Once again it’s that time of the month where I tell you all about what went on the one before. For August, it’s going to be a very holiday-filled one, because the first two weeks of the month were uninteresting and honestly I can’t really remember most of what I did, other than trying to cram in packing in the evenings leading up to our going away and wondering why I didn’t take the Friday off for precisely that purpose…
Anyway, let’s get to it.
Reading. I read six books in August – or technically read 5 and finished reading one. Four were for Erin‘s reading challenge. I will tell you about all of them on Tuesday.
Listening to. Welcome to Night Vale! I actually took the audio book on holiday with me but we thought the hire car didn’t have a CD player so we listened to episodes of the podcast. Then, with only a few days left, I discovered a CD player hiding in the glove compartment. What?! So we’ve now made it through the first seven CDs and we’re nearly caught up on the podcast!
Watching. Something my dad had recorded about restoring old buildings. Before our holiday I’m not sure I watched anything…
Eating. I don’t remember what I ate before we went away. Probably lots of ice cream. On holiday I ate all the British foods I could cram in, although surprisingly no Monster Munch. Actually, very few crisps – just some Hula Hoops. I’m awful at food photography, but here’s a venison sausage with black pudding mash. Yes, it’s Bambi. And it was delicious.
Drinking. Cider in a multitude of flavours – the rhubarb one was nicest. I also treated myself to a can of Dandelion and Burdock and some point.
Buying. While we were on holiday I pretty much only bought food so I’m trying to think back to what I bought before that. Umm, a few books for the bonus round of the reading challenge and a T-shirt for my holiday are all I can think of.
Celebrating. My friend’s 30th birthday. She turned 30 at the beginning of the month, but had her celebration together with her mum over the August bank holiday weekend. Oh, and my birthday as well (I genuinely almost forgot about that!)
Travelling. To Britain, but you know that already 😉 We also travelled to Überlingen on Lake Constance to see Jan’s mum and her partner and did some driving around in Switzerland for my birthday.
Meeting. Fellow blogger Kezzie and her husband, who happened to be in Northumberland at the same time as us. They are both lovely, lovely people.
Admiring. Puppies! So many puppies… some literally puppies (but all dogs are puppies, right?). I swear every dog owner in England was visiting the same places we were. I even got to pet a few (dogs, not owners!).
Cross stitching. Birthday cards for my godson, another friend’s son and my little brother, as well as many, many PostPals children, plus a new baby card for a friend. I feel like every time I blink someone either gives birth or announces a pregnancy.
As usual, I am linking up with Kristin and Gretch.
Have you been doing anything interesting recently?
Confuzzledom 
I’m looking forward to our road trip back to the UK at Christmas so I can listen to audiobooks whilst I drive. Not sure how much Kris will enjoy it, I’ll just have to find a book that he’ll enjoy too! Or he’ll just have to suck it up because I am the main driver so I get to make all the rules.
Yummm I love cider so much and I can’t wait to start drinking it again soon 🙂 Thanks for linking up with us!
I love your cross stitch cards. How adorable!! Happy Birthday to you and your friend. 🙂
-Lauren
Your cross stitch card is awesome!
Thank you 🙂 I hope my godson thought so too!
It made me smile that you enjoyed lots of the British food that you miss when you are away. That’s just like me when I go back to Scotland – eating all the tasty things I can’t get here. 🙂 A belated Happy Birthday to you.
I recently downloaded Welcome to Night Vale. Do you recommend reading the book first? I love your cross stitch card! Such a great idea!
The novel is standalone, so you could do it in any order really, but I would start with the podcast since that came first and it’s nice to know the characters already when it comes to the book.
That cross stitch card is so cute!
a CD player hiding in the glove compartment?! that’s crazy. but very cool. i know cars are coming out without CD players now and it kinda blows my mind, but I guess people felt that way about cassette players when they stopped being standard in cars or whatever.
lol @ petting a few dogs not owners. i totally call all dogs puppies too.
your cross stitches are always amazing!
It’s the skips that I miss, more so than monster munch!
All the ciders you described sounds interesting!
Bambi sausages! Yum! Black pudding mash! Yum!! Rather like us, you managed to fit in a lot of eating. Mr FD managed a visit to Wagamamas, which I missed, but I got two Indian meals. I also managed more pubs than him. I’m all for the beer, rather than the cider. You seem to have had a fab time though.
I hope you enjoyed your UK trip! You can’t beat a good meal of bangers and mash. Here the sausages are usually beef, which I find strange.
Happy belated birthday!
You are an inspiration with the books! I finally finished reading one I started months ago: The Parable of the Talents by Octavia Butler. Then I started and finished another one in just one weekend: Boy, Snow, Bird by Helen Oyeyemi. Right now I’m reading a second book by Helen Oyeyemi: What Is Not Yours Is Not Yours. I’m hoping to finish that one and one more before the end of September: The Round House by Louise Erdrich.
I’m also hoping to read two books a month in October, November, and December so that I can make my goal of reading 12 books total this year. Seeing that you read six in one month, I know that I can read two. Just need to build the habits and make the time!