Good Bye September - Hello October

As predicted at the beginning of the month, September was very, very busy in the pottering world.

I had a great day out in Gloucester, meeting up with some old work friends. Martin and I have managed to fit in two big caching trips, first with Jo & Steve and their girls, and secondly with mum, which was a bit of an adventure.

I can certainly tell that the school holidays are over, with having been to two Governor training sessions already and a calendar full of dates for the coming months.

I've been quite busy in the kitchen and I've made tomato and chilli jam and had a go at an apple strudel!

We've been pretty busy in the garden, but have not yet got round to fixing that front gate - I know I said this last month, but we will definitely have that as our top priority for October.

The end of the month found us on our fortnights holiday in a cottage on Dartmoor.  We were really lucky with the weather and got out and about every day, which I will tell you more about in my coming posts.

I've come back from Dartmoor feeling very motivated and inspired. There are loads of things I want to do. 

• I want to have a really good and thorough clutter clear right through the house.  If I don't love it or don't use it then it needs to go. 
• I want that flippin' gate finishing.
• I've a radiator that needs replacing.
• I want the autumn garden tidying done, including picking up all the dead leaves and 
• I want to have a go at mosaics. 

My first day back was very productive, but with none of the above. We went and did the post holiday shop, I make a fabulous chicken, leek and tarragon pie, with two extra small ones for the freezer and I made a batch of Rocky Road, and all by 2.00pm. I was on fire and hope it keeps up through the Autumn.

October is a big birthday month for us, with mum's birthday early on, followed by my old schoolfriend Lesley, who is also 50 this year, then Jackie, then Jo, so no doubt we will be doing lots of visiting.

There isn't much else planned for October so hopefully there will be time for another big garden tidy up before the winter months are upon us and who knows, we might actually achieve our goal of fitting the dratted gate.

Oh yeah, the guest bedroom is still a work in progress, so we've still got plenty going on, which gives me plenty to blog about, so please, please, please ......... keep reading.