52 Weeks of Happy 52/52

I hope you've all had a lovely Christmas, it's always over so quickly!

We're finally here, the last happy post of the year. There have been times when I've fallen (very!) behind and some weeks forgetting to write down happy things and take the photos (I don't have a great knack for remembering things!). I have enjoyed writing these posts, it's been good to find small positives each week to balance the hard times. 

At the moment, I don't think I will carry on with this project next year but I'm going to have a think about something else to do instead.

So, here are my last happy things of the year, not all with photos!

1. Christmas/Boxing day. We had both days at my mum and dad's, Christmas day just six of us and Boxing day there were 13 (my nan didn't like it as there were 13 at dinner!). I only took a few photos of the children so I don't have any to share. 

2. Birthday. It was my nephew's on the 28th December as it's so close to Christmas they don't do a party but tend to have an Open House so friends and family can pop in. We went just before lunch time so had lunch with them, I liked these pirate plates!

3. Last Christmas present re-ordered. I had ordered my sister a calendar from Tesco but it still wasn't in store three weeks later, even though customer services' assured me it was there. I went to collect it on Monday but it wasn't there, they contacted customer services who re-ordered it and said it would be in on Christmas Eve, it was cutting it fine but I couldn't get it anywhere else so late. I had an email on Christmas Eve morning to say it was in so I went to collect it and guess what they told me, there were two calendars there!

4. ISS aka Santa's Sleigh! I went to the Nativity service at the local church on Christmas Eve and as it was due to be visible while I was walking home, I decided to look for it and I saw it. I took this photo but you can only see it when you zoom in, it is the tiny dot slightly left of the centre of the photo.

52 Weeks of Happy 51/52

This week has been hard, with problems with my nan. She is fine but has taken things out on me this week. 
I can only remember three things this week.

1. Toddler group Christmas meal. We had our meal at Toby Carvery, there were 12 of us and it was nice to be able to chat. When we're at the toddler group we can't really talk as we're so busy.

2. Seeing family members. My mum, nan and I met up with some family that we haven't seen for quite a while, for a meal today. We did it as a surprise for my nan and her sister-in-law, they both didn't have a clue and were very surprised to see each other!

3. Catching up with posts! I've finally caught up with my happy posts. I didn't realise I'd fallen so far behind so it feels good to be up to date now!

52 Weeks of Happy 50/52

This week was quite busy so I have five happy things!

1. Winter Wonderland. This was the first time I'd been to Winter Wonderland, I met my friend at Marble Arch and off we went! It was a lovely Christmas atmosphere, there were lots of stalls, the rides and food were expensive, but it wasn't too busy.

2. Finished Christmas shopping. I'd already finished most of my shopping and just had a couple of things to get. I don't buy too much, I tend to spend about £10 on each person. I just need to wrap it all, which I'll probably do on Tuesday while watching a Christmas film.

3. Christmas TV guide. I love looking through the Christmas TV guide, there are lots of programmes I want to watch!

Photo source

4. Sunrise. I took this on Thursday, at about 8.20am. The highest point to take photos is from the landing window, it's just a shame the aerials are in the way!

5. Christmas meal with friends. We had a meal at the local Harvester, one evening this week. It's probably the last chance we'll get to meet before Christmas, it was nice to eat and chat!

52 Weeks of Happy 49/52

I am missing week 48 of happy things as I didn't write anything down and can't remember! So, here is week 49. 

1. Hospital training. I did the training for the Maternity volunteering, it was things like health and safety, fire training, conflict resolution etc. and lasted two days. I just need to have a meeting with someone in the Maternity department to sort out days/times, then I can start. I think that will probably be in January now.

2. Santa train. We went on the Santa Special train again this year, at Chinnor and Princes Risborough Railway. There was a bit of a mix up with the times though, the others thought we were on the 2 o'clock train but it was actually the 1 o'clock! The volunteers were really helpful and managed to fit us on the next train, in a first class carriage. The kids really enjoyed it and had their photos taken with Santa and one of his elves and got a present each. 

3. Free cinema ticket. I had two tickets from SweetSundays, to use by the 7th December. There weren't really any films I wanted to see, but then Paddington came out just in time to use the tickets! I went with my mum and I really enjoyed the film.

Photo source

4. Family visiting. My cousin and her fiancée came to visit for about an hour on the way back home to Cornwall. They'd been to London for the weekend and came to see my nan, I managed to see them for about half an hour. I hadn't seen them for about five years and they came to tell my nan that they are expecting identical twins!

52 Weeks of Happy 47/52

I only wrote down two happy things this week.

1. Party. This was the last of the five parties I was invited to. This one was a Graduation party and I went with my friend and sister and we had a good old dance!

2. Christmas jumper. I've never been a fan of Christmas jumpers but I saw this one online at Asda and really liked it! It's a thin jumper and not too flashy. (Sorry about the rubbish photo!)

52 Weeks of Happy 46/52

1. Home made flapjacks. This is the first time I've made flapjacks, I was surprised how many oats were needed. I used this recipe and they were really tasty. I thought I had taken a photo but I couldn't find it!

2. Printed photos. I had a code to get some photos printed cheaply. I don't really get photos printed now that we are in the age of the digital camera! I need to get some albums now to put the photos in.

3. Finding my Railcard. A bit of an odd one but I knew I was going into London and my Railcard saves me £7.50 on a Travelcard. I remembered that I'd put between some books to flatten it (it was bent on the corner), but couldn't remember where I'd put it after, in the end it was still between the books! I have a Network Railcard, which covers the South East.

4. Volunteers party. The toddler group I volunteer at is based in a church and they have a party each year for all of the volunteers across the church, there were about 120 people there. It was the first time I'd been to one, so didn't really know what to expect but it was really good. They had food and drink and had decorated the church, then we watched a magician. I was glad I didn't get called up onto the stage! 

52 Weeks of Happy 45/52

Now I'm writing up all the posts I'm behind on, I've realised that I have missed two weeks! I have been quite good at writing my happy things down over the last eight or so weeks (apart from these two!).

I only have two things and no photos for this week. 

1. Firework party. We had some fireworks at home but I don't really like being too close to the fireworks. We had them at the top of the back garden but I stood at the end of the front garden. I don't mind going to organised shows where you can see the fireworks from a distance.

2. Birthday meal. We try to go for a meal when it's someone's Birthday, this week was my sisters Birthday and we went to the local Brewers Fayre.

52 Weeks of Happy 44/52

I only have three happy things from this week.

1. Legoland fireworks. We went to Legoland on Halloween, for the fireworks. They were really good and lasted about 12 minutes. The kids enjoyed the day, it was quite busy but the weather was good and we were in short sleeves for most of the day.

2. Spending time with my niece. During half term, while the kids were over, I spent quite a bit of time with my niece doing a puzzle. I don't get to spend much time with her now that she's at school so it was really nice.

3. Crocheted Poppy. I decided to try and crochet a poppy this year as the paper ones always get ruined. I found a pattern and made one but I didn't really like it, it didn't look like the paper ones. Then I found a pattern for one that looks more like a paper one, I made three poppies but they were all slightly different! (Sorry about the terrible photo but I couldn't find the original photo I took!) 

52 Weeks of Happy 43/52

1. Dog sitting. I looked after my sister's Westie puppy for the weekend, while they went camping. He was about four months in this photo.

2. Halloween torches. I got these in the pound shop, we don't really celebrate Halloween but I thought these were good as the kids love torches and these make Halloween shapes.

3. Seeing my friend. I hadn't seen my friend properly for a couple of years, time just flies by. She came along to the toddler group I volunteer at and it was lovely to see her. 

4. Halloween poster. I was out on Halloween so I put this poster up so my nan didn't have to keep answering the door. I made it on the PicMonkey website. I put some sweets in a bag to put outside, the only downside was someone stole the bag.

52 Weeks of Happy 42/52 - Weymouth holiday

Hello again, everyone! I didn't realise I had been away from blogland for so long! I seem to have been playing catch up since my holiday back in October and now it's nearly Christmas I have lots to do and places to go! 

I'm trying to write up the last eight weeks or so, of "happy" posts and will hopefully post them over the next week. This post is all about my holiday to Weymouth, in October. There were lots of happy things, I won't write too much but will share some photos.

We stayed at Park Dean Warmwell, which is about nine miles from Weymouth. This park is all lodges and has some fishing lakes and woodland. The weather was quite cold and wet compared to when we've been in October before.

Our lodge.

The Nature Trail. We didn't see much nature though!

Bowleaze Cove

There was loads of seaweed washed up, more than I've seen here before.

Stones for skimming.

After walking along the beach, we had lunch in the Beachside Cafe. As we finished lunch, we saw a Coastguard rescue. Someone had swum out to retrieve their jet ski, unfortunately they couldn't reach it as the tide was taking it further out. The Coastguard brought him back to dry land and checked him over and, luckily, he was fine.

A few photos from around the park.

Weymouth

Sand sculptures.

RSPB Radipole Lake

PS I forgot to add that I saw my first Great Spotted Woodpecker while on this holiday. Our lodge was on the edge, by the fence so we saw lots of birds coming and going.  

52 Weeks of Happy 41/52

This is just a quick post with my happy things from this week. I'm waiting for my parents to pick me up to go on holiday! We are off to Dorset for the week.

1. My mum's Birthday cake. I quickly made this on Monday morning, only from a packet as I didn't have much time but it was very tasty!

2. Baby news. My friend's wife gave birth to a baby boy, last week, weighing 8lb 14oz! They live about an hours drive away so I don't see them that often but I'll hopefully see them soon. (This should have been for last weeks Happy post!)

3. Shoe rack. I finally got round to sorting out my shoe rack! I've been meaning to do it for ages as there were lots of shoes on it that aren't used any more. It looks much better now and all of the shoes can fit on it!

4. Snow! We had a very light snow shower yesterday.

5. Double rainbow. I just managed to get a photo of this double rainbow on Wednesday, before it disappeared. It had been sunshine and heavy showers all day so I hoped a rainbow would appear, you can just about see the second rainbow on the outside.

I hope you all have a lovely week!

52 Weeks of Happy 39/52

These are my happy things from last week. I haven't written down any happy things this week and I can't remember them either! Unless I remember them I'll probably miss out this weeks happy post.

1. New walk by the river. I went to the local retail park at the weekend and decided to go for a little walk after shopping. The retail park has been there for a while now but they are still building around it, mainly houses and flats but also a new community centre opened at the beginning of September. I followed the road towards the flats and saw a path to the left, following it I came to the river and ducks! A bit further along and there is a park in the middle of a sort of square of blocks of flats.

2. DBS for volunteering. My DBS form was sent on Friday and came back on Tuesday. I think it was so quick as I had one done about eight weeks ago. The next training days aren't until December though so quite a wait before I can start volunteering.

3. Autumnal colours. I picked these up when we were collecting blackberries. There seems to be more red shades on the trees this year.

4. 1st weekend of Strictly. The standard of dancing in the first week, was excellent this year, apart from a few that weren't so good! Greg comes to mind, with his quite camp Cha Cha!

52 Weeks of Happy 38/52

Hello to you all. Here are my happy things from last week:

1. The things children say... My niece (5 yrs) and older nephew (3 yrs) were playing in the sandpit outside the back door and as I was cooking the dinner, all of a sudden, I saw a cloud of sand flying past the door! When I looked outside, ALL of the sand was out of the pit and was everywhere! 
When I asked 'Who put this sand all over the floor?' 
My nephew said it was my niece. 
'Why did you put the sand on the floor?' I said in my cross voice. The reply wasn't what I expected!
'I was pretending it was fairy dust and I forgot it's not supposed to go on the floor.'
Well, I couldn't help but laugh!

2. Outing with my nephew. I have been babysitting my younger nephew (17 months) on Wednesday mornings. As it was good weather, we went to the local library, which is about 10 minutes walk. It's now a community library so is only open either AM or PM. After getting some books we went to the park on the way home. It was nice to have a little outing as I don't go the library much, I have so many books on my shelf already!

3. 1st party. The 1st party out of five, between now and December, was a 50th Birthday party, at the local football stadium. It was really nice to see lots of people I used to work with.

4. LOVEFiLM trial. I really wanted to see the pilot episode of Our Girl but didn't really want to buy it just to watch it once. I couldn't find it anywhere to rent or stream so I signed up for this free trial. They have so many DVDs and if you don't mind waiting for them to come through the post, it's a good service. You can have two discs at home at the same time and unlimited rentals during the month. I have Sky TV at the moment so I'll probably cancel it after the free trial but if I leave Sky, I think I would do it again.

52 Weeks of Happy 37/52

My happy things for this week are:

1. Volunteer meeting. I've finally had a meeting about the Maternity volunteering at a local hospital, that I mentioned here. I just need to get my documents checked, wait for the DBS to come through and then I can do my training for the role. I first applied back in March but due to a change of managers, my application didn't get passed on.

2. Last warm weather. Enjoying, possibly, the last of the warm weather. Although, someone said it could be warm until the end of October!

3. Outfit shopping. I have four parties coming up over the next couple of months. I usually wear jeans and a top, it's what I feel comfortable in but don't ever really feel smart so I wanted to buy something a bit smarter. I don't really like shopping but I went with my friend and tried a few bits on- one was a dress. Now, I'm not really a dress person but I really liked it, so I went back on Friday and tried it again and bought it! It had 20% off so wasn't too expensive either.

4. Birds singing. I've noticed the birds singing a lot more this week now they've finished moulting. I didn't realise I missed the birdsong until they started up again, it's been quiet without it.

52 Weeks of Happy 36/52

Hello all, hope you are all well? Here are my happy things from last week.

1. Funfair. The fair was visiting again, it was here the same time last year and you can find my post about it, here. We went on Sunday and it was much busier than last year, the kids had fun on a few rides but always want more! You can just about see the driver waving back here!

2. Granny Stripe Blanket. Every time I look at it, the colours remind of the beach! I realised that I didn't have a yellow shade for the sand, so I managed to get one the other week and have added it onto the blanket. I haven't taken a photo as I want to add a bit more before photographing it.

3. Kids sleepover. I had my niece and nephew over on Saturday night for a sleepover as my sister was going to a wedding. They were good apart from a bit of messing about when they first went to bed! We did some playing and they watched Frozen while I made the dinner.

4. My niece's wish. My niece found one of those wishing things in the garden (sorry, can't remember what they're called!) and made her wish. She whispered, 'I wish I was a princess'. This has given me an idea for her Christmas present, I know it's a bit early!

Widmer Fields

This is Widmer Fields, about 10 minutes drive from where I live. It's a sort of conservation area, I only found out about it earlier this year. I went on 17th June with my mum and sister and the dogs, it was a sunny, warm day and we took a picnic. We spent about two hours there and only saw about five other people. 

I hope you enjoy these photos!

This was the next field and not actually part of Widmer Fields.

The next field, again.

I like the little seat under this tree.