This year I'm joining A Buyer's Archive with Elise, to keep track of my spending on clothes and accessories.

I placed an ASOS order. I didn't mean to. I just sort of slipped and fell.

I popped onto the site to buy a Christmas present (and I did) but instead of buying it and leaving, I had a nosy through all of the new in items, and then looked at my saved items. Suddenly I had a trolley full of things that, oops, I just ... ordered.

They make it too easy.

My order turned up the next day, I decided that the present was perfect for the recipient, I tried everything on, and then returned almost all of it.

I kept two items, a grey t-shirt £17.00. And exactly the same t-shirt in a pale neon orange £7.00. They're baggy, with a peplum style front and a dipped hem at the back. The grey one has been worn a few times already for nights out, the orange one put away for spring.


A few weeks later, whilst having a quick nosy around a few charity shops for some wool, I found a neckerchief for £1.99 that rather took my fancy. I haven't worn one before, on account of feeling like an air hostess every time I tried, but fancied the challenge of making it work. As it turns out it's not actually that hard.

Total for November: £25.99

Overall total for 2016: £720.59

Which leaves me with a budget of £24.41 to hit my target of £745 total spend for the year.

Check out the #buyersarchive hashtag on Twitter to see posts from everyone taking part.

After posting about things I love but can't wear I decided it was time to persevere a little.

If you've read my blog for a long time you'll know that I like the odd style challenge, and I figured that nailing some of these looks, that I'd previously ruled out, would further expand my capsule wardrobe possibilities.

And anyway, what's the worst that could happen?

First up, I'm trying a neck scarf. Why couldn't / wouldn't I wear them? Because I thought I looked like an air hostess.

This one jumped out at me on a recent charity shop jaunt, and at £1.99 it would hardly be the end of the world if I didn't like how it looked.

But I do. Teamed with sleek, I've-just-been-to-the-hairdressers-hair, and a classic boat neck top I think it looks nice. And I'll be experimenting further after a good trawl through Pinterest for tips and inspiration.

It's good to step out of your comfort zone once in a while, even if it's just a tiny step sideways.

Fifteen festive favourites was inspired by Naomi at Tattooed Mummy

1. Favourite Festive Food
Marzipan. I love it and it's the only time of year I eat it, I put a double layer on our Christmas cake, and savour every last bite, and Andy's not keen so he gives me his (I married a most excellent man).

2. Favourite Reindeer
Rudolf, she saved Christmas after all.

3. Favourite Day of Christmas
Christmas Eve - everything is done, there is the anticipation of the day to come, and everyone is relaxing and ready to celebrate.

4. Favourite Christmas Song
I can't pick just one. Macy Grey, Winter Wonderland. I love her voice on this song. I also love Stop The Cavalry by Jona Lewie as it always makes me think of my Dad. Finally, I Want an Alien for Christmas by Fountains of Wayne because Andy and I sing it together every year.

5. Favourite Present:
I got a pair of grey Pixie boots when I was 10 years old, I'd pleaded with my Mum for a pair but she kept saying no. So when I opened the box on Christmas Day I couldn't get my slippers off quick enough to get those babies on my feet. Oh, and I guess a marriage proposal wasn't bad either.

6. Favourite Festive Film
The Holiday

7. Favourite Festive Cracker Toy
The spinning top

8. Favourite Cracker Joke
What's the smelliest animal on the farm? The toilet duck.


9. Favourite Christmas Decoration
Christmas Pig, purchased from a Christmas Grotto at a garden centre in Woodbridge. This was for our first Christmas in our new home, and the first time I had a real Christmas tree. He comes out every year, and always gets a prime spot on the tree.

10. Favourite Christmas Candle Scent
Something spicy or figgy

11. Favourite Christmas TV Advert
John Lewis 2012 - The Journey

12. Favourite Festive Tradition
Making a cup of tea and spending hours decorating the tree with Andy. We don't have things that we have to do every year, it was my stipulation that we don't make annual traditions connected to a particular place, day or person. I want each Christmas to be different in some way. Here's why.

13. Favourite Place to Spend Christmas
I don't care were I am as long as I'm with family. One day, just once, I'd like to go away and have Christmas abroad, experience different traditions and maybe a different climate.

14. Favourite Christmas Fact
The reindeer pulling Santa’s sleigh are female, as male reindeer shed their antlers at Christmas. Rudolfa?

15. Favourite Snowman Accessory
His carrot nose, because you can always find one.

Feel free to answer these questions too, it helps get into the festive spirit if you're not already excited like me, just let me know if you do.

For my birthday Andy booked us a night away in Aldeburgh, of course we couldn't actually go on, or even near, my birthday due to harvest, so we went last week instead.

He booked us into The Brudenell, in a room with sea views. When we arrived it was too dark to see the sea but we could see the white splashes of waves breaking on the shore in the darkness, and hear the delightful sound of the waves rolling in, dragging the shingle back as it withdrew.


The hotel, and our room, were both lovely. We did chuckle on arrival when I spotted a letter, addressed to Andy, saying 'Thank you for choosing to stay with us again'. 'Again?' I asked raising an eyebrow. Andy looked confused, until I realised that The Brudenell is part of the same group of hotels as The Swan at Lavenham, where we got married, and thus avoided a marital dispute.

We had a little while to relax before going to dinner so I made us a hot drink and we sat with the lights off (minimising the reflections in the windows, maxmising the sea view), and listened to the waves. It was windy and raining, and knowing how cold it was outside made the room feel very cosy and warm.


We dined in the Seafood Grill restaurant, which reminded us both of a restaurant we visited whilst in Paris on our honeymoon. Dinner was delicious, the menu had a variety of fresh seafood on offer. I was a little limited in what I could have as my lactose allergy prevented me from having a number of things, in the end I went for scallops to start, followed by beer battered cod and chips, I had to forgo the tartare sauce and had peas instead of mushy peas. Thankfully the waiter was very helpful and happy to help with my questions on ingredients. I didn't have a desert as the only thing I could have was the sorbet and I'm getting pretty bored of that now.


After a comfortable night's sleep, an early start to watch the sun rise over the sea, and a lovely cooked breakfast (I can highly recommend Stokes tomato ketchup to add pep to your fry-up), we wrapped up and headed out to the beach. We both anticipated a cold day but it was actually pleasantly warm. It was a welcome surprise after a few days of wind and rain.


Aldeburgh beach is a long expanse of shingle, and in early november it's delightfully free of crowds. We saw only a handful of people as we trudged from our hotel to the Maggi Hambling sculpture. We played chicken with the waves and collected a few keepsake stones.


Sadly I had to be back at my desk early afternoon so we didn't stick around for a fish 'n' chip lunch, Aldeburgh are famous for their fish 'n' chip shops, but we did have f'n'c for supper so felt we'd indulged enough. There is something so nice about eating chip shop fish and chips on the beach though right? Maybe next time...

Even though it was a flying visit, it was lovely to get away and spend some time together. We're definitely going to return, maybe by then I'll have my allergies sorted and I can go ahead and order the classic fish pie with creamed potato, garlic greens and herb crumb, followed by the traditional British cheese board with grapes, biscuits!

I had seven spaces left to fill in my 37 piece autumn capsule wardrobe. I've added a few old favourites and some items found on a recent charity shop rummage, and I think all of them will work well as capsule pieces.

To start I added my first ever preloved purchase - a long Tu cardigan - from the Age Concern shop in Ipswich (which is sadly no longer there). It tends to be my put-on-over-anything-at-the-end-of-the-day-cardigan because it's warm, and some days that's all I'm concerned about.

Next up - my most recent charity shop purchases, a Phase Eight dress (Cancer Research) and Monsoon cardigan (RSPCA). The dress might be made into a skirt, but I'll wear it a few times first to see how I get on. The cardigan isn't exactly flattering but it's slouchy, cosy and warm.

Also, a few old wardrobes faithfuls - Next grey jumper that's been around for years, and New Look grey cardigan, both where purchased new but are now down to mere pennies in cost-per-wear value.

Then we have my preloved stripe jumper, which reminds me of Minnie the Minx, and a check skirt that hasn't been worn nearly enough - so I wore it immediately.

After I enjoyed my summer capsule so much, this ones seems rather boring in comparison, but then I always tend to revert to bog standard jeans and jumper outfits when the weather gets cold. The first few weeks of autumn were lovely, still hanging on to remnants of the sun I was able to go out in ankle grazing trousers and bare legs on occasion, but these days quickly passed.

Cold winds and driving rain have me reaching for layers and I'm less concerned with how an outfit looks, and more with how warm it is. But every once in a while I pull on a skirt or dress and come out of slob mode.

My autumn capsule wardrobe now looks like this -


How are you coping with the weather getting colder? Have you had snow yet?

I know we're only half way through autumn but so far it's been lovely. I miss summer when it ends and usually take some time to readjust to the new season, but not this year.

The best bits?

Rose hips
This has to be pretty close to the top of the list - foraging for them, making them into syrup, and ingesting it! It feels really good to have foraged for something that I didn't intend to make gin with!

I've made two batches. The first is almost finished and a few days ago I made a second, this time using light golden cane sugar (as I'm allergic to sugar beet), which was totally inspired by Sophie.

This batch yielded almost twice as much syrup than the first, I had to abandon my fancy pants Kilner bottle and use an old gin bottle instead! Not that I'm complaining, it should last me a good long while.

My favourite way to use it is for breakfast, either drizzled in porridge, with soya yogurt and apple, or on pancakes.

Last time I met up with Sophie, we had a conversation about how nice it is to look forward to certain things that you can only get at different times of the year. This will definitely be one of the things I look forward to when autumn rolls around next year.


Walnuts
We have a tree in our garden and this year I bagged up all the fallen nuts and Googled what to do with them. Turns out it's pretty simple - eat them! As they had already fallen from the tree, and shed their husks, nature had done the hard work for me. I'd never tried green walnuts before and they're delicious! Thanks to Instagram (and Betty Herbert), I discovered that I can open the shells with a dinner knife, rather than whacking them with a saucepan - the former is much easier than the later!


Bonfires
Jennifer from Pastry and Purls mentioned bonfires and as soon as I read it, I started hankering after the smoky, crackle of a bonfire. My husband obliged (and marshmallows were involved).


Sloe gin
Straining the gin that's been sitting in my cupboard for a year was a delight. I made a cocktail devised by the bartender from the Crown Hotel in Bury St Edmunds - a sloe gin fizz, and thought what a shame it was that I hadn't picked any sloes this year. But I do have blackberry gin brewing...

Roast dinners
No photo - too busy eating! The first one since spring is always a goodie, even if I did burn the parsnips a little. We had pheasant, shot locally, and dressed by my husband. We actually sat at the table to eat, at the same time, together - this doesn't happen very often.

What are your best bits of autumn so far?

My husband has boxes and boxes of things saved from his childhood years, by his Mum rather than because of any great desire on his part to hold on to things, but I have noticed that he does have hoarder tendencies. Thankfully all of this stuff is still at his parents house, in the attic (and I dread the day it comes here and I have to find a home for it all!).

I have very few things from my childhood, I guess I'd have more if my parents hadn't divorced and cleared out the loft of the family home, but even then we weren't a family that held onto much.

What I do still have are some of my favourite things.



There isn't any particular toy from my childhood that I remember and wish I still had. I do wish I had some of my early paintings, or craft projects, and maybe my first pair of shoes, or the badges from my Brownie uniform. I'd love to have the cake decorations that we put on our Christmas cake year after year, and some of the decorations from our Christmas tree. That said if I'd been offered these things I probably would've declined the offer at the time.

I've often said to Andy that we're not storing things in the loft, because once something goes up into a loft it rarely comes down again. In my view a loft is a place to store stuff that gets thrown away by relatives when you die. And anyway I have grand plans to turn the loft into a studio with big windows so I can work with a view that stretches for miles...

I'm not completely devoid of sentiment, I do keep some things. Things that when it comes to it, I can't part with. I have a memory box full of all sorts of odds and sods - old postcards, college ID pass, letters. Anything remotely connected to our wedding remains in our possession, which means I have a ridiculous amount of glass voltives, but I use them, they're not sat in a box somewhere gathering dust. Although I do concede that the dried flower petals from my bouquet are a bit pointless... as are the ones I saved from the table on our first anniversary.

Do you hoard? What do you have from your childhood? What are the things you'd never part with?

Lactose, margarine, butter, cheese, yogurt, sugar beet, orange/lemon/lime, ethanol, and champagne.

Cat and dog fleas, diesel fumes, feathers, plant pollens, house dust mites, dog hair, cat hair, lily pollen, and cut grass.

These are my food and environmental allergies.

How do I know this? Because I recently went to see a Natural Allergy Therapist, who performed a muscle test to ascertain these allergies.

I had no idea what to expect when I arrived, but I'd reached a point where I'd try anything to combat my reoccurring sinusitis.

I knew that I had a dairy intolerance or allergy that either caused or exacerbated my sinusitis, but I also felt there was something else as well. Sugar beet came as a surprise, and could explain the skin issues I've been having. I'd linked the cause to my diet but hadn't considered the possibility that it could be due to an allergy. Alcohol makes sense now that it's been confirmed... it wasn't just a hangover after all.

Please excuse my simplified explanation here, but this is how I understood what I was told in my consultation, so if you know better, please feel free to correct me.

Natural allergy testing is based on ancient Chinese medicine, using meridians - energy channels in the body - which uses similar principles as acupuncture, which has worked well for me in the past (I took this as a good sign).

The muscle test shows a negative or positive reaction to substances when they're placed on one of your energy channels, in my case on my belly.

The therapist asked me to gently resist her trying to gently pull my arm away from my body. If I was allergic to a substance I wouldn't be able to resist.

I admit, I was dubious, but it worked. It was an odd sensation but I truly had no control over my arm when I was exposed to an allergen.

I was tested for over 330 allergens. These were grouped in small boxes and to start off with a box was placed on my stomach, if it contained an allergen it was put to one side to be investigated further.

Once I had my pile of allergen boxes, I was tested again with each of the little bottles, each containing different possible allergens, within the box. This is how I came to learn of the lists of allergies I have above.

The next step was to decide what to treat first, each treatment cost £10, on top of a £75 consultation fee. I decided that lactose, cheese and alcohol where my main concerns. I'd given up dairy on the advice of my GP and that's difficult enough, I couldn't imagine giving up alcohol altogether as well!

Food allergies are easier to treat as you can eliminate them from your diet completely while being treated - or desensitised. Obviously, it's harder to get away from environmental allergens entirely, so I left those for another day.

Most treatments work first time, with serious allergies sometimes needing a second go. Treatments work at desensitising the body to the allergen, in the same way that a vaccination works by injecting you with a small amount of a virus so you can build up a resistance. The remedies are phials of liquid that you drop under your tongue once or twice a day for a week or more.

My therapist gave me a detailed plan of when to take what, and for how long. Over the next five weeks I'll be - hopefully - desensitising my body to some of my allergens. Then I'll go back for a follow up appointment to be tested again. Some of the allergies I'm not currently treating might sort themselves out as I tackle these three. Others that remain can then be treated if I want to.

When the desensitisation is complete I can slowly reintroduce these substances into my diet. Not a whole wheel of brie all at once (it's been known), just a tiny morsel here and there to begin with.

I really hope it works, I want to be rid of sinusitis but also living without dairy has been hard - and not just because I have a deep love of cheese but because it makes eating out so flippin' difficult. Some of the joy of food has been taken away from me and I've never been one to shy away from enjoying my food - it's one of life's pleasures.

So fingers crossed for a positive outcome. I know that sinusitis isn't the worst illness a person can have, I'm lucky that it's an irritant in my life rather than a life changing illness, but when you spend almost every day with a feeling of varying pressure in your head, sometimes accompanied with painful aches behind one or both eyes, a pain that can creep into your lower jaw, and a sensitivity to light, it can get you down. It can wear you down. And I've had enough.

So I'm hopeful, I'm optimistic, and I'm keeping everything crossed.

It was #PhotoAnHour at the weekend, and although I took part on Instagram I felt like sharing my day here too, along with a few bonus photos.

9am - I woke up with plans of doing some work, and then getting stuck into some DIY, but my body had other ideas. I woke up with sinusitis - again - so my plans needed a rethink. After feeding the cats I returned to bed with a cuppa and a box of Sudafed.

10am - Making my second cuppa of the day. Not satisfied with the duck he was given, Socks followed me around the kitchen, loudly demanding something else to eat. He got tuna, and then ate only the tiniest morsel.

11am - Finally dressed and ready to face the day, breakfast was soya yogurt, apple and (my obsession continues) rose hip syrup. I ate it sitting in the sun that streams in through the dining room windows, with peace and quiet all around. I love my weekends, Andy is normally at work so they are mine to do with as I please. Thanks to my sinus pain I opted for slower, calmer pursuits than I'd planned - things that were also on my to-do list along side work and DIY, but things that would allow me to take it easy and recharge.


Bonus pic - every morning Andy makes Tinker a cat nest out of my sofa slanket, she gets cosy and sometimes stays there all day, looking grumpy if you dare to disturb her.

12pm - Today wasn't a day she would spend curled up on the sofa. I'd donned my wellies, made myself a mug of lemon green tea, and set off to forage for some more rose hips before I ran out of syrup altogether. I hadn't gone far when I heard her little paw steps behind me. She followed me as I made my way along the hedgerow, investigating as she went. I chatted away to her, stopping frequently to give her some fuss, and slowly gathered enough hips to make a half batch of syrup. I gave up when I encountered a particularly nasty bush that left me with both index fingers and thumbs bloodied and sore.


1pm - It was a gorgeous day, really warm and sunny. I wasn't ready to go back inside, so I decided to plant up my hanging baskets. I took them down in September and had been meaning to fill them up again since then, a trip to the local garden centre during the week meant I had everything I needed. I'd chosen pansies and violas as I was stuck as to what else I could possibly use.

2pm - The finished baskets, I think they'll look super when they've established themselves and filled out a bit.


Bonus pic - I had plenty of flowers left over so I set about refreshing the container pots around the door, removing old primroses that had seen better days, and fading Lobelia.


Bonus pic - lunch was late thanks to a very late breakfast and super easy - left over chili from the night before. I was so grateful not to have to cook, when sinusitis hits I normally lose any inclination to prepare food so this was very welcome.

 3pm - Time for another cuppa and a bit of a sit down. Tinker had found her way back to her cat nest and was super sleepy and cute. I have to admit I'd intended to only sit for a short while but I remained there for the best part of an hour and might have had a small doze.

4pm - Feeling refreshed and armed with a good pair of gardening gloves I headed out again, along a different hedgerow, to gather more rose hips to make a full batch of syrup. As I wandered along I noticed a lack of sloes and realised I'd probably left it too late to grab any to make sloe gin. Just as well I have some blackberry, and elderberry gin already on the go!


Bonus pic - I don't know what these are but they're so pretty. Any ideas?


5pm - This was the sky heading home. It was such a lovely bright sunny day, warm enough for me to momentarily consider grabbing my book and sitting in my hammock a while, but sinus pain doesn't mix well with reading sadly.


6pm - the light had faded enough for me to light my pumpkin and get cosy for the evening. My activities left me feeling tired and my headache was getting worse.


Bonus pic - Tinker had been fed but was fussing for more food. They always have a bowl of crunchies available to them but, for Tinker, I have to take them out of the bowl and put them on the floor before she will consider eating them. My cats really are the most coddled of all the cats.


Bonus pic - Andy wasn't home so I dined alone in front of the TV. Leftover chili again, this time accompanied with heat-in-the-mircowave-for-2-minutes Uncles Ben's rice - talk about an easy supper. I wasn't complaining, I think chili often tastes better the day after it's cooked and I had no inclination to set about preparing anything else.


7pm - Tinker often curls up on my lap of an evening, and tonight was no different. She was a little bothered by some random fireworks, luckily they weren't very close but she's weary of them. It's only this year that she's stopped running and hiding under the kitchen cupboards when she hears them.


8pm - Still on the sofa I pretended that this pomegranate juice was wine by pouring it into a huge wine glass. And this is how I spent the rest of the evening.

I had a lovely day, despite a radical change in plans. I'm glad that sinusitis didn't spoil my day as it so often does. I hate that life can be so disrupted by a reoccurring illness, thankfully I have found the cause - definite proof instead of just a guess - and I have plans afoot to treat it. So with luck this near constant irritation will soon be a thing of the past.

I hope you had a lovely weekend.

With thanks to Jane and Louisa for hosting.

The idea for this post came form Kezzie, who got it from Confuzzledom, who got it from Kristen, who got it from Steph - who originally composed the questions. I like how these things spread. Also, three is my lucky number, or rather my favourite number, and that's all the reason I needed to join in.

Three things I'd never give up:
Tea, baths (I'm not talking about giving up washing, I mean I just can't imagine a life where I only took showers), travel.

Three favourite vegetables:
Cucumber, iceberg lettuce, sugar snap peas - eaten raw and still in the pod (my husband thinks this is very strange).

Three shows I've watched faithfully from beginning to end:
If boxsets count then there are many (The West Wing, Breaking Bad, The Good Wife, House of Cards, Dexter, Homeland), if boxsets don't count then I'm not sure. There are shows I've watched a lot of but I always missed a few episodes - Sex and the City, Ally McBeal, Downton Abbey. And then there are the ones I see re-runs of, normally in the wrong order, The Big Bang Theory, How I Met Your Mother, Friends.

Three places I want to visit inside the US:
A return to New York in the summer
Arizona to visit Antelope Canyon
California to visit Yosemite National Park

Three places I want to visit outside the US:
The blue streets of Chefchaoun, Morocco
The pink beach in Budelli, Sardinia, Italy
Giraffe Manor, Nairobi, Kenya
Or anywhere I could see the northern lights (sorry that's four, I can't choose)

Three things I always have with me:
keys, phone, money / debit card.

Three things that are always in my car:
old parking tickets (ones I've paid for, not fines), a bottle of water to top up the engine, and a hairbrush (that isn't mine).

Three most recent phone calls were to/from:
My husband, my Mum, and a double glazing company - thankfully not a cold call but the company about to install our french doors (which is weirdly exactly the same list of people as Kristen).

Three books I read and loved in college:
I can't really remember reading much in college. I know I definitely read Trainspotting.

Three most often used make up products:
L'Oreal Paris Telescopic mascara, Clinique bottom lash mascara, The Body Shop brow kit. I use these every time I wear make up without fail.

Three things that make me laugh:
Sarcasm - I know it's 'the lowest form of wit' but when timed and delivered perfectly it can be hilarious.
Other people's misfortunes - The 'You've Been Framed' variety of people / animals / children falling over, bumping into things, and being hit with random objects always has me in stitches.
Silliness - silly walks, skipping, stupid conversations - generally just being a bit daft.

Three things that make me cry:
Weddings, the vows and the speeches especially.
Children in Need, Comic Relief, Stand Up To Cancer etc.
Being angry and /or frustrated at a situation - for me this is the worst kind of crying because people think I'm upset when I'm not, normally I'm just bloody angry.

Let me know if you answer these questions too, I'd love to have a read.

Image from pexels.com