Random Ramblings :: It's beginning to feel just a tiny little bit like Christmas

Hi there everyone 😀

So tomorrow is 1st December and I can finally share this year's Advent gifts with you ... aren't they pretty? 25 hand folded paper stars, all containing personalised messages to uplift or bring a smile ...

I never really feel that I can start thinking about Christmas until after my birthday, which falls in the middle of November ... I still have a house full of birthday flowers and they are really brightening up these dark and grey winter days ...

I also had some really nice birthday treats this year ... my favourite Christmas magazines, which are always a treat to curl up with ...

I've even had a go at one of the recipes already ...

... my favourite black cherry Yankee Candle and my favourite tipple ... both of which always feel really Christmassy ...

I also had some absolutely gorgeous William Morris fabric, which is almost too nice to cut up and use ...

... and a really pretty Chilly's water bottle ...

... and a couple off books by two of my favourite authors which I am very much looking forward to cosying up on the sofa with.

Whilst I didn't really get to catch up with anyone in person, I had loads of cards, which are always lovely to receive, especially when they drop on the mat. They will stay on display until Christmas cards begin to arrive to take their place ...

We spent my 56th birthday morning doing the fortnightly food shop at Aldi for us, the elderly neighbours and mum and dad ... but we did manage a take out Christmas afternoon tea. Whilst it was a real treat it was nowhere near as nice as this piece of cake I had this time 5 years ago in the Bakewell Pudding Shop, that Timehop reminded me about this morning ...

So what else has been happening?

Well ... I've finally had chance to get out the Christmas fabric and make up a few bits and pieces ... 

I even got to make something which wasn't a face covering, that was a novelty I can tell you ...

We've managed to stick to our two 500 calorie days a week and have successfully adapted our favourite chilli and bolognaise recipes to fit the bill. We also adapted the frittata we had a couple of weeks ago ... swapping out the celariac and peppers for roasted butternut squash and field mushrooms ... it was 100% nicer and has now been added to the regular meals list.

I did manage a bit of a wander in Sutton Park with mum this week ... 

It was just lovely ... a really nice bright day and there was plenty of colour still to be had ...

... as well as a fair bit of mud ...

We even got to see the resident Dartmoor ponies on our way out which was lovely and very reminiscent of our visit to The New Forest a few years back.

Next on the agenda could be a bit of wrapping and card writing ... trying to get ahead. We've done pretty much all of our shopping on line and the last delivery was made this week, so we are well on track.

With lockdown #2 nearly over we've found that we are to be placed in Tier 3 under the new restrictions, so goodness only knows whether we will manage to get away for our planned Christmas break. I've everything crossed that our Tier may be reviewed in the next few weeks ... or that we can perhaps go for the 'Christmas Amnesty' period, giving us five days away, instead of seven ... which wouldn't actually be too bad at all.

I will keep you posted 😀

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Photo Scavenger Hunt :: November 2020

Hi there everyone 😀

I’ve something a bit different for today’s post.

Now I can't quite recall how I came across Kate's blog ... 'I live, I love, I craft, I am me' ... I guess I will have followed a link from another blog that I regularly follow but I can't, for the life of me, remember which one.

Anyway ... I've been hanging around in the background for a while now, enjoying reading about Kate's adventures and seeing the different contributions to the photo challenge set on her blog each month.

The way it works is that at the beginning of each month Kate provides a scavenger hunt list of six words, for which each participant needs to find an appropriate photo. The words for November's scavenger hunt are ... Houseplants :: Rings :: Harbour :: Window :: Sky :: My own choice

I've never taken part in any kind of link up before, but I love taking photos and I've finally built up the courage to take part ... so here is my first contribution ...

Houseplants :: The annual trip outdoors for all of my houseplants for their annual refresh. This was their outing in 2019 ... I have to confess that I had every good intention of doing this during the summer and even managed to get some fresh houseplant compost in ready for re-potting. However, lockdown summer just ran away with me and this was one job that I didn't get round to ...Rings :: This was another job that was on the cards for our summer lockdown that we didn't get round to. Martin came home with these one day, after doing a bit of scavenging himself, with the thought we may be able to make some kind of garden sculpture. We even managed to find ourselves a crafty welding friend that was up for the challenge, but other than moving the rings from one place to another several times, there has been no progress at all ... definitely on the cards for a future project though ...

Harbour :: We had to cancel a holiday to Scotland earlier this year. We were due to go and stay in a beautiful cottage with some of our oldest friends and we were all disappointed to have to cancel. This picture of one of our favourite harbours, Clovelly, was taken a couple of years ago, when we last went away with them. Fingers crossed that we can make another trip in 2021 ...
Windows :: These two photos were taken on Halloween this year, just before lockdown #2 began and we managed a socially distanced walk around my brother's estate, looking for pumpkins with the little man (my 4 year old nephew, dressed as a skeleton). My brother's partner had done a fabulous job of decorating her windows ... we were all very impressed ...

Sky :: Through the spring and summer, whilst 'staying at home' our garden was all kinds of things to us ... it was our outside space, our exercise, our chill out zone, our fresh air ... I'm not sure how we would have coped without it and, of course, we were blessed with some of the most fabulous weather and I was continually out back taking pictures. I'm not sure if sneaking a collage into the monthly challenge is allowed but I was hard pushed to pick just one picture for this category ...

My own choice :: I'm afraid it's another photo on the theme of garden and lockdown ... we decided this year we would try and grow a few different types of veg and this was our very first, fairly small, but absolutely delicious cauliflower ...

So that was my first effort for the monthly photo scavenger hunt. There was definitely a bit of a theme going on but I've really enjoyed looking back at my pictures and seeing how we've made the best of what has been a very strange year. I'm looking forward to joining in again next month but for now ... off to see if I can work out how to join the link party over on Kate's Blog 😀

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Exploring East Devon #5 :: Sidbury & Branscombe

Hi there everyone 😀

As promised last week ... for this week's post we are back on the south coast with more to share from our holiday in East Devon back in September ... boy, does it seem like a lifetime ago.

It was Saturday, so the start of our second week and after a few fairly hectic days we were aiming for a bit of a less energetic day. We decided to start off with a wander round the tiny village of Sidbury, which was were we were actually staying.

It didn’t take long but we had chance to have a browse in J.A.NICE, which had some very nice bits and pieces and we were very tempted to pick up a few bits, but we never would have fit them in the car ...

We did, however, pick up a few bits from Drew's butchers ...

It was then a bit of a wander through the churchyard ...

... before we headed down one of the pretty narrow streets to the bridge over the river ...

We then retraced our steps back to the church ...

And that really was about it ... a very tiny, but pretty village.

Having dropped our bits from the butchers back at The Old Piggery we decided to head for Branscombe, where we hoped to find a nice table outside the pub and sit with the papers for a bit.

Now a trip to Branscombe is definitely not for the faint hearted ... the lanes are very narrow, just wide enough to squeeze the car through in places ... with infrequent passing places and, in our experience ... 100% chance of meeting the local bus and having to do some nifty reversing and maneuvering.

We ended up at The Masons Arms in the centre of Branscombe ...

... where we managed to find a nice table outside out of the way and we sat for a while, with a fairly expensive sandwich and some chips, whilst just chilling with the Saturday papers ...

We had a few stop off points on our way back, the first being at The Forge, where we complimented the blacksmith on his bluebells, which were really stunning ...

Spotting the footpath sign across the road ...

... we decided to have a wander to the mill to see what we would find. The path took us past the tea rooms, which were sadly closed for the season ... that pesky Covid ...

... and through an orchard where they may have been just a little bit of scrumping take place ...

It wasn't far to the mill which, whilst closed for the season, had been well worth the walk ...

On another day I’m sure there would have been paddling in the ford ... but not today ...

We headed back to car and carried in a bit to our next stop, St Winifred's Church ...

It really is a lovely little church and in the most gorgeous of spots ...

We did a bit of Geocaching ... which ended up taking up the footpath behind the church, which was a bit of a slog ...

... but did reward us with a fair decent view ...

There was one last stop I wanted to make on our back along the narrow lanes. I'd spotted the most beautiful of gardens on our drive past and I really wanted to stop and take some photos ...

My pictures do not do the garden justice at all and when we got back to The Old Piggery a quick Google search told me lots about Doreen's Garden and the money that she raises for charity. There were also some tips about the best places to take photos from and I found this image, which I am allowed to share with you, for which I can take no credit whatsoever. It far better captures Doreen's beautiful garden than any of the ones that I managed to take ...

So that was it for another day ... a lovely relaxing day, just mooching about exploring in the sunshine ... which was still in fair abundance when we finally made our way back to The Old Piggery ...

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