2024 - What's made you happy today?

Its 2024 - time to be happy.

Quite happy that Kato and I woke up this 2024 morning and we are both still alive!  Here's to many more mornings like this!

Seeing dolphins and porpoises in the sound of mull from the road. On our way home from our shopping trip.

I've won a competition. A £50 voucher to spend at Growtanical. Haven't got it yet so not counting too many chickens.

I ordered some second hand books last week, to be delivered today. Its always exciting when your expecting a parcel and today was no different.
Ping!! in my Inbox " Royal Mail have delivered your parcel" complete with photo of the parcel outside a door. Problem was, it was not my door, nor did I recognise the door as my neighbours'.
The photo showed the bottom of a brown, wooden door that may have been one of a pair of doors. There was a black doormat sitting on a cement floor and that was it. How to find it? I took the Google car for a drive down the road, stopping outside houses with wooden doors but none of them looked right. Its not helped by people having new doors or painting them so I couldn't be positive about any of them.
Next I took a closer look at any houses whose numbers could be confused with mine (152). I tried 132, 52 but no luck there.
In desperation I posted the photo on the local FB Neighbourhood Watch Group and someone suggested a house uphill from me - 156, as that has a wooden door. Now 156 is the largest house here, surrounded by trees and  its set at an angle to the road so that you can't see the front door without going into the garden. I never walk past it as to go uphill, I cross the road and take a footpath through the woods. On the rare occasion when I've been to the house, I use the back entrance.
Anyway, I took a stroll up the hill, and there was my parcel, sitting on the steps! I was so relieved and happy.
It turned out that the man who suggested that house is the local EVRI delivery driver - no wonder he recognised the front door.
What makes me really happy. 8 books to read and another one still on order.

Got our bread maker out of storage. I’ve missed it so much. I was determined not to get too comfortable in our temporary accommodation and get lots of our things out of storage. Just couldn’t cope with c@rpy expensive bread any longer. Our first loaf is being made as I type. It’s very exciting. Tea will definitely be bread based.

Got our bread maker out of storage. I’ve missed it so much. I was determined not to get too comfortable in our temporary accommodation and get lots of our things out of storage. Just couldn’t cope with c@rpy expensive bread any longer. Our first loaf is being made as I type. It’s very exciting. Tea will definitely be bread based.

The only downfall with breadmaking is the amount of hot bread and butter we eat. Nonetheless we love our multiseeded wholemeal loaves. The only bought one that touches it is the Lidl Low GI loaf.

Got up this morning and there were over 100 onion seedlings geminated in one seed tray and a few more in 2 others. I'm not expecting any in the sweet spanish as they didn't germinate last year but I sowed about 500 just in case. So I have some up-to-date and bedford so far but still hoping the sturon come up soon as they did well last year. All 3 varieties are really good keepers.

Also looked outside and no storm damage and 100s of snowdrops now peeping through.

Playing with my bread maker. It’s like a new toy after being in storage for so long. Making my very first brioche.

Playing with my bread maker. It’s like a new toy after being in storage for so long. Making my very first brioche.

How did the brioche turn out. Was is as soft as the bought sort?