Well June appears to be a month of food and flowers for me. I also went on holiday and actually left these shores for the first time since the pandemic; but man am I happy to be home and have my creature comforts!

Reading back on my gratitude journal I realise that I love ice cream and will eat it at any given moment. This month I have been grateful for more than one thing on most days.

Perhaps I am compensating for long and arduous work days and wanting to find the good in life before heading to bed, as I write in my gratitude journal just before sleep each night. Or maybe I am now at the stage where I can find joy and gratitude in even the most mundane of things?

Whatever the reason, it has made June’s gratitude journal a little longer:

1 Grateful for the hubby for having interesting conversations and discussing our past selves from back in the day. Grateful to be able to share insights and thoughts and grateful that the hubby listens too.

2 Grateful for biscuits, as I was finishing the last of my birthday biscuits. Grateful for the hubby, as we have been chatting about lots of work and life issues, it’s good to have a sounding board.

3 Grateful for sunshine and flowers, roses are blooming at the moment and practically everywhere on the dog walks lately – such lovely colours. Grateful for a wealth of knowledge out there helping me plan and organise my life.

4 Grateful for a Chinese drama I’m watching at the moment which is highlighting supporting people through their past traumas. Grateful for shopping and a bit of retail therapy, which I haven’t done in absolutely ages. Grateful for Artemis, sleeping on me this evening and being absolutely adorable.

5 Grateful for flowers, as lots of roses and rose-looking flowers are blooming on my morning dog walk. Grateful for biscuits tins, which I am now reusing as tea tins to hold all the various teas we drink.

6 Grateful for Artemis who was adorable on our walk today and performing lots of tricks. Grateful for my past training and experiences at work, which I didn’t know at the time, helped shape the person I am today.

7 Grateful for our neighbour who has been kindly looking after Artemis these past few months and has funnily introduced her cat to our dog. Grateful for ice cream Wednesdays coming back at work now that summer is, supposedly, round the corner. Grateful for updates on our company and industry via an insightful “town hall”.

8 Grateful for open roads and a little less traffic today, meaning my commute was much shorter which was great. Grateful for being appreciated at work, highlighting that they know I’ve been burning the midnight oil and working hard.

9 Grateful for dentists, even though I used to absolutely detest going to the dentist, today in my dentist appointment I almost fell asleep I was so relaxed and not scared! I think it helped that music was playing so that was drowning out the drilling noises.

10 Grateful for the house being slightly energy inefficient, as there’s a heatwave this weekend yet inside the house is cooler than outside! Grateful for time management and productivity tools, as I’m able to plan the next month and feel accomplished.

11 Grateful for insightful conversations, as I had a catch up with a few friends talking about life, work, relationships, and birth. Grateful to be able to have open dialogue and have a safe space to share things. Grateful to have decent organisation and productivity tools that I’m actually following and not feeling too overwhelmed using.

12 Grateful for the hubby, listening to me vent and get things off my chest. Grateful to feel safe and heard and grateful that I’m able to share whatever’s on my mind.

13 Grateful for couple dog walks, as the hubby and I had a little walk with Artemis this evening which we don’t really manage to do. Grateful for portable AC, as it’s been really warm lately and the house has been cooking. Grateful for some breeze coming in through the windows this evening, helping to cool down the house a little.

14 Grateful for work today, providing pizza for lunch and a cool ice cream-making event with sprinkles and fruit and chocolates – all really tasty stuff. I missed out on a Japanese flower arranging event but the flowers looked really nice.

15 Grateful for new lanes en route to work, reducing congestion and now having driven these roads I wonder why it was never changed to this before – it’s ingenious! Grateful for Artemis, who was snoozing on me this evening and being absolutely adorable.

16 Grateful for lists and checklists, ensuring nothing is missed. Grateful for the hubby, advising me to let things go and chill. Grateful for Artemis who was sleeping on me this evening – she was so adorable.

17 Grateful for AC, keeping me cool today, as it is super warm. Grateful for juice, as it’s so thirst quenching on summer days like these. Grateful for Chinese dramas, as I am hooked on one and it’s actually quite enlightening.

18 Grateful for creating memories today and being reminded of old memories. We visited Victor Hugo’s apartments in Paris and it reminded me of when we visited his house in Guernsey – the writer definitely had a particular sense of style.

19 Grateful for an impromptu day today. We had planned to go one place yet ended up going somewhere else as we were told to exit the Metro and it turned out pretty good. I guess this is life telling me that sometimes it’s absolutely fine to go with the flow and see where things take you.

20 Grateful for flowers today, seeing lots of bright and beautiful flowers and trees, I suppose being more in nature too and hearing birds chirping away. It’s good to get away and practise staying present and appreciating the now.

21 Grateful for antihistamines and cica balm helping with allergies and soothing my body. Grateful for ice cream keeping me cool on a hot sunny day.

22 Grateful for art today, as we visited a couple of museums that showcased Monet and my all time favourite painter Van Gogh. Ah, such beautiful paintings.

23 Grateful for supermarkets today, offering lots of tasty sweet treats. Grateful for weddings, as a friend is wedding planning at the moment. Grateful for holidays and having something to plan and look forward to.

24 Grateful for Artemis today, as we picked her up after our little break. Grateful for the person who cared for Artemis while we were away. Grateful for home and creature comforts too.

25 Grateful for rest and sleep today, as I had a very long lie in this morning. Grateful for fresh towels and clean bedding, grateful for Artemis being adorable, and grateful for hot cross buns.

26 Grateful for cameras on my car, helping me park in tight spots. Grateful for Artemis who is absolutely adorable and a really loud snorer. Grateful for calendars and One note helping me time block tasks so I remain focused. Grateful for being home and grateful for creature comforts, as I realise that I cannot live out of a suitcase for longer than a week.

27 Grateful for biscuits today, I’ve been dunking them in my tea and they are super tasty, and also I feel I haven’t eaten biscuits in absolutely ages.

28 Grateful for family dog walks, as we had a nice long evening walk with Artemis. Grateful for work and the culture at work, as there was a social event that had lots of good food and drink and company, and I learnt lots about the past and future of the company. Also grateful for mini golf, which was great fun today.

29 Grateful for Milka today, brought back some sweet treats from holiday and they were so very tasty – especially Milka mini bites.

30 Grateful for sleep, I had the smallest lie in this morning but it was so good. Grateful for Travel Man, Richard Ayoade is absolutely hilarious. And grateful for white choc chip biscuits.