Halloween

Compared to recent years this Halloween has been a much quieter affair.

With T no longer living at home, G on a late shift and S out for an hour trick or treating with a gaggle of girlie friends from school it was just me left at home handing out sweets.
We had in the region of 80 callers this evening.
Most arrived in groups of 5, 6 or 7 at a time and the last lone caller was just before 7.30.
This was ideal as it gave me plenty of time to be sorted and sat down in time to watch The GBBO final.

I didn't put up many decorations this year.
Although we did have pumpkins, which as tradition dictates were all carved by G, I don't have photos as by the time I came home from work it was already too dark.

Instead this post will just have to make do with the dress I wore today. 
To my way of thinking the black and white pattern is very reminiscent of spiders and so I thought it would be ideal attire for Halloween, teamed with my pumpkin brooch.

Making A List

And checking it twice.
And then many more times after that.
For this is the book which contains my Christmas present to buy list.
I have updated it today because today is my kind of day.
It's Checklist Day.
Oh how I love a list.
I don't always like having to do all of the things on my list and very rarely does a to do list get completed.
The undone things just make it onto another list.
I need a list to give me structure, otherwise I get side tracked and then frustrated that nothing is achieved.
Also I have a dreadful memory and if I don't write things down when I think of them they slip my mind.
Being a list addict also allows me to indulge in my love of pretty stationery,
And I know I'm not alone in this.

Seeing as I have already mentioned Christmas in this post I thought I would also share this new bedding I bought in Asda recently. 
Of course I hadn't gone in to this store with the intention of buying any bedding but this Scandi Winter Scene design had been reduced to half price. It will be perfect to use in the winter and during the lead up to Christmas as it isn't overly festive. I bought three sets, one for me and G, one for S and one for T's old room in case we have overnight guests over the holidays.

I was Sabrina

Let me explain.
When we were little girls my sisters and I would play at being Charlie's Angels
C on the left being blonde was the Cheryl Ladd character Kris, T was Jaclyn Smith's Kelly and I was Sabrina played by.Kate Jackson. Ms Jackson's birthday is 29th October.
I think this was due to the fact she was the one who seemed to be the most senior angel and seeing as I was the eldest sister I got to be in charge!
This photo was taken at C's on her birthday. 
As a first attempt it's fine but I'm not 100% happy with it and there is room for improvement.
After placing C and T (see there's me still being in charge after all these years) I took my position and I haven't quite got the stance right, my elbow needed to be more at an angle for one and I should have been looking straight on to the right more.
We are due to meet up again at the end of November at my house and I'm hoping we can have another go at getting it right.
As you can see in the original show logo Kelly and Sabrina are holding guns but I asked T to bring something which said something about her. She chose a Snickers bar! I went for the notebook I am using for jotting down all of this year's challenges in.
It gave us a laugh though.

Caroline's Presents

It was my sister's birthday on 24th and so you know what that means.

A post showing all the items I managed to buy for her with our budget of £10.

I am going to start off with my favourite buy of the lot, a grey sweater with robin motif.

One of the cutest things ever.

As well as wishing the robin sweater had been in my size I would have been happy if this old fashioned rose print top had been too.

My sister has to wear a company issue blouse to work which can be teamed with black, grey or navy. This grey jumper will be an ideal addition to her winter working wardrobe.

If you are a long time reader then you know the presents we buy are all from the charity shop/jumble/car boot. 
Well, just occasionally, we do stray from these rules when the perfect gift is found in a 'proper shop'.
I saw these Bella and Boo gift boxes in TK Maxx reduced to £3 for the set and I know she loves these illustrations so they had to be bought.

To make up for this breaking of the rules I made sure the gifts I placed inside were all pre-loved.
I popped in the (unused) candle in a tin and two polka dot mugs. As well as the brown and cream one pictured there was another in red and white. The glass candleholder was the least expensive of my buys at just 10p.
The polka dot jar is something I could have easily found a home for.

As well as the boxes this item was also bought brand new. This fleecy cushion was £2 from Poundland and it's actually a lot bigger than the photo suggests.

There were 3 of this glasses, my sister liked the shape and thought they would make pretty miniature vases.

The next two gifts she knew about as she was with me when I bought them.
Both were spied as we ambled around the car boot sale on different Sunday mornings.

I wouldn't normally buy her black clothing but the floral band on this top caught my attention and I'm glad I did pick it up as she really liked it.

My least favourite buy are these trousers. They really aren't my thing but I was pretty sure they were hers. They are originally from Monsoon and cost me 30p at a jumble sale.

The final item is this simple photo frame with an added length of twine and two wooden pegs. My sister has a number of postcards and photos she likes to display and so this will be put to good use.

I can't remember the price of each individual item but the combined cost of the set of 3 boxes and the cushion was £5.00 and so everything else was purchased for an additional £5.00, making £10 in total.

Now none of that has got anything to do with today's occasion of No Day in Greece but I needed to slot the post in somewhere!
I could have gone down the food route with a Greek salad or maybe a moussaka or souvlaki but I am pretty sure none of these would have been very well received and so I took the easy route and decided to wear a blue and white jumper as these are the two colours of the Greek flag. I'm glad I went for this clothing option as although the sun was out there was definitely the need for wearing something a little chunkier.

A Day For Malcolm

I can't tell you how chuffed I was when at a Sunday car boot sale a couple of months back I found this little felt finger puppet.
I bought the cat, a lion and Goldilocks and the Three Bears.
They were all in their original packaging and cost 30p for the lot.
I passed Goldilocks and the Bears on to a friend who teaches Reception aged children so they have gone to good home.

With a clasp glued to the back he became the perfect brooch accessory for black cat day.

Malcolm may not be a totally black cat but I couldn't let the day pass without including a photo of him and Melvin.

Yesterday  I blogged about my attempt at baking a pumpkin pie. I am pleased to report that it was delicious. When I opened the tin of puree there was certainly a vegetabley aroma about it but this turned into a very subtle taste once the sugar and spice was added. 
I would say if you've ever wondered what it's like then definitely give it a whirl.

Smashing Pumpkins

I've been looking forward to Pumpkin Day so much.

First up I get to wear these cute ear-rings.

Secondly, in last December's advent swap one of my gifts from my sister T was this smiley pumpkin brooch and so at long, long last I got to wear it.

The final reason is I got to bake a pumpkin pie.
It's been on my to try list for ages.
Of course I cheated and bought a tin of pumpkin puree from Waitrose, I really couldn't be faffed with doing that part myself.
I can't tell you what it tastes like yet as it's not long out of the oven, but I can tell you it smells divine.
I'll deliver my foody review tomorrow.

Pasta

Pasta Day has given me the chance to try out a recipe from the free Co-op magazine.
Ideal for a mid week meal, it's easy with minimal ingredients.
Pasta, peppers, bacon. 
G isn't a huge pasta lover but S really liked this meal and they both liked the Co-op tomato and chilli pasta sauce.
I think in the future I may cook up a batch and freeze into smaller portions. Then when G is on a late shift I can have a really lazy meal prep and S gets something she enjoys.
I call that a win/win situation.

French Kiss

French Kiss is such a lovely movie.
If you liked Meg Ryan in When Harry Met Sally and You've Got Mail then you'll love watching her in this one too.
Her co-star this time round is Kevin Kline whose birthday falls on 24th October.
Kline plays a Frenchman who sits next to Ryan's character on a flight to Paris and stows away a vine and diamond necklace inside her leather handbag whilst she is napping.
Ryan is travelling to France to win back her fiance from the clutches of a beautiful goddess (his words) with whom he has fallen in love.
Who ends up with the vine, the necklace and the girl?
Watch it to find out, you won't be disappointed.

Apple Cake

The 23rd October is the birthday of Diana Dors.
Seeing as it was Apple Day on Saturday I thought we would go for a Diana Dorset Apple Cake.
This one was made by S and her friend P who came for a sleepover.
They used this recipe from the BBC Good Food website and I can recommend it.
It may not be the most photogenic cake ever produced but it disappeared very quickly.
S loves apples but doesn't like them as much when cooked but she liked this cake and G gave it a huge thumbs up.
Half of it was given to P to take home and share with her family. Fingers crossed they liked it just as much. 

On the Button

One of the more unusual days is Count Your Buttons Day.

I haven't counted mine but

I have sorted out a handful in black, white and grey which I am going to use in a little craft project. I will share it with you once it's been completed.

To be honest these are the kind of buttons which I would prefer to count.

Count them as I eat them that is.

The 21st is also Apple Day and so I have made a couple of rosy red apple tea light holders. 
I saw this idea a few years ago in, I think, a Christmas edition of Country Living magazine and I liked the simplicity of it.

What I Wore

This week has been a bit of a full on for one reason and another and so I have once again turned to my jewellery stash for inspiration.

Monday 16th was the anniversary of the founding of the the Walt Disney Company. 

I wore a bangle my sister bought me a couple of years ago which has Wish Upon A Star written on it which is very close to the name of a song which is strongly associated with the company.

As an added extra here's a photo of S sporting some Mickey Mouse ears during a little shopping trip we had this week.

As previously blogged I did the baking for chocolate cupcake day at the weekend and on the actual day itself I wore this brooch, a birthday present received from G's niece a couple of years ago.

Today is the birthday of the author Tracy Chevalier and I had planned on watching Girl with a Pearl Earring but I am feeling a bit under the weather and not in the mood. I have an irritating cough and although I feel I am sleeping ok I have not been waking up feeling refreshed. With the jewellery collection I have you'd think I would have owned a pair of pearl earrings to wear today but it's devoid of such an item. 

Tomorrow is International Sloth Day and so when I get home from work I'm going to change into my PJs and chill out, in readiness for the weekend and some extra time off for half term.

The Misfits

Arthur Miller and Montgomery Clift were both born on 17th Ocotober. 
Miller was born in 1915 and Clift in 1920.
Their professional lives crossed in 1961 when The Misfits was filmed. 
Arthur Miller wrote the screen play and Montgomery Clift played a rodeo riding cowboy.

It wasn't a happy film set.
Marilyn Monroe was battling her addiction to prescription painkillers and her marriage to Miller was falling apart.
John Huston was the director and there are stories of his gambling and drinking have an effect on the whole production.
Within a couple of weeks of the film's completion Clark Gable had died and his widow placed the blame firmly at the feet of Monroe.

I had watched this movie once before many years ago and couldn't remember too much about it.
It;s not the normal Marilyn Monroe froth and fun movie and makes very uncomfortable viewing at times.
Each of the main characters carry their own sadness and disappointments and have been damagd by them.
G had never seen it before and said he found it a hard movie to watch but he would definitely watch it again. I think it probably needs a couple of watches to understand all the varying relationships and undercurrents.

Marie Antoinette

In 1793 Marie Antoinette was tried and convicted in a swift trial in the Palais Du Justice.
Although it is frequently quoted she uttered the famous phrase 

there is no evidence she did actually say it.

As you can see I have a fabulous letterbox red mixing bowl embossed with those 4 words and I used it this afternoon to mix up the batter for these chocolate yogurt cupcakes in readiness for chocolate cupcake day this coming Wednesday. So I've covered two days in one.
These cupcakes are made using greek yogurt and I can report they are absolutely delicious.

Looking at this week ahead and what I've got going on I'm not sure I'm going to have time to bake them on the day so I thought I would grab a head start when I did have the time spare. 
I also have another (no time required) little idea up for sleeve for Wednesday.

Mighty Matt Le Tiss

Matthew Le Tissier played for Saints for the entire length of his professional playing career and is much loved by the fans of Southampton FC.

Today is his 49th birthday so we stopped by the boardwalk to snap this photo.

Eggs

World Egg Day.
I could celebrate this is many ways.
Boiled, scrambled, fried, poached, would do me.
I love eggs.
Meals at the end of the week need to be super speedy due to getting S to dance.
Muffins filled with bacon and egg are tasty and super quick especially since we learned how to cook the eggs in the microwave.
Delicious.
How do you like yours?

Status Quo

Whatever your taste in music happens to be I defy anyone not to enjoy a bit of Quo.
Songs from Status Quo are guaranteed to get people up and dancing at Christmas parties and leave you with a great big smile on your face.
Today would have been Rick Parfitt's 69th birthday.
As a tribute G and I will be partaking in what is known in our house as Quo-ercise.
We'll be exhausted from the exertion and probably the giggles as well and for that we thank Mr P and the rest of his gang.

Three October Days

Monday 9th October would have been John Lennon's 77th birthday.
Whilst researching his life for something I could do to mark the day I found out he liked to indulge in a bowl of cornflakes and cream.
My week day breakfast is almost nearly always Weetabix but I thought ringing the changes and kicking off Monday morning with a bowl of cornflakes (with milk, couldn't stomach cream on them!) would be the way to go.

That is had I remembered to buy any.

They were on my shopping list when I went grocery shopping on Saturday morning and it wasn't until I went to make breakfast on Monday morning did I realise I had omitted to pop a box of them in the trolley.

As it had been G's birthday on Sunday and I were off together on Monday it was his choice as to where we went for the day. He chose Chichester as our destination as there is a vinyl record shop there he likes to visit every now and then.
By a happy co-incidence one of the other shops we nipped into had the radio on and what song happened to be playing but Imagine by John Lennon.

Tuesday was World Homeless Day and for this I asked permission from my boss to set up a donations box in our place of work. This was for anyone who wanted to support an organisation called The Homeless Period by donating feminine hygiene products. 
A packet of sanitary towels or tampons could make such a difference to a woman living on the streets. I found out there are a few collection points in the city where I live and from here they make up care packages to be given out to those in need.

And so to today. 
Wednesday 11th is Coming Out Day.
The rainbow flag is synonymous with the LBGTQ community and so I chose to represent this by wearing my rainbow coloured button necklace.
You can't see all the colours in the photo but I promise they are all there.
 

Cards

This first card is one of many G received today because it's his birthday.

His mum, sister and family friend J all came down from Salisbury.

T picked them up in his car from the train station and drove them to the local pub where we were meeting for lunch.

Then it was back home for birthday cake.

The second card is one I made for World Card Making day.
At Christmas time there are two adults and two teenage children to whom we give money.
I could just go and buy some money wallet style cards and pop the dosh inside, but I like to do something a little different as seen here and here.
This is my first attempt at sewing a felt stocking onto card. I plan to pop the note inside along with a small bar of chocolate.
I only have 4 to make and I thought a little forward planning now will help me towards plumping for the final design.

A Necklace for Every Day

Thursday's and Friday's days were both marked by wearing an appropriate piece of jewellery.

For World Teacher Day it was a shiny red apple.

This link explains where taking in an apple for the teacher may have originated.

I got to wear my new badger necklace for, but what else could it be, Badger Day.
I had to take off that dreadful thick chain and I added a length of plain black ribbon. I would actually like a length of velvet ribbon but haven't been anywhere suitable to buy some as yet.

Two really easy days which I needed as I've got G's birthday this weekend and so am busy with bits and bobs there and for some reason I am struggling even more than normal with my time management. Need to give myself a bit of a talking to I think.
Happy weekending to you all.

Stick or Twist

Well it's Wednesday already.

How did that happen.

I'm sure someone keeps pressing the fast forward button.

I mean it's October.

Already.

So how have my activities been going on this week?

I gave myself Monday off.

Pre children my friend T and I would spend time together to catch up on news and quite often combine this with a day out.

Now our children are older she said we should try and reinstate these days out every so often.

Monday was our first outing.

We took ourselves off to Portchester Castle for the day.

Ideally I wanted to do a proper post about our visit  (I still hope to get one written) but for now here is T being much more adventurous than me and investigating the stone spiral staircase.

Tuesday was Chubby Checker's birthday. 
His most well known song has got to be The Twist.
The first thing I think of when hearing the word twist, apart from that dance, is playing pontoon, as in Stick or Twist?
So yesterday evening me, G and S sat down at the dining table and played this easy and fun card game.

We're back to a food related day for today.
Taco Day to be precise.
I went out to buy some taco shells last night but the shop I went to didn't have them. Instead I bought a pack of tortilla wraps and did this to make my own.
Served with salad and rice it was a quick and easy meal which is my favourite kind.

Coffee

Tea is my preferred cuppa.

It's G who is the coffee drinker here.

So he was the ideal person to go out for a coffee with T this morning, that is after they had been to the post office to get his car taxed.

Two things there.

1. Who knew selected post offices were open on a Sunday

and 

2. T passed his driving test yesterday at the first attempt.

He was smiling from ear to ear.

So very pleased for him and so very proud of him too.

Although I don't tend to drink coffee I do like the flavour of it in food.
So my nod to it being coffee day was to treat myself to this little pot of coffee mousse.
After standing and ironing for an hour I sat with my feet up and slowly ate it, savouring every mouthful.