Nanowrimo...

I should say, I'm not doing it. I feel I'd be setting myself up for failure, though kudos to those who do, like Hannah here, who might kill for this if she ever sees it...

(Hannah is beautiful, for reference, see here, even if she is dressed as a zombie.)

I had half a mind earlier this week to try and write a blog post every day or similar, but I decided that was probably too much. I wrote an epic 2,750 word email yesterday, and today I read much less of a book about investment. I did get to eat this brilliant cinnamon bun though. The Nordic Bakery is brilliant...

 

Before all of that, and nearly too late - I made possibly my all time favourite thing to make...

 

...mincemeat. I love Christmas cooking. And soon, I will make stollen.

A Zombie Tea Party

Courtesy of Graham

I love being a host.  It's so satisfying to put a group of people in a room and and watch them talk.  I love feeding them, and talking to them, and introducing them to one another.  I love being the catalyst, the centre of the web.  It's what I loved about producing theatre - being the facilitator, creating the space and conditions for other people to do things, which in turn makes something larger than the sum of its parts.  It's what is fun about being a civil servant, in a way, and why I want to run a food businesss - the creation of conditions for good things to happen.

We got it right with this party - all the time we spent sending invitations designed to make people laugh, ratchetting up enthusiasm, making cake, well and truly paid off.
 

The house was full, everyone talked, the pumpkins were carved, the skulls were decorated,  games were played.  People met new people.

Another one of Graham's. (They're mine...)

 Great evening.