my favourite season

When I leave the house in the morning the air is crisp and the sky full of light wind which makes me dizzy. I put the heating on in the car. The heating is on in the morning in the house too, just to take the edge off when you slip out of bed.

Leaves are slowly starting to turn yellow, red and brown. Flocks of birds are migrating in the sky. In the evening time is suspended while the sun sets, as Baby and I watch from the comfort of our warm and cosy home.
Pubs and restaurants have already started advertising their Christmas menus, and over on the Posie Gets Cozy website, ornament kits are being assembled. Autumn is here, and I couldn't be happier!
Over here, not much is new. I promised a post this weekend, and...well...I nearly managed! This evening I have to charm the man of the house into giving me a few free minutes to pen these words. Nothing new, as I said. Time still escapes me like when you pick up a fistful of sand at the beach and it all disappears through your fingers. Still, I am working hard on trying to complete my next baby playmat and have tried to do a few stitches every night week.

Today's wish list

I wish time would stop for a few days and I could catch up with sooooo many things that needs my attention.
I wish I had more time to do silly sweet little nothings. Things I said I would do but haven't got round to doing yet...grrrr!
I have wished for two minutes to write this post for so many days, it's actually laughable. And yet I have to go, keep going.

This weekend, I promise, I will make time to come back here properly. Till then, ciao, the storm that has become my life shows no respite, and I must attend to it. Luckily, I got a nice bunch of autumn-coloured flowers to appease the eye when I get home in the afternoon!

time flies

Time flies at great speed at the moment. Juggling baby, home and work at the same time is quite a challenge! But then I always knew it was going to be this way.
In the midst of this very busy start of term (and a new chapter in our lives) it's sometimes hard to stay focused on creative projects started a while ago. Last night I finally started quilting my new baby quilt, and what a mammoth job this is going to be with our new schedule...but I have faith, and if all goes well and I manage to discipline myself enough over the next few days, it should be done quickly.
I figure, if I don't stick to a good regime now, I never will, so- onwards and upwards. At least Baby is sleeping well, so we get to have our rest at night (I'm so happy she loves her sleep as much as we both do!)

So, school started again two weeks ago, and as you can tell my my absence here, it's been uber busy. Somehow, though, I found time to make a couple of pick-me-ups. well, a girl's got to have her happy treats, right? And Mr Lavender is not one to complain about having cakes to eat, so I made my autumnal blackberry cheesecake and my regular go-to chocolate cake. Good stuff!

comfort food

Even though it is still summer, even though we don't need any more calories...we can't help it! Recently we took the plunge and had our first "date" since Baby was born five months ago. To mark the occasion, we treated ourselves to a posh tapas meal in Fino, which turned out to be a-ma-zing. The arroz negro was to die for, as were the croquetas  with girolles. It was a fine evening, and even if it was really hard to tear ourselves away from Baby at first, having a good chat with Mr Lavender like in the good old days had a rejuvenating effect on us. We made a full evening of it and went on to see a show - with a twist. The Drowned Man is totally immersive, Lynch-like, dreamy and a bit freaky at times. Not for everyone, but we liked it. Well, I liked it but did not understand it - the husband loved it, it ticked all the boxes for him.
So now here we are, close to being back to the old routine. Work is only days away from starting again, and with it the irrepressible sense that it might be a mistake to go back. Hence, more comfort food.
Yesterday my husband made a truly lovely paella (reviewed here) from the Moro cookbook. Now that's comfort.
Earlier in the week I made more spanakopita, but this time instead of one big one, I made two individual ones. They were even nicer that way, I think. And no, I am not going to mention those muffins!

things I love this month...

♥ healthy bowls of food - hers and mine!

♥ the generosity of some of the people living in my neighbourhood - found a box full of aromatic herb bunches, all readily tied up and neatly placed in said box on the pavement with the words "help yourself" scribbled on. I did.

♥ the return of the Great British Bake Off every Tuesday night. This week's breadsticks challenge was really inspiring and made me want to try to bake some. Mr Lavender said no, "bake some proper food!" Spoken like a true man, hey?