Today I Love the Post Man

I love new stuff...who doesn't!? So after much searching I have FINALLY purchased a vintage Junghans Starburst clock. Woohoo!

I made mention of it in the past on my blog but after watching them go for up to $560 on e-bay I had written one off as ever being mine. BUT, the stars must have aligned because I made a bid on the e-bay sale with a program called Bidnapper* and then left it to fate. I forgot I'd even put the bid in (as I had done it days before the auction end) and was soooooo super excited when I received an e-mail from e-bay saying I had just won the auction and at a pittance of what I've seen others sell at. Ok yes, it was still a bit expensive at $182 but I seriously didn't think that I'd ever actually win it at that price. That's my pocket money for the fortnight spent but I can't say I'm disappointed!
* Bidnapper is a program that delivers bids to eBay auctions at the last moment in a process called "sniping." You tell Bidnapper your maximum bid and they put that bid on for you at the last second of the e-bay auction so no other competitor can put in a new bid unless they've set their own reserve higher than yours.

So, an exciting morning it was when the postman turned up. Additional to my beautiful new clock, I had an unexpected gift from a former neighbour (Sheryl from beingfiftyomething.com). It was a 1st birthday gift for Ewan (books) but also, a "shack gift" for Roge and I! How nice is that and even better is that the gift is AWESOME!

It's a print by a lady called Leah Duncan and it's very much my style and colours. The prints pigments are created with pigment inks and her work is reminiscent of Aboriginal art which is a favourite style of mine (although it's not, she's American).  Her website is quite good for a look at leahduncan.com.

Sheryl has obviously been channelling her own creativity and has sent the gifts with the sweetest little gift tags (home made). I'm impressed and a little thrown really because of her overwhelming generosity. Thanks Sheryl, we miss you!

I can't wait to put both of my new "things" on the wall at the shack. I have a perfect spot for the clock in the lounge room and once I find the perfect frame for the birds, that too will have pride of place in the new sitting area of the shack kitchen.

There you go. How lucky am I today to have all these new lovely things. I also found a lovely little mantra on happiness today which I thought was a goodie:

Five Simple Rules For Happiness:

1 - Free your heart from hatred
2 - Free your mind from worries
3 - Live simply
4 - Give more
5 - Expect less

I really like it and I think that's because it rings true to me. I'll keep it on my desktop for now to remind myself of these five simple "rules" that will help me remember that it's the simple things that make us happy (and it will hopefully remind me to try not to worry about EVERYTHING which I have a terrible habit of doing!)