1. Walking down a footpath between the backs of two streets, I hear a strange squeaching springy noise. It's two little boys bouncing on a trampoline.
2. Maxine's Marilyn-style dress. It has a halter neck and a big pouffy skirt and is made of crisp white fabric with little raised black dots on it. We demanded to know where she got it -- her sister's wardrobe, it turned out. It was made for a school ball by Maxine's mother.
3. Ordering a complicated mocktail for Paul V. It involved fresh mint and crushed ice and took so long to make that other people queuing for the bartender's attention looked on in awe and asked: 'What did you order?'
