Quick one for a Thursday. When you colour a pumpkin, is it always orange, or do you go rogue? One word is plenty. The grinning pumpkins are on page 1 of October's book if you fancy finding out.

Twenty five spooky pages this month. A stack of grinning pumpkins, a haunted house up on a hill, a witch cuddling her cat, and a bubbling cauldron. It's in the Classroom under October Colouring Book, ready when you are. No rush, no finishing it, one page counts. Which one are you starting with?

No plan needed this week. Just go and have a look at what's left outside. The garden is winding down round here, so this week's five came off the last walk round it: the last dahlia hanging on in deep crimson, a papery hydrangea gone soft lilac, bracken on the turn, seed head brown, and the rosemary, which refuses to notice it's autumn. Five colours, that is your lot. Warmer and earthier than the wool stall lot last time, but still with a bit of punch from that dahlia. One small trick: layer two of the five lightly over each other and you get a sixth for free. Try the lilac over the rosemary, or the bracken over the dahlia. What's still hanging on in your garden (or on your windowsill)? Or show us what you've been colouring, finished or nowhere near it. 🌿

Nothing to overthink here. Five colours, off you go. I have got a wool show on my mind this week, and the stalls at those are never subtle. So this week's five came straight off a table of skeins: shouty pink, proper mustard, peacock teal, rusty orange, and one undyed oatmeal to calm the other four down. Five colours, that is your lot. Much louder than the misty set last time, which is exactly what makes it fun on the cottage pages in this month's book. One small trick: press a bit lighter at the edges of each shape and heavier in the middle. Flat pencil suddenly looks like it has light falling on it. Which one would you leave out? (Go on, be honest.) Or stick up a photo of whatever is on the go, halfway is absolutely fine. 🖍️

Monday, and the sky did something nice on the way to school, so that is this week's palette. First light peach where the sun was coming up, school run mist over the fields, wet slate on the rooftops, ten minute blue (the gap you get before it clouds over again) and the dark green of the hedgerows. Five colours, that is your lot. Quieter than the jam pan lot last time, and it suits the cottage pages in this month's book. One small trick: leave one shape completely white on purpose. It gives your eye somewhere to rest, and it stops a busy page feeling like homework. What colour is your sky this morning? Or show us what you have been colouring, finished or nowhere near it. 🖍️