“Reasons to be joyful- one…two…”

My lovely friend Sherri gave me my six words this week.  I was still busy thinking along the ‘Joy is‘ lines when she left me this comment- ‘I now have Ian Drury’s famous words ringing through my mind ‘Reasons to be cheerful, one, two, three…’ ‘  Sherri always manages to make you feel good, even when she’s not feeling great herself.  And I love the song!

The joy continued as I walked down the road.  When did I last see so much colour, still in the trees at the end of November?  It really is beautiful.  How can it fail to lift the spirits?

Sunshine after the rain

Beautiful, isn’t it?

Even the ones lying in puddles are pretty!

And then you have lovely mopheads of hydrangea

During the week, I provided huge novelty value for a gentleman walking his dog in our local cemetery.  I wasn’t visiting a grave, but passing through on my way into town.  This old cemetery has a huge swathe of trees and I deemed it a fine opportunity to test out the camera function on my new smartphone.  My face must have been a picture as I repeatedly produced ‘selfies’ of me scowling into the phone, totally incapable of switching to landscape mode, or whatever it’s called!

Eventually I ‘cracked it’, but the dog was not amused.  He and his master had by then completed several circuits of the cemetery, each time the dog having a little snarl at my heels.  I must have looked like a grave robber!  I smiled apologetically at his owner, waving the ‘camera’.  He then ventured near enough to point out a nice wood sculpture, just in case I’d missed it.  When I’ve sorted out processing, I might be able to share some of the photos with you, but that’s definitely for another week!  Meantime, let’s enjoy a Festival of leaves.  It’s the last week for entries.

A few more damp leaves

Some clinging on!

Some not!

Who knows for how much longer?

But the beech hedges are lovely, aren’t they?

More joy when I bumped into a friend that I haven’t seen for the longest time.  Following radical back surgery, he was looking great!  One last little treat- I bought myself a bunch of tiny rosebuds for just £2.  They’re beaming away at me from the hearth- red, lemon and peach.  So- let’s have it!  What brings you joy?

In all of this, I have to spare a thought for our American friends, fighting freezing temperatures and snow.  In parts of Australia they have the opposite problem, sweltering heat!  All in all, it’s not looking too bad to be here in England right now.  If you can find time, don’t forget to say hello to Cate at Show My Face.  Without her, what would I do with my Six word Saturday?