#WBOYC - November

 The end of the year is hurtling towards us - it's time for another WBOYC

Oh my goodness, another month has bitten the dust - let's see how it unfolded

N

Nattering and knitting - I'm still enjoying being part of the Knit and Natter group that meets on a Friday and we have had a special project on the go this month - see below!

O

Olive had her birthday party which had a Frozen theme.  They hired out a small hall near their house which was a great idea as it is amazing how noisy a group of three year olds can get.

V

Volunteering to make teeny, tiny hats for premature babies.  Our local ambulance service put out a call for them as apparently they like to keep a supply of them in their vehicles for when they are called out on an emergency call that involves premature babies. They are so tiny,  and a bit fiddly to make but in the space of about 10 days, our Knit and Natter group made 75, not bad for a group of six knitters!

E

Entertaining - it was our turn to host an Indian takeaway evening with three other couples.  We all used to live in the same street and still get together about twice a year.  

M

Meals out.  Oh my waistline is going to pay for this!  Four meals out so I need to eat super healthily at home to compensate.

B

Birthdays - Rosie turned six and she was so excited about it!  Her present wish list included Sylvanian Family playsets.  Her mum absolutely loved those when she was that age - 32 years ago - it feels like deja vu! 

E

Extra early/late birthday celebrations. We went out for a meal with friends and at the end they brought out a small chocolate dessert with a candle and sang happy birthday to me. My birthday is in March! I did try to explain that to the waiter but he insisted I ate it 😊 The lady at the next table to us, who was celebrating her birthday, was very amused! She did get her birthday dessert after her friends spoke to the waiter!

R

Rosie really did have a birthday. Six years old! Maybe I should have taken the dessert home for her 😆

So that was my month, and here it is 1 Second Every day

Please pop over to the other Deb and see how much she has crammed into her month. She certainly fits a lot more than me into her months!

What I’ve been reading in November

 My daughter lent me two books she had been given this month so neither were ones I picked off the shelf myself.

This book was apparently made into a film with Julia Robert’s in the main role. Amanda and Clay rent a beautiful Airbnb home in a remote area of Long Island. Their family are having a wonderful holiday enjoying the luxurious house when one evening an older couple arrive saying that they are the owners of the house. They have driven in a panic following a major power cut at their other home in New York. They ask to be let in to shelter in the guest annexe until power is restored in their apartment.

Amanda is dubious but they don’t see how they can refuse. The following morning Clay ventures out and gets horribly disoriented and finds himself lost despite feeling that he hasn’t actually travelled far.  Their children have gone exploring in the woods, following some deer which appeared around the trees.

That is all I can tell you as I was not enjoying the storyline and decided to stop reading. I had a feeling that something supernatural was behind the mystery and I didn’t like the style of writing.

I then turned to the other novel, 

Stella and her family grew up on the tiny island called Evergreen and lived there until Stella was 11 when her parents suddenly decided to return to the mainland without ever giving a reason why.The book alternates between 1993, when they were still living there and present day where the discovery of a body has been found close to the garden of Stella’s family’s house.

Stella cannot resist returning to the island to discover whose body it is although she is not warmly welcomed back by the locals. She finds out that the victim was someone who was friendly with her elder sister and is horrified when her brother confesses to the murder. Stella does not believe him and is determined to find out the truth. However, it is obvious that someone does not want her digging up the past.

I enjoyed this book, the storyline was unexpected and it is interesting to see the other characters through the eyes of Stella as a child compared with Stella as an adult.

Me on monday

 Please do not judge me but I have a confession to make. 

I started watching Christmas films on Netflix this week. 

I know, it’s too early, it’s not even December yet. But I was home alone, the weather was drab and I wanted someone on in the background while I knitted. These films are always a bit predictable and always have a happy ending but there’s something quite comforting about them.

We had three other couples over for an Indian takeaway meal on Saturday which means that my whole house is tidy and cleaned and I have no housework needed at all (for a few days anyway!) so I am planning to go shopping somewhere today to buy some Christmas cards and a couple of little surprise gifts for Paul’s birthday.

There are a few social events on the calendar this week. Paul’s meeting a friend today, we are both going to lunch with three other friends on Tuesday, I’m meeting up with my ex work colleagues on Thursday then we are out for a meal with friends on Friday. I may need to increase my exercise levels after all that eating out!

It’s Rosie’s birthday on Thursday - six years old. Six going on sixteen 😆 Rachel has organised a couple of surprises for her which I think she's going to love. It's so lovely to see such excitement.

The weather is set to turn colder here this week and I have my newly made hat ready and waiting.  How's it looking where you are?  It's really going to feel like November here as the week goes on. Have a good week x

Me on Monday

 It is a gloriously sunny warm autumnal day here this Monday. The kind of day that makes you feel energised and ready to keep busy! I took this photo yesterday while on our dog walk and we all enjoyed the crunching of the leaves underfoot and the enjoyment of scattering the crunchy carpet beneath the trees in the misunderstanding that one of us could run up a tree to catch a squirrel. Guess who that was 🤔

So a busy, productive morning so far with the weekly shop done, garden tidy ups in progress, a warming soup made out of the left over half a butternut squash from Sunday lunch yesterday, and batch cooking a ragu to put three meals in the freezer. All that before 1pm! 

Can you answer a question for me? I have a voucher for extra loyalty card points next time I buy petrol.

Use instore only. How on earth could I buy a tankful of petrol online? 😆

Me on Monday

 Well that was a quieter weekend than the previous one!

I met up with a friend on Thursday and she asked me how I filled my days now I'm retired.  It sounded a bit glib to say that the days just seemed to get filled up but that's the truth.  

The last month has somehow managed to include a flu vaccination, an annual doctor's check up, a blood test, another appointment to discuss the blood test results (I'm now on statins!) a Covid vaccination, and a dentist appointment.  Then there were passport photos to be taken, applications to renew my passport uploaded, old passports returned and staying in for the delivery of the new one.  Applied on Tuesday and they were here by Saturday! What a great service. 

Let’s not forget the big birthday party on Saturday 

Having the decorator here was the impetus we needed to do some serious decluttering and two plastic bags of clothes and three boxes of old toys, wine glasses and books are currently on their way to a charity shop.  Let's not forget the various hours of childcare, dog walks, coffee with friends, Zumba classes and Friday meet ups with the 'Knit and Natter' ladies.  So although I don't always have a lot to show for my days, I do keep busy!

I think that we have earned a day out and so we went to Cambridge today.  Paul has a December birthday so I like to get his presents sorted early so that I haven't reached gift buying fatigue by his big day.  The trouble is that we are all guilty of buying things we want, then and there, rather than waiting for birthdays but he has a few hobbies and can usually be relied on to come up with a list of ideas.  

So let me share a little of the kind of architecture you see in this beautiful city

Followed by a taste of Sicily from our favourite place for lunch - buon appetito! 

Have a good week!