While I can be reasonably relied upon to scour news sources and emerge with grave tales of human rights abuses and political despondencies, my mother always comes up trumps with the delightfully quirky to brighten my day.

This morning she discovered a veritable trove, including the Saudi man arrested for boasting about his sex life on LBC’s Red Line; the lost love letter that reunited a British man with his Spanish lover after 16 years; British church goers are advised to hug, rather than shake hands, to avoid swine flu; and finally, the rather fabulous job call for women to eat chocolate for one year.

Squirming embarrassment, a cockle-warming love story, a means to avoid swine flu and the opportunity to snaffle chocolate for a year and be paid – is there any better way to start the day?