Delight

Oh yes the smell of washing having been dried outside

Like many of you I enjoy watching the birds in our garden but they are being a bit destructive at the moment. A female blackbird is trying to feed her very large 'baby' who is bigger than she is. He is giving her a hard time and she is frantically going through the soil, uprooting my seedlings in the process.
In another part of the garden we have a large planter full of strawberries and a great tit spends ages pulling out the coir lining. The greenfinches haven't left much for him though!

The view across the water meadows from my window - constantly changing with the seasons, but always breathtaking. The sunsets are responsible for my standing at the window for so long that I smell the dinner burning!

Opening my window, years ago, one dark night and coming face to face with a beautiful owl. He was sitting on the sloping tiled roof, about six inches away, and gazed at me, unafraid. I backed away quietly and rushed to call DH; when we crept back the owl had moved off the roof was a silhouette on next door's TV aerial!

A field of wild flowers, being with friends or family.

All the above - birdsong, hugs & kisses from Grandchildren, the scent of new mown grass etc but my special pleasures are :-

The feeling of warm sun on my face.
Swimming in warm turquoise seawater.
Warm sand between my toes.
The sound of ice cubes clinking in a glass.
The smell of food sizzling on a BBQ.
Listening to street musicians.

yes I know - I need a holiday - what a good job i'm off to Barbados next week!

Aw - I'm delighted for you GrannyMosh, that's wonderful news.

I love seeing toddlers and babies playing and laughing. I have to tear myself away otherwise it looks a bit creepy.
DH and I were recently thrilled to see a kingfisher on the river nearby. Gorgeous.

All of the above.
Great news GrannyMosh, well done you.

Watching a vixen sitting in the middle of our lawn and her 3 cubs frolicking around the garden in the evenings - a regular occurrence. The smell of wisteria and birds singing when I start my paper round at 5.30 in the morning. Bringing in the washing after a nice blowy day in the garden - smelling of fresh air.

My garden springing into life, being with my grandchildren. My cats. Sharing a FaceTime with my friend in Majorca who I only see once a year.

My very tall 14 year old DGS coming in & pretending he can't see me as I am so much shorter than him ( I am 5,7"- he is enormous!)
One of our cats who just adores me & runs to meet me when I get in & then insists on a cuddle before I get my coat off.
Watching the birds on the feeders while I am upstairs ironing. Also watching our cats watching the birds knowing they cannot get near them!
My youngest DGS coming for a kiss when they arrive before being reminded.
So many things!!!!

Any time I see Wisteria growing over the front of a house.

The countryside in May. I have just picked a large handful of Aqualegias from my garden, then walked up the lane to scoop up a handful of cow parsley - we call it Keck in Northants - and together they look absolutely stunning.

Watching a moor-hen teaching her chicks to be careful of canal boats. Seeing a duckling practically run across the surface of the pond to get back to his mummy when he saw my cat. Cat was on the lead, so he wouldn't have been allowed near said duckling.

Decorating the Christmas tree every year.

Praying Regina coeli each year from Easter to Whit instead of the Angelus.

I love to open the bathroom window first thing on a morning and listen to the dawn chorus, beautiful.

Also it is lovely sitting in the garden on a tea time with a cup of tea just listening to the children playing in a nearby garden. Bliss.

I like to just listen to life going on, fabulous.

A cup of coffee any time of day on my balcony overlooking my garden full of flowers at the moment. Later a glass of Baileys in the same spot. Looklng out for my robin and other beautiful birds.
In the Galapagos once I saw a big mummy Sealion lying on her back, with a protective arm across her little baby.
Today I have just been invited to my son's for dinner tonight,
Life is good. May it be so for all our Grans.

I love looking up through the filigree pattern of trees to a blue, blue sky.

Mr Swan is a delight. He comes to the hatch of my boat every day for food. He visits if I am sitting on the riverbank. He will sit for a while next to me. He has become a friend...

The cuddles of my grandchildren, the little twittering birds when I walk the dog in the morning. The baby birds feeding in the garden, blue sky and sunshine, a cup of tea and my knitting. I could bore you for ages.!!!!

Gosh, isn’t it amazing that so many of our “delights” are from nature! No wonder people with depression are encouraged to do gardening, or just get out into a green space. Another of my “delights” is opening a new book- you just don’t get the same effect, the smell, the texture, the feel of a new page, with a kindle.
(Of course, family always comes first in the list, but that goes without saying: I was wondering what other things delighted people. And I really should recommend Hannah Jane Parkinson’s articles, and above all JB Priestly’s book.)

My two small granddaughters racing to be the first into my arms.
The dawn chorus.
A hug from a dear friend, or their voice on the phone.
Being able to share good news like this.. I don't have cancer any more!!

An otter, floating on its back holding something in its little paws or with a baby lying there relaxing.

Quite a few bird-delight moments on here. Here's another. Yesterday, I was standing on a bridge with a friend overlooking a dam. The swallows were swooping round like little kamakaze pilots after flies - they came so close we ducked and then found ourselves laughing in delight.

I went to a concert in my church last night - a Men’s Voice Choir, and then a ladies’ 4-part acapella group. What a whole evening of absolute delight, watching and hearing people singing with such joy, to a really large audience. Came home singing.

Apart from the wondrous joys of family things and my beloved grandchildren I take great delight in light itself. Watching the changing hues of sunrise and sunset, moonrise and the rosy hues of clouds. And the rose gold of the afternoon light through the crimson of the autumnal colours of the ornamental grapevine on the pergola & sunlight through the purple wisteria flowers in spring.

The bright, hard blue white light of the dawn of a blindingly hot Australian summer day or the clear bright light of a sunny autumn day in southern Australia.

And the wonders of the stars camping in the remote Australian outback where the Milky Way is like a river of diamonds across the night sky. Light itself is one of life's great delights.