If this is Tuesday, it must be England #192

 

Vic and I both have our top three for our upcoming trip to London.  Vic's list is the Elizabeth Tower (aka Big Ben), Buckingham Palace, and as many afternoon teas as we can fit in!  Mine is the Tower of London, Westminster Abbey, and SHOPPING!

I am looking forward to exploring as many of the department store Christmas shops as we can.  I'm sure it will be lots of oohing and aahing and lots of photo snapping and one or two (or three or four) ornaments will no doubt make their way back across the pond.

These are on my list.

Fortnum and Mason

Harrods

Liberty

John Lewis

Buckingham Palace's Pop-up Christmas Shop

Selfridges has announced a festive collaboration with Disney.

I've linked all the Christmas shops in case you'd like to have a look or do a little online shopping!

Life Last Week (22-28 September 2025)

Only two days left in September...the month just flew by.

The weather for the week ahead:::

Lots of lovely rain in the forecast this week.  It means muddy paws but that's ok, I'll take that for the sound of the rain.  Luckily, I only have one appointment outside the house this week.

On my reading pile:::

 Finished The Last Dress from Paris by Jade Beer from my bookshelves, so it's just The Venetian Daughter by Ella Carey on my Kindle. 

On my TV:::

No change in the usual weekly viewing - Still loving The Hardacres (yay, renewed for a second season!) on BritBox, the Great British Baking Show on Netflix, and the Great Canadian Baking Show on Roku.

More Fall into Love offerings on Hallmark+ - each one we watch makes me long for New England.

And we switched from Hallmark to a few that Vic picked out, both great viewing!

We also watched Episode 9 of Blood of my Blood, the prequel to Outlander.  It's the finale this Friday but I was glad to see there will be a second season.

Checked off the list:::

• Lots of London booking going on:
•  Hotel ✓
• Pantomime ✓
• Train Tickets to visit my cousin ✓
• Historic Royal Palaces Membership ✓
• Transportation from Heathrow to our hotel ✓
• Tour of Houses of Parliament and Westminster Abbey ✓ (most touring we can do on our own, but I really wanted a guide for this one)
• Tuned in every morning last week for the daily 24-hour sale of past December Daily items and didn't buy a thing!
• Participated off and on in the virtual crop on Saturday.
• Did go slightly mad buying holiday acrylic pieces when they were released on Thursday at Color Cast Designs.  I couldn't resist.

Crafts roundup:::

Keeping current on my memory planning.  December Daily 2021 layouts are complete, still need a few embellishments but pivoted to work on our American Girls Club album during the virtual crop.

 

And in other news:::

Week Five sees us into the master bathroom and linen closets for Master Bathroom Week.  We'll clean and organize personal care and linen storage areas and continue working on seasonal clothing plans.

Holiday prep continues to move forward on to-make and to-buy gifts and includes a wardrobe check for kids. 

I'll leave the links up here if you're interested.

Holiday Grand Planners - Get Organized Community | Facebook 

Organized Christmas? Try a Holiday Plan | Organized Home

Vic and I had a lovely Sunday brunch after church.  The weather was glorious, and we were seated on the deck overlooking the marina.

Vic selected the Corned Beef Hash while I had Biscuits and Gravy - both delicious!

What a view and there were sea lions at the end of the pier above, just relaxing in the sun.

The best latte!

Friday Favorites - September 26, 2025

 

A few favorites from my camera roll as I was out and about this week.

Hobby Lobby - now is the time to stock up on all things Christmas, and believe me, they've got it all!

Who doesn't love a great sale!

I love these little signs that you can tuck here and there.

Any Grinch fans?

I can see this on our Christmas tree - I think I might actually have a Hallmark Uno ornament.

These two, not so much, especially at $15.99 each.  Anyone else notice the price of ornaments has gone through the roof?

For the Peanuts fan in your life at Target.

World Market - I love Ritter SPORT chocolates.  Their Advent calendar section is getting larger.

This is something new - I've purchased the plain cases before, but these chocolate ones will be yummy served with a chocolate mousse filling.  I'm on the hunt for tiny desserts for my tea in November.

These would make a fun stocking stuffer, again World Market.

Does anyone buy food at Home Goods?  They have such a great gourmet section, perfect for international themed meals or parties.

It's called a Belly Mug but to me it's a Mason Mule Mug!

Have a great weekend, everyone!

Around the 'Net

I love a seasonal this and that.

Wednesday Hodgepodge - Volume 621

 Welcome to the Wednesday Hodgepodge!  Here are this week's questions, which you should answer on your own blog and then pop over to Joyce's blog (click on the graphic for the link) Wednesday to add your link to the party.

1. Fall officially rolls into the Northern Hemisphere on Monday (9/22)...what's your favorite thing about fall? 

Anything to do with pumpkins.  Pumpkin patches, Pumpkin Spice Lattes, pumpkin bread, pumpkin decorations, pumpkin candles...all things pumpkin.

2. What's one thing on your real or proverbial autumn bucket list?

I want to go to a pumpkin patch.  I don't think I've been since Sophia was little. 

3. Apples, pumpkins, sweet potatoes, butternut squash and cranberries are some of the top fall foods. Which one is your favorite and how do you like it prepared? Any on the list you don't eat? Which one have you had most recently?

Apples or pumpkins in a pie.  I'm not really bothered about sweet potatoes or butternut squash and we still eat Ocean Spray Jellied Cranberry Sauce in this house.

4. 'Fall is proof that change is beautiful' is a popular sentiment. Would you agree or no? Elaborate.

Yes, I agree and you only have to look at the way the leaves on the trees change to see how beautiful fall really is.

5. Is there a spot near you where people go to see the leaves change color? Will you try to leaf peep somewhere this fall? Lonely Planet lists the following ten places as the best for leaf peeping...of those listed which would you most like to visit? 

Stowe, Vermont~Shenandoah National Park, Virginia~Columbia River Gorge, Oregon~Zion National Park, Utah~Tennessee/North Carolina border~West Virgina~Northwestern Wyoming~Wisconsin Northwoods~Northern Nevada~Ozark Highlands Scenic Byway, Arkansas

We live in the Evergreen State and so we have a lot of trees here that are green year-round.  I don't know if we'll be doing any leaf peeping this year or not.  I haven't visited any of the places on the list above; the closest to a leaf peeping spot was when we visited Maine, where I snapped this photo.  It was in October 2009, and we went to the University of Southern Maine in Gorham, ME for Sophia to participate in a 4-H contest.

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

I know many of us are reading food labels a lot more carefully these days and I found Whole Foods' current awareness campaign interesting.

If this is Tuesday, it must be England #191

 

Happy 79th Birthday on September 25 to one of my favorite British actresses, Felicity Kendal, CBE.  This is a repost of a blog post from 2023 because I have a couple of new readers who have expressed interest in some of the TV shows, especially British ones, that I've mentioned recently.

The 1975 television series, The Good Life, is one of her best-known works.  It's the hilarious tale of a suburban couple, Tom and Barbara Good, who give up the rat race in favor of self-sufficiency, much to the chagrin of their snooty but lovable next-door neighbors, Margo and Jerry Leadbetter.

Felicity Kendal, Richard Briers, Penelope Keith, and Paul Eddington as Barbara and Tom Good, and Margo and Jerry Leadbetter.

A more recent work, Rosemary and Thyme, is another favorite - Pam Ferris as Laura Thyme and Felicity Kendal as Rosemary Boxer are a sleuthing gardening team.

Rosemary and Thyme is available on DVD as is The Good Life although it is a little harder to find.   Rosemary and Thyme is also available on some streaming services.  I highly recommend both.