My month in pictures + A chilly November

Well it's almost the end of November. There's a chill in the air, the fires are burning and hot milky drinks have been keeping my cockles toasty. The autumn was lovely wasn't it? I think the reason I haven't started bombarding you with rustic Christmas delights yet is because I'm not quite ready to let the autumn go - but my inner child is screaming at me to put up decorations and watch Christmas films. How lucky we are, to be warm and loved ... and have such things to look forward too.  So before we begin the countdown into cosy winter madness, here's a look back over November ...

Ghost stories by candlelight was posted on Halloween, and it was so much fun. We told stories around the fire and scared ourselves silly! Especially when hubby kept making us all jump when it was reaching climax.  I thought I'd feature it here because it would make great family fun around the tree at Xmas! though perhaps after Santa has been??

We had some lovely walks this month ... every landscape looks like a painting in autumn. Later in the month hubby and I had a weekend away in Amsterdam. It was cold and drizzly, but the Van Gogh museum and the flower market made up for the weather ... and I had the best hot chocolate of my life in the Margarida cafe. I recently discovered a great website dedicated to various artists and their works called Artsy.net. They also have a Vincent Van Gogh page.

In early November, my rustic garden table became my indoor rustic table. It's was just too lovely to leave outside so we gave it a good steam clean and brought into the warm. If you'd like a table like this for your own house of garden, they're easily sourced. Have a read of my rustic garden furniture post. Our house feels like 'Moles house' now :-)

Head over to A brambly hedge haven to see some of these beautiful murals, they were created by my friend Penny Perrett. She made these for a granddaughters bedroom. Aren't they wonderful? 

I really enjoyed sharing 'Otter Cottage' in my new 'A Handmade Holiday' feature. I've been meaning to share some of the lovely cottages we've discovered with you for some time, and there's plenty more on the way if you fancy a country cottage week away in the wilderness.

Rag rugs for beginners - Making rag rugs is the easiest of crafts - it was handed down to us by our great grandmothers and is the perfect project for sitting in front of the fire this winter.  I was lucky enough to take part in a workshop with the jedi master of rag rugging - Jenni Stuart-Anderson and she was happy for me to share all her tips with you!

Time to get thrifty! Here are some of this months thrifty finds ... and some tips on how to use them.

This month I filmed a new video, on pressing flowers and autumn leaves. Some of these ideas would make BEAUTIFUL Christmas gifts, and they're all super easy to make! 

I hope you all had a lovely November. Try not to get too bogged down and stressed in the lead up to Christmas. If you do find yourself worrying over money, the cooking or if you're dreading the influx of in-laws, then have a read of How to have a stress free Christmas, it might just get you out of a pickle.

JM x