Delivery, ribbons and pearl onions.

1. The front door sticks because there is a parcel on the mat.

2. A fat cushion of a package of threads and ribbons from Di van Niekerk for an ambitious long-term embroidery project.

3. Pulling spring onions from my window box -- the bulbs are like the whitest pearls.

Light, treasure and distance.

1. Having a morning bath in a bathroom with a window.

2. Making Rosey go into a cave, even though it 'smells of wee', just happening to have a torch in my bag, and finding a geocache.

3. Leaning on the rail of the ferry I watch Rosey getting smaller and smaller as she walks back to her Landrover. When she is the size of my top little finger joint, she turns round and waves at me.

Cold feet, detective and mystery.

1. When you are hot from walking, standing in a stream and feeling your wellies cool down.

2. Towards the end of my lunchtime walk, I spot a man in black and white. Turns out it's a policeman doing some good old-fashioned tracking. He asks to see my boots so that he knows to ignore my footprints. I offer to walk up the field so as not to damage clues, but he says: 'It's all right, the prints I'm looking for are very distinctive.' I have visions of: a loose bear; a man with one leg shorter than the other and wearing stiletto heels; a barefooted doctor carrying a heavy load; a dog walking on its back legs in the company of a child with a wooden leg.

3. In the quiet part of the afternoon, somebody spots our boss working at the lock on the door of the cowshed opposite. We all run to the window to see what he's up to. He finally pulls the bolt out, goes in, and then comes out again. At this point, he spots his slack-jawed employees lollyganging at the window and shouts at us to get back to work.

Obstacle, period features and home comforts.

1. A fallen hazel tree blocks our road. I tell Oli we'll have to turn round. He says: 'No, let's move it. This is an adventure.' It's too heavy and springy for us to shift, but he's right -- in the dark, buffeted by the wind, heaving together at branches is an adventure.

2. The hallway of a house converted into flats is sometimes rather a sad place full of misdirected mail and bicycles and unwanted furniture. But in this particular hallway, there is a fireplace with bright turquoise and deep bottle green tiles.

3. Coming home to a plate warming in the oven and some supper.

Bird's nest, out of the rain and in this together.

1. I order my Szechuan King Prawns in a bird's nest. This turns out to be cripsy noodles formed into a dish.

2. Coming in out of the rain to a warm house and something good on the radio.

3. Possible disaster on the new flat; but I'm not in this all alone because Katie is fighting beside me.

Illustration, quiet spot and cookies.

1. A whiteboard appears in the office, intended to improve efficiency and productivity. Within 24 hours it has been covered in drawings of everyone in the building.

2. At lunchtime, desperate for some peace, I go down to our half-moved-into breakroom. There are no chairs yet, but the heating is on, so I sit against the radiator for a snooze.

3. A mysterious parcel of strange, bobbly texture has come in the post. It turns out to be a bag of Tollhouse chocolate morsels sent by Joe in Vegas. He hopes I will use them for making Tollhouse cookies and send him photographs of the result. (That would be photos of the cookies, not my fat bot after eating all the cookies.)

Joys, man of the cloth and daddy's girl.

1. Ellie saying that I looked like a child at Christmas when opening my package from Amazon.

2. The vicar, because he is so jolly-looking. He looks like a vicar who would aid the heroine of a novel, either with philosophical conversation that calms a spirit in turmoil, or by providing madeira, biscuits and dry clothes, or by opening a useful but unsuitable book on the table and then leaving the room.

3. Fenella cuddling up to her dad on the sofa the night before her wedding.

Psychotruck, caramel and rolling.

1. At the end of work I wander down the lane to pick some blackberries and sloes. I am just in time, because the hedge cutter is 100 yards down the road and coming towards me.

2.The smell of brown sugar.

3. Footage of a seal sleeping in an underwater field of eel grass on The Blue Planet. It looked so fat and contented rolling gently in the current.

Homely, crime solving and relief.

1. House hunting and looking round a really beautiful place. It's not quite in the right location, though. But I enjoyed seeing what makes a house lovely -- same coloured carpets all through and nice fresh paintwork and not too much clutter.

2. Discovering that after I left the party Team Fenella intercepted a suspicious box of money. A car pulled into a parking space on the High Street. When it left, there was a Chinese box sitting on the kerb. Naturally, the girls picked it up. Another car pulled up and then left pretty quickly. They called the police, and handed the box in. The police said it probably wasn't drugs, more likely Chinese takeaway profits.

3. When you're a bit hungover and very hungry -- a plate of food.

Fire, praise and help.

He-who-shall-not-be-named was moved to make a film of this post.

1. A flurry of afternoon excitement caused by a fire in the bins at work. The fire marshalls let off the fire extinguisher at it, and poured lots of water in. Bet the bin men are going to love us.

2. Getting a sweet note from a lady who has used 3BT to do her travel diary. She said: 'As a life-long optimist and positive-thinking person, I find that focusing on precisely three things is an exercise in discernment.'

3. Being told I've cheered someone up.

Fete, missives and light supper.

1. Yesterday was Oli's last day of work before his wedding, so we celebrated him by filling his keyboard with confetti and firing party poppers at the ceiling fan. The streamers tangled up in the blade and whirled around.

2. A good pile of post: A Postcrossing card from Taiwan; birthday card full of illustrations from James; a birthday present book from Katie (Little Big by John Crowley) and a volunteer pack from the Kent High Weald Project.

3. A salad of oranges and smoke mackerel.

Right side, massage and The Doctor.

1. Seeing Katie work so hard to track down some information about the murder house made me think I ought to go and investigate it and report back about its state. But the idea of walking up the steep garden path and pushing through the place where the boarding has fallen off the door filled me with horror. I felt rather cowardly, and I was so glad to have my instincts confirmed when we visited the site together. 'Want to go in?' I asked nervously, peering into the hall, which is full of bits of ceiling and staircase. 'No,' said Katie.

2. Green People body butter. It melts in my hands and warms my muscles as I rub it in and it has a medicinal rosemary scent which I like very much.

3. Watching a fortnight's supply of Dr Who with Fenella -- in particular I liked Dr Who riding through a mirror on a white horse.

Traveller's tales, hygienic and free.

1. The dentist spends longer telling me what to look out for in Africa than he does looking at my teeth.

2. I am officially free from yellow fever and have a certificate to prove it.

3. Having the day off work.