1. I float in a bath the colour of the deep sea listening to the instructions for a blue-themed writing workshop.
2. Just as Traitors gets exciting, he joins us, wedging and levering his bony limbs between us in our nest of blankets and cushions on the sofa.
3. We fall asleep to the promise of snow.
1. Word have not been easy recently. When they do come, they seem unsettled and easily startled, like wild birds that have lost trust. Nevertheless, I know what I know and I follow the workshop instructions with a good will and a lot of hope.
2. While we wait for the year to spool out, with a generous orange box of pralines between us, we watch a documentary about the election of the pope, described through interviews with a few of the cardinals involved, as well as journalists, observers and a tailor specialising in religious vestments. The cardinals are very human, talking about tears and pizza and projected sizes of cassocks.
3. At last it's 2026 and I can sleep.
1. Red kite with pie-slice tail and wing fingers splayed wheels over aluminium roofs on an industrial estate.
2. Chatting idly across the train aisle with my cousin -- we note that the journey is so much better than we expected.
3. When we arrive home at dusk under the light of a high roundish moon, the shops are still open with cracked open doors, enticing lights and clean new year displays.
1. Walking out of the theatre, I hold his hand so he's not tempted to bolt across the swirly carpet into the forest of legs. We agree that the best bit was the bit where the dame took off her dress to reveal another dress and another and another and then ANOTHER.
2. We don't fancy the noise and the crowds and the scuffling for seats in the pub. So we come home to share part of a bottle of red.
3. It's been busy. Packed with cushions and a thick red blanket, we catch up with The Dark is Rising on the BBC World Service by the soft light of a few days' worth of advent candle and the Christmas tree.
1. An alarm goes off in Nick's pocket to let us know that it's the moment of the winter solstice.
2. The rain is falling in steady columns from a darkening sky, and we are no longer out in it.
3. We throw scraps of dark blue wrapping paper into the stove to see the flames change colour.
1. The vacuum cleaner lifts the dust and shines the surface of the floor.
2. The tacky circular sound that happens when I peel off a generous strip of washi tape for present wrapping. It's difficult to describe sounds, and even with recording technology, these workaday noises will one day be lost.
3. Each stitch, though small by itself, brings me closer.
1. I realise later -- much, much later -- that the lady in Lush handing me perfume samples was a very effective grounding exercise.
2. The crunchy feel of splitting sticks of leggy green winter celery.
3. Reaching under the tree to find the end of the Christmas lights.
