I love that song! In fact I love a lot of the “old” Christmas songs, as well as those that are played every year at Christmas! Usually at this time of year I start playing Christmas songs in my vehicle when I am out and about on my own. DH and The Boys moan at me but I just think that it is so short a time if you only play the songs in December. Of course I do not go out and about so don’t hear the same songs all the time in shops etc so that is probably why I play them earlier than most!
I have not put my tree up yet though, unlike some people I have seen who have artificial ones and have put them up now!!!! We, as a family, have always had real trees because I just love the smell of them so we won’t get that until the first week of December!
The Christmas tickets for Chatsworth House have been released and some dates are booked already. I know that I may be okay by Christmas after my Op but in a bit of not tempting fate I have not booked anything just in case. However I will be definitely booking for next year! I am so looking forward to not being in this state next year!
I have already done a bit of Christmas shopping and bought a few things for the children etc and have also got my Christmas cards ready to write. I can probably do those whilst I am recovering! I have already got my Chirstmas planner out and started making notes in it, the way the weeks are flying by it will soon be here!
We are planning a weekend in Nottingham with the six of us and Little Man during a Saturday in December for everyone to do a bit of shopping and get a couple of things sorted and then have dinner and of course see the lights! Am really looking forward to that.
I absolutely love this time of year and the run up to Christmas.
I had a lovely Spa Day last Friday and my Sister/Cousin, Honey, came with me. I had to tell her how to do things and we were sat next to each other whilst we were waiting for our turn in the bath and on the table for me to be cut and for Honey to be de-shedded. We both looked amazing when we came out but Mom always says it only takes about two minutes for us to look like we have never been for a bath ever! Mom also washed all of my beds and the cover over my crate, as well as all my soft toys and the hard chewy toys she put through the dishwasher. You can say that I smell very clean!
Honey after her Spa Day!
Mom is not going to be here for a few days whilst she is having her hip done. At least when she has recovered she and Dad will be able to take me out walking again, especially as it is a great time of year with cool nights for a walk. I have a new collar which lights up in the dark which I cannot wait to try out.
Although our days are still quite warm during the middle of the day, first thing in the morning and at night it is dropping very cool. Mom says she will have to look out my coat for walking when it is very cold or wet as it was over the weekend. Mom also says I need to start thinking about Christmas and what I would like Santa Paws to bring me for Christmas!!! I have a list already started and as you know I am a huge fan of squeaky balls. She also has to buy for Honey & Star, Blaze and now Gordon too. She is also hoping to get their quilts made for Christmas as well! It won’t be long now.
I hope you are having a wonderful Woofy Week. Coco xx
The days and weeks are flying by and we are now in October! Don’t know where September went to!!!
It was the annual Goose Fair in Nottingham last weekend, where DH and I had our very first date 39 years ago!!! We did not go because of my hip and it was pouring with rain on Friday here with another storm which came through. Someone else commented that ever since we have been naming these storms here in the UK they have gotten worse!!!
Speaking of things, I saw an Instagram post the other day which said that since 2020 the World has been on the wrong path, you know how some believe that there are parralell Worlds going in the same direction but things are slightly different? Well some believe that we are on the wrong path which is why everything just feels slightly off at the moment? How we get back to the right path if this is the case I don’t know? It is very much like an Isaac Asimov story!!!!!
Anyway back to Friday we took Coco and Honey for them both to have a spa day. Coco needed it as she was again very floofy and Honey needed to be de-shedded. She is a very long legged golden labrador, very soft and typically goofy. We had them in their crates in DH’s truck so they could see and talk to each other but not running around like lunatics which they do at home! They were both very good, the only thing Honey did not like was the drying cabinet, perhaps she thought it was an Harry Potter Vanishing cabinet! Both of them then spent the rest of the day fast asleep. However DH and I got soaked getting them in and out of the truck. We had a long day getting errands done and managed to fit in a nice breakfast too but by the time we got home it was late, we were both tired and so we did not even go and drive round Goose Fair.
Saturday was again busy and DH had a swimming competition in the afternoon. The bed quilt I have been trying to finish I have given up trying to quilt it on my machine. It is far too big and heavy and I have ended up with skipped stitches so it is going to the shop I use for it to be completed on their long arm quilting machine. I have decided I can do single bed size quilts on my machine, but nothing bigger. It is a gift for my best friend. Jayne, her daughter but I am sure she won’t mind it being a little late.
Jayne and I were ladies who lunched on September 23rd at The Farmhouse near us and the food was really good as usual. I will show you on Friday for Book Club Jayne’s pick for her book last month and my pick for this month. I have really loved our little Book Club and the books we have read and am so glad we embarked on this journey together.
I am seeing Jayne for lunch next week, at The Rose & Crown, just before I go in to Hospital the following week and it is Jayne’s choice so I will be able to take the book in with me. I have also got about another six books I am going to put in my bag, well you never know I might finish Jayne’s book or need to read something else. I always want to take too many rather than have not enough!
I am also trying to get my home jobs all done and some other things I want to sort out before I go in on the 21st! I am up to date with work here and at Eldest’s and I have also managed to get the Membership data all sorted for swimming. We had a new database and the data was transferred from the old one but of course it did not come across properly and it was one of those jobs that I kept meaning to do and had done some of it but have spent several days getting it all up to date! The Swimming Club AGM is at the beginning of November so at least I know that all the data is correct for the renewals then and before we have to renew everyone at Swim England!
I am hoping this week to be back and blogging every day, last week just ended up flying by no sooner was it Monday, it was Friday and the week had gone! I hope you lovely lot had a great weekend and a good week to come.
Waterstones, Piccadilly – Europe’s Largest Bookstore.
Since we have been back from holiday I have managed to still get some reading in despite cathing up on work and home jobs!! Our holiday seems like a lifetime ago now but being in September we are definitely feeling the Autumn weather making itself known now with cooler evenings and of course it is getting dark earlier and earlier. I do love this time of year though and I also think I tend to read more as the nights draw in.
During our holiday I did start three books which I ended up DNFing for various reasons. They were:
“The Housekeepers” by Alex Hay / “The Village Library Demon Hunting Society” by C.W. Waggoner / “A Winter’s Murder” by Simon Brew.
The Housekeepers was a good idea set in the 1920’s England and they get together to rob their employers. However the writing and style did not come across at all well, so after 50 pages I DNF’d it!
The Village Library Demon Hunting Society was again a good idea except again the writing was not good and the demon appearing was not Stephen King inspired at all! DNF
Finally A Winter’s Murder was a story where you decide what direction it will take and you jump around pages with the decisions and I took about four turns and then I was out as I had made the wrong decisions! I could not be bothered to go back and start again! DNF
*
Finally “Yellowface” by R.F. Kuang I read and listened to this and got half way through the book and I just got to the point where I did not like any of the characters at all and would have quite happily slapped them all! The whole premise of the book, one character stealing the unpublished book of her dead friend and passing it off as her own and then the person who discovers the deception being equally immoral. Because of this I DND’d it also!
*****
Finally I read this and gave it five stars! Small town life has lots of secrets especially at the school gates. Newly divorced Mom Jude is drawn to Widower Will especially when their daughters become friends but she is warned off him by the other Moms because his wife died in mysterious circumstances and his partner has been missing for a few years! Can Jude prove them wrong or will she be next?
This was well written. You get to follow Jude in her quest along with other mysteries surrounding the Mom’s at the school gates and their stressful lives even when they appear organised and happy! A very good book and a good ending.
*****
Karin Slaughter is one of my favourite Authors and I have read several of her books already. This one was published in June this year and I began it whilst on holiday. North Falls is a small town and everyone knows everyone’s business and a lot of the time actually related to each other. On 4th of July cook out and fireworks for the town, Deputy Sherriff Emmy Clifton is asked by her best friend if she will talk to her step-daughter, Madison, who has become very withdrawn to see if Emmy can find out what is wrong. Before she has chance Madison and her best friend Cheyenne go mising and Emmy throws herself into finding the girls, but she is not ready for all the secrets that are going to be revealed.
The characters in the book are very well crafted and the interactions of them with each other whilst trying to find out what happened to the two teenagers is well done. There is a twist near the end which I did see coming but it did not detract from the book. It is a thriller but also about how human these people are. I really enjoyed it.
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Finally for this month is “The Housemaid” by Freida McFadden. This is where I will perhaps lose people with my opinion on this book! Earlier in the year I listened to “The Tenant” by Ms McFadden on audiobook, the first of her books I read/listened to and my Review was in July 2025. I gave it two stars! As you can imagine I went into this with a bit of trepidation and I was right!
Millie is desperate for a job so she does not have to live in her car anymore. The problem is that very few people want to give you a job after they know you have been in prison. However she sees this job for a live in Housemaid in a very nice area on Long Island and she applies. Mrs Nina Winchester interviews her and offers her the job to begin immediately and Millie is so relieved.
Her room is in th attic and is small, cramped and the window does not open and to make matters worse there is a lock but on the outside of the door which makes her suspecious. However the room has a bed, its own bathroom and it is going into winter. Mr Andrew Winchester is very handsome and helps Millie to settle in and navigate Nina’s unstable outbursts and their daughters rude behaviour but she will have to be careful not to get too involved or attached she needs the job. The longer she is at the house the longer Millie realises that things are not right with the Winchesters, but she has to stay, however how long can she last in this deeply disfunctional home?
Now don’t get me wrong the book is okay but having read The Tennant I quickly realised that it and The Housemaid are the same plat with slight tweeks here and there. It has a similar twist and a flat ending again, just like The Tenant! However it did not have as many “ick” moments in as The Tenant does, hence three starts for this but only two starts for The Tenant!
I have found this problem with some other authors, where they find a formula and so every book is written in the same way and for me that gets boring. Ms MCFadden’s books are not long and it does move quickly but if all of her books are the same I won’t be reading them. I have one more of her books on my TBR shelf and I will read that but if it is the same then I am afraid she will not become a favourite of mine. I know there are a lot of thriller book readers out there who aboslutely love her books, but I don’t think I am going to be one of them!
I have read one more book which was for Jayne’s and my Book Club book for September and I will tell you about that next week as I am seeing Jayne for lunch on Tuesday!
I hope you lovely lot have a wonderful weekend, find some time to read, whatever you are up to and I shall see you all back here on Monday.
DH and my Date Night last night was to see the final Downton Abbey film at the cinema! We have not been to the cinema in ages, particularly as it now seems to cost as much as going out for a meal (!) and the other reason being there has been nothing on we wanted to see. However this film opened on Friday.
If you have watched all the series and the two prior films then you will know that this just follows on from them. You can see this film without have watched the previous ones but you would probably miss one or two references. Sadly The Dowager Countess of Grantham died in the previous film and Dame Maggie Smith herself passed away last year and the film is dedicated to her. That was the only thing missing from the film her wit, perfect timing of her little pearls of wisdom, and barbs that her character was known for.
The film begins with Lady Mary Talbot going through a divorce which in 1930 was a scandal and divorced women were treated as if they were fallen. This then leads into the fact that Lord Grantham needs to take over the running of Downton again because of Lady Mary’s status. We also find that Lady Grantham’s mother has passed away and the Estate is being handled by her brother in America badly which again has an affect on Downton’s fortunes. The film also shows the older staff retiring and leaving the younger staff to take over, so very much changes happening throughout all their lives.
It was excellent and a good tribute to everyone who has worked on the series and the three films and a nice way to end an icon of recent TV. Especially as we get so many controversial shows now, or inane ones (the “talent” shows!) and not forgetting the dreadful “Reality” TV which is as far from reality as anything else. So it was great to have this series and three films which are elegant and although it is probaly not the best word to describe it, but gentle programme. I for one will miss it but the benefit of our TV viewing now is we are able to watch them all the time thanks to the streaming networks! Netflix in the UK and the series is also now on Disney+ too. I have started to watch the series again and Dame Maggie Smith is just the best.
If you are a fan of the show I am sure this film will soon be available to watch on TV and does not disappoint.
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I haven’t forgotten about Book Club Friday but DH and my’s Friday turned into chaos not of our doing! We were waiting for a delivery of two pieces of furniture for Youngest and they ended up coming by two separate deliveries both ends of the day and in between we had to dash off and get my car, which was in Birmingham which is a dreadful place to drive through. DH knows it well because of business so I was following him which can be a bit of a nightmare but we got home in time for the second delivery but then found that we only had two of the three boxes we needed! Anyway I will do Book Club Friday tomorrow.
I hope you are having a wonderful weekend. Hugs & Love, Susie & Coco xx
As with all days this one comes around and it is now twenty four years ago, which seems unbelievable. I think it will be a day eteched in everyone’s memories who witnessed this terrible thing on our TV’s. Our hearts go out to all those who lost loved ones.
******
Yesterday was busy as I am trying to sort out all the paperwork for my current vehicle and for the new vehicle well new to me. Years ago it was suggested that eventually paperwork would be a thing of the past and we would do everything on line but here we are in 2025 and I suspect we are still using the same amount of paper! I once worked in an office where they actively encouraged no paper use at all and to be perfectly honest they seemed to use more paper than anywhere else I had worked!
I have been busy with work this morning and so am going to do my home jobs done tomorrow. The weekend is busy for DH with swimming and playing cars with the Boys (!) and I am hopefully getting on with quilting.
Tomorrow is Book Club Friday and I have quite a few to show you and some thoughts on one particular Author, who is very popular at the moment and is everyhwere but I, well I will tell you tomorrow. I may lose people over it but still! 🙂
It is getting cooler here, especially at night, although it is still warm in the day. Autumn is starting to make itself known. The other day when the windows were open a neighbour had a bonfire and the smell was wonderful and really reminded me that Autumn is here. Because it has been very dry this Spring and Summer the leaves on the trees are already falling and the trees are turning already. Although I do love all the seasons as they offer something different I think I love Autumn just that little bit more.
Coco is having withdrawal symptoms because the door is not open all day for her to run in and out! If we get a nice day the door is still open but we have also been getting quite a bit of rain too which we do need. She will soon be snoozing in her basket!!!!
Happy Thursday you lovely lot. Hugs & Love, Susie & Coco xx
I know we are only just into Autumn but I need to start sorting out some things for Christmas, especially as I am going to be laid up for six weeks! Not strictly laid up but I won’t be able to be out and about like normal! So I have started to get some things done.
I have already booked the Steam Train to see Santa as we needed a specific date so that is one thing off my list! This week these have arrived;
The Christmas Cards!
I am not going to write them yet (!) as I can do them when I am back from my Op! The next thing I need to plan is all the Christmas baking! I have suggested that I buy the mince pies, Christmas Cake and Christmas Pudding this year and so when I was shopping last week I got some mince pies for DH to try. He was not impressed!!!!
The supermarket I shop at, Sainsburys, do their own range which is called “Taste the Difference” which is better than the basic range. So I bought these last week and although DH said they were okay he preferred their basic ones!!! So I will be buying some of those this week for him to try and if they are okay I will be ordering some each week and putting them in the freezer.
Last year I did buy our Christmas Pudding from Fortnum & Mason and then we ended up with two so we had one and the other is in the cupboard for this year so that is already here and ticked off my list. With regard to the cake that is going to be the trickiest. Eldest loves the cake I make which I cover in Royal Icing. DH loves the cake but not the icing, Youngest prefers the chocolate log I make and Partner does not like fruit cake at all. Fiancé being pregnant is off all things rich! So if I get the Fortnum’s Christmas Cake it is fruit but it is covered in the fondant icing which none of us like! However they may just have to put up with it for this year!
I have already bought a few Christmas presents when I have seen things during the year but again there will not be as many this year as I will not be able to get out and about. Although you can buy anything on line now I still do like to go out and see things but we shall see. I have ordered the Christmas paper though!!!!
I have quite a bit of storage now in Youngest’s room, so things will be going in there to be stored and I am keeping a list of things I have bought already and for whom, so I can keep track of things. Of course it will be Gordon’s first Christmas and I have ordered him his own stocking from Etsy which is arriving on Saturday. I need to sort out the animals presents too!
DH is already booking events for Christmas and a few have been confirmed. There was one enquiry for a Friday evening at the beginning of December but I had already booked tickets for DH and I to go and see Vivaldi by Candlelight that evening. I have booked my hair and beauty appointments for December as they get booked up really quickly.
It is not all Christmas though, we do have some lovely things coming up in the next few months too, although DH and I will not be going away for our Wedding Anniversary this year as I will have only just had my Op! However I will be booking for next year! We think we will be going away for a week with Coco at the end of February, beginning of March just for a week to decompress after Christmas & New Year.
Work is busy which is a relief although we are still having ups and downs thanks to our Government and their “policies” which are all over the place at the moment, as well as the volatile situation generally. I think we just need to keep our heads down and get on with things and ignore everything going on out there!
I hope you are all having a good week. Next weekend DH is busy with a swimming event and then he and The Boys are doing some work on their own vehicles so I will hve two days of quilting time! I am sure Coco will be helping.
Hugs & Love Susie & Coco xx
Coco would normally be doing Coco’s Corner today but she is a bit tired again!
The evenings are definitely drawing in, but I am sure the weeks are getting shorter! There are supposed to be seven days a week but they are absolutely flying by! The weekend was really busy; DH, Eldest & Partner, Youngest & Fiancé and Little Man went to a truck show on Saturday. The weather was great, warm but not too sunny as a lot of the exhibts were outside. I did not go of course because of my hip, so I was doggy sitting Gordon and Coco.
Friday DH and I had a busy day getting jobs done. We have started sorting out the boxes from the attic which are now in the garage and getting rid of things and also giving things to the Boys!! Hopefully it will be finished by the end of this year. We also have the attic to tidy, but there is not too much in there now.
Sunday DH, Eldest & I went to look at a new vehicle for me. Well I say me but DH and The Boys all use it as well. We had a good visit and it looked great so we are now in the process of sorting it out and hopefully I will have it by Friday of this week.
This weekend DH has his first swimming event of the new season but only for a few hours on Saturday and in the evening we are going to see the new Downton Abbey film at the cinema. We have not been for ages, mainly because there has not been anything ,on we wanted to see, but this is only being shown at the cinema first so I thought we would have a date night. Sunday will be nice again so I think we will be carrying on in the garage.
We did do quite a lot of work in the garden and have gotten quite a few of the plants which needed trimming done. We have arranged for the tree men to come at the end of October to trim the trees in the garden hopefully before the storms begin. We did them about two years ago but they need doing again. Our Roofer came to sort out the drain pipes last week and we asked him to go all over the roof to check it and he found one bit where a tile had slipped and it needed re-positioning and re-pointing which he did. We are so glad he did because the next day you have never seen rain like it! If we had not had that done we would have had water coming in!
This week is busy again with work of course and I have lots of home jobs to get done too, as well as a basket of ironing. I am going to Eldest’s business on Wednesday to get work done there too and then Friday we are waiting for a delivery to arrive and then hopefully picking the car up.
The other news we have in the family is that Youngest & Fiancé are expecting! Yeah! We are all so pleased for them. The baby is due at the end of January 2026 and we had a Gender Reveal here a few weeks ago with just the family and they are expecting a little Girl! Little Man’s face was a little disconcerted as he has, of course, two sisters and now will have a little girl cousin. He will be surrounded!!! Above is the table set waiting for everyone to arrive. I made lasagne’s for dinner with salad and garlic bread and then we had cake . They had got the smoke to reveal the Gender and it was very pink!!!!
Little Man in his highchair at lunch.
We are all so pleased for them and cannot wait to welcome the new arrival into the family.
I will try and post everyday this week as I am slipping with things mainly due to the days flying by!!!! I hope you lovely lot have a fantastic week.
Hugs & Love, Susie & Coco xx
Coco has had a slow day today in her basket next to my desk!
“Don’t you love New York in the Fall? It makes me want to buy school supplies. I would send you a bouquet of newly sharpened pencils if I knew your name and address.”
Nora Ephron from my favourite Film “You’ve Got Mail”!
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Okay so can someone explain to me where this year has gone please? I cannot believe that it is September already and people are already starting to talk about Christmas and things are starting to appear in the shops even before Halloween!
However I must hold my hands up to having already booked the tickets for Great Central Railway to see Santa on the train with the children at Christmas!! But if I had not booked already then we would not be able to get the date we like so I am guilty of already booking Christmas things!!!! We had a busy weekend getting the garden sorted and trimming a lot of the plants which have not been done for a while. We also took out the Box plants that have been in for about twenty years but had developed Box blight. We have arranged for a tree company to come round and trim the trees in the garden hopefully next week some time. Our Roofer is coming tomorrow to check our roof and also clean out all the gutters and make sure everything is okay before Winter. We still have some small jobs to do in the garden. Where the Box was we are going to dig it all over and put some compost in and perhaps plant some spring bulbs in and then in Spring put some new plants in.
At the weekend the family are out on Saturday at a Truck show and I am dog sitting Coco and Gordon. Also hoping to get some quilting done and if not then reading. May also be having a trip out on Sunday but more about that later.
I hope you lovely lot are going to have a wonderful Week and Happy Autumn!
On Tuesday of this week, Jayne and I were Ladies Who Lunch! We went to a Restaurant at Alfreton in Derbyshire called “Pesto” which is an Italian Restaurant but they do things a little differently. They have three menus each priced £1 more than the previous one. If you go for the most expensive one you are able to pick dishes from all three menus but if you have the middle priced menu you can only pick from that or the cheaper one and if you have the cheapest then you can only have dishes from that one. You then get to pick three dishes.
There are many different authentic Italian dishes and the last time we went which was in February in the snow, I didn’t quite get the combination of dishes right! However this time I did. I had a small piece of lasagne, some rice balls with beef and cheese in them and a house salad. Jayne had the lasagne, pasta with smoked salmon and chicken wings and she shared my salad. It was really good.
We had a lovely time and we caught up on all the news and also discussed our Book Club book which we read in August which was this :
It was my choice and something that I would not normally choose but it was a really good read. Very easy to read and the story was great and I will definitely be getting Emily Henry’s other books. This is what I love about Jayne’s and my book club, trying different styles of books. So far, when we began in April, we have done really well with the books we have chosen.
The story is about Daphne who is going to marry Peter but just before the big day he calls the wedding off because he has realised that he actually loves his best friend since they were little Petra. Not only is the wedding cancelled but Daphne has to move out of the home she was sharing with Peter as he owns that. She bumps into Miles who was living with Petra and who is equally devastated at the betrayal and to help Daphne out offers her his tiny spare room which she takes. After a drunken night drowning their sorrows they decide to put on social media that they are an item and take a loved up picture which has the desired effect on Peter and Petra, disbelief that their exes are together! Slowly as the weeks go by Daphne and Miles become friends, however Peter & Petra are detemined to break them apart! Can they get over the betrayal and make a new life for themselves?
As I say a really easy read but good fun and well written. This is our book for September :
I obviously saw this book when it came out but was not too sure as to whether I would enjoy it but it is Jayne’s pick for this month and as I said it is all about trying new books that I would perhaps not normally pick for me. I will be starting it this weekend.
Tonight we are at Youngest’s and Fiancé’s home as DH is helping Youngest with his truck and I am with Fiancé and no doubt we will get a Takeaway for dinner, well it is Friday night.
DH and I managed to get some jobs done in the garden in between showers and me doing the washing as well. A Box bush that has been in the garden for about twenty years that we did put in when we first moved here has developed Box Blight which affects Box plants and is a fungal disease. Once the plant has it you cannot get rid of it and just have to dig them up and replace it with something else. It is in the front bed on the right and is quite big so we have decided to put mulch and compost down and perhas plant some spring bulbs in the area that has been left and then next spring re-do the area and put some new plants in then.
Over the weekend it is due to be raining so it will be inside jobs to do and there is always plenty of them! Hopefully Sunday is going to be okay and we can finish the garden. Have a wonderful weekend whatever you lovely lot are up to and I will see you back here on Monday.
Hugs & Love, Susie & Coco xx
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