Thursday Moments

Hello lovelies,

here are some snapshots of yesterday. I'm really enjoying taking half an hour from my day to write a little blog post about the previous 24 hours....I do hope you are finding these ordinary days interesting.

Thursday was another "at home" day. I had offered to have a friends two boys for a few hours. At this age ( almost 12 and 14) they are no trouble.....but added to my own three growing lads they certainly take up a lot of space......gangly legs to trip over everywhere :0)

I retreated to the kitchen and chopped veg for a slow cooker casserole ..........

and smiled at the seasonal colours.

Then I decided to do a little baking. I got out my old recipe file and found this......

I put my electric fan oven on 150 degrees Celsius.

I didn't have any oranges, but managed to "sort of" zest a couple of satsumas.......

and I decided to swap the marmalade in the recipe for this ginger preserve. I've had it for ages, but  didn't fancy eating it on toast.

The mixture was very sloppy but it did cook in an hour and smelt wonderful. I left it to cool and popped out on my bike.

I liked this Halloween window display..........

and the fireworks, to include bonfire night too.

and the florists display was very seasonal.........

After lunch I retreated upstairs, to enjoy a slice of home made cake..........

It was yummy and I was happy that everybody liked it. 

The ginger preserve just gives a little warmth, without overpowering the other flavours. And it's lovely and moist. The boys loved the crunchy top that the sprinkle of demerara sugar makes. There's not much left now.

I spent a couple of hours happily sitting on the bed, making circles......

and now I'm looking at my multicoloured sample again, I think I have to go with it.

At 4pm........with the moon already rising....eldest and I went for a little walk........

To make the most of the daylight, as I must at this time of year............

just a wander along our usual route is enough.........

I picked up more cherry leaves..........

because they are perfect at the moment.

Some more crochet in the evening takes my current circle total to 207.......yay, nearly there.

Right, I'm off to supervise pumpkin carving......Happy Halloween.

Jacquie x

Wednesday Moments

Hello Lovelies, 

well, what a difference a day makes. From the bright sun and 19 degrees celcius we had on Tuesday....to gloomy skies and 11 degrees yesterday.

 Happily it didn't stop us getting out and about. I got up extra early and took hubby to work, so we had transport. 

Then late morning we headed out to Bradgate Park with family.

You lovelies know how much I like taking sunny photos. Well, that wasn't going to happen yesterday.

But Bradgate is such a lovely place, and there's so much to see, that I didn't really mind.
 It certainly felt Octoberish ....all damp and chilly............

The Bracken was rusty.......

and brown Oak leaves littered the ground.........

We were all togged up in coats and hoods..........

But nobody seemed to mind. The boys and their cousins loved spotting the pretty Deer........

who were "just like Bambi", they said.

and we found a pretty spot by the river for a picnic..........

all finished off with a Birthday cake with candles for my Mum-in-law, who's special day it was............

 courtesy of my super thoughtful sister-in-law and her daughters.

After lunch it began to drizzle with rain and some of the group headed back to the car, but the rest of us went for a wander.

We were rewarded by close-ups of Deer with magnificent antlers.........

The ruins of Bradgate House in the background

and tempted to go a little further by the many paths that criss cross the Bracken..........

Old John tower was looking hazy in the mist and rain...........

We decided not to climb the hill today as it's further than it looks, but the children loved climbing this gnarled old Oak tree.......

Then we made our way back , past more pretty Deer....some were easy to spot..........

Others were much harder...........

There are some amazing veteran Oak trees here, all bumpy and hollow inside.........

It's fascinating to think they have been here almost 500 years..........

and may have been around in the time of  THIS lady. Bradgate's most famous Daughter, who had a sad, short, eventful life.

We walked along the easy path beside the river......



and gazed at the muted shades of Autumn...........

By this time it was raining quiet heavily, but there were still plenty of people around, and the Ducks seemed more than happy about that..........

We marvelled at the trees, which seemed to grow out of solid rock..........

Then it was time to say goodbye to Bradgate park..........

It was a lovely outing, despite the rain.

With less time to crochet, I only made eight circles yesterday.......here are the latest additions.......

Running total now 192.....I'm off to try and break the 200 barrier :0)

Jacquie x

Tuesday Moments

Hello Lovelies,
oh I'm so enjoying this at home week. There's a lovely relaxed atmosphere and time to photograph the simple things we are enjoying.

Yesterday morning we woke early, to sunshine. I left the boys in their P.J.'s and went for a little run.
Past the post box, and the sunrise caught my eye........

I had to stop and climb the stile, into the sunlit field..............

The whole space was bathed in a beautiful light and the grass glistened with dew.........

I blinked and stretched and really felt awake...........

It's uncommonly mild here for the time of year and I didn't feel even slightly chilly in my running vest at 7.45am............

Carrying on I noticed loads of berries in the Hawthorn hedges.........

and the suns rays just beginning to reach the allotments ..........

along the roadside I was amazed by the masses of Holly berries............

and loved the russet tones of these leaves.............

I am really enjoying Autumn so far and don't feel at all sad about the passing of Summer.
It's nice to see small reminders of those special seaside days though ...........this is on the bathroom windowsill........

A little hut on driftwood ....made in Charmouth, that I bought with some of my birthday money. And shells from Llanbedrog beach.

We were so fortunate to have two wonderful coastal holidays this year.

There's a sort of coastal theme on the landing too.....I've been having a change round and hanging more pictures.

 Mum kindly framed one of youngest's primary school paintings for me....I LOVE his cheerful fish picture and I'm loving orange at the moment ...........

the seaside flower print came from a charity shop in Criccieth and it too has a gorgeous pop of orange.

Back downstairs I decided to try this bread mix in the bread maker..........

Very cheaty home made bread :0)

Then we all went out on bikes once again. This time we headed for the garden centre in search of a birthday present for the boys Nanna ( my mum in law).
She's a keen gardener and somehow eldest managed to carry a new border fork, that  he chose for her, home on his bike....strapped to the frame.

I was tempted by so many things there..........some days nothing seems nice, others almost everything is a wanty.

On this occasion I could have bought loads, but I resisted everything except these wonderful Chinese lanterns..............

They are just to Autumny, and Orange :0)

Back home the bread maker had finished and the house smelled wonderful........

We all enjoyed this warm with some home made Leek and Potato soup that  I had in the freezer.

After lunch I enjoyed arranging my orange blooms in a vase...........

They are just silk, but my not adverse to silk flowers occasionally.............

and they make me smile..............

Tidying the mantle I remembered this little knitted witch I bought at a local craft fair last year. It was nice to search her out again, and add a very un-scary Halloween touch to the display.............

This week has been wonderful for slowing down and showing our home some love. I changed some of the blankets around too............

so nice to see my kaleidoscope blanket again.

And finally, there was time for some crochet.

Thank you lovelies for all your replies  to my border question. I'm still undecided, but in the mean time I'll just keep making circles...........

Yesterday I made 14.........so the running total is now 184....getting there :0)
Jacquie x