Thursday 27 November 2014

Day 331 - November 27th


The Hyacintha Basket I planted last month has been inside a black sack in the cold garage since being planted up. The bulbs have now shot and will remain in the garage for a few more weeks before bringing inside to flower.

Day 330 - November 26th


Tux making the most of a break in the rain.

Day 329 - November 25th

Cold, misty weather is making everything very wet!


Day 328 -November 24th

A heavy frost overnight revealed some spectacular cob webs this morning.



Day 327 - November 23rd

Berries on the Rowan Tree are looking very sparse.


The majority of the berries are on the ground.


Presumably birds don't like these particular berries because they are spread like a carpet beneath the tree.


Day 326 - November 22nd

In summer you can walk through the fields in trainers. In autumn the trainers are replaced with walking boots. Now its wellie weather and on occasions (like today) your wellies miraculously change before your eyes into something resembling Moon Boots with a thick extra layer of mud round the soles.


It is quite hard work walking across the muddy fields between the young crops.


Lara joined us for our walk today and I think she was on a mission to find the deepest puddles possible. 


Luckily we didn't have a repeat of the scene in The Vicar of Dibley where Dawn French jumps into a puddle right up to her middle!



Day 325 - November 21st


Today Mr Tesco delivered a Christmas bottle of Coke, A sure sign that Christmas is on it's way. The Coca‑Cola Santa Claus was created by artist Haddon Sundblom in 1931 and has become a fixture of the holiday season. You can read all about the history of the Haddon Sundlom Santa on the Coca Cola website.

Day 324 - November 20th


Tonight Lara received her Silver Challenge Award for Swimming. The Challenge included having to swim 800 metres: 400 metres on her front and 400 metres on her back.  The plan is that she will take her Gold Challenge at Easter which will include an 800 metres timed swim. Makes me feel tired just thinking about it!

Day 323 - November 19th


Wayne bought me some flowers the other day and they bring a welcome touch of colour to the cold, grey days we are having.

Tuesday 18 November 2014

Day 322 - November 18th

Lara made scones in her cookery lessons at school today and very nice they were.



Day 321 - November 17th


Although almost dead, the colours in this fern are lovely.

Day 320 - November 16th

We currently have no oven! Well, that's not entirely true. The main oven of our double oven caught fire last week! After 11 years of faithfull service it is being retired. A new oven has been ordered and whilst we do have the smaller top oven still, this isn't suitable for baking. So, instead of baking this week I decided to make some fudge in the slow cooker using a recipe I saw on Facebook.


White and milk chocolate, condensed milk, butter and vanilla essence were put in the slow cooker and heated for an hour.


Gradually the ingredients melted and were then spread into a foil tray. 



After chilling in the fridge the fudge was cut into squares. It's rather yummy.


Day 319 - November 15th


Today I found time to finish a scrapbook layout I have been working on.

Day 318 - November 14th

Today was Children in Need day. At Lara's school they were in return for a £1 donation allowed to go to school dressed as a superhero. Lara donned a Superman onsie and homemade cape.


Day 317 - November 13th


Why are the colours of some flowers just as striking when they are half dead in November.....


..... as they did when they were in peek condition in August?

Day 316 - November 12th

Whilst in Morrisons today I was stopped in my tracks by a bucket of British Daffodils for sale! Daffodils in November? Last year I posted on my blog in February that daffodils, a sign of spring, had been on sale in the shops for a few weeks but here we are this year in November and daffodils are already in the shops. 



Day 315 - November 11th


Leaves on the trees are changing colour day by day. A few weeks ago these leaves were green - today they are vibrant red.

Day 314 - November 10th


Another frosty start to the day.

Day 313 - November 9th

This morning Lara and I joined the rest of the village at the Remembrance Day Service. Lara was part of the colour party for the guides and proudly marched with the others to the memorial. 


Day 312 - November 8th

This morning the pile of firewood was moved. During the evenings this week Wayne has been building a log store, so the wood could be neatly stacked in it's new home a few yards from the front door where it will hopefully stay dry and be easily accessible when needed.


Tonight despite the heavy rain we ventured out to the village firework display. It was a good event although rather wet.




Friday 7 November 2014

Day 311 - November 7th


In anticipation of cold evenings, today we had a load of logs for the fire delivered . They were tipped at the end of the drive so a job for the weekend will be to move them all.

Day 310 - November 6th


Today we woke to the first frost of the season. Good job I didn't have to go out today or I would have needed the scraper to clear the car. The temperatures have certainly taken a dive over the past few days and it is getting colder.

Day 309 - November 5th


We are going to the annual village firework display at the weekend, but we marked Guy Fawkes Night today with some sparklers.

Day 308 - November 4th


At Guides tonight the girls created a Rangoli using coloured rice. Rangoli is a folk art from India in which patterns are created on the floor in living rooms or courtyards.The decorations are supposed to bring good luck and are often seen at Diwali, the indian festival of lights


Day 307 - November 3rd


Happy Birthday Millie - 3 today.

Sunday 2 November 2014

Day 306 - November 2nd

Today hasn't been as warm (or dry) as yesterday and there was a real autumnal feel in the air when we took Millie out.





Day 305 - November 1st


Another glorious sunny day today so we went for a long walk over the fields. 

Some curious cattle eyed me suspiciously through the gate when I walked past.


Day 304 - October 31st

Happy Halloween! 

Lara went trick or treating with her friends this evening. No girly costume for my girl - she decided to be a werewolf!
.



When they got back to our house they all emptied their bags and buckets that were full of goodies onto the living room floor and spent quite a while swapping sweets with each other. The sweets they were given should last a week .... but somehow I doubt they will!


Earlier in the day Lara and I decorated the house.....


..... and when it started to get dark we put our pumpkin outside.


A few weeks ago I found a Haunted House Gingerbread Kit in a local shop and Lara was happy to build and decorate this.