Where did October go?

I can't believe it's November already. October was just a blur! We had half term of course which means more days out with Amelie. We went to the zoo one day and I took lots of photographs to inspire my art diary pages.

I know these may look like mad cartoon characters but I promise you the Bald Headed Ibis were bizarre.

There were Guinea Fowl running free and we couldn't resist collecting a few of their gorgeous feathers from the ground.

Comical looking creatures - all feet, squawks and attitude!

When my girls were young we didn't acknowledge Halloween but the American influence has changed all that so the end of the week saw suitable preparations being made. There were cherry muffins with erratic green frosting and carved pumpkins lighting up the driveway. Scary black and orange bunting decorated the hall and black paper spiders dangled from the doorways. Sadly Amelie came down with chickenpox that night so visitors are currently being discouraged. Never mind - we had fun!

Back to what passes for normal life, one of our DMTV members was kind enough to send me a number of photos from her diary pages. Barbara's loving the autumn colours we've all been enjoying over the last few weeks and her artwork, stitching and knitting are all reflecting their warmth.

I love Barbara's trees, birds and combination of techniques in this image!

I also heard from Jennifer again - she tells me she's onto her second sketchbook already. The first is full and so stuffed with work it won't close!

It's great to see the drawings are inspiring stitched work too!

Now that the evenings are drawing in the weeks seem to be flying by so what will November bring? We've got a bonfire party and fireworks to look forward to next weekend. We're hoping Amelie's spots will have disappeared by then otherwise we may have to pretend they're part of a fancy dress costume!

Talk to you again soon - Linda x