Because it’s not the big goals and successes in life that bring true happiness, but the little joys that you choose to notice each day...
YES, I confess, it has been QUIET here for a long time now. I hit a few roadblocks with it, and it was taking up too much of my time and reaching almost nobody, so I decided my writing was a much higher priority for the time being. However, now I’ve made a good deal of progress on that, I think it’s time to have another try here! Little Joys will be monthly instead of weekly, and I hope to get round to writing about writing a bit more!
So without further ado, here are some of my little joys from back in December – a quiet month in many ways, since I found myself unemployed for the Christmas period and spent a lot of time at my computer, focusing on editing my novel. But there are always joys to be found – you’ve just got to remember to notice, to look for them, to take a moment to be grateful.
In winter I am always more pleased than ever to see a clear bright blue sky – and shorter days also bring the opportunity to watch the sun rise.
The cotinus in our garden has THE most beautiful autumn leaves. When it’s scattered all over the garden is when I love it most!
It was a poor year for homegrown veg, and the bean harvest was so brief we missed it while we were on holiday – but I let the beans ripen fully and dry out instead, and I’m looking forward to planting their seeds (two heritage varieties) for next summer.
Cabbage pie. It’s onions and bacon, diced potaoes and cabbage, stirred through cheese sauce and baked under a breadcrumb crust.
Eskimo Disco live in London! We used to follow them yeeeears ago but they quit to go and have families – we never expected to see them back onstage again. It was fab!
They were supporting My Life Story – another old favourite. It was a great night!
Camden Lock at night.
Quick supper for one. Super glad I found this recipe by Tin Eats – it was delicious and fit the bill perfectly!
Beautiful sunset while Christmas shopping!
Moody marketplace…
A spot of sherry while putting the Christmas decorations up. A wasp crawled out of our Christmas tree! She must have been hibernating – I was a bit sorry to put her back out in the cold.
Tiger in the Night.
Bought some wax melts (in our local garden centre!) to scent the house with Christmassy spruce and spices.
Playing our favourite Christmas albums. I don’t know why all the shops play the same old dross all the time!
Rosemary flowering in the garden.
Erigeron karvinskianus. It seems to flower all year round in a sheltered spot!
Primrose.
Viburnum bodnantense – I wish you could smell it!
Nature’s treasures. I love it when the low winter sun catches them.
My gorgeous Roger la Borde advent calendar.
Oh boy, Christmas dinner! I forgot to add gravy! But everything was so delicous I didn’t even miss it!
Hot chocolate Christmas pud and chocolate sauce, made by yours truly. I must share the recipe with you sometime…
It’s full of chopped nuts and orange zest and spices…
Cedar of Lebanon on our Boxing Day walk.
Beautiful fungi!
I love Christmas leftovers just as much as I love Christmas dinner/Christmas day.
Marmalade cheesecake. It’s wonderful.
Setting my intentions for 2025 in my bullet journal. I’ve focussed very hard on writing for a couple of years, but now I need a better balance.
Impressive stinking hellebore – we spotted it on our New Year Plant Hunt!
Looking back over 2024. As always, I’m blown away by how blessed I am. Recording the good things in life is so worthwhile. Now bring on 2025!
