There's a royal guest appearance in your Heyday Friday newsletter

Find out who, and discover some first lady wisdom, an unusual request, a second-time round recommendation and some invaluable packing hacks in this weeks newsletter

Hello!

Starting off this week by casually mentioning that where I go…

.….others apparently follow.

And if you can’t quite make out who that is following in my footsteps just days after, here she is closer up

Yup. None other than the Princess of Wales, who paid a visit to the wonderful new V&A East Storehouse which I wrote about in LAST WEEK’S BLOG.

If you fancy having a look at the Prince and Princess’s official Instagram page you’ll find a rather lovely video of her time there, and learn a bit more about the fantastic work they do and all the amazing items housed there, from the experts themselves.

(Talking about footsteps, I couldn’t help but be a bit concerned when I saw the Princess’s choice of footwear. Those incredibly skinny stiletto heels. On that metal grill floor, full of heel-trapping holes. I’m surprised her team - who would surely have done a thorough recce ahead of her visit - didn’t advise her to wear something with a chunkier heel. Anyway, it all seemed to go without incident, so I should probably stop turning into everyones mother.)

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Would love to be telling you about this week’s blog at this point, but life has well and truly elbowed its way into the day I set aside to write it and this newsletter (that’d be today), to the extent that I’m starting this - which for obvious reasons I always write after the blog is done - at the time I’d usually be finishing it. So frankly, it’s going to be quite enough of an achievement to have it completed in time for it to be winging its way to your inbox, never mind a blog as well.

What that means, though, is that it gives me the chance to ask you to play a part in the blog when I do write it next week (which I promise I will). Because rather than ask you to comment and add to it once its written, it would delight me more than I can say if you could make a contribution to it that I can include in the finished article.

The blog is going to be all about creating one of these

But not one full of once-in-a-lifetime experiences or goals. The sort of big dream achievements you hope to tick off before you die. No, this is an everyday bucket list. A collection of scaled-down, but no less satisfying, enjoyable, rewarding moments that give everyday life joy, meaning and purpose.

I’ve been thinking about the things that I want to include on my list and I’d really, really love to know what yours are. Unusually, I’m going to ask you not to let me know what they are in the comments, because that way everyone else will see them before the blog is written. Rather, can you please send me yours by email. Thank you and I look forward to making the list a truly inclusive Heydays one!

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WORDS OF WISDOM

If you’re in need of a bit of bucket list style inspiration, here’s some courtesy of former First Lady of the United States, Eleanor Roosevelt

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THIS WEEK I’VE BEEN……WATCHING

I raved about the first series of this marvellously entertaining BBC drama about the Brink’s Mat robbery - one of the largest and most notorious in British history, when, in 1983, an unsuspecting gang of thieves broke into the Brink’s Mat warehouse in Heathrow expecting to find £3m in cash and instead stumbled on a staggering £26m in gold bullion and diamonds - and the determined police team who attempted to track down the villains and their huge haul, only eventually succeeding in recovering half of it. And now I can do the same about the second one.

I’ve only seen two of the six episodes so far, but already I’m throughly enjoying watching the remaining members of the, now understandably wearier team, still headed, two years down the line, by doggedly resolute Det Supt Brian Boyce, impeccably played once again by Hugh Bonneville, who is fast losing the support of his superiors and still scrabbling to work out what has happened to the rest of the loot. The difference this time is that as none of the rest of the gold has ever been recovered, this series is based on both real events and theories as to where it might be.

Just as in the first series, some of the characters are real and some are invented. And just as in the first series the comprehensively terrific performances (one of the new characters, an egotistical bent lawyer, played with screen-chewing relish by Joshua McGuire, is especially enjoyable), wonderfully recreated period settings, and great script all combine with the added attraction of various far-flung locations, to make this British drama at its top-notch best.

You can see this series of The Gold, and the first one, on BBC iPlayer

And watch the trailer HERE

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GOOD TO KNOW

With it being summer holiday season here in the UK, I wonder how many of these useful packing hacks you use. I always pack clothes and shoes this way, and I’ve shared the necklace in a straw hack with you in the past (didn’t know about the cling film one. I’ll be giving that a try). I neither have pierced ears or indeed wear earrings at all, so that one doesn’t apply for me. What do you think about it if you do? Have learnt from sorry, and messy experience about the toiletries one but haven’t tried the perfume trick or the tracker. Do/would you do those?

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WHAT’S MADE ME HAPPY THIS WEEK

Can’t apologise that this slot features my little garden again, because whilst the bulk of my beloved hydrangeas are busy gathering themselves to burst into bloom, two glorious floral treats have preceded their appearance.

First is the first peony to have burst into full, fabulous blousy-ness since I had the garden re-planted three years ago. Last year I had a single flower head which never opened. This year I have two - one still resolutely shut, the other currently looking like this

Isn’t that just divine?

Then there’s this exquisitely exuberant sweet mock-orange climber, (also known as English dogwood. Thanks to my trusty Picture This app for all that info) which is growing around my shed. Sadly its to one side of the house which means I can’t see it when I’m looking out at the garden, but it never fails to make me grin with delight each time I catch sight of it, or when I’m sitting in the garden looking back at the house and the side passage where its growing with such magnificent exuberance.

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FRIDAY FUNNY

Another from my rabbit-hole collection of hilarious signs. This surely has to be one of the best health and safety signs ever.

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That’s all for this week. Relieved to have got this finished marginally before my bedtime and, thanks to it being just over a week before the longest day of the year, while its still light.

If you’re here in the UK, enjoy these lovely long evenings. And if you’re not, thank you for being a far-flung Heydays reader. I find it genuinely thrilling that there are people reading this little missive around the world.

Sending you all, here or far, a little like heart of appreciation each. If you feel like reciprocating, please do!

See you next time