Wonderful Wednesday 07

Where has all the sun gone?! Just when I put my winter coat away and start to dig out my lighter tops, the sky darkens and the rain begins. Tuesday in London was the worst of both worlds - rainy but also humidly warm. Not a good time to be incredibly busy and rushing around at work, I felt incredibly frizzy by 9.01am yesterday - not the best start to the day.

So thank goodness for Wonderful Wednesdays eh?! Something to make me look beyond the woe and search out the little things that are just that little bit shiny and wonderful over the course of a week. It's a fantastic exercise, try it!

♥ Adventures in the sunshine... Did you happen to see my recent witterings about our adventures in the sunshine on Saturday? I won't go into great detail about it again here but suffice to say, the memories of that day will make me smile for quite a while. Beautiful weather, wonderful company, gorgeous surroundings, a dash of adventure (barefoot through muddy paths and braving nettles!), new reads, a water-side pub for lunch and ice lollies in the garden in the afternoon/evening - it was the perfect day!

♥ Turning the day around... Hmm that probably didn't make much sense but let me explain. The mister and I travelled back from Norfolk on Sunday. We'd booked an early-ish train (1pm) to give us a few hours at home rather than rushing back into the week. For the first time in what feels like months, there were no rail improvement works on the tracks and we didn't have to go via Cambridge/take several rail replacement buses. But then we arrived at Chelmsford, all on schedule before then. It was about 2.15pm and the sun was beating down overhead, and a voice came over the tannoy that there were problems with the lines into London and no trains would be running any further. At first we waited on the platform but it got hotter and hotter, and the announcements weren't giving any indication as to when the problem would be fixed. So we decided to wait inside the train that had pulled in after ours and was simply sitting there, much shadier. Then eventually an announcement came (at about 3pm) that the problem wouldn't be fixed for several hours and trains weren't expected to start running again until after 7pm. All our plans for the rest of the day went out of the window! But, rather than wait around feeling miserable or joining several other people queuing for ludicrously-priced taxis to London, we decided to just wheel our cases into town, go for a few drinks and then pop to Pizza Express to while away the time. Spontaneous date-afternoon! It wasn't so bad after all!

♥ Happy clients... Last Thursday afternoon I received a really wonderful surprise at work - a lovely thank you card from a client, together with a bottle of wine and a beautiful calla lily plant.  Such a treat. As I said a few weeks ago when we moved in to our new place, gifts are somehow even more special when they're completely unexpected!

♥ Katie Fforde novels... Having spotted one in an honesty box of books outside a church at the weekend, picking it up and devouring it over the course of that day and the next, I'd forgotten how much I enjoy her novels! They're really cosy reads, like snuggling into fresh bed sheets after a hot bath. I'm sure there are some new ones out there I haven't read, I must investigate.

♥ Lovely neighbours... I adore our new neighbours - they're the kind of people you can just chat to, who you feel safe letting know that you're away for a weekend and asking them to keep an eye on things. Our neighbour popped round yesterday evening to let us know that she's growing heaps of tomatoes and peppers in her green house if we'd like some - yes please! (Along with a slight twinge of guilt that my planned vegetable patch has not been touched yet!) Also they have the loveliest little twins - real mischievous little kiddoes. I adore them!

♥ Crochet... After a loooong long wait, my crochet hooks have finally arrived! I am both excited and terrified because it means actually braving some of the tutorials on Youtube and having a go. I think I need to track down someone in 'real life' who can help me too - there's nothing like actually watching and following along in detail, and being shown where you're going wrong! (Positive thinking already, Catherine.)

Hope you're all having wonderful weeks! Join me in counting down the days until the weekend - it'll be Friday before we know it!

♥ Do let me know what's made your week a little rosier by leaving me a comment below (I do love comments!) or dropping me a tweet (I'm @happygoluckycat) or better yet, why not join the fabulous bunch of #WonderfulWednesday bloggers? Pop over to their blogs for a dose of mid-week happiness - Sally, Michelle, Helen, Kate, Jo, Emma and Kate - and then join me in counting down the days until the weekend. It's in sight! ♥