Not your usual Heyday Friday newsletter

A slightly smaller helping of ideas and inspiration than normal this week, but still plenty to be happy about

Hello!

There have been various things going on this week, some lovely (see below), some less so (another story for another time), which have meant that I not only haven’t had a chance to write a blog, but that this is going to be a very truncated newsletter, for which I apologise.

There may not be many (OK, most) of the usual elements you expect to read, but by way of some small compensation, I do have a bumper helping of

WHAT’S MADE ME HAPPY THIS WEEK

for you, starting with a wonderfully memorable encounter I had earlier today.

The older I get, the more firmly committed I become to letting strangers know whenever I admire something about them - their outfit, their hair, their nails, their smile. Each time, the moment has brightened my day as much as I hope it has theirs, but none has had quite the response as when I told a woman on the tube this morning how much I loved the bright pink coat and trousers she was wearing.

Thanking me for the compliment, she insisted I needed to see the shirt she was wearing under the coat because it was equally colourful and “a really unusual design, from Japan.” Handing her newspaper to the man sitting beside her, and her walking stick to me, she proceeded to stand up, shrug off the coat - which she also gave the man to hold ( I assumed they were travelling together, but no) - and to proudly show her, indeed, very fabulous shirt (it had batwing sleeves and a lot of very clever pleating), to not just me, but all the other passengers in the carriage, inviting them to admire it and her. Which they duly, and smilingly, did.

Sitting back down again, she told me her name was Anne and that she was 82 years old. Hearing a slight accent in her voice, I asked her where she was from and she explained that her mother was Swiss, her father was killed in England during the war, that she had been raised in Switzerland and educated in Morocco.

Any further conversation was cut short by the train’s arrival at her stop, but I’m so glad I managed to get a picture of her before that.

Anne can’t have known just how much her reaction meant to me as I headed home from a difficult appointment. Her infectious joy and wonderful, unexpected ebullience were just the tonic I needed, and the perfect reminder of why it’s always worth taking a moment to surprise a stranger with a kind word. You never know how much they will surprise and delight you in return.

Those of you who are regular followers of Heydays (thank you) will know how much I love a beach (I’ve written about some of my favourite seaside spots HERE and, more recently, HERE) and how I get angsty if I go too long without an injection of vitamin sea. So I’m delighted to be able to report that this week saw my first beach visit of 2025. And it was quite the cracker. A huge sweep of a bay made all the more gloriously extensive as the tide was heading out, and all the more magnificent by the picture perfect conditions.

Perched on the edge of the stony shingle, soaking in the vista and the warmth of the sun, I was, if I do say so, rather proud of my first attempt at a stone stack (is that what they’re called?)

although I must confess it wasn’t quite as large as the artfully angled photo suggests.

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GOOD TO KNOW

I’m a big fan of a tortilla as the basis for a quick, easy lunch or snack. My default is to make a tuna salad with mayo and whatever veg/salad bits I have to hand, and then put one tortilla in a frying pan, layer on the tuna, grate some cheese over it, then top it with a second one, turning them over after a few minutes so both tortillas are nicely browned.

Seeing this has added a whole new dimension to my tortilla cooking/eating, so I share it with you in case it does the same for you.

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WORDS OF WISDOM

For anyone who might need them. Now or any time.

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That’s it for this week, I’m afraid.

I very much hope full service will be resumed next week. And that for any of you navigating your way through storms right now, there are calmer waters ahead.