Ten

I give thanks for people who can draw stories, whose artwork tells you detailed tales with so much skill it looks simple. I give thanks last night I finally got round to watching the enchanting Ethel and Ernest before the download expired - made me cry and laugh especially the delicious irony when Mr & Mrs Briggs were disappointed when their son Raymond wanted to go to art school because there was no money in it and he'd never get a job!

When I wanted to go to art school a GP told me I'd end up 'starving in a garret'! I give thanks it's never been quite that bad...though to be fair, though I'm undeniably creative, I'm not much talented artistically. Unlike my cousin Adam. I give thanks for receiving my copy of his fascinating book 55 Earth Years and 25 Homes  - a richly illustrated chronicle of the places he's lived.

I give thanks for sleeping long and well and cosily though in much need of more rest today...and after an unavoidably energetic morning for being able to give in to my body's demands for moving as little as possible to keep the pain levels down. I give thanks for part of the energy expended being used finishing the curtain extensions to the extent that they could be hung up by Cathy's husband Colin who she volunteered to put up the new pole.  He also put up some coat hooks and my skinny wall cupboard that is back in a hall again after being in bathroom for some years. It was in several halls before that but started out in a bathroom twenty odd years ago. I give thanks for choosing (and building from flatpack) this exceedingly useful bit of kit! I think it may be rewarded with a coat of paint later this year...

I give thanks for the sun streaming in those big windows and warming me up. For phone apps to find out about the ships I see on the horizon. And I give thanks for my friend Pat who before she died sent me the very well chosen gift of a beanbag to hold a laptop or tablet at just the right angle on your knees or the sofa beside you if you're lying down...or a book you want to photograph without getting up!