Good Reads: Spooky science & mental patient costumes

You’re feeling it, aren’t you? The switch has been flipped from summer to winter and as the temperature of the British thermostat drops to meet winter standards there are a couple of blissful weeks where the leaves fall like post-wedding confetti bringing chaos to commuters on train lines and joy to dog walkers and small children. It’s the time for conker hunting, pumpkin carving and ferreting in the back of the cupboard for the slow cooker that hasn’t seen action since we finally received our summer with open arms and almost two months late at the end of May.

But with the dropping mercury, the pouring rain and the dark morning school runs, comes a real need to sit next to a radiator clutching a cup of coffee as though the presence of hot coffee in your system will bolster you enough to get through winter with joy in your heart and a smile on your face. And, if you are really good, that fabulous cashmere blanket from Father Christmas to snuggle under whilst you watch contestant after contestant get voted off Strictly.

Whilst you are mulling over whether it’s too early in the year for mulled wine (it is, by the way) why not mull over the posts I have been bookmarking from around the Ninternet just for you?

• To start, an uplifting story of long lost family reunited by a letter in a shop window.  Via Kate Sutton
• As creative a review as I’ve ever seen from The Crazy Kitchen
• Did you ever wonder why elephants mattered?
• Here’s a thought: are all new words new? Are there old words we should start re-using?
• Mummylish talks about the age old work v stay-at-home mum question
• Missie Lizzie leads the charge against the new Marmite Ad parodying abuse and neglect.
• Lulastic has a new feature on How to be a xxxx mum. This week, the Expat Mum, and how to do it.
• Fancing glamping in the style of knights of old? I do!
• Clara wrote about the supermarket Mental Patient costume faux-pas and her daily battle.
• Mammasaurus trod a similar path: the ethics in blogging and what to do when you see something wrong.
• There’s a fabulous piece in the Tesco magazine on spooky science. Perfect for Halloween.
• Life as a Widower writes- beautifully as ever- on The Boss 
• Missie Lizzie has the perfect soul food in apple season: the fritter. So doing this.
• Cotton Wife writes an open letter to the NICU parent. via not even a bag of sugar
• BiBs winner Erika Walker talks tummy tucks. And why she won’t be having one.
• The House of Hendrix considers that there are two types of women
• There’s Sinead O’Connor’s Open Letter to Miley Cyrus and one Amanda Palmer wrote in response via A Mummy Too
• A Mum Shaped Hole wrote about the sadness in his eyes.
• I had a photoshoot which made me actually believe I was beautiful.
• Have you considered the Women’s Institute? Sarah Pylas shares ten things she has learned at the WI
• Thinly Spread is passionate about the Save The Children Born to Read campaign
• British Beauty Blogger asks Do you speak Social Media?  via Stressy Mummy
• Scrubs Mag shares the ER nurses story of a heart attack. The symptoms for women are vastly different to those of a man suffering the same thing
• Recipe Rifle writes so perfectly about the first year of being a parent. And adds a recipe at the end. Via Alison Perry

It’s a bumper crop this month. But you have half-term to survive as well as the longer bights. Make the most of it. And don’t forget to add a cashmere blanket to your Christmas List. Then come back for more next month. And if you do find or write a post that you feel is worth sharing, then get in touch.