Wonderful Wednesday 14

I'm sitting here at the kitchen table beginning this post on Monday morning - a lovely long weekend-making day of annual leave stretching ahead of me! Although the purpose of this day off is to run some errands that I wouldn't get a chance to do at the weekend, that's not stopping me from having a leisurely breakfast, drawing out this second cup of tea with the kitchen door open and a delicious breeze blowing in.

Here are a few of my highlights from the last week...

♥ Entertaining like pros... The mister and I had such a busy time this weekend. My hilarious friend O came over for dinner on Friday night - not something we usually do as I'm invariably fast asleep on the sofa by about 9pm, but I managed to keep going until 1am this Friday - probably something to do with the combination of good food, flowing red wine and great conversation.

We then had another one of my oooooldest friends and her husband over for a late lunch, pulling out all the stops to let them take probably one of their first breaks since the birth of their gorgeous but demanding little boy, about a year and a half ago. Then another one of my friends joined us later on that afternoon and stayed on through until later that night. My introverted little soul wanted to curl up into a ball after so much people-time but it really was heaps of fun. Cooking-wise, the mister and I knocked it out of the park too with a delicious mustardy chicken dish served with rosemary and garlic oven-roasted new potatoes and a fresh cucumber and olive salad, followed by a flourless chocolate cake with strawberries and creme fraiche. Clean plates all round!

♥ Christmas in July...courtesy of one of my dearest friends. I came down with shingles on Christmas Eve last year (turns out lots of stress isn't good for you, who knew?!) and was distraught at the impact this would have on my Christmas. It may not be clear to you just yet how much I love Christmas but don't worry, you'll learn soon enough as the weather starts to cool again. I mentioned this to a couple of my closest friends in the new year, sadly whimpering that my Christmas just hadn't been the same and I had been cruelly denied a proper celebration. They suggested reprising Christmas in the summer, which I completely forgot about until this wonderful card arrived in the post this week! It may be warm outside and not really christmassy in any way but this card gave me such a lovely boost...and reminded me to pace myself a little more so that I can truly enjoy the festive period when December rolls around (who am I kidding, as soon as the clocks change and I get my winter coat out). 

♥ Family catch-ups... Like the lovely Kate in last week's Wonderful Wednesday, I met up with my Nanny on Sunday and the mister and I took her out for lunch together with one of my cousins and his wife. I come from a huge family and we always say we don't see enough of each other, with times like Sunday making me wonder why. I'm the oldest of all the (numerous) cousins too so it felt really special having a fun meal and catching up with one of my young cousins, who I remember when he was really small! Spending time with my Nanny is always great too and we enjoyed a really lovely meal together catching up, and discussing holiday plans and the travel adventures of my cousin and his wife who've had an amazing few months travelling around Europe.

♥ Getting up relatively early on the weekend... I used to be such a late sleeper, staying up really late and then not getting out of bed until late morning and wondering where my weekend had disappeared to. This weekend, I woke up around 8/8.30 most mornings and, rather than stay in bed, I actually got up, made breakfast and began the day...and the weekend felt so much fuller as a result. Bliss.

Day off lunches...

♥ Getting.Stuff.Done. ... As I say, we took Monday off as we had some errands to run and it was so satisfying to get things crossed off the list! Some serious adulting took place, which we celebrated with burgers and I curled up and watched a programme about Roald Dahl in the evening. A good mix I think.

♥ A little sprinkling of Sally Tangle...and last but by no means least, I took a leaf out of the lovely Sally's book this week, temporarily fixed our washing line and popped our clothes and sheets out to dry in the weekend's sun. It was such a happy sight, seeing them tossed about in the breeze, before collecting them in a few hours later, sun dried and beautifully fresh-smelling.

Until next week, my lovelies!

♥ 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 and Emma - and then join me in counting down the days until the weekend. It's in sight! ♥