Happy Halloween Everyone

Fire lit, pumpkin carved, peppermint tea steeping and a good book to read :)

This year we have departed from our usual tradition of having a Halloween party for our friend-neighbours. We even turned down an invitation to someone else's party as I haven't been feeling so good lately. And although we haven't bought candy for the little trick-or-treaters (so will have to shut the curtains, watch TV by candle light and pretend we're not at home), I was determined to still make Jack o' Lanterns. Above is my effort this year. Lovely Hubby still has to do his. I keep reminding him but he's putting it off...

Apart from walking the dogs and carving pumpkins (I did one for our friends too), I've done NOTHING today. I feel guilty, but less tired as a result.

Tonight we're having food from the freezer for our dinner and I'm going to do some warm spiced apple juice as neither of us wants to drink alcohol this evening. 

The fire is roaring and I'm ready to hibernate !

Happy Halloween everyone,

Fiona x

Hips, Haws & Holly Berries

 

Days of Quiet Reflection

The view from our front door

These days it seems I do the bare minimum in terms of housework to get by ... I vacuum the parts of the floor you can see and ignore the corners which I know are gathering dust, I dust the books shelves at eye level and ignore the shelves which are higher up, and I clean the sink, toilet and bath but ignore the tiles which often need scrubbing too. I just can't do it all and I need to use my energy for the things which really do need doing - the bathroom is always a priority, the washing-up is kept on top of, and our clothes and bedding are regularly washed. The dogs are walked. And the grocery shopping is done.

But I'm tired ... so tired. I work four days and those four days exhaust me. On my three days at home I try and spread out the chores in between bouts of resting, and often sleeping. 

Now that we're moving into Autumn and Winter, it's worse of course. My energy levels which are already low plummet and I feel like a tortoise which desperately needs some kind soul to wrap it in a blanket in a box and leave it somewhere warm and cosy until the Spring flowers start blooming. I'm not depressed - far from it. I'm just weary and I need to recuperate.

Neither the acupuncture nor the change of diet (eliminating all those bad things like gluten, yeast, dairy) has made any difference to the fatigue and exhaustion. I have some appointments in the next few weeks and I hope I will find some answers.

Tonight Lovely Hubby and I are going to curl up on the sofa with hot water bottes - the fire is lit and the dogs are sleeping. And I'm pretty sure I have a bar of Green & Blacks dark chocolate somewhere waiting to be opened ... !

Enjoy your weekend, friends,

Fiona x

More Gifts from the Allotment

As you can see, we're still getting lots of lovely produce from the allotment - even strawberries, in October ! They may be white but they are still ripe and sweet.

I arrived home from work today to the wonderful aroma of lovely hubby making raspberry jam ...

He had already made two batches of raspberry gin !

At the weekend we went sloe picking and managed to pick 10 pounds of berries between us ! We made three batches of slow gin straight away and have frozen the rest of the berries to use for slow gin later in the Winter. Next to the three jars of sloe gin is a Kilner jar full of plum brandy which we made with a bag of plums given to us by our neighbours. We'll certainly have lots of lovely gifts to give at Christmas and lots of yummy drams to keep away the Winter chills !

The last picture I want to share with you this evening is one of the sunflowers in our garden. Although the main sunflower head is starting to die away now, a crown of mini sunflowers has grown around it. I think it looks quite magical...

I hope you're all having a good week.

Fiona x

Hello Autumn

Today was the first proper Autumn day after recent days of sunshine and quite balmy weather. It was cool, it was misty and there were fallen leaves and conkers everywhere ! I couldn't resist gathering a little collection to take some bright jolly pictures of.

We've had a super productive day today. We went into town to get some meat and bones from the butcher, then did our main food shop, got home and cleaned upstairs whilst doing two loads of laundry including all the bed linen, walked the dogs, then made a huge batch of tomato soup ! And it's not even teatime. 

I have to share this with you but vegetarians and vegans please look away now !

We always buy bones from the butcher for our girls but look how much meat is left on these ones ! So lovely hubby boiled a few of them up to make a rich stock for our stews etc. This is another great source of free food.

To get away from the ugliness of seeing animal carcases, here is a picture of my tomato soup which is just D-E-L-I-C-I-O-U-S, even if I do say so myself ;) And of course it's gluten-free, yeast-free and dairy-free ...

I shall spend the remainder of the afternoon curled up on the sofa with the girls in front of the fire. I have a glass of Merlot on the side and my latest issues of Country Living and Country Homes & Interiors magazines. What could be better ?

I hope you're all having a great weekend.

Fiona x