This week's Heyday Friday newsletter is jam-packed with joy

There's a brilliant list of the best little gifts, a place to discover the most fascinating people, a way to make sure you're always in the sunniest spot and a very special seamstress. Enjoy!

Hello!

You know I’m not one to exhort you to buy stuff unnecessarily. And I equally wouldn’t encourage you to needlessly add to the stuff collection of others. But there are occasions when you really want to give a gift to someone outside of the usual birthday and Christmas times.

Maybe friends have invited you over for a meal. Maybe someone has done you a lovely favour, or helped you out with something. Maybe there’s a special teacher or colleague whose wisdom or support you want to thank them for.

What those situations require is a small token of your appreciation. Something thoughtful and ideally useful and/or enjoyable. Sure you could go down the well-trodden route of a bottle of wine or a box of chocolates. Nothing remotely wrong with either, of course. But what if there was a list of other, different, inspiring, clever, unexpected, useful gifts that would be perfect for all those occasions?

Well, there is! It’s this week’s blog and it’s RIGHT HERE. You’re welcome.

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WORDS OF WISDOM

A hug doesn’t feature on the little gift list blog, but this is certainly why it should

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THIS WEEK I’VE BEEN…..WATCHING

I came across 60 Second Docs on Instagram, but they have a YouTube channel and a website so there are plenty of platforms where you can discover these minute-long video gems.

Each one profiles someone who has a particularly fascinating occupation, passion or job. And when they promise that they will tell you about ‘The World’s Most Interesting Characters’ they’re aren’t underselling themselves.

Did you know there was such a thing as a professional cuddler? Or that there’s a baker who only sells biscuits with the faces of celebrities on them? Or that the holder of the Guinness World Record for the longest accurate archery shot - of 310 yards - was born with no arms?

It’s impossible to pick my standouts, because they’re all so different and memorable in their own particular, moving, funny, bonkers, inspiring and yes, unfailingly interesting, ways. Take the 70 year old Ghanan carpenter who makes bespoke coffins in designs which have included a lion and a walkman. The New Zealander who does extreme ironing (that’s exactly what it sounds like - he finds the most extreme places to do ironing). The Hawaiian woman who created surfer swimwear for curvy women like her and is spearheading a body positive surfing movement. And the blind and deaf man from the UK who has made it his goal to travel to every country in the world.

And the best thing of all is that each of these cleverly crafted, marvellously memorable stories only lasts 60 seconds so you can snack on just one or two, or binge watch more, whatever you have time for.

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WHAT’S MADE ME HAPPY THIS WEEK

I don’t think this talented seamstress has featured in a 60 second doc, but she’d certainly be worthy of one. Isn’t what she does just joyful? And so clever.

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GOOD TO KNOW

This might be the most random idea I’ve ever come across, or the most surprisingly useful. I’ll leave it to you to decide.

If you’re heading out on a sunny day and hope to stop off somewhere for a cuppa, a reviving drink or something to eat, you ideally want to be doing that in the warmth of the sunshine rather than the chill of the shade, right? But how to know where the best spot is to find that welcome warmth, or what time of day your chosen cafe is bathed in sunshine, if at all?

Can you believe there’s an app and a website that does exactly that. Who knew! It’s called SunSeekr (shall I get all gramatically grumpy and complain about why its necessary to invent new/wrong ways to spell things? No? Alright then) and it shows you, in real time, the locations of cafés, pubs, and restaurants around you that are currently basking in sunlight.

Like this

You can zoom in and out of the map and click on any of the highlighted establishments to find out more about them.

HERE’S where to find out more. So what do you think? Handy or not so much?

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FRIDAY FUNNY

I know I feature Rosie Made A Thing a lot in this slot. That’s mostly because she’s so dependably hilarious about the absurdities of life. But this week it’s also because she pops up in the gift list blog. Obviously you’ll have to READ IT to find out where and why.

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That’s the lot for now.

Thanks ever so much to all of you who click on the little like heart. Each one is like a little gift to me (see what I did there?) and even better, helps makes Heydays more discoverable for other people rummaging around Substack.

Have a lovely week and see you next time.