Sense and Sensibility Redux

We all agreed to try and get out the office nice and early today as it might be our last chance to do so. Everyone rushed to get their work done and a few clocked out leaving me and a few others behind. Naturally, I got slammed with a last minute rush from a slew of emails that all needed attention. So I left at a normal time, but still with plenty of headroom to watch the new Sense and Sensibility with Rebecca and her friends (two cinema visits on the trot, what a joy). The film itself was solid, played well, shot well and earned all its moments. But it didn't feel interesting in any way, not that it needs a novelty to excite me, but there's very little in terms of USP here. 

Bad Apples

After work a few of my colleagues met up with Rebecca and me to go to the cinema to watch Bad Apples. It was being filmed in Bristol about two years ago and our screening even started with a pre-recorded message from the director saying how much he enjoyed making his movie in the city. The film itself was a real romp, lots of thrills and shocking moments that left you asking if you should be appalled or left laughing. The real joy though was sticking around til the credits to see a world of familiar names scroll up. Each of us pointed and silently cheered at each name recognized. It's a tight community of filmmakers out here and I'm proud to be a part of it.

Verily Vetting

I worked from home for the first 45 minutes of today, all in aid of helping Rebecca get the cat into her carrier for her annual vet visit. This ended up really skewing my perception of time, everything came up much quicker than expected, lunch, coffee break and home time all whizzed by in the blink of an eye. But in between that, we managed to sing Happy Birthday to our 1st AD, plus I got to have a scheduled Bake Off debrief with some colleagues which was a ton of fun. 

Last day of September too, the leaves are already turning near my offices and the knitwear in my wardrobe is making increasingly convincing puppy-eyes at me. The spooky times are soon upon us and I'll have to embrace some horror in all its forms. 

Clocking Off for Custard

Just more dabbling at work, inching the needle in the right direction for the most part as I get stuck into all things sustainability. All the grown ups just up and left at about five pm so we followed suit shortly after. It's not often you get a chance to leave early at this stage in prep so you gotta take it while you can.

Louis and Rachel were back round for Bake-Off, I served up my shonky custard creams, which went down well enough with a cuppa as predicted. I may have said this last week but when this part of the year is upon us it feels like a clean run up until Christmas. Lots of cosy TV and baking to come. 

Homemade Custard Cream

While Monday was a tad busier, the office still felt lethargic in a lot of ways. I was keen to get home so I could crack on with my Bake-Off bake. Seeing as it's biscuit week I wanted to make homemade custard creams. I didn't have the stamp to add the fancy detailing, but that wasn't going to stop me. My end product wouldn't be winning any beauty pageants the bake and taste of them is pretty good... Not good enough to bring into the office, but very serviceable with a tea.

When I was finished I was left with a bowl of what childhood (and adult) me craved - unfiltered custard cream filling. I could hear the echo of my grandma, mum, or frankly any responsible person telling me that I'd make myself sick of I ate that. Still, a little couldn't hurt. 

Homemade Granola

Another lazy get up followed by a delicious breakfast from Ben (homemade granola this time!) We took a little stroll out through a nearby woods then onto coffee from the nearby market. Before we knew it we had to hit the road so we were back in time to feed the cat and apply our war paint for the upcoming week. 

I got a new camera as a birthday present to myself earlier on in the month and I finally got a chance to put it to good use this weekend. I took a bunch of shots with it during our quiet moments, I got a lot of Rebecca reading in various spots alongside scenes of food, cafes and walks. I'm super pleased with how they come out, a bonus memento for the weekend.

Totoro Puppets

An exceptionally delicious date and brown sugar oat bowl set all four of us up for a terrific day. Matt and Ben took us for a sunny walk around their ends, which naturally included pit stops at a coffee place and a superb little bakery which did some of the best sweet treats we'd all ever tried. A period of rest followed, I closed my eyes for a bit and felt at total peace with the world. I couldn't stay too sleepy though because there were homemade smash burgers to dive into and a train into town to catch. The main reason for our visit was to go see the stage show for My Neighbour Totoro. I had some reservations going in because I adore the original film but I was pleasantly surprised by the production. I had a few issues with the script and dialogue in this new one, but the puppetry and technically elements were all fabulous. We came back humming the theme song (well, mostly Rebecca did) and toddled off to bed. Another pretty perfect Saturday with friends - we keep such good company.