I Love Autumn & Halloween… here’s what we got up to !
Spooky fun at the farm.
We went out for the day, to a nearby farm!
It was brilliant.
There was SO much to do.. we made wands, got sorted into our Hogwarts house, had a spooky trailer ride, explored the spooky maze, picked and decorated pumpkins, pettee guinea pigs & rabbits, looked at loads of other animals and had a bug trailer ride.
With our Nephews π
A great family day out, themed really well and with lots of fun to be had.
A fanily Halloween party for the kiddies.
We had a fun little family Halloween party at my sisters house.s
She set up some fun activities for them, we also had a buffet of party food, spooky tunes and Halloween pass the parcel.
Halloween at ours
Me & Tim always do a few Halloween traditions at home – these include carving a pumpkin (we’ve done one every year that we’ve been together) and I make us ‘Spooky Sausages’ which are meant to look like mummies.
I also like to watch horror films but Tim isn’t too keen on those so thats usually just me haha
Some of my favourites are Scream, Halloween, Hocus Pocus, Nightmare before Christmas and Nightmare on Elm St.
Our local cinema was showing some Halloween classics on Halloween.
Me and my Twin sister Sarah always watch horror films together so we went along and watched the original Scream! I can’t believe its the 25th Anniversay π±
Scream is my favourite ‘Scary Movie’ and it was cool to watch it on the big screen.
So, as I said, I thought I would start up the ‘Holiblog’ series for the Summer… turns out I didn’t do a very good job… because here we are, quite a few days into Autumn and I haven’t posted a Part Two: August…
So here is that part… not because anyone cares but because we did alot of fun stuff in August and it deserves its own part too.
A arts & craft afternoon with my favourite little girly.Yolo with my Rolo
The final Youth Club Farewell π₯
The Youth Club that I went to as a teen and have volunteered at for over ten years is closing. It is really sad and the end of an era! The leaders who used to look after us are now our friends and we had some great times that we will treasure fondly.
Meeting Auntie Frances & BarryTime to packThe best scone I’ve ever had
This was our Summer holiday this year and because of COVID we thought we would keep it local.
We went camping (for the first time!!) Staying at Waveney River Centre in Norfolk. It was nice and relaxing and a bit different. We had some nice meals, played games, went on walks in the sunshine, swam and met up with my Auntie and Cousin.
Me & my twin sister had organised our bestfriends Hen and finally (thanks COVID!!) it happened.
And it was SO much fun! We started with an Escape Room, followed by lunch, an amazing, hilarious, tipsy Cocktail Masterclass, Dinner and more cocktails π₯
I thought I would start up the holiblog series again, for this summer.
Here is how I have spent the later part of July, since the summer holidays began.
It’s been a fun start.
H a pp y β’ H o li da ys β’
Saturday 17th July 2021
Out for a sunny walk, near our flat. We discovered a new part of the park.
Sunday 18th July 2021
Big Kids
π
Moooooo
Fun at Alton Water enjoying the sunshine, mini golf, walking and ice cream.
Monday 19th July 2021
Breakfast with my friend Gemma & her boys.
Tues 20th July 2021
π
Snacks!
The cinema really started to fill up
The boys first visit to our flat in over a year and a half π
Wed 21st July 2021
Summer Reading Challenge
Sharing stories
Reading
π
The start of my Summer Reading Challenge Volunteering. Signing up these guys and meeting for lunch at the bakery.
Hot Dog Party ππ
Sat 25th July 2021
Coffee and a book
Sushi π
A chilled out Saturday. A bit of me time.
Mon 26th July 2021
Walking on the Heath
Lunch π½
Meeting up with Dan, a long walk followed by lunch.
Tues 27th July 2021
Wolves Wood
Walkinga
I made a friend πΈ
A walk in the woods together, followed by Arts & Crafts with Evie and lunch at Sainsburys with Charlotte.Painting at Pennikity Pots with my friend Steph and her boys.
Wed 28th July 2021
Summer Reading challenge week 2
The Waterfront
Dinner at the Bistro with Louise, Kerry & Rach.
Sat 31st July 2021
The boys first sleepover in over a year and a half . Dinner and lots of games.
What have you been up to so far, this summer? βοΈ
So, One week ago me and my twin sister turned 30!! The big 3 – 0 as they call it.
Here is how we celebrated!
Birthday Morning
I started off the day with a lovely breakfast in bed, made by my husband.
Followed by cards & pressies π₯°
At work I was spoiled with lovely birthday banners, balloons, presents, cards (from the childrem too) & an amazing cake!!!
Birthday Afternoon
Once I had finished work I met my twin sister for lunch at this cute little cafe.
As per restrictions, we took advantage of their lovely little courtyard, and the sunshine.
We enjoyed a delicious lunch and opened our presents to each other.
We then picked up our niece from nursery anfld met up with our husbands and my nephews for a nice little walk and a play in the park.
Birthday Evening
We spent the evening having a little afternoon tea garden party at my parents house.
We enjoyed the delicious treats from my birthday hamper, courtesy of my lovely work friends.
It was lovely to enjoy it with my mum, dad, and two sisters. We havn’t done something just us five, probably in years! It was really nice (& all of the food was delicious.
We had a really fun day!
Other celebrations included…
A tattoo!
Not something I ever thought I’d get…. so exciting!!!
Me and my twin sister talked about it last year but I wasn’t 100% sure I wouldn’t chicken out!
We both LOVE Harry Potter so we went for a simple lightening bolt design β‘β‘
I love it.
I also enjoyed a fun games night with my friend to celebrate turning 30 (Very 2020) on Zoom, as well as a nice family BBQ meal and board game session the following weekend.
For the final day of Blogmas I thought I would share some of the Christmas fun we’ve been up to on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day!
Christmas Eve
Me and my sister continued our tradition of meeting up for a burger with our friend.
Obviously being 2020 we had to get it takeaway and outside π·
So we incorporated a walk around the park and it was really nice (except the rain shower!!)
I had the Caffe Nero Mint Hot Choc finally, and it was so delicious and festive too
We also have a tradition of going around our local town to look at the christmad lights.
We keep an eye out in the weeks leading up to Christmas eve and there are a few that are always good too.
There were some brilliant lights on display this year.
Keepin’ it COVID secure by going in our separate cars and we just chatted over a voice call, worked pretty well π€£
Left my Stocking out for Santa, obv!
Christmas Day
Me and Tim started the day with a delicious and festive nutella pastry Christmas tree & a cuppa!
Followed by present opening π
My father in law provided a lovely Christmas lunch for us, we had my brother in law on Zoom, at the dinner table with us… very 2020!
We enjoyed a bit of a relax and a TV break before another family Zoom with a game of birds names.
We had the standard Christmas day buffet in the eve with the other half of our bubble, my twin sister, brother in law and nephews.
We had fun opening presents, had a bit of a dance and enjoyed some yummy food.
It’s been a strange one in the sense that we are all (hopefully) being more cautious than usual this year, but it has been fun to be able to keep some traditions alive and to get together, where possible, to celebrate
I really hope that you’ve all enjoyed your day π π»
Tier Four tomorrow! But we still have Boxing day Skype fun planned with a Christmas themed family quiz.
Stay safe and thankyou so much for joining me again for another fun, festive and unforgettable Blogmas.
So, I do try and make my Christmas cards every year and I have done for over 10 years now (Sayyyyy whatt, madnesss)
This year, with all the craziness I almost didn’t… but then I thought, let’s just scale it back a little, keep them simple and I just do it for my fambizzle.
So thats what I did… if you are family and are reading this, maybe don’t or your card might be on here π€£π€£
I still had loads of festive paper left over so I used that as the main design as they are pretty ones.
My calligraphy leaves much to be desired but, be won’t worry about that.
I really liked the simple effect of using the gift tags as part of the design.
I actually really enjoyed making these again. I have utilised Moonapig this year, in order to send cards all over the place, so it was actually really nice to be making them again!
Prehaps I’ll get ahead for next year whilst I’m enjoying it and have more time. It’s nice to do things when you have the time to enjoy it and it doesn’t become a chore.
Right, I’m off to organise our round for the Festive Boxing Day Quiz (2020 stylyyyy obv)
Today has been both festive, productive and fun.. my kind of weekend in the run up to Christmas.
Me & hubby had a little lazy start, followed by a yummy breakfast because there is no better way to start a weekend.
After that I went Christmas shopping with my sister, which was fun!
And we well and truely shopped until we dropped.
But, I managed to get the everything that I needed!! Which is awesome.. I mean, I nearly lost an arm under the weight of my bags, but its all good because the Christmas shopping is done!
When I got home from town I had a nice, relaxing, festive bath.
Gotta love a Lush Festive Bath product.
This one smells so good and is a reusable bubble bar! ‘Elfie Stick’
It was so nice to chill after a fun but hectic time in town.
Feeling refreshed, I have now spent the evening sorting out what I bought, wrapping some more presents.
Super festive!
I’m now about to start decorating our second tree… because I decided one was enough and so I grabbed another one today, in town.
One of the best parts of Christmas is putting up your tree, so here’s ours!
I love putting up the tree, christmas jumpers on, christmas tunes blaring out… perfect!
From Disneyland Paris ’19So pretty β€πFrom Universal Studios, Florida ’18Our 2020 decoration from Mum Bought at Winter Wonderland in Hyde Park ’19Our tree topper β
I love the traditional red, gold and green of our decorations.
As I have said many times, Autumn/Winter are my favourite seasons!
I know its chilly but hey, its England, we were made for this weather.
Plus, it’s so pretty π
Theres nothing like a crisp autumn walk, frosty, leaves crunching under foot, trees fire bright against a pale sky, wrapped up in cosy jumpers, a hot beverage in hand.
Now tell me that isn’t a delight!?!
Here are some of the ways I’ve been enjoying the Autumn so far!
β’ P U M P K I N β’ P I C K I N G β’
Me, my sister and my nephews had a great time pumpkin picking, at a local patch π
We went early Oct to get the most out of our Pumpkins.
I’ve used them to dot around the lounge to create a cosy, autumn vibe. Some will of course be carved on Halloween.
β’ A U T U M N β’ W A L K S β’
I definitely have a new appreciation for walks since the lockdowns and the pandemic in general.
Theres alot of enjoyment to be had in the fresh air, amongst the trees and pretty plants. I loved our sunny summer walks but in Autumn it’s an even more beautiful experience.
β’ C O S Y β’ R E A D S β’
…because I could read anywhere… but, theres nothing better than in my little reading corner, in autumn and winter, because it just feels even more cosy.
β’ H A L L O W E E N β’ F U N β’
I am a big horror film fan so I enjoy the spookiness of Halloween.
Lockdown no 2 was announced this Halloween (Horror!) So I wanted to make it even more fun, because if you can’t enjoy the little things, (even when stuck at home) during a global pandemic, when can you!?
Over the weekend I ended up watching eight different horror films!
β’Nightmare on Elm St (New) β’Friday the 13th β’ Psycho (New) β’Anabelle β’ Freddy Vs Jason β’Nightmare Before Christmas β’IT (The Original) β’Hocus Pocus
We like to carve a pumpkin each year, because its just some harmless seasonal fun, and since I had a few from our picking spree, I carved a few.
As well as the films and pumpkin carving, we also listened to some Halloween tuness (until the X-Files theme freaked me out π€£π±) we had Spooky, mummy sausages and jacket potatoes for dinner (because why should kids have all the fun) and Halloween Hot chocolates to round off the evening.
And a spot of Halloween Animal Crossing!
It was really good fun and it made us forget about the pandemic a bit, a fun weekend/evening spent together.
β’ P U M P K I N β’ C A R V I N G β’
Because you have to do one of these every year! Come on now.
‘Parry’ By me & Tim My slight fail, HP lightening scar and glasses attemptThis was really flippin’ hard π€£ Yes, I’m that cool.
… and yes I am indeed wearing a Bat onesie in this picture, my traditional Halloween costume/pumpkin carving outfit! π¦
Don’t hate me cause you ain’t me!
β’ A U T U M N β’ N A T U R E β’
β’ H U N T β’
As a fun little pre lockdown 2.0 activity with my nephews, we went on a Nature Hunt.
They love running about in the park and exploring and they enjoyed it even more than I thought they would (so did I!!)
β’ B A K I N G β’
I spent another lovely pre lockdown day with my niece π
What’s more cosy (and delicious) than baking!?!
We had a lovely time together β‘
Gotta love a Unicorn Cupcake π¦π§
& finally…
β’ B O N F I R E β’ N I G H T β’
Again, due to Lockdown (thanks Rona!) we won’t be seeing people for a bit, but its timing did coincide with Bonfire Night and so we resurrected a Byford tradition, and got together to celebrate.
Outside, wrapped up, enjoying other peoples fireworks, sparklers, s’mores, soup, jackets, bangers, log burners and catching up!
A great evening! We missed this tradition last year as there was alot going on, so it was great to do it again.
It’s been a little while (probably the Summer hols) since I’ve done a little ‘life’ update and I love capturing memories on here. I think I forget to use my blog this way sometimes when I get carried away sharing about my hobbies.
Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this post as much as I enjoyed writing it!
Roseanne Byford 