Eating, touching, observing, discovering...

I think that just about sums it up for the past four or five days... the honesty seedheads I collected whilst out walking - as well as looking pretty - are quite therapeutic. My mum told me about peeling the papery brown layers off each side to reveal the almost translucent discs.

It's one of those tactile, absorbing little tasks you could do for hours.

I'm waiting for these pears to ripen. The process is easier when they're sitting on this vintage dish (bought for £1) at a car boot sale we went to at the weekend.

Out in the garden the sunflowers are well and truly dried out. They've attracted a squirrel, now a daily visitor. The squirrel in turn has attracted a big black and white cat who sits and stares longingly but knows not to even attempt an ambush. It would prove far too embarrassing.

Some of the sunflower heads are now in the kitchen, displayed in another car boot bargain: a 20p cake tin. It's old, heavy and my mum forbade me to drill holes in the bottom to plant paperwhites in. Speaking of which - is it just me, or are paperwhite bulbs always hard work to get hold of?

I can't resist the violet of these little turnips when I see them. Grated with salt, black pepper and mayonnaise: winter salad/slaw. Very nice indeed.

This vase was my favourite car boot purchase of all. It cost £1. It's a perfect shade of petrol blue, doesn't have even a tiny chip on it and is now on the mantelpiece. It's also staying with me  - definitely not one for the next vintage and craft fair.

Made in Devon. Means nothing to me in terms of value - I'm a purely aesthetics-minded collector. I also came away with a pair of old wooden shoe lasts (£1) and a 50p bottle with a glass stopper which once lived in a science lab.

In the garden, the mini dahlias are still doing their thing.

And the spindly little fruit twig (it could never be classed as a shrub) has revealed itself to be a redcurrant. These few berries appeared after several years of nothing.

The chillies are continuing to fruit too. These miniature ones remind me of Christmas lights. I suspect they might be potent...

The pumpkin was a gift. I won't even pretend to take the gardening credit for this one.

We'll do a bit of viola planting this weekend. It's going to be wild and windy but hopefully dry.

I baked brownies at the weekend. There are few things that seem to work with gluten free flour but pancakes and brownies always come good. So good that they didn't last very long.

It's Jay's birthday on Friday so there'll be more cake to come. Not gluten free. Which means lots of choices and a decision to be made...