Sunday 8 September 2013

Things that make me happy...

This post was inspired when I read This Post from Dreamer at Living a Slow and Simple Life earlier in the week. I don't use Pinterest, so thought I'd share some of my things which make me happy as a random list on this blog post.

Spending a lunchbreak sitting under a tree with a good book...


Spotting something beautiful like this...


...as I walk along the road. And having a camera, or at the least the camera on my phone, handy to take a photo of it. I love how good camera-based phones are now - the iPhone is fab for anything that doesn't require zooming in - but that in itself is good as it encourages me to move to get the picture I want, rather than taking the lazy option of just zooming in...

Going for a walk somewhere I've been many times before and finding something amusing like this, that I'd never spotted before...


Walking, and swimming - I've been doing increasing amounts of both and they're forms of exercise that really suit me. I've always struggled with fitting walking into my day, but I've created a longer walking section to my commute simply by parking the car a couple of miles from the office - this has an additional advantage of cutting the mileage on the car by 4 miles each day, too! The two things have one thing in common too which is that they give me time to think, or time to think of nothing, depending on what's needed that day.

My home. It's not big, fancy or impressive. Nobody will say "Wow!" as they drive up, or "You have a beautiful home" as they enter, but it's ours, it suits us, it's cosy and comfortable and - thanks to the overpayments we've been making on the mortgage it's VERY NEARLY 50% OURS!!!

Planning our next Hebrides trip...



Butterflies - there has been SO many around this year and they are just so beautiful!


Spending time with friends and family as we did down in Devon the other week - a chunk of our family will be heading off to work abroad for three years later in a couple of months - we'll miss them hugely so getting the chance to spend time with them all over that weekend  was extra-special.

Friends. The ones I know I can tell anything, be absolutely open with, text when I'm in a grump about something silly or ecstatic about something fantastic and they will just grump or cheer alongside me. And, the best bit? They know I'll do exactly the same for them when it's needed.

Crisps leaves underfoot and all the beautiful colours of Autumn.

Fresh snow in winter, and wonderful frost patterns...


The sudden lush green-ness and life of spring.

...and the warmth and sunshine of summer.

So many more things too - I bet I will have no sooner posted this than I'll be thinking of more! How about you then - what makes YOU happy?

Robyn

17 comments:

dreamer said...

Some lovely things on there :)

Judy Y said...

It's lovely to take the time to appreciate the things that make you happy, isn't it?

I would say today what makes me happy is that I have done some cooking and have meals prepared and in the freezer, and spending a lovely day with friends today!

xx

Judy Y said...

Oh and I love those pink flowers :)

Robyn said...

Thank you both! Judy - the flowers - I'd walked by them, and actually walked backwards a few steps while grabbing the camera from my bag - must have looked like some sort of mad "re-wind"!

Scarlet said...

What a lovely list. It's the simple things that make me happy too.

Pips said...

keeping a camera handy is fabulous for finding the tiniest detail that makes you happy,
I like the thoughts and your photos.

Where do you want to go in the Hebrides? They are amazing islands.

Marksgran said...

Your photos are lovely. I think it is generally the more simple things in life that make most people happy, a sunny day, a pretty flower, a laughing child, time spent with those we love. x

Robyn said...

Simple things all the way Scarlet & Marksgran!
Pips, the Hebrides are fantastic - we've visited Lewis, Harris, North Uist, South Uist, Berneray, Benbecula, Grimsay, Gt Bernera, Scalpay, Baleshare, Flodday, Vallay, Eriskay, Barra, Vatersay so far - still a few on the list to do! Hoping to settle on North Uist in a few years time though.

Pips said...

Oh you lucky thing ~ that's my dream too to live over there.
I have been to Lewis, Harris, Skye, Iona and Islay. Amazingly beautiful ~ I hope you get your dream!

Robyn said...

Thank you - they are just amazingly beautiful islands. Of the "Inners" we've done Skye & Mull - loved both, but the "Outers" just have something special to them...

Pips said...

Oh sorry I forgot Mull, also very beautiful and varied but I couldn't agree more ~ the outer islands have a special magic, wild and free; I have Barra, Benbecula and the Uists on my list!
Did you ever see 'Island Parish'?

Robyn said...

Loved Island Parish - fantastic to see places you know so well on screen! watched Monty Halls Hebridean Escape mainly for the scenery too - the pub he was pictured in, on North Uist, is run by friends of ours!

Pips said...

Oh that was good ~ seeing the pub! Yes I watched that too,
Another program I loved, not Hebridean but Shetland ~ Shetland Diaries ~ with Simon King?
Also I used to read the 'Rhanna' series by Christine Marion Fraser, fiction but based on the Islands west of the Scottish mainland.

Robyn said...

Have a look also at the Lilian Beckwith books - they're a bit old now but can still be found in charity shops etc occasionally. And ANYTHING with Simon King is good!

Pips said...

Ah yes, I have some Lilian Beckwith ~ mostly from charity shops!She paints great characters doesn't she.

I agree ~ Simon King is well worth watching.

Unknown said...

A fantastic list. You seem to have an excellent life-work balance and congrats on those over-payments!

Sft x

Robyn said...

Thanks SFT!