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Tuesday 1 November 2011

Another Month, Another Post!

Good morning bloggy friends everywhere!  After all the rain we've had here in Devon since the family have been here, I woke up this morning, on the 1st November, to find that it really did seem like that season of mists and mellow fruitfulness, as the sun was starting to rise and the mists were rolling over the fields.  I really do love it when we have mornings like that.

I must admit that I was feeling decidedly grumpy yesterday, as I am not allowed to eat all the lovely things that I have enjoyed eating alll my life, such as roast potatoes, biscuits, gorgeous choc au pains, any sort of cake, and the list goes on :(  Anyway, my daughter from France was obviously fed up with me grumping (!) and found a cake recipe for O blood groups, which doesn't use flour.  It is a lemon and almond cake, and she actually made them like little buns yesterday.  They were delicious, and after eating four of them, I was feeling decidedly happier.  I couldn't eat any more because she confiscated the rest to the freezer, so that I can take out one at a time. Yea, right!!  Anyway, thank you Emma.  What am I going to do without you when you return to France tomorrow.

We had our little halloween party here last evening, and it went very well.  Everyone looked great in their costumes and the little ones looked good enough to eat of course!!  We started off with some party food (well, everyone else but me, that is!!).  Then hubby put on a lovely firework display for us and we finished off by lighting the chimnea and making our Smores, which everyone thoroughly enjoyed.  (Thanks again SkippyMom!).

Obviously I love it when the family are all together.  To me, apart from wonderful friendships, that is what life is all about really, and I am so grateful for the love of my family and the care that they always show to me.  Here are a few photoes to give you a little taster of the evening.













Right, time to get on with my Christmas shopping list I think!! (Hee Hee!).

28 comments:

melvin said...

Hello Diane, which wonderful family celebration.
Have an excellent day.
Melvin

Claudia Moser said...

Sounds like a great evening Diane!

Shady Del Knight said...

Hi, Thisisme! Rain in Devon? I never heard that one before! (LOL) Between your blog and Emma's I am getting delightful glimpses of your fun-filled Halloween party. The costumes were marvelous. I hope that Eli was feeling as good as he looked. As I told Emma you didn't need to get out your Dyson hoover with Alfred gobbling up the crumbs. I know that you must have felt deprived watching everybody else eat all those goodies. I'm glad Emma made something for you that your diet allows. Enjoy the rest of your visit with your beautiful family, dear friend!

Manzanita said...

Wonderful family fun and fireworks. You are a go-getter, girl. Finish one holiday and on with the next... hey? You are an inspiration. :)
Manzanita@Wannabuyaduck

Shelly said...

What a rich family time. You are a blessed woman, and I know you realize that. I didn't realize you all had chimineas there- we get our large ones in Mexico and enjoy them greatly. The fireworks looked like a load of fun, too. We are firmly into the holiday season!

Carol said...

Gorgeous views from your garden.

Love the photos of the family. Looks like a fun time had by all.

have a great week

carol

BB said...

Those pictures are fantastic. The little ones are truly adorable. Especially little Ruby. OMG, that pic is priceless. Glad you guys had a fun time. Glad your family was able to come visit. It will be the holidays before you know it! Hugs my awesome friend.

Sush said...

From the very first picture I got a smile on my face and it just kept growing as I read and scrolled through this post. A truly loved and loving family you have Diane! Your children of ALL ages are beautiful...and with Ms Emma handy in the kitchen so her Mum can have some treats its obvious they are as pretty on the inside as on the outside. (That was the highest of compliments MY Mom would give when rating prettiness)!

Yes, I've been checking out some shopping ideas myself! My how time flies when we're having fun!

Hang in there with the change in your diet, hopefully it pays big dividends with how you are feeling.

Hugs~

Southhamsdarling said...

Melvin - hallo! Lovely to see you hear today, and thank you for becoming my newest Follower.

Claudia - yes, it was great fun!

Shady - hi Tom my dear friend. Yes, who would have thought that we would have rain here in Devon??!! Yes, Alfred did enjoy gobbling up all the crumbs! They go back first thing tomorrow morning, but we've had a lovely time together. Hope all is well with you.

Manzanita - It's very kind of you to say that I'm an inspiration. I certainly don't feel like that at times!! Lovely to see you here today.

Shelly - yes, chimneas have become very popular over here in the past couple of years. Yes, as you say, right in the middle of the holiday season. You have Thanksgiving to look forward to next of course!

Dizzy - Hi Carol. glad you enjoyed the garden view. Thank you for taking the trouble to pop over, because I know that you have been feeling pretty rotten recently. Do hope you feel better soon.

Bouncin'Barb - thanks for those lovely comments my awesome friend. Ruby is a little cutie, isn't she. I will be popping over to your blog in a moment to see if you have any piccies there of your visit with all your family. Hugs.

Sush - glad the photos gave you a smile my friend, and I do hope that you are recovering well from your recent procedure. Yes, as you say, pretty on the inside if the really important thing! I will certainly stick with the dietary changes until Christmas and see how things are by then. Take care.

Melissa Blake said...

AMEN to family time. There's nothing like it!

Redhead said...

Sparklers! I haven't thought of those in ages. I love the costumes, especially the lady wearing a dance costume and boots! Glad you had so much good family time...

Desiree said...

I'm so glad to hear your grumps have been tamed. I think you'd better keep Emma under house arrest and not allow her to return to France. I, too, loved every single photograph you've shared. You have a wonderful family, Diane and it's clear you made the most of Halloween 2011. What a happy gathering! I loved all the costumes :)

Southhamsdarling said...

Melissa Blake - hi there. Lovely to see you here today, and thank you so much for popping across to leave a comment.

Redhead - lovely to see you here too today! Yes, Sparklers certainly brings back memories of my own childhood. That was my youngest daughter, who got married in June.

Desiree - yes, my grumps were soon tamed by those little cakes! LOL! I agree, I think I had better keep Emma here. She's good for me and always has been! Glad you enjoyed the photos. I must get back to normal with my blogging from tomorrow, and I shall check you out, to make sure that I haven't missed out on anything!!

Anonymous said...

Hi Diane, I'm glad to hear you finally got some nice weather over there. Dublin has been fantastic today :) Lovely pictures of the family and the costumes - glad you enjoyed it. It will take some time to get use to the new diet - but you can do it!
Enjoy your evening my friend! Hugs x

vintch said...

i can't imagine waking up to such a gorgeous scene...so, so beautiful. your party looks like such fun! and i'm glad your sweet daughter made you those cakes:) you are such a sunny spirit it's infectious:)

Belle said...

Looks like such a fun family party! I love that witch that was on the table. Very spooky.

I try to eat according to my blood type also. I don't have much flour and bread. If I do I get very weak and tired. I follow the book, Eat Right 4 Your Blood Type. It has helped me a lot. I do miss chocolate, which makes my fibromyalgia very bad. I can't eat anything packaged with preservatives either. I felt deprived at first, but after feeling so much better I am used to it and don't mind too much.

Gawgus things... said...

So glad you got your fill of cake at last - four, I didn't realise it was that many?!

Unknown said...

Looks like you guys had a fabulous time!! The costumes are fabulous!! :)

Grammy Goodwill said...

That picture of the mist is an awesome shot. Next - you ate FOUR little cakes??? Good thing she took them away from you. hehehe Your party looked like so much fun. I love the fireworks. I have to ask if one of those was steel wool, on fire, and twirled around?

orchid0324 said...

Good Morning, Dear Lady,
Wow, what a fun you had with your wonderful family♡♡♡
I SO enjoyed peeking the joyful party with costumes and so on! Haha,I was surprised to see Halloween is such a big event in Western Culture reading others blogs as well♬♬♬
Oh, just relieved to hear you had help from Emma for you to eat.
Blessings to all of your wonderful family, xoxo Orchid*

Sally Wessely said...

I loved the photo of the misty morning. I can only imagine the beauty.

Your celebration looked like so much fun. You are right. Nothing is better than spending time with family.

Duncan D. Horne - the Kuantan blogger said...

Hi Diane, how thoughtful of your daughter to make that cake for you! Glad it cheered you up!

Duncan In Kuantan

melvin said...

Hello Diane, thank you for following my blog.
Eiffel Tower and Champ de mars are special place to me also.
I wish you a wonderful day.
The pictures of your relatives are so nice.
Melvin

Chatty Crone said...

Alright then - you do celebrate over there in England - Cute pictures.

Looked like every one was so happy.

sandie

Southhamsdarling said...

Eva - I'm glad you enjoyed the photos and it was nice to hear that you had some lovely weather in Dublin yesterday :)

vintch - you always leave such a sweet comment. I'm not always full of sunshine, but I do try my best!!

Belle - thank you, and thank you for the dietary advice. I must buy a copy of that book about Blood groups. I'm sure it will be really helpful to me. Hugs.

Gawgus - yes, I sneaked them when you weren't looking! Hee Hee!!

Kristina - yes, we did have a lovely evening, thank you.

Grammy Goodwill - yes, as you say, good job my daughter took the little cakes away from me, or I would have eaten a lot more. Hee Hee! The circular firework is called a Catherine Wheel. It's not on steel wool, although that would probably work!! Just a firework that is made in a sort of swirl effect and it whizzes around very fast!

Orchid - I'm glad you enjoyed the photos of our little Halloween party my dear friend. Halloween is very much an American thing really. It has only taken off here in England over the past few years. Now it seems to be getting bigger and bigger each year!

Retired English Teacher - yes, the mist rolling across the fields is just so beautiful. I just had to take a photo, although it doesn't really capture it well enough. Family is so important, isn't it?

Duncan - yes, my daughter (well, both of them really) is so caring towards me, and the little cakes cheered me up no end!!

Melvin - thank you for popping across and leaving a comment. I've been listening to your version of Unchained Melody as I've been checking on my blogs! Lovely.

Chatty - hi there. Yes, as you could see, we do celebrate Halloween over here, but as I said to Orchid, no where near as much as you do over in America. It's only got really big here in the past few years.

Unknown said...

That looks like a wonderful party! I'm so happy that you were able to be surrounded by so much festivity and love. And that your husband lit fireworks...what a great touch!

Rebecca said...

what a lovely family gathering

Southhamsdarling said...

kneesandpaws - yes, it was a lovely evening. Usually in England, we have fireworks on the 5th November, but we wanted to have them when we were all together.

Becca - yes, it was a great evening, and the little ones loved it!