Fireworks Night

The 5th of November again, it seems time goes so fast.

As always we went down to the seafront to watch the fireworks

from a great distance ( See this post here ), and as always we had mittens on and

hot chocolate to drink. It really feels like winter now.

I asked Oscar to smile nicely for the photo, I guess it must be interpretive

After School

November

"November comes
And November goes,
With the last red berries
And the first white snows.

With night coming early,
And dawn coming late,
And ice in the bucket
And frost by the gate.

The fires burn
And the kettles sing,
And earth sinks to rest
Until next spring."

-  Elizabeth Coatsworth

Starbucks mugs bought in store for £5.50, looking forward to the Christmas one coming out

Sweet Treats For A Wet Monday

Today started off wet and windy (the default weather setting here it would seem), but I had some sweet treats to cheer me up.

First up is some left over desert from yesterday.

I am following a slimming plan, and since I have much more of a liking for savoury than sweet things, most of my treats have not included deserts.

This week I felt like a little change and made the following recipe from my Slim Club website.

BLACKBERRY AND APPLE CRANACHAN

Ingredients

Low calorie cooking spray

4 level tsp jumbo oats

6 tsp artificial sweetener

255g Mullerlight Smooth Vanilla Yogurt

397g fresh blackberries, reserving a few to decorate

1 eating apple, peeled, cored and coursely grated

4 tbsp fat-free natural fromage frais, to serve

Method

Spray a small frying pan with low calorie cooking spray and add the oats. Place the pan over a medium heat and toast the oats for 1 minute. Add half the sweetener and stir-fry for 2-3 minutes, or until the oats are lightly browned. Transfer to a piece of non-stick baking parchment and let cool.

Mix together the yogurt and 1 tsp of the remaining sweetener. The stir in the blackberries, crushing them slightly.

Place a pan sprayed with low calorie cooking spray over a medium heat and sauté the apple for 3-4 minutes. When the apple starts to soften, add the remaining sweetener and cook for 5-6 minutes, stirring occasionally, or until lightly browned. Set aside to cool.

Divide the blackberry mixture between 4 dessert glasses and add a layer of apples. Top each with 1 tbsp fromage frais, some oat mixture and decorate with the reserved blackberries.

This is traditionally made in Scotland with raspberries, however blackberries are more in season

Pretty yum I have to say.

The postman brought me this lovely little parcel, a new lace nightgown

Sold as a dress (you must be kidding right?), this was a total bargain, and will suit me as a nightgown very well, £4.78 incl postage from Here

Once the rain had eased off a bit, I popped out for groceries and had a little look in the charity shops too.

I picked up this little dish for £2.99

Which is now sitting on my dressing table holding hair bands and hair grips.

And this candle holder and candle also for my dressing table

The little blue flowers on this remind me of a talk by Dieter F Uchdorf entitled Forget Me Not 

and for that reason I loved it instantly.

What Do We Think Of A Turban?

I am thinking ....................

Yes

Turbans from Here

Bag from Here

Boots from Primark

Halloween 2014

Happy Halloween !

Secret Late Night Behavior

I love it when parcels arrive, and this parcel from Amazon is especially nice because it is to facilitate my secret late night activities.

First I take a bath or a shower and get in to a lovely cosy nightgown.

Then I make myself a drink and some Marmite on Crackers.

And then I crawl into bed and open up my laptop

And indulge in a bit of Gothic silliness

Oscar and I share a room, separated only by some long voiles, so headphones are a must to save him being awakened by the teenage Vampires of New Orleans.

Panasonic headphones £18.90 from Here

FHE Halloween Week

In our Church we do a thing called Family Home Evening. In essence it is an evening set aside by the church for families to be together. There are no classes or meetings and unless specifically invited the missionaries wont call. We always start with a prayer, but the activities on FHE vary from very Gospel focused to sheer entertainment and fun together. Family things have been hard lately, so we eased back in with a movie night (with some extended family joining us for a change). 'Spooky' of course.

The old cemetery out the back of the apartment

Aimee

Snacks (from M&S)

Lauren

Spider guests

Oscar

And the movie