November round up

Just a small spend on yarn and nothing on gardening, I sold some glass bits, so I have added a credit for that on my chart. I also got the refund for the garden storage unit, so another refund, so this month I ended on a credit, which is very pleasing and should leave me under £1,000 spent this year. No clothes, shoes and just 1 expensive Christmas decoration. 

Our shopping was higher, mainly because of the higher prices and we have got most of the nibbles we require for Christmas, I don't get too much these days, just enough for the 2 of us. Most of the presents have been sorted, just need to get the cash together for the grandchildren who live further away. 

I have sold a few unwanted items on Facebook market place, so the extra cash has helped towards the cost of Christmas. 

No waste at all, if you buy less you waste less, it works for us, all the peelings, egg shells ect feed my composter, and all the bits cut back from the garden, I hope not to have to purchase many bags of compost next spring/summer. 

My weight is good, lowest recorded this year, I'm happy, but my steps at the beginning of the month were terrible, my hurting back stopped any walks, I had set myself the challenge of doing 7,000 steps every day. I failed only doing it in the 10 days.

UP,

Just a couple of photos from George's birthday party,  the theme was the film UP, he has Doug the dog with him. The children loved the balloons, there were loads of photos taken here. They also made the room very colourful. 

Birthday cake with mummy and daddy, again it's Doug, it was dairy free, vegan and very tasty, made by the same local lady who makes all their special cakes. George can't have dairy at all.

I decided to keep stitching this section, I would like to get it finished, I have not looked at the unpicked design, I will have a few days break from it, and then when I feel not so frustrated, I will re-stitch everything. I added the gold design which I have already used along the top of this project.

I am hoping it will look as if the design ran behind all the other patterns and has come back into view in the middle, I plan to let it disappear further down and to then have it reappear near the bottom, it can then run until the bottom. A comment was made regarding my colour choices, I know I'm lucky to be able to match colours, I've always been able to do this, my mum taught me well. One major tip for a project like this, once I have used a colour I pop it into my project bag, I try and reuse the same shades as it helps tie the designs together. Only packing the skiens away once it's all finished.

The last thing I should be doing is starting a new knitting project,  I do love this scarf, it's a dream to knit and grows quickly in the beginning. The contrast yarns came from my stash, I purchased 3 x 50grms balls. I still have to finish the second orange sock, just an evenings knitting left to do.

 

We were shattered on Sunday afternoon,  30 little ones 3 and under, half came from nursery and half from Portsmouth Downs syndrome group, but it was fun, they all looked happy and the lady from Jiggly Wrigglers kept them busy loads of dancing and other interactive music and every type of shaker invented. They sat at one long child height table and ate their birthday meal, each had a box to take home which included balloons, chocolate and a tennis ball, all featured in the film, plus a small colouring book and crayons. Party's are much more expensive than when we did them.

Monday we popped to town on the bus, hubby picked up his new glasses, I popped into TK Max but the fire alarm went off and we all had to leave, all the linked shops were evaluated, we did get back in later. Monday is market day, it wasn't very busy, we got fruit and veg from a stall, the quality was brilliant, it cost a bit more, but everything was loose so we purchased only what we required for the rest of this week. We also got some different bread, 2 small loafs, as hubby and I like different flavours. I can see us popping into town more often on a Monday as both stalls had the quality we love.

No sign group this morning, I have a face to face with my doctor, trying to sort issue with my kidneys. Later our new chairs are arriving, the old two will be collected tonight, they still have some life left in them. I am hoping to do some sewing using my sewing machine, just for a short burst, and finish it tomorrow,  everything else is on the back burner.

I've started listening to Christmas music, I made a play list on Alexa last year so it's fun to listen to all the music we love, and happily for us, no Cliff Richards, sorry I can't stand him. Our decoration boxes are out of the attic, I will pop some out this week, the tree will go up next Wednesday. 

Nothing much happening here, constant rain outside, so all we can do is look at the garden, crafting and reading keeps me going, hubby reads loads and loves to cook and bake in the kitchen. I've given our Christmas cakes their final drink of brandy, next week I will add the marzipan and ice the following week. 

1 step forward 2 back

It's almost gone, I've removed the black, the centre 4 motifs and other bits, I still have a bit more unpicking to do, my fingers were sore and I was getting frustrated, a dangerous place to be, one mistake and the canvas can be cut. Those perfectly formed little crosses look lovely, but are a nightmare to unpick, I use the point of my needle, just pulling stitch by stitch. I will start restitching with the red and put every thing right, then add the black and other colours, I will finish with the bits I did not stitch before. 2 hours frustrating work, once I have restitched the stains from the threads won't notice.

Another book finished, another new author, book 81 read this year, I was a bit dubious as it's a story about a hen party, each chapter from a different person, building the story twisting its way to the promised ending. Which delivered maybe a bit too neatly with the happy ever after. Nevertheless a good read.

My sister in law gave me some books, most of them follow the same detective Jane Rizzoli based in Boston. I have not read this author before she is not to explicit in the murders, which I like, a good plot, this is the first book in a set. Book 82 read this year.

I purchased just one item whilst away, in Fenwicks I found this lovely tree in three sections, the lower two sections each have a candle in, I do love to have candles around Christmas time, afterwards I can use it for storing things in, probably sweets for when the children visit.

We did loads of reading in the evenings whilst away, including Thursday after our drive home, both were tired, so early night.

I was pleased to have a treatment on my back on Friday,  it was aching on Tuesday  and was worse on Wednesday, where I did over 10,000 steps. We walked to the village, later I checked the greenhouse, watered the pots inside, it was a beautiful sunny dry, not so cold day.

Saturday was a day at home, it was sunny when we got up, but the rain came quickly, not heavy rain, just that horrible cold drizxle, so nothing done in garden. We still have Fushias in bloom by back door, it's a pure joy to see colour at this time of year. I did loads on my cross stitch, it was brilliant to get so much unpicking done, later I started a new knitting project, it will be a gift.

Today is George's birthday party, loads of 3 year olds, it will be nice to see him with his nursery friends. Daughter booked her local Jiggly Wrigglers lady, George loves her, should keep them entertained for a while, his birthday cake is vegan, he is dairy free, should be interesting to see what it taste like. Later we will have a gental evening watching Strickly results and escape to the château. 

Newcastle

We spent Wednesday in the city centre, took the metro in, the local station was close to our hotel. Quick, clean and oh so cheap and a restful journey back to hotel.

Neither of us have been here before, so we had no expectations, just a couple land marks. Looking up at all the old buildings  most using red bricks, it was a delight amongst the new buildings.

I adore old shopping arcades, this one is stunning, from floor tiles, carved wood to the glass roof, not too huge, there was a second level, but no shops up there.

We found a lovely bistro to have coffee and cake, time to enjoy all the beauty.

As with everywhere else, Christmas has arrived, the market was tiny, I'm sure there must of been a bigger one, but we were not interested in finding it.

The tree inside the huge shopping centre, I liked it, very different, I'm not keen on these huge shopping centre's, it was very warm and very bright inside, I find these spaces very tiring. 

The main reason for going north was to visit hubby's older brother and sister, both settled here years ago. Neither drive far, both partners are not well, I loved watching hubby chat away to them. We promised we would come north again next year. Hubby's  sister gave me loads of books to read, a new author for me, best gift ever.

We are not big on shopping  the city is full of big brand names we walked past most of the shops, we did go into Fenwicks, after having a lovely look at their windows. It was raining when we arrived, but dried up quickly, we found a nice pub for lunch, just away from the main streets, and was back to our room by mid afternoon tired but happy. We missed far too much, but in 1 day you can't see everything, a lovely reason to go back for more days next year.

The drive home was good until we got to A34, the heavens opened for almost 2 hours, at one point the road came almost to a halt as the rain was so heavy, this part of the journey took much longer, most drivers were sensible, but as always a few were reckless. Most of the drive was on good roads and plenty of places to stop, we remembered to pay the final toll for the Tyne tunnel, which is done online.

As with Liverpool we found the locals to be lovely and very helpful, purchasing our metro tickets, two young men were very helpful, a lady on the platform gave us information where to go when we got off the tram. In the city centre we were guided to various places, twice people stopped to ask if we need help.

Unexpected.

We have a few Olives on our tree, there were loads forming, but in the long dry summer the tree dropped most. I don't mind as we leave them for the birds, they never ripen properly in our cooler part of the year. This tree is about the trunk and the leaves, both are beautiful all through the year. I do have a soft winter cover ready if it gets too cold this winter. 

My Violets along the back section have filled out well, I wanted these under the shrubs growing in the back of the garden, I loves these tiny flowers, I have them elsewhere in the garden. The shrubs are still small, when they start growing I only want them to the height of the spike in the low fence. This is looking towards the house.

The winter Jasmin is beautiful this time of year, along with the berries on the other plant (who's name I have forgotten), brighten this back fence. I have other summer plants here, each year this gets thicker, it softens our neighbours huge bar shed behind. It's the only place in the garden where we have plants growing on the fence.

Salvia Hotlips and roses this late in November, they add colour to this side bed, we still see bees around this section of the garden. I am not cutting these back until spring, it gives bugs a place to over winter. My bunting is getting tatty, I will cut it down soon, I already have everything to make new next year. 

This is the unexpected section, Fuchsias in bloom, the bottom two photo's are in the small raised bed beside our back door. The plants by our back door have never stopped blooming, but in the warm spell they produced loads more buds. The tall plant, I moved from a pot to our raised bed at the back, it sits infront of the greenhouse, I'm pleased to see new growth, it means I did not damage the roots. 

Some Begonias are still blooming, the ones in both my chimney pots have stopped, and the one in the smaller photo, in my big black tub by greenhouse door is now closing down. But the plant in my raised bed to full of flowers, as is the Nemesia hanging on in there, with their tiny blooms.

There are bulbs starting to shoot all around the garden, far to early, once the colder weather arrives, they will disappear until spring, when it's their time to shine. 

The only task being done in the garden is hubby is collecting all the leaves, they are shredded as they are sucked up, so they go instantly into my mulch dustbins, our Magnolia tree is not dropping it's leaves yet, it won't be long before they will need to be collected and shredded, they are too big to use the leaf sucker. I don't plan to do anything this week, when I do get outside I won't be doing too much, just a tidy, I still have the autumn raspberries to cut back, just ensuring we are winter ready. I have a few garden fleeces ready if the winter is very cold, I've not needed them in the past couple of years. 

The fence panels are broken to bits, three close to the house, we will have to try and get them sorted, I think our neighbour might just let us get them done, as we can see into her garden and house, not that we want to look. Two panels are breaking by the back of our greenhouse it looks as if the tops as breaking off, we have decided we are not going to pay to replace them, we will get some chicken wire and put between posts, it's by her summer house, so not easy to get at and we can't see as it at the bottom of our garden. The wind always blows across our garden into next door, so the bits breaking off never end up in our garden.

Happiness is....

I am working on a new section, this is another favourite design of mine from the Spanish sampler, the colourful band above is from the same design. There are only two shapes here, all the colourful flowers are the same and the green sections are again the same, there is a smaller infill of the pale green, I have not yet decided if I like the shade of green I started to use, if I'm thinking about it then I probably don't like it.

The pink blooms against the blue walls in our bathroom is such a wonderful contrast, for just a few weeks this spot is delightful, the plant still looks good without the blooms. 

The other plant loving the bathroom is my spider plant, with it's babies , again a perfect spot for this plant, the green variegated leaves again looks good with the blue. I do love these plants when they get huge. 

My Amaryllis has doubled in size and I have everything crossed I have another bud forming. I removed the plastic sleeve after a week, allowing the plant to acclimatize to our room conditions. I have high hopes for beautiful white flowers at Christmas.  They always grow well in this spot.

George is 3 this week, and we won't get to see him on his birthday, so we gave him his card and present, mummy encouraged him to open it. George loves the film Up and loves Doug the friendly dog, we got him the soft toy, he was extremely happy with it. 

It was good to spend Saturday afternoon with daughter, George and Molly, Will was having a sleepover at Grandma and Grandpa's house. I collected Will from school Friday afternoon, so we had some time together. 

We walked to the village on Saturday morning,  it was dry and cold, I have started wearing my gloves and scarf, I don't mind it cold as its easy to add layers,  the temperature has dropped, I do hate being cold and wet. Grace sits on my lap most evenings, so she keeps me warm, often I am too hot with her, but I do enjoy her being so close.

I'm using my phone to access the Internet and it won't allow me to comment on any post, not sure if it's Blogger or Google, but it's a pain. Hopefully I will be able to use my desktop again soon and leave comments.

I have to finish SIL sock, I'm past the heel, so straight simple knitting, it the final bit if his Christmas present. 

Normal life...almost

I loved this book, I have read another of this authors books and loved it. Imagine a farmer builds 3 luxury homes on part of his land, near his farmhouse and creates a small village (more like a hamlet), years later everyone living there disappears on the same night, nine people, the police could not solve it, so 3 years on one man is hired to find out what happened. I had loads of wrong guesses, some close to the plot, it all came together, no super hero stuff, which I don't like. Book 80 read this year.  

I have finished the sunflowers, I do like the colours a bit different. I have done another design, the colour choices are mine, technically it's not finished, 

but I'm stuck......

I have made a mistake, I am one stitch out and did not notice until I started the small designs, normally I would unpick everything and put it right, but, I just don't feel like it, I've changed one small part of the design to make it work, but I can't stitch the small in-between pattern, and I will see if it starts to irritate me, I can always unpick, but it's over half the design.  

I managed some time in the garage sorting plants, my conifer is now in this lovely metal pot, it blew into our front garden a while ago, no one claimed it. The striped pot which had the conifer in now has the mother plant of my Chinese money plant, the biggest baby is in my face pot and I have 5 smaller plants. I have popped the face pot back in on my desk, all the others are in the greenhouse, if they thrive I will give them away.

I really enjoyed sorting my plants, it did not take long and I made sure I worked at the right height, after I sat and relaxed and rested. After my second treatment on my back, I'm still sore but I'm moving better, with better posture. I have loads of things I would like to do, but they will have to wait.

It's been another quiet week, nothing much happening, its been dry for a couple of days, but much colder. I did have a lovely conversation with an old boss, we bumped into him, it was good to catch up, I really enjoyed work for him.

Today we are spending some time with George and Molly, we will pop over and visit, mummy has been waiting for her garage to provide a curtesy car for over a week, she was promised one within 24 hours of her car going into the garage, they had it last Saturday. She is struggling these past few days as hubby had to work away from home, so she can't have the use of his car.  

We have a busy week coming up, so we are both resting and keeping up with everything. 

Family

 George and Molly are both well again, George was able to go to a party on Sunday, our daughter was really wanting him to be well enough to go, I love how quickly they both came back to good health. George has gone to loads of parties, most times as the younger brother of Will. This party invitation came from his nursery, a little girl in his group wanted George at her party, our daughter was in tears when George came home with the invite, all we want for our children and grandchildren is inclusion. George is disabled he has Downs Syndrome, he looks different and he's behind in many things compared to all the other children in his group, but he's a little boy who loves a party. The image below is from George's Instagram page, posted by our daughter, it says so much, with so few words.

We got the little ones nursery photo this week, we had a huge choice, we had been warned George did not smile in the session, poor Molly has no idea what's going on. So no smiles but a lovely photo. Normally their photo is taken on a blank background, this is so much nicer.

My sewing again has grown, I had Sunday on my own, I was not going to risk doing much, my back is again comfortable but not right. I sat and did cross stitch, finishing the flowers and added a bright blue section. I am desperate to get my sewing machine out, but I know my back will suffer if I do. I have already decided the next two sections to be added, both on this left hand side. 

Roses in mid November, these are beautiful to see, our hotlips just keep blooming. After a few dry days, the weather has turned blustery and heavy rain again, it's also much cooler, so I can't see us having blooms in the garden for much longer. 

I have had a much better week, I have done housework without searing back pain, just an ache, I have another session booked for tomorrow, I am walking much better, I have everything crossed this is the start of recovery. It has been far to wet to go out or do anything. 

Sunday I was going to sort hubby's motorcycle book, but decided to postpone it for a while, originally I thought it would be great for a gift, but he has asked for slippers (I know we are all getting older). So I will start the book another time and instead of it being a surprise, when I think it's done, I will show hubby and get his input. 

We have had excitement in our street, my neighbour 2 doors away has been taking legal action again the nasty neighbour in-between, for over a year, recently next door went to court of appeal in London. The Daily mail ran with the story online and on Monday a reporter from the Sun was here, who did the attached piece. Neither us or the neighbour who has been taking the action would speak to the reporter, but other neighbours did, we are now just waiting for the repercussions. 

Flowers

 I was given this beautiful glass pot, it's made to look just like a thimble, and I love it, I don't think I will use it as a plant pot, it needs the light to shine through it. Things should be useful or beautiful,  I can live with not having a use for this, I'm leaving near my desk so I can look at it often.

I treated myself to a white Amaryllis from Lidl this week, I have 5 bulbs in my greenhouse, but I can only get leaves to regrow, I adore these big blooms and often find these cheaper ones grow better than expensive ones from the garden centre. It's in the usual place next to TV stand, I will leave plastic cover on for a week, to allow the bulb to acclimatise.

My sewing is still making me very happy, after I had my 1st treatment on my back, I needed to sit and rest, I had a restful Saturday, so I've done loads, the navy band down the left was super easy to stitch, the orange flowers became repetitive and quick, I shall place 3 here.

I walked through our park on Friday, there are three rose beds all full of blooms, but here around the bandstand is best, roses in mid November, it's crazy. We are so very lucky our parks department can keep everywhere looking so good. In the garden my Salvia hot lips are still full of blooms, my Begonias are hanging in, once the frost starts they will disappear. 

George and Molly are both much better, they both had the same nasty bug, George's neck is still swollen, daughter will decide tomorrow if he needs to go back to hospital, because of his medical issues he is able to be taken back to the children's ward and avoid A&E after any admission, I have everything crossed it starts to disappear.

Friday and Saturday nights, yet again more fireworks, just as loud as the others, poor Grace was not happy, Purdy was not at all bothered.

My back was very sore Friday afternoon and most of Saturday,  I have a trapped nerve and also need some work on my lower back, but she feels sure it can be cured. I am paying for my treatments, I feel it would take too long to be referred through NHS. I really am fed up not being able to do things, hubby is very supportive and will do everything, but I dislike being sat around so much, luckily my stitching helps pass the time. I did start reading The Locked Room by Elly Griffiths, I find some of her books good, others very slow this was a slow start and by page 80 it had not gripped me.

Today hubby is out, so a lovely day at home, I have a couple of small things to do, mainly if weather allows, either way it's going to be a pleasant restful day. Happily it has stopped raining for a few days, the ground is saturated, but there is nothing much to do in the garden, I don't cut back the flower stalks, leaving them for the bugs. I have emptied two buckets both filled with rain water, it's crazy just how much rain has fallen.

Finishes

 The ends have been sewn in on both pairs of socks, these are both for me, I shall have lovely warm feet this winter. I'm still not completely happy with the paler pair, but I will wear them. I offered to make hubby more pairs, but he does not feel the cold, so he doesn't wear his often.

First sock is done for SIL, I'm happy with the look, I have plenty yarn to do second sock, I did change the design at the toe adding the orange and black stripes to match the top. The orange at the toe is the same colour as the orange top band it just looks different in the photo. I love the dark heel, it helps  balance the colours.

  

More done on my cushion, this pink section I have changed it should have been horizontal, but here it works better vertical, the green under the purple design was filling a space, but I liked it so much I'm adding another band. The birds I loved sewing, they are part of a design of a Christmas tree, which I have made into another cushion, which sadly is only out a month each year, I spent loads of time deciding if they should be in this design, as they are very different to the other items, in the end my desire to stich them again won out. Resting for 3 days has given me loads of sewing time.

Another great book, it had two different stories, both really interesting, I could not work out how they were joined, it held to the end when everything came together in an unexpected way, a very clever plot. I have read a couple of her books and would willing read more. Book 79 read this year.

Thank you for all my birthday wishes 

It's been a really busy week, loads of time away from the house, Tuesday I was late meeting everyone, I went with my neighbour and her clutch went on her car, I got her to pull over just before it blew up, she insisted it was ok to drive, I wish I had pushed harder to take our car. As the breakdown truck arrived hubby came to get me, we got some bits from the garden centre to finish 2 food hampers for gifts, I also saw a gift idea for hubby to give me. We also went to Homebargains and stocked up on cleaning products, we should not need to shop for cleaning items until the new year.

Tuesday was also sad, we had Molly for a while late afternoon, as daughter was back in hospital with George, he has been poorly again, he went to Doctors and they sent him straight to hospital. 

Wednesday was a day at home, hubby was out in morning so I managed to do some housework and also gave all three Christmas cakes their first drink of brandy. We had friends here for lunch, hubby made a huge slow cooker full of minestrone soup on Monday so he made a fresh loaf and we all enjoyed a lovely homemade lunch, we sat and chatted all afternoon. It was a windy sunny day, got loads of laundry dry on the line. Sadly Molly ended up in A&E with daddy in the evening, she has the same as George, just not as bad, she was checked over and after alot of chat, they sent her home with medication, George stayed another night, he is responding to the medication, but a lump in his throat is not going down, which makes his breathing difficult. 

Thursday I had a lazy morning and then out to lunch with friends, we went to Stokes Bay which is lovely in the summer, not so nice in the rain, its very flat and the wind and rain was relentless. But the company was good, as was the food, we all caught up, loads of photos of grandchildren. By mid afternoon Molly was back in A&E with daddy, mummy was still with George, later in the evening George was allowed to go home with instruction to bring him back to the ward if he deteriorated, happily they are improving. 

Today I am resting ready for my first session with my back, I can't see it being sorted in just one go, I am just hoping I can start to do more things, and be able to pick up and cuddle the grand children again. I have another appointment booked for the doctor to try and sort my kidney issue, I am still getting abnormal blood results. I'm very tired, I can't sleep whilst the little ones are in hospital,  I am worried, George because of his Downs syndrome and Molly because she is so young.

Birthday

 Hubby gave me this lovely book for my birthday yesterday, he had purchased it as a Christmas gift, but had no idea what to give me for my birthday and ran out of time. I understand his pain as I would not be able to say what I wanted, I do love Adam Frost and prefer him over Monty.

Hubby took me out for a meal at lunchtime, we went to the same venue as daughter took us recently, this time it was raining the whole time, we sat in a window seat, warm and dry, I do like to watch the sea on a rough day.

I've had a brilliant birthday, daughter got me Alan Rickman's book, taken from his diaries after he died, she popped in on Sunday with Will, now he is at school we don't see him so much, so it was fun to spend time with just him and mummy, he is growing up far to quickly. I also was given a nice bottle of wine, a poppy bird feeder, flowers and some money. Later today I'm out with sign group to a lovely garden centre, we will stop for coffee and cake. On Thursday I am having lunch with a couple of ex workmates, we try and get together a few times each year.

On Friday I will be getting treatment for my back, it can't come soon enough,  I can then rest over the weekend., I have a special project to work on Sunday, hubby is out all day.

So tell me how quickly has it taken me to reach 67 years old, my goodness what a number, only seams like yesterday we were raising our family now we watch our children raising their own children. The years rush by, soon it will be 2023, I'm not wishing time away, time just flies. The number of my age does not reflect who I am, it just seams so weird when I think of my age. Looking back we are much younger in our outlook than our parents, my mum did loads more in her later life, my dad loved to stay at home and mum was happy to be with him, after he passed away, she did so much more, going abroad and travelling when she could.

Houseplants

This plant Albuca Spiralis Frizzle Sizzle is doing really well, its on my desk infront of a huge sunny window and by our radiator, it does love the sunlight. I love the tiny curls on the tips of each stem, it from the onion family, This plant does not last too long, but I love it when it's looking this good.

Betty had a trim a few weeks ago, her hair is growing well, she lives further from the window in my office, not in direct sunlight. These string of pearls are so easy to grow. I also have a string of hearts, which has grown very long. 

I got this plant in September when my sister was visiting, the cup and saucer was a birthday gift last year, it is part of a set of 3, it's a perfect combination, it sits on my monitor shelf. I don't know the name of this plant it was in the succulent display, I just love the colours of the leaves. 

This Chinese money plant is getting huge and has loads of babies, I really need to repot the mother plant and leave one baby in this head pot. I will pop the others into old small pots and take them to the charity shop. Again this is a very easy plant to grow. 

Last plant shown here in my office is my pineapple plant, it was a baby in a plant purchased a few years ago, its now at the back of the office on a warm internal wall, not in direct sunlight but still bright. It has put on loads of growth since I moved it here. I do have more plants in my office, too many to show here. 

In my sitting room, which is a cooler darker room I have these two tiny pots, Will got me the spaceman, deciding that's a nana pot when he saw it, and we got the man for my air plant together. Both do well in this location, I have very few other real plants in this room. 

My spider plant was getting too big for the kitchen window sill, so I have moved it into the downstairs bathroom, this is a cool room but it does get all the afternoon sun through the big window. Since I moved this plant it has produce a long stem, which will grow babies, I love to see a spider plant with their babies. It has plenty of space here to grow, I will have to remember to turn the plant as it grows to the light and would get lopsided.

My cactus is flowering, it loves this spot on the bathroom window, it's always the first to flower and although the flowers don't last long, there are so many buds, the whole plant will flower for weeks. I have other plants around, but this one is the best. This is one of the few flowering plants I have. 

As you can see inside I mostly like to grow plants which don't flower, I love the leaves shape, texture and different shades of green. I have loads of lovely pots, collected over the years, just recently I have been collecting head pots and other human shapes. I really love my little man pot with the cacti shaped like a brain, shown with the Chinese money plant, he should be used as an egg cup. The need to nurture plants is with me all year, if I lived on my own I would have loads more plants inside, but hubby is not a fan of houseplants, he does have one by his desk, which he loves, but he's happy with just one.

Thank goodness for crafting and reading, I have enough to keep me busy inside when the weather is wet, and it has rained alot in the past few weeks. My back is playing up again and was bad on Friday and Saturday, so I am going for help today, hopefully a local well recomended lady will be able to help me, at not too higher a cost. 

Nothing much is happening here, we spent the weekend at home, inside, it's dark most of the day, the heavy rain does not stop, typical November, it still feels warm inside, the radiators have come on a few early mornings, but never in the day or evening, 19° is working for us, Grace warms my lap every evening. 

We did watch the carnival from Bridgwater, my childhood local town, it's huge happens the 1st Saturday in November, click on the link and be amazed. Grace hates all the fireworks, they have been very noisy this year, one lot started after midnight on Saturday,  idiots and even more on Sunday evening.