I was lucky enough to pick up a Le Creuset pumpkin casserole dish for £50 quite a few years back - I see this year they retail for above £200 and in the outlet shop around £150. There were a few other items, with the Cake tray the only one that was tempting me, although at just under £40, I've resisted for the tome being.
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Saturday 28th August 2026
I have to admit never having been in a Dunelm store before, but I needed some cheap poster frames today, so hence the visit. There were a few fairly standard items on the end of an aisle and a few ceramics on a table, but for me the stand out items were the pumpkin rubber duck and the coffin shaped picnic basket.
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Saturday 28th August 2026
As there is no Body Shop in Folkestone anymore, I don't always get to a town where there is. In the past the shower gels have been on occasion something I've bought especially when citrusy, but this year they are quite sweet and sickly smelling. Appealing to many no doubt but not for me sadly.
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Again, whilst in Ashford I popped into a larger TKMaxx store and was pleasantly surprised with their selection. A lot of different designs and items this year - thankfully less pink pumpkins! I wasn't tempted to buy, but the figurine walking the cat was quite appealing, as was bizarrely the Bride of Frankenstein duck! The pumpkin mugs with flowers on them also stood out as being a bit different too. A few larger items possibly for outdoor use were on the ground floor - of which the Frankenstein heads stood out for me.
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Saturday 28th August 2026
I just happened to be in the Ashford Asda store today and caught sight of a few bedding items and a couple of home items. Nothing to write home about, but the Halloween season is starting to kick in...
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Saturday 28th August 2026
When I popped into The Range last week they had started putting out their Autumn homewares range.
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Locally in Folkestone, TKMaxx have started putting out their Halloween decorations in July. Nothing to write home about yet though. Hopefully there'll be something that catches the eye as the weeks go on.
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As part of my seasonal viewing this Halloween, I decided to rewatch my 'Heroes of Horror' 2DVD set which contains documentaries about, Bela Lugosi, Boris Karloff, Lon Chaney Jr., Peter Lorre & Vincent Price. In the Boris Karloff documentary was reference to there being a memorial to him in St Paul's Church (The Actors Church) in Covent Garden - a church that I had walked past pelnty of times when I had worked up in London, but never ventured inside. So on Thursday of this week as I was going to London to see a performance by the Gavin Bryars Ensemble in nearby St. Martin-In-The-Fields, I thought I'd pop in and take a look.
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Last Saturday's Halloween party... 5 pumpkins were suiatbly carved and entered. Not surprisingly Feathers McGraw won!
Saturday 1st November 2025
I've always wanted to go to Pluckley in Kent on account of it's reputation of being the Most Haunted Village in England, however I've always been mindful of the hype and the fact that the village in recent years has been swamped by so-called ghost hunting tourists which have swamped the village and made it a less desirable place to visit.
But last night in St Nicholas' church was a fabulous talk given by local historian Ed Adams to launch his new book which examines the history behind the ghosts (i.e the people and events one which they might be based) and how the retalling of the tales have added to or warped the local folklore, and the modern fakery that has added to the village's reputation. The talk had over 100 people and I have my copy of Ed's book to read over the winter months.
And to finish the evening off, I had a seasonal beer in the Black Horse pub just along from the church.
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Saturday 18th October 2025