Kids of all ages love Halloween, and what better way to get into the Halloween spirit than to take some items that you already have around the house ( toilet paper rolls, for starters!), add a dash of fun, a pinch of creativity and do some fun , quick and easy , kid friendly arts and crafts together.

I am so pleased to have Strictly Come Dancing back again. While I enjoy the music, dancing and costumes, the part I look forward to most is watching the contestants becoming more confident week by week and listening to the words of encouragement and motivation from the judges. Although it’s too early to pick a possible winner, there have been some amazing dances one of which was Sara Davies’s foxtrot. Sara’s dance the previous week had been far more impressive, she was lucky that nobody had to leave the competition.

For me September is a month of birthdays. I remember my mother saying that she agreed with Mother Nature that spring was the perfect time to have your babies. Getting up in the early hours of the morning in January for me wasn’t too bad but in July she said it was rather chilly! Today one of my friends turned 80 and I went out into the garden to pick some flowers to make her a birthday bouquet.

Between my neighbour’s garden and mine, I had a hard time choosing which pretty flowers to pop into the wine glass I was using. Delivering birthday bouquets is a tradition Judy and I started during last years lock down, and while they may be small in size they bring a lot of pleasure to the friends around us.

Brrr winter has definitely arrived. While in the late morning it is lovely to still be able to work outside in the sunshine, when 4 o’clock arrives and the evening chill sets in it is time to switch on the heater and the television. When choosing a programme I usually opt for cooking, home renovations, quizzes and detective series. While I agree with the statement that watching too much television is not good for you it does at times provide learning opportunities.

For many years, I have shared my living room with my schoolwork. I love making materials to share with the children I teach, and the surfaces would quickly fill up with coloured card and art materials. When I moved into my apartment, I decided to turn my second bedroom into a study where I could keep my work. I looked forward to meeting Benjamin Franklin’s advice of “A place for everything, everything in its place.”