Time for an October Round-Up of my life lately. I have been enjoying Autumn colours, reading about a psychopath serial killer, eating left overs and finding funky fungi !
Reading.
Presently still reading books at a crawl, though I am enjoying ‘ How to kill your family’ by Bella Mackie. Frustratingly thrown into jail, for a murder she didn’t commit, Grace Bernard is busy writing her memoirs ( whenever her nosy cell-mate isn’t watching), for though she might be innocent of that particular murder, Grace has actually done away with…her entire family. Yes Grace might be a cold hearted killer, but she does have her reasons. A dark but amusing read, so far.
Watching.
The Empress is a glorious romp through Austrian Royalty history, specifically the beginnings of the reign of Empress Elisabeth. A reluctant Royal , her new hubby The Emperor Franz Joseph had previously been engaged to Elisabeth’s sister. The usually independent Elisabeth or ‘ Sisi ‘ finds life at court full of frosty traditions, plots and intrigue. On Netflix. Subtitles.
I also enjoyed watching medieval coming of age comedy Catherine Called Birdy, which can be found on Amazon Prime. 14 year Lady Catherine ( Birdy to her friends ) is of marriageable age, and with a charming gambler for a father, her families only hope of remaining solvent, is for young Birdy to marry. Determined to thwart all her suitors, the mischievous heiress has other ideas.
My favourite watch this month was on the Big Screen. A friend and I went to see Emily, the new biopic of the life of reclusive writer Emily Bronte. Notoriously private, little is known about Emily in comparison to her siblings, much of what we do know about Emily’s thoughts and feelings are through Charlotte, some of which is probably sensored. This film is a reimagining of Emily’s life, as if she herself experienced some of the darker, some of the more passionate moments , that she wrote about in Wuthering Heights. And whose to say, really, that she didn’t……. A heart wrenching , clever, passionate and sometimes humorous picture about an unconventional and inspirational writer.
Eating.
A friend told us about the Too Good To Go Ap, which lets you know about food that shops and cafes are selling off cheap. For a fixed price you get a carrier bag full of goodies that are nearing their sell by date, known as a Magic Bag. The surprise is you don’t really know what the bag will contain, I was certainly surprised by the amount of stuff in this one from our local garage shop, Londis. For £5 we got 2 Sandwiches ,a loaf of bread, broccoli, bag of salad, Mr Kipling cakes, Manchester tarts, cooked chicken pieces, 2 chicken fillets and some butter. Participating places near me include Spa, Morrisons, Subway and Starbucks. Some independent businesses are signing up too. Have you used the ap before? I suspect I’m a bit late to the party. 😀
Creating. A pumpkin flower arrangement! My friend Fi and I made these at a class in Whalley. Mines the more messy one on the left. Basically you need to hollow out a pumpkin ( happily already done for us), put in some cellophane and a wet piece of water absorbing oasis. Stick flowers, cones etc into the oasis to create an arrangement. And Voila!
Holidaying. As it is Half Term Holidays we managed to get away to the Yorkshire Coast for a couple of days. Fortunately we have another caravan in the family, Wils brother and his wife own a static on a site half way between Whitby and Robin Hoods Bay. Both are such atmospheric places to visit, especially at this time of year. Anyway we made the most of our location, walking along the cliffs to Robin Hood’s Bay oneday and catching the bus into Whitby on the other.
Finding Fungi. 🍄
A day trip to Bolton Abbey and a woodland walk showcased a few fungi finds. Not quite sure if my IDs are correct, but here goes….
Thanks for dropping by and enjoy the rest of October. Let me know if you are watching any spooky films or dressing up for Halloween 🎃 in the comments. X
sunshine and celandines 
What a great week. I find it funny how my days out often follow a similar pattern to your own. We clearly enjoy similar things 🙂
It’s been a while since I was last in Whitby, however.
The pumpkin flower arrangement is beautiful and what a lovely idea.
I tried the app once, but disappointingly there’s not much on offer around here. X
Thanks for the lovely comment. 🙂
I believe there’s a couple of places in or near Penrith that we might try when up at the van. The Chopping Board in Penrith and Neum at Newbiggin near Greystoke. But I don’t know what they are like. X
It looks like you had a good few days away to Robin Hood’s Bay and Whitby, it’s ten years since I was last over that way. I like the post box topper, it’s really cute, and the pumpkin flower arrangements look really pretty – I can’t see anything messy about yours at all 🙂
The only film I’ve watched recently was ”Wilde” a few nights ago, a biopic about Oscar Wilde with Stephen Fry in the lead role and Jude Law as his young on/off lover. It’s not often a film will hold my attention for its entirety but this one did.
Thanks for the great comment Eunice. I was quite impressed with our pumpkins. Mine is looking good in my window right now. Whitby and Robins Hood Bay were fab, though pretty busy! I haven’t seen Wilde, it’s definitely a film I should get round to watching. X
Sounds like a good month. We had some time away too, in Aberdeenshire, which was lovely. That’s the second mention of Catherine called Birdy I’ve seen recently, though the first concentrated more on the book, which is apparently slightly different but just as enjoyable. I remember the title from one of the libraries I worked in but have never read it – maybe I will, not having Amazon Prime!
Oh lovely, hope you had a good time in Aberdeenshire.
Haven’t read the book but did enjoy the film. X
Lovely to see & hear about places I knw well, even though I live down under. We usually head to Bolton Abbey for our first walk after the long flight from Oz, to stretch our limbs & clear the cobwebs from our brain. I’ve spent many a great day in both Whitby & Robin Hoods Bay as my stepdaughter lives in Scarborough. The buy of cheap food sounds very interesting. Thanks for sharing, take care & hugs.
Bolton Abbey is definitely a fab place to walk in all seasons. And nice to have relatives on the lovely Yorkshire Coast. 🙂
What a fabulous week. I love your exuberant flower arrangement , full of joy.
Thanks very much, it’s still looking exuberant. X
I love your opening lines, ‘ Autumn colours, reading about a psychopath serial killer, eating left overs and finding funky fungi!’ That’s quite the month!
I had The Empress on my watch list but have yet to get to it. I’ve been watching all the dark and spooky things on Netflix this month.
The Too Good to Go bag looks good, I’ve had the app for ages but not tried a bag yet. Our local Greggs does one but living in a Garrison town you have to be quick. I think the young squaddies are quite partial to a bag of bakery goodies!
Ohh yes me too, though I am trying to lose weight at the mo, so haven’t indulged in a Too Good To Go Bag recently! I imagine Gregg’s does a good one. 🙂
Oh don’t, I’m trying to drop a few pounds at the minute because this is the time of year I need to lose the weight I intend to gain at Christmas! I’m of the ‘can resist anything but temptation’ camp so it’s not easy!
Haha, yes I’m exactly the same. 🙂 X
I hope you had a good half-term holiday. It’s half-term this week here in Mid Wales (seemingly a week behind everyone else!).
Ohh that’s different. Though at least Halloween 🎃 is inside the Welsh holiday. 🙂
This looks like a really fun month, and I am impressed with your beautiful floral pumpkin arrangement!
Thanks! It was fun to make. X
A great october month that you had. I know about the Too good to go app, I had registered long time ago when I moved to Cumbria but at the time it wasn’t really popular and there were nothing on the app close to me. I will have another look. The halloween flowers are beautiful.
Thank you Melodie.
Yes hopefully there is more going on with the app now. X
That app sounds interesting and I note that you say the Chopping Board in Penrith has signed up, that is a lovely shop so it would be interesting to see what you get from them. I love the area around Whitby it looks like you had a great time there over half term.
No autumn colours in my neck of woods…Trees are still green, and the fallen leaves are a mix of green and dirty yellow 😉 Last autumn was much better. Thank you for recommending ‘Emily’. I somehow missed it but will try to watch it in some independent cinema, if I’m lucky enough to be near one. Can’t think of anything spooky right off the top of my head, “The Watcher” on Netflix was kind of spooky but in a disappointing way. I have a feeling ‘The Lost King’ will be a good movie to watch.
Hi thanks for your comment. How strange that your Autumn colours haven’t really materialized yet. It sounds alot warmer down South. Emily was a good film and I’ve also seen Mrs Harris Goes to Paris, which was enjoyable. I am watching The Devils Hour on Prime, I think. Haven’t tried The Watcher. The Lost King does look good. X