Friday 22 May 2015

Five on Friday

The past week has been a tough one for me physically.  I'm not going to dwell on it though.  For my Five Things this week I've chosen to share five of the little things which have made me happy and for which I am ever so grateful:

#1  Morris Men


A quintessentially British tradition of men dancing together with hankies in their hands and bells round their knees.  It can't fail to make you smile.

#2  Stupendously beautiful and aromatic stocks


A delightful 'whoopsie' purchase made in the supermarket whilst I was perusing the "Free From" section.  I often buy reduced flowers partly for budgetary reasons and partly because they are in flower and harder to walk past!!!  These were already in flower and continue to make the whole kitchen smell beautiful!

#3  Kitchen Dresser



I've mainly stayed in the house this week but instead of focusing on what I couldn't do I chose to find something that I could do.  I wanted something that I could come to and leave, which could be split down into smaller parts to make up a whole job over the course of a day and that would provide happiness to me.  Rearranging the display of china on my kitchen dresser always does this.  Part of the joy is in deciding what colours, which plates and items to select and part comes from seeing those pretty things each day on entering the kitchen.  Oh, I do so love a flowery, vintage plate!

#4  A Special Treat




When I saw what Jooles of the lovely blog Sew Sweet Violet shared some pictures of her recent Liberty fabric butterfly makes I completely adored them.  They really are my kind of thing and are so exquisitely sewn.  I felt that a naughty treat was just what I needed during a physically difficult week and it's true that the anticipation of a beautifully wrapped purple package winging it's way to my house was part of the joy!  I completely love this canvas and can't wait to hang it in my lounge once it is decorated.  Watch this space!

#5  Sports Day 



It seems that both of my children are Queen and King of the traditional "Egg & Spoon" race! (Both of my little winners are on the left of the photos in caps).  The school is divided into tribes named after different tribes in Kenya (Maasai, Luo, Kikuyu & Kamba) and each wear their tribe colours.  My children are part of the Kamba Tribe and so were wearing blue T Shirts.  These connections are made throughout the education within the primary school as it is twinned and contributes to schooling with one in Dabaso, Kenya hence the names of the school teams.  We fundraise through school events throughout the year and connect with some of the students attending the school in Kenya so this is a fun, educational and inspirational thing to be part of.

Last year the school sports day was rearranged 3 times due to weather issues meaning it had to be postponed on each previous occasion.  This year the first date was a beautiful sunny day - the days either side of it were torrential rain and wind!!  On the day in question though, the weather couldn't have been more wonderful and it meant that the end of next term won't be quite so manic with celebratory summer term activities.  My lovely Mum was up staying too and so she was able to watch the little ones race.  My children are very outdoorsy and athletic and competed with gusto on the day. The occasion provided so many things to be grateful for.

I hope too that there have been many Simple Things which you too have been grateful for this week.


I won't be around in this space much over the next couple of weeks.  We have half term next week here and we are away visiting family and enjoying a special visit to London too!  This will be the Little Ones' first visit to the 'Big Smoke' and they are very excited!  Of course I'll share some pictures on our return!  I know that this will impact me physically and so am just going to take the following week to help recover.  I've started instagram though - my brick sadly had to go to phone heaven and so I have succumbed to the android smart phone generation!  If you would like to see some pictures whilst I'm away I am @j9shappiness I am finding out that the camera on it is fairly pants but I'm enjoying seeing what some of you lovely people are doing in such an accessible way.  The laptop which I use for blogging is quite old and slow now and I tend to binge read on blogs a couple times a week as a result.  I love this little bloggy community though so after my little break I shall be back!  There are a few things on the hook at present and I can't wait to share!!!  
Enjoy the weeks ahead... until next time!

Today I'm delighted to be joining in with Amy for her Five on Friday linky party.

Happy Weekend Folks!!!
J9 x

9 comments:

  1. Ooh! You bought some of Jooles' art! You lucky lady. I think they sold out VERY fast! Your dresser looks lovely. Very pastel and pretty. Mine is covered with bright china and my favourite cookbooks. So much dusting though, isn't it? I hope you enjoy and sunny and relaxing weekend with you family. XXOO Bronwyn
    www.queenbcreativeme.blogspotcom

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  2. Love how you have decorated the dresser, a real delight of vintage splendour. Sports day took me back a few years, such fun. Hope you have a great time on your London break.

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  3. Sorry to read you've had a tough week and hope you feel stronger now. I love the look of concentration on your kiddos' faces - sooo cute! Love your kitchen dresser too, and isn't that Liberty butterflies canvas just beautiful? I managed to get one for a friend's birthday gift, but just couldn't resist one for myself too! ;-)
    Have a lovely holiday time, and take care of you,
    xx

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  4. Five wonderful things!!! Your dresser looks so pretty, you have some beautiful china and have displayed it so nicely! How great that the children did so well at sports day!! A lot of fun for them. I love the butterfly picture too, so gorgeous! I hope that you have a wonderful time away in London and that it doesn't wear you out too too much. Thank you so much for joining in. I hope that you have a great weekend! xx

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  5. Lovely to see a post from you Janine, I'm sorry it's been such a tough week, I hope you have a very good two weeks now. It sounds as though you have some good things planned. Stocks are wonderful aren't they. I have some in a pot outside the kitchen door, the scent is fantastic. I think I might grow them every year now I've tried them. I'm a big fan of vintage plates as well. Morris dancing is brilliant isn't it, I love those ancient traditional things so much. Long may it continue. Wishing you a good weekend and many excellent adventures over the next two weeks. I hope it doesn't leave you too exhausted. Look after yourself Janine. CJ xx

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  6. I love your dresser, it's gorgeous! The picture is beautiful too. I like watching morris dancers too and buying whoops flowers ha! Have a lovely weekend and half term, take care xx

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  7. I think I can smell the heavenly scent of your beautiful flowers. I love the arrangement on your hutch with the lovely dishes. Wishing you a wonderful weekend, Pat

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  8. What a very pretty post! And I do love a morris dancer, although the ones with sticks can be a bit scary. Hope you have a good time in the Big Smoke and look forward to seeing the photos when you get back. x

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  9. Your dresser display is so pretty! I am glad you have joyful things that you can do at home and are manageable. A lovely result. Sorry I don't use instagram - like you were, I am still part of the old phone school where a phone is a phone and that's just about it (our internet rates from phones are quite expensive so I keep my net browsing to the computer). You are not the only one who binge-reads blogs due to a slow computer. I am expecting my little laptop (a gift small and light enough to browse the net from bed) to give up the ghost any day now. So please excuse me for replying late to this post of yours while on a blog-catch-up-binge! :-)

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