I almost can’t bear to look at the news these days – the election in the US, the tone of debate around Brexit (I was horrified at some of the headlines in the tabloid press last week – what has happened to intelligent comment and debate in the UK?), Syria, earthquakes in Italy and the pipeline protestors at Standing Rock. This last news item has mostly been bypassed by a lot of mainstream media, but the story is important, highlighting as it does the environment, the treatment of indigenous peoples and a total lack of humanity and understanding on behalf of the authorities. If you are on Facebook, check out Haka with Standing Rock, a group here in New Zealand who are raising awareness of the situation.
But this blog challenge from Mani over at A New Life Wandering is about the small pleasures in life that bring us joy, that bring us happiness. So here are a few things that brought me pleasure this week.
Fireworks
The Wellington Sky Show on Guy Fawkes’ Night (5th December) this year was excellent, with some old favourites (the smiley faces and lips made from fireworks – how do they do that?) and some new ones like the exploding flowers.
Foxgloves
There are some huge foxgloves in out garden right now – see the picture at the top of the post.
Travel
Travel for work doesn’t always have to be a chore – check out a post from earlier this week It’s the little things that count – because after all they do.
Baking
I enjoy baking – I find it relaxing – and why I may not be up to Great British Bakeoff standards, my cheese and mustard dampers were rather tasty on Saturday and my pineapple upside down cake on Sunday was light and fluffy. I made two, one for home and one for a bake sale at work to raise money for the Mary Potter hospice.
Pilates and Xtend Barre
Do I need say any more?
Charlie in the sunshine
Charlie is like me in that he loves the sunshine. When the weather is good, he loves to go out and just sit and watch the birds, the flowers, the little insects.
Check out these other small pleasure posts:
Middle Europe and Follow me to…
This was a lovely read, and the images were beautiful. So much better than anything found in the news these days. 🙂
Thank you!
It’s true. The news and the present state of the world is pretty sad. I’d say an even more important time to focus on the good things, and be grateful.
Thanks for keeping on sharing your small pleasures of the week. Have a great week!
There are a lot of good things in the world too as you say, and at times like this it is good to focus on them. Hope you have a great week too!