Perhaps I will one day drive a camper van and go on road trips with my family. Maybe I will, at some point in my life, have a golden retriever to walk along the beach, before returning to my coastal cottage for a coffee. Perhaps I will one day achieve the dream of having an actual, published book on the shelves in the shops. Maybe I’ll start that confetti business I thought up, or take that trip to New Zealand, or see Rome again.

Whatever happens in my life – or doesn’t happen, as the case may be – I hope that when I am old, I will still be listing the small things.

Some dreams are just that – dreams – but the small things are always real and joyous. Listing them is like singing a song. It is freedom; it is love; it is healing; it is fullness.

So, to continue as I mean to go on, here are some of my small things, the little joys I am grateful for right now:

• Time by the river. There’s little like it, especially on a hot, sunny day. This week we went down and paddled and spotted fish and looked up at the green all around us. We saw geese with their goslings and a kingfisher flitted by. The sound and coolness of the river soothed us.
• Cooking with the herbs I have grown: tomatoes and basil; potatoes and mint; yoghurt and dill; avocado and coriander…
• The scent of sweet peas.
• Conversations with my children, and trying to hold the quirky, sweet things they say in my mind.
• The scent and sight of hay being baled; running and playing with the children and dog in the field.
• Other people’s kindness and helpfulness.
• Listening to good music, like this Spotify playlist: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/37i9dQZF1DWSkMjlBZAZ07?si=hEq4mN1NQnW69vuVUSDB4Q&pi=48w-8Y6kQEWIm