TMTW: Summer 2021

What happened:
The warm weather arrived in June. For a little bit, anyway. (It returned in July and was ROASTING. For a bit, anyway.) That coincided with a tourist day in Greenwich with Olly's mum, sister and our nephew. We explored Trinity Buoy Wharf, rode the Emirates Air Line, took the boat down to Greenwich, then relaxed in the park with Aperols. A lovely day.

Mid-June we took three days off to head to South Lodge to celebrate our ten-year anniversary. The food was super yum, we hung out in the spa and by the pool (I preferred my Omorovicza Blue Diamond facial to my massage), and it was so nice to get away and celebrate ten years of us.

On our return from the spa, Olly ran the Wimbledon Common half marathon with his brother, so I headed to the finish line with his family to support them. The following weekend we headed to Hove to stay overnight in a cute Airbnb for more anniversary celebrations. We spent a very low-key 24 hours(ish) in Hove and Brighton, which included some seriously yummy food and a trip to the cinema. Definitely prefer Hove to Brighton.

In July we headed to Kent for a family BBQ, went to the Design Museum for the Sneakers Unboxed exhibition, finally got my engagement ring cleaned for the first time, and had our second jabs. I headed to the office for a few days to work there (did a day in June as well), the first time I've worked there in the past 15 months. COVID, huh! We also viewed a house for the first time since February - the market is so dire - but no joy.

We had health worries for Compy, which was/is very stressful. (Still ongoing.) We took her to the vets for a cyst - which has been removed and is benign - but they were also worried about her weight, her heart, and a possible mass in her intestines. Weight is getting sorted with thyroid medication, her heart is fine, but the x-ray was inconclusive for her intestines so it may or may not be lymphoma. As she's 16/17 (we honestly didn't think she was that old), they don't really want to do any invasive tests (the anaesthetic she had to have wasn't great for her) so we just have to wait and see. But she seems her happy self, so we're staying positive that she'll be with us for a while longer. 

August was pretty quiet. And grey. We made it to the theatre to see Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat (Alexandra Burke was incredible) but our performance of Be More Chill was cancelled (we're going to see it in September before it closes). I went to the office a few more times - which included a team walk along the Thames to Richmond - and we viewed a few more houses (no dice). And that was about it! 

What I ate: 

In June I had excellent piri-piri chicken at Casa do Frango, great diner food at Fat Boy's Diner, pizza at Franco Manca, some favourite dishes at Wahaca, yum tapas at Cicchetti & Wine, and a decent roast at Queen Adelaide, all in London. Plus excellent food at South Lodge (two of the many yum dishes we had from there pictured below). 

     
In Hove: A rather excellent burger from Cracked at Fika, yum fish and chips from Wolfies of Hove, and a rather excellent brunch at Baked AM:PM (chorizo eggs FTW; pictured below with the fish and chips). Highly recommend all three places if you're ever in Hove.

     
In July we went to The Schoolhouse for another decent roast, Old Compton Brasserie for an excellent roast (pictured below), Japes for deep-dish pizza, and Kashmir for a yum curry. August saw us go to The Grazing Goat for a roast with family (yum), I enjoyed pizza at Crust Bros with Jasmin, had a team dinner at The Marlborough, plus enjoyed an Israeli feast with friends at Bala Baya.

Food kit-wise, in June we did a kit from Bleecker and got some Fridays Legendary Glaze (the only reason I go to a TGI Friday's). And in July we did kits from Roti King (average) and Lima (nice, but more Olly's sort of food than mine - the kit we did is no longer available so have linked to the website). In August I baked the birthday cake cookies kit from Cupcake Jemma (yum), made some mint Oreo ice cream, and also ordered some mini cupcakes from Cutter & Squidge (much prefer their cakes!). We also got a Pizza Pilgrims kit, which you can now order on Ocado - hurrah!

What I watched:
TV watched: Finished The Masked Dancer (yey Carwash!), watched Foo Fighters: Austin City Limits, The Show Must Go On! Live Concert, Mare of Easttown, Clarkson's Farm (loved it), Fresh, Fried and Crispy, Loki, season 2 of Mythic Quest: Raven's Banquet, Made You Look (stopped watching this), Sweet Tooth, James May: Our Man in Japan (Hey Bim! Guess what?!), Murders Among the Mormons (couldn't get into this), Brave New World (average), and started watching Pretty Little Liars: The Perfectionists.

Films watched: Paddington 2, Army of the Dead, A Rainy Day in New York, Nomadland, Palm Springs, I Care a Lot, Jexi, Gambit, Grosse Point Blank, Black Widow, Contact, Greenland, Good on Paper, The Peanut Butter Falcon, 13 Going on 30, The Tomorrow War, Jungle Cruise, Logan Lucky, Made in Italy, The Switch, Ocean's Eleven, Pitch Perfect 2, Ocean's Twelve, Ocean's Thirteen, Now You See Me, Now You See Me 2, Legally Blonde, Cruella, Legally Blonde 2 and Jurassic Park.

We also took trips to the cinema to see Godzilla Vs Kong (average) and In the Heights (wish I'd seen this on stage when it was on over here). 

What I read: 
In June I read 30 books! A 5* for Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir, with 4* ratings for: The Whole Truth by Cara Hunter, A Burning by Megha Majumdar, Warcross by Marie Lu, His Only Wife by Peace Adzo Medie, The Good Sister by Sally Hepworth, Moxie by Jennifer Mathieu,  and The First Fifteen Lives of  Harry August by Claire North. 

In July I read 25 books. I gave 5* ratings to Mr Loverman by Bernardine Evaristo and also Love After Love by Ingrid Persaud. 4* ratings went to: Tall Bones by Anna Bailey, Red, White & Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston, Dreamland by Rosa Rankin-Gee, What Happens in London by Julia Quinn and Hot Stew by Fiona Mozley.

In August I read 24 books. 4* ratings went to: An Ordinary Wonder by Buki Papillion, Apeirogon by Colum McCann, I Know What You've Done by Dorothy Koomson, How to Save a Life by Eva Carter and The Bone Shard Daughter by Andrea Stewart. 

How was your summer? x

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