10 Places on Earth I am Grateful for…

My second post for the Gratitude Project…see here for original post. I considered the places that I am grateful for.
I’ve chosen places that evoke powerful memories for me or that mean something particular, though coming from a modest background means I don’t have any foreign travel stories…that will have to wait ’till the children have left home and Vince and I can travel! So my Places are all home grown!

1. This is Hove, or rather Hove actually… I was born in what is now apparently called Brighton and Hove, but I still differentiate between the two. I took this picture just after sunset one evening sitting with one of my best mates on a stone groyne beside The West Pier, or what was left of it! My favourite places are beside the sea. This picture, even shows the power station at Shoreham in the far distance, a chimney jutting up on the horizon…where my husband proposed to me!

Hove Beach © Lisa Shambrook

2. This brings me to Brighton…I miss Brighton terribly! I love the diversity and vibrance of the town I frequented as a teen and love going back. It helps that it’s on the seafront, I used to work in Brighton’s council offices, and my desk was beside the window looking out upon the ocean. Yes, I was a daydreamer when I wasn’t working…staring out at the sun twinkling on the sea! This picture brings back waves of memories…

Scan of a card bought in Brighton, unsure of artist – Brighton Promenade

Just along the coast is Rottingdean…and this is my favourite photograph, taken on one of those glorious days when the sky allowed rays of sunshine to burst through as we climbed across the rocks and pools…

Rottingdean © Lisa Shambrook

3. Butlins always brings a smile to my face…many childhood holidays spent in the pool, funfair, shows and on the monorail (which is now sadly defunct). Minehead was the destination most years…and we’ve enjoyed a couple of lovely holidays there in the last few years with my own family! (That’s me in the blue costume).

Butlins Minehead in the eighties © Lisa Shambrook

The Stiperstones © Lisa Shambrook

At the foot of the Stiperstones © Lisa Shambrook

4. When I was young I loved reading Malcolm Saville’s ‘Lone Pine Five’ books, many of them were set in Shropshire…and I developed a love of the countryside he described, so much so that I desperately wanted to visit The Stiperstones. I wanted to see the ‘Devil’s Chair’.
I remember a trip up to Chester zoo a few years ago with the children and on the way home, following the map, I saw The Stiperstones just off on a little detour…not so little, but we got to the car park and set off, ignoring the ominous clouds brewing above. A long walk across the heather and grass and we finally made it to the rocks! It was late, about 9pm, and suddenly the heavens opened…we grabbed hands and ran, racing down the hillside dodging stones and dips in the grass. We got back to the car drenched to the skin, but laughing our heads off! The children remember the visit to the zoo, but it’s the adventure up to the Devil’s Chair that they remember most!

5. Talking of Devils…the next place is Devil’s Dyke in Brighton. Many, many memories over the years. Kissing in the moonlight, playing pool in the pub, breaking up, first romantic dinner out in the new restaurant, walks across the green hills, adventure, love, and an anniversary dinner just a year or two ago…

Saddlescombe Hill, Devil’s Dyke © Lisa Shambrook

6. Petit Bot Bay in Guernsey… I went on holiday with my friend, then a year later was spending my honeymoon there…obviously full of memories!

Petit Bot Bay, Guernsey © Lisa Shambrook

7. As I’ve said I love the ocean…and holidays in West Wales turned out with us living up here. A childhood holiday found Aberieddy, and years later I took my daughter there to swim in the gorgeous green water one hot summer day! Swimming in a sea-fed pool 82 feet deep, felt surreal and wonderful. People also dive off the ruined building on the far side of the lagoon…couldn’t bring myself to do that!

Aberieddy, Pembrokeshire © Lisa Shambrook

Edinburgh © Lisa Shambrook

Edinburgh © Lisa Shambrook

8. Edinburgh is in my opinion the most beautiful city in the United Kingdom. We took the children on a mystery tour…waking them at 5am, driving to Cardiff airport, giving them their first aeroplane ride and watching them trying to guess which destination we were flying to… We were in Edinburgh before we knew it and adored it! I loved the Writer’s museum and marvelled at the pavements outside. This was just beyond the Royal Mile in a quiet back square…and we discovered paving slabs covered in quotes and poetry…I loved reading them!

9. I love Welsh legend and lore, and the sculpture of Llewellyn up in Llandovery amazes me…anywhere with a castle and some history and I’m happy!

Llewellyn, Llandovery © Lisa Shambrook

10. My final place…is my home. Carmarthen has been my home now for eighteen and a half years. It is right in the middle of some gorgeous countryside…I’m close to beaches and the ocean, to mountains, to rivers and reservoirs, to castles…and waterfalls and woodlands…you name it, it’s here! We went up in a helicopter a few years ago and looked down on our house and got amazing pics of the town where we live. Just behind my home is a narrow forest of pine, opposite is the hospital (just in the right side of pic) and just to the north of the picture is a river that runs beside an old steam railway. My favourite dog walk is by the river, unfortunately they are planning to reopen the disused railway line…(you can see the railway in my banner at the top of my blog) so we can’t walk right by the river anymore.

Carmarthen © Lisa Shambrook

So these are  my favourite places, the places in this world which I am most grateful for, or where I am most happy to be!

10 Material Possessions I am Grateful For…

My first post for the Gratitude Project… see here for original post. I decided to think about the things I own…

You know when you’re a child writing your Christmas list? The list goes on and on…(my kids scour the ‘Argos’ catalogue and as far as I can see then copy it out word for word!). As you get older the list generally gets shorter (and more expensive, but we won’t go there…). When I was a child I wanted books, drawing pads and pens…still do actually, but my adult list began to include laptop, Kindle, phone etc, these latter items are better included in a later post about modern-day inventions that I’m grateful for…so I thought I’d think about other (less expensive) things in my life that mean something to me.

1. The best birthday gift I ever received was a much longed for item…a leather jacket. I could never afford a leather jacket, until I discovered ebay! My beloved Joe Browns leather jacket was a present that I adored from the moment I slipped it on and felt like it was part of me! A £125 jacket for £50, I wore it to death, the one pictured is an identical replacement for a few pounds more, but ebay again. I wear it every day throughout the year and miss it in the Summer when it’s too hot for a jacket! It’s the gift that has given me the best value ever!

2. I also like a good pair of leather boots, and have found amazing bargains for under £10 in charity shops, once I find a pair I love, like the jacket, I live in them…

3. Next is my most expensive possession…my European style Bracelet. I bought a cheap Pandora imitation bracelet and then got addicted to collecting the beads, silver and murano glass. I was happy with the cheap beads and bracelet until I bought a couple SRA beads and fell in love… I eventually bought my own Trollbeads bracelet and filled it with a mixture of beads that each represented something in my life. You can read the post about my bracelet and each bead here.

4. Most of my jewellery is inexpensive, my fascination with dragons is evident in my broach and dragon’s tail necklace…lots of wear and love. My cat earrings always make me happy, cats clinging to my ears! It’s also clear that I favour silver and am keen on filigree. My second favourite present this Christmas (second to my Kindle) was a cheap filigree heart necklace and earrings, I’m easy to please!

5. Let’s talk about my watch. I’ve worn one since I was about eight and cannot not wear one (sorry for the double negative)…I wear it on what is considered by most of my family, the wrong wrist…or the right one quite literally! My current one is radio controlled so, I’m never late (or at least can never blame my watch). I’m very OCD about my watch…

6. I’m OCD about my diary too…been keeping one since I was fourteen…yes, every day. A big diary to begin with which has shrunk over the years to a little notebook diary instead, after all I blog and journal the important bits!

7. Pens, yes I still love pens, and my favourites are Uni Pin Fine Line (from Mitsubushi, Hmmm thought they did Motorbikes?) and I only use sizes 0.2, 0.5 and 0.8. Wrote my first trilogy with a 0.5 in Pukka Pads…

8. I treated myself to the furry hat just after my birthday last year…I struggle to spend money, I can talk myself out of anything, but my daughter saw that I loved it and wouldn’t let me put it back… thank you! I love that the tassels are different.

9. I’m not big on perfume, and have pretty much exclusively only ever bought The Body Shop scents. My favourite scent is Jasmine, nothing better than the wafting fragrance of white jasmine flowers… another blogpost on my favourite scents here. I love ‘Neroli Jasmin’ and ‘Love etc’…beautiful.

10. My final favourite possession (the chocolate pictured will have to go under food I’m grateful for…) are my Scrapbook albums. Memories are so potent and important…and collecting them creates magic… I love photography and capturing a moment creates an imprint that will last forever in my memory! I have three albums and I love making scrapbook pages…I love remembering…

So these are my 10 material possessions, the ones I am truly grateful for…

Gratitude Project…

We’ve all heard of: ‘Counting Your Blessings’, but did you know that literally counting your blessings increases your emotional health and well being?

‘Researchers had a group of students write for twenty minutes each day about things they were grateful for, a second about things they were angry about, and a third about random topics like the color of their shoes. Guess which group was happiest at the end of the experiment? The ones who wrote about things they were grateful for. Even more interesting is that those who wrote about the things they were grateful for were less likely to be sick throughout the semester.’
(Chad M. Burton and Laura King, ‘The health benefits of writing about intensely positive experiences.’ Journal of Research in Personality 38, no 2 (2004): 150-63)


I continued reading the article that quoted this experiment and found a challenge:

Write a list of 100 things you are thankful for…

100 things seems a lot, I’m sure I could find one hundred things…but it might take a while, and little thinking! The article helped by offering a solution…write ten lists of ten things for different categories…this looked so much easier!

• Write 10 living people you are grateful for.
• Write 10 people who have died you are grateful for.
• Write 10 physical attributes you are grateful for.
• Write 10 material possessions you are grateful for.
• Write 10 things about nature you are grateful for. 
• Write 10 things about today you are grateful for.
• Write 10 places on earth you are grateful for.
• Write 10 modern-day inventions you are grateful for.
• Write 10 foods you are grateful for.
• Write 10 things about your faith you are grateful for.

So…my plan…is to write my list of one hundred, but in the categories listed…Call it a New Year Resolution (I don’t make many of those) if you like…but I hope that while compiling my list of gratefulness I will find that I’ve barely scratched the surface of all the things that I’m thankful for…

Care to join me?