365 Days of Happy – Month 1
As part of my 30 Before 30 challenge, I’m doing a ‘365 Days of Happy’ challenge on Instagram. This means taking a photo everyday showing something happy/positive from that day; sometimes I’ve even taken two. It’s a great way of appreciating the simple things in life, and it’s definitely been needed at times this month as we’ve been experiencing more than our fair share of externally-imposed stress. I’ve now been 29 for a whole month, so here’s the first month of results.
Day 1
I started the challenge on my 29th birthday. We had a family get-together and I chose the restaurant mainly on the basis of the lovely vintage balloon illustrations on the menu!
Day 2
Exploring London, we chanced upon Dr Johnson’s house in a quiet square near Fleet Street.
Day 3
Having completed a day’s work, I spent half an hour unwinding by putting some photographs into my new photo album and catching up on The Archers.
Day 4
Lee and I flew to Kemble on the sunniest, warmest day of the year so far and enjoyed a ‘life is good’ moment having lunch in the sun.
Day 5
I had to pop into town for something or other, and it was another lovely sunny day so I snapped this photo of the Royal Shakespeare Theatre down by the river.
Day 6
Another sunny day, this time spent walking future guide dog Flash on the streets of Leamington.
Day 7
It rained on Day 7, which meant that my Tiger Moth flight had to be rescheduled. Instead, I stayed in and baked chocolate brownies.
Day 8
I love chopping vegetables, and this colourful assortment for Chicken Paprika looked wonderful as it waited to go into the slow cooker.
Day 9
Lunch with my grandparents. Seen here, a chilled glass of Sauvignan Blanc and a chat with my Nan.
Day 10
A slow start to a working day, reading Oliver Twist in bed. I’ve since finished it, so another one to tick off my book challenge!
Day 11
Another thing on my 30 Before 30 challenge is teaching myself to draw. I’ve now started working through a learn to draw book with the help of this gorgeous set of artist’s pencils that my brother gave me for my birthday.
Day 12
We had a flying club curry in the evening, which gave me a rare opportunity to wear my favourite pair of heels.
Day 13
I went into Oxford for my audition for the ITV quiz show The Chase, which took place at the Randolph Hotel. It was a really hard audition with lots to do (including talking about myself on camera for two whole minutes!), but it was successful and I’ve been shortlisted to be on the show! It’s not a guarantee I’ll get on, but it means they like me enough to put me forward to be on it. It’s a big step towards completing another 30 Before 30 challenge (apply to be on another TV quiz show). Watch this space!
Afterwards, I celebrated by meeting up with my sister for rhubarb bellinis at the Ashmolean Dining Room!
Day 14 – Part 1
Two happy things today, so I had to do two photos. The first is of the awesome solar eclipse.
Day 14 – Part 2
Look what arrived in the post – my Pilot’s Licence! It’s official!!
Day 15
Though a Saturday, it was a working day for me, but I took a break at midday to go to the airfield to see the Vulcan doing some high-speed taxi runs on the runway. An awesome sight, but even better, an awesome sound – as you can hear in my video of it!
Day 16
Baking chocolate chip cookies. Here’s the recipe!
Day 17
Stocking up on vegetables at the local farm shop.
Day 18
My first flight in a vintage biplane! We flew down to Gloucester Airport in Wilhelm and I went for a flight in this 1930s Stampe SV4. More about this here.
Day 19
For Lee’s birthday I got him tickets to see Derren Brown, and the date finally arrived. The show was fantastic, but I haven’t blogged about it because Derren told us to keep it all a secret! The clock in the background was projected onto the wall and was counting down the minutes until the start of the show.
Day 20
Keeping this little sleeping beauty company. This is little Trinity.
Day 21
Dinner with the in-laws at our favourite country pub.
Day 22
An evening with the Royal Shakespeare Company – Death of a Salesman at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre. Cracking performances from Sir Antony Sher and Dame Harriet Walter.
Day 23
Sunday roast to cheer ourselves up on a wet and windy day when everything seemed to be going wrong.
Day 24
We had a brief Northern trip to visit my grandparents. En route we stopped in Durham to admire the views of the cathedral.
Day 25
Crossing back over the Tyne Bridge on our way home from Newcastle after a lovely day with my grandparents.
Day 26
A successful meeting with a lovely new client down in Oxford.
Day 27
The winds finally calmed down, so I was able to step out into the garden to enjoy the flowers that are adding a splash of colour.
Day 28
My Easter craft project for Good Friday.
Day 29
A wonderfully relaxing day that started at Daylesford Organic Farm Shop, continued over lunch at a nearby country pub, then on to Chastleton House, where this photo was taken. After that we finished the day at the Rollright Stones.
Day 30
Happy Easter!
Day 31
A gorgeous sunny day and the trees/bushes in our garden are covered with shoots!
