Gifts, Crafts and Other Stuff.........

Well I looked at the green round squash in Daughter's donated veg box and wondered what to do with it. Hubby doesn't like it as a veg so I've never bought one. Google helped me out and I chopped it into big wedges (boy are they hard to cut up) and roasted it first then diced some into the stew. The rest I blitzed into a puree and made this spiced ginger cake. Not my usual sweet sticky kind but good none the less. 

Having cancelled our Cornwall trip we couldn't give Son his special present actually on his birthday and had to wait until he popped over this week. It was a photo book marking birth to 40. He really liked it. He's now rocking the scruffy covid hairy style hahaha

He had also brought us their surplus cooking apples which became a cinnamon sponge with caramel apples on the bottom. When I remembered I wanted a photo this was all that was left. 

R is a gamer for the role player games like Dungeons and Dragons and has started collecting sets of fancy dice. She had seen various multi pocket dice bags and wanted to make one. So a rummage through my fabric stash and finding a round tray to draw round for pattern size she was off. 
I stayed in the room for a little guidance and to help when my sewing machine needed a nudge and she did a great job.

Another purchase! We know how to spoil ourselves! 

Quiz night felt a bit odd with Daughter away and R here there was nobody to zoom with, so three of us here and R had two of her US friends online and I had to message Daughter for one answer and we totalled an amazing 47 out of 50! We were caught out by the tie break question of total age of the queen's grandchildren which came to 256 I think. 

Actually another amazing number, as my two sisters and I all have October wedding anniversaries and added to our fourth sister's last number we have totalled 179 years living with our own men! We deserve medals 🏅 🏅🏅

With covid numbers rising, stay very safe everyone.

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I Really Don't Like Shopping......

 
I do like having new things and I do like giving gifts, but I hate shopping! 
I hate physically dragging round shops when most of the stock looks the same to me, then trying different shops that seem to have exactly the same stuff as the previous ones but you have to check just in case.

Even when I know what we want/need and what we don't like I find it so hard to make that final decision and have actually got it very wrong a few times. For our own home improvement things Hubby is just as bad! 

With lockdown I was relieved to have the excuse not to physically shop but turns out I'm just as bad online! 

Lovely surprise very very early Sunday morning when O appeared at our window. Together with Daughter and the dog they'd gone for a sunrise walk and ended up here. So garden cuppas and Hubby drove them home. 

20th October 1973 was our wedding day. 

I managed to find a suitable card in my very depleted stash, but Hubby actually went into a shop for mine!!!

After a long interruption from a windows salesman (we didn't break), I made Hubby his favourite cinnamon buns. We had to test them still warm and then I iced the rest. 

Roll on the next 47 years 😉

A bit more online shopping for a friend's birthday. Spent three days looking at beauty hampers and cheese&chutney hampers etc with lots of indecision, then finally settled on flowers with wine and chocs because that's often what she gifts to others so know she'd like it. Thankfully I managed to ask in conversation how she was celebrating and found out her chap has booked two days away. So I'm ready to order and have it delivered a day early....... then the online form wouldn't work on my tablet or on my phone GRRRR. Managed eventually the next day, but I do hate shopping! 

Daughter is now at Kentwell for the Halloweenies event. She forgot to cancel her veg box so brought it round, she also brought R on Wednesday and the dog on Friday and we will all be together till 1st November. 

Have a good week and stay safe.

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Jabba Jabba........

 
Our Saturday started with our booked flu jabs. We normally refuse them as we have both felt very unwell with them in the past, Hubby's last one was about 10 years ago and mine about 40 years ago! However, this year it's different of course and there's very reasonable pros and cons that were worth considering, the main ones were....

- If I'm not going anywhere or seeing anyone I'm far less likely to come into contact with flu so I don't need it! 

- If I do get a winter illness I'll know it's not what I've been vaccinated against so I do need it! 

Our main surgery in the town centre (we normally use the local annex) is set up for the whole day just for this and it's very efficient and well managed to keep everyone safe and moving through quickly. We went in to one clinician as a couple and I got the pneumonia jab too. 

The morning after report is my flu arm feels a bit bruised, my pneumonia arm is fine, but Hubby said he had a very restless achy night and felt yuk all day Sunday. 

By Sunday evening both my arms were quite painful, thankfully no other aches but I couldn't sleep on either side so my turn for a restless night but Hubby slept well. Monday morning apart from feeling a little sore at the actual injection point Hubby is back to normal, both my arms still hurt. Wednesday night I could finally sleep on my side comfortably. 

Winter TV schedules now giving us a bit more variety and good to have some favourites back like 

So impressed how they are managing covid 

restrictions and can still produce programmes. 

Hubby has picked up his advance motorbike rider course again after the instructor took a covid pause. Hubby isn't too bothered about the qualification but as a bloodrunner he should have it and is quite enjoying the experience. 

Just as I was thinking that was all the uninteresting news of the week, last night that changed. Sitting relaxing with TV on, just before 9pm there was a huge bang, definitely at the front of the house, much louder than a bird hitting the window, and we both jumped out of our skins! 

Hubby tentatively checked around the house, putting outside lights on and looking through curtains then eventually brave enough to open the front door, nothing! 

We have cctv so brought up the cameras on our phones and after a lot of scrolling back and forth discovered this.....

That cat is walking in front of the camera sited by our bedroom window, so he must have jumped from the fence between us and next door and landed on the roof across our front door and bay windows, hollow roof so hence the bang! It obviously did make me physically jump as I've broken a spring under my seat 😒

Till next week then, stay safe. 

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Beautiful Autumn........

 
My favourite season. I like getting back into jumpers, thick socks, wrapping in scarves, heating on and comfort foods and of course all the beautiful colours of nature. So far in our garden it's mainly the pyracantha or fire thorn full of berries ready to feed the birds. We've four of them around the garden so they won't go hungry. This photo was zoomed right in because I'm not going out there while it's raining so hard and I can't see the others from the house. 

Monday we managed our on-your-own-drive coffee morning, all wrapped up warm then melting a bit each time the sun came out. 

It was the same on Tuesday when Daughter, R and the dog came over but less sun so it was only a one cuppa visit while shivering outside.

Wednesday FriendsT&F came for a garden tea/ cake/ chat and it was lovely, we last saw them early March although we do use messenger often. It wasn't warm! 

Our garden is large and open and sweeps around the house at the top of a hill, so it's always a case of deciding which way the wind is blowing and move the table and chairs to a place for shelter or shade accordingly. 

Lucky they came when they did as Thursday was raining again! 

This week our Son turned 40. Sad we couldn't celebrate it with him on the day but with most things this year it's postponed until we can. 

All grown up now but still so cute 😍 

Seems a short one but if I've nothing else to report I'll not bore you any longer! Stay safe.

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Just Another Week......

 

Hubby was quite excited as he had his first fundraiser for SERVSC this year. 

They would have normally set up taking as much space as they can. Coming forward with the big bikes and mini motos for children to sit on. The tombola always a good attraction and lots of volunteers ready to talk to the public and hopefully collect lots in the buckets. 

This time it was one small gazebo with back and side on to discourage people wandering in, no tombola and no mini motos and the front roped to the banner..... so they had their space for just three of them. A few people stopped to chat and a little money made it into the bucket so it proved worthwhile. 

Fortunately it wasn't too cold or wet for them standing around outside for hours which I thought it might be as I had the heating on at home. 

30th September is the anniversary of moving into this house 37 years ago with our two little ones just three and four years old. No drastic changes apart from adding an extension and the two huge trees that made me fall in love with the place have both gone, and I still love our forever family home! 

A lovely gift from Daughter arrived, a table top outside electric heater.  So now as the weather is getting colder at a time when we may want to start inviting friends for a socially distant garden cuppa we can without freezing. Thankfully Daughter was actually here when it arrived or we wouldn't have known who had ordered it. So so thoughtful 💕 

Then October sneaked up on us! 

Just four of us for Jay's Virtual Quiz this Thursday evening and we got our best score of 47 out of 50!

Two holidays cancelled sadly (not totally covid related), weather dreadful, virus gaining pace for this second wave, and nowhere else we need to be, so we're happy staying home warm and dry. 

Stay safe everyone.

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