Well now, I am inspired. After reading two lovely, grateful posts (here and here) I have resolved to be more thankful and share with you some of my everyday pleasures. We have recently moved house. Ah, the joys of moving house….(biting sarcasm!!) But for all its teething pain there has been some up-side. I need to remind myself of the up-side. Namely – seeing a few of my favourite things after twelve months separation! Like this lovely being, my favourite teacup, bought in Cambodia:

Drinking tea out of this teacup makes me so warm inside. It jogs memories of my travels, it is pretty, it serves a delicious function…is there anything more perfect than a teacup? I have plenty (Matt can attest to this fact) and I love ’em.

And what’s best with a cup of tea? A book. Again, I have too many. Can you have too many?! Being a complete nutcase I like to colour co-ordinate mine, which makes absolutely no sense at all. I can never find anything. But, they look nice and it’s fun to see which books become bedfellows. Here is my yellow, ochre, orange section:

It’s delightfully representative of my reading tastes (and life)! There’s a Barbara Kingsolver (yes!), cookbooks by Jamie Oliver and Gordon Ramsey and an organic baby / kids one by Anni Daulter, The Book Thief by Marcus Zuzak and Anne of Ingleside by LM Montgomery (very much NOT ashamed to have kid / YA lit on my shelf), Ruth Ozeki’s My Year of Meat, Lawrence Hill’s The Book of Negroes, a Resident’s Guide to Vancouver, Sharon Creech’s Love That Dog (you introduced me to that one! Memories!) and a career resource by Daniel Pink, A Whole New Mind.

Tea, books, such happiness…what next? Ah, my desk.

More specifically, The White Space in the middle of my desk. The White Space that was recently covered in all the things now organised in boxes and the filing cabinet. There was no White Space. Now I can actually see my desk. The White Space gives me order in a world of chaos. The White Space makes me feel lighter. The White Space screams of possibilities!

And if I look up from The White Space (as tempting as it is to sit and stare at it all day long) I see this.

I don’t even know what kind of tree it is. I just like it.  Rosellas often perch on the bendy branches, bobbing up and down like brightly coloured Christmas ornaments.

And, in the spirit of Spring, another new something. This, on my fridge:

We recently visited the Aquarium and there was one of those old-fashioned photo booths tucked into a corner. This is my favourite photo of the four on the strip. It’s stuck on the fridge at my eye-level and it makes me smile. It reminds me of our family day at the Aquarium and just how much fun we had. It reminds me that parenting, though hard work, is rewarding and joyful.

Speaking of hard work, now this is what I glance at longingly throughout the day. This couch, this cushion, this spot that has my name written all over it.

Because when 7.20pm rolls around, even if it is just for a moment before dinner / laundry / tidying / writing / organising / blogging / getting up again to soothe the baby, I sit here. Just sit. Take a deep breath. And think of that teacup once again and wonder if I have time for a quick cuppa.

So moving, as it turns out, is not all bad. Thank you, my friend, for inspiring my gratitude,

HUGS, Hannah x