Starting the week by writing the Happy List is something I’ve been doing for a while over the last few years. It’s my chance to sit down and reflect on the things that made me happy in the previous week, as well as to record some of the adventures we have as a family.

Five Happy Things {Week 502}

Last week my son was away on a school trip to the Costa Brava in Spain. He tried all sorts of different water sports including kayaking, a catamaran, windsurfing and snorkelling.  He had a great time and brought home a huge pile of washing for me.

Whilst he was away we had to make an extra fuss of our daughter with plenty of board games evenings, a few cheeky takeaways and went picking elderflower for our annual elderflower cordial making. We watched The Fall Guy, which I thought was terrible, but she enjoyed it a lot. We painted her room and ordered a new King sized mattress for her room too.

I finished reading Preloved by Lauren Bravo. I loved this book, which was all about Gwen – when she’s made redundant from a job she hardly cares about, she takes herself out for a fancy dinner. There she has the best sticky toffee pudding of her life and realises she has no one to tell. She vows to begin living her life fully, reconnect with her friends and family, and finally book that dentist’s appointment. Gwen decides to start where all things get a second chance: her local charity shop. There, with the help of the weird and wonderful people and donated items bursting with untold stories, Gwen will find a way to move forward with bravery, tenacity, and more regular dental care. Such a fun book, especially you can’t help thinking about where all those items in your local charity shop came from.

On Thursday we finally made it to RHS Chelsea Flower Show 2024. It wasn’t what I was expecting at all. It was so busy and there were very few gardens to look at, but lots of flowers (obviously). We didn’t come away inspired but we had a lovely day out in the May sunshine.

My hands have been busy stitching the sweet floral sampler cover gift from the latest issue of Love Embroidery magazine. It featured 9 stitches so it was a fun little project and kept me busy whilst I binge watched Criminal Record with Peter Capaldi.