finding joy

A few moons ago I took part in my first ever bloggy swap organised by the lovely Anne of My Giant Strawberry in the U S of A. She called it the Handmade Joy swap, and we had two partners one which we received some handmade joy from, and another we sent it to. This post has been sitting around in draft form as I was waiting for Anne to give us the all clear for posting - as one parcel hadn't arrived at its destination.

The swap partner who I received from was Sharon. Look at this beautifully wrapped box that made it's way from Wisconsin to me.

Sharon sent me a beautiful handmade paper box, glass bead jewellery (which Miss L promptly claimed!), and some crochet and patchwork - both handicrafts I'm not au fait with. The parcel arrived the day I was sorting out my first (and possibly last!) patchwork woollen blanket which I posted about here. The patchwork sachets are filled with lavender and flax seed, so I put them in the freezer for 24 hours in case there were any bugs in there. They were lucky to make it through NZ border control. They are now residing in my smalls drawers! Ironically I was going to send one of my lavender hearts but didn't want the parcel opened so didn't include it. I loved the colours of everything, Sharon chose them imagining that I lived on an island paradise (well she is close!)

Now I did take some photos of what I sent to my other swap partner Karen, but can I find them anywhere on my computer .......

Anne has a regular post on her blog about finding joy.  And it makes me think about those small things that you get joy from, especially when the big picture might not be quite panning out as you had anticipated. Here's same random photos of what brings me joy.

family time at the beach (roll on summer!)

where we live, a constantly changing view

Daisy, I love waking up to the reassuring lump on the bed

the rest of our animals (although some time they do cause trouble too!)

And here's something which I saw which made me feel awe inspired. I love watching the full moon rise, and we often get a great view of it. But this short video takes the cake. It was filmed in Wellington, the capital of NZ. Enjoy! (look there's 'joy' in enjoy)