Halloween Dinner Party

Ice hands in a blood punch

Jack'o'lantern

Window decorations

A candlelit dinner for 4 with a Tim Burton film theme and a menu of spiced pumpkin soup followed by devils on horseback accompanied by roast vegetables and baked potatoes, served with blood punch and lots of red wine

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All images by me

Snow - in October

image by me

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A beastly day for weather; lashing rain, howling wind, freezing air, and then, snow. In October. A not insignificant blanket lay over the cars and walls and gardens in London last night. A tempting blanket, it seemed, for M, who promptly made snowballs and hurled them at trees, signs and when he thought he could get away with it, me.

Weekend in the Country

Image by White Wolf Photography via Etsy

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Returned to London late last night after a somewhat adventure packed weekend in the country which included in no particular order: an 80th birthday party, flooding (both roads and the airing cupboard due to a broken hot water tank), driving 700 miles visiting many places including Yorkshire and Guildford, a dead cow, puppy training and lots and lots of cake. Oh, and purchasing some pumpkins for a farm shop (like the ones above) to make soup and Jack'o'lanterns for Halloween.

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Autumn In London

The back garden

Attending my cousin's boyfriend's funeral yesterday left me with a migraine that I could not shift. I lay in bed this morning (and then on the bathroom floor after I'd been sick) and thought just how much more awful it must be for my cousin. Seeing her crumple into the front of the pew as the coffin was brought into the church was one of the most heartbreaking things I have seen.

This afternoon I was forced to venture out of the flat to get some milk and realised what a gorgeous day it was...

trees on our road on my way to the shop

On my return to the house I decided to have a bash at Hannah's welsh cakes which she so beautifully wrote about the other day. I did what she said but mine didn't look quite up to her standard (!) as I am sure you can tell from the photos below. They tasted good though, despite being a little crumbly and not quite spicy enough.

Chilled and cubed butter ready to rub into a mixture of sifted flour, baking powder and mixed all spice


Ready to roll out after mixing the flour with currants and a beaten egg

The last one left to eat with a cup of tea in the sitting room

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All images by me

The Simple Woman's DayBook

For Today... (from here)

Outside my Window...the roof tops of Lincoln's Inn with blue skies and some small clouds

I am thinking...am I really up to student style partying with my sister later on today?

I am thankful for...being alive, having a job and a home, a wonderful fiance, great family, fab friends

From the kitchen...no chance to cook this week so I ate a Pret sandwich

I am wearing...black suit, Boden jumper, boots and a cardigan (it's chilly in my office today, despite the sunshine)

I am reading...old favourite novels, Tatler and work documents

I am hoping...that my migraine disappears

I am creating...wedding related things

I am hearing...workman on the development nearby, taxis on Chancery Lane, a colleague dictating some letters,

Around the house...mostly laundry that still needs doing

One of my favorite things...a cup of tea and snuggling in bed

A Few Plans For The Rest Of The Week...the aforementioned student partying with my sister, trying out The Cwtch's welsh cake recipe, catching up on some sleep

Here is a picture thought I am sharing with you... who says romance is dead: flowers which M brought to my office along with the Pret sandwich for me at lunchtime.

All About Me...

So, I borrowed an idea from CeeCee: I answered the 12 questions about myself and then chose a corresponding photo from Flickr to go along with the answer.

1. What is your first name?
2. What is your favorite food?
3. What high school did you attend?
4. What is your favorite color?
5. Who is your celebrity crush?
6. Favorite drink?
7. Dream vacation?
8. Favorite dessert?
9. What do you want to be when you grow up?
10. What do you love most in life?
11. One word to describe you?
12. Your Flickr name?

Wanna play?: Type your answer to each of the above questions into Flickr's search. Using only the images that appear on the first page, choose your favorite and copy and paste each of the URL’s into the Mosaic Maker.

Can you guess my answers?

1. Evan Rachel Wood, 2. Meze Platter, 3. AMSTERDAM: St. Nicholas church, 4. When Waves Collide, 5. Aragorn (Viggo Mortensen) from LOTR, 6. vintage tea set with cupcake, 7. Belém - Pará - Brazil, 8. Gökten dört elma düşmüş, 9. Call of the Raven (formerly Nature's Special Effects), 10. http://www.flickr.com/photos/amstersam/517386614/, 11. hollywood late night show, 12. COLD Play

Fantasy Interview

What is your favourite beauty product in your bathroom?

Ren moisturiser and a caffeine eye roller - without these I would not make it to work


What is your fallback outfit?

for work: Black Banana Republic dress, cardigan, black tights and boots. as smart as a suit but much more comfy
at home: jeans, boots, t-shirt and jumper or cardigan. classic outfit which you can wear anywhere

What is your one piece of beauty advice?

Drink more water. my now fiance told me this when we first met. I'm still working on following it 6 years later

Your biggest fashion faux pas?

At 26 I am too young to look back on my biggest fashion faux pas as I am still living through my 20s and everyone looks back with horror at their teenage years. Yet if you cannot experiment then, when can you? Ask me again in 10 years and no doubt I will say that outfit I wore to a party last week...

What aspect of beauty do you hate?

People who are deluded about their size. Some things work well on skinny people; some things work well on curvy people. Work out which you are and don't wear things that don't suit your size, no matter how on trend it is. There is always ways to wear trends that do not involve clothes.

How do you think people perceive you from the way you dress?

I would hope that they see what I really am: a 20 something experimenting with style but not yet settled on all the answers

If you could steal anyone's wardrobe - past or present, fictional or real - whose would it be and why?

I know who's actual wardrobe I would steal - my friend who has a gorgeous walk in cupboard area off her bedroom, Carrie style, except her bathroom is next to it, not through it. It makes everything in it look twice as desirable, even the topshop stuff which everyone has.

Clothes wise, well, no-one's entire wardrobe but bits and pieces from everywhere I think. Failing that, more time and money to build up my own.

If you could change one part of your body, which would it be?

I'm not so fond of my nose in profile but not to the extent I would do anything about it. I would like better hair.

What are your desert island staples?

Suncream, cozy clothing and a blanket & pillow, books, tweezers, toothbrush & toothpaste.

What is a day in the life of Little Miss Rachel?

I get up later than I would like (I think I need a new alarm clock) and rush around to get to work. I spend the day mostly at my desk and leave between 6 and 8 depending on my work load. I am trying out going to the gym before home but I usually either go straight out for drinks or straight home for supper. We have a lot of friends over for drinks and food, informal dinner parties, that sort of thing. Then e-mail checking and bed with a cup of tea and a book.

Rainbow Books

A long time ago, I wrote about rainbow coloured bookcases. So long ago, that it was before the blog had tags, and I can't find it again. I could find the photo though, on my computer, which was the original inspiration behind our bookcase.

Tonight, I was tidying up the flat before some friends come round for supper tomorrow night and was putting the books back in their piles in the wine crates which are both a book case and a way of blocking the door to nowhere, left behind when our flat was converted from a house, and decided to take a couple of photos.

Our books and bookcase doesn't have quite the same look about it as the top photo, but I am fond of our books none the less.

Top image - credit unknown

Bottom images - all by me