November, gone in a blink.

November highlights:

Bonfire night, with fireworks and parkin.

Picking dahlias from the garden right through November. The plants look awful as the leaves die off but they are still producing beautiful flowers.

My current book club read. I am enjoying it, but I am also desperate to finish it because it is almost December and it is time to pile up the Christmas themed books beside my bed

Whippets scampering across sandy beaches. 

Craft projects that keep you going when life is exhausting. I have recently bought both pattern and yarn for a pair of socks, a jumper and a scarf, and not managed to start any of them. Just the thought of reading an unfamiliar pattern and beginning something new seems too much of a stretch at the moment, surely a sign that my brain is tired. On those nights, I work on my patchwork quilt. 

Misty autumnal mornings, transforming the most boring, everyday view.

Mushrooms the size of my hand.

Watching the woods change over the course of the month, becoming less green and more brown with each week that goes by.

Finding family time when and where we can, often on walks, or sat around the kitchen table. Life is so busy right now, the walks in the woods - long or short - really keep us all sane.

Watching the trees creep from autumn towards winter.

I hope you are all well. We have just experienced an early cold snap in the UK with snow in some places. None here - we hardly ever get snow, we're too near the sea - but some bitterly cold winds and a real need to hunker down, light the fire and find extra blankets. It seemed to mark the transition from autumn to winter quite appropriately. I have resisted all Christmas-related activity (apart from shopping - I'm not leaving that until the last minute!) but am really ready for December and looking forward to it so much. December in a primary school is always fun, if exhausting, and you can't help but feel a bit festive. We have so much planned and booked including not one, but two trips to London, tickets for a pantomime at the theatre, and lots of plans to see family and friends. But more than anything I am looking forward to a rest.