Pretty flowers

Daughter and I popped to my favourite garden centre, Garson's, previously I had seen yellow hellebores, I got these cyclamen just because they were purple, and the violas because they were pretty, all to top my spring bulb pots.

Daughter was paying for the yellow hellebore as a birthday present, sadly they had sold out, I have loads of different shades of pink flowers, so I had a look at other plants. These are yellow and I have spots for both of them, daughter gets me plants every year to add to winter colour.

The veg beds have been sorted, I've sown broad beans, and used one bin of leaf mulch on both gardens, I still have carrots growing, the leaves were not shredded so they are big, it won't matter, they will break down over the winter months.

My thanksgiving cactus is in bud again, this one lives in our downstairs bathroom, its a pretty colour. I have a second pot with another pink and a white bloom together which also has buds.

Having my hair coloured feels good, it's a bit paler that I wanted, so daughter will help me add more colour, just a few highlights, I've not bothered for years, I need my nails done again, I can't paint just the tips, which I do love. 

Daughter and I had fun shopping in Southampton, I visited many shops with brands I don't normally view, daughter got a few bits, I didn't. I thought John Lewis Christmas section was unremarkable, I passed on their decorations and just got a couple stocking fillers for Will. We did have a nice lunch out, choosing festive flavours, we were back home by 3.30pm. Friday hubby helped sort daughters garage and shed, I planted daisies in her back garden, Will who was home helped me weed the slate beside the path to the front door, he was truly helpful. I went online to M&S outlet to get some underwear for myself, I did add a jumper to the basket as did hubby, I find the quality even from M&S is lower, nothing last as long. 

Hubby made red velvet cake for my birthday, requested by both Will and Molly, he again made cupcakes, which they love, I spent Sunday at daughters house, she cooked a roast dinner, the children were tired after after a busy day with parties and a firework display, which they watched in a carpark near by with two other families with disabled children, hubby was playing petanque, so I had a lazy day.

After a busy week we had a very quiet Saturday at home, being a year older means very little once you get older, cakes are made and ate solely for the children to enjoy, otherwise we would not have bothered. I have asked for years no gifts, there is very little I require, hubby got me my wildlife camera which I love, which I had early.

Rusty lines

I got this metal edging for the raspberry bed, Lilly keeps kicking out the soil.

I got a pack of five pieces, enough for the front of the fruit bed as well, the pretty black metal arches never stopped the soil from being kicked out, I will use them elsewhere.

And enough to do the front of the square flower bed, the green plastic edging is getting brittle, I will pull it out soon, this bed it ground level and always messy along the edge. 

I have wanted this type of metal edging for ages, mainly for the flower beds, I got fed up with sweeping up soil from the grass, it looks good in my rustic garden, shiny metal would not work, it was cost effective to purchase the pack, and do more places. I will get another pack next spring for the long side bed, I am unable to see the edge of that garden because of all the plants still there. 

We did a huge shop at Tesco this week, normally we go to Asda, we are stocked up until the new year, we will still need to shop in Lidl's, we have a few chocolates for us over Christmas, neither of us looked at the clothes, and only glanced at the Christmas section. Avoiding huge supermarkets is always preferred on the run up to Christmas. 

We watched Bake off on Tuesday night on channel 4, all the advert breaks were full of Christmas, so it's officially the silly season. A local charity has started a collection for toys to help families locally, we took some books the children no longer use, all look brand new, later I will get a couple of toys to go in the boxes, every child should have something to open.

Today I'm off to Southampton with daughter, we both enjoy a days shopping together, and love the festive season, especially in John Lewis, plus lot's of brands we don't have local, Southampton is less then and hours drive, daughter always drives. 

November already

Book two of this series, another good plot, a woman is murdered and there is no evidence at all, how to solve the case. Book 87 read this year.

I have baked our cake, much smaller this year, the cake is smaller, but deeper, I use the same ingredients as my bigger cake, I will make the cupcake ones soon, fruit cake is loved in our house.

I am completely grey, which I don't mind other than I fancy a bit of a change, daughter and I chose this shade I'm having my haircut this week and will have highlights.

We have had daughter here for two nights, her ex came back to clear out his stuff from the garage and had the children, she has rested, ate well and looks less tired. We will spend a day at hers soon to clear all the stuff left behind, her ex only took what he wanted.

Saturday I did more sewing, I'm very close to the finishing line, I always love to use my sewing machine, still using what I have. Hubby got a new throw for our sofa which is huge, so next I will cut it down, in hope the excess material will help with my 3rd sewing project.

The days have been sunny and warm, more like September than October or early November, I am almost up to date on garden task, leaves are beginning to fall, I will collect them all for mulch. 

It been quiet here, this week is going to be very busy, I have my final medical test, a day out with daughter, and we are both at hers one day, I have plants to put into her garden.

I see Blogger is playing up again, my reading list page is very slow and often times out.

October round up

 Just 2 packs of bulbs and 1 small tray of plants, hopefully the bulbs will bloom for Christmas/January. A bag of grit for spring bulb pots. My new coat was £69.99, which I consider a bargain, it's been an expensive month for clothes, I'm still average under £40 per month. .  

9 Books read this month

It's not been a bad month, no huge household spends, we turned on our heating on 9th, to start with the radiators came on a few mornings, not so much in the lunchtime and evening, we still get days when the radiators stay cold in the evenings, our home is warm. 

I purchased my blog book, which with the huge discount and free shipping was an excellent price, I had set aside quite a bit more, so nice win. We have purchased some Christmas gifts, we do like to get the sorted early, most of the older grandsons get cash, which they prefer.

No food waste, hubby is back making soups again served with crusty bread rolls, our main meal menu has changed as well. My weight is the same, far too many pounds sitting on me.

We have had the normal amount of rainfall for the whole of October in the past 10 days, all good for the ground water levels, we are very lucky as we have no flood risk here. On checking my wildlife camera I realised I had set it wrong, I thought it was set to stop recording at 6am, I had set it at 6 minutes past midnight, its all sorted now.