Another Photo An Hour post, albeit an incomplete one. October 22nd was the chosen day, thanks as ever to Louisa for hosting, I may not keep up to date with them but I do enjoy taking part.

6:30am small bed invader. Not sure what the day holds but it’s time to get the day underway.

7:30am another small bed invader. Bub is downstairs with Dada (as she currently calls him), I’m enjoying a hot cup of tea. Really should get up and make porridge for the little one to smear about the place…

9:30am dressed. If you point that camera at me, I’m going to point at you. We’re breakfasted, bathed, dressed, and now it’s time for some mischief and bed bouncing.

10:30am climbing? This is not a good development…

11:30am little one is zonked out, I’m wondering why the heck I didn’t make myself a cuppa before I sat down. Rookie mistake!

12:30pm lunch.

1:30pm want to keep a toddler quiet for 10 minutes? Put a box on the floor.

4:30pm back from visiting a friend for a cuppa, trying to organise my office, not achieving much.

Once again my capsule started out looking very different to how it ended. I swapped a number of maternity items for normal clothes, and swapped a few other items, adding some new colourful purchases made in November and early December.

My green skirt got a lot of wear in the autumn. Mild weather in early October allowed me to stick with bare legs for a few weeks, before layers and boots took over.
And I love how it worked with layers. It's by far my favourite purchase of 2017, and worth every penny of it's rather reasonable £25.60 price tag.


The addition of colour really cheered me up. I've hardly stopped wearing the new items since they arrived - a sign of a good purchase I think.



The original capsule had 36 items.


The final edit had just 30, but it was more than enough to see me through.

The green skirt remains in my winter capsule, along with a lot of the items purchased recently, and a leather jacket I found hanging in the cupboard under the stairs that I'd completely forgotten about. I love how discovering an old favourite, and a few new items can rejuvenate your wardrobe. I feel like I've got so many new outfit combinations, I particularly love my new pink jumper worn with my old khaki mini skirt.

I've found wearing colour to be a fabulous antidote to the January blues. I hope 2018 is treating you well so far.
x

I can not believe it's nearly Christmas, I really don't know where the time has gone. Some of the things on this list seem like I did them eons ago, and yet I ran out of time to do them all. Still, it's been a lovely season in many ways. Winter maybe upon us but that means spring isn't far away and soon we'll have a whole brand new year in which to marvel at how quickly it is passing.

Here's how I got on with my autumn things-to-do list

Make fat balls for the birds and keep them coming throughout autumn and winter
Making these was messy and rather satisfying. I found a super simple recipe (some seemed necessarily complicated) and got stuck in. I made enough to fill my feeders twice over and have enough ingredients to continue making them well into the new year.

Watch a scary movie on Halloween
I didn't watch a movie but I did start to watch series 6 of The Walking Dead. I don't find this scary as such, however I can't watch it when it's dark outside.

Watch under 16s football from the sidelines (so much better than watching the overpaid 'professionals')
One of my nephews plays, and my brother is team manager. I enjoy watching a game or two and can be found shouting things like 'Go on Wanderers!' or 'Ref, are you blind?!!!!' whenever I grace the sidelines. This is rather uncharacteristic as I detest professional football.

Knit!
I got my sticks out and decided to make some toys, I knitted a lion (Leo) and a monkey (Moo). The monkey has been made several times before. He's really easy to knit, and so is perfect for my limited skills.

Spend Black Friday making handmade gifts
Rolling two goals into one, I was knitting on Black Friday. Leo and Moo are going to a good home in March when a friend's brother's baby boy arrives.

Make your own chai latte
I've long wanted to make my own, but all the different ingredients meant I was always missing one ingredient or another. I found a really simple cheat recipe and ordered myself some teapigs chai tea temples and a milk whisk and I was all set. Accompanied by a mince pie, it was pretty perfect. If you make it, please just remember to put the whisk in the milk and then turn it on. I didn't do that and splatter myself with milk, oh no (I did).

Paint pottery
I daubed a large bauble and a cute Father Christmas face at Crafty Coffee in Felixstowe - a lovely little place if you're ever in the area. And if you don't fancy painting anything, and they're not busy, they don't mind you just having a coffee and munching on a (delicious) cheese scone.

Go on a charity shop search for warm woollens
I did go on a good romp around the charity shops but found only one jumper, a lovely emerald green fine knit, originally from Zara. I'd say it's more of a summer knit but I'm not afraid of a bit of layering. I also found a lovely scarf - super soft and super huge!

Eat a Cadbury's Ghoost Egg, or a box of Mr Kipling's Fiendish Fancies, or both
Both, and some Mr Kipling Toffee Terror Whirls that had been reduced the day after Halloween :)

Get cosy and read
Over Autumn I read much less than I intended. I only read three books and given that I've read 45 books this year, it doesn't seem like much. My favourite of these books was A Boy Made of Blocks by Keith Stuart. I read a review over on t*rexes and tiaras in October last year, it came highly recommended so I put it on my to-read list. As luck would have it I found it in a charity shop in the summer and it didn't disappoint!

And the goals that life got in the way of  - prepare a crumble using foraged fruits and serve with piping hot custard, enjoy a homemade soup for lunch with fresh crusty granary rolls, needle felt some acorns, light a bonfire and roast marshmallows, plant spring flowering bulbs, turn off the TV and do a jigsaw puzzle (we got waaaaay to into watching box sets for this).

Maybe I'll get to do all of these things next year instead?

And so on to winter, what are your favourite winter pursuits?

Make fat balls for the birds and keep them coming throughout autumn and winter

Prepare a crumble using foraged fruits and serve with piping hot custard

Enjoy a homemade soup for lunch with fresh crusty granary rolls

Watch a scary movie on Halloween

Watch under 16s football from the sidelines (so much better than watching the overpaid 'professionals')

Light a bonfire and roast marshmallows

Knit!

Make your own chai latte

Paint pottery

Plant spring flowering bulbs

Needle felt some acorns

Go on a charity shop search for warm woollens

Eat a Cadbury's Ghoost Egg, or a box of Mr Kipling's Fiendish Fancies, or both

Turn off the TV and do a jigsaw puzzle

Spend Black Friday making handmade gifts

Get cosy and read

Let me know what autumnal things you like to do!

I decided to build my capsule wardrobe in a slightly different way this season. Instead of sitting down and picking out all 36 items in one sitting, I allowed it to develop naturally. At the start of October I simply looked in my wardrobe each morning and picked out an outfit that I wanted to wear. By the end of the week I'd got the basics of the capsule sorted - jeans, green skirt (obviously), jumpers, denim jacket, long sleeved stripey t-shirt, lace motif t-shirt, and gingham dress.

I knew I'd need coats, so I added my grey coat, my wax jacket, and a long grey cardy that acts as a coat (not a coatigan, that's not a real word!!).

I met up with Sophie for our annual autumn charity shop rummage and found a gingham shirt, which of course was added to the capsule. When I buy something new, or new to me, I have an irresistible urge to wear it as soon as humanly possible. I also felt the need to add recent purchases of a vaguely Christmassy jumper and heart print shirt.

Since then I've added some colour in the form of a red dress, pink t-shirt, and burgundy heart print shirt. My newly dyed yellow maxi added a bit of an autumnal hue. It's become a wardrobe staple, it's been in very capsule since last summer.

The rest fell into place over the next week.

I have to admit I've been mostly been living in jeans, it happens every autumn when the sun goes in, my jeans come out and I feel like I've gone into hibernation. I've only worn my green skirt a few times since the summer ended. Last time I wore it, I tripped whilst taking it off (I have no idea how I managed that), and tore the fabric around the zip. I think I can mend it, I just need to buy some thread in the right colour.

Are you enjoying autumn so far?

My summer capsule wardrobe changed somewhat over the course of the season. Some items I decided I wouldn't wear, others became worn out, some pieces I didn't wear because the weather just wasn't up to scratch. So at the end of the three months my capsule looked very different from how it did at the start.




My green skirt was worn frequently, it's definitely my favourite purchase so far this year, but it meant that my other skirts weren't worn as much as last year. And I hardly wore a dress at all.

I added a grey lace motif t-shirt and a gingham dress to the capsule, both of which I was given for my birthday, because I wanted to wear them immediately. I added a blue California motif t-shirt when my favourite grey one twisted a little more each time it was washed, until I had to admit it had become unwearable. I hate saying goodbye to a favourite piece of clothing, don't you?


Thanks to the weather I wore my jumpers more than I'd wanted to, and swapped my ankle grazing skinny jeans for my trusty bootcut jeans, and then added a pair of wide leg jeans having I found them for a bargain £2.00 in a charity shop.

So this capsule was swapped and changed more than any other, and in the end I wore fewer items than the original 36 picked out. But I loved all the outfits it combined to make and really enjoyed the capsule, despite that fact that all my colourful over-the-knee options where rendered unwearable by the weather.

Last year I found putting my autumn capsule together a bit tricky as the weather was still so nice in October, but this year it's going to be much easier, it'll be warm clothes all the way. Bring on the jumpers!

Autumn has gone by so quickly this year, it hardly seems possible that we're at the end of 2016 already. I'm looking forward to slowing down and spending time with family over the next few weeks. I need a break, life has just been all too hectic!

How did I do on my autumn list?

1. Forage for sloes and make some gin
I made some blackberry gin this year, as well as a small quantity of elderberry gin, but I waited too long to forage for sloes and missed them. I do have last year's batch to enjoy over Christmas though.

2. Go to the beach
I went only once, this time accompanied by my husband, we stayed over night in a hotel looking out over the sea.

3. Watch a live theatre production at the cinema
I didn't make it, but there is always next year...

4. Carve a pumpkin or two
I got my mitts on a power drill and got Yayoi Kusama-esque!

5. Watch a creepy film on Halloween
Andy and I watched the final two Saw films. Although I still haven't given them back to the person who lent them to me several years ago!

6. See a film in the afternoon (at the cinema)
Autumn got busy, and time disappeared. A nice one for my winter list though!

7. Visit our local museum
We said we'd return, we still haven't. One day... maybe.

8. Felt for Christmas
I had such plans! And failed to make a single thing.

9. Leave the country
Nope. Time and work did not allow. Andy seems to have gone off the idea of visiting France, which gave me a temporary glimmer of hope for a foreign adventure.

10. A walk in the park
I wanted to visit Holywells Park. But I failed to do this too, I had a few lovely walks woodland with Andy though.

Autumn has been busy, although I didn't tick off everything on my list I did, amongst other things, learnt to crochet, went on a charity shop jaunt with Sophie, lunched with friends, gave blood, held two craft stalls, foraged, naturally treated allergies, hosted a firework night, visited family, dined with friends, went out - like out out, after dark - four times (that's a lot for me these days). Yup, it's been a good season on the whole.

And now for winter.

I had seven spaces left to fill in my 37 piece autumn capsule wardrobe. I've added a few old favourites and some items found on a recent charity shop rummage, and I think all of them will work well as capsule pieces.

To start I added my first ever preloved purchase - a long Tu cardigan - from the Age Concern shop in Ipswich (which is sadly no longer there). It tends to be my put-on-over-anything-at-the-end-of-the-day-cardigan because it's warm, and some days that's all I'm concerned about.

Next up - my most recent charity shop purchases, a Phase Eight dress (Cancer Research) and Monsoon cardigan (RSPCA). The dress might be made into a skirt, but I'll wear it a few times first to see how I get on. The cardigan isn't exactly flattering but it's slouchy, cosy and warm.

Also, a few old wardrobes faithfuls - Next grey jumper that's been around for years, and New Look grey cardigan, both where purchased new but are now down to mere pennies in cost-per-wear value.

Then we have my preloved stripe jumper, which reminds me of Minnie the Minx, and a check skirt that hasn't been worn nearly enough - so I wore it immediately.

After I enjoyed my summer capsule so much, this ones seems rather boring in comparison, but then I always tend to revert to bog standard jeans and jumper outfits when the weather gets cold. The first few weeks of autumn were lovely, still hanging on to remnants of the sun I was able to go out in ankle grazing trousers and bare legs on occasion, but these days quickly passed.

Cold winds and driving rain have me reaching for layers and I'm less concerned with how an outfit looks, and more with how warm it is. But every once in a while I pull on a skirt or dress and come out of slob mode.

My autumn capsule wardrobe now looks like this -


How are you coping with the weather getting colder? Have you had snow yet?

I know we're only half way through autumn but so far it's been lovely. I miss summer when it ends and usually take some time to readjust to the new season, but not this year.

The best bits?

Rose hips
This has to be pretty close to the top of the list - foraging for them, making them into syrup, and ingesting it! It feels really good to have foraged for something that I didn't intend to make gin with!

I've made two batches. The first is almost finished and a few days ago I made a second, this time using light golden cane sugar (as I'm allergic to sugar beet), which was totally inspired by Sophie.

This batch yielded almost twice as much syrup than the first, I had to abandon my fancy pants Kilner bottle and use an old gin bottle instead! Not that I'm complaining, it should last me a good long while.

My favourite way to use it is for breakfast, either drizzled in porridge, with soya yogurt and apple, or on pancakes.

Last time I met up with Sophie, we had a conversation about how nice it is to look forward to certain things that you can only get at different times of the year. This will definitely be one of the things I look forward to when autumn rolls around next year.


Walnuts
We have a tree in our garden and this year I bagged up all the fallen nuts and Googled what to do with them. Turns out it's pretty simple - eat them! As they had already fallen from the tree, and shed their husks, nature had done the hard work for me. I'd never tried green walnuts before and they're delicious! Thanks to Instagram (and Betty Herbert), I discovered that I can open the shells with a dinner knife, rather than whacking them with a saucepan - the former is much easier than the later!


Bonfires
Jennifer from Pastry and Purls mentioned bonfires and as soon as I read it, I started hankering after the smoky, crackle of a bonfire. My husband obliged (and marshmallows were involved).


Sloe gin
Straining the gin that's been sitting in my cupboard for a year was a delight. I made a cocktail devised by the bartender from the Crown Hotel in Bury St Edmunds - a sloe gin fizz, and thought what a shame it was that I hadn't picked any sloes this year. But I do have blackberry gin brewing...

Roast dinners
No photo - too busy eating! The first one since spring is always a goodie, even if I did burn the parsnips a little. We had pheasant, shot locally, and dressed by my husband. We actually sat at the table to eat, at the same time, together - this doesn't happen very often.

What are your best bits of autumn so far?

With so many hedgerows around our home I decided that this year I'd make more of the fruits they have to offer.

Rose hips were in plentiful supply, so I spent a rather soggy afternoon gathering enough to make a good quantity of rose hip syrup.

I used the River Cottage recipe.

I collected 1kg of rosehips which produced almost 500ml of syrup. It was rather therapeutic whizzing them up in batches. I added 1.25 litres water, bought the mixture to the boil, and let it simmer for 15 minutes.

I then strained the mixture through two layers of muslin (two layers to be sure to get rid of the little hairs), leaving this to sit for 30 minutes so all the juice drained through.

Next I added 325g sugar, and heated this slowly until all the sugar had dissolved. Once done, I decanted this gorgeous looking liquid into a swing top bottle. It'll keep for four months in the fridge, although I doubt it will last anywhere near that long.


For my first taste I added a glug to plain (soya) yogurt, and topped with apple chunks. Verdict: lovely!

Rose hips contain twenty times more vitamin C than oranges, so they can help ward off a cold in winter, a teaspoon daily is enough or you can mix it with water like a cordial. It makes a tasty refreshing drink - fruity and sweet.


The next morning I enjoyed a breakfast of pancakes, replacing my usual maple syrup with rose hip. It gave a slightly tangy fruity taste, a nice change from the norm. Verdict: Delicious, I wanted seconds! I can see myself happily starting the day this way for a while.


I've found a lovely dairy free vanilla ice cream and a drizzle of rose hip syrup gave it a fruity twist. I added some blackberries that were a tiny bit sour, the syrup sweetened them just enough.



Apparently it's good with rice pudding too (one of my favourites) but I've yet to investigate a dairy free version. I could always make my own, and I can imagine the addition of rosehip syrup would be delicious. My porridge is also going to be rose hipped the next time I make it.

You can use it to sweeten and add flavour to tea but I love my teas exactly as they are (I gave up sweetening my tea when I found ants in the sugar bowl on a Brownie camp when I was about ten years old).

At this rate my bottle won't last nearly long enough, so I might just have to venture out again to gather more for a second batch. And when that's gone I'll look forward to making more next year, it can be my annual autumn sweet treat!

Have you made or tried rose hip syrup - how do you use it?

I thought it would be fun to post a week of outfits from my autumn capsule wardrobe.

I wanted to make the most of the remaining warmer weather, before all hope of going coatless was gone until spring returned once again. Early October saw some pretty good weather, allowing me to wear items in my capsule that in all probability, I won't wear again now that the colder weather has kicked in.

Monday
Wearing one of my latest purchases for the first time, some fringed loafers from Next. I knew when I bought them that they'd look super with this dress. The dress was saved from the rag bin by being mended, and the cardigan is pre-loved, purchased on a day out with Sophie and Kezzie. The bag was bought back in October 2011, and it's starting to get that lovely worn, lived-in look that leather gets when it's been well used.
Tuesday
The wind was on the chilly side so I opted for knee high boots under my maxi skirt instead of my summer staples of ballet flats and loafers. They went rather well with this Fat Face cross the body bag - a birthday gift from Andy. The boots where a prize for coming 2nd place in one of Ceri's Ethical Outfit Competitions (with this entry). The denim jacket, skirt, and t-shirt are all pre-loved.

Wednesday
My necklace is a very recent purchase, one that I almost left in the shop. I couldn't think of a single thing I could wear it with... until I remembered this dress, this is the exactly how I imagined I'd wear it.


Thursday
Wearing that necklace again (poms poms and tassels!). The top is a few years old (first worn to a red carpet themed birthday party), the Toms I purchased in April this year, the Zara dungarees in August. They're pre-loved from ebay and possibly one of my favourite purchases of the year so far.

Later I popped a cardy over the top and was quickly reminded of the undressing required when nature calls, I can't be doing with that faff and this could mean these don't get worn much from here on in. It's fine though, I can put them away knowing that when the weather warms up I can enjoy wearing them again. It's unrealistic to think that you can wear everything all year round (but that doesn't stop me trying!).


Friday
Back in my beloved clothes swap midi skirt. I wore this a lot in spring, but not at all in summer because I decided to change the waistband (again), and it then spent the next three months sitting in my sewing pile!


Saturday
It's not often that I have an outfit these days that doesn't contain at least one pre-loved item but this is one of them. That said, every piece has been worn time and time again, and I've got no intention of stopping anytime soon.


Sunday
For the chilliest, yet sunniest day of the week, I'm back in my skinny jeans after an entire summer without them. I like that I'm wearing jeans less frequently these days, thanks to my capsule wardrobe, but you really can't beat a simple jeans and jumper combo. I added a scarf today, not because it's really cold, but because I've mentally let go of summer.


So there it is, a week in my autumn capsule wardrobe. I did love my summer capsule but it is nice to have a few different items to wear.

The warm weather has left us now, the sun still shines a little most days but the general temperature has turned decidedly colder, and it seemed to change noticeably almost overnight. I doubt I'll be going out with bare legs again, now I'll be found snuggling up in thick jumpers, wrapping myself in scarves.

So long summer. I look forward to seeing you again.

I loved my summer capsule and have to admit to feeling a little sad that I've put away some of the items until next year. I think it's been my favourite capsule so far.

An autumn capsule feels a lot like spring in that the weather could see warm days and cold, wet days.

I need to cover all bases. Many items from my summer capsule will remain, some have been in all three capsules so far are now making it a full house moving into the forth - my navy boat neck jumper, mid length navy cardigan, and a long sleeve stripe t-shirt.

I currently have 30 of my 37 items for autumn, I've left 7 slots open so I can add things as I go (and I have a shopping trip with Sophie coming up and we always come away with, ahem, a few purchases).

I've kept 19 of my summer capsule items, and have 9 items that have reappeared after being put away for spring and / or summer. So far I have two brand new items - my Next military coat and a long sleeved navy jumper that Andy gave me for my birthday.

I have 17 items that I've bought new, and 13 pre-loved items in this capsule, with most of my favourite pieces being from this category. One day I might add a made-by-me category...


The rules of this capsule wardrobe are simple:
- Pick 37 items from my wardrobe
- Store everything else away
- Accessories, gym clothes (ha!), PJs, and going out clothes are not included the capsule

There is a fourth rule, but it's not one that I seem to be able to stick too, and that's to stop all spending for the duration of each capsule, only making purchases at the beginning of each.

I'm quite relaxed about the rules. If I haven't worn an item I'm happy to swap it for something I feel I might wear more. I find this helps me to identify items that work in my wardrobe and those that don't, as a result I'm regularly popping items in a bag to go to charity.

I am looking forward to getting cosy in a few of my favourite jumpers, and it's time my scarves came out of hiding too. Happy autumn everyone!

Have you ever tried a capsule wardrobe? How did you get on?

My seasonal capsule wardrobe is inspired by Un-Fancy.

With autumn almost here and the days getting noticeably shorter, I'm looking ahead to the next few months and planning some seasonal activities. Let me know in the comments what you like to do in this beautiful season of reds and golds.
1. Forage for sloes and make some gin
An autumn staple, you can never have too much gin. I want to attempt some blackberry gin this year as well (and not just because it's ready to drink immediately!).

2. Go to the beach
I love the solitude of the beach in the colder months. Add hot salty chips to the mix and I'm in my own little version of heaven.

3. Watch a live theatre production at the cinema
I've been checking out Abbeygate Cinema, Bolshoi: The Bright Stream and ROH Live: Les Contes D'Hoffmann look like possible contenders for a bit of culture.

4. Carve a pumpkin or two
This year I want to try something Yayoi Kusama-esque! I'm gutted I missed this exhibition when it came to London.

5. Watch a creepy film on Halloween
I have the final two Saw films to watch, they've been gathering dust on my shelf for four years or more, and I really should give them back to the person who lent them to me.

6. See a film in the afternoon
A great way to spend a rainy afternoon, followed by a hearty pub meal.

7. Visit our local museum
Andy and I visited Ipswich Museum when we were first dating, we said we'd go back...

8. Felt for Christmas
I know, it does seem a little early to be thinking about Christmas but I have some ideas for gifts I'd like to felt for people and I don't want to leave it to the last minute.

9. Leave the country
Andy did mention something about visiting France... I can but hope.

10. A walk in the park
Christchurch Park in Ipswich is a fabulous park, and one that I have visited many, many times over the course of my life. But it's not the only park we have and I want to rediscover the others, starting with Holywells Park. It's been years since I visited last.

My to-do list for Autumn was a simple one, but full of nice things to do.

1. Forage for sloes and make some gin
Yep! Good tip - freeze the sloes so they'll split when they thaw and you won't need to prick them all individually (something I wish I'd known last year!).

And FYI the sloe gin I made last year was (yep, it was consumed in a matter of days) delicious. Looking forward to the next batch! 

2. Go to the beach
Nope, once the weather turned towards the cooler end of the spectrum I turned chicken and stayed at home in the warm. I have a feeling I'll be going coastal pretty soon though, I got me a hankering for some sea air, and salty chips.

3. Watch Hamlet, National Theatre Live
I was hoping to watch this at my local cinema on October 15th. But there was a teeny tiny problem with this plan, in that I wasn't in the country, I was on a plane to Morocco.

4. Carve a pumpkin or two
I made a pumpkitten

5. Watch a creepy film on Halloween
Without realising that it was Halloween (the days can slip away from you when you work from home) I invited by brother and his family over for hotdogs and a bonfire, so no scary movie but it was a lovely mild night and we had a really lovely evening. And sparklers.

6. Bake a Bakewell Tart
My friend Helen read my Autumn List (Hi Helen *waves*) and gave me her recipe. I made it for a family gathering, it was super simple, and it was delicious. Most people had a second helping.

7. Wear my scarves.
I haven't worn scarves so much this year. Which probably has something to do with the milder weather as I normally wear one daily. But also, since I've had my hair cut short scarves seem get in the way, my hair doesn't sit right and I find it sticks out, making me look like a character from Pigeon Street. That said, when it gets cold enough comfort will win out over style.

8. Read 3 books
Not That Kind of Girl by Lena Dunham. I really enjoyed this, I'm not the target audience but the style of writing was chatting, funny and self depreciating. It left me thankful that I'm not in my twenties anymore. I might not feel like I've got my shit together most days but I can safely say that I'm more together than I was in my 20s. Life is simpler and more settled in many ways but, at the same time, more complicated - in better a way.

And Rebel of the Sands by Alwyn Hamilton. Again I'm not the target audience, this is YA fiction but I was sent an advanced reader copy through work (free books yay!) and I really enjoyed it. It's due to be released in February and is the first book in a series of 3.

It charts the journey of a young head strong girl, from the only town she's ever known, on an adventure that would take her across the dessert, into a rebellion, and to a life she could never have imagined. I found this a delightful and easy read.

I'm currently reading Alice In Wonderland for the first time. Seen the movie, never read the book. Until now. I'm loving it!

9. See the new 007 film Spectre
Half term, early afternoon and my best friend. Job done. Did you see it? I really enjoyed it, it was classic Bond. Perfect big screen nonsense.

I think that Idris Elba should be the next Bond. Just sayin'. But if Daniel Craig would like to hang around, that's fine too.

10. Make stew and dumplings
Yes! And I'll be making them again.

Did you enjoy autumn? What do you have planned for Winter?

Yesterday I posted my Summer '15 list, so it stands to reason that today I'd follow with my Autumn '15 list. I started these seasonal lists in the autumn last year, so I'm going to add some of the things I didn't do last year, with the intention of not failing so miserably again.

1. Forage for sloes and make some gin
I did this last year and the result still sits in the cupboard waiting to be enjoyed, you can drink it after three months but I was told it's much better if you wait a year. I can't wait to try it, but I'm saving it for the festive season. This autumn I'll be preparing another batch for next year.

And, going off topic for a moment, in the summer I'm going to make elderflower gin (just popping the link here so I don't forget!).

2. Go to the beach
I didn't go in Autumn last year, the plan was to wrap up warm and eat hot salty, vinegary chips. But I will go. And yes, I did this a few days ago but strolling along the beach with hardly a soul to be seen was wonderful. I started from one end of the promenade and ended at the other with some salty chips and a mug of hot sweet tea. Sitting there on a slightly grubby bench, I started reading a book I'd just picked up for a quid in a charity shop - Not That Kind of Girl by Lena Dunham. I enjoyed the bracing sea air, the sound of the waves, the solitude, and the chips. Things like this should be repeated ad infinitum.

3. Watch Hamlet
National Theatre Live at my local cinema. Two words - Benedict Cumberbatch. Thursday October 15th. Must. Not. Forget.

4. Carve a pumpkin or two
Hopefully I'll have better luck than in 2013, when I slipped with the knife whilst carving the face and cut my finger.

5. Watch a creepy film on Halloween
This is another one I failed to do last year. Queue some Propercorn (fiery worcester sauce & sun-dried tomato for Andy, sweet & salty for me) and a blanket to hide behind.

6. Bake!
Last year was the year of apple crumble, if I can find some blackberries this year I'll add them into the mix. But I'd like to try baking a Bakewell Tart (let's hope I can bake it well) (sorry not sorry), it's one of my favourites, so if you have any good recipes - point me in their direction! In the meantime I'll be trying these bakewell cupcakes.

7. Wear my scarves.
I banned myself from buying any scarves this year and so far I've managed it (if you don't include a snood (which I don't) purchased in February). I'm certain that the autumn and winter months are going to prove be the hardest to stick to my ban, so I'm going to set myself a mini challenge to wear all the scarves I own this season.

8. Read 3 books
I love reading, but sometimes I simply forget to. Adding this to my lists helps to keep me picking up my book. I have so many to read! *hides three more purchased yesterday under desk*.

9. See the new 007 film Spectre
My Dad is always a willing companion.

10. Make stew and dumplings
Andy has never eaten a dumpling. Can you imagine?

One thing I won't be doing this autumn - buying a pumpkin spiced flavour anything *pulls yucky face*

(Day 26 of blogging everyday for 40 days)

It's hard to remain in the summer mindset when it's so grey and dull outside, and while I'm holding out hope for an Indian summer, I can't help but turn my thoughts to Autumn.

Shops are already full of new season collections and well, it's all just so lovely and cosy and tactile.

When in Zara recently I saw so many lovely things. I went home and downloaded the app, which puts my bank balance in serious jeopardy.

Just a quick browse and I'm left with a huge mental wish list...







(Day 7 of blogging everyday for 40 days)