A few questions about nice things...

Who do you most admire?

My gran. She’s a twinkly little old Edinburgh lady, the sort that would elbow you out of the way in Jenners department store in a cloud of powder and rouge. She is a demon on the piano, loves the theatre and hasn’t worn flat shoes since she was ten.

What are your favourite possessions?

It’s a toss-up between my Stella McCartney jacket and my original 1980s Mike Read’s Pop Quiz board game. The former is worn on special nights out, the latter is used for special nights in.

Tell us about your perfect day or weekend...

Up with the lark, and out for a run before breakfast. Coffee and pastries from our fantastic local bakery. Pottering on the beach with my four-year-old daughter and two-year-old son. Lunch somewhere lovely in Edinburgh followed by a wander around a museum or gallery (children rapt, obedient, laughing . . . obviously). An hour at the end of the afternoon in a quiet place with a good book. Then later, kids tucked up in bed, granny on the sofa and my husband and I off to the cinema, planning our next holiday as we whizz towards the bright lights of the city.

What makes you happiest?

Two regularly occurring moments in my week are blissful: 1) 6 a.m., pounding the dawn-dark streets of my town, porridge and a hot shower ahead, but for half an hour it’s just me and the pavement; 2) peeping in on my daughter ‘reading’ my son a story.

What would you like to do in the future?

Professionally: write a book; write a play. Culinarily: conquer the bere bannock.