Everything but the cow

 Today's the postie dropped a nice little 'clanging' package through the letterbox for me.  It was one of the virtual races I have taken part in throughout the year - a 5k run supporting the Dame Kelly Holmes Trust.

The medal now has pride of place with the others hanging from my uplighter in the living room.

Bargain Hunt

I do love a good bargain and after work I had my best haul to date. Having received vouchers to try Danone 'Light and Free' well, for free, I trotted off to a supermarket with the husband. 

I got my yogurts and an even bigger surprise when the total came up on the checkout, way to go!

Think I may struggle to beat the 1p I paid for the cucumber portions though.

The sweet smell of summer

I ended up takimg another impromptu walk this evening as I only had to go halfway home so I could pick up the car. It has been a bit of a muggy day today but there was a little bit of rain to keep me cool on my meander (it's the rare kind of rain that actually refreshes you!).

Another thing about the rain is it really enhances the smell of elderfllower. I love this as it really is a scent that sums up those summer days for me. I am looking forward to going out and picking some to make cordial.

Evening Stroll

This evening's pleasure was a simple one. With almost half an hour wait for the next bus I decided to walk home.  

It was a nice, peaceful evening stroll with sounds of the running river, birdsong and pealing church bells. Sometimes it is nice just to stop and take in your surroundings.

Garden treasure

As today was yet another glorious day weather wise I pottered around the house doing chores and my dear husband carried on in the garden trying to clear our bamboo ready for a complete garden overhaul.

I was overjoyed when he came in with these lovely little candle holders that he found randomly in a corner of the garden.

They definitely look like they have been outside for a while (I am guessing they were left by the previous owners as we have never had these in the garden). A quick scrub later - not too much elbow grease required - and they were ready to hang in the tree.

What is this all about anyway?

So why would I set up this photo journal I hear you ask...well I will share that with you now, at the beginning of my 'Snap Happy Everyday' journey.

When people ask me the question "what makes you happy?" I seriously struggle with the answer.  I can easily tell you a hundred things that might make me either unhappy/angry/annoyed/frustrated but I seem to have lost sight of the things that bring joy and I am sure I can't be alone in that?!  It doesn't mean that there aren't things/people/places/moments that are joyful, it just appears that I seem to notice them a lot less.

With this in mind I am setting out to create a daily observation of things that make me smile inside, no matter how briefly.  My challenge is to find something happy in every day.

Thinking about the inspiration for the title makes me smile, the phrase 'Happy Everyday' was banded around a lot when I was in China (a whole decade ago now!).  Living out there for a year was a life changing experience for me and has in many ways sculpted who I am now therefore, I felt it rather apt that the title for this photo journal is a nod towards that period in my life.

You have probably seen the '100 days happy' challenge on social media and, I guess, this is a little like that only I am hoping it lasts a lifetime rather than 100 days.  

You may notice multiple pictures on some days as there might be many things that make me smile, what I hope is that you will see at least a post a day and please also share your happy moments in the comments.  I look forward to continuing on this journey with all of you.  

For now, I shall share with you today's joyful moment which was getting to sit down and share a lovely dinner with my husbamd in our garden (he has been slaving away since coming home from work whilst I prepped the food...team effort).