Three Beautiful Things

1. The turkey oak on the corner of the park has dropped all its leaves, which could mark the end of autumn -- but in this still weather, with mist layered around us, when the beeches are still orange, and the oaks are still yellow, and the acer on Belgrove is crimson, I'm not quite ready to move into winter. 2. We watch a startled father pursuing an accelerating toddler, and feel glad and sad that we've moved on from that season of our lives. 3. While I'm on the phone to my parents and in no position to protest, she puts a face mask on me.

1. The reverse plank comes up, and as always, I think 'don't be ridiculous, I'm not doing that.' But I give it a go, and then I am doing it, and holding it for the full fifty seconds. 2. I come down in the dark at the end of work and find the sitting room -- with the lights low, the radiator on and a clutter of interesting squashes and candles and autumn treasures on the mantlepiece -- so appealing that I want to sink into the sofa and hide under the red and white blankets. But I can't because a teenager is taking an exhausted nap. 3. We are rather delighted that this week's food tech is a lemon cheesecake, decorated with a ring of raspberries and brought home on the train.

1. The baristas here have the capacity and skill to float ferns in the foam on our coffee. 2. I get home and remember that the book I meant to post is still in my handbag. I put my shoes back on and return to the street, happy to live so close to everything we need. 3. Meeting small talk and gossip is mostly about books and reading and writers and readers, and that's a really important part of the job. 

1. Nick sends a proud picture of the chutney he and his mother have made from the tomatoes that definitely won't ripen. 2. Jackdaw has found something of interest in the brickwork on the sealed chimney. He stands on the cap and dips his head down to properly inspect the courses below his feet. 3. I am flagging in the hour before supper, arguing crossly with Word's spellchecker, when my phone rings. It's a friend wanting a quick editorial chat, and that seems a much better use of my time than backchatting at a machine (which, after all, is only doing its job).

1. There's her reassuring dot on the map, at the cinema. 2. Tilting the shutters against golden light after a sudden rain shower. 3. The paving crack weeds -- selfheal, ragwort and violets -- gleam with dew in the light falling out of the kitchen.

1. Listening to a dad and little boy in the front seat of the bus chatting about their plans for the day -- play in the park, go swimming, catch the bus back to Fenicks (it's Fen- WICKS , Dad) to buy a toy (oh about twenty pounds). 2. The counter-protest carrying signs about peace and good Samaritans is much larger than the protest of red-faced people play-acting as security guards and shouting abuse at buses. 3. When I come down to make supper, Nick has a bread and butter pudding waiting to go in the oven.