I’ve been in denial of the fact that it is November. I was just sitting here making a few mental notes of what’s on the agenda this week and suddenly realised it is not just November, it is mid-November. MID-NOVEMBER! How? Halloween was just the other day.
Today is St. Martin’s Day in Germany and we would often cook a goose for dinner. Due to me being mentally stuck in late October I forgot to buy a goose. Usually we would have been to Kindergarten for a parent-child craft afternoon to make a paper lantern for the St. Martin’s lantern parade. Due to me being so behind I forgot to look out for the list and put our names down. So here we are, no goose and a shop bought lantern. Don’t be surprised if you hear of me missing Christmas because I hadn’t realised it had swung round already.
But enough of what I’ve been forgetting and missing out on. There have been things I’ve doing and enjoying and making and reading. It is not like I am gone full-on hamster-on-a-wheel. I’m just a little muddled.
Eating
A while back I was on about my slow cooker. The novelty hasn’t worn off. What probably is about to be worn off are the ears of my friends and colleagues. I reckon I talk about my slow cooker a bit too much. But it is just so damn handy. It’s actually out on loan to friends at the moment so I am doing without and trying a few dishes I’ve been meaning to try for ages.
One that I have found I really like is buffalo cauliflower bites. Veg-wise I am reasonably good at eating whatever is gong but I have never been a fan of cauliflower, so I am delighted I have found a dish I like it in. I used this recipe and was delighted with it. I don’t have Frank’s Hot Sauce so I substituted a mixture of barbecue sauce and sriracha and the flavour and spiciness was great. It was too hot for the children but perfect for me.
DIY-ing
The DIY bug bit me at the end of the mid-term break. It could be that being at home on antibiotics and not able for much gave me a kickstart to get some stuff done once I was feeling better. Or it could be that the frustrating situation I am in at work is motivating me to get projects started and finished on time at home so that I know that I am still a capable person, no matter what is going on in the office.
Either way, I have taken on two decent projects and home, set out a plan and stuck to it. In both cases the job was finished sooner than planned, under budget and I am happier with both of them than I thought I’d be. Win-win! All going well I’ll do a few blog posts on them. The first project was to renovate our bedroom, the second was to build an Ikea hack bookshelf in the kitchen. The more curious among you can catch a few sneak peaks over on my Instagram (here).
Reading
I’ve been fling through books lately. That is partly to do with my being down with a bad cold in October, partly to do with my bedroom now being a very inviting space to retreat to and read and partly to do with the fabulous reads that have come my way the last few months. Here’s the full low-down on what I’ve been reading. I’m up to 26 books now in my 40 by 40 reading challenge. So just 14 books to go to hit my goal.
Now I’m off to scan the bookshelves and decide what to move on to now that I’ve finished Nicola Cassidy’s December Girl. Oh, speaking of which, I’ve a signed copy to give away. Just leave me a comment below telling me your favourite read of 2017 and I’ll pick a winner at random on 30th November. European Union entries only please.
Favorite of the year was Goldfinch but I believe that’s already on your done list so not much good as a recommendation! I think you’d enjoy Longbourne by Jo Baker – pride and prejudice from the servants perspective and very cleverly done. Also Paying Guests by Sarah Waters is a great read.
The Goldfinch was brilliant.I really enjoyed it. My sister is giving me a loan of Longbourne and I am looking forward to that. It sounds very good. I#ve read a couple of Sarah Waters’ books and found them good. I must look “Paying Guests” up.
The hearts invisible furies by John boyne was one of my favourites this year, a really great read!!
I must look that up. I’ve read something by John Boyne before.
My favourite read(s) of 2017 have actually been children’s books. I am absolutely LOVING the series of books by Maryrose Wood, and the incorrigible children of Ashton place. I was lent the first one by my nephew (he’s 9) and I’m my the series for myself and lending each one back to him as I finish reading it. I might be annoying him now as I’m refusing to read number 5 in the series until number 6 is out in paperback as I want to know there are more to read! I might have to read it soon though as each book ends with lots of loose ends and you just want to read the next one to find out what happens in the overall plot!
I don’t know that series. Thanks for sharing that.