5th - 11th November

A short post this week as the end of it got a little weird.

This week I have been

Watching - Rocky trying to adjust to wearing his cone. He had the snip last week.

I took him back to the vets today, all is healing well and he's allowed outside once again.

Celebrating - with a sparkler. G's sister's birthday is on 5th November. As you can tell from the photo this year was a special one for her. 
Family friend L (along with her son, daughter and son's girlfriend) created a wonderful two tiered bonfire cake and they also made this Guy and box of fireworks. Included were a set of mini sparklers, one for each guest at her celebratory birthday meal.

Trying - to look fierce with the help of these fangs. On November 8th 1847 Bram Stoker was born, so with the help of these photo booth props left over from Halloween we channeled our inner vampire.

Extraordinarily Grateful - to our wonderful NHS. 
When I woke up yesterday morning G told me he had been awake for a few hours with chest pains. What kind of pains I wanted to know. Not worrying pains he said. 26 years ago he had a viral infection which affected the pericardium and he said it felt similar. So he rang 101 for advise. They said because the pain had been there for a few hours they were sending an ambulance to check his heart. It arrived shortly afterwards and an ECG was done. The results were leaning towards another incidence of pericarditis but they took him to hospital so he could be thoroughly checked and the option of a heart attack ruled out. Thankfully after having various tests and seeing a cardiologist this was indeed the conclusion so 12 hours later I collected him from the hospital. He has some medication and needs to rest. 
Here's to a less dramatic week ahead.

29th October - 4th November

This week I have been

Enjoying - the flame red colour of the leaves on the trees. There is a line of half a dozen of these trees in the car park near my place of work and they are a delight to see.

Loving - the fact our bathroom is another stage nearer completion. The lino was laid on Tuesday which means it's an awful lot warmer in there now. I really love the differing shades of grey and silver.

Having the floor down also meant that the new to us piece of furniture which has been sat in the dining room for the past couple of weeks could be put into place.
We found this pine child's size wardrobe on Gumtree for £35. The seller very kindly agreed to deliver to us for an extra £5. G painted it a shade called Stormy Blue and it's now home to our towels, bathroom cleaning products, loo roll and other odds and ends. Perfect.

Celebrating -Halloween with friends. This year we invited our friends G and M over with their two children J and G. S was in charge of helping them dish out the sweets to our treat or treat callers. It was a slow start to the evening but in the end I think we had somewhere between 70 and 80. 
S made these gruesome looking eyeballs for us all to eat

and whilst she did those I used a tube of black icing to paint faces onto marshmallows which I took in to work so we could have a sweet treat there too.

Trying - out a couple of new recipes for breakfast time. During the week it's always two Weetabix but come the weekend I want to have something a bit different. With G on the Slimming World regime I have been looking at ideas on various websites and baked oats is a firm favourite. I made these on Saturday morning, they are flavoured with lemon fat free Greek yogurt. I served them with a blob of jam and natural flavoured Greek yogurt. Warm from the oven they were lovely.

Then on Sunday I made this jammy dodger french toast inspired by sarah_sw_recipes on Instagram. I didn't put in enough cinnamon so I know to increase that the next time I do these. This really filled me up.

Going - out in our, new to us, car.
Yes we are car owners once again. I detest the whole looking for cars thing. Both G and I have zero knowledge when it comes to cars. We have been half heartedly looking for a few weeks but the time had come to make more of an effort. 
The result is that we are now KA owners.
We are in the incredibly lucky position of not needing a car to get us to work. With it just being the three of us these days we now don't need a larger family size car.
Most of the things we need to do can be accomplished (with a bit of forward planning) on foot, with public transport and online shopping, so it is a bit of a luxury having a car sat outside for the convenience of being able to pop out and get us from A to B when we need to do just that.
Considering all of these things we wanted to buy something small and cheap to run and fingers crossed this will fit the bill just nicely.

22nd - 28th October

This week I have been

Dancing - to the Bay City Rollers.

Well these days the only original Roller in the band is lead singer Les McKeown.

I went to see them on S A T U R D A Y night (if you know their songs you'll know why I spelled it that way!) with my sisters, it was part of their birthday gift to me.

I had an amazing time.

To be dancing away to all my favourite songs whilst Les McKeown was on stage singing them was just the best.

I was lucky enough to find this fabulous transfer on E-bay which made just the most perfect t-shirt.

Making - a new necklace. This was an illustration from the front of a vintage sewing pattern. I just love her hairstyle.

Wearing - it was Pumpkin Day on Friday and so there was only one choice of brooch.

Eating - to carry on with the pumpkin theme I made us pumpkin pancakes for breakfast. S wasn't keen but G and I enjoyed ours with yogurt, fruit and a drizzle of maple syrup. Delicious and really filling.

Reading - a Christmas book. Saturday afternoon I was in the mood for something festive. I had a few books on my shelf to choose from and went for this one as it looked like a short read. It certainly was as I finished it on Sunday afternoon. By this time I had been out and bought myself another new Christmas mug, it was only 50p from a charity shop so how could I have resisted?

Watching - The Bishop's Wife. It was Elsa Lanchester's birthday on 28th October which provided us with the perfect opportunity for another viewing of this superb movie.


Celebrating - my sister's birthday on 24th. She knew about two of the items of clothing as she had chosen those herself but everything else was a surprise. As you probably remember we spend £10 and all items must come from a car boot or charity shop.
All of these items come to £9.97 in total.
The mug, Gisela Graham mini heart dish and the cupcake decoration were all £1 each. The coaster, cushion cover and paper decorations were 50p each.

This long length grey and pink cardi which originally came from New Look was £1 and was one of the things C has picked out.

The hand made top on the left was one of my favourite buys for her, it reminded me of a gingerbread house! This was £1.

The plain grey jumper was the second item she had chosen and was 50p.

The red glass dish was 50p.

The snowflake jumper was £1, the book was 10p, the jug was 50p and the white deer brooch was new and 87p.

15th - 21st October

This week I have been

Wearing - a little blue combo of a crown patterned top and a bunting strewn cardigan after the pregnancy of the Duchess of Sussex was announced.

Feeling - a little blue at times too. Wednesday was the birthday of T's brother L who passed away a couple of years ago. When the children were little this would have meant a day trip to London for us all to catch up. Now being older and mobile T drove himself up to Norwich, staying for two nights to see his birth siblings and spend time with them.


Trying - not to succumb to the temptation of snuffling a cake (or two) on Chocolate Cupcake day and so deciding to go down the brooch route instead.

Grateful for - the comments left on my last post which contained messages hoping we were all over our various bugs. Much appreciated.

Watching - The Marvelous Mrs Maisel. G and I have watched 3 episodes of this so far and we are hooked. It's written by the creators of The Gilmore Girls and I loved that long series so it's really no surprise we are enjoying this one.
Rocky adores Graham and ignores me most of the time, but whilst we were watching this TV show last night it seems my lap was the spot he preferred. Look at the size of his feet!

Eating -  steak and chips. Can't remember the last time I ate steak. We are lucky enough to work near some fab bars and restaurants and so a little gathering was organised for after work midweek. What a treat. 

Loving -  this late Autumn sunshine. To make the most of it the 3 of us took ourselves out for a walk on Saturday.
We took the train to Shawford and then walked the 3 miles along the Itchen Navigation trail into Winchester.

Over the years we had done various sections of this trail, which takes you past some beautiful river views, 

and this time we also took in St Catherine's hill. A walk up the hill is on the agenda for another day.

Hoping -  for a little colour in the front garden come the colder months after I potted up this colander and a terracotta planter with winter pansies. 

24th September - 14th October

I've not been around much as things have been busy plus S was off school for one day not well, G had a birthday and then I managed to catch a bug which had been doing the rounds at work.

So from the past few weeks I have been 

Wearing - brooches to go along with the theme of the day. 

There was the Coca-Cola can for Crush a Can Day

and this strawberry for Strawberry Cream Pie Day.

Reading - the next book from the Maisie Dobbs series. This is the one I have enjoyed least so far. I have the next couple on my book shelf and the later ones are on my Christmas wish list. G is aware!

Enjoying - messing about with a fake felt beard for Lumberjack Day

My mum and sisters were coming over and so I asked them to wear their best check shirt and we each had our photo taken whilst modelling the beard.

A few days before hand it had been Elephant Appreciation Day so we went out in the garden and played the Elephant Game. 

Watching - talented people at the theatre. My birthday present to my friend T was tickets to see Women In Power. It's a new production, a collaboration by some very well known women and we were thoroughly entertained by the fabulous cast who acted, sung, played instruments and danced non stop for 90 minutes. 
The second trip was with G and some friends to see Austentatious. Each night the performance is different as each performance is improvised by the cast. They had us in stitches and I would thoroughly recommend going to see them if you ever get the chance.

Loving - that Rocky is settling in so well and finding his own favourite places. This was where he liked to settle down a few weeks ago. Lately he has made the top of the freezer his own, he likes to keep and eye on us and he is quite close to where we store his food!

Buying - little china treats from TK Maxx. I went in to look at the Halloween offerings and was very restrained and just bought one little bowl. 
Just the right size for chocolate based treats.
I was unable to resist adding to my mug collection with this slightly wibbly wobbly one. With the stars and Joy decoration it does have a festive flavour but, I will admit now that it hasn't been stashed away to be used later, it's been used daily since purchase as a little Joy everyday is a good thing I think.

Doing - a jigsaw. I found this one whilst having a tidy up. I think it was one of G's stocking filler gifts.

It's made up of 250 pieces and so G and I raced through it in no time at all and it's now sat in a bag ready for the charity shop.

The theme is sweets from the 1970s and although there were lots of things we recognised there were also quite a few we didn't.

Visiting - an exhibition named We March On all about the history of Southampton Football Club. I'm not footie fan but I still found it all very interesting. The Saints are G' team and so we went to see this on his birthday.

Wondering - if this is really what I look like? To mark World Egg Day a plan was hatched(!) between me and my colleagues that we would each decorate an egg in our likeness. Due to being unwell last week I completely forgot about it until a colleague sent me a picture of hers the night before we were due to take them in. I was feeling tired and not at all in the crafting mood but felt like I should make the effort. I'm glad I did, we all had a giggle and it made our Friday a quite eggscellent day.

17th - 23rd September

This week I have been 

Listening -  to Second Thoughts on Radio 4 extra as I walk to and from work. I loved the series which ITV made although I have no recollection of the series Faith in the Future which followed on from it. 

Cooking - more new recipes. The syn free carbonara was a hit with all of us.
Yes I can confirm the rare occurrence of us all eating and enjoying the same meal did happen once this week.
On Thursday I cooked Chinese lemon chicken and left Asian BBQ chicken marinading in the fridge on Friday morning for G to cook for him and S. You can tell he dished up this meal, look at the amount of chicken on his plate!
Both were given the thumbs up and will definitely appear on the new menus. All can be found on the slimming eats website which I thoroughly recommend.

Thinking - about organising a family outing just before Christmas to see the new Mary Poppins movie. I love Mary Poppins and am so excited about seeing the new movie. 

Wearing - lots more scarves this week due to the change in the weather. Plus the one which was called into action to help us with our latest sleeveface creation for country music day last Monday.

Feeling - so pleased for working my way through a huge to do list this weekend. With G working, the weather being rubbish and S full of cold and staying in her PJs I had no choice but to be indoors and so used the time to get lots of little bits and pieces done.

Watching - the return of Strictly. I'm ready for this year's competition to commence and once again become immersed in all the glitter and sequins.

10th - 16th September

This past week I have been

Listening - to the cricket and hearing Alistair Cook's final innings for England. The test series between England and India this summer made for such thrilling listening and it was made all the more entertaining by the sensational TMS team.

Wearing - a new to me blouse. Bought at the car boot for £1.00 this pretty lightweight long sleeve blouse is perfect for layering on these not quite summer, not quite autumn days.

Spending - a CK voucher I was given for my birthday last year. Can't believe this stayed unspent for so long when there are so many things I love in that shop. But then maybe that's the reason, just what to spend it on when there is so much I'd like. I finally plumped for this sailing boat bag.
Loving the look of disdain on Rocky's face as I use him to model it for me!

Going -  on a night away to Weymouth. This little trip was part of my birthday gift from G. 

G had booked us into a lovely Air BnB property which was a 10 minute stroll from the centre of town. 

As we walked along the front we looked at all the hotels and BnBs on offer. Some places looked very unappealing, dead flowers in plant pots and plastic woodland creatures stuck to walls were two of the things which did not enhance the kerb appeal and then others had little touches like this bunting hanging over threshold and it just made the world of difference.

Feeling - nostalgic for holidays of my childhood when we came across this row of holiday chalets. Love the very CK colours they have been painted in.

Eating - ice cream from Rossi's. I chose the natural flavour whilst G went for the peppermint and chocolate chip. So light and creamy. Delish.

Cooking - on Thursday I cooked a chicken curry using coconut yogurt for the sauce instead of coconut milk and as both G and S liked it that's one new recipe which will find it's place in the new weekly menu. G has lost another 5lb this week and there are many more new recipes still to try.

Walking - around Weymouth trying to see as much as possible during our weekend stay. The area around the harbour was very picturesque.

Hoping - the car was going to pass it's MOT but knowing that it was quite unlikely.

We will now be on the look out for a new one.

Reading - Five Quarters of the Orange. Another Joanne Harris book which did not disappoint. I wasn't sure I was going to like this one but in the end I couldn't put it down and so having lots of train travelling time was a real help.

1st-9th September

This week I have been 

Reading - a Lidl magazine which was posted through the door. Liking the look of these cookie based bats for Halloween.

Cooking - a couple of new things. This turkey chilli was a huge hit and will definitely be made again. G has joined Slimming World and has lost 5lb in his first week. I'm in the process of working out weekly menu plans.

Feeling - proud and anxious on S's first day of the new academic year.

That first morning S was up before me and had a big smile on her face.

She wasn't quite as happy to be called out of bed the rest of the week!

Due to the problems she has had over the past year I was feeling more than a little anxious as the week progressed but I'm thrilled to say all went well.

Drinking - tea from my new teapot and cup.

T rang me on his way home from work. He is back working for a charity and is busy driving to different shops covering for staff holidays in other local branches.

He said he had bought me something he thought I would like. 

'I think you'll like it, it's a bit odd, but I think it's your kind of thing,' he said.

I like it very much and was really very touched that he thought of buying it for me.

Wondering - if it's too early to add the pumpkins to the mantle along with the toadstools.

Loving - my bargain Emma Bridgewater bat mug. Found in a local sale for 50p.

Watching - Strictly Come Dancing to see who got paired up with who and how they all performed in that first team dance. 

Visiting - a windmill for Open Heritage weekend.

This windmill is just a 5 minute drive away from us and yet we've never taken S here. When we got there they were conducting tours but we had just missed the start of one so we wandered off to a stroll in the woods. When we got back the sails were turning and the tours had ended so we sat and enjoyed watching the windmill in motion whilst sipping hot chocolate.

Enjoying - crossing a couple of jobs off the long to do list. I painted the skirting board in the bathroom so now we are one step closer to getting the flooring down and having a room finished. Such a good feeling.