Weekly Gratitude - Expanded!

Considering my current blogging presence, this is most likely my last post this year. So let me make the most of it! Therefore, I'm not expressing my weekly gratitude this time, I'll expand it into the entire year's worth. So, some of the things I've been grateful for this year:

- my family, the immediate and the expanded one, and the fact that we've all reached the end of the year (relatively) healthy
- the fact that oh so many years ago (23!) I found my soulmate and best friend, my husband
- the wonderful period in our lives, seeing our two children grow up from day to day (sometimes they're too smart for their own good, if you ask me...)
- the first half of the year when I had more time to be creative and managed to spend more time on my blog
- the second half of the year which brought many challenging tasks - and they were all mastered with flying colours!
- our new home - I felt cosy and really at home in our house the very first night we slept here
- all of you, again, my dear blogging friends - you allow me to travel the world without actually leaving the house (even though, every now and then, I wouldn't mind having a cup of tea with you in person... in your living room, perhaps...?)
- the fact that my husband & I actually managed to leave the house and flew to London for the weekend back in June; it felt great to be 'home' again
- our lazy and peaceful Christmas, with my two children singing at our local church - so sweet!
- my little girl's first solo performance - goodness me, she was so proud!
- once again, our friends - I'm really looking forward to spending New Year's Eve with them!

P.S.: In case this really is my last post this year - in 2012 I wish you much love and health and happiness and pretty little things to make your hearts sing... and for myself, I sincerely wish to have some more blogging opportunities! See you next year, then!

Weekly Gratitude

This week I'm very much grateful for:

- woolly scarves and mittens and gloves and hats, great for fighting the cold
- our busy, busy lives - we can manage everything as long as we're healthy!
- pretty little things (again) that make our busy lives easier to manage
- my crochet cushion covers, finally finished after several months...
- my darling new little grey coat with bright red buttons (an early birthday present from me to me, found in Bratislava; pictures to follow!)

Weekly Gratitude

Yay, it's Monday again, and this week I'm saying thank you for:

- books (in general)
- languages (English in particular, I absolutely adore it)
- being able to work from home (again)
- the lovely sunny day today, despite the cold
- small mercies, like morning school walks with my girl!

Weekly Gratitude

This week, my dear blogging friends, I'm grateful for:

Picture: source

- you!
- my upcoming meeting with best friend
- celebrating my friend's 40th birthday last Friday (we watched 'Johnny English 2'!)
- my friends' phone calls
- friendly strangers

Weekly Gratitude

On this sunny yet incredibly cold November Monday I'm extremely grateful for:

- the prettiest bird in the world, Bibury, which 'flew in' from Britain last week; thank you so much, Gretel!
- my new favourite brooch, from Britain, of course; thank you so much, Vanessa!
- parties, parties and more parties last weekend; thank you, friends!
- my lovely neighbours, always ready to help; thank you, Marysia!
- any housework I manage to do these days; thank you, Time!

Weekly Gratitude

This week, my friends, I'm grateful for small mercies:

- our first weeks in the house together as a family (today my husband started work again after three months away - summer holiday plus sick-leave - or better put: broken-arms-leave)
- my health (no small mercy, actually)
- our family trip to the capital last Saturday
- lovely weather last weekend, even though only so slightly unusual for the beginning of November
- colourful leaves
- my walk & jog today

Weekly Gratitude & Apology

Right, so, let me express my gratitude first... This week I'm very, very grateful for:

- our family finally living in a house!!!
- our dear, dear friends who helped with our move
- my husband getting much better; his plaster cast came off last week (after nine weeks...) :)
- more translating work, even though it takes up enormous amounts of my time
- my two sweet children on a school break this week
- enjoyable get-togethers with our friends, big and small

And now the apologies... what can I say? As usual in cases like this, life has taken over. I even skipped last week's Gratitude post, that says a lot. First of all, we moved. Finally. We spent our first night in the house on October 19th. We love it here. The flat is not completely empty yet - I'm amazed to see how much one family can stuff into a flat in a decade and a half... And unfortunately, I'm not one of those people who can get rid of things easily. I tend to keep everything. Put on a 'Made in England' sign - or at least 'Bought in Britain' - and it's a keeper! For life!

Anyway, we enjoy living in the house, even though we still partly live out of our boxes, the reason for that being my new translating work. I have no idea why people always come to me with last-minute commissions... Everyone needs their texts translated yesterday, which leaves me with afternoons and evenings behind my computer, typing in word for word and living in the world of the text topic for the following few days. This time, it's the church history of our capital... Amen!

Apart from my Gratitude post, I'm afraid I'm missing another important project this month (I was sooo hoping last month that this would not be the case!) - my Being Creative challenge. I really love this project, but what with the move and the evening translations, there was absolutely no time left for anything creative. Perhaps next month?

I've got a few more pages to go with my translation and then, hopefully, my normal blogging service will resume. I've got so much to show you! I do follow your blogs, though, my dear friends, and enjoy them enourmously. Let's stay in touch!

Weekly Gratitude

On this sunny yet breezy October Monday I'm very much grateful for:

- my little girl and her fabulous sense of style (I wonder where she gets it from...)
- my big boy, still craving cuddles from his Mum (that's me!), but only within the four walls of our flat... :)
- blogging, which has enabled me to follow the incredibly creative crafting of my (mostly Scottish) friends; what's more, I can actually purchase their fabulous products (thank you so much, Alison & Aileen!)
- a very enjoyable party I attended last Saturday night - the reunion of my primary school friends!
- my dear friend from the capital who celebrated her birthday yesterday

Weekly Gratitude

This week, my friends, I'm grateful for:

- my Dad - he's turned seventy today!
- my gorgeous new Scottish treasure box - thank you so much, Aileen!
- sunshine again after some serious winter weather - we had snow last Friday...
- delicious produce from our garden, yummy & healthy
- my very special best friend
- books, in general

Weekly Gratitude

On this unbelievably warm first Monday in October I'm incredibly grateful for:

- my parents, the best grandparents to our boy & girl
- my husband, who has another three weeks to go with his left wrist in plaster cast
- absolutely gorgeous weather in the past few weeks
- hanging out with friends after church on Sundays
- cycling & walking
- kind & encouraging comments from fellow bloggers - yes, you!

Weekly Gratitude

This week, my dear friends, I'm very much grateful for:

- the lovely weekend of birthday celebrations
- our friends & family who attended
- my husband & our wonderful marriage
- the christening of my brother-in-law's sweet little granddaughter
- an unexpected invitation
- my family

Weekly Gratitude

This week, my friends, I'm saying thank you for:

- wellies, coming handy again after weeks of hot summer weather

- cycling with my boy

- crossing things off my to-do list

- finding a little time for myself

- an incredibly enjoyable birthday picnic our family attended last Saturday

- meeting my British friends and having a proper chat

- Agatha Christie, still

Weekly Gratitude

This week I'm thankful for:

Photo: source

- the fact that I work from home, which means I can take care of my children plus my husband with both his arms in plaster cast

- my husband having joined our local choir

- working in the garden

- the abundance of yummy vegetables from said garden

- Agatha Christie's books

Weekly Gratitude

On the first Monday in September I am really, really grateful for:

source:Wikipedia

- my almost finished work project - I have been absolutely too busy to live at the moment (hence my lack of blogging) and I can't wait for this to be over

- the most wonderful tweedy surprise from my blogging friend Alison that came in the post this morning; it couldn't have come at a better time!

- my boy and my girl, back to school after their summer holiday

- pretty little things that bring sunshine into my life; I really need that right now!

- daisies

Weekly Gratitude

This week I'm so very much thankful for:

- my husband getting better every day; plus we get to spend a lot of time together!

- the new roof on our house (we still haven't moved, though)

- S-i-L's 50th birthday party last Saturday - great fun, we got to explore some local caves!

- my health, again

- a phone call from a friend, greatly missed for several months

Weekly Gratitude

This week I'm really, really grateful for:

- our lovely week spent at the seaside, in an absolutely fabulous apartment (room with a view, and oh my, what a view! will keep you posted!), and with absolutely fabulous weather
- lots of cycling
- my husband 'only' suffering a broken wrist and some serious scratches in a cycling accident
- our friend's 40th birthday party last Saturday
- my new followers, yay!

Weekly Gratitude

This week, my lovely readers, I'm very much grateful for:

- friends from abroad, on holiday in Slovenia at the moment
- a long chat with an old friend whom I only get to see once a year (see above) and our children playing together merrily
- our beautiful capital
- cycling, especially all four of us together
- my health

Weekly Gratitude

This week I'm very much grateful for:

- a new baby boy in our circle of friends, born last Saturday.
Congratulations, little A's mummy & daddy, and big brother J!
- my husband & I being godparents to a little girl at her christening in a fortnight.
We feel extremely honoured!
- our friends' little girl's nameday party yesterday afternoon, an enjoyable gathering of friends old (the parents) and young (the children)
- the party which followed the above-mentioned one, celebrating the birth of little A
- the lunch with my husband & our dearest friend in the capital today

Weekly Gratitude

This week I'm saying thank you for:

- Saturday's night out with the girls - it's been a while!
- yesterday's hiking trip with friends
- cycling with my husband & kiddies
- summer sandals
- delicious courgettes from our garden, and lots of them!

Weekly Gratitude

On this extremely wet Monday I'm very much grateful for:

- the weekend spent picnicking & B-B-Qing in the forest, with lots and lots of great friends
- my two children having wonderful playmates all weekend long
- the comfy bunk beds & warm sleeping bags
- our conversations round the open fire
- the fun card games & bowling & darts with friends late at night
- the delicious food we had and particularly for the people who prepared it
- the freshly picked wild strawberries, oh so yummy!
- the hiking round the forest
- our laughing all weekend long