A freezing weekend...

.....the first frosts of the winter and my plants are all outside still, no bulbs planted and no really usable greenhouse.  I am fed up with this garden, I can't summon up any interest in it this year.

Made a start on the Christmas shopping, and a bit of making and decorating in my messy-very messy- room.

Why can't I get any pictures to load......JOHN.....help, again.  Ever since BT "fixed" our phone line, we have been having problems.  It was perfectly fine until they came to mend it, now we can barely hear any phone calls, and internet is so hit and miss.

Monday morning....

....and its still blooming cold.....so.....

                   ....a nice cosy fire.....

          .....winter slippers with a thick sole (the cold kitchen floor comes straight through my thin slippers).....

                     .....a jar of pretty fairy lights....

                      ....a nearly empty coffee cup.......

                ......my favourite festive magazine (and a dog who definitely does NOT want to for a walk....and....WHAT.....

           ....a chewed tea-bag besides the dog's toy-box!!!!!!

                ......when, and how, did he raid the bin?

It's coming....

    ....and it will be here before we know it...

      ......Joes all set, made him a Christmas/winter collar, very smart he looks too, or at least he will when he has a haircut

Emptying my camera...

     .....and finding....

               ....a sunny Sunday afternoon stroll along the canal bank....(must burn that coat of his)

            .....when Sara, Paul and Ben came to stay for the weekend.....

                                   
            ...Teasing the dog with her toes, when he did not want to be picked up to be part of any photograph....good, thats my shirt she pinched, and his paws were....YUK!

    ...A different weekend in London to fix a few bits in Charlotte's flat.  I went off to enjoy Borough market early, and in the rain, it turned out to be a good move as it was less packed than usual and I managed to wander round, damp, but unsquashed!

                 .....unlike this beautiful seasonal pile of seasonal squashes and pumpkins.

                    ....how much!......

         Our picnic was good, if pricey, as we all sat in the flat waiting for paint to dry, and we got all the jobs done too.

          An evening in town, eating mince pies and drinking champagne in John Lewis, I hate mince pies but these were d'licous.....Waitrose own obviously.  I didn't buy anything, but I shall look out for those mince pies over Christmas.

Darsh sat in a corner doing a quick price check....

                   .....before he made nearly his biggest purchase off the year.....

She took her present box all the way to Nottingham on Saturday morning, planning to have good "play".  Unfortunately, she left the contents on the table to cool down, and so carried a half empty box all that way.

28, and still stupid...

She caught the train back on Sunday morning and we spent the whole day at the vintage fair, shopping, trying on, wandering round and buying.....Christmas shopping has begun.

And the chocolate cake was pretty good too. 

At home....

......enjoying a day of fog that never lifted, lights on early this afternoon....

            ....candles lit to enjoy our afternoon tea by....

          ......a dog who didn't want to take his coat off after his walk this morning....

          .....in fact he was so reluctant to get off his favourite blanket, his Neville blanket, that he growled at me when I tried to get him to come for a walk!  Little rat.

It's November....

                                                        ....this is what we can expect.

Which of these....

    .....well soaked little Singh kittens hit 31 today?

They have all got together for a weekend of champagne silliness and bingo(!) in London this weekend.

   She is planning a visit home next weekend, all the others have got exciting prior arrangements (yeah..right) so she is going to have to suffer a trip to mummy and daddy's alone.

  

I've been sorting out the old photos, thrown loads in the bin and then fished a few back out to make silly gift tags with.

Went to Cannock this morning, finally got to wear my new coat...it rained...poured....and I smelt of wet sheep, had to open the car windows on the way home!  Even wet dog smells better than me this morning.

Don't forget to change your clocks tonight girls....an extra hour of celebrating.

Having blogger trouble......

......the last part of my previous post, writing pictures and all have disappeared, to goodness knows where....never to be seen again.

Pictures can be reloaded, but writing?
Can't be bothered... I'm off to bed in disgust.

You think you haven't done anything very much just lately...

....And then you empty camera, and realise that maybe, just maybe, we have done all sorts of little bits and pieces.

Thats mainly why I keep a blog, as a visual diary of all the irrelevant bits and pieces and trivial events that make up every day life.

I scrap booked all the little bits of paper and souvenir that gather up on the desk, nice to look at and remember, but of no use whatsoever really.  I've thousands of photos kicking around and one day you girls will have to have a great big bonfire.  There's no point in keeping them and I keep tossing the odd handful into the recycle box from time to time.

         I spent a pleasant few hours wrapping boxes biscuits as wedding favours for the neighbours.
Good job I like wrapping presents.

    I met Selina in town and spent my birthday money on a new coat.  I haven't worn it yet, but I'm ready for a bit of cold.

      We went and ate cinnamon sugared Churros...

               ....at

             My favourite, even better than Jam doughnuts.    I made jam - raspberry- again, my favourite- and why would I make anything else?

     I went to the wedding reception with Darsh, and they barely used any of the biscuits, so now they are all stored in the camper van while they decide what to do with them.  I have to dash out and open the camper van windows every time the sun comes out, so the chocolate doesn't melt.

    We made a trip to London to drop off the wedding presents and wedding dress at Sara and John's flat, stayed overnight and then headed back- no photos.

    And Sal and Dave came to stay for a few days, again no photos, well there are, but nothing suitable for here-Dave has had a fight with a lathe and chopped the end off his finger!

Started my Christmas shopping, had a manicure, dog had a haircut, Darsh to dentist and opticians, enjoyed roast lunch in Brownhills , and also lunch in Pelsall, had a "thali" in Handsworth,

    ....sat in the sun...

                ....walked in a deserted park......

                                   ....walked along several canal banks.....

     ..... but we were determined to make the most of this lovely Autumn weather.

It's amazing what you find when you empty out the old photos on your camera!

Hiding....

    .....and peering nervously round our legs....

            ....and with very good reason....

    ....there was a flock of around 25, all of them were bigger than the dog, and they were not prepared to share the bread.
     We took a walk around Hatherton Reservoir, viewed a very sweet little cottage, and then had afternoon tea in the car - cheese sandwiches, cream cake and a cuppa tea.
      I've noticed lots of geese flying over the house lately.  I'm not sure if they are starting to migrate yet or not, but there was plenty of them on the canal today.  I also spotted a green woodpecker in a tree at the back of the house a couple of days ago, I'm hoping to see him in the garden one day.
    The field-fares are starting to arrive and we have lots of blackbirds too.  So pretty soon there will be no berries left on our Rowan trees.   As it gets darker earlier each night the temperature drops rapidly, the first frosts can't be too far away now, and I've got 2 panes of glass broken in my greenhouse, so I've nowhere to store my delicate plants.  Darsh has promised to put some cardboard over the holes, caused by an enormous pear falling off the tree.  Cardboard should work well, after all it never rains here over winter...

oh.oh.oh....

....my favourite....

              .....autumn leaves....afternoon sunshine.....and shadows....how could I resist?

A bit of a late post....

.....seeing as it is almost the weekend again.

 But last weekend was spent in Birmingham with Selina and Pete. 

 Sometimes it is so good to just go into the city and wander around the local sights. 

 We got to see the new Grand Central, we ate there, looked round and admired, but we didn't actually get inside the new John Lewis store, [was hoping to do that on my birthday, but still haven't managed it yet, maybe that could be tomorrows plan].

            There is always something different to see around town, the water feature in the main square has been drained and filled in.  The fountains seldom worked, there was always lots of rubbish, and plenty of kids in  the water and it was often rather smelly, to say the least.
      The plants are pretty, but now the "Floozy in the Jacuzzi" as the figure was locally called, is sat in the middle of a flower bed.  I liked her best when someone threw in a bottle of washing up liquid and a load of dye.  Then she looked as if she was thoroughly enjoying her pink bubble bath.

    Selina had her walking boots on, and a map in her hand, we were a bit worried 'cos she likes to walk along every street on the map.  She loves a good walking tour, but this time she wasn't feeling too well, and had to sit down in the sunshine whilst dad went to buy her some Paracetamol.  Her walking boots were lined with lead this particular weekend.  (We all breathed a sigh of relief)

     Once she recovered we all ate large bowls of Poh soup in our new Vietnamese street food place.  We got one of the best tables in the place, watching folk rushing to and from the trains after the rugby matches.
     That large brown object in the middle of my dish is actually a big wooden spoon, I was quite worried at first, it looked like a big brown egg from a distance-I hate eggs.

     We also saw Godiva, the huge marionette that has been walking around the country for the last few years!  She is huge and followed by a colourful band of music and dancers.

     .....and I can't get my colourful and noisy video to download, as usual.

Look who we met.....

     .....on our stroll this afternoon....

      I know its bad that he should be out in the daytime, and this may well mean that he will not survive the winter.  But he was in an area under some trees, rooting around in the grass and feeding.  He was no where near any roads and it was very quiet, so maybe he was fairly safe.  I hope so anyway, its years since we saw any hedgehogs and their numbers have dropped drastically in the last few years.