What little things make you smile when you see them out and about?

[ItsCloudyToday]

I love to see these little things when I’m driving around:

Someone waiting at the bus stop/to cross a road wearing headphones/earbuds and they’re having a dance and really getting into it 🕺💃

Dogs that are so happy to be out on a walk that they are bouncing and jiggling from side to side with their little tails waggling 🐕

Toddlers who see something fascinating and their parent just stops and looks with them 👀

Groups of teenagers who are just chilling out together and genuinely laughing with each other 😊

People litter picking because they care about their environment 🚮

The first budding flowers in the spring 🌺

I knew him as well! He was a star

Love this thread!

Parents playing with their young children and giving them 100% attention. I was at a soft play once and saw a mother race her young son and cannon ball into the pit (obviously no other kids in there!) It made me laugh

I always smile at seeing squirrels and the funny way they scamper up trees and peep at you from their branches. I like their tiny hands holding a nut they are eating.

I smile when I see faces in objects, like when car headlights look like eyes and the bonnet forms a mouth (and imagine it is a bit like herbie). I have a lunchbox that has a clasp that looks like a happy or sad face depending on which way you turn it, and it feels like a judgement on my lunch.

I work as a teacher and often see students around. A few days ago, I saw a usually surly teenager dancing down the street with earphones in. It was great to see him so carefree and dancing with abandon!

Old people having an ice cream cone at the seaside.
Putting out hedgehog food in the evening & seeing that they've eaten all yesterday's.
Crows just doing crow stuff.

I live in a port city and I love watching the ferries and tankers come and go, thinking about all the places they go and the people off on an adventure on them.

Checking that there is a gull perched on my local statues head. It makes me smile every time. There are several other statues/monuments on the same street but the gulls only perch on this particular statue. The statues hair is going white with guano.

When a random cat runs over to me like I'm an old friend 😻

The sound of children laughing.

I have been abroad this summer for 3months and have heard kids playing and screaming and laughing by our pool for all this time. It is magical hearing them enjoying themselves

Awwww, I’m so pleased that people have enjoyed adding to this thread!!

I agree with ALL of the above especially the noisy geese flying in a V and seeing old people so in love 😍

My favourite though is the headphone dancing as I do this myself, I must look very strange on the school run but I couldn’t care less! 💃🏻

Oh, I love Tube mice! I am amazed that they can survive.

That sounds fab!

There used to be a ticket collector on one of the Northern trains (maybe still is?) who would use the tannoy in the same way. The teatime carriage would be rammed, absolutely full of students and commuters all just weary and wanting to get home after a long day.

To see everyone break into a smile when she came on the speaker and said 'now then my little chickadees, I know it's busy tonight on this 17:43 but let's just think of it as us all having a great big cuddle!' was lovely to see

What a lovely thread.

For me: a nice garden full of flowers. Doesn’t have to be particularly neat, just colourful. Bonus points if it’s full of bees and butterflies.

Birds, especially the robins that I know watch me and wait until I’ve put out mealworms in winter.

Small children that jabber constantly at adults who are engaged and treating it like a really interesting conversation.
Also, random adults interacting with the kids because they’ve been waved at or spoken to.

Dogs. All dogs, everywhere.

And now we have DS, all the random things people do to make him smile - walking along a road on holiday and he waved at a tractor so the driver waved and switched his yellow flashing lights on. The fire fighters that wave back at him, our local bin men who accept his random offerings of 1 dead battery and let him put them in the lorry (and thank him for his help).

A bee really working a flower, that’s always pleasing.

hearing a neighbour mowing their lawn, don’t know why, but I love that.

Talking of bees in flowers, I planted asters this year and lots and lots of bees have been using them to have a little sleep in. Makes me feel like a nature goddess or something.

Lots of Cat mentions
We have two black cats , brother and sister .

The boy comes in, and if a noise catches his attention, he points his ears forwards as he stuidies it . Yesterday was DH peeling masking tape .
MaleCat has tufts on both ears so his ears are even cuter

Have a look next time their tails are really short, because of the vibrations, probably.

Squirrels. We are surrounded by big old trees and our gardens are like a squirrel gym. They're running and leaping around even more than usual with it being autumn.

Yes to all the dogs. Especially the ones who see someone coming and get excited in case they get a quick fuss.

Yes to walking past and seeing people closing their curtains when it gets dark and you can imagine them snuggling up all comfortable inside for the night.

Yes to excited boys on their bikes off on an adventure or actually playing together in the woods.

People coming out of the coffee shop with a takeaway cup and taking their first sip, you can tell when it hits the spot.

Kids waving manically at trucks/tractors/trains and the drivers acknowledging them. On my eldest’s 2nd birthday, he saw a fire engine in Asda car park, the firefighters noticed his birthday badge and let him sit in the drivers’ seat. Made his day.

Old people standing on the doorstep waving their family off after a visit.

Baby birds in a nest screaming at their mother for food and you can just see their beaks.

The smell of a chip shop when you walk past in the dark (I’m weird).

Babies in obviously handknitted outfits. They always look so cute, funny and loved.
Dogs in shoes.
All,dogs actually. I swear dogs know when you smile at them and lots of them smile back.
Blossom.
Conkers

There is a robin that comes every year to our garden and nests there. I know it can't be the same one because it's been coming for about 15 years about the time my Mum died. It has a nest and raises young. I lke to see swans gliding on the river when I go for a walk. I like looking at all the Xmas decorations in December. Close to where I live everyone seems to try to outdo each other. One house is covered from top to bottom in light displays and when my eldest dgs was a toddler he thought Santa and his elves must live there. I love seeing snowdrops poke their heads up through the soil and crocus. I love a roundabout planted with lots of daffodils and tulips. I like crisps mornings in Autumn walking around a lake close to my home and sometimes I take a thermal cup of hot chocolate with me when I walk dogs around the lake. I love to see cats. One cat sometimes follows me part way around the lake then it runs back to his home. I like to see little children at a play park having fun on the swings, slides and paddling pool.

Yes to this! 😊

I saw a toddler being pushed along in his buggy today, holding a Julia Donaldson book, utterly engrossed in it, even though there’s no way he would’ve been able to read it. He was just fascinated by the pictures. So cute!

Also at parkrun this morning, a woman stumbled and almost fell and all of the other runners stopped to check she was ok before carrying on with their run.

Last year a house by me grew a whole load of wildflowers just on a patch outside, they were so beautiful and I would drive out of my to drive past them sometimes if I was having a crap day.

When there's a red light on a pelican crossing with absolutely no cars coming, but everyone waits because there's little kid who pressed the button and is being taught to wait for the green man.

So lovely. They're all about belonging to something bigger than ourselves, aren't they?

Any birds or animals, a sunflower field, Christmas lights, a glimpse of sea when on a long drive and those knitted post box toppers.