Halloween today. Wooooooooo-ooooooo! My kids go crackers for it – it rivals Christmas in this house, much to the adult faction’s bemusement. Rich and I cannot understand all the fuss, being Gen X-ers – the most effort we made in the eighties was turn a bin bag into witch’s cloak. (By cutting a hole in it and sticking our head through, not by using magic.) Rich was a decade earlier and I don’t think trick or treating had even been invented then. He still talks wistfully of apple bobbing and life before motorways. Anyway, we try to join in the enthusiasms; Rich turns the gateway at the bottom of our drive into an all-singing all-dancing ghoulish affair complete with swathes of mist (his faithful special effects smoke machine, God bless that smoke machine!) and green lights and then he hides behind one of the pillars in the dark and scares the absolute bejeezus out of anyone reaching in to take sweets. Last year he made a child cry. This year I fear the main issue might be electrocution, because it’s predicted heavy rain and he has to run the lights and smoke machine through about seventeen thousand power cord extensions to reach the bottom of the driveway. Rubber soles at the ready! That would be a suitably horrific display, wouldn’t it? Right beneath a power line, too…Onwards to the favourites! What a jolly, uplifting book this was. It’s my book of the month and one of my favourites of the year, I think. I have to say that when I read the blurb, I thought I am actually going to yak, because it sounded so saccharine yet also mundane all at the same time. Two people, both divorced, meeting on a coast-to-coast walking trip and gradually falling for each other? I’m sorry but no. I needed some kind of spanner thrown into the works to make this exciting for me – perhaps an extreme pot-holing misadventure, or a twist where the woman turns out to be an absolute psycho and ends up stalking the bloke across the fells, armed with a Swiss Army Knife and one of those massive Stanley cups. As it happened it was just fine as it was, with the simple storyline and well-worn “will they won’t they” trajectory with a bit of tension thrown in at the end for good measure. It almost followed a formula, but do you know what? It was so well written with such excellent dialogue (you’d call it banter, I suppose, because it was so engaging and funny) that I couldn’t put it down. It wasn’t even as though I was rooting for the characters, particularly, I was just enjoying the ride (walk) so very much. Helps that I love walking (or “hiking” as people have restyled it) and that I was thrilled to be transported to Cumbria, which is where my Mum and her six sisters and brother were born. In fact my Auntie Glo still lives in St Bees, where the walk in the book starts from! Greatly enjoyable, highly recommend if you fancy something a) funny b) cosy and c) ultimately optimistic. God knows we need a bit of optimism and light relief. David Nicholls, You Are Here: Amazon (ad-affiliate link)The lovely founder of small, independent brand Soap Poetry got in touch with me to see whether I’d like to see some of her incredible literature-inspired soaps. Would I? They’re utterly delectable. Smell as good as you’d expect (you could use them as room scents, they’re so potent, just leave them out on the table!) and the book-style wrappers are completely inspired. They just have GIFT GIFT GIFT written all over them. (I mean, they don’t, that would be weird, but you know what I’m saying.) These will be in my annual books ‘n chocs round-up. I know that they’re not chocolates, but we can branch out, can’t we? It would honestly feel rude not to when these look (and smell) so very good. You can browse the Soap Poetry website here. From Soap Poetry to, er, Poetry. The fashion brand. I always knew of its existence but had never browsed, never poked my nose in. And then a catalogue landed in the post box, which is always my financial downfall, and I was thrilled by the array of – quite frankly – delicious knitwear and luxe-casual clothing. Chunky cashmere crews, hand-knit coatigans, pure silk skirts, everything very grown-up and muted which obviously describes my personality down to an absolute tee. (Joke.) I immediately ordered the silk cashmere v-neck in Oatmeal, because that shade of neutral brownish beige with a figgy lilac undertone is the exact shade in my seasons colour chart (I’m apparently a “light summer”, we need to talk more on this colour chart thing because I have thoughts) and I have been looking for a Henley-style top in that shade for ages. And it’s silk and cashmere! So luxurious. I am overjoyed with it and overjoyed that I now have another fine knitwear place to peruse obsessively. You can peruse obsessively here – the link takes you to my Oatmeal top! Is it possible that H&M have provided me with my second all-star winning pair of jeans in 2025? I think so. The Wide Leg high waist in dark wash, cinch in just the right place, make my legs look longer (I’m sure of it!) and allow me to wear all of the slightly more cropped knitwear that I cannot wear with my lower waist jeans. Because H&M has around eighty five pairs of wide leg jeans and they all have the same style name, I have linked to the exact ones here. I’m wearing a 12. To see them in action regardez-vous: They were £27.99. What an absolute bargain. Not usually my favourite wash, I have to say, this particular brightish navy, but it’s growing on me… Please see previous post on these, so that I don’t repeat myself! I’m already about to repeat myself at great length in the video version of this post, which is pasted below. I’m also now on the clock a bit, because I can hear the extension leads coming out of the shed and need to oversee the health and safety aspect of the halloween proceedings… Do watch the video if you have ten minutes to spare – I think it’s quite nice to hear a real person speak, these days. See their face move. Observe their mannerisms. If you only have a few seconds to spare, please press the heart button on this post so that it gets recommended to new readers.
