Mix it up

I had Monday off, soup on the menu

 Butternut squash, tomato and sweet pepper

add water and seasoning, simmer and enjoy. 

 My 3rd lot of home made bunting,

The triangles at the back are for another set for me. 

 So easy to make

November is another low spend month for me

most of my purchases are for Christmas gifts. 

So I am back to over £100 saving on last year, which I am happy with.

I will try and save another £100 next year. 

We popped to Lidl for some shopping, our bill was £31 again I was impressed. We also went into town, our parking ticket was under an hour, so we were both happy.

So November is almost done, how quickly another month has passed. 

Tonight is fore caste to be the coldest night of the winter so far, we are lucky we have  a nice warm house, I won't be so pleased when I leave for work at 7.15am tomorrow morning, but at least it's dry.

Stay warm tonight 

Family time

I am feeling festive, plants and bulbs are growing

The letters are for tree decoration for youngest grandsons

I am decorating them for their tree.

 A couple of purchases from our Christmas show over the weekend

Held at Shepton Mallet show ground, home of the Bath & West Show

I did get loads for gifts, but can't show on here

My new raised bed for cut flowers have seeds growing

 I have planted in groups, so when they are big enough I can move around my plot, the hope is to have extra plants to place in all my gardens, just leaving the plants here for use as cut flowers in the house.  

 It's a sunny day here and the garden is looking good, as quick as you pick up the huge leaves more fall, it's a labour of love as the Magnolia gives us so much please through the summer.  

 Inside flowers

the roses were a gift, the Orchids are old plants flowering again. 

 I have finished Best of Friends, the writing is brilliant, I could not put it down, the story line was close to some of my life, I do love her style of writing. 

We enjoyed our weekend in Somerset, family time is always so good, staying with my brother Martin.
Friday I spent the day with my sister Leanna, we thought the Christmas show would have been much bigger, but there was some lovely stalls, including wood craft and glass, both I love. We spent the afternoon in Glastonbury, if you want to shop away from the main brands, this is the place for you. The town has it's roots in hippy and magic in equal amounts, I am an old hippy and my sister would have been a white witch, so there was something for both of us. My last visit was over 10 years ago, but we got a seat in an vegetarian cafe for lunch, which I had always loved, good food, first visit for meal for Leanna, but she will go there again.
Saturday I spent time with my older sister Liz, who had a fall and cracked her kneecap, and yes it is painful, she is off her legs and has to rest, which is difficult at the best of times, but in the run up to Christmas it's frustrating, but her hubby Bruce has stepped up to the challenge. In the evening we all went out for a meal.
Sunday we had time with Logan and Finn, they were full of fun as normal, it's a shock to see how quickly they are growing up, we spend special time with mummy and daddy, a truly happy family.
If anyone can find out who made the changes to Blogger can you please point me in their direction, they have changed an easy lay out with everything on one page, to a disjointed front page, where we have to click on different pages just to see the information we are used too. I really can not see any benefits with these changes.

Busy Saturday

 I am loving this as a fruit bowl

it's useful as it holds loads of fruits.

 Sweet peppers and a green pepper going over in the bottom of the fridge

add butternut squash, soft tomatoes and a stew pack

With hubbies home made bread

 Wearing my boots today and they are so comfortable

We woke to a good frost, so most of the flowers have gone over, the garden is now closing down, I'm pleased with my greenhouse, things are looking good in there.
This morning we went to Lidl, and got loads of great stuff, the shop is huge and so clean, we will be popping there often, sadly it was mobbed, so shopping was a bit hectic. I got a stew pack which I used to make the soup, I have frozen 5 packs for my lunches and we still have a jug full in the fridge. I have one last crop of sweet peppers left to harvest, which I will use in my next soup.
We walked to the village but got caught in a real downpour, so we sat and had a coffee in our local place, a nice treat. My boots were great, my legs and feet stayed warm, I am so pleased with them.
I have been making my Christmas cards, I'm late this year, and I have wrapped presents which we are taking next weekend when we are back in Somerset.
Tonight I hope to do some cross stitch, nothing done last night we shared a bottle of wine, and I finished reading A strret cat called Bob, which I enjoyed.

See the birds

I have just another branch and bauble on this section to stitch,

below two birds to finish, then the top 2 pages are done. 

 This is how I stitch, normally with just one page tucked under the frame, but I have to work over the join in the pages. I hope to finish the 2nd page this weekend. 

 These are a case of need, the tops look huge but I think it's the angle of the photo, they fit perfectly and are immediately very comfortable. I love the lower heel.  

It's been a bit of a nothing week, work, home sleep, which is not a bad thing, we often try and get too much done is too shorter time. 

Later tonight I will stitch some more of the Christmas tree, I don't expect it finished much before Christmas is here, but I am enjoying the festive stitching. I do most of my Christmas stitching in the early months of the year. I love this design and will use it each year. We are also having a treat of Pizza tonight, we have a local shop who deliver wonderful tasting Pizza's. 

I hope to get my sewing machine out over the weekend, we are at home with no plans. Sunday looks as if we will have heavy rain all day, so we will pop out tomorrow in the morning. We have a new Lidl opened about 10 mins drive away, it's not a supermarket we go to often, our next nearest is only a small shop and when we visit we could not get all we need. It will be nice to pop in and see their range. 

I'm off to catch up with blogs, so many of you with wonderful things happening, I can't wait to hear your updates.