Ahhhh October, the month that Autumn really gets going making everything outside super colourful, but equally the month that the mornings and evenings grow darker and darker meaning I can’t see that beautiful colour most days. Anyway, time for my monthly favourites blog post, a chance for me to gather a few things together that I’m particularly enjoying so I can tell you all about them in one go. As always there’s food, outdoorsy stuff, and some random bits and bobs…
1. Is it possible to be addicted to neck tubes? I think I now have five or six Buffs in my collection, and when I travel or hike I always take a couple with me. If you enjoy getting outside at this time of year (maybe you’re taking part in #OneHourOutside… hint hint), or you ride a motorbike at any time of year, then you need one (at least). Yea, I think I’m addicted. There are worse things to be addicted to, right?! Here in the UK you can get your Buffs from Kitshack; they gave me the black and white mountains one as part of the Outdoor Bloggers weekend goody bag. Cheers guys!
2. If you need me, I’ll be in my music cave. This month I treated myself to these new Sennheiser PXC 500 Wireless headphones. They have superb sound quality and excellent noise cancellation, perfect for travelling as well as at home. They are just brilliant, the best headphones I’ve ever had; they are super comfortable to wear all day, and definitely help me enjoy whatever it is I’m listening to. I spent a lot of time choosing the right ones for me – the nearest competitor in my opinion were the Bose QuietComfort 35, but they were just too loose on my head and would be no good for wearing when on the move. If you’re looking for some great new headphones, definitely check these out – we headed to John Lewis where they had them all out to try out with my own choice of music.
3. Mmmmm maple syrup. Perfect on pancakes. And ice cream. And on a spoon… Clarks is the pure maple syrup brand you can get easily here in the UK; they even do different grades so if you’re a syrup connoisseur you can have the right sort of syrup with the right sort of dish.
4. Have you got your heating on yet? I admit ours is now on for an hour in the morning and during the evening. When the heating goes on, the slow cooker comes out. I’m now using this at least once a week for yummy easy evening meals, thinking comfort food all the way. My go-to is gammon cooked in Coke, Dr Pepper or Apple Juice (depending what I’ve got in the cupboard), and for chilli style dishes. We have a nice big one so we can batch cook – at least two evening meals at a time saving time when we’re busy. Ours is just a basic Morphy Richards one; I bung in the food when I get up and we eat it 12 hours later when we get home from work. Yum.
5. Again, because it’s getting more and more wintery by the day, and partly as a thank you for keeping me super warm when camping earlier in October, I wanted to give a mention to my OnePiece Marius. Represented by a couple of discount cards I have left at home, because the actual OnePiece was way too big to fit in my flatlay this time around. I am definitely a convert to the whole jumpsuit thing and definitely recommend OnePiece, the gear is so warm and comfortable. If you want some money off use SPLODZ32 at the checkout for 15% off (code ends 31 October).
6. I was recently introduced to Mint Oreos. That’s right, mint. Seriously, you need to try them.
7. If your hands and feet are complaining at the moment thanks to the weather, you need this duo – Soap & Glory Hand Food and Heel Genius. Both are super thick creams that soak in easily and do a great job moisturising the hardest working parts of my body. Find them at Boots – hand cream, foot cream.
8. The only way I know how to pack light when I travel is to make sure I have a tube of laundry detergent in my wash kit. This Dr Beckmann Travel Wash works very well when washing my smalls in the sink when I’m on the road for a few days. I know you can probably use shower gel or hand soap, but having something specific for the purpose makes me feel a lot cleaner!
9. I couldn’t do a currently loving this month without mentioning Outdoor Bloggers. There are now over 100 members of our little network, and I had such a good weekend in Snowdonia with those who came along for some camping and hiking fun. If you love the outdoors so much you write about it, check us out and join in the fun!
10. Perhaps a teeny bit tongue in cheek here thanks to my colleague Ed suggesting I have a bit of a reputation in this area, but yea, he’s probably right. Basically I love pizza. Especially really fresh, hand stretched, thin, well loaded pizza. You know, the kind that’s cooked in a proper pizza oven with real fire. It was especially nice to have freshly made pizza at our Snowdonia campsite (more on that another day), and I might be a little bit smitten with the Zizzi Pulled Pork Roma pizza on the Rustica base. Mmmmm pizza.
So there we have it – ten of my favourite things for October 2016. I think it’s kinda fun to take a flat lay of my favourite things each month, I hope you enjoy these posts.
What are your favourite things this month? Do you like/dislike any of my choices? Let me know in the comments below.