What’s making me happy: August

August has turned into quite a month. It started with catch-ups with friends and exploring local parks. It’s ending with working from home and shopping for essentials only. The one week lockdown that was recently announced for regional New South Wales has turned into two and it’s anyone’s guess as to when restrictions will be lifted.

Despite the recent onslaught of statistics and information relating to this latest COVID outbreak on Australian’s eastern seaboard, I’m still finding little joys in the every day. Now more than ever, it feels like that’s important and should be celebrated.

This is what’s been making me smile this month…

THE FIRST HINTS OF SPRING

The temperatures are creeping up, the light’s sticking around more and more into the evening and even though there are still the occasional run of cool, wet days it definitely feels like spring is making an appearance. Blossom is starting to cover bare limbed trees and bulbs are emerging from the ground. This weekend past was warm enough to crack open the windows and let some fresh air flow through the house. There really is something really lovely about that first “airing” -the way it permeates through everything and just lifts some of that heaviness that late winter often induces. I’m not sure if it’s actually been a particularly cold winter, but it has felt like a long season this year and I’m looking forward to the change of scenery.

ISO WALKS

As foreshadowed in the my last post, near daily walks are certainly helping with this latest period in lockdown. There are some cows in a paddock not far from our house, so going to see them has become a bit of a ritual on my meanderings. Paul is particularly fond of watching (and waving!) at the cows and also telling me they go ‘moo’. Given our impending house build, I’ve also started paying a lot more attention to the homes in the neighbourhoods – colour schemes and window designs are the big two at the moment, but I’m also mentally taking note of front gardens and what plants are growing well. Some days the walks are only short, but even getting out for a quick 10 minutes around the block helps break up the time at home.

SUNDAY ROASTS

Most Sundays this month, we’ve had a roast for dinner. Adam and I both adore a roast, but busy schedules these last few months meant we just had prioritised one as part of our weekly menu. Needless to say when Adam prepared that first one a few weeks back and we tucked in, we decided it was something we needed to cook more often – and we have. It’s made Sundays just a little more special and as an added bonus we normally always have leftovers that need to be eaten, which means Monday night’s dinner is taken care of. We’ve been taking out leftover vegetables and meat, dicing them up and then mixing them through mashed potato, which are then formed into patties. We call them our ‘bubble and squeak‘ burgers and often have them with a fried egg. They don’t look anything special, but golly they are tasty.

What’s been making you smile in August?

Have a wonderful week.

M. x