Life's simple little pleasures

There are lots of things that give me immense pleasure yet don't cost a single penny. I have listed some of them below.

1. Birdsong - this is an out and out winner. The dawn chorus in spring, a blackbird sitting on a rooftop in the early summer singing to the world. The individual song of a bird that you catch while driving through the countryside. A robin claiming his territory in August, then bursting into song.
2. Watching/observing - whether it's the birds, butterflies, squirrels or bees in the garden or people when I'm out and about, there is always something that triggers my imagination. The way that wildlife behaves is incredible and most of the time there is so much happening yet the rest of the world seem oblivious. Or am I perhaps a little mad? People watching can also make me smile inside and it gets even more interesting if you get to overhear conversations. Priceless material!
3. The smell of freshly cut grass and also the smell of tar/pitch - I have to take very deep breaths of these if I get a whiff. The are other smells that I also find hypnotising such as the perfumes of roses, sweet peas and other perfumed garden flowers. Then there's fresh bread, coffee, toast, bacon butties and a good roast! The smell of my babies' temples is also something I can never forget. If I had been blindfold and had to pick them out from the other babies in the nursery, I know I would have succeeded. They are in their thirties now so I don't think I'm going to try!
4. Stroking - animals, birds, people, velvet, satin. The sense of touch can soothe, re-assure and comfort the giver and the recipient as well as arouse and awaken.
5. Cloud gazing - well, most of us have at some time seen something familiar in a cloud. It is quite relaxing on a warm summer's day to just lie back and watch the clouds as they change shape against a blue sky.