Saturday 2 February 2013

Things that make me Happy

I don't want to wish time away, but I'm glad to be saying goodbye to January, always a difficult month in the aftermath of Christmas, with its short gloomy days and long freezing nights, the worst of the weather and the horrible bugs. February at least promises brighter, longer days, the return of birdsong and new growth pushing through in the garden, bringing hope.

I have just visited the Three Beautiful Things blog for inspiration, and it set me thinking about what three things have made me feel happy today.

Putting on a pretty, warm, knitted dress, smart woollen jacket, winter white scarf and black leather knee boots today to go into the beautiful Suffolk riverside town of Woodbridge and do some shopping, instead of my usual jeans, jumper and fleece.



Buying two new books at the Browser's Bookshop, an independent shop with interesting and thoughtful stock beautifully laid out, where I could spend far too much money. Today I bought Tea Obreht's "The Tiger's Wife" which struck me as both unusual and well-written, and Helen Castor's "She-Wolves" about influential Medieval Queens, a subject which has fascinated me ever since I picked up an Alison Weir book detailing the life of Katherine Swynford, a commoner, the Mistress, then later third wife of the 14th century Prince John of Gaunt and the ancestress of our royal family. Medieval history has become something of a passion and I am absolutely riveted to the Richard III saga.



Stroking the silky-soft velvety fur of our Labrador's ears.  I love to stroke her ears and she can happily put up with it for hours! Soothing for both of us.



15 comments:

  1. The little things that happen are always the nicest. Three things that made me happy today :- the deep maroon hellebore in my garden now has three buds. We popped into the local garden centre to buy a bag of potato sets and found that they had their seeds on half price, so I bought lots. Oh and the sun shone for a little while. (and I enjoyed reading your blog post as well - Oh, that's 4 things :)

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  2. Thanks for coming to my blog. I have not heard of the 3 beautiful things blog. Buying books always makes me in a happy mood. I don’t have a dog – yours looks so sweet, but I have an orange cat, Cody and he loves to be petted. Today was my husband’s birthday – we went to a new Greek restaurant for a late lunch and it was delicious. My daughter had ordered a birthday cake from the French bakery – we picked it up – have not had a piece yet but it looks so yummy!

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  3. Thought provoking post. January and February are always an inward time I think. And yet full of promise, a new beginning. Time to reinvent, rethink and go forward towards Spring. It makes me very happy to see the Snow Drops poking their delicate little heads above the old withered leaves of winter. Minerva ~

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  4. It's good sometimes to think of the little things that make life work for us, amongst all the hassle.
    Molly, I am glad that reading my blog made you happy - that makes me happy.
    Vagabonde, I think books are the best things and don't cost an arm and a leg. I have two orange cats (oops!) and love them dearly.
    Minerva, lovely to see you here. Snowdrops are the most welcome of all flowers and so very brave to show us their beauty at such an inhospitable time.

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  5. I adore your the quaint village where you live. It looks so charming.

    It is the simple things that make me happy. A beautifull blue sky, roses in bloom, and my beloved cats and dog.

    So very nice to meet you.

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  6. I just found 3 beautiful things on your blog!! Your lovely lovely village (visiting England is at the top of my travel list), your gorgeous puppy dog (2 of ours are labs), and books!!! My specialty in grad school was medieval literature, and I have always been drawn to the history of that time.

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  7. The picture is actually a gorgeous nearby town - our village is very pretty but tiny - about 350 people, a pub, a village hall and a church. Thanks for the visits Pam and Janet and hope you can both get over to England one day and see it all for yourselves.

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  8. Oh I hear you about January... I most definitely am glad to move along into February... I try most days to acknowledge the simple things that make me smile. Today - despite relentless rain and grey skies - I found happiness feeding Ziggy the swan out of my kitchen window :-)

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  9. Seems like February isn't much better at the moment, but spring will come! Lovely image, feeding the swan out of your kitchen window x

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  10. Hello Marianne:
    Thank you so much for the comment which you left on our blog and to which we have made reply. And, happily, now we have found you.

    It is, of course, these simple pleasures which are the wonders of life. So often overlooked and yet they are the very things that make our everyday lives so special.

    How wonderful that you have an independent bookshop near to you. They seem to be disappearing at an alarming rate. We treasure ours in Brighton and it sounds as if you do the same.

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  11. I am delighted to have met you both and am looking forward to following your adventures. I wonder why we don't all try harder to live as you do?
    I do believe passionately that we all need to do what we can to support our independent shops - they add so much to quality of life and help to make shopping a special and life-enhancing experience and we all need more of that!

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  12. Your Asha has very strokable ears, I can see it from the photo.
    Sometimes just putting on a nice dress and going walkabout is a joy!

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    1. She does! I think her ears are her best bits. She has a huge fan club in the village and thinks she is quite the thing!

      Dressing up a bit and having a mooch around is a great way to lift the spirits, Mimi, especially at this time of the year.

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  13. What a good idea it is to visit Three Beautiful Things for inspiration. Today mine were: a sunny start to the day; a lovely breakfast of porridge and coffee ready for me when I arrived downstairs; and coming home from a frustrating class to find my washing blowing dry on the line.

    Hope your day today has been a fine one.

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    1. Perfect Colleen! I love the thought of washing blowing dry on the line - nearly there. My day has been excellent thank you.

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