November!
Somehow October is already over, the stars were out last night at 6.30pm, and it's November... What's been happening...? Where is the world up to? I'm UK-bound - or rather bound to the UK just now, cos my passport is off (hopefully) having its certificate transferred. I'm sort of taking Wednesdays off proofreading, because my eyes have been exploding by the end of the week, and my concentration is struggling. I'm volunteering twice a week at the most local NT place, and have actually just been offered a couple of hour's paid work there, each week, which I'll do. It can't substitute for my dayjob, cos it's pretty poorly paid - but it's better paid than volunteering!
I let my archery slide - no one quite seemed to know how to help me improve, and they were all about the kit... I didn't mean that to happen, but... oh well. I've been neglecting my fiddle practice too, which means I'm sliding backwards - not helped that my teacher's been off for two weeks now, and had only been back from a long summer holiday a few weeks before that. I practiced every day when he was away then though - since he got back I've been far less good... I've been so tired... but I'm taking my iron mostly like a good girl... *g*
I'd forgotten about Graze boxes, but I've reinstated them to try and snack more healthily when I'm at home and bored! Not that the first selection looks particularly healthy - especially the chocolate pudding one - but it has fruit too, and that's good for you... *g*
Is anyone else still doing Graze? (Or if you'd like to, I've got those discount-codes for a free box for people to try, again *g*) They're a wee bright spot in the week, a bit like a Riverford box - surprise! What's going to be there...? *g*
I've finally been bookmaking too, though rather than the regular course I'd hoped for, with people to meet, it started with a single long session, and I made a whole book!
I'm quite pleased with it - it took ages cos we were also chatting, and the bloke kept stopping to show me things - his meteorite collection, books from the 1600s, a bound set of the 1850 Illustrated London News, which he said he'd sell to me when I expressed my love for it... *g* But he's got a big job on, and can't do another student session for a couple of weeks, so I have to wait... though I have homework to do, as part of binding a photo album that's been sitting as pages waiting for attention since about 1997... *g* But every time I see my wee book, I think that's really a book! The binding is just the same as the Paperblank ones I use for journals (well, obviously rather more handmade... *g*) I want to make more now! If I was quick enough they would even make Christmas presents - but I suspect I won't be...
Yesterday I decided it was far too pretty not to get out of the house for a bit, even if I did leave it very late, so I took myself to Lytes Cary, which is a National Trust property not far away...
An entire crop of tummocks! *g*
Looking out from under the bower... *g*
Medlars! They always make me feel as if I should try to make something with them, but they're fiddly to use, I think, and not particularly encouraging, smell-wise (or so I hear).
They look good on the trees though, on a glorious autumn day... *g*
I do like a sundial... *g*
Oh, and just autumn colours, and old stone... *sighs*
And of course the NT had made a halloween trail for the kiddies, which started here, by these wee ghosties... *g*
And then just as I was about to leave, this little chap was sitting on the fencepost by my car, and he waited ever so patiently for me to change my camera lens and take some pictures... *g*
My current favourite biscuits-for-cheese are rosemary crackers from Godminster, just down the road, but they're hugely pricey, and when I looked at the ingredients they were basically flour, baking powder, water, butter and rosemary, so I thought I'd have a go at making some...
...and I can highly recommend it! As you'd expect - rub the butter into the flour and baking powder, add the water to make a dough, roll very thinly and scatter with your herbs of choice... I actually have a good rosemary bush in my pot-garden, so I snipped some off and used that, with some rock salt - and yummy! I had them with homemade butternut squash soup for dinner, which felt halloween-ish and rather like proper food - and I knew what every bit of it was made of, which is always nice! I experimented with different toppings pressed in too, which was what took the time - dried dill tops, various salts, salt and pepper, mixed herbs - but I think I like the rosemary best. I must try just a little salt and/or spice in with the flour next time, and perhaps some finely grated cheese... *g*
By virtue of only realising last night that it started today, I guess I've decided not to do NaNoWriMo this year. I wondered about signing up for one of the smaller challenges, but they've never really grabbed me, so I thought I might try and work on snatches of a writing project left over from last year, and all my writing projects left over from Pros - but try and write every day. I've done it before, surely I can do it this year? It's just a matter of prioritising, although that's what I've been struggling with for the last year or so months... But it's like cleaning my teeth when I do it for NaNo, just something I have to do, so... I might actually post stuff here, which feels a bit more accountable somehow, but I'll lock it up so that no one's bothered by it who wouldn't be interested. If you might be interested, let me know and I'll filter you in. Cos comments would be welcomed - it's partly to work out if I can write anything not-Pros that anyone else would be interested in reading, though mostly to just try and get going...
Oh - and I took these pics a couple of weeks ago, when I woke early to a beautifully misty morning...
So that's where my autumn seems to be up to so far - how about you? What are you up to, at this borderland time of year...? *g*
I let my archery slide - no one quite seemed to know how to help me improve, and they were all about the kit... I didn't mean that to happen, but... oh well. I've been neglecting my fiddle practice too, which means I'm sliding backwards - not helped that my teacher's been off for two weeks now, and had only been back from a long summer holiday a few weeks before that. I practiced every day when he was away then though - since he got back I've been far less good... I've been so tired... but I'm taking my iron mostly like a good girl... *g*
I'd forgotten about Graze boxes, but I've reinstated them to try and snack more healthily when I'm at home and bored! Not that the first selection looks particularly healthy - especially the chocolate pudding one - but it has fruit too, and that's good for you... *g*
Is anyone else still doing Graze? (Or if you'd like to, I've got those discount-codes for a free box for people to try, again *g*) They're a wee bright spot in the week, a bit like a Riverford box - surprise! What's going to be there...? *g*
I've finally been bookmaking too, though rather than the regular course I'd hoped for, with people to meet, it started with a single long session, and I made a whole book!
I'm quite pleased with it - it took ages cos we were also chatting, and the bloke kept stopping to show me things - his meteorite collection, books from the 1600s, a bound set of the 1850 Illustrated London News, which he said he'd sell to me when I expressed my love for it... *g* But he's got a big job on, and can't do another student session for a couple of weeks, so I have to wait... though I have homework to do, as part of binding a photo album that's been sitting as pages waiting for attention since about 1997... *g* But every time I see my wee book, I think that's really a book! The binding is just the same as the Paperblank ones I use for journals (well, obviously rather more handmade... *g*) I want to make more now! If I was quick enough they would even make Christmas presents - but I suspect I won't be...
Yesterday I decided it was far too pretty not to get out of the house for a bit, even if I did leave it very late, so I took myself to Lytes Cary, which is a National Trust property not far away...
An entire crop of tummocks! *g*
Looking out from under the bower... *g*
Medlars! They always make me feel as if I should try to make something with them, but they're fiddly to use, I think, and not particularly encouraging, smell-wise (or so I hear).
They look good on the trees though, on a glorious autumn day... *g*
I do like a sundial... *g*
Oh, and just autumn colours, and old stone... *sighs*
And of course the NT had made a halloween trail for the kiddies, which started here, by these wee ghosties... *g*
And then just as I was about to leave, this little chap was sitting on the fencepost by my car, and he waited ever so patiently for me to change my camera lens and take some pictures... *g*
My current favourite biscuits-for-cheese are rosemary crackers from Godminster, just down the road, but they're hugely pricey, and when I looked at the ingredients they were basically flour, baking powder, water, butter and rosemary, so I thought I'd have a go at making some...
...and I can highly recommend it! As you'd expect - rub the butter into the flour and baking powder, add the water to make a dough, roll very thinly and scatter with your herbs of choice... I actually have a good rosemary bush in my pot-garden, so I snipped some off and used that, with some rock salt - and yummy! I had them with homemade butternut squash soup for dinner, which felt halloween-ish and rather like proper food - and I knew what every bit of it was made of, which is always nice! I experimented with different toppings pressed in too, which was what took the time - dried dill tops, various salts, salt and pepper, mixed herbs - but I think I like the rosemary best. I must try just a little salt and/or spice in with the flour next time, and perhaps some finely grated cheese... *g*
By virtue of only realising last night that it started today, I guess I've decided not to do NaNoWriMo this year. I wondered about signing up for one of the smaller challenges, but they've never really grabbed me, so I thought I might try and work on snatches of a writing project left over from last year, and all my writing projects left over from Pros - but try and write every day. I've done it before, surely I can do it this year? It's just a matter of prioritising, although that's what I've been struggling with for the last year or so months... But it's like cleaning my teeth when I do it for NaNo, just something I have to do, so... I might actually post stuff here, which feels a bit more accountable somehow, but I'll lock it up so that no one's bothered by it who wouldn't be interested. If you might be interested, let me know and I'll filter you in. Cos comments would be welcomed - it's partly to work out if I can write anything not-Pros that anyone else would be interested in reading, though mostly to just try and get going...
Oh - and I took these pics a couple of weeks ago, when I woke early to a beautifully misty morning...
So that's where my autumn seems to be up to so far - how about you? What are you up to, at this borderland time of year...? *g*