I didn't blog much in October, not for any particular reason, I was simply feeling uninspired, not just with blogging but in life in general. I'm pleased to say I'm feeling more upbeat, which might have something to do with the upcoming festivities (note how I didn't use the C word there?).

It's been a really nice week, here are some highlights.

On Saturday I met Sophie and Kezzie for a charity shop rummage in Ipswich. We generally have a successful day shopping, although we found fewer items than usual this time, we each returned home with a number of purchases.



I asked them both to stop me buying any wool, and twice Kezzie had to tell me 'step away'. And although I didn't need any books, I did have a mental list of five authors I was allowed to buy. I stuck to this except for a pristine copy of The Salt Path by Raynor Winn. I'd read a short review by Betty the day before, and loved the sound of it. It seemed too serendipitous for me to leave it behind.

Of the five authors I found books by four of them, coming home with six books, which is pretty restrained for me!

I'll share what else I bought in my Buyer's Archive post at the end of the month.

To bookend our shopping we visited a cafe called Hullabaloo. It's a plant based cafe, and one we only visited because our usual cafe was standing room only. Sophie spied it from across the street, proving to me once again that I've stopped really looking at my surroundings I've become so accustomed to them.



I had a delicious chocolate and beetroot cake (so nice I had it on both visits), and earl grey poured from a cute little teapot. I'll be going back there for sure, I much prefer independent cafes such as this to the likes of Costa or Cafe Nero, which seem to be on every street corner.

Kezzie asked if we were wearing fully charity shopped outfits, which would've been apt for our shopping expedition, but I realised I wasn't. Whilst my coat and top were charity shopped, my jeans, shoes, and bag were bought new. My thinking is that I'll only buy new items when I know for certain they'll stand the test of time. That said, it's rare for me to go into high street clothes shops these days, now that I know what treasures can be found second hand, the charity shops are my first port of call.

I have to admit to feeling some serious hair envy, both Sophie and Kezzie have gorgeously long hair, and the week before last I had a terrible haircut. I asked for 2 inches to be cut off and for layers around the face (I took pictures with me), but what I got was 5 inches hacked off and not a layer in sight. I cut layers myself when I got home but will have to wait for it to grow in length. I felt conscious of the 3 inches I'd been robbed of. I don't think I've ever had a haircut that I've been truly pleased with, even when I've been really clear (and realistic) about what I want. Is it just me?



Anyway, hair woes aside, I've been making loads of pom poms with my ridiculously huge stash of wool to make wreaths for a craft fayre. The first one is finished and looking jolly festive, I'd forgotten how much I enjoy making them, it's very relaxing. The fayre is two weeks away and I still have so much I want to make, so I'm planning a weekend of crafting (sod the housework).

Andy and I have been plotting for Christmas. We know what we're doing on Christmas Eve, and Christmas Day, and have turned our attention to buying gifts, we've even been out shopping. I think we've had some pretty inspired gift ideas. For my side of the family we keep things simple with a Secret Santa and have a £30 spending limit. We did it for the first time last year and it worked really well. Andy's sister would like to do it for their side of the family but is meeting some resistance... I doubt she'll give up trying though, and I secretly hope she succeeds.

I've had a night out with friends in a local steak house. I don't see these guys very often and it's great to catch up. Getting together is very much like stepping back in time to my 20s, it's reassuringly familiar, and always good fun.

Looking into the new year I booked tickets to see The Russian State Ballet of Siberia perform The Nutcracker in March. Earlier this year Mum and I went to the ballet for the first time, and vowed it wouldn't be the last. It's nice to have something in the diary for 2020.

What have you been up to this week?

The morning of October 27th went by in a flash and I hadn't realised that it was Photo An Hour until lunchtime. I'd spent the morning pottering, doing housework and bits and bobs so the photos wouldn't have been very exciting anyway.

1pm
I sat down for a pre Afternoon Tea snack. Knowing I was going to be eating lots of delicious sweet treats later on I went for a healthy option.


2pm
Pom poms in the making. It's the perfect thing to do when you've got an hour to spare.


3pm
Pom pom dust! I don't mind the fallout from pom pom making, at least it's pretty.


4pm
Afternoon tea. We went to Seckford Hall in Woodbridge, Suffolk. I can highly recommend it, the food is delicious, the service is good yet unobtrusive, and the location and venue are stunning.


5pm
It doesn't take long to demolish the dainty sandwiches and little sweet treats. I was the only one to eat all it, I'm not sure I should be proud of that fact for not...?


6pm
Home to tea by the fire (because I hadn’t drunk nearly enough tea that afternoon!). I got the fire going and sat with a satisfyingly full belly.


7pm
Neither cat was in the least bit interested Strictly Come Dancing, but it's become our Saturday night viewing.


8pm
Tink left her fireside spot to sit on my lap and then got annoyed when Socks nicked her spot by the fire!

By 9pm I was in bed with a book.

Thanks to Jane and Louisa for hosting #PhotoAnHour. 

 The first Saturday in August I was feeling distinctly off, but I couldn't put my finger on what exactly the matter was. My plan had been to do some small DIY jobs that have been on the to-do list for an age, but my heart just wasn't in it. Instead I visited my local charity shop, which is always guaranteed to cheer me up. I came home with a few books, a mug, and a gorgeous mustard coloured bag. Later in the day, when it had cooled a little, I sat outside reading with a cat on either side.

On the Sunday my mood hadn't improved much. It was hot, I was restless, and couldn't settle on what to do. I read, and knitted an alien. By the end of the day I was feeling better.


The following weekend I was feeling really tired and lacking in energy. Cursing the fact that this was the second weekend in a row that I felt under par I spent the day pottering, making pom pom wreaths, and watched Xanadu on DVD.


On the Sunday I visited my Mum and her husband. They were looking after Rosebud whilst her owners were on holiday. She was adorable and we made friends instantly. Although it's hard to drink a cup of tea with a waggy dog on your lap.

The following weekend was photo an hour.


For the final weekend I spent the Saturday with Andy's sister. She was visiting with her husband and three children and we had a chilled day making pom poms. We'd got together a few days earlier to teach the children how to make them and made enough to create a pom pom wreath for Rara (aka Grandma). It turned out really well, and was enough to get my sister-in-law and nephew completely hooked! So another day of making pom poms was requested and I was more than happy to oblige. We made enough to make a wreath for an aunt for Christmas.

On the Sunday we all went to an aunt and uncle's for a BBQ. Uncle worked for most of his life as a chef, he's retired now but this was the most amazing BBQ I've ever seen. We had sausages and burgers, but also chicken in two different marinades, prawn skewers, lamb, steak, and pork belly... and then there was the sampling of his extensive wine cellar. I got to meet their three gorgeous cats too.

But the very best part of the day was that Andy and his Dad took the afternoon off to join us. There had been just enough rain to stop work, down tools, and spend the afternoon relaxing. Ordinarily when rain stops play they spend the time servicing or repairing machinery, so for them both to take the afternoon off in August is very rare. It's the first time Andy has had any time off since the middle of June. It was a really lovely afternoon. We returned home in the early evening with full bellies and just chilled for the rest of the evening.


...................

It was my wish at the beginning of the year to avoid that Sunday night feeling of a weekend wasted. My goal was to have a plan in place for the coming weekend by each Friday evening. August, much like July, seems to have been largely dominated by the making of pom pom wreaths, but it's also been a good month for spending time with family. My older nephews got their GCSE and A Level results and both of them did really well. Nephew no.1 starts an engineering apprenticeship in September. I can't wrap my head around how he can possibly be a fully fledged grown up already. Nephew no.2 has started a weekend job and is working all the hours he can to buy himself a pair of trainers for £120!! He's just started his A Levels. And I had my 43rd Birthday.

Making pom pom wreaths has become a bit of an obsession recently. I'm spending far too much time turning balls of wool into little fluffy spheres and making them into one big soft circle!


They're so easy to do. I use pom pom makers. I ordered mine from Amazon but you can pick them up in other places too. If I didn't have these, I'd be using the old two pieces of cardboard method and I can guarantee that the obsession wouldn't have taken hold if I was doing it that way. It would take far too long.


I purchased some wire rings to use as a base. I started with 10" and have since used 14", 12" and 8" too. My very first wreath was made using a simple ring of cardboard. If I were to do that again I'd wrap the whole thing in wool, ribbon or fabric before tying on the pom poms, just to make it a little prettier.


I make a large selection of pom poms first and when I have what I think is enough, I begin tying them onto the ring. Generally I like to have an odd number of the largest size, so that it doesn't look too symmetrical, but this one didn't work out that way.


I don't like them to be too neat and precise so when I space them out I make the spacing random. I tie them on until all the space is filled, making more if I need to.


Then I step back and gaze at it a while. Sometimes I add another pom pom here or there, sometimes I remove one or two and make alternatives. This goes on until I'm happy with the end result.

And then I start all over again...

So I can look back at these after they're sold and in their new homes, here are all the wreaths I've made so far.

They all have names. My friend used to name each piece of furniture she restored and sold. When I started making these I knew that she'd love them so I named them all in her honour.


Rose


Holly


Merry

Dee


Robyn


Ivy


Berry

 Blythe

Candy

Belle

Dorothy

Luna

Hattie

Fizz

Buzz

Dasher

Violet

Dancer

Dolly

Rara. I spent a very enjoyable afternoon making this with my youngest nephew and two nieces. It's for their Grandma (aka Rara) to hang up for Christmas.

Lottie

The first full weekend of the month saw England play (and beat) Sweden in The World Cup. I watched the game alone as Andy was gearing up for harvest and working all day, everyday. He hadn't started working into the evenings but as kick-off was a 3pm, he missed the game.

I sat down with an elderflower spritzer and picked up my knitting (standard practice when watching football, yes?). I can't just sit and watch football, I have to have something else to do (I used knitting to ease the tension of the England vs Columbia penalties). By the end of the game I realised that I'd finished my third lion. Apt, right?

It seems like an eternity ago already, it's a shame we didn't make the final, but didn't the England team do us proud?

The Sunday was all about pom poms and writing blog posts. I always have 20 - 30 posts in draft, some which need updating as time goes on - my seasonal list, or my Day Zero updates for example, and others that I just need to get on and finish!


The following Saturday was Latitude. I camped at a site in Dunwich with friends on the Friday and Saturday nights. On the Friday I made my way to the campsite to help set up the tents in the afternoon. Whilst my friend returned to Ipswich to pick up his kids from school, I spent a few hours on the beach. I read, I napped a little, and I made a sea bouquet for our tent - something every tent should have!

The evening consisted of a BBQ on the beach, and sitting around a bonfire until 1am catching up with friends I haven't seen for far too long.


The next day we didn't get to the festival until 2pm and our first stop was to find food! I don't feel like I explored as much of the festival as I normally do. I didn't go into the forest at all, and there were lots of new things that I just didn't get time to check out.


I did meet up with Sophie though, and we fell back into our normal Latitude routine of bouncing between the Radio 6 tent and the main arena, with trips to the bar in between. I then found the friends I'd arrived with and headed to the main stage to watch The Killers. They were awesome. The 2 hour wait to get out of the car park however, was no fun at all. It was chaos and there was not a single warden around to help. Luckily I wasn't driving so I was able to get some sleep in the back of the car.

On the Sunday I got up surprisingly early considering I didn't get to bed until almost 2.30am. The day consisted of slowly packing up the tent, whilst drinking mug after mug of tea, and making my way home.

Andy was at work until late and I arrived home to an empty house with a touch of the festival blues. I made a pom pom wreath to keep myself occupied.

I'm hoping to go to Latitude for the entire weekend next year. I feel like I missed so much by only going for one day, but I did enjoy the camping tremendously. It's years since I've been.

The third weekend of the month was one I decided would be just general pottering and with a little being sociable thrown in.

The Saturday was all about pom pom making, and in the evening I went to friends house to watch a scary movie. The film was IT, which was rather good and thankfully not as scary as I thought it would be. Then we watched a documentary about a haunted farm house in the middle of nowhere. It was terrifying, and then I had to drive home to my farmhouse in the middle of nowhere... I had to have a cup of tea and a sit in the garden with my friends until I felt brave enough to drive home alone. In the cold light of day this seems ridiculous, at nearly 1am in the near pitch black it seems totally reasonable.


Sunday I made more pom poms (have I mentioned how addictive it is?) and Andy was working close by so he popped home for lunch, which was a lovely and unexpected surprise. Later I nipped to my  brother's for a while and came home with an abandoned knitting project to frog and make into more pom poms.


The final weekend was dedicated, once again, to pom poms. I made my biggest one yet - 14". Saturday was Photo An Hour and Sunday consisted of more pom poms and the making of a Malteser cheesecake for my nephew's 18th Birthday BBQ the following day.

...................

It was my wish at the beginning of the year to avoid that Sunday night feeling of a weekend wasted. My goal was to have a plan in place for the coming weekend by each Friday evening. July seems to have been largely dominated by pom poms (if you're wondering about the pom poms you can read more here. Long story short - I had a load of green wool that needed a use, I decided pom pom wreaths were the answer, and I'll be selling them on a craft stall in September, October and November), but it's also been a good month for seeing friends I haven't seen in far too long.

The 28th was #PhotoAnHour day in July. I took part, posting throughout the day on Instagram. But I don't think it was a very exciting day for photos as they mostly contained wool.

6am
It was too early to get up. Andy was already up and breakfasting before heading out to work. I read in the glorious coolness of the morning after a storm.

7am
The beasts were fed.

8am
I had the day to myself, what lay before me was a pile of wool, and a slight pom pom addiction. 

9am
I could see how the day was going to go... still in my pjs, I hadn't had breakfast, and I'd been awake for three hours, but ... pom poms.

10am
Yoga time. I've started to do at least 15 minutes a day and it's wonderful. And, yes, I wear flip flops a lot.

11am
And on it went (at least I was up and dressed by this time). 

12pm
I had help of the feline variety.

1pm
Lunch. And tea. And pom poms. I ate later than usual because I was so engrossed.

2pm
The cats bring them in, I take them out again. I wasn't sure if this was the one that had been living behind the dishwasher for two days, or a different one. Later on another one sauntered into the lounge.

3pm & 4pm
Feet up, film on. I knew this was going to be a ridiculous film, full of bad one-liners and improbable escapes and feats of strength. But a film is meant to be an escape from reality, right?

5pm
Another film, cat on lap.

6pm
Pom Pom wreath finished. I'd continued to make and attach these whilst watching the DVDs, I couldn't stop until I'd finished.

7pm
He knows when I want to take his photo. He was snoozing and looked really cute. But he refuses to let me capture it on camera. If I point a camera at him he licks his bottom.

8pm
I didn't take a photo because I was doing my evening pottering - a general tidy up, putting the dishwasher on, giving the cats their nightly treat - before going to bed early. 

9pm
Finishing the day how I started it. Bed, tea, book. Andy arrived home just before 10pm.            

Thanks to Jane and Louisa for hosting.