'Happiness can be found in the darkest of places if one remembers to turn on the light'
Author: Roseanne's Blog
I'm Roseanne :) 33. Married to Tim 💗 I'm a Harry Potter fanatic ⚡ and a Bookworm 📚 I started this blog to document our wedding planning and its grown from there!
It’s that time of year guys, December has arrived and with it another month of festive blog posts – BLOGMAS 2024 IS HERE!!
For those of you who haven’t heard of ‘Blogmas’ before, its basically a blog post a day, every day, leading up to Christmas day. An advent of blog posts if you will. Very fun.
This is my 9th year of taking part in Blogmas and I am very much looking forward to sharing some of my festive plans with you, as well as some fun gift ideas, recipes and of course BOOKS.
So, if like me you love Christmas and all things Christmassy then stick around 🙂
24 days until Christmas – Let the countdown begin.
October is here and that can mean only one thing!!
Halloween 🎃
I love a bit of Halloween, mainly because bats are my favourite animals, and it’s their time to shine, but also because I love a good horror film and I just love the spooky, autumn aesthetic.
Each year, I make a little Halloween hamper of sorts for my Nephews and Niece, and since the whole ‘Boo basket’ trend is going around, I thought I’d do my kids’ take on one…
Here they are!
Ideas for fun things to include…
Firm favourites with kids at the moment… slime! And fidget poppers. Both of these are only a few pounds in Tesco.
A cute little Halloween themed teddy. One of my nephews loves spiders, so I’m sure he will love that. Then I got the cute little pumpkin for my nievlce and the cute little frankie for my other nephew.
Some fun little cups which I’m sure they’ll get lots of use out of!
I also like to get them something to do or something crafty. These little ‘Paint your own wooden characters’ Halloween themed, of course, are from Asda for 2 (each pack has 2 characters inside!)
And finally…
Some edible goodies!
What’s Halloween without a sugar overload 😅🤣
I picked up the good old classic Freddos from Tesco in a multipack, and the Halloween chocolate lollies are from Aldi.
Fingers crossed, they will enjoy these! Hopefully, this has given you some inspiration if you fancy putting one together, too.
I thought I would share my favourite book from each month so far this year. There have been so many good ones. And who knows, you might even find some inspiration in my list!
Here goes…
January
Title: The Land of Stories: Worlds Collide
Author: Chris Colfer
Genre: Fantasy (Children’s)
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
February
Title: Remarkably Bright Creatures
Author: Shelby Van Pelt
Genre: Mystery
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
March
Title: Noone Saw A Thing
Author: Andrea Mara
Genre: Thriller
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
April
Title: Glutton
Author: Ed Gamble
Genre: Memoir
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
May
Title: Tattooist of Auschwitz
Author: Heather Morris
Genre: Historical Fiction
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
&
Title: The Inmate
Author: Freida McFadden
Genre: Thriller
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
June
Title: The Housemaid Series1.
1. The Housemaid
2. The Housemaid’s secret
3. The Housemaid is watching
Author: Freida McFadden
Genre: Thriller
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
July
Title: The Dead Zone
Author: Stephen King
Genre: Science Fiction Thriller
Rating:⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
&
Title: The Twins of Auschwitz
Author: Eva Mozes Kor
Genre: Historical, Autobiographical
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
August
Title: The Wilds
Author: Sarah Pearse
Genre: Mystery/Thriller
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
&
Title: The Perfect Son
Author: Freida McFadden
Genre: Thriller
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
September
Title: Behind Closed Doorz
Author: B A Paris
Genre: Thriller
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️
What’s been the best book that you’ve read so far this year?
Lots of fun cinema trips! A Quiet Place Day One was a highlight for sure!
We celebrated my husbands 33rd birthday!
We had some birthday treats including listening to Rome Historian Mary Beard and A trip to the theatre to watch ‘Come from away’ both of which were brilliant.
We celebrated my nieces 7th birthday! 🎈🎀💜
Lots of book buying this month, which is also a highlight. My reading in general has also been great, and I managed to read 7 again this month!! (I’m sure that won’t last into the busy last part of the year 🤣)
So at the beginning of June, we spent a weekend celebrating our anniversary! (See previous post) we decided to do something a bit different this year. We usually opt for a night’s stay somewhere, but instead, we planned a ‘touristy’ day out in one of our favourite cities, London.
Here’s what we got up to!
First up – The Tower of London
Next up – A boat on the Thames
Third stop – The London Eye
Next up – Some Sightseeing
Next up – Dinner
Our final stop – A Comedy Club
We had a lovely time! It was quite fun doing lots of touristy things that we hadn’t done before! These are some of the things I’ve wanted to do for ages but never got around to seeing.
These days out in London are great if you can grab a ‘London Day Out’ train ticket too! Much more affordable (only £20 each, bargain!)
Me, my twin sister and her family, my husband, and a couple of our friends went to the Harry Potter Warner Bros Studio Tour in Watford. This place is BRILLIANT, a must for any Harry Potter fans, I love visiting there. They had the ‘Return to Azkaban’ event on celebrating 20 years of the 3rd film – it was an awesome day out, and great to see some new parts of the tour.We celebrated our 8th wedding anniversary on the 11th of June. Tim bought me some beautiful flowers, and we went out for a lovely meal at one of our favourite Italian restaurants. To celebrate our 8th Wedding Anniversary me and my husband spent a touristy day out together in London. We started off the day at the Tower of London, we then had a boat rode on the Thames, followed by the London Eye, sightseeing, and a comedy show in the evening. It was a brilliant and super fun day out. For Fathers Day, we went to Felixstowe for a day in the sunshine. We had a nice walk along the prom and a go on the ferris wheel with Dad.We enjoyed dinner at ours, a nice sunset walk and games with my mother in law.We celebrated my Dad’s 70th birthday with a family meal, with the cake I made for dessert… followed by a day on the Mid Norfolk railway 🛤
In August 2015, we started planning our wedding, and that is when I began ‘Roseanne’s blog’ to document our wedding planning & the big day!
So, heres a little look at our wonderful day 🥹
Some of my favourite things about our wedding day that we planned were:
•The venue – it was a converted barn that was beautiful, and we both fell in love with it the first time we visited. We just got this feeling that this was the place ♡ I loved the incorporation of all the old features of the barn in the venue, as well as the two separate rooms for the ceremony and reception. It was just perfect.
•The Colour scheme. My two favourite colours and I just love how they look together in all aspects from the flowers, centrepieces and decorations.
•The people involved in our day. It was so lovely spending the day with so many loved ones. We really enjoyed having some of our favourite people for both the bride & groom parties, that we chose together, as well as those doing the readings, photos/videos (which were family & friends) It all added to the day and made it so special.
•Our geeky touches that made the wedding ‘us’ from a Middle Earth wedding breakfast to Harry Potter wedding programs and a Honeydukes sweet shop at the Reception. I just loved adding all these little personal details to our day.
•Our Italian inspired food (Pizza & antipast!!) including our cake with authentic Italian decorations from Venice 😍
I recently celebrated my 33rd birthday! 😱 Time flies aye.
In this blog post, I thought I would show you which books I was very kindly given. I didn’t ask for any of these, and I love seeing which ones people pick out for me.
There’s a nice mixture of genres here and I can’t wait to get stuck into them.
Is there a better present than a book someone has chosen for you because they think you’ll like it!!
Let’s take a look…
‘There are three rules Brooke Sullivan must follow as a new nurse practitioner at a men’s maximum-security prison: 1) Treat all prisoners with respect. 2) Never reveal any personal information. 3) Never EVER become too friendly with the inmates. But none of the staff at the prison knows Brooke has already broken the rules. Nobody knows about her intimate connection to Shane Nelson, one of the penitentiary’s most notorious and dangerous inmates. And they certainly don’t know that Shane was Brooke’s high school sweetheart–the star quarterback who is now spending the rest of his life in prison for a series of grisly murders. Or that Brooke’s testimony was what put him there. But Shane knows. And he will never forget.’‘Lexie Dunbar is a book lover. And her favourite place in the world is her local bookstore, Book Ends. So when she hears that it’s going to be sold, Lexie decides she needs to do something to help. Lexie’s plan to save the ailing shop is fully underway until gorgeous-but-grouchy artist Tobias Black arrives on the scene determined to turn the bookstore into an art gallery. Lexie is horrified, the last thing the quaint town of Bracken Way needs is a pretentious artist, even if he does seem to charm everyone but her. Tensions continue to rise until Tobias discovers a shocking secret that shows they might have more in common than they realise. As sparks fly, can Lexie and Tobias work together, or will opposing ideas get in the way of them finding their very own happy ever after…’‘Lynda Blackthorn is still reeling from the tragic car crash that killed her family more than a year ago. Throwing herself into her volunteer charity work, she is trying to piece her life back together. When she’s asked to be the face of the charity’s annual fundraiser, an appeal for volunteers on the local news brings old friend Sarah to her door – and the events of fourteen years ago crashing down around her. As the two women reconnect, Lynda invites Sarah to stay in her guest bedroom. But soon strange things start happening and Lynda learns it might have been better to keep the door to the past firmly closed . . .’‘It is 1942 and, with the country still at war, the girls who work for Joe Lyons are praying for their loved ones to return home safely. Happily married Rose is busy with staffing problems at the teashop, many women having taken on war work. Rose dreams of her husband’s return while trying to keep everyone happy. Lily has her own worries when the father of her daughter appears back in her life – with no explanation. Katie longs for a family of her own, just as a handsome airman arrives on the scene. At Sea View Guest House, Flora – wary of a relationship and marriage – is fearful of letting her feelings for John Bentley develop further. Especially as she has her guests to be mindful of . . . Anya is torn, having given birth to a beautiful baby boy who is the spitting image of his father, who has been taken as a prisoner of war. Presented with a chance to save him, Anya confides in her friends, leaving her son in their care. With the uncertainty of the future, can the Teashop girls overcome their personal battles?’
I was also very lucky to get some other ‘bookish’ birthday gifts in the form of some book vouchers! (YAY! New books) as well as this lovely book themed throw from my mother in law (already tucked up safely in my reading corner) and this cute personalised tote bag from my friend at work (perfect for fitting in lots of books during my next shopping spree!!)
Roseanne Byford 