The best things in life...

It was a very cold but bright morning today. I was walking in to work along by the river. (it really does make it worth going to work!!)

I was actually walking along in my own wee internal world, not really taking notice of anything, when I was given a wee nudge to remind me to wake up to my surroundings. I looked up as I was passing a lady who was coming in the opposite direction and she just gave me a wonderful, warm smile. Not a huge, beaming, you'll wonder all day what I've been up to smile. Just a warm, genuine, reached her eyes, isn't this a lovely morning type of smile.

It really made my day! And I came out of my reverie just in time to see seven beautiful white swans taking off from the river and flying down to where someone was throwing in bread for them. Wonderful!

It reminded me of two things. One is that I should try to be aware of the present moment so that I don't miss such glorious things going on around me. And two is that it is so simple to brighten up someone else's day by just giving them a smile. How easy is that? And how lovely!

Gratefully yours.
xx

A useful gadget

The laundry basket in our room was full again. I seem to have done loads (literally) of washing over the past week, but obviously none of it was ours!

I've washed blankets and sheets, towels, piles of Thomas' clothes (he must have been hiding them, 'cos all of a sudden, after he and Susan tidied his room, his laundry bag was full to overflowing!), swimming gear.....you name it! And with the weather we regularly get here ie wet, wet, wet, I have to rely on my trusty clothes-horse in the utility to get stuff dry.

So, today I am grateful for my added bonus...the sock-drier!

It hangs off the end of the clothes-horse with little pegs to clip the socks on to. And without it, I would not have had enough room to get all the clothes hung up, without putting up a second clothes-horse! It has to be done on very rare occasions, and you can barely get to the deep-freeze or back door past it!

As they say...be thankful for small mercies!

Gratefully yours.
xx

The morning after...

Today I am grateful for lazy Sundays.

I'm sure we all get days when, for one reason or another, we just don't have the energy for anything! Well, today was one of those days for me. (Can't for the life of me think why!!!???)

So, after a very slow start (I sat and drank a mug of tea while my darling big sister and even more darling husband tidied up the dishes from last night! Thank you guys!) I decided to spend the rest of the day in much the same fashion!

Really the morning was spent getting the house back in order...no, it wasn't a very rowdy party last night, but we did have furniture to move back to normal, dishes and glasses to put back (have you ever noticed that they never fit back in the cupboard as neatly, or as well as they had been before you took them out?) and floors to hoover. It was all done, but in a very slow and non-energetic fashion.

I had a wee walk with Kieran...thought the fresh air might do me good, but it didn't really! Then after fried egg softies (runny fried eggs in lovely soft rolls) we all tootled off to the shopping centre for a stroll and an ice-cream. Nothing too strenuous or taxing, you understand!

But we all need days like that every now and again, don't we. And you don't even need the excuse of a good knees-up to do it! It's good to just slow down for a while and not feel that you should be doing something all the time. Sometimes it's good to just Be.

Gratefully yours.
xx

Here's to you

It's been a busy day, fraught in places and somewhat tiring. But, it is still a little over an hour till our Burns Supper guests are due to start arriving, and I think(!!!) we are ready to rock and roll (or should that be ready to Strip the Willow?).

Sit-ootrie is primped and ready to get candles lit, to welcome our friends on this drich (wet and yucky) night. Tables are all set and plates looked out. The ladies are dressed and waiting, the boys are not yet kilted up, but are waiting till the last minute (they must want to make an entrance!!). The lounge is waiting patiently for the sing-song which is bound to happen later on, after the meal is finished and the poetry has been read.

I wasn't quite sure what I was going to be grateful for tonight until I sat down and started writing. Now it seems quite obvious.....

Today I am grateful for friendship.

For where would we be without it? I have made many friends in all the different stages of my life. Some I now only swap Christmas cards with. Others are still close to my heart even though they are across the sea from me. And others will be joining us tonight to help celebrate my heritage.

I am sending love and light to all my friends tonight, old and new, close and far away. And I thank you all for the part you have played in my life.

Gratefully yours.

xx

Sisters, sisters

Today I am grateful to have one of my sisters here with me.

I have three wonderful big sisters and I love nothing better than getting together with one or more of them. I know my mam would say that she prefers us one at a time, because when we get together there is always a riot!

This visit will be no exception! I can tell that already! We have been singing since tea-time! Singing duets, singing opera, singing musicals....just singing! And smiling, don't forget the smiling!

I think that what I love most about my sisters is that although we are all different in a lot of ways, we are also very much alike. And being together is just being home.

Living in a foreign country ( yes, I know it's Ireland and not Uzbekistan, but it's still foreign!), the thing I really miss is being able to just pop in to my mam's or one of my sisters' for coffee and a blether (chat!). So, yes, I am very grateful for technology such as skype, and the wonderful airline that is Ryanair (no, I am not being sarcastic! They really made travel so much more accessible!).....but today, I am really grateful to have my darling sister here in my house for a while.

Bring on the blethers!!!

Gratefully yours.
xx

All things bright and beautiful

Today I am grateful that tulip season has arrived!

I spotted the buckets of tulips as the girl brought them out this morning - I conveniently pass a lovely flower shop to and from my way to work in town. Perfect timing really, with the dinner party this weekend!

After a busy morning at work, I had forgotten all about them, until I passed the shop on my way home! People passing me must have wondered why I had a big fat grin on my face! I just love tulips!

After all...what's not to love?

I love their big flat, floppy leaves. I love the fact that they continue to grow, getting taller all the time in the vase. I love the fact that they flop over one day, and stand straight and tall the next...well, I suppose we all have our floppy days, don't we?

And I love the colours. I particularly like the two-tone ones, like I bought today. And they sometimes have gorgeous feathery ones too!!! I could go on and on......but I won't!

I'll just finish by saying that every time I go out into the hall or into the living room (yes, I bought that many!!) they make me smile just to see them, looking so bright and beautiful.

Gratefully yours.
xx

A busy bee

Today I am grateful that I had a job to do.

Sometimes when I'm doing a locum job it can be quite a long day. When you work somewhere regularly, every one has their own jobs to do. Things they are responsible for. But working as a locum sometimes means that every one around me is keeping busy, and for long periods I have nothing to do.

Now, don't get me wrong, I still have a job to do making up prescriptions, but if there is a lull in traffic then I'm stuck. I do read up on stuff to refresh my memory, but there is only so much of that you can do in a day!

Anyway, today I was given a job to do. A job all for myself! I had to check all the dispensary stock expiry dates! Boring...I hear you shout...but you are wrong! It made me feel useful. It also brought me back to my dad's shop, when I used to work there on weekends and holidays from school. He used to get me to dust the shelves in the dispensary. I really felt that I was helping him in a big way. I was being useful!

I guess it got me thinking today. Even the most boring and menial of jobs can have a positive effect on your day if you choose to see it that way. Somebody hand me a duster....only kidding!

Gratefully yours.
xx

I see the light

I love winter evenings. I don't know about you, but I quite like the fact that it gets dark earlier. Just a good excuse to close the blinds, draw the curtains and cosy down by the fire.

One thing I just can't get used to though (you'd think at my age I'd be used to it by now!!!) is dark mornings! It just doesn't seem right, dragging yourself out of bed, making breakfasts and lunches, getting dressed and still nothing to be seen out the window except black!

So, today, I am grateful for the day-light.

Now, okay, I have been known to sit in the sit-ootrie (conservatory, if you want to be posh) in the dark, listening to the birds waking up. Not a bad experience. However, not nearly as delightful as sitting there watching as the sky begins to lighten. As the black gives way to a dark blue, then a lighter blue, then a pink...then grey! (Well, we are in Ireland after all...you didn't expect clear blue, did you??)

Night and day both have their special qualities, don't get me wrong. I love to see the stars and especially the moon (think I may be a bit of a werewolf actually!), but when it comes to getting out of bed, you just can't beat the day-light!

Gratefully yours.
xx

Getting the job done

Don't you just love it when a plan comes together??

What a great day. First, I took a whole car-load of books, toys and games over to the creche. I was a bit worried that I had really taken them too literally when they said they were happy to take whatever we had, but they actually meant it! Just as well! Don't know what I would have done with it all otherwise!! It made me feel great to think that all that stuff would get a second chance to make a very small someone happy.

Then came my singing lesson. It was great fun, as usual. Starting to learn a new song is always a challenge, but I love it. Such a buzz! I know I talked about it last week, but I honestly believe that the half hour spent doing scales and going over a song phrase by phrase is a half hour of pure, unadulterated joy! Who would have guessed that something as little as engaging in something you have always done, but on a more conscious level, would be so good for you?

And then...ah, then! I came home, got stuck in and got the spare room ready to receive my darling sister and her better half on Friday! As the song says..."What a feeling!" I'm telling you, it obviously doesn't take much to get me going, does it!! But you know what I mean...it is great to finish a job. And the room looks fab again!

Ooops...nearly forgot...today I am grateful for getting the job done!!

Bring on the weekend!

Gratefully yours.
xx

I'm makin' a list, I'm checkin' it twice!

Where would we be without lists? I don't know about you, but my memory cells seem to have started dying off once I reached about 30! And I've been going downhill ever since!

So, today I am greatful for lists...most specifically, my shopping list.

It must be a couple of years ago now that I decided to start writing a shopping list. It had been brought to my attention that when K did the shopping it cost a lot less than when I did it. Can't quite remember who brought it to my attention, but I think his name began with a K!!!

Anyway, I started to write out a list of meals for the week. A menu, if you like. I also printed up a list on the computer of all the things I regularly need. I then, working from my weekly menu, make up my shopping list. Easy!! Now, it does take a wee bit of thought and time, but it does save money! Unless I bring the kids with me, in which case I tend to buy far too many nice things and forget the good-for-you things!!

The other thing I need to write a list of, is things I need to do on my days off. Especially on a week like this when I have visitors coming and managed to take work for 4 days of the week!! HELP!

So, I have my list for tomorrow...so much to do, so little time! Och, it'll all be worth it at the end of the week!

Thank heavens for little lists!!

Gratefully yours.
xx

I got the bug!

It's okay! Don't panic! I've not been struck down with some horrendous vomitting bug, or deadly virus which is highly contageous and causes your face to break out in boils!

I've just been bitten by the slightly infectious and very satisfying Clearing-out Bug.

As a pharmacist I shouldn't really say this, but...today I am greatful for the Clearing-out Bug!

We cleared out the attic! We can see space again (space for more junk, I hear you cry!). Poor K had two trips to the local dump with everything from shoes to televisions. We even managed to convince the kids to get rid of some of the toys that have been festering away up there for ages...although I have to admit that most of those, and a pile of books, are going to be donated on Monday to our local creche. I won't even mention the two huge (and I mean HUGE) bags of cuddly toys that are finally getting the heave-ho!!

But what a feeling!! It really is true what they say. It feels as if a great weight has been lifted and I'm already plotting and planning what else I can clear out! The joy!!

Gratefully yours.
xx

Plenty of pottering

I'm not really a very organised person. Well...I am at work. I like everything to be neat and tidy and in it's place at work. But at home...not so tidy, not so neat, and no idea where everything is meant to go!!

If K had his way, he would be a minimalist. I often wonder how the poor soul ended up with me, a prize hoarder!

Still, today, I am grateful that I had a whole morning just to potter. Nothing major to do (the house got a good tidy at Christmas in case we had visitors!), and nothing that needed me to go into town. So, I had the whole morning to just do bits and pieces. A bit of this and a bit of that...although most of it took place in the spare room. I really didn't realise that the kids had dumped so much stuff in there! My excuse is that they like to play in there, and as long as their rooms are tidy at bed-time, I tend not to look in the spare room! Works for me! (Well, most of the time!)

Still, it was a potter job. I did a bit then came down and spoke to my mam and Oor Jude on Skype. I did a bit more, then had my coffee break...you get the picture!

I feel that I achieve much more when I potter. If I told myself that I had to clear and tidy the spare room you'd find me running, screeching down the street, pulling my hair out. But if I decide to just potter, well who knows how tidy the house can get!

Gratefully yours.
xx

Walking in the rain

It was a mucky morning. Showery and windy...and bloomin' cold!

I had hoped that today I could be grateful for getting to and from work without getting wet. Unfortunately that was not to be!!!

So, today I am grateful that I got soaked on my way home from, and not on my way to work!!!

I was hurrying along, one eye on the beautiful blue sky that was being rapidly over-run by black clouds. I had my umberella with me but knew that it would be less than useless in the wind. It was definately a race between me and the elements, and at one point I really thought I was going to win. No chance!!! And when the heavens opened, they had no mercy!

Thankfully my coat has a good, tight hood, but my legs were well and truly soaked by the time I reached the car. It was soooo good to get home, peel off the soggy tights and put on some nice, cosy trousers (Marks and Spencer leisure wear, of course!!).

At the end of the day, there's nothing wrong with a nice walk in the rain...as long as you can go straight home and change afterwards!

Gratefully yours.
xx

The little things

Today I am grateful for all the little moments of pleasure that, when you add them up, turn out not to be so little after all!

I'm talking about things like going to make the bed and finding it's been made for you; hearing a song on the radio that you love to sing along with; running an errand that gives you a 5 minute walk in the sunshine in the middle of an otherwise indoor day; coming home to three big hugs and a cup of tea.

When you add them all up it makes an otherwise mundane and tiring day seem like quite a good day after all!

You don't normally notice these moments...well, I know I don't. But if you do...if you stop and say "that was nice" every time one of these small moments happen, who knows how happy you'll be by the end of the day!

I challenge you all to do it tomorrow! Watch out for the little things and notice them. Acknowledge them with a smile. And don't forget to let me know how you get on. That'll be one more thing for me to smile about!

Gratefully yours.
xx

And so to bed.

Today I am grateful for a comfy bed and a warm pair of PJs.

Tuesdays are busy. Work in the morning then ferry the kids to and from classes in the afternoon. Home to cook tea, do homework, pack them off to bed then collapse in a heap in front of some mindless drivel on TV!

Of course, I wouldn't have it any other way...apart from the mindless drivel! Has anyone else noticed the lack of any decent programming on TV these days? Well...there is Downton Abbey, but that's for another day!!

It's so good to see the kids developing their interests and enjoying themselves. It's just unfortunate that on a Tuesday Thomas has singing from 4 till 4.30 over here...and Megan has ballet from 4.30 to 5.30 over there. (Picture me standing with my arms pointing in totally opposite directions and you will get the drift!!) I suppose that really I am grateful that I have a car, and am even more grateful for the new by-pass which gets me from A to B in half the time it would have before! Wow...and here I was thinking that all I was grateful for today was my bed! Who knew!!!

Gratefully yours.
xx

Operatic antics

There has always been music in my life. I come from a family of singers, from my mam and sisters to my nieces and nephews, and I'm sure, in a few years time, my great-nephews and nieces!

One of my most treasured memories of growing up was hearing my mam singing. Vilia, from The Merry Widow, was my favourite, and it still makes me smile just to think about it. I would love to think that one day my voice would be strong enough to do it justice!

So, today I am extremely grateful for my once weekly singing lessons.

I am learning Italian operatic arias at the moment, and though I doubt if I will ever have the nerve to sing any of my wonderful songs in front of real live people (other than my terrific teacher, of course), it fills me with joy just to sing them. It also has a great side-effect....all the deep abdominal breathing gives me quite an energy high! I'm not sure if it's because I'm depriving my brain of the much needed oxygen, or if I'm just clearing out my lungs of stale air and hyper-ventilating!! Whatever the reason, I like it!!!

I would highly recommend that everyone should do something that gives them joy, at least once a week!!!

Gratefully yours.
xx

Down to the wire

Do you ever get one of those days when you're just glad to get to bed-time? Not that anything bad has happened. Not that you didn't enjoy parts of the day. But you're just glad it's done and hope that you can make better use of the next 24hours!

I've just had one of those. And I've been thinking on and off all day about what I am grateful for today. Nothing was jumping out and grabbing me. Nothing gave me that little spark, that little smile of contentment. Then 5 minutes ago, just a few seconds after I had sighed and told K that I really must go and write my blog, it happened....

From the depths of the airing cupboard, where she had been sleeping for most of the evening, Gorgeous (the cat) appeared. She jumped up onto my knee and curled up, purring loudly. I had an instant sense of wellbeing. An instant sense that all was right with the world. My pussy-cat loves me. She's a very clever cat, is Gorgeous, and if she loves me then I must be worth loving!

So, I'm not going to bed feeling that a day has passed and I wasted it by just letting it slip by unnoticed. I'm going to bed knowing that I am a very lucky girl. Not only do I have a family who love me, but I also have this beautiful furry feline who finds something to love in me. I am blessed.

So, today I am grateful that we went to the cat shelter 18 months ago, and that Gorgeous chose us to be her new family...as I have no doubt that the choice was made by her!

Gratefully yours.
xx

Just keep swimming...

Today I am grateful that I am not a salmon!!

Allow me to elucidate...There was a rugby match here today, which ended just around the time I finished my day's work in town. So, imagine if you will, around 26,000 people walking into town down the same street that I am trying to walk out of town on! I feel that I now have first hand, real live, couldn't get any closer to the real thing if you tried, experience of how a poor wee salmon feels as it tries desperately to swim upstream against torrential currents and eddies.

Talk about a crowd mentality! Not one person moved out of the way to let me pass. Not one person apologised as they blindly knocked into me. At some stages I just stood still and allowed them all just to flow round me.

So, I smiled, took a deep breath and thanked my lucky stars that I didn't need to get anywhere urgently. For once I was glad that I wasn't just going with the flow and not taking the time to see what was going on around me. Then, like the poor wild river salmon, I gritted my teeth and battled on.

Gratefully yours.
xx

The women in my life

Today I am grateful for the wonderful women who are my mam and sisters.

Since starting to write this blog, they have given me so much encouragement and support...not that they didn't before, you understand!!

I guess that we probably all feel that our own wee world is boring and inconsequential to others. I know I do. Why would anyone else be bothered to read about what I've been doing? Yet since I've started this it's been so good to know that those of you who are following it seem to be enjoying it.

It is certainly brightening up my days. Both in the thinking about all that I have to be thankful for, and in the sheer pleasure of sitting here writing it down. Even the act of sitting down and writing for ten, maybe fifteen minutes is giving me that extra ten/fifteen minutes of calm and quiet that I so often think I am being deprived of. It's just a matter of recognising a good thing when it happens...living in the moment!!!

So, to those aforementioned wonderful women, and all the other wonderful people in my life...Thank You.

Gratefully yours.
xx

The happiest days of our lives

I never thought I would hear myself say this but....today I am grateful for the time I spend with the kids, doing homework!!!

I hate homework with a passion...even more so than the kids do. But after four and a half years of trying to sit the kids down together to quietly do their homework, and failing miserably, I seem to have reached a place of peace and love on the homework front.

The secret....acceptance! I have finally accepted that:
1) it's easier on a one to one basis. Trying to get it done quickly by sitting them down together is totally counter-productive.
2) the afternoons are not the time to try to do anything other than homework...just not gonna happen!

This week I have enjoyed some time alone with both kids. There has been peace and quiet. The homework is done well and without fuss and I have not had to keep telling either one of them that it's time to get started. And, you know what...I think I may be learning something at the same time!!!

Don't know if the kids are enjoying the homework any better, but I certainly am! Okay, the dinner has been a wee bit later than usual, but it's still on the table before we all starve! It's all about priorities!

Gratefully yours.
xx

Not just a job...

Today I am grateful for my job. But not in the "Thank goodness I even have a job at all in this climate of economic carnage" kind of way.

I am grateful that nearly 25years after qualifying and starting my career, I am still working at a job that I really enjoy! Now, granted there have been a lot of changes, both in my change of country and within Ireland. And, yes, there are days when I wish I hadn't bothered getting out of bed. But on the whole I can honestly say that I really love my job.

For those of you who don't know, I work as a locum pharmacist. I do have regular days in the same shop, but I also work odd days in lots of pharmacies dotted around. I love the routine of it, but I also love the change...if that makes any sense at all!!! I love the fact that occasionally some-one I know will come into a shop I'm working in and we both get a pleasant surprise. That happened to me today. I met a friend I havn't seen in ages, and it was lovely.

So, today I was very glad I got out of bed!

Gratefully yours.
xx

The sweet smell of success

Today I am grateful for my sense of smell. Let me explain why...

Today I was working in town. I drop the kids to school and walk into town from the school. I like to walk along by the river, especially when the tide is in and the water is high up the banks. There are dozens of swans, and I always stop to say good-morning to them...not that they are ever happy to see me as I very rarely remember to bring them any food! It's a pleasant walk, even on the dreariest of days, and I always enjoy it and feel calmed by it. But, coming home at lunch-time, I tend to put the head down and march on. Going up the main road, rather than along the river, as it is a more direct route back to my car.

However, today, I left the shop as usual, already anticipating a steaming bowl of home-made soup for my lunch, and was accosted by the beautiful scent of flowers wafting out the door of the flower shop (well, it was hardly going to be a butcher's, was it!!). A few doors down there is a leather-goods shop and, yes, you guessed it, a glorious smell of new leather! Now I was paying attention! Garlic from the Chinese resaurant, coffee (mmmhhh!) from Greens Cafe, a well dressed young man wearing delicious after-shave! Of course this was all mixed with the not so pleasant smells of petrol fumes and cigarette smoke!!

Then, as I was passing Thomas's school, the piece-de-resistance....newly laid tar! Am I the only one who loves that smell?? I was sorely tempted to loiter at the gates for a while but was worried that the work-men would get the wrong idea!!

Ah well....

Gratefully yours.
xx

The sweetest song

It was a miserable start to the day: dark, damp and dismal.But then I opened the back door to let the cat out and the birds were singing! It really cheered me up and put the day back on a very good and positive footing.

So, today I am grateful that I am able to hear the birds.

In keeping with my new healthy regime, I decided this morning to take a long circuit back to the car after dropping the kids at school, instead of going straight back in two minutes flat. As I said before, although we live in a suburb, surrounded by other houses, there are also a lot of mature trees in gardens along the way. These trees are home to a thriving community of birds, from wee sparrows to hulking great herons! So the sound of birdsong is all around, and is so sweet....well, apart from the hulking great herons, who sound like a shovel scraping the pavement, according to Meggie!!

I just love the fact that even in the midst of this man-made forrest of houses and roads, nature will not be disuaded from showing her true and most beautiful colours.

Gratefully yours.
xx

The Prince of Denmark

I'm sorry, but you just can't beat a pecan danish! I know, I know...not exactly the healthy option, but what can I say? Today I am most definately greatful for pecan danish!

In my defence, we had been for a half hour, fairly pacey walk along the lovely river walk in Adare, followed by a good swim (not in said river, I might add) en famille. Now, both kids are now fairly confident in the water, so it is not the stressful affair it used to be, but I still wouldn't class it as a relaxing pass-time! I'm really not complaining...it was actually great fun for all of us...and at least it got us out of the house and using up some energy!

Why do we find it hard to motivate ourselves to do the things that we know are not only good for us, but also make us feel good? It never ceases to confound me. I am enjoying getting out for walks, playing sports on the X-box with the kids and not over-eating! I am enjoying not watching the telly all evening, but actually doing stuff...anything other than plonked in front of the tv! So why, oh why, will I find it so hard to keep doing these things in a few weeks time?

Answers on a postcard, please!!!

Gratefully yours
xx

If music be the food of love...

Today was a good day. I have a lot to be grateful for.

I spent the morning in town with the kids, helping them to spend their hard-earned Christmas money. And, for once, Meg came home with money still in her purse! A new experience for her and I think she liked it! We can always hope!!!

After watching the Downton Abbey Christmas Special this afternoon, I took down the decorations. A job I don't normally like, but it was quite calming today. And it is nice to get the house back to normal. Just the normal chaos to tidy now!!!

But today, most of all, I'm grateful for music. The boys were out this evening at a rugby match, so Meg and I sat and watched Hairspray (the one with John Travolta as the mother!!!Go figure!). It has to be up there with Mama Mia as one of the best ever feel-good movies. I couldn't sit still! My feet were tapping and my bum wiggling away in the chair. I can see me putting it on while doing the dreaded housework and bopping around, duster in one hand, hoover in the other. Come to think of it...what a good idea!!!

Long live music, in all it's many shapes and forms!

Gratefully yours.
xx

The wonder of eggs

Thank Crunchie it's Friday! And better still...the last day of the school holidays! My beloved children can only take so much of each other before all hell breaks loose!

When I sat down at the computer, K asked me what I was grateful for today and I told him that I hadn't decided yet! I am, of course, grateful for my darling husband and wonderful (well, lets be honest...they are most of the time) children. I am grateful for the continued health of my family, my job, my house and all those other things we take for granted. But, I am not about to bore the pants off anyone by saying that every day for a year!!!

Today I am truly thankful for the existance of eggs. Those wonderfully versatile ovoids which are tasty and healthy and (best of all) filling! I am, as you might have guessed, it being the beginning of January, on a healthy living plan. Again! It would be so much harder to achieve without poached eggs and omlettes. I have set myself some goals for the coming year, as far as health and fitness are concerned, and feel that anything is possible with the help of my little yolky friends!

Gratefully yours
xx

My year of gratitude

I have decided that this year is going to be a year of gratitude for me.

I plan to post one thing each day for which I am grateful.

I have read enough self-help-type books at this stage to know that two key factors in achieving a happy life are Gratitude and Acceptance. I also know that a positive mental attitude helps! Whatever we put out there is reflected right back at us. So, I hope that by reminding myself, every day, that I have a lot to be grateful for in life, that I will become a more positive person as a result.

So, to begin...today I am grateful that after four days of gales and torrential showers of rain, it was dry enough for me to go for a walk this afternoon!

I am lucky enough to live ina suburb of the city where I can go for a 45 minute circular walk. There are lots of trees and lots of houses being renovated! Lots of dog poo on the pavements too...but I am being positive, so we won't go there!

With that thought, I will leave you for today.
Gatefully yours
xx