I didn’t think there was much to say about November, but it turns out I was wrong. We finally put the garden to bed ahead of the cold snap that was forecast, and which duly arrived, but it felt odd as the week beforehand was almost tropical, or tropical for this time of year anyway.
In the kitchen
I picked my peppers and hoped they’d ripen more indoors, and that’s pretty much the case - they got to a lovely autumnal orange (and more orange than below) before heading for one of our dinners.
I did make some jewel coloured chilli jelly, but as yet I haven’t made the second batch I hoped to - all is not lost though as while my crab apples are finished, the recipe can also use Bramleys and I picked some of those up in the village shop. The limiting factor has been a lack of jars, but it’s amazing how quickly they can accumulate when you put your mind to it!
We’re continuing our Reformer Pilates journey, and with some progress already I’m sure. MOH was asked how he was getting on and likened himself to ‘an elephant on roller skates’ which made me laugh, but it’s something I also totally relate to! Our last session was a hard one and learning some very technical and traditional moves, thankfully our instructor knows more about our bodies now and was there to catch me as I toppled forward at one point, for which I’m very grateful.
Stir up Sunday has been successfully completed, even though ours mostly took place on the Saturday. We’ve now got a stock of three various sized Christmas puddings lovingly made by MOH. Christmas puddings have become his thing and are much requested on family visits each year, and this year was no different. Our main job with them now is to regularly feed them with brandy until a week or so before the big day.
Crafting, radio and game
The start of the month saw me heading off to a new village hall for the Living Threads ‘sewing room sort out sale’ and I left with a bag full of inspiration and plenty of ideas. On the way home I checked out a new to me farm shop - Harkers Farm Shop if you’re local, and it’s definitely one I’m adding to my regular visits list. For a relatively small shop it was jam packed full of goodies from farm fresh vegetables, local meats and pies and plenty more besides. Definitely a new farm shop unlocked for me.
I’ve been in a bit of a quandary about what to sew lately, and so having not sorted anything out to take to my evening sewing group I grabbed some embroidery that I’d been toying with for a while. It’s been on trips with me but hasn’t actually made it out of its pouch and started on, but that’s changed.
In fact since I’ve been forced to slow down a bit after catching a stinker of a cold in the second half of the month, I’ve finished the second part of the embroidery. The paler section at the top I completed while we were visiting Gargano’s Peninsular last year, so it was long overdue. I’ve also worked out how I’m going to use this - yes, another pouch - but there’s more to do, and embroider, yet.
I even got around to doing some more Indian Block Printing, and it wasn’t as much of a faff to set-up or clear down as I envisaged, so that was good and I can see that I’ll be doing this more regularly. I just need to remember not to go overboard on the printing side as that leaves me with a pile of embroidering, which vies for time along with everything else.
Our favourite restaurant in Newark held their annual game night, and it was delicious. Of course it was on the same day that I was going to Harrogate for the Knit & Stitch Show with sewing group friends, so it made for a busy day, but both were well worth it and very enjoyable.
We even managed a port tasting earlier in the month too discovering some more favourites, and potentially even a Christmas present or two - but what’s even better is, we had a great night out and managed to time it so we could get the bus home. Writing that though, makes me feel old!
And we finished the month with the restoration of one of our Saturday morning habits of listening to Huey Morgan’s show on 6 Music in a little bit more style than we have been. For a while now we’ve only been able to listen to it on Alexa, and that’s meant it’s been on in the background, but now with the addition of a clever streamer box that’s changed and we can listen to it actually in the room. Sometimes it’s the small things isn’t it? And no, I don’t know why it’s taken us so long either, but there you go…
Markets and discoveries
I’ve not ventured too far from home this month, but there has been a visit to Nottingham and another to Harrogate for the Knit & Stitch show. I’ll share more from the show another day, but Harrogate is very much on my visit list - it looks a beautiful place and full of independent shops and more. Though I might be swayed by one of the coffee station venues at the craft show, which was in the beautifully restored Harrogate Theatre - very grand!
In Nottingham I finally ticked off a visit to Sneinton Markets, and it won’t be my last. As well as the craft shop I planned to visit we also discovered a great independent bakery, a curios shop where I stumbled across a stack of vintage fabric for £9, a restaurant I want to try and an Asian Grocery shop. And that was on a Thursday when the area was relatively quiet, I’m sure on Fridays and Saturdays it’s buzzing, I’m already planning when I can go back!
If you want to read my ramblings from previous monthly updates then please check out my ‘This is’ series.
