What’s making me happy: September

Well here we are at the three-quarter mark. It’s been a funny old year. At times it’s felt like the ‘before’ with mask-free mingling and interstate holidays, but often, particularly in the last little while, the uncertainty and worry that dominates our COVID era life has been omnipresent.

Still a new season is upon us, and with that brings hope and light. In recent weeks there have been beautiful reunions with friends, great achievements by loved ones and a newfound appreciation of small-talk with strangers.

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

SEASONAL BLOOMS

I’ve had vase after vase of flowers dotted around the house these last few weeks. Some have been gifted, some have been grown here at home and others have been purchased but seeing fresh, colourful flowers as I wander about has filled me with so much joy. Earlier this month a bucketful of hellebores were left at my front door. I adore hellebores – they grew in the garden of the house where Adam and I lived in England and I’ve already got a spot picked out at our new house where I plan to try and grow them. I spent ages arranging my bucket of flowers into a wild display in a huge vase, long stems both reaching upwards and trailing down. This weekend past I bought myself a posie of ranunculus. Their frothy petals remind of tulle skirts. It was only when I got them home, that I realised they matched the outfit I was wearing, right down to nail polish I had on my toes. Twist of fate, or clever florist?!

COVID TESTERS

I’ve had a few COVID tests over the course of the pandemic, but none – up until a test I had this month – had left me particularly anxious for results. I recently learnt that I’d been in the same location, at the same time, of a person who’d later tested positive for COVID. I had a test at the first available opportunity and although I’d been exhibiting no symptoms at all, I was still really nervous about getting my results back. A little over 12 hours after my swab, I was able to access my results through an SMS service. I got the all clear, which was obviously very welcome. It made me really grateful though of all of those working behind the scenes in health at the moment. People, who for the last 18 months have been pulling extra long hours, suiting up in PPE and doing their best to care for the community. They really are heroes.

FANCY EGGS

I seem to go through phases with eggs – I’ll eat them regularly for a weeks at a time, then not crave them for a little while. At the moment though, I’m loving scrambled eggs, with a bit of a twist. My normal method of jazzing up my eggs is to cook them with a little bit of parmesan cheese and fresh parsley. The other morning though, I discovered we were out of parmesan. I took a punt and combined my eggs with some cubed feta, along with tarragon, chives, dill and parsley. Combined with the normal splash of a milk and pinch of salt and pepper, they turned out a treat. I wasn’t winning any competitions with presentation (as evidenced with the picture above!), but with some toasted and buttered farmhouse style bread, I had a delicious meal on the table within minutes. How do you fancy up eggs?

Have a wonderful week.

M. x