Achievement

Ah. It’s Friday. We’ve woken up to blue skies and a heavy frost. It feels like autumn.

When I was musing my word to sum up this week, it felt like a tantalising, word puzzle. Imagine. I give you five phrases (my list of what I’ve been up to) and tell you that they each have one word in common. I don’t know about you, but I can’t resist puzzles like that.

Sometimes the answer jumps straight out. Other times, I resort to an online Thesaurus, because, let’s face it, I know I’m a signed up geek when it comes to finding the answer to a puzzle. Logic, maths, word. I really don’t mind. They are like candy to me.

After puzzling for a while, I’ll come up with one word that fits four of them perfectly, but is a bit of a stretch to include the last one. Like this week. I’m going to make them fit.

….Baby, it’s cold outside

First up, I finished knitting my jumper. I’m not entirely happy with it. I love the colour and it is a toasty jumper to wear. The top of it worked out well, but I’m not enamoured by how the bottom half looks when I wear it. A tad shapeless, to be honest. I have worn it successfully with my Cleo dungaree dress, which hides the offending area. Also not bad with a straight skirt. This will probably be how I wear it. I might experiment by adding thread elastic or adding some length, or just undo the whole jumper and start again. Still undecided.

For the moment, I can wear it. I need to concentrate on making a few Christmas presents, so it has a stay of execution, so to speak.

….I put a spell on you

More successful was Halloween night. The house was decorated and we had a great time. Apple bobbing, floating candles and pumpkin carving. We watched Beetlejuice and ate shrunken head stew. A good evening all round.

Not to let the pumpkins go to waste, I made pumpkin soup, where seconds were requested. Always a good sign. Also baked a pumpkin pie which was a success too. The three carved pumpkins will sit out on my salad bed to rot down in view. Enriching the soil for next year’s crop. We do this each year. When the children were younger, it acted as a science experiment. Now, it’s just tradition.

….roasting chestnuts on an open fire

Another success was chestnut gathering in my parent’s garden. This year the tree has provided a healthy harvest of nuts. Out of the back door, I could see the four of them as I chatted to my mother. It was lovely to see the children happily helping their grandfather to collect the chestnuts. Memories were being made.

They brought in a tray of chestnuts to cook in the wood burner. Their grandfather demonstrated how to put small cuts in and it didn’t take long for the three children to prepare enough for the first batch of roasting. They transferred the nuts on to the chestnut skillet and then onto the fire. I remember doing this as a teenager in the very same spot. The unmistakable scent which tells you the chestnuts are ready to eat.

….puppet on a string

While we were there, I was reunited with my missing puppet. I have five string puppets which I saved up my pocket money to buy when I was younger than my three are now.

From the start, I looked after them. It took weeks and weeks to save up enough pocket money and earn extra money to afford to buy one, so I really knew their value to me. I loved to play with them, but I always stored them away carefully. Twisting and wrapping their strings to prevent them tangling. Somehow one puppet became separated from the others. Anyway, my mother had found it and I remembered to pick it up this visit.

It is good to see her again.

Last but not least, my husband received his 50 Parkrun tshirt. I’m so proud of him. He only started running to keep eldest Teen company while she was working towards her bronze Duke of Edinburgh award. He kept going. Running during the week, before he goes to work.

We’ve been on half term this week and the break from routine has been the tonic that we needed. I’ll be nagging about homework today and checking uniforms.  Managed to find a coat for youngest that we both like, which feels like the single most successful achievement this week.

I’m joining in with Anne’s Word of the week linkup, with my word Achievement. 80% fit, so I’m going for it. 😀