Monthly Archives

October 2016

Weekly Wardrobe – Halloween Harry Potter style

October 31, 2016

It’s the last day of Blogtober – I did it! Hooray! and Phew! I’m finishing off the month with a witch / Harry Potter look as it’s Halloween today. I had actually planned to do a goth look, but as I’m sneezing and yawning (I’m so tired lately) which make my eyes water, I didn’t think it was conducive to black eye shadow and heavy eyeliner!…

What I’ve learnt from #Blogtober

October 30, 2016

Well, the month is almost at an end (tomorrow’s post will be my usual Weekly Wardrobe), so I thought I’d write a little review of what it has been like to write daily posts for Blogtober, and everything that I’ve learned from it as well as decisions for the future of my blog….

A review of the new Dyson V8 Absolute cordless vacuum cleaner – Is it worth it?

October 29, 2016

Chris has been asking me for a cordless Dyson for a couple of years. I always agree until I see the price, and then I decide that a broom and a dustpan and brush will do just fine. Then the other day he just came out and told me he was getting one. If it takes a snazzy expensive gadget to get him to even think about cleaning, then maybe it’s worth it!….

Wrong Words (A writers’ group exercise)

October 28, 2016

‘Pass me the flibberdegibbet would you?’ ‘No, I was in here first.’ ‘You’re not even watching anything – you’re flicking channels.’ ‘I happen to enjoy flicking channels.’ ‘Oh don’t be an asparagus about it; just give me the galloping flibberdegibbet will you – the Eastenders ominous is on and we need to catch up.’ (…..)

Painting my gong copper

October 27, 2016

You probably won’t find another blog post with the same title as this one! But that’s literally what this post is about. I have childhood memories of a place called Foxlease in the New Forest where we’d sometimes have a little holiday. It was something to do with the fact that my Mum was a Guide leader. Anyway, it was a big old stately home and they had a huge dinner gong to tell everyone staying there that dinner was ready. Every evening they would take in turns letting the kids bang the gong. It never was my turn….

Should I do NaNoWriMo?

October 26, 2016

If you have no clue what I’m talking about and wondering What is NaNoWriMo? Then here’s a quick answer: it’s short for National Novel Writing Month. In November writers all round the world get their pens and keyboards at the ready and try to write 50,000 words. There’s a website for support and to help track your word count, and little groups get together in real life for writing sessions. Now that November is approaching fast, I’m wondering if I should get with the programme….

Oxford Botanic Gardens – The story of the photographs

October 25, 2016

This should really be part of my Three Days in Oxford series, but I took so many photos at the Oxford Botanic gardens, that I decided to give them a post of their own. Just to quickly fill you in, I had a lovely trip away on my own back in April, and I’m only just catching up on the blog about it now….

Weekly Wardrobe – Off to a Faery Fayre

October 24, 2016

The right level of fairyish-ness had to be achieved for visiting the Avalon Faery Fayre yesterday. I don’t want to be boring and not look remotely dressed for the occasion, but nor do I want to go all out fairy, like I would for a festival. I think I got the tone right, and when I bought the headdress moments after arriving there, my look was complete!….

The delights of the Avalon Faery Fayre in Glastonbury

October 23, 2016

It’s that time of year again! On a spring and autumn weekend, Glastonbury Town Hall is host to one of the most creative and inspiring shopping experiences I ever go to! The term ‘craft fair’ doesn’t quite do it justice, even though most (if not all) of the items for sale are hand-crafted by the stall owner, they are of exceptional quality and never the sort of thing you can find on your usual High Street….

Bedroom renovating part 1 – Making a reclaimed rustic wooden headboard

October 22, 2016

I watched back the September Favourites You Tube video I made, and I don’t think my tone of voice was sarcastic enough when I said that next time I’d be in the bedroom with a white headboard with fairy-lights and a vase of flowers and candle in the background! (This seems to be the setting of 99% of monthly favourites You Tube videos.) When I made that video we had no headboard at all; flaky plaster; holes in the ceiling and a lot of mess. Last weekend though, we got busy in the bedroom(!)…..

Visiting Bath Fashion Museum

October 21, 2016

The good thing about Blogtober is that I’m managing to fit in articles that I’ve had in mind to write for quite some time. This is about my visit to the Bath Fashion Museum, which although doesn’t feel like very long ago, was actually in April! It was during Bath Fashion Week and I wanted to make the most of my day-trip, and as I was going to a talk by Livia Firth in the same building, I thought I’d quite like to have a look round the new exhibition called A History of Fashion in 100 Objects….

What it’s like to be an Introvert

October 20, 2016

Move over anxiety; being an introvert is the new fashionable difficulty! I am of course, being slightly tongue-in-cheek, but I when I recently started getting into You Tube, I couldn’t believe how many people are giving their videos titles such as, ‘Coping with anxiety,’ and ‘My depression story.’ I couldn’t help but be a little cynical. Could this many people really be dealing with mental health issues, or has it just become a little fashionable? Then I considered two things…..