Pouring tea and a dog asleep on your knee, these are a few of my favourite things

Sometimes it’s the little things in life that give you the most pleasure. Here are some of mine.

The first day of a short haircut. Bubble wrap and a free half-an-hour. Picking the fresh newspaper third down in the pile. Rubbing a dog. Making friends with a strange dog. Cycling down a steep hill at speed. Scratching your back with a spiky comb. Channel 4 news. Channel 4 news on C4+1. The Star Wars theme tune. Wine. Snooze setting when the alarm goes off. Remembering the thing you forgot you wanted to Google. A dog asleep on your knee. When a dog comes into the room and sits on your feet because she just wants to be near you.

The sound of rain on the window when you don’t have to get up. Not having to get up even when it’s not raining. Getting up before everybody else. The absolute blackness of 4.30am in the winter. The absolute blackness of 4.30am in the winter when you’re en route to the airport for an early flight to Paris. Seeing a fox. Seeing an owl.

When autocorrect changes your surname to Vogue. Strike a pose

A winning goal in injury time. A spontaneous hug from your son. Removing flaky skin or picking a scab. Okay, maybe that’s just me. But steaming and scraping old wallpaper off a wall is nearly as good. Fresh bed sheets. Brand new pillows. The sound and smell of the first cut of grass in early summer. A properly stacked dishwasher. A properly emptied dishwasher. Waking up on a Saturday. Waking up on a Saturday thinking it’s Monday. Waking up thinking you have to do the Leaving Cert but then realising you’re 43. The first cold pint in a Friday evening beer garden. Chicken Achar. Real butter on real white bread. Homegrown potatoes with butter. Anything with butter. The sound of pouring tea. The smell of coffee. The first day of annual leave.

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Barbecue blues: Be careful not to lose the run of yourself in the sun

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The childless aren’t here to compensate for those who have kids

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‘Johnny Sexton was basically saying I’m Leinster and Ireland’s unsung hero’

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When autocorrect changes your surname to Vogue. Strike a pose.

Yawning. Sneezing. Scratching an itchy nose. Dancing on your own. A smile from a stranger on a bus. A friendly gesture just when you think all hope for humanity is gone. When somebody lets you out in traffic even though they have the right of way. When your child scores a goal. A fully charged phone. A new phone. The sound of a big petrol engine being revved. Sunrise. A harvest moon. A parcel addressed to you. The heat of the sun in your face. Driving rain in your face. A walk on the beach in the winter. A good cry when things are getting a bit much. The sound the wind makes passing through leaves on a tree. Putting on a freshly ironed shirt or a new pair of runners.

A new series arrives on Netflix. Discovering that song you loved 20 years ago on Spotify. Meeting your old teacher and calling him by his first name for the first time to his face. Realising he wasn't all that bad. That moment when you're handed an exam paper and you realise you can do it. You can do it. Handing up the paper at the end of your last summer exam.

Likes. Real life compliments. Finding an old friend on Facebook. Bumping into an old friend. Realising why you were friends. Feeling like you only saw them last week but it's been five years. Seeing your child being born, taking their first steps, the first time they curse at you and when you realise they are gone but they're happy. You've been an adequate parent.

Turning a corner seeing a Garda checkpoint knowing your tax is in date, tyres aren’t bald and that there’s no way that glass of wine you had with dinner last Sunday is still in your system. Watching bats in your back garden at night. Live music. When a plane lands and you’re still alive. When you finally get rid of the pile of bills, and other assorted documents from the pile in the kitchen.

Feel-good music such as Belle and Sebastian, Morrissey and/or The Smiths and the base line at the opening of Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch good vibrations. Actually any cheesy 90s dance music. Finding good wifi in a cafe.

When somebody uses “presently” “fewer” and other words correctly. When people say “irregardless”. Laughing so hard that you cry. Reorganising your home screen. The home time bell in school. When the teacher would write “v good” in red pen at the end of your essay. Finding lost photographs you thought were deleted. Blue tooth headphones. Friday. Wednesday night wine.

Making lists. Achieving what’s on the list. Crossing out what’s on the list (even when it’s not achieved). Making a new list.