosey and I went white water rafting on the mighty Zambezi. On our first grade four rapid (The Mother) Rosey and I were thrown out. On the video, the raft disappears behind a wall of water and when it appears again, there are two less people on board. You can see Malvin, our guide, standing in the back brandishing his paddle in a triumphant manner. It was only then that I began to suspect that white water rafting involves a certain amount of theatricals. 2. We pulled Elaine into the raft after she got stuck under her kyack. 'Are you all right?' 'No'. 'What happened?' Shake of the head. 'Are you all right?' 'No.' Her face was grey and her lip was trembling. 'Are you going to get back in?' Pause. 'Yes.' And we all cheered. 3. Meeting the rescue canoe after swallowing a lot of river. You cling on to the front with your arms and legs and wait for a raft to come close enough to board. 4. We lost a paddle, so we snatched one from ano...

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

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 o...

1. When border crossings are quick and easy. 2. One of the things I fear about travelling is changing money -- the best rates are from entrepreneurs at border crossings, but they are full of mean tricks like slipping a 100 in a bundle of 1,000s. They might miscount, or they might offer you torn notes. Our leaders have a tame man at the border, however, and we got him on board the truck, handed him the group's Kenyan Shillings and he handed back the equivalent in Tanzanian Shillings, no messing. 3. Swimming in Lake Victoria at the end of the day. The water is cloudy but warm and the waves mean there should be no bilharzia. The locals were bathing further down the beach, so we thought it was probably safe. As we swam, a small crowd gathered to watch. Perhaps we swim differently... Musoma, Tanzania

1. A Pattern of Islands by Arthur Grimble. I picked this up because I liked the cheery South Pacific cover. I imagined that this was all I would like about it, assuming that it would be a paternalist ha ha stupid savages who are scared of 'magic' it's a good thing the English are here to sort them out book . It's not -- it's intelligent, reverent and intrigued; the author looks up to his islanders, exploring their manners, their stories and their civilisation. If you are convinced the British Empire was a malevolent force, get hold of this and read what the administrators of the Tuvalu and Kiribati (then called the Gilbert and Ellice Islands) believed they were there to do. Here are Wikipedia articles on Tuvalu and Kiribati and also the British Protectorate of Gilbert and Ellice . 2. We were getting changed after swimming when a tiny little girl escaped while her mother was changing and climbed inside a locker. These lockers slam themselves flat even when unlocke...

1. Swimming in the daytime so that I can feel the warmth of the sun pouring in through the windows. 2. Christmas lunch of fizzy wine, red wine, roast chicken, two kinds of stuffing, sausages, bacon, roast potatoes and parsnips, carrots, leeks and broccoli, gravy and bread sauce. Later, we had Christmas pudding with real brandy flames made in a ladle over the gas ring. Then there were little chocolates in the shape of Christmas puddings. And crackers -- mustn't forget the crackers. Afterwards the three of us retired to the sitting room to complain about having eaten too much. Thank you Fenella and Andy! 3. Singing carols by candlelight. The flame gets passed along the rows until everyone is holding lit candle.

1. The larches have turned gold after the frost. I like the pattering of their needles falling. 2. I haven't been swimming for nearly two years. I had forgotten the how much I enjoy feeling of lightness, and the warmth that infuses my muscles after a couple of lengths. 3. Hearing the voice of a friend who hasn't been in touch for a while. She is full of baby news, and invites me round for Christmas drinks. Picture by Michael Grant