Every Brilliant Thing

Rosa_Damascena

I was lucky enough to see the wonderful Lenny Henry in Every Brilliant Thing this month (other actors are available) and it made me think about things in life that are genuinely to be appreciated. I don't wish to replicate the 5 OS pleasures in your day today - part 3 thread which will of course have some elements of repetition within its 25k+ posts - but ask that we limit ourselves to a single thing that truly brings us happiness for little or no cost and broadly detail whether there has been any investment to get us there.

#1 - drinking my morning mug of tea at the perfect temperature starts my day in the best way. (Investment: kettle, 500ml mug, teabag and milk. No need for a spoon as I like to leave the teabag in situ - that is about as uncouth as I am prepared to get).

bouicca21

Oh @Rosa_Damascena you disappoint me. Teabags!? My 2 cups of tea in bed in the morning set me up for the day - properly brewed in a teapot, no teabags in mugs for me!  I think it was a tenner for the little teapot, the mug was a present, and I can’t be bothered to do the maths on how much a teaspoon of loose leaf tea costs. Ditto the cost of the slice of lemon that I have instead of milk.

otb666

I really enjoy my breakfasts now I am in no hurry.  I also enjoy afternoon orange juice as gives me a sugar rush to recharge my batteries. 

kimwp

Someone else cooking for me.

annieb64

Now we are retired DH and I take it in turns to make the morning tea. We still wake up fairly early, the cockerell on the nearby allotments makes sure of that and DH has to take his first dose of medicine at 7.

We use leaf tea in a pot and I really enjoy reading in bed while drinking my two cups of tea.

Gem-gem

A hug with my husband. 

Rosa_Damascena

#2 - tea in bed (teapot, mug, loose leaf tea and slice of lemon) 
#3 - slow breakfasts (expensive, if it comes at the price of a lifetime in the workplace)
#4 - the sugar rush and afternoon orange juice brings (a few pence / price of an orange)
#5 - being cooked for instead of being the cook (comes with the risk of being served a meal that is not quite up to standard but requires swallowing along with any temptation to offer constructive feedback if it is to be a repeated event)
#6 - loved one making the tea every other morning (give and take)
#7 - reading in bed (books aren't going to break the bank, especially if borrowed from a library / purchased from a chazzer)
#8 - a hug with a spouse (priceless!)

@bouicca21 - I did admit to this unsophisticated habit, no one would ever guess if they were to clock me on the street 

#9 - 3 loads of washing dancing it's way to dryness in the breeze in my back garden (thanks to my 60m rotary line I don't have to dry my laundry indoors which I absolutely loathe. Cost around £80 but worth every penny!)

Rosa_Damascena

#10 - the seasonal fruits of summer, particularly when sold at reasonable prices
#11 - the generosity of others in sharing their harvest (free);

maman

I enjoy an upgrade on #6.

Since we retired DH and I have what he likes to call a 'division of labour'. This applies to household things in general but specific to #6-

DH makes me breakfast in bed every day so I get a leisurely start to the day. 

I make dinner every evening. 

For lunch, we do our own thing.

I think I do well out of the arrangement as we almost never go out for breakfast but do for dinner. 🤣

PollyWollyDoodle

Getting into a newly made bed with fresh sheets.    I think if I ever became incredibly rich I’d have clean sheets every day, dried out of doors if possible.  

BridgetTheCat

My cat courieing into my oxter and laying her head on my shoulder as we go to sleep at night. Yes I suppose there was the donation to the RSPCA to get her and the ongoing cost of food and insurance, but her payback in terms of companionship, affection and laughter is beyond measure.