50 (country living) things that make me happy
As you’d know by now, I love a good list, and I also love talking about how much happier I think I am since we moved to the country three years ago.
So when a good friend asked me to take part in a “50 things that make me happy” challenge, I couldn’t resist having a crack at it, with a living in the country spin of course.
As I compiled my list, I realised a few things:
- Just thinking about the stuff that makes me happy made me feel happy.
- If I’d made this list living in the city, it would have been very different.
- (Spoiler alert): the things that now make me happy are intrinsically linked to the environment I live in and its simplicity.
- It’s probably a good to regularly stop and think about the things that make us happy to ensure we keep consciously doing those things.
So in no particular order, here are 50 things that make me happy:
- Waking up to the sound of magpies singing almost every morning
- Sharing the fantastic spot we now live in with family and friends
- Taking 6-year-old kelpie Zac for daily walks exploring our 100 acres
- Taking 17-year-old kelpie Zilla on daily strolls to the bush chocolate shop (aka the spot where the wombats like to poo & something that makes dogs happy!)
- Ending each day with a spectacular sunset show
- Driving a tractor for hours, slashing paddocks and contemplating everything or nothing
- Learning a new (hobby) farming skill
- Mastering things that scare me like chainsawing
- Falling into a deep sleep at night after a day of hard physical work
- Enjoying the smell of rain after a long hot Summers day
- Eating and sharing our home-grown cherries, plums, apples, lemons and limes
- Cooking meals using our own or locally grown ingredients
- Eating fresh farm eggs for breakfast
- Being able to wear gumboots almost everywhere
- Being able to dress down almost every day
- Experiencing each season physically as it passes
- Being able to see starry skies almost every night
- Enjoying the soundlessness of clear winter nights
- Creating towering piles of firewood before Autumn rolls around
- Enjoying bonfires and beers as the weather gets cooler
- Sitting in front of the indoor wood fire when it’s super cold outside
- Having fresh native flowers on the kitchen bench
- Smelling the crisp scent of eucalyptus trees in the air
- Visiting local growers and makers markets for great produce and wares
- Spotting the first signs of wattle blossoms announcing Spring’s arrival
- Enjoying a good book in the hammock under the pine trees
- Taking a good old nanna nap in that same hammock
- Enjoying fresh honey from our beekeeping neighbour
- Seeing our neighbour’s bees enjoying our veggie garden and lavender patch
- Taking in the incredible mountain view from our new house site
- Ticking tasks off the ‘farm jobs’ list
- Ticking tasks off the list of things to do for our new, mostly off the grid home
- Watching thunderstorms roll in over our mountain range
- Savouring our (rare) snow days and the chance to go outside and act like kids
- Having full water tanks and dams
- Paddling about in our little river when it’s running
- Starting the day on the balcony with a good coffee and a view
- Being able to work from home full time
- Getting momentarily distracted by the antics of the cheeky wood ducks, king parrots and rosellas outside my office window
- Finishing work for the day and realising it’s still early because I don’t have a commute to contend with
- Discovering new podcasts for my occasional, but long, car trips
- Pulling onto the dirt road that leads to home after those long car trips
- Checking out what the neighbour’s cute alpacas are up to
- Discovering new wildlife around our property
- Seeing newly born gambolling lambs in the paddocks around us
- Seeing turtles sunbaking lazily on our dam wall
- Watching the kangaroo mobs on our hillside, and the journey the joeys take from mum’s pouch to outside world
- Hosting our nieces and nephews for unique school holidays adventures
- Taking photos that (almost!) capture what life is like where we live now
- Sharing my stories about tree changing and adjusting to life in the country!
What makes you happy? I’d love to see your list!
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