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!