I miss summer. Still, it made a good excuse for going out for a curry...

Before and during this afternoon's rib ride up the Menai Strait - Storm Amy still kicking up one hell of a wind.

Wedding ready!

Day 2 of 5 cohabiting a holiday home with the mother-in-law, who has been chain-drinking strong instant coffee to keep herself awake all day and night. I'm also fairly sure she's been smoking out of her bedroom window; the whole house reeks of a heady mix of smoke and Impulse body spray.

Inspired by @chazzersmurf.bsky.social, there really could be no other accompaniment to my trip to the butcher in the next village!

Off to Anglesey later this morning for a family wedding over the weekend. Loading up the car with parlour games, and the most important cargo: what G calls "school cake". Vanilla sponge topped with coconut and raspberry jam.

Apparently it's been a while since we bought pickle... 😬

Doing Hunter's Chicken this evening - looks much less appetising before it gets its saucy glaze!

Cauliflower gratin, with bacon, mushroom, and tomato. Perfect for these cold crisp evenings!

I'm a few days late, but it's wonderful to be back in Darrowby again. The kind of gentle family drama the BBC used to dominate Sunday evenings with. #allthingsgreatandsmall

Listening to Tallis's Spem in alium, and having flashbacks to seeing it being performed at Clifton Cathedral. It was the opener to the concert, and as the piece built more and more of the vast choir appeared from all angles of the cathedral, filling the space with glorious sound.

Love that our window boxes are still so full of life and colour - they bring me joy every time I wash up.

It's time... 🥶🔥

Thursday at last - nearly there everyone! And more importantly, the last of this week's early morning voyages into Manchester. The joy at the thought of not having to rise before dawn tomorrow is ridiculous!

We all love a bit of a kitchen disco/karaoke while doing the washing up, right? Because I'm currently being judged to f*** from the other room for my mini-Erasure concert.

Nearly home, and I am absolutely pooped. No rest for the wicked either; tomorrow the gardener arrives at 8am, and then Thursday I'm up at 6 again to get the 7am train back into Manchester.

Actually, thinking about it, I do wonder how much the removal of the 3.5mm jack has contributed to the rise of the antisocial menace that is headphone-less video watching on public transport... would be interesting to correlate.

There's a young man sat behind me on the train watching a video of radical Caribbean preacher telling his flock what Jesus would like from them. You know what Jesus would really like? For you to spend a few pounds on a cheap pair of headphones.

Good morning world - ready for day 2 of 3 in Manchester this week, and not such an early start today. Another beaut of a morning, although quite nippy in the shade!

Oooh, shiny new toys! 👀 (Replacing our UAP-AC-PROs as they're 7+ years old and losing reliability)

Morning y'all - up early for the first of three days in the office this week, and it's a fresh one. Mercury barely scraping zero when I got up, the first frost on the ground, but still regretting my last minute decision to grab a coat. Think a breakfast roll might be in order when I get to town!

I do love that they snuggle! 🥰😻

Haven't done this walk in months - possibly all summer - but it's my favourite time of year for it. Hedgerows groaning with sloes and hips.

It's turned into a beautiful afternoon that's calling me out for a walk, but I've such a busy week I really should be resting. Plus I've a million and one admin jobs I should be doing. What's a chap to do?

The collective genii of Jimmy Perry and David Croft are woefully underrated in all of your "top ten sitcoms" - justice for Dads Army! For Hi-De-Hi and Are You Being Served. For 'Allo 'Allo and You Rang M'Lord?. And who could forget Oh! Doctor Beeching? Whatever happened to good British comedy? 😔

Is it just us that are really struggling to hear Strictly? Background music (and crowd) far too loud over dialogue, can barely make out a word.

Running a bit late with lunch today, but the miserable weather calls for something hearty and comforting. Cumberland sausages and sweet sticky onions, with plenty of brown sauce, make for an epic sandwich!

Prompted by @sequinste.bsky.social I've just dug out my hot water bottle - it's too old to carry the daisy emblem, but is kitemarked BS1970:1984 (which wasn't superceded until 2001). That Superdrug logo was introduced in 1995, which makes it at least 24 years old, and potentially as old as 30. 😬

Still fuming over something that happened at lunchtime. Audi driver - you know the sort, blacked out windows, personalised plate, illegal coating so he avoids the cameras as he happily commits traffic offences, observed speeding and swerving around the motorway traffic.

Home at last. Quite the drive back, but we are now firmly settled until the wedding in October.

Good morning world. Headed back north today. Lovely few days, but after three nights in my mother's guest bed my shoulder is absolutely shot. I can barely turn my head, and reaching in the shower agony. Three cheers for Voltarol!

Bovey Tracey really is a darling little town - I can see us ending up here when we're old and decrepit!

It's a beautiful morning here in Ilminster, but alas no time to enjoy as we're on the road again in an hour, headed into deepest darkest Dartmoor to visit the wrinklies. Sandwiches have been cut for the obligatory torside picnic!

Good morning world, and what a lovely morning it is too. Today we have a hot date with the M6 South as we drive down to Somerset to spend a few days with family. Forecast for the weekend is looking dicey, rain macs were the first thing to go into the car!

Good morning world. I am not feeling today - woken at 3am by the cat licking my face off, lying awake with Alarm Anxiety since 5, and eventually up at 6 to get to the office by 8. If I make it to 5pm it'll be a small miracle!

Rayner didn't get binned over £40k stamp duty. She was crushed by the weight of her own hypocrisy having spent 14 years declaring tax avoidance as morally bankrupt, hoping hers stayed private while demanding her opponents' tax affairs be public, and then made up excuses when caught out 🤷‍♂️

One of the neighbours have had a slate come off their roof in the wind - where it's landed looks unnervingly like a headstone on the lawn!

Not only a double rainbow, but if you look closely at the main arc you can see the spectrum being repeated inside itself. 🌈

I could be wrong, but something tells me I might have a hair appointment on Friday. I'm all for being sure your message has landed, but how many notifications are too many?

Celebrating the end of summer with a hearty sausage casserole. Slow cooking season is here baby! 🧣🍂

Lovely day spent riding the North York Moors Railway to Whitby and back, working up an appetite for dinner! 🚂

I also had a double take when a voluptuous woman who emerged from a room wearing what looked like her birthday suit but transpired to be a knitted, figure hugging (slightly too small) one-piece trouser and top number in fleshtone, slightly too sheer for her black knickers.

Today is a very special day, it's out 10th wedding anniversary. We're celebrating with a long weekend at a country house hotel in North Yorkshire. Here's to the next ten! 🥂

Just finished a jar of salmon paste and it's really not as good. Sardine and Tomato reigns supreme!

Had a wonderful moment on the telephone to an hotel earlier: H: is your booking for a special occasion? Me: we're celebrating our 10th wedding anniversary. H: lovely - may I ask your wife's name? Me: of course you may, it's Gari. H: ... H: and do you need a dinner reservation?

Lovely day spent taking in the gardens at Chatsworth with friends; a great end to the bank holiday, and possibly the summer - there's a definite late summer feeling in the air, and although there's still a week of August left this BH particularly has had a feeling of finality to it.

This evening's wander was the Burbage valley - Mother Cap rock, Higger Tor, Carl Wark, and Over Owler Tor. Another few cobwebs blown away!

I really wish the NPA would ban motor homes pitching up outside of official sites. The view of the ridge here is absolutely ruined by twelve of the fucking things. Every other passing space has one in it. They're a plague and a menace.

Done it again - come out for a walk on the moors and forgotten to bring the Smidge!

I've never seen the reservoir levels this low - we need rain!