Three Beautiful Things

1. We don't have a lawn, and I miss daisies very much. But last summer a good Bellis perennis appeared in between the paving stones. It was such a high footfall spot, though, that I dug them out and put them in a shallow pan planter to see...

1. There's something rather hopeful about a city so full of bikes that parents and children cycle together at rush hour. 2. At the very back of this slow, near-empty train, someone is singing showtunes, taking requests and enjoying the unus...

1. The sausage rolls come out of the freezer pale and cardboardy. But 25 minutes in the oven and they are crisp, golden and tasty.2. A friend has lent Bettany exactly the kind of suitcase she wanted for her school residential trip.3. Another editor r...

1. Still half asleep, I hear geese going over the roof. Autumn is here.2. Bettany paints my nails, and then I paint hers. 3. I really was very ready for that cup of tea.

1. The fly with has been bothering me while I'm meditating for the last couple of days finds its way out of the back door.2. It's just us girls this evening. Bettany lines her babies up on the sofa so we can all watch Red Dwarf together. But it's a s...

1. I'm looking in the wrong place. Both girls are up near the ceiling in Bettany's high sleeper. 2. Games night. My reporter character is standing in the right place to shoot a depraved Nazi sorcerer (they're the worst kind).3. I fall aslee...

1. Downstairs there are seats away from the air con, the loud speakers and people talking. I vanish into Mrs Gaskell's chilling historical novella, Lois the Witch.2. A buoyant child bursts out of the audition, confident and content, whatever the outc...