Happiness is...

The start of a new week; Monday; usually associated with feelings of gloom and general down-hearted expectations and I'm no exception, especially when I've just had a week off.  So, just to buck the trend a little and start the week off on a good note I'm thinking happy thoughts (we love you Pollyanna!).  I'm always drawn to things 'happy'; books promising you greater happiness in 10 days/12 months/3 hours etc - you get the drift!  I've covered this before here and I recently discovered the blog Simply Enough and a post about happiness that directed me to the True Happiness Test.  It takes about four minutes and I scored a pretty decent B+.  It recommended that I spend more time in nature, be sure to surround myself with positive people and take more exercise.  I wasn't sure about the positive people thing, as I thought I was quite ruthless about the company I keep, but when I thought about it I realised that I tend to absorb others' dramas so maybe I need to be mindful of that...

Anyway, enough rambling and onto the things that are currently making me happy.

A print from the Book of Hours that hung in my Granny's bedroom for many years.  I remember it arriving from MIDNAG as a child and being utterly captivated by it - the gold leaf and the beautiful people.  It seemed like a fairytale to me.  Now it hangs on my bedroom wall, and is often the first thing I see in the morning...

 These gorgeous flowers on the big table in MasterChef judge Greg Wallace's cafe Wallace & Co.  I went to meet a friend for tea and cakes and it didn't disappoint.  Light and airy with fabulous cakes and a relaxed vibe I think it's set to become a favourite afternoon haunt.  The takeaway salads were fab including a wonderful Panzanella Salad which just smells of summer.

My new work space, complete with Diptique candle which smells heavenly; a calm and inspiring place to write and work.

This gorgeous Silver Birch Tree that looks over our garden.  To be honest, it's taken me a while to make friends with this tree because as you can see it's pretty big.  In summer it tends to block out the sun late afternoon which I really resented; however, we've made friends now because after a bout of insomnia I used to go out into the garden at ridiculous hours (ie 5am!) and somehow it won me over - just rustling in the breeze, the wonderful limeness of its leaves and it's sturdyness.

NOTHING beats drying your washing on the line!  Especially after weeks of rain ... Watching my towels dry in the sunshine, flapping in the breeze, made me inordinately happy. Small things...

As I'm reminded daily by my framed 2011 New Year Resolutions, "Find joy in the small things". So true.

So, what's making you happy?  I'd love you to share...