Daily Gratitudes 2018

[Lessstressedhemum]

A new thread for a new year.

A safe, quiet place to pause, breathe and count our blessings, great or small. Everyone is welcome: of all faiths or none at all, whether you post regularly or just once, whatever you are grateful for, you are welcome here.

We would love to share all the things that bring us joy or just make life a little more bearable.

Oh bunnies are great! (Teens are great too actually; they get a bad reputation but I think it’s a really interesting time to watch people growing into themselves)

Swimming in the sea

Cold white wine in the sun

Home grown broad beans.

Oh yes, bunnies are very lovely. All soft and fluffy, with cute twitchy noses I only have 2 teens left, actually, the rest are fully fledged adults in their 20s. They are good kids and I love seeing them discover themselves, but, sadly, DS4 is still a bit smelly, although growing friendships are encouraging him to wash and change more often in a way that I never could!

home grown herbal tea
home made pain killing salve
rain to help things grow

Home grown herbal tea here too (fennel fronds and lavender flowers)

Swimming in my favourite bit of sea for swimming in in the world. Been in and out of this particular bit of ocean since I was 6 so very lovely to bob about watching my husband showing shells/seaweed/marram grass to our baby up on the beach and feeling grateful for the life I’ve ended up living.

Music, and friends who do a much better job of making it than I can!

a decent nght's sleep
washing drying on the line
lots of rain yesterday to help things row and refresh the wildlife (hopefully, the sun will return soon!)

Sea swimming

Beautiful sunset seaside walk

Old friends

The work of my hands
Home made bread with home made rose jam
My children's friends

Swimming in choppy green sea in the rain and feeling totally invigorated.

Watching the baby meet my sisters rabbits and be utterly delighted by them (bunnies really are great. I find myself wanting house rabbits)

Home made nasturtium pesto

My children being amazing today, they helped me clean and tidy the house.

Rain, it has been so refreshing today.

Nice people

Family

Big wild windy skies

Chocolate torte

shelter from the storm
listening to the wind
rain to nourish the earth

Sunshine after the rain
iced coffee
a nice family evening with my children last night

Laughter with family - feeling so lucky that we’re all fond of each other

Walking out on the headland feeling alive to the smell of the heather and the vibrancy of the gorse flowers and the springy resilience of the bracken and the sound of sea and gulls. Watching one big fat bumblebee setting out across the water on its own: the audacious strength of tiny things.

Massive wedges of lemon meringue pie.

Windy washing
The smell of herbs in my garden
The feel of the earth beneath my feet

English hedgerows

Sofa cuddles

Finally nailing a concealed zip insertion (and finishing my new dress in time for a friend’s wedding)

Have a lovely time at the wedding, Verbena. You will look fabulous. I wish I could sew but I have never been able to master it.

Bottles of home made fruit cordial
the smell of the rain on my fruit trees
watching rubbish telly on a comfy couch.

lessstressed this could be the perfect time to take it up if your kids are growing up (I naively imagine this might mean more free time; please feel free to correct me!!) - such a satisfying skill to have and if you’re as good a cook as your recipes suggest, you’ve already got the right qualities (creativity, attentiveness, ability to be a bit meticulous).

Sunlit cornfields

Late night getting nostalgic and sentimental with old friends before the last of us get wed.

Time to potter about cooking with the radio on.

Our very feral garden; getting a bit of weeding done and enjoying the bees.

Living somewhere I love

Getting in the bath with the baby (and his joyful approach to water)

I do have a wee bit more time now, Verbena, my youngest (Ds4) is almost 16 now, the other four are adults, although three of them are still at home! Two are studying and one is saving up to fund an ecology internship so that he can get a job where he uses his degree. I might give it another go, but I'm always so busy with food bank, boys Brigade, working with Ds4, the only one I've got left for HE. When he goes to college would be a good time.

I used to love baths with the babies, it was always a joyful time.

Home made cordial
The hilarity of having Ds4 help with the redcurrant and lavender cordial - he overheated it and we now have a lovely big jar of redcurrant and lavender jelly
Some sunshine today

Ah your brood all sound great (and a jar of jelly is a good silver lining!)

Time with my lovely in laws

An hour getting properly sweaty in the gym - the utter washed-clean peace of mind that only gasp-inducing cardio provides

Custard slices and good coffee

My friend who just listened and didn’t try to fix it. There is so much value in having someone just hold space for your feelings.

Evening light.

Walking into my life class and nearly fainting because the model was so beautiful. Then being legitimately allowed to drink him in with my eyes for two hours.

They are a good bunch, verbena, I am so proud of all 5 of them. You are very creative - painting as well as sewing I have never been arty at all. I can cook, knit, cross stitch, make jewellery and the like but I am rubbish at anything arty. I can't even decorate the cakes I bake!

It is always good to be able to enjoy the male form in all it's beauty. (I say this as a sad Outlander addict who uses any excuse to look at Sam Heughan.)

SHelter from the rain
a good night's sleep
the NHS and easy access to medical care and medicines (I'M having another lousy flare up)

I have never been arty at all. I can cook, knit, cross stitch, make jewellery and the like - there’s a contradictory pair of clauses if ever I heard one! - I love knitting; just got a colour chart of gorgeous Shetland 2-ply and I’m making ambitious plans about fair isle jumpers. We’ll see. Hope you feel better soon.

Baby giggles

Black currant and licquorice cake (not home made, but deeply gorgeous. Going to try and work out a recipe)

The sound of rain on the windows, and cool fresh air coming in.

A cooler day resulted in a bit more energy
Relaxed and enjoyable day out with my stepmother
M25 traffic surprisingly free-flowing

(Hope you're feeling better soon, less )

A very quiet afternoon
My kindle
Tea and toast

Coffee in bed this morning

Mum’s homegrown raspberries

Family tea time