Umm excuse me how can it be November already? I still have flip flops in the shoe basket in the hallway and my winter coats are still stuffed in bin bags in the top of the wardrobe. I am rather partial to a golden sunlight autumn day, crispy leaves on the ground of every colour from green, to red to orange but the grey days of November are not for me. Luckily family birthday shenanigans see me through this changing season month and suddenly the build up to Christmas festivities starts. 

I am so affected by the weather. Just look at my profile picture, a quick iPhone snap on a hazy summer day in the golden fields with sun rays streaming across my face. I really need to change it for something more autumnal but I was so happy at that moment. Believe me I have tried to take another, a selfie queen I am not. 25 attempts later and the summer photo has stayed put.

You know those miserable wet mornings where the sun never seems to rise, where dark clouds threaten the skies all day and everything seems so flat? Those days drain me. I am a summer baby and the thought of begin cocooned in opaque tights for the next 4 months makes my heart sink a little. I need colour in my life and when there's no colour to be found outside I create it inside!

The #capturingcolour gallery is everything I need to brighten my day. Over 22,000 streams of colour in my Insta feed. I adore scrolling through and looking through all the posts linked up to this colour loving community.

You blow me away.

We get to peek into people's homes, see how they use colour in their clothes to change their mood and colour to motivate them. I love the soulful images, the straight out pops of neon and everything in between.

I'm catching up on sharing some favourites so make sure you click on the ones that jump right out of you, and I guarantee you will find inspirational by the colourful rainbow load. 

Top to bottom, L to R: @flojoro123, @allenandbear, @dandyfinepartycompany, @porthjess, @partyprepworkshop, @stickandstonedesigns, @bespokebride, @lucylovesyablog, @myaamin. 

Top to bottom, L to R: @holidayspiritsdecor, @candypop.uk, @sophieisobelasher, @littlemaldod, @noorphotoart, @mylittleduke, @thevintagegoodlife, @spoonfulofcolor, @winnies_wonderland.

Top to bottom, L to R: @alittlepartoftheworld, @coolbananasblog, @hellomissmay, @jessicatrent, @lingyeungb, @hstfineart, @monkeykidsandme, @littlebigbell, @ceren_and_ladies.

I could fill these grids 5 times over, I am so thankful for everyone who joins in and who are so supportive. So keep sharing your colourful captures, it's such a positive and happy thing to do. Colour is everywhere, in door frames, beneath your feet, in the sky, all around you.

This image from Jennifer Lake just stood out for me. The essence of the gallery! Oh how I'd love to walk down that street!

Over the last few weeks we have been madly redecorating and updating our guest room and the downstairs cloakroom. It has been a hive of activity, tradesmen coming and going from dawn until dusk and I cannot wait to show you the difference. The way I have kept the walls neutral to make the spaces feel bigger and brought splashes of colour in different ways, to highlight all the features of the room.

Is it normal to fall in love with a box of floor tiles? Because I am in luuuuurve with our new toilet floor and they are not even grouted yet!

So much to show you over the next couple of weeks on the blog!

Keep sharing your beautiful captures, join in with the #capturingcolour community. When you hashtag your photo click through and see what catches your eye, like it or leave a comment. Spread the love.

Over the coming weeks I have some super collaborations to fill you in on - colour lovers you are in for a treat! I am going to share the gallery with a few of my favourite brands and we are going to have some amazing giveaways for you. 

Happy colour hunting! Don't forget to tag me too so I don't miss them!

#capturingcolour is a theme on Instagram. Tag your colourful photos this week. Favourites will be featured next Monday :)

I love the countdown to the end of October, the flashes of sunshine fooling you that you can still wear flip flops one minute and winter boots the next, and the 1st of November is always a happy day - it's my sister's birthday!

I feel like we've squeezed more into this past month than ever before. Every second of October has been jam packed with trips with friends, catch ups, walks on the beach, play dates at the park, school performances, parent's teas, house updates, decorators, plumbers, plasterers, more train bookings than I've made in my life up to the big smoke, new babies and a visit from a small pink one.

We've all tried our best, put 100% into moving at 100 miles an hour and half term came just at the right time, before we all collapsed in a heap! The boys have been desperate for a break from the school run. We leave the house at (or we aim to leave the house) at 7.50am and once the dreaded clocks went back, it now feels like we are heading off before the sun rises. All they really wanted this half term was to play. Play with grandparents, play with their cousin and root around in the playroom rediscovering toys that have been overlooked in amongst the homework, the after school club routine and busy weekends away.

We've all been on a hamster wheel, the boys have embraced everything the new school has thrown at them, violin lessons, tennis, swimming and Ollie has suddenly blossomed into this beautiful wide-eyed sponge, soaking up every new experience, reading books with words in "Mama - look it has lots of words!" and walking past road signs, stopping to spell out the letters "Rrr-oooo-aaa-dd cc-lll-ooo-ss-ee-d, road closed Mama." We are just watching in complete awe. He is suddenly writing with confidence, and told me off the other day for my 'h' which was lacking the cursive flick at the end. He's growing more like his confident, show man older brother and these two floppy haired boys are testing our patience less and delighting us more.

That must sound strange to say, but over the summer we really struggled with temper tantrums, answering back and attitude that gave a worrying flash of what their teenage years might be like! But over the past month, with a definite influence from school and new friends, they have both calmed down, they are speaking more eloquently and are generally showing us how wonderful life is when everyone is contented. No arguing, no stamping feet. More of that please!

October has been about focus, we've juggled an extraordinary amount of work commitments, had more than a few 1.30am finishes and we both have made conscious choices about where we want our businesses to head. Rich is doing remarkable things with the tea business and I've had a bit of a soul searching month. I've realised where my strengths lie and where they certainly don't. I've been firmer with myself, saying no more often than ever, and made a big step towards my big dream for this blog. I met with a very talented man Reuben who understood me in 5 minutes and is going to help me make some big changes to the look and feel of this blog and finally get my product photography business online!

I blasted him my wish list, my ambitions, talked about people I admire in the blogging arena and my constant struggle to concentrate on one thing. And luckily he doesn't think I need to either! It's ok to wear many hats if they all point you in the same direction. I want to be able to write about the house, the boys, places we have travelled to and this month I am going to try and get more comfortable in front of the camera. I loved sharing a podcast last year but for some silly reason I let it drift. But maybe there's a way of being a little less camera shy (That sounds stupid but check out my daily feed - you have to scroll for weeks before you see me) - I'm plotting.

Over the next few days I am combining work and pleasure. That's the funny thing about blogging, there's no real break. You could be online every minute of the day, and share every intimate moment, every holiday, there's no real downtime. I look at bloggers with babies and there's no maternity leave as a blogger. The blog must go on! In a way it's become normal now, sharing a photo to Instagram first thing in the morning, making sure I photograph the rooms we are decorating for a before and after post and borrow my family as models for product photography! This weekend it's Granny and Grandad Bo's turn to be my props. I am photographing new images for the Wallace and Gromit The Grand Appeal charity "Big Bake" campaign which happens in December. We have chefs hats, flour and cupcakes to make!

Life and work have intertwined. 

But I don't see it as a bad thing, I have felt luckier than ever this month with the opportunities we have as a family, we took the boys to the regional shopping centre at Cribbs Causeway in Bristol and I felt proud as punch to see all my photos around The Grand Appeal store. This weekend I am rather worryingly modelling some gorgeous clothing for Joules for something exciting which I will share next week and all week we have been planning a surprise trip away with a company I love in 8 weeks that the boys are going to go nuts about. Blogging has led to some amazing collaborations, creative campaigns and long lasting relationships with brands I have loved for years. I've found a new confidence to approach companies I respect and would love to introduce my audience to and have had the pleasure to share my blogging story and hopefully help others with some hints and tips at a couple of events with Tots100. I have my final part of my growing and developing your Instagram style and following series on Monday and will be sharing my session from the food photography workshop with River Cottage towards the end of the week. 

I was completely spoilt this month with a night away with the team from Graham and Brown, swapping a drafty room with no carpet for 5* luxury at the Northcote Hotel and a fantastic behind the scenes tour of their factory, a wonderful afternoon with Etsy learning the art of brush lettering with a firm blogging friend I have made over the last few months Teri, and chatted all things home and interiors over afternoon tea with Farrow and Ball with some wildly talented writers and bloggers. Spoilt rotten. 

I have so many photos to share with you - this blog is going to be full of colour and inspiration in November!

On Monday I'm meeting with a London PR agency and one of the biggest international beauty clients imaginable to discuss a very exciting event. I'll share more when I can but fear not I shan't be in front of the camera! Trips to London have become a weekly occurrence and it suddenly doesn't feel like such a momentous journey zipping on the train from Gillingham and home again. 

I'm still just about managing to juggle my consultancy role in the development industry - flicking a switch some days and heading to meetings with house builders in traditional workwear, all suited and booted. It's like I am in a different world but I like it.

We had my little niece Yasmin to stay for 3 nights last week and I couldn't have adored my time with her more. We slipped into life as a 5 and I can't thank my sister and brother in law enough for trusting us with their most precious person. My sister was on bed rest with SPD that she has developed through her second pregnancy and we got to cement our tight bond all over again. She was so happy, so grateful to join me on the school run, she was an absolute joy. Her infectious enthusiasm for the world touches everyone she meets. Strangers stopped me in the street to tell me how beautiful she was, how polite and I honestly feel I have the best of every world being able to borrow her.

Our little spare room has firmly become "Yazzy's room" and I am planning a sweet makeover before Christmas - a total excuse to decorate with pink and pretty bunting even though we have 2 boys! I love being a mother of sons and having Yasmin to stay gave me a chance to totally indulge both our girly sides. She loves all things sparkly, frilly dresses, playing traditional games like tea parties and we spent hours at Auntie's dolls house that the boys enjoyed when they were younger. I dress my boys in pink, they've had dollies in the past, Sammy adored a pushchair we found in a charity shop when he was a toddler and I've never pushed them towards stereotypical 'boys toys', but naturally both the Heath brothers and Yasmin are drawn to different things. And that's fine by me. 

I did nothing but spoil her with attention for almost 4 days and it was the break from work I needed. It was full on, but the most fun full on I could think of. Neither of us wanted her to leave when they came to collect her! She even said over and over "No I don't want to go home, stay at Auntie's!" I love her like she's my own and when she left I felt quite empty, the house seemed so quiet without a bustling toddler haring around.

We sat down and just watched our pair of brothers for a few moments, happily colouring at the table, chatting to each other, playing together, encouraging each other, complimenting each other on a particularly well drawn monster, and we said wow - they are just so easy now. Of course it's not like that all the time but suddenly we've moved into a new phase. Almost overnight they have the independence they crave, instead of pushing boundaries, they stay up a little later at the weekend and we can enjoy a meal at a more grown up meal time, and talk all through dinner, with these mini people we have made.

We've had tradesmen in the house all week like Piccadilly Circus at the front door and each one has seen how they respect the house. All the little touches, the vases of flowers that live on the coffee table, the white walls, the nice accessories and cushions we work hard to afford. And although Yasmin is just the same, growing up being taught to respect the homes we live in, at 4 and 6 our boys are showing a real appreciation for how tough it is to work so hard. The value of things and pride in what Rich and I do.

And we are so proud of these two.

We left for a Halloween weekend away in the South East late last night and I suddenly realised that of all the hundreds of photos on the camera roll and laptop, there wasn't one of us four. A Me and Mine fail! So just before the car was packed to the brim with party bits and birthday presents for my sister, we dived into the hallway and snapped our reflection in the little hanging mirror.

And that will have to do this month and actually I feel it's quite fitting. It's been a whirlwind month, we've had time as a family and just enjoyed it without photos. I have to force myself to leave the camera at home or in my pocket but I am learning that not everything needs a photo, it's ok to be in the moment. So our family portrait this month is just one piece of a busy jigsaw of lovely friends, simple days out, celebrations and everything that life can throw at us.

Tonight we are having a Halloween party with Yasmin - just fun nothing scary. The boys love any excuse to dress up, play games and eat treats! We are going to snuggle under a duvet watch a film and then start it all again the next day for a 32nd family party complete with pass the parcel and party bags! I will never believe you are too old for party bags ;)

This week we were sent some treats from Slumberdown and the most divine silky new duvet which I can't wait to get home to on Monday night. It has the most luxurious striped finish - you almost don't want to hide it with a quilt cover. The boys road tested it and it passes their cosy test! We have always struggled in the past that their duvets seem to fall off them in the night and they've woken feeling cold and unsettled, but this duvet has been developed with a hollow fibre filling that wraps around your body so the whole thing moves with you in the night. I predict they are going to want to sleep with us every night! And after our mini Halloween play shoot the dogs didn't want to jump off either - naughty pups. We've spent the last 2 weeks redecorating the guest room and as it's so lovely we are going to take our new duvet and move in there! 

So wherever you are tonight, whether you celebrate Halloween or not, happy end of October. We have planned our calendar out right up until to new year now, it's just as busy as the last few weeks and we are going to embrace every second of it. The boys are already practising for the big school nativity show, we have long overdue catch ups with best pals away planned and I am working on lots of festive content for lovely clients.

How lucky am I?! Pop over and see my latest family craft ideas for Center Parcs if you are looking for a last minute idea today, my favourite has to be the Woodland Pumpkins... 

Join us and share your month and family photo, I can't wait to see them all. Then head over to Let's Talk Mommy and Jenny's award winning blog! I wish I lived closer to Jenny, she's one of the people I've been lucky to meet through blogging who I could talk for hours with, without stopping for breath!

When we moved to our house, our "forever home" as we nicknamed it, we knew there was work to do. Every bathroom needs ripping out and replacing, we have plans to move stud walls and create a slightly larger master bedroom and use the natural fabric of the building to create proper wardrobe storage behind the solid wooden beams that have supported the house for over 300 years. We have bigger dreams to one day bulldoze the leaking conservatory and sensitively extend the kitchen to make a real country kitchen with as much glass as possible to bring light into our low ceiling stone fortress.

The walls are so thick that it feels like we are cocooned in a bunker of stone and mortar but then the drafty, fragile single paned glass windows give it away that the house needs looking after. 

Over the last couple of weeks we have been busy giving our guest room a complete makeover, which I can't wait to show you soon, and whilst we had some extra pairs of hands in the house to help, we decided to update the downstairs cloakroom which sits between the family living and dining room and our more grown up sitting room. It's tucked into the corner of the hallway and now we have given that a bright shiny fresh coat of white paint, it feels as though this little downstairs toilet lets it down. 

It started as a "it just needs a quick paint job" but quickly we realised what a compromise it would be to have smooth lovely walls and the old, cracked, whistling old sanitary ware. You know when it feels like it's got to a point where you clean it and clean it, and there's still a strange green ring around the bottom of the sink. Urgh!

So it was time to get some inspiration! 

We want to tie the downstairs together with a palette of blues and greys, whites and mint without it feeling like we've just bought everything to decorate each room from one store! I like that there's an overall theme that ties each room together as a whole and gives a sense of calm as you walk around. We live hectic lives with two boisterous and excitable boys, so making the interior decor soft and more serene than using pops of bright colour helps give us a more gentle influence.

It's hard to find inspiration for a downstairs toilet, because they are very tricky to photograph! I am wracking my brains of how I am going to show you the final finished room - it might need to be my first home vlog tour! But I love this simple styling from Grey and Scout paired back, classic and a hint of contemporary with a country feel. 

I found this beautiful tiling mixed with a traditional design sink from UK Bathrooms and pinned it to my For Our Forever Home Pinterest board!  It seems almost silly putting so much love and thought into a cloakroom but it's one of the rooms in the house that gets used the most, and by everyone! The boys blast in and out, guests use it who visit for the day and we often leave the door to the hallway open, so we wanted to take the chance to do something a little nicer than originally planned. Take advantage of the opportunity of it being a little space to choose fancier tiles (on the basis we wouldn't need as many as the main bathroom) and keep costs down by tiling just a splash back as opposed to half or full tiling the entire room. 

It's a very old house and as much as I love modern elements, we knew the suite needed to be in keeping. We went for the this WC from bathstore which was on offer and the Savoy corner sink with a handrail underneath. So we bit the bullet and found a like for like toilet and sink and with next day delivery the full makeover commenced! I realised having the hand towel fixed to the wall meant mucky pups were washing their hands (which was a win in itself) and dripping all the excess water down the wall before the reached the towel! Whilst I love all the fancy pants modern taps and the statement sinks like this heavenly beauty I found photographed by Paul Massey, this is a little room, in a 16th century home and the traditional look is just right.

The taps we bought have the porcelain hot and cold detailing and it all feels so bright I almost don't want to spoil it with using it! The sink is in but as the toilet was being fitted we hit a problem! It resulted in the original (but looking very tired and worn) parquet flooring being ripped up, the soil pipe being moved.

I saw this as a marvellous opportunity to persuade my husband to choose the Fired Earth tiles I have been dreaming of! I've actually taken their brochure to bed a few night this week (yes very romantic!) and we've oohed and aahed over the bold prints and patterns which you just can't find anywhere else. 

We needed to order the tiles asap on a next day delivery not to halt the progress and luckily our favourites from the Patisserie range were available from our local Sherborne store. 

I looked though some of my very favourite interiors books and magazines and by collating all my ideas together it helps to visual the finished room, agree colours and styles with my husband (and less arguments!) and hopefully helps anyone else looking for the same interior styling as us!

I love Inspire by Willow Crossley, Living Life Beautifully is my dream country interior style and I always find things to wish for in Pure Style Home. I tear out product pages from home store catalogues and adore the lighting department in Cox and Cox. 

So the challenge is on! The tiles will be delivered on Monday, fitted and I can start sourcing the lovely bits, a blind, accessories for the freshly painted deep window ledge and possibly a lovely new towel. I want to think about some artwork too, rather than replace the wallpaper that lined the entire room beforehand. Something more soothing to balance against the busy print floor!

I'm thinking a set of pencil drawing botanical prints, what do you reckon? Any ideas where I could source them from?!

I can't wait to show you the finished result.

psst. This is not a sponsored post, I have linked to companies we love and products we have bought. Have a good Friday!