Things that are making me happy

Three midcentury handbags
The three I'm currently switching between - and I
didn't pay more than £6 for any of them!
I was going to come on here and grumble – summer is coming, and with it my annual flail about being fat – but you know what? Grumbling's no good to anyone. It won't solve my problems (not unless I flail at aerobic levels for at least 30 minutes a day, at any rate) and it won't brighten your day. So, instead of that nonsense*, here are some things that are making me happy.

My handbags
Like perfume and most jewellery, handbags always fit. (Actually, my 1930s bride's book would probably disagree as it was very strict about larger ladies not carrying delicate bags, or petite ones carrying large bags, but never mind that.) I spent most of the winter toting my leather crossbody bag around out of sheer laziness, so it's been wonderful to get back into carrying my vintage boxy bags again. Switching cards, lipsticks, keys and so on in the morning can feel like a faff, but a nice and appropriate bag certainly brightens every day.

The Urchins
They're cutting a swathe through the local wildlife – Mr Robot had to rescue two different slow worms from Pippin on Sunday, and ended up sleeping in a pair of trousers last night as he was having to get up so many times to take frogs back outside – but I love these furry idiots.

Planting things
I've put together a few pots of seeds over the weekend. Tomatoes – I always grow tomatoes each year, regardless of anything else I do – plus some flowers. Marija sent me some seeds for lovely big daisies, so they're in one of the pots. There's also nemesia, cosmos and a few other things. I need to plant some more herbs too; nothing beats basil or coriander fresh from the garden.

My garden is a bit of a tip right now, but I have been enjoying being out there. Slowly it's all coming together again – a bit of weeding here, a bit of sweeping there, and it all looks better. We do have trees to cut back, which will keep us in wood this winter, and serious rubble-moving to do at the end of the garden, but that's okay. Just being outside is lovely. It's so peaceful, when Mr Robot isn't racing after the cats saying, “LEAVE THE SLOW WORMS ALONE” in a stern voice.

The kitchen
A man standing in a yellow kitchen with a black and white tiled floor
Mr Robot putting things back after we repainted.
It's done! Repainted, new floor laid, and a new cooker to boot. (The old cooker, which is the one in the photo, was so decrepit all the numbers had worn off the dials, which made deciding what temperatures to bake things at a bit of a challenge.) I'm so pleased with the chequerboard floor. We used to have modern, large tan tiles, and the colour didn't work half as well with the rest of the room. They were all broken so needed replacing. Now the kitchen should need nothing doing to it for at least another five years. Fixing up bits around the house has made us both take better care of the house in general, to the point where I love being in my home. It really is my happy place.

My clothes
I should look at the ones I like wearing, rather than the ones I would like to wear, right? I took all my knackered old longsleeve tops to the rag recycling recently. They were about a decade old and had reached the point where they never looked nice. There's no point wearing things that make you feel shabby, and I realised that I'd be more likely to buy tidy new ones if I got rid of the old ones first. Ditching the shabby things means I wear things I'm happy with. Okay, I'd like a bit more variety, but I don't go out feeling like I look horribly scruffy. I also found an excellent pale olive wool tweed skirt in a charity shop, so my chazza drought is over. And in a fit of mag deadline stress I bought another 1960s dress. Oops. I always end up shopping when I'm on deadline...

What's making you happy right now?



*And anything about Br*x*t, which sucks.

Comments

  1. The kitchen is looking fabulous, all zingy and cheerful.
    Aren't those kittens naughty? Frank was in a massive fight with a tom cat last night and after a sleepless night worrying he's been to the vet's this morning and is currently zonked out on drugs under the kitchen table.
    Loving your bags. Just as well I'm neither married or living in the 1930s - I'm all about big bags!
    I really must plant some lettuce and tomatoes...xxx

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    1. Oh, poor Frank! What on earth happened to him?

      Pippin is the better hunter; I think if they'd stayed in the wild she would have survived but Ziggy wouldn't.

      It's daft how happy my bags are making me. They're just things for carrying things, but it's nice to tote something attractive rather than purely practical about.

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  2. Wonderful bags-I can see why they make you happy.

    I'm surprised the kittens haven't eaten the frogs (or at least bitten their heads off). Lucky frogs having you looking after them.

    Your kitchen is beautiful. I'm glad you're enjoying your home-that's as it should be.

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    1. Apparently frogs taste nasty. The urchins don't even kill them, they just bring them indoors, presumably hoping Pete and I would like to play with them too. I went to bed last night a little worried at Ziggy had come in, then I heard a couple of funny muffled mews. I put the light on, worried that he'd injured himself, but no, there he was, trying to mew at me round a mouthful of frog!

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  3. I applaud your "happy' post, Mim. Believe me, I can grumble with the best of them, but apart from a little rant about the weather here and there, I'm trying to keep my blog my "happy place". Just opening my wardrobe's doors and seeing my dresses, or looking through my boxes of brooches make me happy. So does a walk in Spring. A lovely comment on one of my posts. My nephew asking to see photos of my punk years (that made me smile so much), having a coffee and a good laugh with my best friend. They're always something - however small - to be happy about. xxx

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    Replies
    1. Your brooches are a massive pile of joy, for sure.

      Yes, spring is good. It's hard to be miserable when everything's bursting into blossom and life.

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  4. Your kitchen is looking fab! The floor tiles are great and I forgot you were having black and white - the black will hide a lot of marks. Ours is green and white and they need replacing as we have several tiles that are cracked.

    I love your three handbags - all different and interesting. I could never carry a cross body bag - not enough room in them for all the stuff I cart around with me.

    You are so right to focus on the positive whether that be clothes or body size. We are what we are. Glad to hear you found a great tweed skirt - that certainly gives the mojo a boost!

    Your OH is saint...

    ReplyDelete
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    1. I don't tend to carry a lot - cards, keys, purse, phone and a few perfume minis/lipsticks. Then, I'm usually only going between home and work, and I have a stash of makeup etc in my locker at work.

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  5. How can handbags NOT cheer you up?? Your kitchen looks lovely. xx

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    1. When the weather's better I shall start carrying my beautiful blue one. That's my best bag (Cate gave it to me) and I don't want it getting spoiled by rain.

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  6. Lots of reasons to be cheerful in this post! Such lovely handbags. I am unfortunately the type thay feels the need to carry the kitchen sink around and so dainty handbags only come out for events. You must find cooking in your new kitchen such a pleasure now, lovely floor tiles! X

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    Replies
    1. Pete's been doing most of the cooking, which is even better :-D

      I don't need much in my bag - lippie, perfume, keys, cards, phone... that's the lot.

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  7. Your kitchen looks great, love the window! Our kitchen leads out onto our veranda, that's not bad either :) Although now the snow is coming down again, it looks like some 3 inches in just one day. Oh well, it will melt away eventually.

    I love the handbags :) A nice handbag can really tie an outfit together. Talking about outfits, I should have a clear out as well. The more I think about it, the more I see that certain items in my wardrobe haven't been used in ages, and that's because I don't enjoy wearing them. So this Easter I've decided to be brutal and just get rid of them. Give the wearable items to the local charity shop, and toss the rest.

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    1. A clearout can be so refreshing - stuff can be set free to find a home where it's loved, and it frees you to buy other things you love.

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  8. Love your refurbished kitchen!
    Your handbags look quite tasteful and posh.
    Gardening before the Monsoon rains come puts me in a better mood.
    Our kitties are amassing frogs, lizards, and shrews!

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    1. Shrews! I'm so glad ours don't bring rodents in. Scooping up frogs is one thing, but if we get rats under the cupboards... augh.

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  9. Love the kitchen, black and white tile floors are my favourite.

    Dorian Gray is currently making me happy ❤

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