A random selection

Time for Five On Friday again, as usual I am linking with Amy from Love Made My Home to bring you this post. Even though I thought I hadn't done a lot this week I was determined to get here and post after failing miserably last week to a) find time and b) get inspiration on what to post.


So what have I been up to in the last week:-


1.  Card Party: On Saturday I helped my friend Janice from Crafty Castle blog with a card party that she was holding at another friend's house. We had a wonderful bacon sandwich breakfast and then had a fun time packaging and pricing up all the cards and other bits and pieces before heading to the party which I am happy to say was a great success.

2.  My Birthday: Sunday was my birthday and I was thoroughly spoilt by my family and friends. The highlight of the day was being taken out for lunch by my DH and eldest son, we chose a location (The Hatchet at Lower Chute) that was recommended by a friend and we will definitely be visiting again. I was also taken out for another lunch by my youngest son on Monday as he was busy playing football on the Sunday - not sure how I managed to maintain at Slimming World this week!

3.  Cot Blanket: I was asked by a work colleague to make her a cot blanket for her baby son who is due in December. She chose the colours but left the design up to me - here it is finished and packaged up ready to gift. I am pleased to say she was delighted with it.

4. Next on my hook: I have just started work on my next charity blanket for the Sunshine International Blankets of Love. This is number 11 of 12 that I aim to complete and give to the residents in a local residential care home at Christmas. I am making this using the Harlequin stitch which I haven't used before but am quite pleased with how it is working out.

5.  Autumn colours: I couldn't think what to use for my 5th entry this week but suddenly thought about the beautiful trees on the corner of our close so quickly walked up the road this morning to snap them. I love this time of the year and these trees are always a delight.

Well that is it for this week, I hope you all have a great weekend and for those of you that have children or work in schools have a wonderful half term holiday.


Please do go and pay Amy a visit where you will find link ups to more Five On Friday posts.

Out and About in October

October - what a fantastic month this was! It is always one of my favourite months, not less because I have my birthday in the middle of it, which adds to making it special. I just love the Autumn scenery and this year the colours seem to have been more spectacular than usual. We had a special bonus to look forward to at the end of the month as we went to Somerset for a week during half term (more on that in my next post).


Meanwhile I will leave you with some of the images I have captured during October as we have been out and about on our walks ...

The approach of Autumn

Seasons of mists and mellow fruitfulness!

Close bosom-friend of the maturing sun;

Conspiring with him how to load and bless

With fruit the vines that round the thatch-eaves run;

To bend with apples the moss'd cottage-trees,

And fill all fruit with ripeness to the core;

To swell the gourd, and plump the hazel shells

With a sweet kernel; to set budding more,

And still more, later flowers for the bees,

Until they think warm days will never cease,

For Summer has o'er-brimm'd their clammy cells.

The season of mists and mellow fruitfulness from John Keats' poem To Autumn which he composed after taking a walk near Winchester one autumnal evening, a city not very far from where I live. The first stanza of his poem (above) describes early Autumn where the fruits are ripening and the buds still opening in the warm weather. 


On our recent walks there is evidence everywhere of the end of Summer and approaching Autumn, even though the heat of Summer is still with us on occasions.

From the cold misty mornings ...

To fields that have been harvested of their crops ...

To the fruits ripening and what a good year it seems to be for berries, I think the birds are going to have plenty to keep them from going hungry come the Winter ...

and there are signs that the leaves are beginning to turn from green to their beautiful Autumnal shades ...

I have mixed feelings about Autumn - I love to see the Autumn colours emerging and admire the beauty of an Autumnal landscape but don't like the darker evenings. I like the fact that at the moment we are still getting lovely warm days (sometimes), even though the mornings and evenings are decidedly chilly. I love to walk through rustling leaves as they drop from the trees but hate the fact that by the time the leaves have dropped Winter will be just around the corner.

I hope you have enjoyed my look at the beginning of a new season from my part of the world.