* Lazylol *

Halloween

Even though we no longer have little children in the house and I have a miserable hubby who doesn't like Halloween, I still bought a pumpkin and am getting the Halloween treats ready for tonight.  I baked pumpkin, brain & other assorted horrible cupcakes and bought some chocolate mini bars to go with them. Now I am off to make some little pumpkin paper lanterns to put around the house. 

  

Look at these witches hats that Claire made - what a good idea.

Happy Halloween - have a spooky night!

Apple Muffins

Woohoo - it's half-term and I have been busy getting my jobs finished and packing lots of winter woollies. I am heading out to the caravan very early tomorrow morning and am so looking forward to the break, even if it is going to be cold.  We are planning to visit Scarborough and Hull for a spot of Christmas shopping and of course, lunch! A couple of evenings in the cosy pub will be on the agenda, as well as lots of beach walking, wrapped up warmly with scarves and gloves I expect.

I baked these lovely apple muffins that Ali shared the recipe for - they are totally delish and surprisingly easy to make. I didn't have any blackberries so I just used a little extra apple. I haven't made muffins before, I usually just make cupcakes but I now want to experiment with different flavourings because these were so good. I made them cupcake size too, just perfect to warm us up with a mug of hot chocolate. Yum.

Happy Weekend

At last I am spending a weekend at home.  I will miss my caravan break and walking on the beach but I am happy to be at home, catching up with some jobs around the place. Things I just haven't had time to do lately. I was slightly tempted to get a last minute flight to Germany to see baby Emily but I've decided against it! I can wait until they come over for a month in December.  Just.

As soon as I got home from work today at 4pm, I decided to make the most of the mild weather and daylight and make a start by doing some garden work.  I gave the grass its last cut of the year, weeded and swept.  Now I have a lovely need and tidy garden for autumn.  I think I will plant some bulbs tomorrow.

Tonight I am home alone, so I am going to get stuck into my ironing pile, watch a dvd and enjoy a glass of wine to unwind after a very long (and quite stressful!) working week.  I am going to enjoy some crackers with soft cheese and some of this tasty chutney,

 

And I am going to flick through my new book and find a few recipes to road test for Christmas (am I allowed to say that word yet?) Seriously, this book is worth buying just to drool over, even if you never make a single recipe from it.  The pictures are stunning and there are loads of good recipes with a bit of a 'Nigella' twist. Delighful. 

I know it sounds boring but I am so happy to just have some time to do things and be at home.

Have a lovely weekend x

Emily

Hello!

Yes I am fine - thanks for missing me xx 

Life just gets in the way of blogging sometimes.  I've been busy.  I have a blog post in my head all day but by the time I get to sit on the computer it is almost bedtime and my head is completely empty. (No comments please!) I still love blogging though and I will try to post more often.  It must be bad because even when I am not posting, I am usually reading your blogs. Although now I'm not even doing that - I have so much to catch up on and lots of comments to make. I just need a few more hours in a day and I'd be fine.

I got some lovely news today - my  brother and his wife have had their baby girl - I don't have a picture yet and won't see them for a couple of months.  They live in Germany.  But thanks goodness for the internet and welcome to my little, two hours old, niece Emily - I can feel a pink shopping trip coming on.....