August 2025

It wasn't the best of starts to August as I came down with a sickness bug. Eleanor had been sick at work on the Tuesday and continued to be ill once home, Jack was sick later that evening, Jacob was sick during the night, Mick started with the bug on the Thursday and I succumbed on the Friday. Daniel and Jasmine had gone to the Edinburgh Fringe that weekend and they got it too, luckily not quite as bad as the rest of us. I think it may have been something which Eleanor picked up at a baby group as her friend's little girl was sick too. It lasted a couple of days.

We've had some lovely days out this month, Temple Newsam Farm with Jack, and Kettlewell Scarecrow Festival, both of which I wrote about in previous posts, as well as Whitby. I enjoyed getting my Yorkshire Dales fix as well as some sea air.

It was Mick's birthday on the 14th, this is now his last year in his fifties, the big 6 0 next year. We enjoyed a really lovely meal out. We have a very good Italian restaurant within walking distance of our house and they do the best lasagna I've every tasted. We've also enjoyed some coffees (him) and teas (me) out, with sweet treats included too, of course.

I've read two books this month.

The Chalk Pit by Elly Griffiths is the ninth book in the Dr Ruth Galloway series and probably my favourite so far, though it's hard to choose really as they're all so good. I keep saying this one or that one was my favourite as I work my way through them, they just seem to get better and better. I really enjoy the mysteries but the characters and the complicated lives they lead are as equally fascinating. There's another development between Nelson and Michelle in this book which will definitely set the cat among the pigeons.

I'm still enjoying reading the classics and The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins is one I picked up this month. It's quite a hefty book but it kept me intrigued and engrossed the whole way through. It's so well written and has definitely stood the test of time. I sometimes wonder how a particular book has become a classic because I don't rate it, but I suppose reading is subjective and just because one person likes a particular book, it doesn't mean that everyone will. I definitely give The Woman in White a huge thumbs up and thoroughly recommend it.

The Thursday Murder Club landed on Netflix on Thursday, I've been looking forward to watching it. When I heard who had been cast in the four main roles I thought that Helen Mirren, Celia Imrie and Ben Kingsley were exactly right for the characters of Elizabeth, Joyce and Ibrahim, but I just couldn't see Pierce Brosnan in the role of Ron. I thought he did a good enough job but when I read a book I get a picture of what a character looks like in my head and I just think that someone like Ray Winstone would have made a better Ron. I enjoyed the film but not as much as the book. Mick's never read the books but he enjoyed the film.

Believe it or not, I've seen Christmas paraphernalia being loaded onto the shelves in certain shops. Yes, in the middle of August! I thought I'd better pick up a few autumnal bits to add to my seasonal decor before they clear it out to make room. I love the candles which I picked up in Primark, not a shop I usually visit, so pretty.

I've had a little break from knitting things for Jack but I've now cast on another Baby Aosta Cardigan by The Knit Purl Girl. This will be the fifth one I've knit for him but they fit so well and look lovely on, as well as being cosy, so Eleanor asks for this same pattern each time, just a variation in the colour. I'm knitting this one in King Cole Cherished DK in the Pebble colourway. Jack's growing like a weed, he needs lots of new clothes.

We're now approaching September, my birthday month. I can feel summer slipping away as we head into autumn but I'm still hoping that the lovely weather we've been having will hang on for some time yet. Time will tell.