Sitting in the beautiful garden by the River Wye in the Peak District UK on our regular sit. Archie the cocker spaniel sat with me taking it all in.
A glorious fresh and sunny morning watching the heron, grey wagtails, dipper, wrens and kingfishers. Yesterday evening a hare hopped down the drive. Makes you glad to be alive 
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Your words conjure up a such picture of blissful tranquility, thank you @Twitcher … Could you share, as we have no sun north of the border. 
Watching Milo, the tortoise who we are currently looking after on a sit, tucking in to his strawberries for breakfast. They are his favourite!
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He is so adorable … I’m curious @Samox24 does he have a set routine … feed times, bed time, tortoise walkies? (I jest)
I’m really interested, I had one when I was very small which my parents looked after rather than me and my memory about his care is not THAT good
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@Angela_L He has his set breakfast of strawberries , cucumber and lettuce, he is quite a picky eater 
, but we try to mix this up a bit and experiment with other foods he might like, (with the owners permission of course!).
Milo loves to be out and about exploring, he’s also quite quick really and he loves it when it’s hot and sunny but he’s not a fan of cold, wet or windy conditions.
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When you first arrive at a sit, the little ones are checking you out, wondering who these strangers are, who’ve entered their space. Once they’ve accepted you and the trust has been established…that very first time you hear a purr, and they begin to close their eyes and allow you to give them a proper cuddle….that brings joy!!! 
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Awwww! They’re so cute and look like they’d be fun to cuddle!
Are the animals following you now Mrs. Sam Doodle?
Excellent! Keep on with your good work.
What brought me joy today?
Firstly I have to share what an incredibly stressful day it’s been, not necessarily for me but for someone I care deeply about.
I live in a very small cul-de-sac … if you’re not sure what that is it’s a dead end road with homes (naturally) I have lived here for 2+ years.
The 5 homes are all new and we’ve each moved in over 2 years, the newest neighbors at Christmas. We all like each other, actually it’s more than that we care for each other … our ages range from mid 70’ to a couple in their 30’s, we socialize together but don’t live in one another’s pockets … we are a community.
My immediate next door neighbor is 75 and lives alone. We’ve been through losing Shuggy her 13 year old Cockerpoo and the challenges of getting a puppy in later life, they are a lot of work as we know. She works like a demon and has made a garden out of nothing … a very LARGE garden, the lots are HUGE and she’s done it all by herself while helping everyone else with her incredible knowledge, gardening is her passion.
She loves her home, it is her sanctuary, her safe place, her pride and joy. Well today she nearly lost it all.
Tired from a trip she had returned from this morning she put some oil in a pan … left her home to deliver eggs to the neighbors forgetting the pan … it caught fire and so did the extractor fan unit.
Fortunately we heard the alarm, she raced in covered the pan and removed it to the garden but the fire had already started, another neighbor called the Fire Service who luckily were the local depot who arrived in 7 mins … another 10 mins and the whole house would have been on fire … they are wooden framed buildings.
The damage is horrendous and we don’t know how long she will be out of her beloved home, but she is safe and so is Razz her puppy. Tonight she is staying with us, tomorrow we will deal with when it comes.
So if you are reading this and asking what could have brought you joy?
It was the kindness and caring of our tiny community of 7. There were tears and laughter, yes we found things to laugh about, although is the saying if I didn’t laugh I’d cry? Well we did. I had even made an Irish Stew & dumplings for my husband’s dinner, miraculous by some divine intervention it fed everyone.
The caring and kindness between us all was something very special and yes I think it brought all of us some joy.
I also want to thank @Samox24 for helping to support our forum community as I have been a little busy elsewhere today …
“Real friends are the ones you can count on no matter what. The ones who go into the forest to find you and bring you home.And real friends never have to tell you that they’re your friends" …
Today a few of us went into the forest
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@Angela_L thank goodness you heard the alarm and I am just so pleased everyone is safe and well including Razz. As you said, real friends are the ones you can count on no matter what. 
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My joy today is a bit ‘mercenary’. Some of you know I’m a fountain pen collector - have many, many that I’ve mainly collected in my travels - I shop pen stores, pawn shops, antique stores, flea markets…
As I am getting older I’ve stopped adding to the collection and need to start disposing of pens. Today, the DC pen collectors group met at a local library and I was able to sell 4 pens to other collectors - I’m glad to have gotten some money for them, but even happier that they are going to folks who will appreciate them as much as I do - both as tools for writing and as really beautiful things to look at.
tom
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@Angela_L we all will thank you for being the kind of neighbor who is “more than a neighbor…” Family is what we make it and it most always isn’t blood that creates a family!
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