Lovely Things || October 2017
Hello November!
What’s nice, is that right now whilst I’m reminiscing about the lovely things I got up to in October, I’m sat in front of a film and a log fire with Anna and Olivia in a beautiful house in Cawsand. #BloggerGoals right?!
Since when did Autumn hit and the temperature fall below 5 degrees and the evenings disappear into darkness?
It’s been another really lovely October, and with some great visitors, lots of baking and moving forward with the house renovation, I’m excited for what else is to come before the end of the year.
#BakeOffBakeAlong – October’s Bakes
How can an Autumnal lovely things post go by without mentioning the fact that the majority of the hours I’ve had free this month have been spent whipping up something in the kitchen. This month I’ve created Chocolate Fondants, Pasteis de Natas, Cannoli, Savoy Cake and Les Miserables. It’s been a whole lot of fun and I’ve baked so many things I may not have otherwise baked without the Bake Off’s persuasion. With the final still to come, you’re in for a treat!
Hosting the hundreds
There’s nothing better than having friends to stay, and we’ve had a lovely bunch through our doors during October. Perhaps not quite hundreds, but it’s be so much fun introducing people to the house that we’re so proud of, and having time with my best friend. I also finally managed to absolutely nail a creme brulee and they came out perfectly for the first time in my entire life!
Cider Apple Butter a-go-go
We’ve had such a huge number of apples on our tree this year, we decided to make something different with our haul, replicating my grandma’s deliciously scrumptious cider apple butter. It’s sort of an appley sweet, spiced jam/set chutney/old fashioned “curd or cheese” what you can eat with everything! Spread on toast. With your roast dinner. On crackers with cheese. You name it. So far I’ve made a fair few batches, and I’m so excited that it’s so close to being similar to grandma’s! In the photos it looks black – it’s not, it’s a dark caramel brown colour, just LOL at my camera skills taking photos at night!
The furthest I’ve ever traveled for a party
During October we headed up to Northampton for Adam’s uncle’s 60th birthday. It was a surprise, which his aunt pulled off so well, and despite spending longer driving up and back than time spent awake (I say driving, what I actually mean is sitting in the back of his parents car watching programs on the iPad like the adult-child that I am), it was fun being away for the weekend.
Ruby Ruby Ruby RUBYYYY
During October, after watching her episode of Who Do You Think You Are, Mum booked us tickets to see Ruby Wax. Her show is based around the concepts of her new book Frazzled, and it was a really insightful, funny and touching evening discussing all things stress, life and mindfulness. I’d definitely recommend.
Turtle Bay opened in Plymouth
I am so excited about this one – Turtle Bay has finally come to Plymouth!
To celebrate, I was invited to their launch party, which I expected to be like the press dinner in Exeter. I was so wrong. Last time was a dinner for twenty, this time over 1000 of Plymouth’s finest were invited!
A massive party to celebrate, the drinks were flowing, we were enjoying the delicious selection of Caribbean canapes and throughout the evening the room buzzed along to the reggae.
I’m really looking forward to visiting properly for a meal very soon, and I know it will make a feature in the #plymouthbloggers brunch!
The best house purchase so far!
Did I mention that we got a log burner?!
One of my favourite items in the whole house, I am so excited that we managed to install it, alongside some help from my Dad. We climbed out of the velux window in our attic, and stood on the very top of our roof tiles, holding tight to the chimney stack amongst the ferociousness of Storm Brian. The install went really well (despite Adam looking like a real-life chimney sweep), and I’ve had so many questions from friends and strangers alike, I might actually do a whole separate post on our mediocre “let’s google it” approach. If that’s of interest, let me know in the comments!
Working with your friends
One of the lovely things I’ve managed to do in October is commission a friend of mine. One of the companies I work for needed the website to be entirely redesigned, and seeing as a great friend of mine is a website whiz at byRosanna, we’ve had a really productive few weeks going through the new website together. I’ve learnt loads and it’s starting to look so good.
Bloggers Brunch
The October bloggers brunch was in a restaurant I’ve wanted to visit for a long time – Rock Salt.
Their menu was interesting, varied and really reasonably priced, so the fact my flat white wasn’t the best was overlooked (does that make me a coffee snob?!). I went for a tasty omelette filled with ham, cheese, chorizo, spring onions, chilli and a bunch of other ingredients I probably can’t remember. We had a great turnout, and it was a lovely morning spent chatting with some of my favourite Plymouth friends.
So there you have it, how were your Octobers? I feel as though in comparison to other months this year I perhaps took October 2017 a little slower, but that’s not to say that it whizzed past in a flash and I’m sat here astonished that we’re on the countdown to Christmas (which, FYI, I am SO excited about this year!). I have some annual leave to use up between now and the new year, and some really great things already in the diary, so I’m excited for the next two months as we head into winter. For now, it’s time to snuggle up in my incredible bed in this beautiful house ready to wake up bright and early for a quick shoot on the beach with the girls. Have a wonderful weekend!
P.S for those of you eagle-eyed, you’ll notice that for some reason WordPress was really fun and didn’t actually upload on Friday, so here we are, so many days later, after I’ve only just realised because I though “hey, where are the comments”? 😉
