Tuesday 11 September 2018

Joy in the Everyday Ordinary - September, 1-10

Hi there everyone 😀

Can you believe we're in September already? This year has absolutely flown by but I am just about ready for Autumn. I think it's my favourite season.

I love the colours as the leaves start to turn, dark nights, cosying up, lighting candles, getting cold and warming up with home made soups, slow cooker dinners, celebrating birthdays and watching loads of reality TV ... please don't judge me 😳

At the beginning of the month I did start to wonder if I wanted to continue with this series of posts. It's not that I didn't have lots of little things to be thankful for or to be happy about ... I just had a few days where I forgot to take photos and I didn't wanted to cheat. Anyway, after writing my 'When September Comes' post, I felt re-invigorated and managed to capture the moments that I had missed retrospectively, so here we are with the start of Autumn 2018 ...
Day 1 - We were up and out early with the craft stall, attending a local dog show. Our journey there was a real treat with the hazy morning sun desperately trying to break through. We saw plenty of signs of the changing of the season, from fat prickly horse chestnuts to the deep brown earth of freshly ploughed fields. We just had to stop and capture the image of these round bales of hay just waiting to be taken in for the Winter. 







Day 2 - There is always a big list of jobs that we need to do at this time of year to get the garden ready for winter. We've learned the hard way that if we don't get some things done then it makes for a hard life in the spring. The first job this year was to give the privet it's autumn haircut, turning it from an unruly mess into, what has locally become known as, the 'Hovis loaf'. I love seeing it all trimmed and tidy and ready for winter and there was a real sense of satisfaction of one job being ticked off the list.
Day 3 - We did just a little bit more in the garden today, including relegating the first of the hanging baskets to the bin, to be replaced with this pretty hanging decoration that I bought on my recent visit to Snowshill Manor and Gardens. Whilst it was sad to see the start of the end of the summer floral display, I think this will do quite nicely for the winter.
Day 4 - It seems like an absolute age since I've had a good book to read so, after watching Bake Off, I headed up for an early night and made a start on one of the books I bought to take on holiday. I just couldn't wait. I really enjoyed it. A nice easy read that I finished over a couple of nights.
Day 5 - As we tend to cook all of our meals from scratch, this can become a bit of a chore on occasion. Over the last few weeks I've been trying to double up on some recipes, putting the extra in the freezer for an easy night's tea the following week. This week it was cottage pie and it is very good to know that there is one all ready and waiting for a day when we fancy cottage pie without the effort of having to cook it.
Day 6 - We worked hard today. Getting the dining room ready for the final bit of new carpet fitting on Friday. We managed to empty the room by spreading the furniture and its contents all over the house and had plenty of floor board renovation to be getting on with. Hopefully we will have managed to stop some of the creaking and rattling of cupboard contents every time we walk across the room.
Day 7 - So, that's it! Last carpet fitted and everything back as it should be and we both love it. I've lived in this house for over 20 years and this is the first time I can say that I love all of the downstairs and the stairs at the same time. Only problem now is ... that it makes the bedrooms and bathroom feel a bit tired ... sounds like next year's list is already beginning. 
Day 8 - After a pretty busy week it was a morning of enforced relaxation and celebrity gossip for me whilst waiting for my colour to go off. Whilst it was a lovely relaxing couple of hours spent I found out my hair dresser is having a baby ... bittersweet! The relaxation carried on with an evening of Strictly and X-Factor. Loving Saturday nights in the autumn.
Day 9 - Well, it was a toss up between going up the ladders to give the conifers their annual trim or taking off four interior doors to shave the bottoms off following the laying of the new carpet in the dining room. Not really feeling it for either we decided to pick up mum and head over to a vintage fair at Moira Furnace, where, totally unexpectedly, we bumped into this little man. We spent a lovely hour or so watching the little monkey get braver and braver on the children's playground before saying our good byes and having a mooch round the vintage fair and heading back home for a lazy afternoon.
Day 10 - After our day off on Sunday there was nothing for it ... the conifers were given their annual trim, which entailed lots of precarious balancing at the top of a ladder whilst waving around the Black and Decker hedge trimmers. After about a three hour stint we were all sorted and packed away ... for another year. I hate them really, but they do give us a bit of privacy and the thought of the effort involved in taking them out is a bit traumatic. For now, I've chuffed with our achievement at getting them tidied up for the winter. I spent the rest of the day curled up on the sofa doing a bit of hooky. I've wanted to have a go at these pumpkins for ages and, after a dummy run with some wool that was just the wrong colour, I managed to finish off this one and I just love it ðŸŽƒðŸŽƒðŸŽƒ

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