Happy Thanksgiving

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Happy Thanksgiving to all of my American chums and family. I hope you all have a fabulous holiday today!

Plus it's a good excuse to share a photo from one of the best episodes of Friends ever!!

Sarah

xx

Currently | November

Reading: New York travel guides in preparation for our holiday in less than a month!!! I've picked up a couple of Cormac McCarthy books in the charity shops that I'm looking forward to getting stuck into on the plane and over the christmas break.

Watching: A variety of things at the moment. As always Netflix is my best bud, especially this time of year. Currently going between the final season of the OC, season 7 of Sons of Anarchy - the final season & I'm already getting pretty emotional about it ending, The Missing on BBC1 - James Nesbit is just amazing, and The Bridge - so far it's excellent but as it has subtitles it's not something you can have on while you're doing other things, you've got to concentrate.

Listening to: Get Hurt by the Gaslight Anthem. We're seeing them tomorrow in Cardiff and I cannot wait!!! They're definitely one of my favourite bands and I see them on every UK tour without fail. 

Loving: That everywhere is getting all festive (minus the Christmas music). I'm actually really excited about Christmas this year and collecting little bits for the flat. The German Christmas market opened in Exeter last night, along with late night shopping & the turning on of the lights, exciting times!

Working on: shifting the four bin bags of 'stuff' I've been meaning to eBay since June, so far two bags have been listed. I WILL get it all on there by the end of the month. 

Eating: All.the.apples!! I read a couple of articles about how apples can improve weight loss, as long as you're eating sensibly and excercising as well, obviously, so with some extra trips to the gym I'm hoping to try and shed my dear old friend, the double chin, before going away. It would be nice to have photos without it for a change. So far I'm one stone down so I need to up my game a bit, damn cold weather making me want food all the time.

Looking forward to: going on holiday. Did I mention I'm going on holiday? No? Well after booking it in March it is just 27 days away and I am beyond excited. I can't wait to see the Christmas tree at the Rockefeller Centre, Central Park, Brooklyn, go to a Target store, plus I'm hoping for some snow too. I've got my dollars, suitcase and list of what to pack. I am ready to go.

Sarah
xx

Bicton Chapel

While out on a hunt for fungi we stumbled across the partial ruins of Bicton Parish Church, which is now part of the Bicton estate. We were hoping to pop in for a nose around but as it's part of the estate it would have cost £9 each. As we were peering through the railings a man walked through the church yard and we asked him how we could get in but he said 'it's a secret', it was a bit weird.

Anyway we took a few photos between the railings, wandered around the open part of the graveyard and went on our merry way.

When we got back to my Dads it had come over all foggy so I snapped a couple of photos of the spiders webs in his garden..

Sarah
xx

Abandoned Mill

When we went for a nose around the abandoned house we also went for a mooch around the old mill. As it was getting dark (and we had already wimped out on going in in the dark), we just walked around the outside and took a couple of photos.

It's a shame it's been abandoned because it's a lovely old building. I'm really looking forward to going back when we're feeling a bit braver...

Watch this space, we WILL go inside very soon.

Sarah

xx

Mevagissey

Earlier in the month we travelled down to Cornwall to celebrate my Nan's 90th birthday. Unfortunately the little party we had organised couldn't happen because she had a fall a couple of weeks before and broke her neck, she's doing great now though which is the main thing. 

After cramming 15 people into her tiny little flat we were all pretty eager to get some fresh air afterwards so headed down to Mevagissey, a small seaside town next to St Austell. At 6pm on a Sunday there wasn't a lot to do other than soak up the sea air and enjoy the scenery.

Sarah

We Will Remember Them

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They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old:

Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.

At the going down of the sun and in the morning

We will remember them.

Sunday Soup | Chunky Vegetable

Last week I made my first roast dinner, which was quite an achievement with a single two shelf oven. There was plenty of veg leftover so I decided to make a chunky vegetable soup. It was scrummy so I thought I'd share the recipe with you.

You will need:

• 400g Carrots
• 400g Parsnips
• 400g Potatoes
• 1 swede
• 1 Small can of sweetcorn
• Vegetable Stock 3-4 cubes
• Salt and Pepper
• A sprinkle of Paprika

Directions:

Cut the vegetables into cubes of around 1.5 cm. This may look like a lot of vegetables but you'll need the extra to make the puree. 

Warm 1 tbsp of vegetable oil in a large pan and add the swede. Saute on a medium heat for 5 minutes.

After 5 minutes, add the carrots, parsnip, potatoes and seasoning, and saute for a further 10 minutes.

Cover the vegetables with stock; I used 2 stock cubes per 1 pint of water and about 2 pints in total.

Reduce the heat and leave the vegetables to simmer for 30 minutes, stir regularly.

You will then need to transfer some of the vegetables to your food processor, I used about 4 ladles full, blend until smooth. If the mixture is too thick, add stock for a thinner consistency.

Add the puree, sweetcorn and Paprika to the vegetables and stir. 

Leave to simmer gently for 15 minutes.

Serve.

This recipe should serve 4 comfortably. For a thicker soup puree more vegetables. 

I would love to hear any recipes you may have, it's definitely soup weather now.

Sarah

Abandoned House

Taking a leaf out of Kaylah's book, I've been doing a lot of research into abandoned buildings in the south west for potential explorations. As it turned out there is an abandoned Mill and house in Ottery St Mary, a mile from my Dads house which I was conveniently looking after at the time. With charged cameras and decent footwear we went in search for the house, which was a pig to get to as they've blocked the entrances, apart from a gap at the back where other people had gone in for a nose.

I'm not going to lie, I was a bit of a wimp fighting through the brambles and nettles, not really knowing what I was walking on, just that I was about a foot above the ground with god knows what in between. When we walked around the corner of the house we both said we felt a bit cold, it may have been totally psychological or the place had a sinister past, who knows.

We peered through the windows and doors, both of which had been broken. What would have been the front room was pretty much empty apart from a monitor. The black and white photo makes me think of an episode of most haunted. We didn't go inside this time as it was dusk and would be dark pretty quickly, and we're both wimps...

We're fully intending to go back during the winter when some of the weeds have died back and there is more light so watch this space.

Sarah

Monthly Thrift | October

Hello lovelies, I'm back with another thrifty post. Not a bad haul from October, although I'm beginning to run out of room. This month I found....

A collection of pyrex dishes from a variety of charity shops...

After recent jaunts in search of mushrooms & toadstools, I was pretty chuffed to finally find a Fungi Observer book. It's now living in my camera bag...

I nabbed these vintage curtains from the British Heart Foundation shop. I LOVE the fabric and intend on turning them into a dress (I'm looking forward to a winter full of sewing)...

October was very successful for vinyl hunting. My collection is looking pretty good now and I'm glad to have found a couple more Christmas albums to get in the festive spirit....

Mushrooms and Toadstools | Part 2

Whilst on our walk around Haldon last weekend, we found a load more mushrooms, toadstools & fungi. I mentioned before about how I desperately wanted to find an Amanita Muscaria and we finally found one that was pretty close. Having 4 sets of eyes on the hunt definitely helped. 

It's been great to get the chance to play around with the macro settings on my camera. I'm feeling the need for a 50m lens now though.

Sarah
xx