August ...ing

Jack on his 9th birthday

Walking home after ballet, chiffon skirt and all

Time for another round-up of random news happening all through August.

Eating porcini mushroom risotto with roast courgette and courgette fritter sandwiches. The courgettes are going wild in the garden and I expect I'll have a few more courgette based meals in the near future. When not eating variations of courgettes, I might have poached eggs and some kind of salad. 

Also eating and loving cherries. It is peak cherry season in the UK and I am planning to eat as many as I can every day for as long as possible. 

Listening to the Prophet by Helen Macdonald & Sin Blaché. In short - boring with characters that are poorly developed and irritating. My fiction experience has been a bit disappointing lately, with the exception of Wandering Souls by Celine Pin, which was set in the context of the post Vietnam war refugee crisis. I really enjoyed this book and learned more about the aftermath of this conflict, too.  

Enjoying my first and second ballet class. I bought black chiffon wrap skirt instead of the tutu. For now. In my head I look graceful and elegant in class but I suspect I look exactly like a woman counting out the beat of the piano in her head. Teeth and buttocks clenched in concentration.

Witnessing the successes of my children and feeling proud of their achievements. In August, Sam started a full time job after graduating. Annie moved to Norway for a term of study abroad. James completed two National 5 qualifications and successfully applied for Senior Phase College course, which enables him to experience further education part time while still at school. Alistair secured a place on a local football time and has scored his first goal. 

Feeling like the Rudbeckia flower you can see above looks. A bit tired around the edges and maybe still a little fabulous in the middle.

Back to volunteering, after a three week break. We are done fighting Himalyan Balsam for the year. There comes a point where the seed pods are ready to pop and it is really counterproductive to pull it up. We returned to a slope we partially cleared of another invasive, snowberry. We'll have to dig up the roots over in autumn and prepare the ground for wildflower meadow sewing. We planted hedging around the area and it is looking good. We also built a dead hedge in the back to create habitat for small creatures in the winter.

Wondering about the impact a green-blue algae bloom in our local pond has on aquatic biodiversity. The pond water is an irridescent lime green.

Celebrating Jack's 9th birthday. His special birthday dinner was a raw beef burger decorated with cat Dreamies, both woolfed down at the speed of light. I am glad Jack Russells are a long lived breed.

Preparing to freshen up walls and stairs in our hallway, a major job. Richard already removed the carpets and underlay from the stairs, including a million of staples and nails that held them in place. I am choosing the paint colour. Admittedly, not the biggest job but absolutley the most important one.

Absolutely dreading the new term. I have a feeling this might be the term that breaks me. There used to be a time in academia when summer could be used to catch-up with research and professional development but with year round teaching, this is just a beautiful, distant memory. I have failed to meet my personal development and research objectives this year. I'll just have to carry them over to the next review period. 

Looking forward however to travel to Chicago for a conference in October. It is not all doom and gloom.

On this cheerful note, I'll leave you to finish your cup of coffee in peace. Thank you for visiting 😊