Watching the birds on the bird-feeders in the garden. I get a good mix of finches and their colours are great - not up there with tropical parrots or exotic waterfowl but still a joy to see.

I support a British charity called something like ‘Save Our Songbirds’ - £25 a year. It’s money well spent. Also, Sainsburys let you order foods for wildbirds and get them delivered with your groceries so that’s handy - keeps my ‘wild pets’ happy, keeps me happy :-)

It was my birthday a week ago and I got a dozen friends out for a meal, which is nice as we don’t see enough of a couple of them and I’d saved the fact that a friend from London would be there, which was a nice surprise for everyone. Which would be enough to count as something that made me happy.

Then on the Sunday I went to my brother’s for tea and mentioned this as we were eating. When my niece heard that there were two women there (which I felt was a disappointingly low number) she declared that I was “ris”. As an old geezer, I couldn’t possibly use “ris” outside of quotes but this has given me the opportunity to bring it up a few times and it still amuses me.

So two things that made me happy.

Oh, then my birthday gift to myself was a Boba Fett helmet and blaster - it is going to take a long time for that novelty to wear off.

So yeah, good week. Pity I have had the lurgy over the weekend but being “ris” has carried me through.

It was actually sunny over the weekend! I know it’s peak British cliché to talk about the weather, but going outside when it’s not cold and miserable definitely makes you feel good.

I’ve been doing HEMA and learning to fight with a sword and shield is really cool and good exercise. It’s nice to be moving more and doing something nerdy whilst meeting new people. Recently I brought most of my safety kit and I’m hoping to get a sword soon too.