Things you find oddly comforting

[HappybutsometimesGrouchy]

Thought this would be an interesting thread. Things you find comforting but you don't know why. For me it's thinking about the 90s and looking back on all the fads, music, fashion of that era (pokemon, Spice Girls etc). Makes me feel really calm and happy. This can also go the opposite way and depending on my mood, it can also make me feel a sad longing for the past! So weird and I have no idea why I have such strong emotions linked to this particular decade! I also find the sound of the tumble dryer soothing and have been know to watch the laundry spinning round in the washer

The smell of leather and horse. And the saddle creaking ever so slightly when riding.

Being home on a wet windy day keeping warm.
Lovely hearty food like macaroni cheese.
When I was living alone I used to find it comforting to fall asleep with the tv on as I somehow felt I wasn't alone then 🙈

Petting cows.
A particular soap that smells like my grandmother.
Listening to Lark Ascending - sounds like english summer.
The sound of aeroplanes humming overhead in the background - another memory of relaxing in my grandmother's garden as a child.
Used to feel very comforted snuggling up under husband's arm :(

Gavin & Stacey, Poirot (take me back to happy times) Twirling my hair around my fingers, Looking at the weather forecasts on my iPhone at night (Think it’s the little animations) Flight radar app, taking my bra off!

Kayleidogyn and Pinkyponkcustard hello fellow hair twirlers. I’ve done this since I’ve had hair and still subconsciously do when I’m tired at 36.

Lying in bed listening to wood pigeons make that “coo-coo, coo” noise in the early morning.
Hearing a lone car late at night.

Definite yes to falling asleep while it's really stormy outside, especially if it's really raining hard. Makes me feel all nice and safe to be tucked up and listening to that.

Bacon sandwich and cup of tea.

They're too old now but when my children were tiny babies, I loved the feel of them breathing on my face whilst we were sleeping.

Having my ears rubbed or hair played with....

Sniffing DPs head or his pillow when he isn't there (weird but amazing).... tea.... snuggling in bed when I should be getting up for work.... my dressing gown.....take a break magazine..... i am all about the comfortable life!!!

My cat, especially when he's snuggled on my lap or asleep on the bed.
A hug from DP or DS.
Unpacking my food shopping, putting it away and looking at my full fridge and cupboards, it makes me feel safe.
Bubble baths.
Fresh, crisp bedding
Christmas lights
The faint smell of bonfires on chilly evening air.
Cut grass
Cooking, especially chopping vegetables.
Getting a coffee in a special Christmas cup.
Porridge.

Getting on the bus and the "regulars" being on it, on my commute to work. We all have our own favoured seats too.
Plants/bulbs coming up after winter, or the new buds on trees/shrubs.
The cat being on my bed in the night, he's like a lump of concrete and a terrible bed hog, but oddly comforting.
Imperial Leather talc or soap, reminds me of my gran. That and Palmolive.

Love the sound of washing machines, I don’t think anything makes me feel as safe and comforted as that. I have a specific memory of being home with my mom after a morning at nursery, sitting on the settee eating a jam sandwich with neighbours on. The washing machine was going in the background and I felt so looked after and like everything was taken care of. I’ve even found that you can buy a cd of washing machine sounds but haven’t bought it. My washing machine is in a utility lean to area and it makes me feel a bit sad that I can’t hear it so I sometimes treat myself to standing in there while it’s on.

Also like being a passenger in the car at night with music on and the heating on and seeing everybody’s houses looking cosy and warm.

I also find 90s things comforting. I don’t think it was necessarily a simpler time but I was a child so things were definitely simpler for me. Weirdly, the first series of shameless made me feel happy and comfortable and nostalgic. The estate looks very similar to where I grew up and some of the character reminded me of people I remember from childhood. I miss that sometimes. Hate that I have to think about things so much these days.

Supermarket sweep with dale Winton, heartbeat and midsomer murders also make me feel content.

Mine is Olbas Oil. Even if I have not got a cold, I have a tissue on with a drop of Olbas Oil on. It calms me down and is comforting, reminds me of a whole host of happy memory's even thou I cannot tell you why!

My dog reverses her butt into my back when I get into my final sleeping position. Then she is hot all night from my menopausal heat.

I love her fluffy butt (she's not a farter)

Listening to Paul O’grady on radio 2.

Anything that tracks the change in seasons and passing of time. Daffodils, lambs, blossom, bumble bees and butterflies.

Last night of the proms, London marathon, Festival of Remembrance, trooping the colour, the shipping forecast, sports personality of the year,

I love the sound of a campsite, when other campers are preparing a meal or eating. The clank of plates and cutlery and the hum of indecipherable chatter.

The smell when you walk past an old fashioned pub. Like stale beer.

The sound of a particular church bell in a village near to me where my grandparents lived. If I hear it it immediately takes me back to long summer holidays and a feeling of being cherished.

Tea from a teapot.

The peacefulness that comes with a scorching hot summers day.

Smells and sounds of the seaside. Fish and chips. Deep fried doughnuts. Candy floss. Waves. Sea. Sounds of the amusements.

When I dream about something happening that means I get hugs because it's the only physical contact I get.

Thinking of the past and my home town.

Another thing I find very comforting is sitting in a quiet room and hearing a clock ticking. It really reminds me of being at my grandparents house as a child. Something so soothing about the "tick tock tick tock". It makes me feel sleepy.

Being indoors and cosy on a rainy, windy day.

Falling asleep to the crime podcast 'casefile'. Aussie podcaster with such a soothing voice delivering horrific details of crimes. Comforting!

This!!!

Traffic noise.
When the streetlights start to come on at dusk and are pink.
New stationary.
Brushing my hair.
Having my wrists gripped firmly. (This is not a sex thing I just find it calms me down)
Sound of teaspoon stirring tea.
Chewing my hand.
Plaiting my hair. Plaiting other things like the ends of a scarf.

Sleeping with my hands down my pants, not sexual just erm, weird but comforting.
Also, my partner's arms around me soothes me like nothing else.
The two things are unrelated, btw!

Oh and a hot water bottle always relaxes ne

Ok this will make me sound crazy but pavements exactly like this with a grass verge and a hedge.

I think it’s because they remind me of the areas around my house and school as a kid particularly in summer, but there’s just something about the feel of the tarmac and the look of the lichen (?) on it.

I know I’m weird

The gritters in winter.

I used to feel great comfort from them coming around my road at the same time every night in winter every year- but they hardly came round this year and even when they did it wasn’t at the same time each day

The 00:45 Shipping Forecast signals the earliest time I'm likely to go to sleep (terrible insomnia). 'Viking, North Utsire, South Utsire, Fprties, Cromarty, Forth and Tyne...' - it's poetic, rhythmic and repetitive. Just like a children's bedtime story or a prayer.

Gaelic speaking radio stations.

I love polyphony (Renaissance) music - Gregorian Chant or Plainsong is great, but I love the what the later composers created - any fans would do well to listen to Luis de Victoria's Magnum Mysterium, as the way the different parts come in and intertwine are beautiful. There's absolutely nothing wrong with the compositions of Palestrina, but later composers tended to break the set rules of religious music in ways that are more modern to our ears and the tension set up from the discordances then gives a more satisfying release.

When TwatCat decides he is cold and neglected loves me and comes and flumps his bulk against my hip, purring, then goes to sleep and turns into a warm, furry, heavy lump like an oversized beanbag so I can scoop him up and drag him towards my ribcage.

I like having a pillow between my knees to sleep. Not sure if it actually reduces pain, but it's nice - if I could get away with it (and afford it) I'd love to have a massive U shaped body pillow to flop over. Or a giant padded donut cat bed - those ungrateful buggers don't appreciate what luxury they have been offered and refused in favour of random piles of clean washing.

Birdsong. Especially the small ones - Wrens, Robins, etc. I love the idea that they are shouting to the world that they are alive/made it through the night.

The sounds of animals - cows, sheep, horses just doing what they do, female chickens chattering to each other (the announcement that an egg has arrived is hilarious, but not very relaxing) and wildlife. The smells as well - the smell of manure, hay and straw.

The sound of cleaning in silence. Sweeping, wiping, washing up, the washing machine.

And, completely different smells - workshops. Woodworking ones, metalworking, garages - all mean fixing and repairing things until they work.

If I'm awake, I feel peaceful when fixing something, cleaning things or putting together flatpacks. DP leaves me alone when I'm doing something like that precisely because he knows I enjoy it without constant noise or interruptions.

I sleep with a fan on every night because the sound is so comforting to me. Plus I like having a cold room to sleep in. Similarly if anyone is drying their hair with a hairdryer or hoovering I'll literally start to nod off. I find it so comforting and must have sleep attachments to that sort of noise now.

The gogglebox theme tune!