Blog hop: Gratitude

Through several blogs that I follow, I found this fabulous blog post from Liz who started a blog hop guaranteed to put a smile on everyone's face. She writes: In an effort to introduce a bit of positivity and happiness amidst uncertain times, I thought I would share some of my gratitude items here in the hopes that our lovely little community of bloggers will echo back with some of their own. It's been awhile since a blog hop has gone around, but perhaps our little group can come up with a suite of them in the coming weeks to ease us through these unknown times?

I have so much to be grateful for at the moment. In no particular order, I'm grateful that:

1. My horses are at home - having seen so many yards go into lockdown and not allowing owners to come and even look at their horses, I am so conscious of the fact that I am very lucky to have mine at home. I don't know how I'd cope without them. On Tuesday the only time I actually laughed out loud that entire day was when I was riding Vallu, so if I didn't have that I don't quite know what I'd do. I really feel for those who can’t see their horses or ride at this horrid time - it’s horrible to even think about.

2. My family and friends are still safe and healthy. I have several friends who are nurses, paramedics  and other GP support workers, and family who are doctors who are all spread around Europe and so far everyone is doing okay. Nothing would be greater if we all made it through this pandemic without having to lose someone.

3. The weather! After 6 months of nothing but rain, wind and storms for the last two weeks we've had GLORIOUS sunshine and one day I even managed to ride in just a t-shirt 💛 I know we've gone back to cooler weather and my fluffy hat has made a return too, but it was amazing to have some sunshine and that my paddocks have started drying!

4. Spotify. Because finding new music and artists, my favourite playlists and podcasts help me to feel like I'm not alone and make sure that I have something else to think about than just constant news updated about infection rates.

5. Living in the middle of nowhere. I mean it's not literally nowhere, but it is pretty much deep in the countryside, with only a few neighbours around (all of them farmers who are currently working so hard to make sure there's enough produce to keep the country going - I'm so proud of them all!) I'm really grateful for its benefits - it definitely makes social distancing easier & I feel pretty safe here 🏡

6. SOCIAL MEDIA although it has got a pretty bad rep, it's kept me in touch with my friends and family all around the world. I don't know how I'd be able to keep in touch with everyone if this was happening in 2005!

7. Streaming services. Netflix, Amazon Prime, Now TV are my top 3. I'm happy for all of them right now, when there is nothing new to watch on actual telly 📺 I've become slightly addicted to the Chicago PD/Med/Fire series and binged the first seasons of all of them during last weekend.

8. My garden aka my happy place! All the flowers and trees are starting to bloom, we can plant new flowers and start to grow veggies now thanks to spring properly arriving and the weather warming up 🌱🌷

So what about you? Will you share with me a list of what you're grateful for during these unprecedented times? I'd love to hear about what's making you happy right now.