Three Beautiful Things

1. Playing Pooh Sticks with Madie and Ellie and Doug. We walked down the hill that I am one day going to run up and spent 20 minutes leaning on the bridge over the stream at the bottom enjoying the sound of the water and the sunlight dappling through the foliage. 2. Coming home to find Sainsbury's has sent me a birthday card. It has a picture of some little cakes on the front, which are so thickly iced with in sweetie colours and sprinkled with hundreds and thousands and tiny flowers that they are nearly as good as the real thing; and also a voucher for a free litre of frozen yoghurt. 3. Oli commenting that he likes the sound of a door being unlocked.

1. A dream in which a friend who I fell out with a couple of years ago called round with a bottle of wine and a book I might like. 2. He who shall not be named (pictured) calling me to the window to watch him drop his new bouncy ball. It goes higher than the roof of the oast and lands on the other side of the road. 3. A fridge so full of food that you can't see the light. Also a postcard arrived from Fenella and Andy in Fuerteventura. Their beautiful things are: 1. Sleeping - hadn't realised how tired we were, commuting really takes it out of us. 2. Dozing by the pool, whilst sunbathing and between reading the many paperbacks we needed to catch up on. 3. Eating (then sleeping) enjoying the paella and potatoes. Been trying to stick to salad bar, but discovered banana splits today, so fear it will all go down hill.

1. For some reason, I never like the finishing part of a piece of needlework. If I am not careful I end up with sad pieces of cross-stitch waiting to be framed or made-up into bookmarks and glasses cases and whatever. Today I forced myself to assemble the stumpwork of flowers and a butterfly that I have been labouring over. It was satisfying to know I've overcome a difficult part of myself. It doesn't look as good as the picture on the box -- to be honest there's something wrong with the scale, and one of the butterfly's wings is too big. But I've made it, damn it, and I'm going to march into the framing shop and ask for the best shadow box they've got. Well, maybe the best priced shadow box. 2. Falling in love with the hero of a book. 3. Earl Grey Tea with lemon.

1. Fields of bright yellow buttercups. 2. Walking past a line of conifers and smelling the resin. Katie said it reminded her of one of our favourite books: The Little White Horse by Elizabeth Goudge. 3. The footpath runs straight and narrow through a field of half-grown wheat. The blades are already thigh high and it's quite hypnotic watching them go by.

1. Stopping to buy a bag of Kent cherries on the way home from work. 2. A girl we used to know quite well walks into the courtyard where we are enjoying an evening drink. We wave at her and say hi. She holds up one finger and then walks off, returning shortly with her friends. They sit down on the other side of the garden. We can see her watching us, but she doesn't come over or wave or even smile. I can't say I specially like being 'cut' like this... but the righteous indignation of 'Well! What on earth is her problem?' is rather satisfying; and then we made ourselves feel even better by forgiving her with: 'maybe she didn't have her glasses on. Or she could have been really drunk.' 3. If I was Lou, my beautiful thing would be the sight of me trying to put a duvet cover on sideways after a few too many glasses of wine.

1. The smell of freshly ironed clothes. 2. I picked up a double LP of Under Milk Wood from my parents' a few weeks ago. I like listening to people speaking with Welsh accents. And I love Dylan Thomas' tumbly prose -- the words seem to pour out with no regard for their intended purpose and I see commonplace things like never before. 3. Science fiction movies with machines that don't work properly. I've been watching parts two and three of Matrix . The dirty, sparking machines remind me of the gear in Star Wars and Alien .

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.