I missed last month’s Good Things because I was traveling, so some of these will be from April.

• Eating mandarins off our tree. The first were fully ripe at the start of April so we started eating then. We had so many we ended up giving a heap to the girls, K and our vicar. We were able to leave some on the tree so I now have two in my fruit bowl, and seven left on the tree. So yummy!
  
  
  
  
• Church on Good Friday followed up later in the day with a prayer session with my friend. We just managed to squeeze this in before we left on Easter Saturday.
• The girls being able to take Riley to their place while we travel.
• Having Riley home this week. We had a few days at home without him because we had almost back to back trips, plus the girls took him a few days before we left for the UK. It’s weird being home without him there.
• Pottering around London and Oxford by myself. I love just having to please myself when I’m planning what to do each day.
• G is now a London Marathon Finisher which makes 3 out of 6 major Abbots Marathons.
• The weather while we were away. It rained one day when I was in London, and then for the rest of the trip we only had two light showers.
  
  
  
  
• So much good food. The Soho Twilight food tour now sits in second place behind our tour in Nice which was absolutely epic. The food was a bit fancier than a standard daytime food tour and we had cocktails at the four sit down spots. We had some really good food through Wales too.
• Oxford. I loved the scale of the town, so easy to walk around and the history. Being able to run from the centre of Oxford out into rural areas easily was fun too.
• Book shops. I went to some amazing bookshops in Oxford and Hay-on-Wye (the book town) and also had a tour of the Bodleian Library.
  
  
  
  
• Seeing some of the settings in Oxford where they filmed the Harry Potter movies.
• Wales was amazing. So much variety in things to do and the scenery is so beautiful. We had some wonderful hikes in the mountains and on the coast. The historical sites ranged from prehistoric to 18th-19th century industrial sites.
• The castles. So many castles.
• PUFFINS! When I realised it was puffin season I just knew I had to fit a trip to see them in our itinerary.
  
  
  
  
• The Cadw Explorer Pass. Gave us entry into Cadw sites on seven days over a two week period for £58.30. Such great value! We visited 9 sites over our trip.
• Sitting on the top of Pen-y-Fan staring out to the horizon. The view went so far it felt like a meditation.
• Walking among the stones at Stonehenge at sunrise.
  
  
  
  
• Amazing weather for our weekend in Noosa. Apart from the run we also did two hikes in the National Park and I had a swim.
• Getting back to our 4:1 training at the gym. Hard but I know it’s worth it when I feel the strength I’ve lost over six weeks.
• I completed running all the streets of Gardenvale and Elwood yesterday.
• Catching up with friends at the pub. Telling them all about our travels, learning all their news.
• Marinated goat’s cheese. All you need to do is mix a couple of cubes through a salad, or like I did today couscous, sauteed silverbeet, lemon and chilli flakes, for tasty, creamy goodness.