Wonderful Wednesday 28

Today's little list of happiness marks my last day at work until 2017! Need I say anymore? I am so very ready for this break and Christmas! Things have been no less hectic at work (do I ever say any different?) but I've taken Thursday and Friday off, so even if it entails effectively working those days tacked on to the other three (!) it'll be so very worth it.

On to the good and great...including Christmas trees, paper chains and not getting pneumonia (woo!)

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♥ Days off and short weeks... As I said last week, I had a few days off from Wednesday to Friday with very little planned save for Christmas shopping, preparing the house as much as possible and some long-awaited pottering. It was every bit as wonderful as I'd hoped for. I relaxed properly for the first time in months, probably since we went on holiday in August. We have company for most of the Christmas holiday so it was lovely to have a little time to myself to get organised. There was cleaning, baking and wrapping of gifts, together with copious of tea and episodes of Gilmore Girls. And this week is also a short one - just three days - I could easily get used to this!

♥ Shetland... I started watching this after Jasmin mentioned it in one of her Wonderful Wednesdays. I do like watching crime shows and this basically focuses on a policeman solving murders on Shetland, with extended shots of the gorgeous rugged Scottish Islands. We've been thinking about a trip to Scotland for a while and this is only feeding that thought - wild and remote please!

♥ Christmas tree... I waited as long as I could to try to ensure that our little tree stays green and verdant for as long as possible over Christmas, but this weekend we finally chose our Christmas tree! With a little more space than last year, we were able to get a slightly larger tree than the previous ones and I love it. I absolutely adore dressing the tree with the little decorations we've accumulated over our years together, as well as some of the lovely new ones I've picked up this year. It was particularly helpful as I'd been to the doctors on the Saturday morning for flu and pneumonia jabs so was feeling pretty under the weather as a result - nothing that choosing and dressing a Christmas tree couldn't fix (and if I don't get flu or pneumonia, so much the better!)

Also, the delicious Christmas tree smell that greets me as soon as I get home in the evening.

♥ Wrapping Gifts and Christmas Movies... I don't know how much more I can add to this one but I'm really enjoying doing both at the same time, it's so cosy.

♥ Crafty shenanigans... I love the homemade elements to Christmas and over my few days off, I dug out my origami paper and made some paper chains for the first time in years! There was something very therapeutic about it, carefully slicing the strips and stringing them together. I've hung them up on every available surface and will be sad to take them down in a few weeks' time!

♥ Herbal Treats... A few weeks ago, the lovely Eleanor of the Salted Tail blog did an interview with the owner of Bloom Remedies, an aromatherapy company based in Cornwall. I never used to have issues sleeping but stress isn't a great help in that department so I decided to treat myself to one of the Serenity Slumber sets, which contains a pillow spray and pulse point roll-on containing a mixture of lavender, geranium and ylang-ylang. It arrived on Monday (a little pre-Christmas treat!) and I tried them both straightaway that night, feeling instantly soothed by the delicious scents. It may all be in my mind but I slept so very deeply and woke feeling refreshed...which is rare this time of year, particularly when I'm in need of an extended rest!

Roll on some excellent sleeps over the Christmas breaks - small pleasures indeed!

♥ 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, Samantha, Kerri, Laura, Sarah, Peta, El, Laura, Sarah, Mimmi, Jasmin, Martina and Lynsey - and then join me in counting down the days until the weekend. It's in sight! ♥