52 Weeks of Happy...52/52

The happiest people don't have the best of everything, they just make the best of everything.

Joining in with my friend Jen at little birdie, here is my final selection of happy moments from my week for the 52 Weeks of Happy Project.

1. I got my knitting mojo back.

2. I bought a pretty necklace over the summer and managed to break it on the first day of our holiday in France. I was in a market and was carrying my handbag on one shoulder, my big camera around my neck, and a hot and tired Angus on my shoulders at the same time. The poor chain on that necklace stood no chance! It's lucky I noticed the chain had snapped before I lost it. I took it to a little watch repair place in town to be repaired this week and the man just fixed it for me, there and then, and refused to take any payment for it. A kind gesture.

3. I won Mag's giveaway a while back and collected the parcel from the post office today. It contained, among other things, three balls of Noro Silk Garden yarn. It feels quite unusual, but in a good way, and I can imagine is has a wonderful wieght and drape to it when it's knitted or crocheted up. I've never worked with variegated yarn before, or silk, and am looking forward to finding a use for this. Thank you Mags.

4. I spent a joyful couple of hours with Bella this afternoon on the sofa, crocheting and watching Strictly Come Dancing. I don't usually go in for this sort of tv but have a weakness for this particular programme. I love the glitter! And so does Bella and it's nice to be able to share this with her now that she's a little older.

So, it's the last week in Jen's project. That quote above isn't mine by the way. I don't know it's exact origins (I have tried to find the original source without any luck) but after Jen included it in her first post I decided to keep it up there throughout this project as I felt it said everything that needed to be said.

I have really, really, enjoyed taking part in this project. It is good for me to remind myself of the things that make me happy throughout my week, and to be thankful for them. Sometimes they are big things - the children, friendship, letters from the queen - but mainly they are small things like the changing of the seasons, a charity shop bargain, a little posy from the garden, cooking or baking something that worked out, making something. A new magazine or some nice yarn. Often it's the little things that add up to big things, don't you find? 

I don't think I'll continue with this project but I'd like to find another way - my own way - of celebrating these small things on a regular basis. This is common throughout blogland - I can think of lots of people who celebrate "This Moment", "Reasons to be cheerful", "Simple Pleasures", "Gratefuls" etc and I just need to find a way of doing this that suits me. Thank you for reading and for all your comments - it's wonderful to know that you've enjoyed this as much as I have. And thanks to Jen, whose brilliant idea this was! 

52 Weeks of Happy...51/52

The happiest people don't have the best of everything, they just make the best of everything.

Have I really only got one more week left of this project? I've enjoyed it so much and I don't really want it to end. Joining in with my friend Jen at little birdie, here is my penultimate selection of happy moments from my week:

1. Finding a bag of rhubarb from my father-in-law's allotment in the freezer when I thought we'd eaten it all. It was washed, chopped and ready to use, and I tipped it into a dish to make a crumble and ate it in front of Downton Abbey on Sunday evening.

2. Unpacking my quilt from the blanket box and making up the bed with an extra layer. It's the only quilt I've ever made and is full of wonky seams and puckered fabric, but I love it all the same.

3. A picnic at Kirkstall Abbey last Sunday. The weather was warm and sunny so we took a lunch of soup and sandwiches to the abbey grounds and sat on the grass to eat it. I didn't think we'd be enjoying eating outside so late into September and it was an unexpected treat.

4. I bought these two postcards by Helen Peyton at Yarndale last weekend. I very much wanted to buy a print but they well were out of my price range. These postcards make a perfect souvenir.

And lastly - wow, what a great response to my giveaway! I am so glad you share my love of Emily Peacock, tea towels other good things, and it's especially lovely to know that so many of you are already readers. It makes me happy, it really does.

My giveaway is still open, here, and will close on Tuesday 8th October at midnight.

Enjoy your weekend everyone!

52 Weeks of Happy...50/52

The happiest people don't have the best of everything, they just make the best of everything.

Joining in with my friend Jen at little birdie, here are a few of my happy-making moments from the last week:

1. In an effort to save some money I patched my favourite jeans. John says there are too many hexagons and it looks like I've got an episode of Blockbusters going on on my knees. I beg to differ.

2. Car boot sale bounty. We spent last Sunday morning at a huge car boot sale at Wetherby Race Course. The sun shone, I bought some treasures (total spent - £5!), the kids spent pocket money on small toys, and John browsed as many boxes of vinyl and books as we'd let him. Brilliant fun.

 

3. Yes, I know it looks like random scribbles but this is a family portrait drawn by Angus while he was at school. He was so puffed up with pride when he pulled it out of his book bag and it was duly admired by all then very solemnly mounted on the front of the fridge with dinosaur magnets.

4. Yesterday I was a lady who lunched. It was a gorgeous, sunny autumn day and I put on nice clothes, caught the bus into Leeds and six of us met at a very nice Thai restaurant to honour the happy fact that my friend Rachel will start her midwifery degree next week. There were around 1500 applicants for only 20 places on the course, and she got a place. Isn't that amazing? She's going to be a terrific midwife.

And now, I must go, because I'm off to Yarndale! 

52 Weeks of Happy...49/52

The happiest people don't have the best of everything, they just make the best of everything.

Joining in with my friend Jen at little birdie, here are some of the little moments which have made me happy this week.

1. Finding this jelly strainer in the sale for only £3. I christened it with blackberries, rosehips and windfall apples, which became my first batch of hedgerow jelly.

2. I spent a lovely morning in Ikea this week with my friend Debora and her youngest son. After a coffee we browsed the store and I bought some bits and bobs, mainly toy storage for Angus's bedroom. As we were leaving I spied a new pick and mix sweets display and nearly did a happy dance. I love pick and mix and these were Swedish sweets which I'd not seen before and made it more exciting. I bought far too many. Lots of liquorice and really, really sour ones, the best sort.

3. Picking these tomatoes from the garden, almost two kilos altogether. I've just made a batch of cherry tomato and chilli chutney with all the red ones, and tomorrow I'll make green tomato chutney with the rest. I love chutney. It does make the house smell of vinegar though.

4. Everyone should have a bright yellow napkin holder shaped like a cloud on their table. Especially when it's only £1.50. 

I wish you all a very happy weekend. 

52 Weeks of Happy...48/52

The happiest people don't have the best of everything, they just make the best of everything.

Joining in with lovely Jen at little birdie, here some of the simple things which have made me happy this week.

1. Despite the sudden drop in temperatures, I am still finding raspberries growing in the garden every day. I've never seen so many! There's never enough in one go to make in jam or a pudding but I love picking these handfuls of berries and they were lovely with Greek yogurt and honey. A lingering taste of summer.

2. Unwrapping a perfectly fresh and brand new soap and using it for the first time is one of my favourite things to do and it's even better when it reminds me of our holiday.

3. When it's cold and damp, butter two slices of bread (fresh is better but all I had was the Kingsmill 50/50 I buy for the kids) and place fishfingers on one and some crunchy iceberg lettuce on the other. Sandwich together with mayonaise and sweet chilli sauce. Amazing.

4. No photo to illustrate this one, but it did make me happy - last Sunday we came downstairs to find a puddle of water on the kitchen floor from a leaky pipe in the bathroom above. John spent all Sunday either under the bath or in B&Q, fixing the pipe (and swearing under his breath). The leak appeared to be coming from the boiler, which we feared was on it's last legs. Our nice plumber turned up, tightened a valve thereby fixing the problem, refused to take any payment, and told us we don't need a new boiler. We are relieved.

It's been a funny old week here as we settle into new routines and I've taken extra comfort from these small happy moments as they appear throughout my day. They help me feel grounded when I feel a bit cast adrift. John and I find ourselves in the house during the day without children for the first time in seven years, and it's very strange. We go running together. We eat lunch at the table together. It's all very civilised, but it feels odd too. I haven't relaxed into it yet. So far, Angus appears to love school. He goes in happily, produces a prolific amount of drawings, paintings and junk modelling (mostly abstract as far as I can tell) and tells us sweet snippets of his day, such as when he played football with one boy or how he enjoyed doing PE in the Big Hall. But after school...oh my goodness. He is stroppy, argumentative, oppositional and altogether difficult. From the minute he leaves the classroom it begins. I didn't bring the car. We are walking. He doesn't want to walk. We get home. He's ravenous and has a snack. He wants his tea. We sit at the table to eat and he wont eat any tea. He's so tired that I have to feed him. He wants to go to bed but refuses to get undressed or get into the bath. And on it goes... He's just finished his first full week at school and he's exhausted. He's only four. I feel that school gets the best of him and we the worst, but I know that it's just for now. He will get used to the longer days and we'll all be happier.

52 Weeks of Happy...47/52

The happiest people don't have the best of everything, they just make the best of everything.

Joining in with lovely Jen at little birdie, here are a few things which have made me very happy this week. One very big happy and three little happies, which are no less valid for being eclipsed by number one but let's face it, it's not often you get a letter from the Queen.

1. A few weeks ago Bella drew a picture of a palace guard. She wrote an accompanying letter and we posted it off to Buckingham Palace. Imagine our total delight and joy when we came home from our holiday to find a reply on the doormat. The thick, cream envelope bore a Buckingham Palace stamp on the front and a satisfyingly big, fancy royal crest on the reverse. We opened it very carefully with a knife so that we didn't tear it (it was the first time in my life that I wished I owned a letter opener) and inside was a letter written by a lady in waiting to the Queen and some information about the palace. Bella was thrilled. I was thrilled. Even John was slightly impressed. Bella stood up and talked about it in assembly this morning. Something for the memory box.

2. Ok, not quite as exciting as a letter from the Queen, but the sight of these two on the doormat was a very welcome and happy sight.

3. Using the basket I bought on holiday as my new crochet work basket. Useful, pretty and full of holiday memories.

4. This little posy I picked from the garden earlier in the week has made me happy every time I look at it. Those sunny, vivid colours are especially welcome today when it's 12°C and raining. 

I wish you all a happy weekend. It's raining cats and dogs here and I'm hoping for a quiet two days after a full and emotional week. Angus settled really well at school - thank you for all your good wishes. He looked a little lost when we dropped him off but he's always smiling when we go to collect him and seems to be taking it all in his stride. I am still - slowly, slowly - getting round your blogs to say hello and catch up and am looking forward to doing more of that this weekend. 

52 Weeks of Happy...46/52

Another short and sweet postcard from France on the last night of our holiday. Joining in with Jen at little birdie here are four reasons to be happy from this last week:

1. Oh, you know, after a typical day of noisy pool splashing and swimming it's nice to go outside in the evening and sit peacefully by the still water and do a bit of crochet, like you do.

2. Catching sight of this little lizard on our bathroom window sill. The nature we've seen here is incredible; birds of prey circling in the sky (buzzards we think but no-one is sure), snakes, butterflies everywhere you look all day long, bats at dusk and frogs when it's dark. This abundant nature is all very exciting to a city-dweller like me.

3. A cafe lunch in the beautiful Dordogne town of Brantome -  one of those simple holiday lunches where everything is delicious and the kids behave and everyone is happy.

4. This morning John and I went for a bike ride at about half past seven. I borrowed mum's bike and put my camera in the basket on the front. The sun was still rising and we cycled a few miles up the road to look at a nearby chateau and because I wanted to take some photos of the sunflowers. It was just too perfect for words. I kept thinking I must memorise every single sight, sound and smell, it was so beautiful and still. The air was cool and misty, the hills gentle, the light golden and soft, and we only saw eight or nine cars in the whole time we were out. I came back exhilarated and relaxed in a way I never am after running. The trouble is, I don't think any bike ride will ever match that one, it was just too good.

Wishing you all a lovely weekend, whatever you are doing. We will mostly be driving, sitting on a ferry, then driving again.

52 Weeks of Happy...45/52

Hello! I feel a bit naughty here, sneaking off to use the laptop and posting this all the way from France, but I wanted to share some of my happy moments from this last week, and it's always fun to join in with Jen's project. I am enjoying something of an internet break here. We have plug-in internet in the house we are renting but no wifi (apart from the 20 minutes I had at a cafe by a lake last Thursday) so I've hardly been online at all since we arrived. At first I felt quite lost, especially without facebook and instagram on my phone, but now I have settled into it quite happily. I sometimes even forget to take my phone out with me or look for it and find the battery is flat  - that never happens at home. So here are four (and gosh it was hard choosing only four!) little moments from the last week(ish). And yes, I'm late, but I'm on holiday time - I barely know what day of the week it is  - and feel that, like lunchtime drinking, it's allowed.

1. The sunrise when we woke at 5.30 am last Saturday to catch the ferry. I've only set the alarm on my phone twice so far - the first time was when we had to catch our early morning flight to Copenhagen in May and the second was last weekend - so I now rather happily associate the bleep with that "about to go on holiday" feeling.

2. A safe and smooth (and sickness free) channel crossing. The holiday starts when you get on the ferry for me and it was wonderful to see Bella and Angus enjoy this part of the holiday as much as I do.

3. The view from our bathroom window. We are truly out in the sticks here (hence the lack of wifi) and it's beautiful countryside.

4. Long, hot evenings and spectacular sunsets, especially when you glimpse a hot air balloon at the same time.  I know it looks perilously close to the power cables there, but we watched it land safely in a nearby field.

Thank you so much for your response to my Colour Collaborative post on vintage colour. I loved reading your comments and thoughts, I really did. I'm sorry there's been so little blog reading this end but I will make up for that on my return. A bientot!

52 Weeks of Happy...44/52

The happiest people don't have the best of everything, they just make the best of everything.

Joining in with lovely Jen at little birdie, here are some of the little things which have made me very happy this week:

1. Sorting my embroidery threads from one unruly tangle of colour into seven perfect little ziplocked bags. I can actually find the colour I want without swearing under my breath and attacking knots of colour with the scissors.

2. A freshly painted blue-grey front door and a shiny scrubbed and polished letter box.

3. A trip to the wonderful, wonderful Eternal Maker in Chichester with my Mum yesterday. Heaven! The best fabric selection you can imagine. Probably not the cheapest, though, which is why I bought sparingly. The car and forest print fabrics will make PE bags for Angus and Bella and the typewriter print is for me. No idea what I'll use it for but I absolutely love it.

4.  Starting the crochet project I've brought with me for the holiday. 1 square down, 193 to go...

Rather a craft-heavy list of happies this week. Now I've got some spare time I'm finding my crafty mojo again. Thanks for all your comments this week, they've made me very happy too. It was reassuring to know that everyone's life goes at a fast pace and we all struggle to balance things, it's not just a major failing of mine. I am hoping that the next few weeks will provide a much needed rest and lots of time to play with the kids, chat with my sisters, crochet, read, swim, potter around markets, eat, drink... I think there is wifi where we are but I'm not sure how good it is, so I don't know if I'll be here much. See you in two weeks, lovelies!

52 Weeks of Happy...43/52

The happiest people don't have the best of everything, they just make the best of everything.

It's been a busy week. It's been a tiring week too, but mainly it's been very happy. My sister Anna and her two girls came to stay and it's been such a treat having so much time together to chat and catch up, and to have some precious time with my nieces who I see only two or three times a year. So, joining in with my friend Jen at little birdie, here are a few of our happies from the last seven days:

1. Three beds all in a row. My nieces, Jennifer and Eleanor, shared Bella's bedroom this week. There was much whispering and giggling long after they should've been asleep.

2. Bella's passion for all things royal continues - she drew this picture of a palace guard last weekend. She started it over about three times before deciding this one was suitable. Great concentration was needed and my job was to pass her the felt pens. We are going to post it to Buckingham Palace. Wouldn't it be wonderful if she got a reply?

3. Fun on our local city farm. The birds and animals are quite tame and roam about among the children. Although to be honest the main attraction for me was the indoor play barn where my sister and I let the kids loose on the toys and sat down chatting with cups of tea for a couple of hours. 

4. Gladioli, £2, looking pretty on the mantle piece. 

I wish you all a fun weekend. It's cool and cloudy here and we are very much hoping it doesn't rain as John has just painted the front door. We've got friends coming over later with their kids to stay the night so I need to tidy up and get the hoover out. I am starting to feel like a small hotel, one which doesn't charge but where the proprietor drinks slightly too much wine and makes the guests sleep on sofa beds among the toys.

52 Weeks of Happy...42/52

The happiest people don't have the best of everything, they just make the best of everything.

It's Friday night. We've just come back from a very nice meal at the local pub with John's lovely parents. We spent our day in the park, in the garden, shopping, eating ice cream. The kids are asleep. The weather is glorious - still! - and I'm deciding which craft project to start next which might be one of my all time favourite things to do. I'm happy. So, joining in with my friend Jen at little birdie, here are this weeks happy things:

1. This little embroidery was an unexpected gift from Abigail. The text is a saying which she uses constantly.* I especially like the way she stitched over her own, unique handwriting rather than fancy script. I will treasure it.

2. Lavender from the lavender farm. I've hung it up to dry out and it smells out of this world. Not everyone likes the smell of lavender. I have to admit I don't much like it's scent when it's been processed into soaps, candles and the like, but just-cut lavender, fresh from the field...lush.

3. I treated myself to a new necklace. Jen at little birdie wrote about Layla Amber's work a while ago and I knew it was only a matter of time before I made a little purchase. I think she epitomises the best of individual, smaller sellers: gorgeous products, well made, fairly priced and beautifully packaged. I do like pretty packaging.

4. The sunflowers I planted in front of the wall by our front door are looking magnificent! They come up to my shoulder now and every day a couple more open up. I can't help smiling as I walk up the front steps towards the door...until I see the peeling paint all around the lock then I think we MUST get that door painted.

Thank you for all your fabulous comments lately...and hello new followers! Thanks again - always - for stopping by and reading. You are all my cup of tea.

****************************************************

*It's an old nautical saying; the "cut of the jib" - jib being a type of sail  - would determine the way a ship would sail. It's one of those expressions you use when you know you like someone but can't always say exactly why. It means something like "I like your style". I would say "He/she is exactly my cup of tea". 

52 Weeks of Happy...41/52

Thank you for the photo Abigail!

The happiest people don't have the best of everything, they just make the best of everything.

Joining in with the lovely Jen at little birdie, here are my happy moments from the last seven days. This week I am very thankful for the continuing warm weather and a welcome slowing down of the pace of life and some time

1. Time to get the paints out with Bella and Angus. 

2. Time to play with my god daughters.

3. Time to crochet - in the car, in a chair, under a tree - it doesn't matter. 

3. Time to wander arm in arm with John on a sunny day.

Wishing you all a very happy weekend.