Isn’t it funny that I thought things were tough last week? It seems that last week was just a trial run for the last seven days which have probably been the most stressful of all of lockdown.

Northern Ireland is back on pretty much full lockdown mode. The kids have been sent home from school. My work has had to close again and the new programme I had put in place has been cancelled for the foreseeable future. The uncertainty is hard to take.

And yet, as always, there were moment of happiness to give praise for. Long may they continue.

• An early morning trip to the beach at Cushendun did us all the power of good. We had to dodge the Game of Thrones tour buses to get down to the caves, but it was worth it.

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• I really enjoyed taking part in last week’s 1956 Club and this week the next Club was announced. 1936 is a great year and at first glance, I have two books I can read.

• I got very lucky with my timing and managed to get my hair done the day before all hairdressers had to close. Phew!

• The twins school brought Halloween dress-up day forward by a week so they got to wear their costumes. And they looked marvellous 😁

• The Irish Times are clearly taking a leaf out of my book and this week asked Irish actors, writers and celebrities what reasons they had to be cheerful. From Emma Donoghue’s love of Schitt’s Creek to Sinead O’Connor’s dog, this will really cheer you up!

• Utopia has been one of my favourite TV shows of recent times. The US remake aired this week but we decided instead to rewatch the original. It is even better than I remembered, although the storyline about a fake virus, created specifically to give the population a shady vaccine felt a bit too close to the bone!

• I spent the weekend doing some plotting and planning for a new challenge on the blog. Keep your eyes peeled for an announcement tomorrow!

So, what in your life deserves some praise this week? Let me know in the comments!

Sunday Praise cushendun halloween Sunday Praise utopia