on a Sunday Afternoon in the Autumn

There were pots of tea, scones with jam and cream,dainty china tea cups, 

slices of cake and cup cakes aplenty.

 There was colourful dresses and frilly knickers.

 And fans made of feathers.

Blooming Great Vintage Tea Party

How we LOVE you.

End of the Week Joys

               Daddy's Home.                  

                                     

Golden Autumn light across the fields.

Happy Weekending x

In a Day

I have

showered, washed my hair, cleaned my teeth

dressed

taken and collected O from playschool

hoovered, swept and washed floors

fed chickens, collected a single egg

fed and watered the dog

 made bread, beds, lunch and tea

turned a heel on my socks

had a cuppa with my parents

read (endless) books to O

listened to the radio
saved the sand pit lid from taking flight

hung out, brought in and folded washing

checked emails, FB and Ravelry

lit a fire and a candle

washed up, again and again

mopped up some teenage tears

watched the wind, blowing through the trees

delighted in the colours of the sky

breathed deeply, taking in the Autumn air

and sent some LOVE racing round on the clouds.



Autumn Beauty

 Baskets of squash in the bottom of the larder.

Stunners in the fridge.

in the Making & Repairing

My Dad is having surgery today, widening a couple of arteries.

An overnight stay, means that my parents, married for 41 years, will be parted, something that has happened only a handful of times in all those years.

I had plans for today, a trip out but staying closer to home, to the phone, being around for my Mum in the end was what my heart needed.

 O slept until 10am after a whirlwind trip to Legoland with Daddy and some friends,

plenty of time to distract myself in the kitchen and tick off some of those plans.

Pumpkins baked yesterday, scooped out and stored, some in the freezer and some in the fridge, ready for today.

Hummus made and pumpkin puree added,delicious.
Black beans soaking in the background, ready for cooking and adding to Quinoa and Black Bean Chilli, a new favourite from the 30 day Vegan program.

Spices, sugar and pumpkin blending in the pan for Pumpkin Spice Syrup.

My kitchen smells like the season.

Whats cooking in your kitchen ?

Updated
Dad's surgery went wonderfully, all well and now home.
Thanks for your lovely wishes.

October - The Plans

Having heard about pinterest for awhile now but not really "getting" it, I finally gave it a look,

http://pinterest.com/

needless to say, it's good, very good.

My boards are growing and I am loving sorting and saving, plans are coming together for baking, making and trips.

Here's our Autumn Must Do board

http://pinterest.com/nocton4/this-autumn-we-will/

( greatly inspired by this lovely post http://carried-family.blogspot.com/2011/09/autumn-colour.html )

 So many wonderful pumpkin recipes flooding blogs and sites, I am determined this year to do more than just scoop out and carve for Halloween, feeding the insides to the chickens.

Top on my list are

http://www.recipegirl.com/2007/06/04/baked-pumpkin-doughnuts/

http://www.simplebites.net/simple-chilled-pumpkin-cheesecake-vlog/

http://naturallyella.com/2010/10/04/2054/

pumpkin hummus, sounds amazing.Would love a pumpkin risotto recipe if anyone has one please.

Socktoberfest is a month long sock knitting project http://www.ravelry.com/groups/socktoberfest

Brilliant timing for me, staring Yule gifts and digging into my large stash of sock yarn.

My aim is to finish off a pair that has been on the needles since July and then getting at least one more pair made.

 I had quite a pumpkin spice thing, going on in Florida this time last year, so was delighted to see this clever lady's post

http://www.homebakedonline.com/2011/09/easy-pumpkin-spice-syrup-for-drinks.html

So I will be reliving those days with my favourite autumn drink and for the time being the sunshine too.

The end of October brings a very special visit, a week in the Isle of Lewis, so very wonderful in its own rite but staying with this gorgeous family

http://www.thebarefootcrofter.com/

makes it a treat beyond measure ( did you see those pigs, oh my ! )

Would love to hear your plans for the month ahead.

Summers still going strong.

 With Summer giving us such an amazing final flourish, it would seem very rude not to have a day at the beach.

 How blessed were we, to be on the sand, under a scorching sun, surrounded by friends, on a week day and incredibly at the very end of September.

 The beach was busy, packed with couples in deck chairs, reading books and newspapers with flasks of tea at their sides and then there was us, a riot of buckets, spades, sandwiches, ice creams, toddler tears and dramas, joined by dogs racing around the sands, knocking over drinks and nearly small people, then horses racing by the shore line, had the children chasing over them, with not a hope of catching up but loving the feel of the breeze in their hair and the freedom of such a vast space.

There was time for kite flying, sand art, animal dancing and wave jumping then quick dashes home for some, to pick up older children, ballet classes and tea times.

We stayed late, watching fishermen setting up their lines, dogs chasing balls across the sand, boats and birds.

It seemed only fair to get every last drop of Summer goodness from the day.

How are you celebrating the sunshine ?