100 Happy Days: Day 39 - "I Like It Spooky"

This is part of a collection of items that is currently on one of the shelves in my room. Ah, so much clichéd spookiness crammed into one photograph, haha. Still, I don't really care, because to me, spookiness and happiness are always a well-matched couple...unlike the pair in the photo above! 

100 Happy Days: Day 38 - Baking with The Princess

Today I assisted a The Princess with baking bread. (Well, I say "assisted", but truthfully my only contribution was scoring the diagonal lines before baking!) Teehee.

100 Happy Days: Day 37 - Aromatic Dragons

The smell produced by the oils in this burner are quite divine, and it looks beautiful to boot! I really like the way that the tea light shines through the circle of glass in the middle, illuminating the room with a gentle, crimson glow.

100 Happy Days: Day 36 - The Playful Countess

This made me smile. No explanation necessary!

100 Happy Days: Day 35 - Dinner for Three

More simple things for the 35th day of my 100 Happy Days; the fact that I am fortunate enough to to have fresh fruit and vegetables for dinner on most days, and that they look so vibrant and colourful against the pale chopping board.

100 Happy Days: Day 34 - Splendid, Salacious Speed-Paint Sketch

My dear friend, The Aubergine Princess, completed this gorgeous sketch in around half an hour, and my Happy Day was made by being the first person to see it when it was completed! The picture above is a photo of my screen, but I've included the original below, just to display it properly.

Untitled by The Aubergine Princess

100 Happy Days: Day 33 - A Cabinet of Curiosities

A Cabinet of Curiosities: The Little Book of Awe & Wonder, by Dr Matthew McFall, was sent to me as a gift by a friend (Kei from Doing A Thing and Unfortunately Oh!). It is a delightful book filled with interesting & seemingly arbitrary facts, puzzles, pictures and more! I spent a while looking through it and contemplating the contents in the garden very early this morning (around 5am). I thought it was only right to choose the pages to post here, at random...

100 Happy Days: Day 32 - Banana Leaf Monster

This strange creature was spotted, outside of its usual habitat, in the nontropical garden of a house in the UK. In other words, this is a huge banana plant that stands in my garden. It often resembles a monster, looming silently overhead, and it casts particularly ominous shadows over the windowpanes at night.

100 Happy Days: Day 31 - The Tiny Vampire Cat

Count Dracula Bernard von Snowpaws - pictured above in my garden - is a rather small, but ever so lovely cat, whom I took in as a stray kitten around 5 years ago, along with his brother Count Nosferatu Alexander von Snowpaws (I know, I know, there is no "Count Nosferatu", but that is what I named him, and adding the Orlock part just made it much too long!). Dracula the cat was called after his namesake due to his habit of affectionately (gently) biting people when he's happy.

100 Happy Days: Day 30 - Mysterious Clam Stickers

For the 30th day of my 100 Happy Days, I took a picture of a mysterious little clam that had been stuck randomly to a table by someone. It's quite adorable, in an odd sort of way!

100 Happy Days: Day 29 - The First Orchid Bloom

The first orchid of the year began to bloom in a vibrant shade of cerise purple today; it is beautiful!

100 Happy Days: Day 28 - Halloween Tea

Although I took photographs for each day, I haven't updated with my 100 Happy Days posts for a little while, so there will be a few backdated entries today. Having green tea in a Halloween-themed mug is always a pleasant way to begin the day!

100 Happy Days: Day 27 - Drawing

Today marks three weeks of my 100 Happy Days...journey, shall we say? Drawing is something that can always lift my mood and calm me down. Using pencil, pen, charcoal, graphite, chalk, pastel, tablet drawing, etc. are all equally as enjoyable, though, of course, I am better at using some mediums than others! 

100 Happy Days: Day 26 - Snapshot Serengeti

Participating in Snapshot Serengeti and the other Zooniverse projects makes me happy!

100 Happy Days: Day 25 - Cooking

Today's photo is of the vegan "cheese", vegetable & pasta bake that I cooked for dinner (it seems like a huge dish in the picture but, for a size reference, it served 3 people). Of course, this isn't the most exciting photo from my 100 Happy Days, but I was pleased that it turned out well.

100 Happy Days: Day 24 - Sunset on Dartmoor

Today's 100 Happy Days photo is one I took during the twilight hours tonight, at a location near Haytor, Dartmoor. There was intermittent rain and sunshine, which created a dramatic skyscape of dark rain clouds & an orange sunset, with brilliant sunshine & blue sky above. The whole of Dartmoor is such a spectacularly stunning area and I adore it! The people I went with and I took the photos below a little earlier in the evening (I'm the one in the black brocade coat and red tights, just in case you were wondering):

100 Happy Days: Day 23 - Painting Mutant Steampunk Rats

For today's 100 Happy Days post I decided to share a snapshot of myself helping to paint my friend's Warhammer Skaven (mutated, human-sized rats who use Steampunk-esque technology) models with a base coat. It was fairly simple, as I was just required to paint the figure black, but it allowed me to join in with a hobby of my friend, which was fun! He will later add much more detail to each one, so perhaps I'll post another photo of the completed army when he's finished.

100 Happy Days: Day 22 - Canoeing by Moonlight

This evening I went on a wonderful canoe trip as part of a a group organised by Winding River Canoe. When we first set out, it was still light and we paddled up the river for about an hour, taking in the wildlife and gorgeous natural environment along the way. We then went ashore and collected wood for the campfire, around which we ate soup and listened to music & stories.

It soon got dark and we paddled back along the river by moonlight, watching bats swoop down to the river to drink and catch insects. It was a fantastic experience! I didn't take many photos, because I was quite busy with other things, so for today's 100 Happy Days picture, above is the moon in all its dazzling beauty.

100 Happy Days: Day 21 - Hunky Punky Chocolate Booja-Booja

Day 21 of 100 Happy Days - that's three weeks! So today's photograph features the simple pleasure that is Booja-Booja's Hunky Punky Chocolate vegan "ice cream", which a friend bought for me earlier today. Delicious!

100 Happy Days: Day 20 - Marazion & St. Michael's Mount

For the 20th day of my 100 Happy Days I took a trip to St. Michael's Mount in Marazion, Cornwall. It was a gloriously calm and bright day, which transformed the water into a sparkling blanket of turquoise. When the tide is out, a path that runs all the way to the island appears and it's possible to walk across. However, the tide was in when I arrived and so the only option was to travel there by boat. I was rather glad that this was the case though, as it made the whole experience feel more like a holiday - haha!

100 Happy Days: Day 19 - Mechanical Cliff Carts & Rock Pool Beaches

On the 19th day of my 100 Happy Days I went to the Babbacombe Cliff Railway and the surrounding bay / beaches below and spent the evening walking coastal paths, listening to the gentle lap of waves and distant whir of cable mechanisms. The funicular railway runs up and down a cliff side towards Babbacombe Bay, Torquay, enclosed by the Babbacombe and Oddicombe Beaches. It first opened in 1926, but has undergone several refurbishments since then, the last of which was in 2007. I didn't take a camera with me, as it was something of an impromptu visit, but the photo above is a postcard from a shop on the beachfront.

100 Happy Days: Day 18 - The Last Lion

Percival

The first time I traveled across the Channel to France was via Dover, aboard a ferry. I spent most of the journey above deck, sitting with friends and watching the last portions of land leave sight before being replaced with a deep, turquoise blue. Below deck there was a cinema, restaurant, resting facilities, and various small shops and, on a wander around this lower floor, I happened upon a solitary little lion, sitting alone in a box that was clearly once full of other toys. His head was slumped downwards, his bow was crooked, and he looked thoroughly depressed. So I bought him, named him Percival, and he returned home with me after my trip. As you can see from today's photo, he continues to live here, but he looks much happier now - quite fitting for the 100 Happy Days really!

100 Happy Days: Day 17 - Music

Today, the topic for my 100 Happy Days is music; more specifically, music that I enjoy. The photo above is of part of the playlist that I was listening to today. Sadly, aural loveliness doesn't necessarily equal an aesthetically pleasing list of titles, so day number 17 appears rather dull. On the other hand, it sounded wonderful!

100 Happy Days: Day 16 - Stargazing

A little star globe & the Moon

16 days into my 100 Happy Days and I've decided to post about stargazing. Space has always intrigued me, but it was only around 5 years ago that I started reading books on the subject, using a telescope and star charts, as well as taking an interest in scientific studies etc. However, my limited knowledge of both astrophysics and astronomy mean that I can't claim to be anything more than a novice stargazer with a hobby. Still, it makes me happy and I'm glad that there are people in the world, much more knowledgeable than I am, dedicating their lives to studying the Universe. It's unlikely that I'll ever reach that level of commitment and understanding, but I can try! 

100 Happy Days: Day 15 - Posing Goats

For the 15th day of 100 Happy Days, I have once again returned to goats! As I peered over a clifftop on Exmoor, overlooking the sea, this darling was staring back at me quizzically. There were also goat kids leaping about here and there, and so I kept my distance (thus avoiding the wrath of angry goat mothers/fathers!). Still, my caprid model was very co-operative, even pausing to pose for me now and then! I included another photograph below, just to show exactly where he/she was.

100 Happy Days: 14 - Handmade Gifts from Friends

Polkadot Terror & Pepe Monstar

Two weeks of my 100 Happy Days have zoomed past already, which means that there are only 86 glorious days to go! Today's photo features two creepy cute Monstars named Polkadot Terror and Pepe Monstar. They were given to me as presents by a friend (Kei from Unfortunately Oh! & Doing A Thing) who handcrafted these lovely little devils.

Over the years, Kei has made various gorgeous items for me - from hats & necklaces to toys & cards - though, of course, that's not the only reason to call someone a friend. However, if you do happen to be lucky enough to know people who have both the ability and willingness to spend time imagining and materialising small wonders for you, then the least you can do is show your appreciation! It really is wonderful to have such creative friends☆

100 Happy Days: Day 13 - Flambert the Flame Goat

To those who know me well, it is no secret that I adore goats. When other children would beg for puppies and kittens, I spent a large part of my young days wishing for a goat (and yet, I only have feline masters now! Haha). Caprids are beautiful; from their pointed horns and rectangular pupils to the effortless way in which they scale sheer cliff faces with their "reverse-joint" legs! Due to this interest - and following a rather nonsensical conversation - my friend drew a sketch of a goat character for me, and named him Flambert the Flame Goat. Continuing our silly discussion, my friend brought Flambert to life for me, as he explained how Flambert came to be where and who he is, and told short stories about Flambert's adventures. Marvelous!

Day 13 of 100 Happy Days, complete! 

100 Happy Days: 12 - Horror Necklaces

Today's 100 Happy Days post features two of my favourite necklaces, and alludes to a great love of mine: classic horror! The first is an eyeball being held by a skeletal hand and the other features Max Schreck as Count Orlok in Nosferatu, eine Symphonie des Grauens. I've had them both for absolutely ages and don't even remember when/where I got them anymore, but they always make me smile!

100 Happy Days: 11 - Miss Ivy's Revival

Day 11 of the 100 Happy Days! Last weekend I attended the vintage-themed fair, Miss Ivy's Revival. The event was held over 2 days (May 31st & June 1st) at Cockington Court & Country Park and featured music, stalls, performers, workshops, displays, children's activities and many other delightfully retro happenings. The whole affair was warm & pleasant - both the weather & the staff - and it was a marvelously fun time! Although I didn't take any photos of the event itself, I did remember to snap a photo of the entry sticker that I was given on arrival. I very much hope that they bring more events like this to my locale soon!

100 Happy Days: 10 - Fashion-Forward Pigeons

The Fancier Pigeon

This fashion-forward pigeon was perched atop the tallest tree in my garden, basking radiantly in the light of avian trendsetting. Soon, all the dandy birds will be wearing their feathers this way, but just remember: he did it first!

Day 10 of 100 Happy Days.