Today wasn't going to be a good day...

I flew into the bus stop for the High School drop off in a terrible mood.  Any of the back to school organisation we had started the year with two weeks ago has left us. I spent a good 45 minutes prior to leaving the house repeating an endless cycle of "where are your books" "did you do your homework" "I don't know where the form you never gave me is" "can you brush your hair?"

This dialogue was set against the background of a counter piled with vegetables I needed to do *something* with. I couldn't find the coffee I like and my milk was off when I finally brewed my cuppa. This was before even attempting to wake our little school refuser, a magic trick that takes a good hour of parental effort in the morning.  I was finished before I even started.

And then I pulled into the bus stop.  Peeking over the lip of our makeshift vegetable stall was a good sized dyer's mazegill - a mushroom used for natural dyeing. I parked and jumped out of the car (still in my nightdress, much to the embarrassment of the teenager) and ran over to see the note that accompanied it.

A workshop participant, Louise, from a few weeks ago popped it in the stall on the way back from a mushroom course because she thought we could use it. We can, but even if we couldn't, the thought was really what counted.

It was impossible to stay in a bad mood after that. It's funny how a small thing can shift the course of the day. I found the good coffee when I went back to the house. The small one went to school with no problem. The long-awaited shipment of jars arrived and a batch of the best ever bramble and crab apple jelly was whipped up while I waited for oils to melt for soap.

So, here's to tiny acts of kindness arriving just at the moment you need them.