Wonderful Wednesday #130

{Living the dream!  If only i was joking...}
I sat down to tip-tap this weeks' #wonderfulwednesday out and i actually feel a little bit overwhelmed that I'm on number 130!!!  That's a heck-of-a-lot of happy no?  It's a little bit crazy to think that i've sat, just as i am doing right now; and collected the very best parts of my week and shared them with you all.  Along the way I've also collected some #wonderfulwednesday chums too!  Which is even more ker-azzeeey!  That's something to celebrate in itself - I'm not sure I'm usually the sort of gal to inspire others!  Well unless it's regarding porridge recipes or what to buy in Anthropologie.  I'm trying so hard not to fill a huge and whopping online basket from there lately - their house-y things are my favourite!

I'm slipping off 'piste' as per!  This week so far has been glorious!  I've been lucky enough to be off work siiiiince......last Friday?  It was more than needed i can tell you.  I love to be an extra busy bee but i find it so hard to stop.  I cram in so much to my days {hello completing two things off your to-do list and adding three more} that i end most days feeling ready for nothing but food and sleep!  This week has been mildly productive.  Mildly since i have 'pottered' and 'faffed' {two of my favourite things!} rather a lot BUT i've also finally found some living-room curtains, sorted out an outfit for an up and coming wedding and had a good old Spring Summer clean!  I've also dried a lot of washing on our washing line.  I think our neighbours might be starting to think it's some kind of second business.....now there's a thought....  But wait! We're here to chit-chat about what else has been great this week and not any kind of career-shaped change!

1.  Beyonce.  But i mean old Beyonce.  Sorry if you're a super-duper die-hard 'Bey can do wrong' sort of fan but truth is, a couple of years ago I'd be right up there with you.  The last eighteen months though..?  Gal gone right down hill.  This week {and right now as i type..} i've been loving singing and shaking my little bottom around our house to some good old-fashioned Beyonce classics.  I might have careered way back when to a little DC too...{that's Destiny's Child to anyone who wonders...}.  

2.  Crumpets.  So i created a bit of a breakfast-shaped hysteria on Instagram with Monday's {and as it happens, every day this week} breakfast:  Sourdough crumpets.  Courtesy of non other than, of course M&S.  Called 'The Ultimate Crumpets' we've been hooked on the devils for some time now.  We can often be found slathering them in marmalade for Sunday breakfast, piling them high with scrambled eggs for lunch or naughtily spread generously with Nutella if the fancy takes us.  This week i've been spreading mine with Meridian Peanut and Coconut butter {- can i just say i never ever thought that any peanut butter could beat their organic crunchy.  However this  stuff is the bees knees thank you please!} and piling them high with sliced banana.  A true breakfast of champions if ever there was one!

3.  Mornings.  So before we moved, if i was off the Mr would often start later.  He only worked moments away and round the corner {sometimes a little bit too handy if you ask me...} but now he has to make more of an effort {and a ten minute car journey} at a reasonable time or risk paying roughly a million pounds for parking in a bin {i exaggerate} it's meant my mornings have {even though i have been off work} started a lot earlier than they usually would have.  But mornings have always been my thing and I'm loving getting jobs done much earlier and my earlier morning visits to the park on those two wheels.  It's meant everywhere has been so much quieter and more peaceful.  I'm not a hermit or an old lady i promise....

4.  Swallow watching.  I like to sit and watch the birds.  Oh wait what was i saying about not being an old lady...?!?!?  I can usually be found sat cross-legged in front of our french doors watching the starlings.  There's something quite calming about it don't you think?!  My early morning park jaunts have meant a little bit of sneaky swallow watching!  They might be my favourite to watch:  All swishes and swoops and loop-the-loops close to the ground and right up, up up and away into the sky and so faraway that they look like little dots!  There's something quite lovely about it all if you ask me.  

5.  Pesto-in.  Is there a greater invention than Pesto?!  Lately it's been thrown into anything and everything imaginable which actually is a great achievement in itself given that only a few months ago i remember the Mr telling me that he didn't like Pesto.  Ho, ho, ho....There's some kind of small satisfaction in bringing someone else round to your way of thinking.  Usually done with such subtlety like 'Yes but haven't tried it the way that I make it' etc etc.  It's been used to snazz-up a 'what's left in the fridge before food shop Tuesday' sort of veg-roasting marathon.  I stirred it thought once everything was suitably charred and crispy {hello crispy roasted pointed peppers!} and added a great big handful of left-over 'past it's best' spinach for extra 'green-ness' and gave it a jolly good stir up and it was/still is, YUM.  It's also been enjoyed on pizza instead of passata and I'm actually kind of wondering if it would work spread on toasted crumpets before they're scattered with white cheddar and grilled....?!  OR ON HALLOUMI!!!!!!!  I am getting far too excited by this Pesto-malarkey....

6.  Actual CD's.  I know remember those little devils?!?  When we moved i discovered a whole box of CD's that had barely seen the light of day since i don't know when! It's so easy {and great!} to be able to get music so freely and easily nowadays but equally there's something so lovely about looking back over old CD's.  They sort of map out the musical journey you took...somehow...?!  I'm currently burning a couple into my I Tunes library as we speak.  I cannot remember the last time i did that....

7.  Getting an un-expected 20% off a beautiful candle i debated even actually buying because a) i don't actually need it and b) you know, I've got no wardrobe still sooooo....  Turns out i should read what this bloody 'Sparks' card i've got does at some point instead of just swipe, swipe swipin' it through each time i sneak in for those crumpets!!!!

8.  Peppermint tea.  I never even touched herbal tea when i was growing up.   We drank good old Yorkshire Tea with milk and one sugar and i thought i was being all crazy and adventurous when i discovered Earl Gray during my uni days. That's right folks, i must have been the only student who discovered Earl Grey at uni and not.....oh i don't know Red Bull or something equally grotty.  Now i couldn't get through a day without both Peppermint and Camomile tea.  If I'm off work i always drink Peppermint tea in the afternoon, it's such an energizing, easy-drinking and comforting tea whilst also having added tummy-fixing benefits to boot!  And i rarely scamper up the 'Apples and Pears' without my favourite floral mug of camomile and honey.  It's also a great way to up the old hydration when it gets cooler or if you get a little bored of just sipping on plain H2o.  I might just check myself into a little granny flat before it's too late......
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And that's it folks!  What's been making your week hip-happy?! What are you excited for this weekend?!  Do tell!  If this damn fine list of happy isn't enough for you, cartwheel on over to Kate, Michelle, Jo, Cat, Kate, Helen Sam aaand new recruit Kerri's {hello, how do you do, welcome aboard!} blogs to sneak a peek at what's been making them giddy as a kipper this week so far.  Don't forget to share and join in on social media too, just make sure you're using the #wonderfulwednesday tag so we can all see!