Celebrating new friends

I feel as though I haven't paused for breath this week, because it's all been a bit full on. Nevertheless, I'm happy to take a break now to celebrate the small things.

I met some lovely new people last night when I ventured out to a different ukulele group. I'd met the host before, but only in passing and she turned out to be a wonderful lady: full of life and interested in everything and everyone. She welcomed us into her home with tea and cake, so I knew it was going to be a good evening. Among the new friends I made was a woman who not only makes medieval clothes, but also wields a longbow. As if that wasn't interesting enough, she has been the women's longbow distance world record holder! Another was a family support officer, specialising in children with ADHD. Honestly, you never know who's around the corner.

Elsewhere, I'm celebrating the safe return of number one son from (yet another) stag weekend in  Amsterdam and the triumph of number two son's performance with his music-teacher colleagues at the grand switch-on of Kettering's Christmas lights. 

There's also been sadness, though, with the funeral on Monday of an old school friend. I was acutely aware on Tuesday that while it was business as usual for me, for his wife, who I've also known since school, things will never be the same. So as last week, I celebrating my simple life. 

Celebrate the Small Things  is a blog hop. Visit Lexa's Blog for the rules, and then post every Friday about something you're grateful  for that week. Originated by VikLit) and co-hosted by L.G. Keltner @ Writing Off The Edge and Tonja Drecker @ Kidbits Blog.