What Made Me Happy in 2025 | Week 10
SPRING is here - and I'm in the garden. An anniversary.
I deeply enjoy giving attention to the good things I encounter throughout the day. They can come in all forms and be of all sorts. They can be inspiring or beautiful, laughing-out-loud funny or just silently stunning, kind, warm or moving, they can provide comfort or new insights.
They are seldom life-changing, but to focus on them day by day can become life-changing.
I’ve chosen JOY as my word for this year and I’d love to share with you what made me happy in the past week.
SPRING is here - and I’m in the garden
When I looked behind our garden shed for the first time this year to store some cut branches etc. from ‘the wilderness’ part of our garden, I was surprised to see that the moss had completely taken over the flagstones. And how varied and beautiful it was! Real landscapes when you look at them close-up, like tiny forests.
Spring is here and I’ve spent hours in the garden. I’ve watched the bees visiting one crocus after another, while some have been feasting on the hazel catkins. I’ve missed the buzzing, what a delightful sound!
At first it was the bees, but I’ve also seen a bumblebee tumbling heavily through the air and a brimstone butterfly.
Summer has given us a preview last weekend, with long hours of sunshine, pleasant warmth (18 °C) and three lovely days. We pulled out our garden chairs and sat on the patio for the first time this year to drink tea and eat our first slice of strawberry cake - always a delight!
In the beginning, I kept wearing too many layers because I just couldn't believe that it could actually be so warm at the start of March - no matter what the thermometer said. But I adapted pretty quickly. T-shirt was enough, especially when I was working in the garden.
However, I wasn’t the only one who couldn’t believe in the summer preview. It was funny to see how differently people were dressed when out and about. On Friday afternoon, when I made my way to the library and back, most people were still wearing hats and winter jackets, others were already wearing shorts and T-shirts.
It’s so beautiful and reassuring to see nature awakening. The unexpected warmth has also helped, and the garden, which had just been in deep hibernation, has exploded with colour and life.
Not only the crocuses, winter aconites and spring snowflakes are blooming, but the first buds and catkins are also appearing on the bushes and trees. Our corkscrew hazel, a favourite with birds and bees, has already thrived. I’ve also spotted the first buds on our hydrangea outside the kitchen window. The lilacs are making a tentative start, too.
At the end of February, we had to cut back a bush at the back of the garden to prevent it from overgrowing the street sign. I took a few sprigs of the Asian meadowsweet and put them in a vase. It is so nice to see the leaves developing. A bit of spring in the house too.
Although the new week has started with heavy mist and ground frost again, I’m planning a visit to the garden centre soon. Here’s what I’d like to look out for: Lawn seed to mend a small patch of bare ground near the hedge where nothing else wants to grow. A bag or two of potting soil. Most importantly though, dahlias and flower seeds of all kinds - let’s see what inspires me there.
It can’t hurt to prepare for the warmer days to come, right?
Our anniversary ❤️
The 4th March is a date that has a special place in my heart because it's our anniversary. My husband and I have been together for an incredible 31 years now (married for 22 years) and we are still very happy.
We were almost 19 years old and were in the same year at school, one year before our Abitur (A-levels). For him it was love at the first conversation, for me love at the first meeting alone a few days later. We knew from the beginning that it was something special, that it was serious, that we belonged together. And we still feel the same way. Choosing each other was the best decision we ever made.
We’ve grown together, we’ve mastered everything life has thrown at us together. We support each other, we’ve never tried to change each other.
We have different interests, but that's what makes it so enriching. We've never run out of topics to talk about. And we agree on the things that really matter.
After just two weeks, a schoolmate asked me, if we were actually STILL together - she (and others) couldn’t unterstand at all what had attracted us to each other in the first place.
So, surprise surprise, yes, we are still together, we still love each other and we are very grateful for every minute we get to spend together every day (and we spend a lot of time together).
Until next time and have a lovely week!
Claudia
Interested in my previous weeks? Read on …
Oh beautiful spring photos!! And so cool to hear you're highschool sweethearts, so are we 😄❤️
Love the photos of the plants especially the moss!
Also the anniversary story was wonderful ❤️