So today's post was going to be another lovely apple recipe but it didn't work. I tried to make apple flapjacks as something different. They failed! They ended up too appley so now they taste exactly like crumble, which I was trying to avoid!

So instead today's post is about squirrels. Yes, squirrels. This had been inspired by my favoutrite autumnal jumper pictured below. One of the weirdest things that ever happened to me was a squirrel falling out of a tree on a very windy day onto my windscreen. I had no idea what was going on. I stopped the car and tried to find it, to see if it was ok, but I think it bounced too far. Now I think the squirrels are out for revenge. They sit in a large oak tree outside my flat and pelt me with acorns. Honestly they wait until I am walking on the road and then start throwing them. It is definitely not that the acorns are naturally falling off the tree. 

The other picture below was taken in St James's Park, London where the squirrels are so tame that they are happy to pose for photos. They even climbed up one tourist's leg (much to their surprise!)

I really want this hat for the Autumn but I popped into Accessorize to try it on and my face disappeared! I have a very small head and so usually have to wear kids hats. So if anyone finds some lovely hats in small sizes do let me know!

It is definitely feeling a bit more like Autumn. It is getting darker earlier, cooling down and I have a gigantic spider in our flat! I was going to take a picture to show you all but it made me feel too queasy.  I swear it is the size of a mouse! However you all lucked out. I decided that a picture of a very large spider probably wasn't the way to treat my new found blog reader friends. Thank you for your comments and compliments over the last few days. 

These bracelets are really easy to make. 
You need:
Seed beads (two colours)
Bead thread
Clasp

1. Measure three lengths of bead thread to fit round your wrist. Add a bit of extra length so that you have enough to tie onto the clasp. 
   
2. Take the first piece of thread and tie it onto one side of the clasp. 
   
3. Thread one set of the coloured beads onto the thread and tie onto the other side of the clasp.
   
4. Repeat this with the second thread and other colour of seed beads.
   
5. For the third strand mix the two colours together.
   

Happy beading!

I just joined in BrassyApple's photo challenge on 'I am ...' This is the entry I posted.  Which is a shot I took a little while ago in Surrey.

So today has been a truly lovely bank holiday. I went for a lovely walk and pub lunch around Albury, Surrey with my boyfriend and my dad. It stayed dry and felt like a perfect way to spend the bank holiday. We stopped at the the William IV pub. We also stumbled across the Saxon and Norman church of St Paul and St Peter's and found an old post box from the Victorian period. Here are some of my snaps for the day.
William IV fact: his nickname was 'sailor Bill'.
Provided by my fact, geek boyfriend, Horrible Histories historical consultant. You can follow his Twitter here.

A friend of mine taught me to needle felt a little while ago. My sister really likes fruits with faces so I made this for her.

Needle felting works by matting woollen fibers together with felting needles. You can then matt together different colours and begin to sculpt shapes.

It's not that I am wishing the summer away but with all the rain my attention has started to turn to my Autumn winter. This year I hope to wear more dresses so I have been playing with outfit options on polyvore. I love this website. I have only just started using it but you can put together sets of outfits and make them look as if they have just come straight out of a magazine. Have a go and send me your outfits!

So as promised - how to make an apple cumble. If you followed the blog post below you have already done the time consuming part of preparing the apples. I love this oat and chocolate topping which helps to make the crumble a bit special. 

Ingredients
100g oats
50g caster sugar
75g unsalted butter
25g plain flour
30g grated or chopped chocolate

1. Place the puree in the dish you would like for your crumble
   
2. In another bowl prepare the crumble mixture by measuring out all the ingredients and either whizzing them together in a food processor, or mixing them into a breadcrumb consistency with your fingers
3. Add the crumble mixture on top of your apple puree and press down slightly
4. Bake for about 30 minutes at around 200C until the apple is piping hot and the crumble is nice and golden 

Let me know if you try the recipe. You can switch the chocolate for anything you fancy. How about dessicated coconut or cinnamon? If you have any creative ideas for toppings leave them below and I will try them out on my next crumble.

The sun seems to be attempting to come out today so I'm off out on a quick walk. Enjoy your Saturday.

So as you will notice in my earlier post I am already swamped with cooking apples from my mum and we have only just started the apple season. So what to do with all of them? Well I am going to start by posting my trusty crumble recipe and apple pies but first off you have to prep all the apples. I did this the other day whilst singing along very loudly (and probably awfully!) to the radio.

1. First peel and chop all your apples. If they are windfall apples like mine make sure you avoid any suspicious looking bits and put them in the bin. 
   
2. Put your chopped apple in a casserole dish with a lid
   
3. After chopping them all add a squirt of lemon juice this helps the puree to stay fresh and stop the apples browning. 
   
4. Add a tablespoon of water and stir in some sugar. I do this by sight and taste. It is really up to you how sweet you want your puree and how much apple you have.
   
5. Put the lid on the casserole dish and put on full power for about 10 minutes.
   
6. When you see the apple puff up in the dish carefully take the dish out and stir the apple. It should be a puree consistency but if you used normal apples instead of cooking apples they will still retained their shape but they will be soft. Both are nice for either pies of crumble.
   
7. Use immediately in crumbles or pies or put in the fridge for 2-3 days. Also great to freeze for when you need it.
   

Apple Crumble post up next.

So maybe it is time to explain the title of my blog. Two of my favourite things are lemons and the colour turquoise (and blueberries but that was making the title a bit long). So in celebration of the colour turquoise and to try and fight against the very grey, rainy scene from my window here are some turquoise photos from my various travels.