Well, Liz, I don't really like orange either..!

Lululiz said yesterday: "I am not really an orange person at all, I would love to have white pumpkins in the house though." Well, I don't feel too different, except, it seems, in October! The orange is indoors and out:So I'm rather enjoying going with the flow...You've got to admit, it's pretty cosy.

Viva the 1970s, when it comes to finding orange accessories from around the house!

I also found some orange candles in a charity shop a few years ago, which are fun in October.

Here's the first glimpse of our mirror collection, which is helping to bounce the light around our house exactly as planned (please allow a self-satisfied smirk):

And below it, on the piano, a link to another commenter yesterday. Magsmcc wrote, in reply to my own comment on her book post: "And I do love the Terry Pratchett that I have read! His satire on our world is so effective, but you're right- it comes with a heart-warming feel! I saw a suitably orange covered Autumnal one in Tesco just last night- must go back and check it out!"

Well, was it one of these, my strawberry friend? I plonked them on the piano for a touch of orange, just a few hours before you left your comment! Personally, I'd say that if you want to buy any more, don't bother with any of the earliest ones - anything after 'Mort' finds him really in his stride...

And again you can see my new cheat's method of adding colour when you don't have many coloured accessories - piles of books!

j

Obviously, Penguins are coming in beautifully handy this month:

That's Son 1 up there, ages ago, for a school performance... Such a little sweety. And the wonderfully tactile thumb pot to the left of the Penguins is a Navajo one. My aunt worked in a Navajo health clinic years ago and gave me the pot. I have always adored it. So you can see why having a splurge on orange every few years is worthwhile for me! When else will I show these great things?
j

Finally, here's something I learned from Dottie Angel. I have a great candelabrum (Vide Grenier find) behind the TV, and was short of colour-themed candles as I decorated yesterday. Previously, colourful candles were a bit of an indulgence - I wouldn't have thought much of jumping on my bike and going to see what was available in the supermarket. But this time I had a go with these alternating black and red ones, and even though I hated the result, I decided to live with it and see...

I noticed, after a few hours, that they matched the oil-cloth-covered DVD boxes quite nicely. So that was something in their favour. I realised that what made them so hideous was the blue rug below the TV shelves. So I decided to retire the summer rug, bring out the winter one, and see if that made the candles acceptable. And I think it did! What do you think?

j

My point is that the must-go-out-and-buy-the-'right'-thing attitude has become fairly alien to me. I would have gone and bought new candles (they're hardly expensive) if it turned out to be necessary, but I have learned to live with things, to think about my need for them, and to have fun with what I have instead of buying more. You'll still have to Watch This Space to find out what my first 'new' purchase is going to be, following the end of the Challenge...

And back to the first photo - here is a sweet little vintage cushion which I used as a cushion pad in the 1980s for one of my first hand-made cushions. When I pulled the ikat-fabric off a few years ago, I found this underneath. I think it must have been my grandma's!