1. After the morning rush, I settle in with a book, aiming for a quick reset.
2. My son comes looking for a chat and some reassurance. Then my daughter joins us, sucking on a box of pineapple juice.
3. To add a few jazzies to a little rosette of whipped cream.
1. We don't have much on, and I am very tired after a day with friends. I spend the time drifting between books and podcasts.
2. The best thing to do for pre-food-tech nerves is to give her space to practise cutting apples and kiwi fruit.
3. The repair in our bedroom is done and we can finally tidy. The meter square of clear floor seems so luxurious. Hedonic adaptation will soon smooth it into ordinary, so we'll enjoy it while we can.
1. While I wait in line for the post office counter, the customers at the head of the queue for the shop fill a bag with vapes and vodka and chocolate, commiserating all the while with the assistant about bad wisdom teeth and the long wait for an NHS dentist.
2. It costs almost £4 in postage, but I am very pleased to dispatch a large parcel of well worn tights back to the manufacturer for recycling.
3. Cold at the open back door, I peer into the blue-green sky trying to see what Nick can see -- a fingertip width from Venus, Saturn should be visible. It takes a while and I have to be patient, but eventually the distant planet resolves.
1. A milky fog covers the town, tastefully draping the buildings that block our view of the horizon.
2. The little daisy in the awkward spot by the table has put out a defiant January flower.
3. Slipping boiled beetroots out of their skins.
1. Here, the ground is frozen into earthy ridges that crumble under my boots; there, I crunch across leftover snow; here again my steps break a crust of ice over a slurry of mud.
2. I roll sausages on to a baking tray while Nick checks the figures I have given HMRC.
3. Saving a copy of my completed tax return, and setting a reminder to pay the bill on Friday. I'm always very happy to get that job done for the year.
1. My eyes haven't woken up yet, but Bettany needs help putting in her earrings. The moment (times two) when the post slips through.
2. She's rather too pleased that her lip balm tube might easily be mistaken for a forbidden lip gloss.
3. I realise that my library book is brand new.
1. I've had a good lie in, done an hour of work, and now it's time for coffee.
2. Grating lemon rind into a pan of warming golden syrup -- the perfume fills the kitchen.
3. I find myself reading 'just one more chapter' until there is no book left.