November is proving to be a bit unusual in some respects. This is the busiest I've been in the run up to Christmas for a while, so personal projects have had to be put on the back burner for a while. I'm managing to put a little time each day into this though - a lace scarf knitted in a fine linen yarn. It looks a bit like a dishrag at the moment, but I think once blocked it will be beautiful - the yarn is a soft grey with a bit of a sheen to it, and about as thick as crochet cotton. It's quite tricky to knit with, but I am sure will be worth the effort.
I usually make our Christmas cake at the end of October in order to have plenty of time to 'water' it with brandy before Christmas. A couple of weeks late this year as I've been so busy, but it's finally done and maturing in a tin tucked away. I use a recipe in a Stork cookbook given to me by my parents when I left home...so that's quite an old book! It's proved invaluable over the years and I still refer to it for good basic home cooking recipes.
Bizarrely, while the cake was baking away in the oven, I was outside in my shirtsleeves mowing the grass and tidying up the garden, with all windows & doors open. I still can't do all the clearing up that is needed to put the garden to bed for winter - cosmos are flowering more prolifically than they did in the summer.
The black-eyed susan has gone berserk covering half the pergola and shows no sign of stopping flowering.
And against the house the pepino (tree melon) has finally got a fruit and is also flowering more than it did in the summer.
I have a feeling this will end in tears once the frosts begin - it would be nice to harvest one fruit at least though!
On the easel: still the greyhounds
On the needles: Christmas stuff!
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