Well. Wasn't that a hot week? Pheeeeeweeee.
Writing News
Stand by for a half-remembered, massively paraphrased bit of info I semi-digested once. It's an ABSOLUTE FACT (ish) that you have to scroll past a piece of information seven times before it will start to register.
This explains two things. Firstly, it'll be the reason why I pay a small fortune each month for collagen supplements, and mushroom gummies. My insta algo knows my exact time of life and markets the hell at me. Secondly, it's the reason why I'm currently spamming everyone's timelines on a daily basis with links, vids, and pics, urging the world to buy my book. I can only apologise. It's science, you see.
The upshot is, I'm getting really good at using Capcut to smush a bunch of clips and photos together, along with a carefully timed voice-over, in order to spread the word. If you follow me on insta, TikTok, Bluesky, or Threads, you'll know exactly what I mean. (The underlying sentiment of all this is, I'm so very sorry for being annoying. I hate this necessary evil and I judge myself on the daily.)
Culture
I absolutely devoured Curtis Sittenfeld's American Wife. This is the fourth Sittenfeld book I've read and it's magnificent. A fictional First Lady of the US recounts her life. We're invited into the inner world of Alice - from the fifties to the noughties - including a candid look at the inside of her marriage. Except it's more than that. It's an accepted truth that the fictional character of Alice is hugely based on Laura Bush. That gives the novel a whole layer of extra interest and comment. I couldn't put it down and it's still in my head, a week or so later. (I also went straight to Laura Bush's Wikipedia the second I was finished.)
through the Off Campus series by Elle Kennedy. I saw that there was a TV show on Prime and wanted to check out the book first. I'm now reading the third book of five and finding them a perfectly lovely diversion in the heat.
 |
| Rivals. Pure eighties where the male heartthrob is a Tory MP. It was a different time. |
Meanwhile, TV is doing its best to make me put my books down. Rivals is back! YES. That series brings all of the joy and reminds me, more than is healthy, of Britain in the eighties. The era in which as a child, all my understanding of the world was formed. It was a different time, folks, it was a different time.
 |
| Mango, halloumi, and lime. Plus salad shiz. |
Food and Drink
Remember last year when my garden was a state? 2025 saw the installation of a new sewage treatment plant, a dug-up garden, and then the necessary fixing of the outdoor space. Now, almost one year on from the end of that upheaval, I have a nice place to sit when it's warm. It's shaded and cool, with a big wooden table that could be used for outdoor dining with friends. In reality it doubles as my desk when it's too hot to be in the house. To be honest, the table/desk has become my all day seating area. Meals, work, reading, and relaxing have been going on in the shaded little corner of the garden. And what food has been involved? Why, salads of course! Before I bore you to tears, along with the usual suspects of lettuce, tomatoes, and cucumber, there's also been griddled mango, halloumi, croutons, honey roasted swede, honey roasted carrots, pistachios, and dried apricots. Bung a basic vinaigrette over any combination of all that and you've got yourself a feast.
 |
| My 'work, eat, relax' table. |
Out and About
I had a night in London to visit my aunt, a quick trip to Sheffield to have lunch with my sister and niece, a night out with friends in Liverpool, then another night in another friend's garden to celebrate a fiftieth. Turns out it's been a bumper week of frolics. Lordy, sometimes I go nowhere! How fab to have a crazy period of socialising for a change.
The Met Office app informs me the temperature has dropped. My perimeno-self is grateful. However, the salads, litres of water, and fresh air aren't bad habits to have. I just get to do them in sleeves now. The dream!
Have a lovely week, folks.
No comments:
Post a Comment