Lazy Weekend Catch Up

Recently I had a wonderful art day with my son's girlfriend.  She suggested we start by both creating a painting, setting a 5 minute timer, then swapping paintings, adding something to the one in front of you, 5 minute timer, then swap again.  We carried on for some time until the paper was filled - right down to the wallpaper in the little cottage and the clouds on the salt lake forest cottage - see how this sparks the imagination?!! who knew you could have a salt lake by a forest... 

We also played around with sewing and I made a little blackbird.

My dried wreath is now finished. The hydrangea ran out, but a good friend cut some heads from her garden for me to finish the job.

Mollie found it resting on the bed and thought it was the perfect spot for a nap!..

I will add some greenery at Christmas time.

Here's a brief video of my windswept soggy allotment.  My Autumn raspberry canes arrived by post, but in poor condition - they weren't kidding when they said 'dry root' as they were bone dry, were in transit with no moisture for 5 days, but I am hopeful they will recover and sprout green in the Spring.

Plot 60 (link to 40 second video)

With UK temperatures plummeting and the first frosts arriving I have only been swimming once a week but have been on my rowing machine at home daily.  We have had walks out in the woods around here and I have had day trips to Brighton several times. 

This is my favourite shop to browse lately, they have an amazing hothouse display worthy of Kew Gardens!

I liked the map window art here

Gunns flower shop is in The Lanes 

This week it's hubby's birthday and official retirement.  Time to start planning some adventures!

Autumn Walk

 We took a 4 1/2 mile circular walk with friends from the allotments today.  The weather is unusual for November in the UK with temperatures reaching as warm as 58f in sunny Surrey.  Heavy rain yesterday meant the ground was very muddy.

We started at Outwood Windmill, which is just up the road from our home.

Past this pretty little house is the entrance to the woods.

The pathways were covered in beautiful golden leaves and the ditch alongside was running fresh rainwater, the sound of the running water made it magical.

The fields were full of grazing sheep.

It was Armistice Day today.  As we approached the village of Horne, we saw people coming from the church.  We had missed the service but were invited in to see the beautiful display of crocheted poppies above the aisle and a photo display of the local men who had lost their lives in the first World War... one soldier was called Christmas Day! He died with his brother in battle.

Outside, amongst the gravestones. there were ceramic poppies over the name of each soldier who gave his life, it made quite an impact.

We noticed the poppies held rainwater.

Our circular walk took us back to The Bell at Outwood for lunch.  I had potato and leak soup, hubby had sausages.

Surprising to see so many flowers mixed in with Autumn colours.

The Bell (linky)

We have been doing these walks monthly all year, this is one of my favourites.   

Back at the allotments my plot is full of horse manure and bedded down for Winter.

I'm waiting for delivery of some raspberry canes for planting and might dig some leeks up and replicate that lovely soup I had at the pub....

Happy Halloween

 

Inspired by the owl.in the woods behind my house.

Mollie has a pumpkin collar....

I have been out and about. Autumn is here,  the shops were selling pumpkins this week.

Orange and gold on the trees, carpeting the pathways, and even in my garden are making me happy.

There is fungi amongst the leafy loveliness

A short video of the magic tree in the woods

Above is the shelter our allotment group made. it's so cosy.  20 of us had a halloween gathering last night with baked potatoes and meat or veggie chilli, it was a good night.

I will leave you with another owl.   This one lives at the Surrey Wildlife Centre, just down the road from us.  We had a lovely day out and brought a picnic.  All the animals were originally taken there due to injuries, some are released, others stay for this reason.  My favourites were the owls but there were also foxes, otters, wild cats, small rodents, ravens and hedgehogs. They release six hedgehog babies back into local areas every year.

Hope you are enjoying halloween.

End of September and a last minute holiday booking

Just before going on holiday, I gave everything a deep clean, giving my leather sofas their annual leather balm, washing my sheepskin rugs and curtains and bringing out the Winter rugs for airing ready for the colder months ahead.  

On the allotment I dug in manure and composted crops that are spent .   I planted pink garlic and then red onions.  Until the end of September we were enjoying our beef tomatoes as bruchette for lunches.

I had a day out in Brighton with my sons girlfriend, stopping at a restaurant in Preston Road with no signage/cash only, that cooks Chinese/Malaysian foods to order.  Weve been here quite  a few times over the years, it's popular with the local Chinese community and there is often a queue for takeaway.  At an average 10 quid a head for a generous 2 courses, it's well worth searching out.

Crispy vegetable noodles

Honey bbq chicken noodle soup

I collected twine, pine cones, fennel and hydrangea to make the base of my wreath for Christmas. It's all drying off ready to make up an indoor wreath.

Although we had intended to look at travel to Greece for a short break, we found an unexpected last minute booking for 11 nights in Jamaica!  getting a whopping 40% discount on an all inclusive deal.  That's the beauty of retirement! hubby retired 2 weeks before we travelled so we were flexible and ready to go!   We stayed at Royalton Hideaway in Trelawyn which is near Montego Bay.  The beach was absolutely beautiful, the hotel was excellent and the weather was perfect.  My post is over on my travel blog ***HERE***. It was a very laid back resort with no need to dress up, although I love a bit of bling so that didn't stop me!

Still jet lagged and catching up on laundry!

A Rainy Weekend

This weekend we have rain, lots of it.  The dead, brown lawn has transformed into green in 48 hours and the garden and allotment are soaking it up!  I'm so pleased - I will never complain about rain, I promise! not after the heatwave we just had!

I have been binge watching Black Doves on Netflix, it was brilliant. In the same style as Killing Eve.

Last week I did a different kind of painting - chalk paint!  My first time trying this out on my two old, shabby, yellowing 15 year old pine tallboys (which I use as bedside tables as we like the height for table lamps!).  The first cupboard showed brush strokes so I sanded it down and did a second coat with a roller on the larger areas.  I did the same with the second as sanding with a very fine paper gets a nice result.  I waxed afterwards with two coats.  They look ok (from a distance ha ha) but not as smooth and perfect as my machine painted wardrobe which they now match - 

I was expecting too much!  It is nice to have the furniture matching and I think it is a great improvement on the previous mismatched furniture in the room.

Ta da !!!

At the allotments we had the annual competition for best plot and then our annual BBQ.  There were veggie burgers for me and plenty of homemade cakes (key lime pie, courgette chocolate cake and scones/cream with homemade jam)... the competition was won by the plot neighbouring mine.  He has a lot of flowers: dahlia, cosmos, hollyhock, like a mini cottage garden. 

The ladies put pretty tablecloths out and made up these pretty posies!

I have taken some pictures of other peoples plots as they are so diverse - they seem to look even more beautiful in the rain!  

My beef tomatoes are so big they are falling down and I am not sure they will ever ripen, so I cut the foliage back, picked the largest and left them in the sun.  They ripened in a few days but are quite starchy.  Tonight hubby (the main cook in our house) made a pasta sauce with all the tomatoes and it was delicious!

My plot is tidy but there is empty space to plant a few things for Winter...

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I planted potatoes for Christmas (maris pier and charlotte) 2 weeks ago and they are showing tops now, but only a few carrots and parsnip have germinated which I spent Friday afternoon separating and replanting for more space. Currently I am still picking lettuce, rocket, radichio, herbs and my celery is not yet ready.

Hubby retired this week and has given himself a list of DIY jobs to work through. 

Above is my favourite early morning cup of tea spot where I sit with Mollie cat.

Last Sunday I went picking sloe berries and blackberries with two friends from the allotments.  We had such a lovely time foraging. And I have bottled my berries in sugar and gin to make liquor.   The woods are looking beautiful in Autumn golds. 

I was browsing our small, family run garden centre when I saw the above  broken pot being taken away to break up, I love a chance to recycle and they were happy to give it to me free.  I  used Hard as Nails, which is like a cement paste, to repair the damage and planted it up today. The crack is visible but is at the back.

Today I'm planting beetroot.  How's your weekend going?