My list of Favourite Things

I think I have done it. Here it is, my list of favourite things. It's *really* long and very precious, I feel like I'm revealing a big piece of my insides. Thank you so much, all of you who had a go at this too, you helped to unblock my blockage! And I loved reading about you. I love your lists! Some things that you wrote down I already had on my list in exactly the same words, others helped prompt me of similar things.Thanks for really understanding the angle I was getting at on this too, it's a broad topic but you got it just as I meant.








When it comes to good things in life, there is of course a lot missing. I haven't listed all of the best memories. I haven't really listed people, or food, or music, or overseas places, or things I may never experience again - though a few slipped through. There are too many, and too much, and also I want this list to remind me of why it's good to be alive now, not of what I am missing out on. I've just now remembered the white camellia that grows over our back fence (see above), and I keep thinking of skiing - something from another lifetime that I love love loved but it's hardly me now is it?! So I think I have come to the right place to stop (though of course reserve the right to continue adding...).

If you haven't given this a try, can I encourage you to carry a pen and paper round with you over the next few days and note down your favourite things? It'll do you good.



My favourite things :


Hydrangeas and peonies

Water glasses

Morning sun in the bedroom

Maps
(& navigating, and 3d models of places, and the view of the land from an aeroplane)

The stationery aisle, anywhere

White ceramics

The smooth top in a newly opened jar of spread

Nice old chairs

The smell of Daphne

A hot flannel on my face

Friends who care and are there

Music, and the places it take you 

Point Jerningham

Taking photos

A tidy house (well, mine)

Kittens

Rhododendrons

Khandallah Pool

Reuben's smile

The sound of an aeroplane landing (from the inside)

Choosing exactly the right thing on the menu

The sparrows on Lambton Quay at dusk

Thyme

Fin pants (no longer in my wardrobe but always in my heart)

Washing hanging in the sunshine and breeze

Discovering new places that are tucked away just behind familiar places

A baby sleeping in my arms

A piping hot shower at night

Baking (the verb)

Magnolia and cherry blossoms

Sage green

Night driving

Pukeiti rain

Old cream bottles

The cello

Vespas

Being called "Mamma"

Harvesting vegetables

Wooden window frames

Books so good you live in them and they in you

The hill at Makara

Whipped cream (and everything it goes with)

Friends with whom there is just too much to talk about

Esther's kisses

The Pauatahanui hills and inlet

Tongue and groove panelling

The feelings and memories that come with the change of season

Cold roast chicken. Straight from the fridge. No cutlery.

The sizzle on the water after the breaking of the waves at Waitarere

The top of Mt Kaukau

Kiss-on-the-cheek greetings

Words that, when combined, create beauty