Bonfire Night

Hello, hello, hello. It was Bonfire Night on Monday, but we had a mini doo at the weekend.…an option to keep us so much saner! I knew I couldn’t handle rushing home and getting things organised and we both really wanted to enjoy our first autumnal party in the new house.

On the Monday I went down to the harbour where the village was having a display. Much like the Summer Gala there were dancers, food, raffles and too much drinkies…although you really can’t beat fresh caught fish on a BBQ.

Saturday was so perfect, apart from my mini meltdown due to the sausage rolls not crisping up (It was the Nigella recipe with the cheese scone batter-yummy). The firework display was carried out by The Husband and although I felt sure the back garden was about to go up in smoke several times only the lawn was singed.

It was such fun, not because the party was any actual real success, but because it was just a bunch of people we love and care for spending time with us in our home. Although by the end of the night I counted two people snoozing in separate corners of the house it was lively and the laughter roared almost as much as the fire when the wind got up and swirled around the garden almost calling a halt to the display. I take it as a compliment that people got comfortable with little Daisy Dog and a blanket (there was an abundance of blankets).

I am hoping to lay claim to Bonfire Night, I hope that nobody notices I get my invites out first and get a quivering lip if one person suggests hosting it themselves…or just having a quiet weekend.

I hope everyone had a great weekend and ate too much s’mores!
Sheila
x

November is…

November is for hot pots and slow cookers, it is for roasts after long walks and good warm filling soups. November is for looking out of the window and seeing harsh frost and rain.

November is for Remembrance Day, Guy Fawkes Night, and when I will stir up the Christmas cake. For me it is also when the girls in the family are heading to Edinburgh for some Christmas shopping.

November is for wearing two coats and scarves, big hats and boots for stomping around the countryside to tire the dog and stay warm. It is for jumpers. Jumpers of cable knit and snug soft materials. It is for finding sparkle for parties. Glittering and sequined garments which will shimmer and dazzle in the fairy lights.

November is for being surrounded by books, cushions and mugs of hot cocoa.

 It is for visits to the library and books bags overflowing with recently requested items full of ideas for Christmas bakes and makes.

November is for throws and eiderdowns, porridge for breakfast and travel mugs for the long journey to work. 

November is for long nights spent watching period dramas, for playing scrabble and finding Christmas movies at the weekend with warm fresh popcorn.  November is for squirreling away presents and hiding them in a new location each and every weekend.

Halloween Party

Normally we never do anything for Halloween in our house. When TH and I first got together we lived in a small flat that wouldn’t have been inviting for Trick or Treaters as we were up two flights of stairs. When we moved out to the country we still didn’t really live in the type of area that little ones roamed as we are on one of the main roads through the village, so yet again didn’t do anything in particular.

Last year TH was away with work, however as an act or rebellion against this we are having a little get together with some friends for Halloween, then yet another little party as a Halloween/Bonfire Night/Birthday doo.

I'm addicted to pinterest which has already given me loads of ideas of things to do. I'm also keeping an eager eye on fellow bloggers who are always a treasure trove of brilliant ideas for different ‘holidays’.

This year I am certainly busier than before, but I can easily make time for this much fun!

Making the House Warm

If it’s a bit passé to write “It was a dark and stormy night….,” can you write the same thing about the mornings? All of a sudden it’s become darker when I wake up each morning. Lamps are going on when once there was no need. We had a rainy summer time, but I never needed light to get me through to the kitchen for that first cup of tea.

This is when I start replacing lamps and moving them around the house. I’m a really big fan of salt lamps, and they’re so warming and send out such a pretty amber glow in the once gloomy corners I place them in.

Apparently they are good for clearing up some dampness in the air-which helps when you’ve just come back from a long walk with Daisy Dog. So they are my current favourite thing and will probably continue to be until the daffs start poking their heads above the soil again.

Bonfire Night

Hello, hello, hello. It was Bonfire Night Weekend, and what a weekend it was!! Poor Hubby is still poorly and not even milking it as he is so often known to do! He got all of the shopping in for the weekend and even gave me a lift to and from work as an act of utter kindness. (Aren’t I lucky!!?)


Although Bonfire Night was Friday, we had a party on the Saturday…an option to keep us so much saner! I knew I couldn’t handle rushing home and getting things organised and we both really wanted to enjoy our first autumnal party in the new house.

On Friday I went down to the harbour where the village was having a display. Much like the Summer Gala there were dancers, food, raffles and too much drinkies…although you really can’t beat fresh caught fish on a BBQ.

Saturday was so perfect, apart from my mini meltdown due to the sausage rolls not crisping up (It was the Nigella recipe with the cheese scone batter-yummy). The firework display was carried out by The Husband and although I felt sure the back garden was about to go up in smoke several times only the lawn was singed.

Saturday was such a perfect day, not because the party was any actual real success, but because it was just a bunch of people we love and care for spending time with us in our home. Although by the end of the night I counted two people snoozing in separate corners of the house it was lively and the laughter roared almost as much as the fire when the wind got up and swirled around the garden almost calling a halt to the display. I take it as a compliment that people got comfortable with little Daisy Dog and a blanket (there was an abundance of blankets).

I am hoping to lay claim to Bonfire Night, I hope that nobody notices I get my invites out first and get a quivering lip if one person suggests hosting it themselves…or just having a quiet weekend.

I hope everyone had a great weekend and ate too much s’mores

Sheila

Getting the Bonfire Party organised

This is the first time The Husband and I have had a garden to ourselves, and let me tell you it is exciting. I'm not telling you gardens in general are exciting. I know many of you harvest food from them, or are amazing gardeners, but to someone who has never, ever, ever had a garden, I’m telling you that is exciting!

The garden is pretty much an extension of the house, and although it’s easy to see why this is the case in Summer, I feel it should be as much the case in Autumn (and probably all months really.) This is why I am beyond excitement at the prospect of our very first Bonfire Night Party!!!

Its only a very small and ‘select’ soiree …ok, its really a couple of friends and some relatives, but 1) I love Autumn, 2) I love the chance to celebrate anything. 3) I love sparklers, and 4) I love food.

I’ve been looking at the November issue of Your Home, and they have some totally yummy recipes and ideas in there. I know that we’re making a king size pot of soup, a similarly large pot of chilli, jacket potatoes, beans and some chilli hot chocolate-im so addicted to chilli chocolate right now and think it is such a warming Autumn/Winter thing to have.

However, I’ve found a recipe for some sesame sausages. Here it is with a couple of tweaks:

Sesame Sausages
Ingredients

20 chipolata sausages
1 tbsp of garlic oil
2 tbsp of soy sauce
100ml of honey
1 tsp of chilli powder
Some sesame seeds

Method

1. Preheat the oven to gas mark 5 or equivalent, and put the sausages in a baking tin.
2. Mix together the oil, soy sauce, honey and chilli powder and pour over the sausages giving them a shake so they are evenly cooked.
3. Cook in the oven for 50 minutes making sure they are all sticky and lovely. When they are just about done throw the sesame seeds over and chuck back in the oven for a further 10 minutes.