A few of my favourite things!

I quite like raindrops on roses, but whiskers on kittens don't do a lot for me. I can take or leave brown paper packages tied up with string, but I must admit to finding girls in white dresses with blue satin sashes very appealing.
A recent visit to the London Palladium to see The Sound Of Music got me thinking about what exactly are my favourite things.
Some mornings, I wake up, look and my bedside clock, and suddenly panic because I think I'm late for work. The feeling of euphoria that drifts over me when I realise that it is my day off if one of the most satisfying sensations I ever experience That definitely qualifies as a favourite.
Speaking on the phone to my kids and grandchildren is very special - email just isn't the same.
I love flying. I am one of the few people who can list an airport as one of my favourite places. A complete melting pot of nationalities and cultures. The thrill I get when a plane rushes down the runway then rises into the air is indescribable. The feeling that your stomach has stayed on the ground, along with a slight dizziness, gives an amazing adrenalin rush. And the free bar on long haul fights is great!


I belong to the Friends of Cathedral Music, and whenever I can, I attend concerts by Winchester Cathedral choir. When I sit with my eyes closed and hear the magnificent organ and the voices of the choristers fill every corner of that ancient building I feel transported to another place. When the music stops, the sound just hangs in the air then slowly fades away before the silence is replaced by rapturous applause.


When I'm tired, hot and thirsty, my first sip from a freshly pulled pint of Harveys Sussex Bitter is satisfaction personified. The frothy head, and the aroma from the hops and malt. Bliss!


Walking on the beach, strolling across the hills and wandering through the forest. Getting soaking wet in the warm Summer rain, and throwing snowballs in Winter. Daffodils in Spring and golden Autumn leaves.


France is just a fifty miles or so across the water, yet the way of life there is so different from that which I lead. My favourite way of spending a day is to drive onto an early ferry - the Eurotunnel just isn't the same - then drive a few miles South for a few kilometres and simply soak up the atmosphere of the tiny rural villages. Men in the square playing boulle, and others sitting around outside scruffy little bars. Huddles of ladies passing the time chattering and tiny children chase each other and roll in the dust. Then lunch at my favourite restaurant, the Bon Aberge in Ardress. Ah, the french lunch. Not so much a meal, more of an event! No hurry, no rush! Then back again along roads lined with tall tress as straight as soldiers, dotted with chateau and farmyards.


'When the bee stings, when the dog bites, when I'm feeling sad. I simply remember my favourite things, and then I don't feel so bad!