The month that was: October and November 2020

What happened:
Our last day of self isolation was the 2nd (because of visiting Portugal), so as soon as we were allowed we headed to the pub to celebrate our freedom! We did have a restaurant booked for afterwards but even though they acknowledged our reservation (and we were there on time), they didn't have a table for us. Grrrr!

I dyed my hair pink - and it's still very pink today after nine weeks(!) - and hurt my leg. (Not when dyeing my hair;  I slipped getting out of the shower and honestly thought I'd broken it, but it's all good now.) We headed to Kent a weekend early to celebrate Olly's birthday with his family as we suspected lockdown 2.0 was about to happen - we were right!

      

So, I haven't really been out and about much - I've done a few walks with Jasmin, and I managed to pop to my office before lockdown so I could pick up my things. It was the first time I've been there since March 16th. Strange to see how 2020 has played out - definitely not what I was expecting for my year! 

What I ate: 
Food featured heavily in October and November. Obviously. Whilst we could, we headed to Hawksmoor for Sunday lunch (delicious, as always, but an awfully rushed experience) and also had good pub grub at The Wheatsheaf. We added From Oven to the Table by Diana Henry and Cook, Eat, Repeat by Nigella Lawson to our collection.

We're lucky to have a street food market in Wandsworth that hasn't been affected by lockdown so I met a work friend there a few times for chicken katsu curry from Sheng Cai Bao, a bacon chilli doughnut from Mr Pigstuff, and awesome cajun chicken and chips from Voodoo Chicken (below; my favourite, so far!).

      

We've done two new DIY kits at home: the reuben kit from Monty's Deli, which Olly especially loved, and also Blacklock at Home (incredible; part of it pictured at the top of this post). We tried Pasta Evangelists, which has been a mixed bag, and I ordered Olly the rather delicious peanut butter and jelly cake from Lola's Cupcakes for his birthday. Notable takeaways were had from Burger & Beyond (one of my favourite burger places) and Pad Thai Story.

What I watched: 
TV-wise: finished The Great British Bake-Off (Hermine was robbed), watched seasons 3-6 of Schitt's Creek and the Best Wishes, Warmest Regards documentary (loved that show so much), the Lethal White series of Strike (average), finished Ted Lasso (another lovely show), watched season 1 of Akwafina is Nora from Queens, season 2 of The Boys, season 2 of Community, season 1 and 2 of Succession (loved it), The Queen's Gambit (excellent), volume 1 of Song Exploder, the available episodes of season 5 of Billions and The Final Year.

Films watched: Onward, The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug, The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies, LotR: The Fellowship of the Ring, LotR: The Two Towers, Borat: Subsequent Moviefilm, LotR: The Return of the King, Dark Waters, A Beautiful Day in the Neighbourhood, Playing with Fire and Hunt for the Wilderpeople.

What I read: 
In October I read 16 books, helped by going back to the library and knowing I only had a certain amount of time to read those borrowed books! I rated Troubled Blood by Robert Galbraith, Fifty-Fifty by Steve Cavanagh, American Wife by Curtis Sittenfeld, Mudlarking by Lara Maiklem, The Testaments by Margaret Atwood and Watching You by Lisa Jewell all as 4* reads.

In November I read 10 books and abandoned one book. Lisa Jewell triumphed again! I rated two of her books as 4* reads: Invisible Girl and Before I Met You. All my ratings, as always, are on Goodreads.

How have you been? x