‘Small Joys’ submitted by Faber Members

Tea and Coffee

Sitting still with a cup of hot tea in hand listening to the birds.
Ruth, Kingwinsford

Seeing milk make little clouds when I pour it in my tea.
Sophie, London

A cup of tea in your favourite mug with nothing to do whilst drinking it preferably wrapped in a blanket or duvet.
Vicky, Manchester

Sipping the foam of a nicely made cappuccino on an early quiet morning.
Simon, Ballyclare

My husband bringing me a cup of coffee in the morning, so I can relax in bed with my book for a little longer.
Susan, Swansea

Food

Freshly made vegetable soup in winter, served with lashings of pepper, bonus points if it’s a rainy day outside.
Laura, Halifax

A forgotten bag of ‘car sweets’ rediscovered in the glovebox!
Di, Reigate

A perfectly cooked poached egg.
Kevin, Chesterfield

Eating homegrown raspberries with my porridge.
Heather, Norwich

The smell of frying onions – anywhere and anytime.
Sarah, Brighton

Animals

Pigeon head bops as they walk.
Summer, London

One of my cats coming to me for a fuss.
Sarah, Birmingham

My beautiful dog being ridiculously happy to see me a dozen or more times a day – even if I've only left the room for five minutes.
Lynda, Aberdeenshire

Watching my cats dreaming after a good dinner.
Shirley, Glasgow

When my very stroppy rescue cat Mimi, who ignores me all day, decides to snuggle up to me when I go to bed.
Karen, Staines-upon-Thames

Stroking my Bantam chickens.
Anna, Salisbury

Nature

Weeds growing in sidewalks.
Elynor, London

Finding a polished, round, flat pebble on the beach.
Stéphanie, Belfast

Seeing the birds in my garden, especially the robin, who is very friendly and always comes up to me when I go into the garden.
Diana, Harrogate

I find joy in watching little ants in my garden. They parade across my walls, my marble floors and over the soil in perfected formations. Sometimes two ants walk from either ends of the walls to meet in the middle, never touching each other but moving around each other. It's almost as though they gravitate towards each other and then like similar poles of a magnet, find themselves unable to coalesce. I've spent hours watching these ants perform a grand ballet around each other, and it fills me with so much joy to even know that these little creatures exist.
Suchita, Bengaluru, India

Music

Dancing round the house singing along to a favourite song on the radio.
Desiree, Glasgow

Getting myself to sleep by trying to write song lyrics in my head. I hardly ever come up with anything that sticks, but it's a joyful process that always gets me to sleep.
Nick, Hoxne

New vinyl – running my thumbnail along the plastic seal of the outer cover to free the sleeve inside, removing the vinyl with a little gentle persuasion, then placing the record on the turntable and dropping the needle, hearing the warmly rounded sounds you only really get with vinyl.
Gavin, Newcastle

Being absorbed by a song, both earbuds in, hearing and feeling every part of it, all to myself. Then being able to play it on repeat for as long as I like, unashamedly, because of how good I feel while listening. Whether it be with eyes closed, on the sofa after a long day, on the way to.collect my toddlers from nursery or in the middle of a working day when I decide to play it at full volume on Alexa and dance around the living room, in those many moments it's mine and fills me up.
Sonia, Somerset

Miscellaneous

Bare feet on deep-pile carpets.
Ben, London

A piping hot (if you ain’t red it ain’t hot enough) bath at the end of the day with a book and an ice lolly.
Cheryl, Hornsea

Slathering my face in moisturiser every night and resembling ‘a glazed donut’ – direct quote from a pal – when I get into bed. Joyous.
Antonia, London

Finding something old but interesting that you never meant to keep such as an old hotel bill from my first ever visit to Spain 60 years ago.
Chris, Ashford

Random items that match exactly in colour e.g., a woman walking in front of me carrying an umbrella the identical pink of the painted eaves in the chalet she’s walking past.
Sheila, Newcastle