Happy things from this week
1. 15 mile cycle ride in beautiful weather- we cycled to a village not so far from us and back. It was such lovely weather and the roads were so clear. It was a pleasure to ride Celeste, my road bike who I haven't ridden for a couple of years. On the way back, we saw the sign for 'Fresh Asparagus' which I've often seen when driving with CBC but never spied where the place was. At cycling speed, we were able to see the cart with the honesty box where the asparagus was. We only had a £10 note and there was no change so we ended up grabbing 3 bundles and giving them £1 extra (if we go again). We stuffed them into the back pockets of our cycle jerseys. The asparagus looked amazing- thin and young and delicious- no packaging other than rubberbands and in terms of food miles- well, we cycled them home so no food travel miles! Can confirm they were delicious.
2. 10mile cycle ride in rather overcast weather on Saturday. It was so cold and overcast and I was feeling really gloomy at the change in weather, had a headache, hadn't been in the garden (and in retrospect, when out riding, that I hadn't prayed that day at all- prayer has been really raising my spirits). I felt much more positive once I had come back.
3. Made more Nettle soup. It was still delicious. Every time I've made it, I've ended up chatting with someone who has walked past as I cut the nettles. This time I also put some Goosegrass in it as it was growing with the nettles and apparently it is also edible. I also added a really old parsnip and 2 old carrots to the mix which gave it a thicker texture.
4. Whilst fetching Nettles on Thursday, I chatted to 3 friends on the phone, 2 of which I hadn't chatted to for ages and that was really positive and lovely.
5. 2 hours ago, I opened up the sealed Polythene bag which I had left my pepper seeds to germinate in and ALL THREE GERMINATED!!!!!!!!!!
6. Rocket seeds have finally started to germinate in the raised bed (but wretched FOX has been digging in that bed- so I have laid a lattice of garden canes over the bed so it makes it harder for him to dig.)
7. I made FULL OF GREENS FRITTERS for dinner on Friday and used my own Swiss chard from the garden. I planted it last Summer and it has sort of stayed alive in the pot over Winter so I used those.
8. Really enjoying Sutton Vineyard's sermons from their online church service.
9. Have you been watching Andrew Lloyd Webber's The Show Must Go On on Youtube? We've seen Joseph, Jesus Christ Superstar and Phantom of the Opera and really enjoyed them. Phantom is my ultimate favourite show and it meant so much to me at a time when I was really lonely,scared and sad (when I was first in Indonesia studying, aged 21)- so it's exciting to see it again. I cried my eyes out several times.
10. We've been watching, The Good Place on Netflix which is really entertaining!
11. Really been enjoying getting to know some of the fields and footpaths around where I live. I keep thinking how glad I am that we chose this house when we moved and not being in the busy town we wanted to buy in. So much beauty here. Really enjoying prayer walks too.
12. Saw some beautiful Oil Seed Rape in the fields during my walk today.
13. I bought a Vienetta in Londis. This is SUCH a nostalgic dessert for me- takes me right back to my childhood!
14. We've been enjoying eating breakfast sitting in our swing seat in the garden. It was a lot of money but it's something we really enjoy in our garden!
15. The glorious weather!
16. Managing to have the time to empty CBC's coffee grounds and water straight onto the garden and my tealeaves. It's nice to try and use things as much as we can.
17. I'm grateful to have the time to go and water the garden diligently morning and evening. This would not happen in normal term time. It's also nice that I've been able to make use of the showerwater (with a bucket) for watering the garden too- there'd be no time for that definitely!
18. That rain on Friday night was most welcome refilling the waterbutt so my Blueberry bushes can have rainwater which they need.
19. Having had some fun with CBC making a birthday card for his sister's birthday - he's so creative when he has time! I also enjoyed having the time to craft my wreath as well as 7 cards!
18. The delight of chatting to my sister so much in the past few weeks. We barely spoke or saw each other last year- mainly because of her work and her running but also my difficulty in getting over to hers. Her father-in-law has been in hospital with Covid for a few weeks and it's been a difficult time for them (please keep him in prayer- he's still on a ventilator) and I'm glad that we've had the time to be there for each other.
19. The fun of a Zoom party escape room with my other sister, Dad and Stepmum on Monday. It was SO good to see their faces and to have fun with them. I'm also planning something of a similar, but homemade ilk, on Friday for CBC's birthday.
20. Reading an absolute stonker of a book- The Toll- 3rd book in the Arc of a Scythe- I've been waiting for it for a long time and it was worth the wait!
I could go on but I think I may have lost you already.
There are so many things to be grateful for in this time!! You may have got the impression from my Post Isolation Fantasy that I am missing a lot of things. Well, I am always grateful for what I have but I do also like thinking about possibilities of things that I would like if I could, so despite that, I am content!
What happy things would you write about?
xx