Autumn Primitive Stitching

Well, it seems that autumn is well and truly here: morning mists, dewy spiders' webs, berries galore and darker school runs in the afternoon. The colours this year have been beautiful - there is something about the combination of golden leaves and sunshine (if we're lucky!) that warms the heart and makes it my favourite season. I'm looking forward to more foggy days too; cosying up inside and doing a bit of crochet - bliss! You never know, I may actually get my Dorset blankie finished, but I wouldn't hold your breath!

Here are a few photos, taken last Sunday, of the garden and from my walk into town to visit the Artisan Market - to be honest, this was a little disappointing; the crafty bits were a little thin on the ground and I came away empty handed, apart from some chocolate covered candied orange peel for the girls. I enjoyed the walk though:

See my new shoes! I actually bought these in the summer when E was doing her work experience at the Mary Rose Museum and I had a week killing time, kicking around the historic dockyard. There was an outlet centre nearby and initially I found a small packet of buttons that I thought would be a nice souvenir. Before I knew it, I had bought 2 DVDs, a summer dress and a pair of Docs. They are super comfy, even if they have taken a while to wear in.

The berries and leaves were fabulous, although the colour has done funny things and looks a little weird in the photos:

Other happies this week:
My new cleaning cloths from Sainsbury's. I'm normally a Tesco girl, merely because it's closest to E's school and I do the shop after drop off. This Monday, however, was still part of half term so Sainsbury's it was for a change. The cloths certainly cheered up my window cleaning this morning!

Another Sansbury's buy - coffee stencils:

Making sticky, nutty flapjacks for Bonfire Night:

Sneaking one with a cup of tea and a magazine - well, it's important to do quality control!

Buying some tulip bulbs  - I keep telling myself that they're no good on the kitchen worktop; I actually have to get around to planting them!

Here's me snatching a stitchy moment. This is the autumn embroidery to go with the spring and winter ones here and here:

Hot dogs and fireworks on the 5th:

A green woodpecker in the garden - apologies for the blurriness of the photo ; I dashed for my camera and took a quick snap just seconds before he spooked and flew away:

Finally, the completed stitching:

Ta-Dah!

Just one more season to go and then I have to decide whether to hang them in the frames or convert them into cushions or something.
Have a great weekend and, if anyone's off to a Bonfire Party, have fun and I'll keep my fingers crossed for dry weather for you.
Toodle Pip for now. x

London # 2

Hello there! Half term seems to have whizzed by doesn't it? Ours has been a nice mix of stay at home days and days spent out and about. Twice this week (yes, count them), we have been into London. Once on Sunday to have lunch with L and then again on Wednesday to go to the theatre. On Wednesday R was at work, so it was just us girlies. To ring the changes, this time we took the train - not such an event for L who does it every day, but quite exciting for me and E. The girls read and dozed and I got my 'patchwork out and about' tins out and made another star. I did take a photo of this but it was a tad blurry! We set off quite late in the morning to take advantage of the cheaper parking at the station and the cheap day return, so it was nearing lunch time when we arrived. The play was at the Vaudeville Theatre near Covent Garden, so we decided to head there for lunch first. 

The Christmas decorations were out in force:

 I REALLY wanted to go into this shop:

 I'm a big Moomin fan but we kept putting off going in - after lunch or after the play when we're not rushed, you know the sort of thing - and then it was too late. I definitely want to go back though.

There were chestnut vendors adding to the festive vibe:

Tummies were rumbling by this point but the food places in Covent Garden were extremely crowded, so we made our way out and went here instead:

Here's my salad and veggie dumplings, E had a veggie sushi wrap and L, who was nursing a cold, had miso soup with noodles. One word: YUM!

 Then it was time for the play. The billboard made us laugh as David Suchet playing Lady Bracknell looked just like a friend of ours! 

 We enjoyed the play - it was very funny and a little cheesy in parts. David Suchet was excellent, with just a whiff of pantomime dame about him. His mannerisms were brilliant - he had a way with hand gestures and certain turns of his head that were spot on. The famous 'A handbag!' bit I found to be a little anticlimactic (Amy, that bit's for you!) but it was all good fun. We were discussing it later and found that we all had a mental image of Maggie Smith playing Lady B. I'm not sure if she ever has but I think her character the Countess in Downton Abbey would be perfect!

We met up with R after the play and went for a walk through London, looking for somewhere for dinner. When we go to London, it's nice to have something a little different to eat. Our little market town has Indian, Italian and Chinese restaurants aplenty but not much else. It was lovely to walk through London in the evening and, despite the impression you get if you stick to the underground, everywhere is actually much closer than you imagine. I went to uni here and stayed for 7 years. I'm not sure I could live here again though. It's incredibly crowded, making striding along the pavements difficult, and blowing your nose after a day there gives some indication of the pollution levels! (Too much information?!)

Anyway, we eventually decided to have dinner here:

Tohbang apparently means larder in Korean. We'd never had Korean food before and it was a revelation - fresh, zingy, full of flavour, more veggie choices than you could shake a stick at - it's my new favourite!

 Green tea ice cream for pud!

 Then it was back to Paddington for the train home. It was, apart from the lack of Moomins, a perfect day.

 This week, we also tried cobnuts for the first time - they were interesting but not something I would go out of my way for again:

A spray of carnations was bought - a bargain at £1.50:

 Hallowe'en cakes were made:

 ...... and a certain little devil bunny had his birthday on Hallowe'en. Yes, truly, that's when he was born! He was given a new mat to sleep on and a bag of his favourite banana chips. Here's the birthday boy investigating the pumpkin:

 

There was also another little trip to our local theatre to see 'The Ladykillers'. There are no photos of this visit but it was very good, even if no-one can possibly live up to the great Alec Guinness!

Anyway, that's all for this week. I hope you had a wonderful half term and here's to a fun November. 'White rabbit' as my Mum always used to say on the first of the month - I'm not sure Hamish would approve!
Toodle Pip for now. x

London

Well, here we are in Half Term and very relieved to be here. It seems that as children get older and hit the 'exam years' the terms become more and more fraught. Holidays give a much deserved break, even if most of them seems to be taken up with coursework and revision. On Sunday, however, we left all that behind and set off for London. L is now doing her Bar course and had booked for us to have lunch at her Inn of Court. The buildings were beautiful and there was a film crew filming a series called 'Grantchester' there - we had to run in quickly between scenes! Lunch was very pleasant - there was a talk beforehand about nuclear power, followed by winter vegetable salad with pesto dressing, wild mushroom risotto and then blueberry tart with ice cream. I couldn't eat a thing for the rest of the day! Here are a few photos of our visit:

As it was a Sunday, we drove into London rather than taking the train and happened to park near Dr. Johnson's house. There is a lovely statue of his cat, Hodge, in the square. Apparently, Hodge was 'a very fine cat indeed'!

Other things that have made me smile this week:

A cup of coffee and a slice of lemon and orange cheesecake, recipe to be found here. It was delicious but only as a once in a blue moon treat - it must contain a gazillion calories!

My new diffuser - freesia and wild pear:

Snatching a patchwork moment:

Seeing Fergus in the garden - he hasn't been around for a while but has made a welcome return. 

A cup of Red Bush tea and a few ripples:

E making L in pancake form!

Lastly, an antiques fair at the racecourse:

I was very restrained and didn't buy anything but it's always nice to have a poke round. 

Anyway, that's all for this week - tomorrow we're off to London again (I know, twice in one week!) to see 'The Importance of Being Earnest'. David Suchet (Poirot) is playing Lady Bracknell, so I'll let you know if he manages to carry it off! Enjoy the rest of the week.

Toodle Pip for now. x

Apples, Morris Dancing and a sheepish Ta-Dah!

Another week, another 'Apple Day'. This one, again local, was slightly more exciting than the last. As well as the usual apple juicing and tasting, this one had bees, basket weaving, animals and Morris Dancing! After watching 'The Wonder of Bees' with Martha Kearney this week (did anyone else catch this?) we quite enjoyed seeing the beekeepers. It was the Morris Men that we found the most entertaining though - who could fail to be cheered by all that bell jingling and stick bashing?! R wanted to buy a heritage apple tree for the garden - we already have 3 apples, 2 pears, 2 cherries, a crabapple and a plum, so, as far as I'm concerned, we're all set on the fruit front. Far be it from me though to stand between a man and his budding orchard! We got to taste the apples first, in order to make an informed decision, and we actually came away with not one but two trees - a Pitmaston Pineapple that, surprisingly, does taste of pineapple and a Ribstone Pippin. They're quite small at the moment so let's see if they manage to survive the attentions of Bambi et al.!

Other happies this week:

My new bunch of flowers:

Driving through Burnham Beeches to visit a friend for lunch. We used to live near here; it's a national nature reserve in Buckinghamshire and great for walking and cycling. I stopped the car and had a mindfulness moment with the sun slanting through the trees and Vaughan Williams' 'The Lark Ascending' playing on Classic FM - blissful.

Deciding to get my old rocking chair down from the loft (easier said than done!). I'm very attached to this as R bought it for me when I was in hospital having just given birth to L. My only problem with it is the colour-I'm not that keen on the orangey pine. It doesn't look too bad against the duck egg blue of the wall but I'm in 2 minds whether to paint it or not - what do you think?

A quiet moment with this month's CH and I, a cup of tea and a slice of Nigel Slater's Apple and Orange Cake, recipe to be found here.

This week's purchases at the Farmers' Market - the celeriac went into cream of celeriac soup and the fennel is for a veggie paella for later in the week:

Finishing L's winter hat. I have to confess to having slight issues with the size of the brim - it was slightly larger than necessary, so has to be worn turned up! Sadly, this means that the ribbing is hidden but L doesn't seem to mind (or is too polite to comment!) and it is very warm. R, however, thought it had a 'touch of the Smurf' about it!

 Finally, I'll leave you with a photo of Hamish pondering on the sofa:

 Like Winnie the Pooh, sometimes he likes to sit and think but mostly he just sits! 

Wishing you all a happy week.
Toodle Pip for now. x