It's been a while since I logged on and wrote a Friday blog post! Can I blame summer and busy trips away? But now the clocks have gone back and we're home until Christmas, it feels like we're back in a proper routine again and I won't jinx myself but I feel like I finally have some more time again for spontaneous blogging, not just trying to play catch up all the time. Here's hoping anyway!

So how are you? It's November! That gorgeous transitional month full of autumn leaves and cosy evenings before the Christmas madness. I didn't know whether to start these Friday round-up posts again now that I seem to share most things on Instagram and Insta stories but many of you wrote to me saying that stories disappear after 24 hours and that you like being able to refer back to these posts. So I think I'll definitely try for one a month, maybe more frequently but let's see how we go. I hope you like this slightly new format!


// the week that's just gone; has flown by. I think when you throw Halloween and Bonfire Night etc into the mix, something exciting rather than the standard weekday evenings then it goes even quicker. We didn't actually do anything for halloween this year, I shamefully didn't even carve any of the pumpkins that we grew! But it was fun seeing all the houses all dressed up around our village. We had a mini bonfire on Monday night before the real deal this weekend.


We've been busy entertaining this week, we had friends for lunch last Saturday, Ben's family for dinner on Sunday and then my family on Wednesday evening. It's always nice to use the kitchen table and jazz it all up for special dinners and now that it's so dark early, close all the curtains and light candles. There's been the usual work commitments - emails, blogging, phone calls and two meetings this week along with pilates and as much fresh air as I can fit in. I love working from home so much, it's super flexible and if I've wanted to go out for an hour or so in the day, I compensate by working a bit longer into the evenings. I feel like this week I've struck a good balance, it's not always the case but this week things have finally felt like they're clicking into place. My husband has a couple of new property projects on the go which has been exciting to go and check in on too. Now it's Friday and we've both taken the day off to go for lunch and a wander.


// what I've cooked recently; coca cola ham {for last weekend}, it's Nigella's famous recipe. On my blog here from previous years and we normally only bring it out at Christmas. But it's perfect for lots of people and something you can easily do in advance. We cooked it on the Friday then cut a section off to put in the oven with the glaze on Saturday for lunch then the rest on Sunday - this way it's warm and fresh. The pumpkin cake from last weekend. Lots of roasted vegetables - both for dinner additions and then kept in the fridge for easy lunches through the week, I'm obsessed with roasted cauliflower - try it and you'll never look back! This weekend I think it's time to bring out my annual bonfire gingerbread traybake.

Boots online here.

Zara jumper, now sold out online unfortunately.

// what I've bought/been lusting over; my biggest purchase this week was the new iPhone X which I'm now on countdown for it to arrive at the end of the month, I'm really excited about the camera and my current iPhone has got so slow! Is it too soon to think about Christmas? I guess a little but things can start creeping in from now on? This cult candle has 20%  off this weekend. This festive breton, heart eyes and this jumper yes please. All I seem to want to buy at this time of year is either chunky knitwear like this turtleneck or starry knits for sweater weather or something sparkly like this dress that should cover both Christmas and New Year. I always bake the most at this time of year so these spoons and measuring cups would look really pretty in the kitchen or make for great gifts.






// garden updates; it's time to plant your bulbs ready for the Spring. You can see this post from previous years and this on planting up galvanised tubs. We've planted daffodils and tulips so far, we still need to put some more alliums in and bluebells - hopefully this weekend. Remember to cover them with chicken wire to save them from being dug up by squirrels.

Leave your dahlias in the ground until they've been frosted a couple of times. We had a very light frost on Monday but not enough to stop these from flowering. You can leave them in over Winter but they don't like the damp or cold so it's best to lift them once they've turned black and are ready to go dormant over the winter in a cool, dry place. See this post for more dahlia info.



// house updates; our house is mostly finished and just as I've got used to having no builders/dust etc around we've decided to put planning permission in again to go up into our loft! Our upstairs layout still could do with another bathroom/bedroom so we'll see if we get permission or not {the conservation guys at the council have it in for us} but I really hope we will and then I can get designing another bedroom and master suite! Watch this space...


// the weekend ahead; it's bonfire night and I'm excited for wrapping up to go and watch the fireworks. We need to buy some sparklers! We're out on a date day today before seeing my girls this evening and then a roast on Sunday with family.

Hope you have something lovely planned. Do let me know if you'd like to see more of these posts or if you think I bore you enough on stories as it is...

R <3 xx