Oh Happy Day! Reasons to be Cheerful - April 2021

It's been a while since I've shared a Reasons to be Cheerful post. In fact, I just had a look and it was February, so March passed me right by, I don't know if I wasn't feeling grateful or was just feeling busy! Whichever, it doesn't matter, I'm here now and feeling very thankful today.

I'm almost ready for bed as I had a lovely day out today. My husband is still on part-furlough so we headed to Seaford Head and had a walk along the cliffs to the iconic view of the Seven Sisters past the Coastguards Cottages. 

We also walked along the beach and enjoyed a spot of lunch on the seafront. Our drive home was a long one along the cliffs with a stop at Birling Gap for a drink and to enjoy the views. It was lovely weather, quite windy, but still beautiful and we both look like tomatoes now with windburn!

Why Is Laminate Flooring So Popular?

Kara Eads on Unsplash

{This is a collaborative post}

If you are looking for a value floor covering that can give you ample strength, durability and will last a long time, then laminate flooring is a great choice. Laminate floors have been around for decades now, but that doesn’t mean that its popularity has diminished. Laminate floors are still a great reasonably priced option for people who don’t want to spend a lot of money on floors. Here are some very good reasons why people love laminate flooring.

1. It is Cheaper than most other Flooring Materials

This reason is probably one of the main ones which make people gravitate towards laminate flooring. Who doesn’t love a good choice of flooring, which can give you durability and strength but also comes at a great price? It's also really clever how laminate flooring can mimic any other flooring design. This is the beauty of the 3D printer which makes your style and finish of flooring look authentic but is actually laminate.

2. You can Install it Yourself

If you are a handy person who loves to do things yourself, then you will be happy to know that you can install laminate floors quite easily. This is a great project to take over and it takes no time at all to install this kind of flooring. Since laminate floors can be installed as floating floors, it makes the job a lot easier for you, and also takes a lot less time and preparation. All you really need is some good laminate adhesive, a measuring tape and some patience. Once the adhesive is applied, you need to align the planks of laminate against the adhesive in a straight line. Allow the glue to dry for the allocated time and then move on to the next section or room. Job done!

Pick Your Own Fruit at Tibbs Farm, Near Rye, East Sussex

We visited Tibbs Farm in the picturesque Tillingham Valley, just outside Rye for the first time last July and we loved it. Pick Your Own fruit places are such fun. You can have a couple of hours out in the East Sussex sunshine having fun as a family and take home some tasty produce too. We're determined to get along to Tibbs Farm at least a couple of times this year, once restrictions lift. 

Pick Your Own Fruit

Tibbs Farm has been running as a PYO for decades now and you can tell, as their operation is slick. There is great variety in what they grow too. We went there for raspberries last year but keep an eye on their Instagram page that they update regularly and you'll see what is ready for picking and when. Looking at last year the schedule was roughly as follows (but of course each year can be different depending on the weather, rainfall etc) -

• Early June for gooseberries (a whole host of varieties, some of which are sweet enough to eat like a grape) 
• Early to mid-June for strawberries, 
• Quickly followed by tayberries from mid-June
• Loganberries end of June
• Blackcurrants and chillies in mid-July
• Early August for plums

Their picking season opened on 11th June 2020 last year, so I am planning for similar this year and already have a weekend in my diary, so I don't forget!

How I Got Where I am Today: Finding Your Vocation

Thanks to my friend Eva for this image

I was browsing Twitter last week when a tweet from Donna at 'What the Redhead Said' caught my eye. She was responding to a tweet from a random American guy who said it was depressing that our society had failed to provide ambitious role models for our children and then he shared a graphic (which is pretty hilarious when you look at it closely) that apparently shows the top 10 jobs that kids want nowadays.

Put aside the fact that this guy had obviously made the graphic up, or at the very least not checked his sources very well as the jobs add up to nearly 137%, there are very random spelling mistakes and careers like teacher/ athlete are bundled together, what was interesting, was the backlash it had stirred in people, with him receiving over 7.000 responses, including Donna's.

It set me thinking about the job I do nowadays and how I came to this place. If you'd asked 17-year-old Michelle what she would be when she was grown up, it certainly wouldn't be a self-employed stay-at-home mum. The teen Michelle would have told you she was going to be a big success, running an empire, probably a hotel empire and that she wasn't ever going to have kids.  

I disagree. It shows the future and how anyone can carve a career for themselves nowadays.

I left school with no qualifications & am now a self employed blogger earning more than I did as a bank manager AND able to do school runs with the kids.

Even bloggers have ambition. https://t.co/1eduxg23Sp

— Donna Wishart - What the Redhead said (@genuineplacebo) March 22, 2021