Remembering November

As the month draws to an end I need to write up the rest of what we've been up to in November and then my aim is to try and be a bit more on top of things in December.

We'll wait and see if that happens.

My sister T has her birthday on 25th November. I don't find her as easy to buy for as my other sister but whilst out shopping with her a couple of weeks ago in M&S T showed me a mug she was coveting. It's a delicate shade of pale blue, is the perfect shape for cupping hands around and has the cutest bunny ever in raised decoration on the front. I understood instantly why she loved it so much. 

Thankfully she didn't buy it and so a couple of days later I did.

I then teamed it with a woodland animal canvas shopping bag from Store 21 and a notebook from The Works. She was thrilled with it all.

Phew!

You may remember back in the summer we took mum out for her 70th birthday and as an extra little Christmas gift we thought we would print off some of the photos from our day and pop them into a keepsake album.

When the three of us got together to choose which ones would make the cut (and so veto any that were too unflattering!) our youngest sister C presented each of us with a bracelet.

Being the eldest mine says Big Sis.

T is next so hers said Middle Sis.

And yes you've probably guessed it, C's says Little Sis.

You maybe able to tell from the shape that all slot together around a heart.

It was a really lovely gift to receive out of the blue.

We've had 2 more birhtdays this month, G's mum and sister. A family lunch out was had and tentative plans made for a gathering at Christmas. This year will be a little different as G has to work on Boxing day. My shopping is nearly done and the wrapping has been started. I enjoy all the elements of festive hustle and bustle involved in getting ready for Christmas, but there can be a fine line between that good type and the starting to feel stressed type. So one of the things I've done to help towards not feeling too over whelmed is devising a wrapping schedule. With a bit of luck I'll be sat on Christmas Eve with a bottle of Baileys and not the scissors and sellotape.

Talking of devising new schedules and making time for things, I have been trying to stay away from the internet and my phone as much as possible over weekends.
I have also tried to limit my online time during the week too and one of the things I have started to do is divide up across 5 days all the blogs I follow so I visit everyone once a week. I am finding this much better as I find I am focusing more on what I want to read and do online rather than just flitting around and before I know it an hour has passed and nothing much has been accomplished. I'll see how it goes but as there are other things I want to do and try to make I need to get the balance right.

I'm working myself up to cleaning the dresser in the dining room ready for it's festive makeover. One new addition may be my new toadstool candle holder, 50p from the charity shop I popped into at the weekend when dropping off some items. One of these days I'll develop the knack of just walking out and not being distracted by pretty things on my way to the door.

G and I had a fab night out at the weekend. We went to see Mozart's Requiem performed by the Southampton Philharmonic Choir and the New London Sinfonia. This was a new experience for me. I much more enjoyed the Requiem over the other piece they performed first called I Sing, And Ever Shall, but over all I preferred our night of polkas and waltzes in January 2014.

After the performance we headed out into the cold, took a silly selfie by the Christmas tree and then made a bee line for stall in the market selling cinnamon sugar churros.

This week when changing our bed I put on a new duvet set. It has Christmas trees on one side and snowflakes on the other and is the softest cosiest set we have ever owed. G and I keep talking about how nest like it has made our bed feel. It's made getting up in the mornings just a little bit more difficult.

Melvin seems to like it too.