Enjoying Mother

 

'Mother', the Christmas cacti is in full bloom and looking amazing.

She's a very old lady, originally owned by Alan's great-great-great Scottish Grannie, but every now and then she really surprises us, and this 'almost on time' blooming has done just that.  She is obviously loving being sat in Alan's hallway window and getting so much light on her old leaves.

She spent many days over the course of the Summer sat outside on the patio drinking up the sun's rays, and then enjoying cooling showers from the hosepipe before returning to her happy place.  Maybe that has helped rejuvenate her even more than usual.

Happiness can be as simple as enjoying the pretty flowers on a treasured plant.

Sue xx 

My Food is Dated ...

 

My food is dated ... that is the food that I bought over the weekend has now had it's Best Before dates written in marker pen on the front.  Now I can actually see the dates on it without having to resort to reading glasses and turning the light on, on these dark late Autumn evenings.

Not that much of this food is going to be eaten for a while!

It's all been added to the bottom part of the food cupboard, ready for bringing out when virtually everything in the top part has been used up.

I spent random moments over the course of a weekend earlier this year, sorting through all my foods and adding the dates to the packs, and only left the things that were either out of date or that needed using up during 2025 in the top cupboard, everything with a longer date went into the bottom part of the cupboard.

Over the course of the last few months I have put some newly bought things into the bottom part, and taken some things out as I needed them, but always I have been mindful of the dates.  I decided over the weekend that I will concentrate on eating up the foods in the top part of the cupboard this month, ready to move things from the bottom up to the top in the New Year, or maybe before if I make lots of space.

Christmas has now arrived at Greggs ... and the new festive cups are lovely cheerful.

We stopped at the services on the way back from visiting Mum yesterday, for our usual strange Sunday lunch.  This time I got a free vegan sausage roll off the Greggs app and we treated ourselves to a doughnut each for pudding.  Don't worry Alan didn't go without, he was over at Subway buying himself a ham and chicken salad roll while I was taking this photo.

Last night I was so lazy, and because these lovely chips were in the fridge I simply had a couple of chip butties for my tea.  In a bid to stop that happening again, I set to this morning dividing the remaining chips into little bags to pop into the freezer.

I now have seven portions for the freezer, safely bagged and stashed, and a few of the little odds and sods which I will have alongside a 'beef' burger on a bun for my tea tonight.

I am wasting nothing.

Even the trays that the chips came in are being repurposed,  I am going to use them as trays for open freezing other foods on.  Better to reuse than simply recycle, for as long as they last.

Sue xx

Wants, Needs and Treats

We called to Booths for a coffee on Saturday morning.  Unusually Alan didn't have a bacon bun for his breakfast, he had a cream scone ... now that surprised me.  😄

I needed some eggs and some white pepper, but walking down the fridge aisle I spotted these chips on a '3 for 2' offer again, so I picked up three packs.  Each pack will be split into three and will be frozen for adding to future meals.  A third of a pack along with something else is just perfect for me.

At the tills I was looking at the Christmas Country Living multi-pack offer and Alan talked me into getting it.  He then proceeded to pay for all the shopping, including a Christmas gift for my brother ... and there was me only the other day saying that I was doing nothing for Christmas yet.  The magazines won't be read until 1st December, it would just be wrong!!

Then we went around the corner and into Aldi.

Now I didn't really need anything except bananas, something green and some cat treats, but I think all the talk about the budget and prices going up must have been on my mind because I bought a few tins and packets to stock up next years cupboard.  Alongside something else for Christmas, a couple of little Christmas puddings.

Of course not everything will last, and one of the tubes of 'Stackz' has already gone.  There were very quickly munched through while we had a glass of wine last night whilst watching The 1% Club on tv.

I should hide the chocolate from myself, which is quite an easy job to do these days as I seem to be in the habit of losing all sorts of stuff at the moment.

I'm going to try and get into the habit of keeping all food receipts for future pondering over.  With the speed at which prices are going up they should make for interesting reading in a few months.  I'll stick them into a notebook so I don't lose them!

I thought that I actually got quite a lot for my £20.65 in Aldi, indeed even the guy on the check out mentioned that,.  But thinking about it, it's mostly because there's no animal products or wine in amongst the shopping, doing without those is always a good way to save money.

Sue xx

 

Maybe ...

 Earl Grey Day by Lucy Almey-Bird

Maybe the real happy ending is falling in love with the simplest parts of life.

Maybe it’s savouring that first sip of coffee in the morning, or losing yourself in the smell of freshly baked bread from home or the bakery, or even the bakery section at the back of the supermarket.

Maybe it’s driving down familiar roads with the car windows down, letting the wind mess up your hair while your favourite song fills the car. Taking longer than usual to reach your destination.

Maybe it’s relaxing on a quiet afternoon, reading the pages of a book you’ve put off for far too long. Or one that you've read a hundred times before, letting each word wrap around you like an old friend.

It's these moments ... the ones that seem so ordinary ... that hold a kind of magic that fills the cracks that we sometimes forget are there.

And maybe, just maybe, it’s finding moments of joy in the small things that we often take for granted. The laughter that comes out of nowhere, shared with a stranger in the supermarket or at the bus stop.

Or the quiet relaxing comfort of a cosy night at home, wrapped up in a blanket on the sofa, watching a show you’ve seen a hundred times before but that still brings a smile to your face.

It’s these little things that pull us back to life, that remind us of just how blessed we are, not because everything is perfect but because we find beauty in what we already have.

Inspired by - Mj Blossoms

Sue xx

The Books That I Read in October

 

The Narrowboat Summer by Anne Youngson

I had really high hopes for this book, but sadly I just didn't get on that well with Anne's style of writing.  Purely a personal thing I think as it is basically a good story, she just kept losing my interest and that's not what you want when you need to lose yourself in a book.

Donated.

Real Fast Puddings by Nigel Slater

I was looking for a recipe in another book when I came across this one among my full set of 'Nigel Slaters'.  I had to have a good look through it as I needed it to justify it's place on the shelves, as these days I rarely eat puddings.  There was nothing in it that I would have made, or that I didn't already know how to make, so although it was nice reading Nigel's words I can let this one go.  I no longer seem to feel the urge to own everything that an author has published be it in fiction, non-fiction or cookery books.  

Wow ... what a change in me!!

Donated.

Hinch Yourself Happy by Mrs Hinch (Sophie Hinchcliffe)

I didn't know I still had this book.  I think that I bought it from a carboot sale last year ... I remember it being 50p ... and it's been squished into the far edge of the bookshelf since then.  I sort of knew that it wouldn't be staying as it's not really my sort of thing, but it made for a nice quick read over a couple of hours, and there are lots of tips and ideas amongst the strange naming of all Mrs Hinch's cleaning implements.  

Donated.

The Paris Apartment by Lucey Foley

My final read of October is this, I still have about a quarter of it to read, so I don't know who did it or why ... I wouldn't spoil it for you anyway.  😁

I don't often read this type of crime, mystery, whodunit style book, but every now and then I find one, usually like this one on the Booths charity book table for a pound, and really sink my teeth into it.

It's proving to be the best read of the month.

I'm still reading it, but it will be donated once I finish.

Here's to a brand new month, with lovely cosy, dark evenings just made for book reading and drinking coffee.

Sue xx

I would just like to point out, that although I provide links to Amazon for all the books that I read each month, not all my books are bought from Amazon.  If they are some of them were bought from the Used section rather than full price.  

I share the links so that you can learn more about the books that I write about for yourself, or read reviews from others that have read them.  Of course most of the books I talk about would also be available from your local library, and if you are very lucky you might even find them in charity or thrift shops.  

There are so many ways to bring books into your home if you love reading. 📚