Photo diary: Project 365, week 5

 I'm so glad January is over, and good riddance. It wasn't a very good month for our family, and I wonder what February has in store for us all.

Last Sunday I didn't take any photos except of the two rotten blood oranges, which I emailed to Abel and Cole, politely saying that I expect the oranges to last more than four-five days. As much as I love the idea of Abel and Cole, they don't always have the freshest plant produce.

Rather than show the rotten oranges from Sunday, here are two pics I did on Monday. 

I popped in the garden to check if anything is already showing any colour. So far I couldn't find much except these pink blossoms (please don't ask me what they are called, I'm terrible when it comes to botany).

Last week I mentioned the Korean brand Bibigo. Eddie and I went to Oxford the previous Saturday, hoping to find Bibigo Squid Games products, we couldn't find any, but we did venture into a Chinese supermarket and got some fancy KitKats, snacks and enoki mushrooms.

I bought Bibigo dumplings on Ocado. We tried the green chilli ones, and oh my, the filling is pretty hot. Eddie enjoyed them, as he loves spicy food. 

I drew a Squid Game doll mask for him, to make an Insta post, he kindly obliged me for the photo. I bet he was rolling his eyes behind the mask. 

More food pics. On Tuesday I baked an Italian cake Margherita, it is a tasty fluffy cake, served with just a dusting of icing sugar. My guys love it. It disappeared pretty fast.

I made a semi-resolution to give a second chance to some books, which I started in the past but didn't finish for a variety of reasons.

Eight Pieces of Silva by Patrice Lawrence was the book, which I was reading together with Eddie over a year and a half ago. We went through one third perhaps, and then he asked if we could choose a different book. 

Sadly, we don't read together any longer, though I wonder if I could tempt him with the new Hunger Games prequel coming in March. If not, I'm definitely going to read it myself.

Anyway, back to Silva. This YA thriller had good reviews, and was praised for the representation, in fact, it was recommended by someone whose opinion I trust. 

If you plan to read it and don't want any spoilers, skip the text now.

This book gave me the rage. 

One of the main characters, a teenager, is wasting her life with some lowlife, who has zero redeeming qualities. As the story unfolds, we find out he has a wife and a child, and a tendency of sleeping around. Despite knowing all that, our protagonist is ready to fight for this "treasure", even offering money to his wife to leave him and go back to her home country. 

I wanted to shake this girl. Honestly, where is your self respect? I understand that some women measure their worth by having a man, any man, in their life. But sheesh, I'd rather be alone for the rest of my life than waste it on such an off-putting boyfriend.

I finished the book, and it goes straight to the charity shop. 

Another book that I finished reading last week (I always have two-three books on the go at the same time) has been in my Kindle library for a few years. 

The Dark by Emma Haughton is an atmospheric thriller, set at the UN research station in Antractica. The main protagonist decides to apply for a job as a station medic, after the previous doctor died in a tragic accident. 

Running from the devastating events in the near past, Kate believes she can find peace of mind and tranquility in Antarctica. She is traumatised, not coping with the grief, and physical pain, and is a flawed character. Her own mental health makes her take some pretty unwise (bordering on criminal) decisions. It's hard to relate to her, but the mystery itself is gripping.

There is a dark, claustrophobic feeling of despondency and paranoia. The descriptions of the ice wilderness create a tense, hostile setting. Really enjoyed it.

This is a screenshot rather than a photo, as I read it as an e-book.

Usually I just have a cup of Earl Grey tea and a slice of toast in the morning. I don't eat yogurts or a breakfast cereal. For some reason I decided to make a batch of honey and peanut butter booster bars, using the recipe by H.Fearnley-Whittingstall from the old copy of The Guardian.

I have a bag of milled flaxseed from the latest Degustabox, which needs to be used, and I thought adding some to the energy bars might do the trick.

The bars were very crumbly. I cut a few pieces, then rolled the rest into energy balls, dipped into cocoa mix, and put in the fridge in the container. I prefer these bars as energy balls. They were tasty, and I might experiment with more different fruit and nuts.

And more pictures of food, sorry. Saw a video of young chap on Insta, baking a crumble pie with jam, which brought back memories of my Uni days, when I often baked a similar pie with whatever jam we had at home.

This one is made with a mix of bilberry jam and remains of cranberry sauce. 

Grate 200g of cold butter into 300g of self-raising flour, add 80g of sugar, vanilla sugar, mix into crumbs. Press 2/3 into a baking tray, lined with parchment paper. Scoop the jam on top, and add the remaining crumb mix. Bake for 30-40 minutes at 180C until golden brown. Serve with cream, ice cream or custard.

It's quite nice cold too, cut into slices.

All in all, not an eventful week, and thanks goodness. 

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Photo diary: week 45, project 365

 A week of creative projects and even some ghostly shenanigans... 

Last Sunday Eddie and I visited Costa, in between chores. He fancied trying Ruby hot chocolate. It was very pink, with lots of cream, and curly swirly bits of ruby chocolate on top. Even my child who has a sweet tooth pronounced it very sweet but fun. 

I've been admiring neatly arranged stacks of books for #numberstackchallenge on Insta for a while. I finally grabbed as many books with numbers in their titles as I could find at home, and built my own tower. Of course, as soon as I took the picture and disassembled the stack, I realised we have more titles that could have been added. Never mind.

The town is slowly acquiring its Christmas decorations. The Christmas tree is already set up next to the cinema.

I mentioned Abel & Cole Cheese Club already in the past couple of months. This time all cheeses are made in Wales. We had some fruit with the cheeseboard, and a delicious The Cherry Tree Cheeseboard chutney, which is made with mixed fruit like mango, banana, fig, and veg like tomato, onion, garlic and spices. Give me cheese, and I'm on cloud nine.

For my husband's birthday I bought an ice cream cake from M&S. It's basically a vanilla ice cream, topped with mango passionfruit sauce and white chocolate. I wasn't impressed, but all my men enjoyed it. 

This week I have been sketching quite a bit, as I decided to join in #penandinkchallenge. They have a list of daily prompts, and you can pick and choose which days you want to join in. 

The prompt for Friday was decorations, which I interpereted as Christmas decorations, and drew Nordic gnomes. I used a black Parker Jotter pen, and a red marker.

That evening Eddie and I went into the garden to put the remains of the ice cream cake in the freezer which is in the summerhouse. While I was fiddling with the key, he took a few snaps of the garden with his phone. 

We returned back in the house, and Eddie started to enlarge bits and pieces of the photos, telling me how strange it all looks in the dark. Suddenly we saw a creepy face. Goodness, that was a "lovely" surprise. 

It is obviously a play of dark and light, but it does look like some spectre.

Can you see the face?

Talking of supernatural unexplained shenanigans, we live in a very old tow house. When we moved in here over twelve years ago, the first night was a bit of an adventure. We didn't unpack all the boxes and only set up one double bed for three of us. Sasha was already asleep, my husband and I still talked quietly, discussing what needs to be done the next day. The lights were off. Suddenly we heard the sound of someone running up stairs, through the door and the bedroom where we were in bed, and up the stairs going to the attic. These were heavy steps, as if someone was wearing boots. My husband and I looked at each other and said, What was that?! 

We don't hear the neighbours at all, at that point we had two elderly ladies on both sides anyway. Until this day I cannot explain what the heck it was. I remember the next day I walked around each room and said that we are the new owners of the house, we are going to live here, and be nice to us.

Then there was the door into the closet, under the stairs on the ground floor which I closed every evening, and every single morning it would be ajar. A few years later, after we put a toilet into that space, the door stopped opening. We joked that whatever was living under the stairs, didn't fancy staying in the loo.

Our weekend has been rather uneventful. My husband is in Italy for several days, so we stay put. We've been reading, drawing, watching old series of Come Dine with Me on Netflix and gaming (Eddie, not me).

Another prompt from the drawing challenge - Something good.

I thought I could draw Eddie with a hot chocolate (see the photo above).

How did your week go?

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Photo diary: week 41, project 365

 

We have a new cafe in town - Coffee #1. Apparently, it's a chain, though I haven't heard of it before. My kid was very eager to try it. Don't know if we really need yet another cafe in town, but as the building at the Market Square was empty for a long time, it's better than nothing.

I liked the décor, with mismatched tables and chairs, funky murals depicting the local history, and especially the big book shelves at the back of the cafe.

Eddie pronounced his hot panino edible but not particularly exciting. He loved the Halloweed crunch, which was like a heavy wet brick with icing and decorations (it was awful, honestly). And the coffee was not very good. A mixed bag - we liked the location and interior but food and drink, not so much.

On Monday I spent a long time, traipsing from one shop to another to try to find a winter coat. I don't want a parka or a long puffer coat which makes you look like you are wearing a duvet. I also don't want a winter coat with only one button - perhaps OK, if you step out of the car straight into your office, but for someone who walks everywhere in town, I need a coat that would protect me from the gusts of wind, and thus needs to have several buttons. I am not over-keen to buy a coat online, as I'd like to try it on before buying. 

For example, this coat from Phase Eight looked good on the hanger (love the 1940s shoulders), and was OK from the front. Sadly, from the back it bubbled up, so I looked like the Hunchback of Notre-Dame. Back to square one. 

For Tuesday's evening, when Eddie and I watch the GBBO and have a good giggle at the bloopers, I baked some spicy almond butter cookies. They were supposed to be gingerbread men, but I forgot to buy the ground ginger, oups. Talking about the bloopers...

I used a coconut almond butter from Pip & Nut, and quite a lot of spices - cinnamon, vanilla etc. 

It was also the birthday of my late friend Anne, who would have been 95 this year. She was the most wonderful, loyal, caring friend, and I miss her so much. 

I walked into town, and saw these white doves by the museum. It looks like one of them has three wings, but actually that's just two doves on one perch.

That's one of the thugs from the neighbourhood who thinks our garden is his personal toilet. The amount of expensive plants those thugs have dug out, the ruined vegetable seedlings, the killed birds left on the lawn, and of course, the smelly deposits all over the place, from the vegetable patch to the path, from the back door, to everywhere else. 

Nothing deters them. I tried coffee granules scattered around the garden, lots of orange peel, they don't care. I don't want to instal the ultrasonic repellent, as our direct neighbours have little dogs, who would suffer. And I can't put anything on the stone walls either, as we have a big garden. 

Spider webs always fascinate me, with their intricate designs and fragile beauty. As long as the spiders stay outside. Indoors, I'd rather not see them. The other day there was a huge one scuttling along the bed, eeek, I felt like burning the duvet and the whole bed.

On Monday I visited a new charity shop, and found a brand new, still sealed Ravensburger Send off for the Queen 1000-piece jigsaw puzzle for a fiver. I'm not in a hurry to finish it, working on it a little bit at a time.

And finally, my red orchid started to bloom. It was given to me by one of the ex-neighbours who moved to Oxford a few years ago.

In the last week I finished reading The girl from Bletchley Park by Kathleen McGurl. It is set in dual timeline: 1942 and present day. I found the WWII storyline more gripping than the modern one, but overall, it is an intriguing and emotional read.

Last night I started reading The forgotten maid by Jane Cable. It's another dualtime story, set in Cornwall. The Cornish setting is so beautiful, vivid and evocative. I wish I could jump on the train and travel to my favourite destination.

How was your week?

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Photo diary: week 34, project 365

 

I have abandoned my Project 365 some time ago in May, as life has been pretty hectic and I was considering shutting up the blog for good, but I did miss the camaraderie of the group, and hope to re-join it with this catch-up. 

Summer was super busy and stressful at times. There was just too much going on. 

Sash is starting a new college in September, and I'm anxious how he will adjust to a new place. He will be starting slowly, with two three-hour-long sessions each week, gradually building on the hours and days. Not the best of options for me, as it means I'd hardly have any time for myself, and also won't be able to help Eddie to get to school and back. He believes I shouldn't even accompany him to school, but it's a long distance to walk, crossing busy roads, and I will be worried about it. 

Last week we finished buying his uniform and school shoes. As it's a secondaty school with its own style of uniform, we had to order online via the link the school provided, like some blinking Hogwarts. It cost over £200. A total racket, if you ask me.

And we're still waiting for Sasha's transport to college to be sorted out. 

The highlight of our summer was a week in Cornwall, and it was almost idyllic (see my post A week of joy: our Cornish holidays).

My DH is away this week, gallivanting in Italy. He's a grown up, of course, and has been double-vaxxed, so if he wants to take risks, it's his business. But it was not a necessary trip, rather a self-indulgence, and the timing is pretty awful.

I don't dare to go out in town on my own with the boys. Sash doesn't like to deviate from his familiar pattern, and gets upset, if things are different. When the previous week Eddie had his summer school, and I have accompanied Sash and his father to the cafe, he didn't appreciate me staying with them, as this is not how things are done, according to him. And to be honest, he is so fast, that I have to semi-run to catch up with his long stride. 

Last Sunday we did our outing into town, visiting the cafe for a quick bite and coffee and doing groceries (I know, my social life is super exciting). 

And from Monday onwards we're staying at home. We do manage to have different activities, like reading, gaming, watching TV, baking and playing in the garden. It's just we don't leave the front door. Hence all the photos from the last week are of our garden and indoors.

I've been taking snaps of the foods from the last Degustabox, including these cute little cinnamon pastries from Gifflar. I first discovered them last year, when I was looking at Tesco groceries for gluten free products. Our friend who took us to Cornwall in his mini van is a coeliac. Since then I also bought Gifflar pastries made with wheat (not gluten free). Obviously, nothing can beat the taste of freshly baked cinnamon pastries, but these little bites are pretty good, especially with coffee or tea. My boys enjoy them.

These are the tomatoes which I have been growing from seeds, collected last year. I had a delivery from The Tomato Stall last summer, and these stripy green tomatoes were amazing, sweet and juicy. I saved some seeds, and have planted them this year. They are growing ever so slowly, and are not ripe yet. I should have probably started to propagate them earlier in the spring.

Hollyhocks which my Mum planted over four years ago, are very tall this year, taller than me. They are not the prized botanical specimens, but I love them, because it's like a Hello from my Mum, every time I pop in the garden. I haven't seen her for two years, and I do miss her.

On the plus side, staying at home gives me more time to read. One of the books I've just finished is Secrets of the Railway Girls by Maisie Thomas (2nd book in the series. You might have even read my book review of The Railway Girls earlier this year). Set in Manchester during the WWII, it portrays the lives of women from different backgrounds and social standing, who were brought together by their desire to help the war effort and keep the railway network functioning. I'm going to do a proper review of this book, and am looking forward to reading the next book in the series.

I was looking for some paperwork I need, and came across some of my old watercolours which my Mum brought with her the last time she was able to travel here. This is an old watercolour I did either in my late teens or early 20s. 

I was an incorrigible romantic. When my friends were busy chasing boys, I was absorbed in my studies, books and painting.

OK, there was a boy I was very much attracted to. He was so handsome, and kind too, but he was not interested in me romantically. Years later I knew he got married, and had several kids, but we lost touch completely. I tried to find him online to say Hi and tell him about my family, but my search didn't return any result. It didn't help that his name is very common in Russia.

This summer I had a dream about him, where we met and I told him about my boys. It was a very vivid dream. I woke up, and decided to search his name again. Bizarelly, I found an article written by his wife, where she says he was killed in a car accident seven years ago. All these years he's been dead, and I didn't know it. And now this particular article appeared in the search, when I failed to find it before. I felt very sad. I told my Mum, and we both cried over the phone. 

It's three weeks since we came back from Cornwall, and I feel like having withdrawl symtoms, I miss it. I don't know why Cornwall means so much to me. I never visited it as a child, in fact I never even travelled to the UK or anywhere abroad as a child. Yes, I read and loved myths and legends of King Arthur, but surely that's not the reason which draws me to Cornwall. It's as if I lived there in my previous life, I feel so at home there. 

We started watching Marvel films again with Eddie. We also follow What If? on Disney +, which is quite entertaining. The last episode was good.

After cooking lunch for my boys, I decided I want cheese and crackers. Abel and Cole introduced a Monthly Cheese Club, and it's a beautiful selection this month. A perfect lunch.

And how was your week?

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Photo diary: week 11, project 365

My guys thought that the best Mother's day card for me would be with a jolly cheerful woman sat in a bubbly bath with a glass of wine in hand. Is that a joke? Not amused, as it never happened. 

At least they tried. I had another card on the Mothering Sunday, which brought tears to my eyes. They remembered that it was the 21st anniversary of my Dad's death. Eddie wrote very touching words, and I told him for the 1000th time how much my Dad would have loved him. Sadly he didn't live long enough to meet any of his grandchildren.

The whole week was like that, a mix of joy and sadness. It was my older boy's 19th birthday and my brother's 50th (How did it happen? How can my little bro turn 50? I remember his gorgeous locks and long eyelashes when he was a tot.), and on that same day it was the anniversary of my Dad's funeral. 

The human mind is a complex thing, we can be grieving and celebrating at the same time. 

 It's been a year since the first lockdown was introduced. There is a talk of the third lockdown in Europe, what will happen here, is anyone's guess.

It's always tricky to buy gifts for Sasha, as we don't always get it right. For example, I bought him a bean bag recently for his room, as his previous one was as flat as a pancake. Did he like it? Did he heck! He doesn't even want to try it. I also got a Silent night heavy-weight duvet for him, which is meant to alleviate the stress and help with anxiety. He politely put it off the bed onto the unused bean bag. I tried several times to get it back on his bed, and every time it is folded over the bean bag. Yet he likes his old duvet, and wraps up in it tightly like in a cocoon, even in the hot weather.

Thus I was happy that he loved his new framed poster. He already has a framed poster of St Michael's Mount in his room, as well as three big canvases from our trips to Cornwall. I found this poster online, and hoped it would be a good birthday gift for my Cornwall-obsessed child. 

I was a little bit tearful on the day of his birthday. My baby is 19 years old. He should have been celebrating with his mates, going out with a girl(or boy)-friend, doing all these things 19-year-olds do, and which he will never be able to do, due to his disability.

I tried to take a photo of Sash, but he is ever so elusive these days, and turns away. I wanted to do a snap of us together, but only managed this one, where he kissed me on the head, like politicians kiss babies.

For his birthday I bought two cakes, a big chocolate one to take to school to celebrate in his class, and one for us at home. This is a Neapolitan cake from Waitrose. I'm not a big fan of bought cakes, as they are usually way too  sweet, but this one is really nice. It has three layers, chocolate, vanilla and strawberry.

Last week I snapped a robin with an iPhone, this time I managed to catch it with a camera. I was working in the garden, sawing off some branches, and two robins kept watching me, moving around. They are both red-chested, and sooo cute. They bring me so much joy.

Friday was wet, with an incessant drizzle most of the day. The garden is looking pretty now, with hyacinths, and some of tulips bringing colour to the overall green and grey. 

Saturday was a nice sunny day. Eddie and I walked in town, catching Pokemons. The graveyard around St Mary's Church looks full of colour, with daffodils appearing in full force.

My husband had his jab, and has been very unwell all Sunday. 

Eddie and I began to watch Wonder Woman 1984 on Amazon. It's not the best movie in the DC Extended Universe. Have you seen it? Give me Marvel films any day.

And how was your week?

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Photo diary: week 10, project 365

 The first week of school passed without a glitch. Sasha was happy to go to school every day of the week, Eddie was excited to see his mates live rather than on a Zoom screen. 

In the last weeks Eddie's been pestering begging me to get a cat. It doesn't help that my brother sends snaps of their cat regularly (see below), and that my Mum and in-laws have cats as well. We've been checking the local Blue Cross site, but there is no choice. Most are reserved, and a few that are left are cat pensioners, in their 10-12s, which is not an option for us. I also looked up if we can buy a kitten, but OMG, the prices for Siberian cats are over £1000, totally crazy. I'd rather have a rescue, hopefully a younger one, not necessarily a kitten, but not a geriatric cat.

It was the 8th of March on Monday, International Women's Day, a big celebration in Russia. My late Dad used to buy bunches of flowers for my Mum and me, tulips or mimosa. I couldn't find any mimosa locally, and didn't like the tulips which I found in the shops, so picked a little posy for myself from the garden. The snowdrops are almost all gone now.

My husband was invited to talk about Le Carré for the forthcoming documentary. He was in the studio for an hour and a half, but they said they would only use a few minutes of footage. The studio was set-up in the Bodleian Library. 

We were very sad to hear that David's wife Jane died on the 27 February, so soon after David. Their son Nick wrote a beautiful piece for the Guardian, if you have time, please read - it's called My father was famous as John Le Carrė. My mother was his crucial, covert collaborator. There is a wonderful photo of them both. Such tenderness and love.

Eddie's school has a new head, and as it often happens with new heads, they like to establish their own rules. On the first day of school all children were told that from that day on they introduce a new system of punishments, something called Fix-it lists, where your misdemeanors are recorded for posterity, and apparently they will be sent to the secondary schools. 

I am all for discipline, but to go on about punishments on the first day of school after the lockdown, and children having anxiety, was it really necessary to hit them with the announcement?! Could they not make going back to school a joyous occasion, something to celebrate?!

I'm running a Thompson & Morgan seeds giveaway - just in case you've missed it. There are not many entries, so if you want to replenish your seeds bank, here is your chance to win a dozen of packets (there are also two options). But hurry up, it ends on Wednesday the 17th at midnight.

I often see this little robin out of the kitchen window. The other day I was just walking in the garden, when I spotted it again. I didn't have time to run to the house for the proper camera, and my iPhone is not the latest model, so the Zoom is not particularly good, but I was still pleased with this photo. What a pretty bird!

The sharp-pointed cloud caught my eye on the way home.

On Saturday I got some mail from Sweden, from a lady who was a friend of my dearest friend Anne. She sent me some old photos which she found recently in her stash, while decluttering.

That's Anne, Sasha and me in our old Woodstock flat. Sasha is still a tot, and what a cutie he was. It will be six years soon, since Anne's gone, and I often think of her. She was such a wonderful caring friend. Dear, dear Anne... I miss you so much.

How was your week?

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Grow Your Own: Thompson & Morgan seeds giveaway E: 17 March

March is here, a month when we start to see the signs of spring everywhere around us. The growing season is ahead, and you might be going through your packets of seeds, deciding what to grow this year. 

It's almost a year since the first lockdown was introduced. One of the positives of the lockdown was that many more people caught the gardening bug and were keen to grow their own fruit and vegetables.

 I have been growing tomatoes in the greenhouse for many years, and in the past I usually bought plants from the garden centre, only growing salads and herbs from seeds. But as last year the garden centres were all closed, I decided to grow tomatoes from seeds, and it was a great success. We had beautiful tomatoes for several months, in fact, we had so many, that half of them went in the freezer to use in soups and stews later in the year.

Growing your own vegetables is so rewarding, and they taste so much better.

I subscribe to Grow Your Own magazine, each issue comes with ten or so packets of seeds, and though I have been giving away quite a few of them to my friends, I have accumulated way too many. 

I want to share some of my bounty with my blog readers, and offer two packages of twelve packets of seeds as a giveaway prize.

Whether you are an experienced gardener or a beginner who wants to try growing vegetables, I think these two selections will be a lovely addition to your seed collection. These two packages are quite similar, but you might have a look at each and decide which one takes your fancy.

Selection 1:

Tomato Ailsa Craig (I grew these ones last year, and they were exceptionally good!), Carrot Early Nantes 2, Beetroot Paonazza d'Egitto, Cabbage primo, Radish Cherry Belle, Chilli Pepper Anaheim, Leek Autumn Giant 2, Watercress, Spinach Perpetual, Lettuce Little Gem, Lettuce Red Salad Bowl and Kale Dwarf Green Curled.

Selection 2:

Tomato Craigella, Chilli Pepper Cayenne, Radish Flamboyant 3, Beetroot Detroit 6 Rubidus, Carrot Early Nantes 2, Cabbage Durham Early, Kale Scarlet, Leek Autumn Giant 2, Lettuce All the Year Round, Spinach Perpetual, Watercress and Lettuce Lollo Rossa.

To be in with a chance of winning please leave a comment, stating which selection you prefer (or if you don't mind either) and answer a question: What do you enjoy growing (or what you would like to grow this year)?

T&Cs:

The giveaway is open to the UK residents only.

Please leave your name or Twitter username in the comment if you login as Anon, or I will never know who has commented.

There will two winners (one selection each).

Only one entry per person.

The winners will be selected randomly.

I will contact the winners, who will have 28 days to reply with their address details.

All the prizes are provided by me, and are in no way sponsored by any brand.

This is my way of saying Thank you to my blog readers.

Previous winners of giveaways at Chez Maximka are welcome to join in as well, you're not disqualified from winning again, if your name is drawn from the hat.

I will post the prize at my own cost.

Any personal data given (basically the winner's address details) will not be shared with any 3rd parties, and will be deleted after the prize is received by the winner.

The giveaway will end on the 17 March midnight.

Good luck!

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Thank you, everyone, for taking part! Two winners were selected randomly, and were notified on Twitter. I will announce their names here, once they get back to me. And please check your Twitter notifications, it might be you!

Photo diary: week 35, project 366

Autumn is rapidly approaching, blink, and August will be gone. It seems like only yesterday we were home-schooling and counting days to the summer holidays. And now we're awaiting the beginning of a new academic year with a sense of trepidation and anxiety.

Our local Whittard of Chelsey shop is closing down, as they cannot pay the exorbitant rent. I'm rather saddened by this. I love this little shop, which is the only shop in Witney, dedicated to tea and coffee. Of course, there is plenty of tea in supermarkets, and you can order online, but it's not the same. I rarely go to Oxford, so that visiting Whittard there is not an option for me.
Marriotts Walk (shopping centre) doesn't give a hoot about empty shops. It is slowly turning into a ghost town.

I collect tea tins/caddies. You can see some of my tea collection on the top shelf in the kitchen (I don't dare to show all the tea I've got, in fact, it's strategically placed all over the kitchen, so that nobody knows how many tins and boxes I have exactly. I should join the Teaholics Anonymous club.

To be fair, quite a few of these tins are empty, or only have a small amount left at the bottom, for reference, like Twinings Royal Weddding tin, or Twinings 90th celebration.

Overall, the weather has been pretty abysmal in the last week, but whenever there was a short sunny spell, we had a walk or ventured to the playground.

We haven't been walking through the flood fields for several days, so not sure when this tree has fallen across the path. The wooden fence of the house next to the fields was creaking ominously when we walked underneath the tree.

Mid-week I posted a review of The Surplus Girls by Polly Heron. It's a family saga set in Manchester in 1922. This is the third book by the author that I've read, and I'm looking forward to reading and reviewing another one by the same author (written under a different name).

It was bucketing all day, and though I had to go out for a quick shopping, I didn't take any photos except for Eddie's latest hair-cut. Here is a photo from our Monday visit to the playground.
This tree looks like it's praying, or asking for mercy. Or maybe dancing?

A quick trip to M&S to get school trousers. While getting some Percy pigs, we saw the shelves are already stacked with Hallowe'en candy, how bizarre is that?! I suppose, we'll soon see Christmas gifts all around as well.
We had a movie night with pizza and a DVD of Hercules with Dwayne Johnson (got it for a pound at Poundland). I was slightly dreading it, but it turned out to be better than I thought.

Woke up yesterday morning to sad news that Chadwick Boseman died. We're big fans of Marvel movies, and he was great as The Black Panther. Remember that scene from Avengers Infinity War, where he shouts Wakanda Forever! He was so young, and an iconic superhero.

On the way into town I noticed the clouds were arranged like shelves one over the other.

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