My book list for the month is here - quite a wide variety of books this month! I've also started, but not finished, Precipice by Robert Harris. It took me a little while to get into and it is hard to believe that it is a fiction worked around the true stories of the correspondence between the British prime minister at the start of the first World War and a girl half his age.
I'm still catching up on the Chelsea Detective and have started the new series of Ginny and Georgia. Wimbledon was on our screens quite a lot and that seemed to be all there was on terrestrial tv in the evenings! The Great British Sewing Bee has returned which always brings back happy memories of studying for my A level in Needlework back in 1975. I also watched the new series of The Couple Next Door. It was very raunchy in places but a real 'twist in the tale' story.
We started watching Destination X where people are taken to places in Europe in a blacked out bus, then given hints and clues so that they can guess where they are. Bearing in mind that I worked for 10 years in the travel industry, my geography is not as good as it should be so it will be interesting to see if I do any better than the contestants.
Eating
Well, I returned from Italy with a couple of extra pounds so I've been trying to return to healthy habits. Hopefully by not having the lure of an evening gelato after dinner will help me lose those pesky pounds.
It has been very hot here and it's just too hot to spend much time at the oven and hob so I have been cheating a bit! Things like turning chicken breast in breadcrumbs into chicken katsu curry (with the help of a sauce sachet and microwavable rice!) and making a large pot of ragu and freezing it in portions has made life very easy.
We have a gooseberry bush in our garden and each year there are more and more fruit on it and it's hard to know what to use them for. Last week I found a recipe for a gooseberry crumble cake and it was lovely! It is really just a normal sponge recipe but you cook it in a deep sided cake tin, spread the gooseberries over the top and cover with a crumble topping. I was surprised how tasty it was and am already thinking that I will be able to do something similar using apples instead of gooseberries.
Another recipe I discovered was using mince meat. It's from an instagram account called 'boredoflunch'. It's called Hot Honey Sweet Potato Bowls. I don't have an air fryer so I just browned the meat on the hob. I'd never tried hot honey before - honey with added chilli flakes - but it's so yummy drizzled over the cottage cheese and sweet potatoes.
Self Care
This one is on a bit of a hiatus. I'm still enjoying my Zumba and I'm still going to Pilates but I can't say I'm loving it. Whereas I look forward to Zumba and come out full of happy vibes, Pilates is still something on the calendar that I feel I have to go to. The teacher is lovely, the class is lighthearted but I am no more flexible now than I was when I started in January! However they are fitting air conditioning into the hall that we use (and about time too!) so there are no classes in August. I've signed up for an online week of classes so I'll let you know how that goes next month.
There was a haircut; I had been toying with the idea of changing my style after seeing a picture of Fern Britton in a magazine where she had her hair tucked behind her ears and I was very tempted to go shorter and more layered to try and get a similar effect. In the event, although quite a lot of hair was cut, it doesn't look that much shorter!
Days out
There haven't been many of these, apart from a visit to a garden centre. We also went our our grandson's football presentation afternoon. It's been his first year of playing in a proper team and he was very proud of his trophy!
For the last two weeks we have either been childcaring or dog sitting but those dates in the diary are over now and we can get back on track. We had planned on going out for dinner the first day we had the house back to normal but quite honestly, it was nice just to be able to relax at home.
So, it was a quiet month for me, but I bet that the other Deb over in Australia had a busier time. Let's go and check here ...
Time for 1 Second Everyday
7 comments:
That hot honey sweet potato bowl looks delicious!
Hello Deb, I've read about the heatwaves in UK and Europe and am wondering what to pack for our upcoming 5 weeks in UK and Norway starting mid-August. I know I'll be coming back to get back on track with healthy eating so I might try your hot honey sweet potato bowl. Nutritious and delicious. Thanks so much for joining us for #WBOYC? and have a lovely August. Sue L x
Another coincidence! We have a couple of book club members who Iive in Nottingham. It was Nina's turn to pick the book for July and she picked Precipice. At first I thought it seemed pretty silly. But then when I found out it was a story woven around those found letters, I thought it was pretty interesting. My favorite thing was how efficient London was with the mail--getting it several times a day. Being able to write a letter, post it and have it received on the same day seems pretty amazing to me! In fact, I've done the "mail rail" at the postal museum in London 3 times!!
Hi Deb, it sounds like a good month for you. We'll be over there next week (I'm just blocking out the 24 hour travel) and will appreciate warmer temps than we've had here lately (it's our winter). I always enjoy catching up with months and wish you all the best for August.
Deb's World in Australia xx
Sounds like July was a good month. Here's to all that August might hold! Maybe a bit of a break in the heat. Your haircut suits you so well. Hope I can say the same soon! Have a great week ahead!!
I love gooseberries. They seem a bit out of fashion, don't see them in shops much. Your hair looks lovely. I may have missed this, but how did it go with the dachshund? Always cracks me up..
Deb I like your new hair do ... I did get the book The Binding from the library - an interesting read & I like the idea, if only, binding was possible!!!
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