Some seasonal vegetables.
A1 is reading The Running Grave by Robert Galbraith which hit the shops today and sold out in Waterstones. A2 bought the last copy in Smiths.
Cloud of the Day: Cirrus Spissatus
This lovely thin cloud echoes the shape of the tree in front.
A1 is rereading Finders Keepers by Stephen King. A2 is trying out Right Ho, Jeeves by PG Wodehouse.
Clouds That Look Like Things
A dog jumping over a mountain range.
We had chicken curry and apple strudel for our family dinner and, thanks to incredibly skilled guesswork from a position of profound ignorance, we managed to score 9.5 on the GSQ for the third time in a row, continuing to keep our average just over 10.
Equinox
Goodbye Sun.
A1 is rereading End of Watch by Stephen King.
Rainbow
The end of the rainbow in a dark and gloomy cloud.
A2 has finished her feast of the fabulous new books and is now reading The Sins of Our Fathers by Asa Larsson; which featured dogs, boxing, skiing, corruption in the Swedish construction industry and other boring things but was nonetheless an absolutely riveting read.
Rainshower
A miserable grey, wet, windy day. Autumn is here.
A1 is reading The Detective by Ajay Chowdhury. A2 is reading, with keen anticipation, The Secret Hours by Mick Herron, which was an absolute cracker.
We are watching Unforgotten Series 5.
Sunflower
A couple of these lovely flowers are growing in small pots with our lettuces and carrots; probably from next-door’s birdseed.
A1 is reading The Cook by Ajay Chowdhury. A2 is reading Holly by Stephen King. Killer cannibal pensioners in a time of covid. What’s not to like?
It’s raining.
Chinese Banquet
Just a selection of our early celebration of the Mid-autumn Moon Festival today. In addition to the fried rice, tea eggs, nuts, har kow and fish balls shown, we also had chow mein, siu mai, jiaozi, rainbow chicken, gins in tins and beer in a bottle and still only scored 9.5 on the GSQ.
A2 is reading The Detective by Ajay Chowdhury (thx A1). At last the protagonist of The Waiter and The Cook has joined the Metropolitan Police and has four murders of tech entrepreneurs to solve while his erstwhile co-worker in the restaurant is investigating century-old skeletons and has found an unexpected descendant.
Sitting on the Fence
One of many Red Admirals that, along with flocks of bees and hoverflies, were enjoying the flowers on the ivy this afternoon. Stand next to it and feel the buzz.
A1 is reading The Secret Hours by Mick Herron, who just gets better and better. Though described as a “stand-alone” novel, this is set in the same world as his Slough House stories and features a number of the same characters — though under different identities. Full of biting humour, on-the-nose political and social comments and, not least, a terrific plot, this is the yummiest read in the recent run of (mostly excellent) new books.
A2 is reading Voices of the Dead by Ambrose Parry (thx A1). The Victorian Scottish medics in a world of crooks, cranks, quacks, mountebanks and murderers.
Second Spring
The warm weather has filled our garden with a second showing of poppies, cornflowers, magnolias, rhododendrons and millions of passion flowers but the cool and rainy days (25.5 mm yesterday) have returned.
A1 is reading Holly by Stephen King. This is SK’s COVID novel, featuring his well-drawn private eye heroine Holly Gibney. Full of ire about Trump, COVID conspiracy theories and medical pseudoscience — “She didn’t die of COVID, she died of stupidity” — it’s an enthralling look at how the US citizenry reacted to the pandemic.
A2 is reading Death of a Lesser God by Vaseem Khan (thx A1).
Kebabs, Rice Salad and Cheesecake
A2’s delicious birthday dinner as cooked by A1 with advice from Shahid. B, G, D and F brought special coffees to the feast and we tackled two quizzes, getting 7.5 for the first and 9.5 for the second. Oh well; our average is still over 10, just.
Admin1 is reading The Misper by Kate London. Admin2 is reading The Cook by Ajay Chowdhury.
Sunshine of Your Love
A heart-shaped cloud in the sky on the hottest day of the year: 30.1 °C
A1 is reading Voices of the Dead by Ambrose Parry. A2 is reading The Trap by Catherine Ryan Howard, another missing persons story which was bone-crunchingly meaty and gut-wrenchingly disturbing. Thank you A1.
Halo, Halo!
Another very warm and sunny so-called autumn day. A2 was out watching a very feeble sundog and willing it to brighten up when she looked up and saw not one, but two, very bright arcs nested together. Possibly a segment of a circumscribed halo.
Meanwhile A1 is reading Death of a Lesser God by Vaseem Khan, which has a pleasingly complex plot and is much darker than previous volumes (and is all the better for it). But VK does enjoy his similes…
A2 is reading The Misper by Kate London (thank you A1), a boy goes missing under the influence of a County Lines panjandrum who is himself under the influence of Game of Thrones (an unnecessary distraction).
A2’s Birthday Booty
Ooh look! 6 colour-coordinated books, a DVD, a load of patches and a bunch of flowers!
A2 has been reading The Killing Place by Kate Ellis (mediocre) but now has a feast of goodies to choose from.
Best Foot Forward
The legs in the town centre sculpture are mirrored in the confident stride of the bloke in the background.
A1 is reading Newton’s Wake by Ken MacLeod. A2 is reading The Singer’s Gun by Emily St John Mandel.
Hollyhocks
A nice warm sunshiny day today but everyone in the family was slightly ill so no Sunday meal and quiz gathering.
A1 is reading The Execution Channel by Ken MacLeod. A2 is reading The Wild Coast by Lin Anderson which was OK, nothing special.
September in the Rain
August 2023 was the second coldest, fourth wettest and fifth least sunny August since our records began, though it did include our second sunniest August day of all time.
A1 is reading The Killing Place by Kate Ellis (OK, but something of an idiot plot). A2 is reading You Can’t See Me by Eva Bjorg Aegisdottir; a family gathering in an isolated hotel. What could possibly go wrong?.
Super Blue Moon
We were hoping to catch the biggest moon of the year and the second full moon of the month on the rise but it was behind a big tree and we were too tired (A1 from work, A2 from recovid) to chase after it. The big splash at the bottom (Tycho crater) was near where the Russian rocket crashed and the Indian lander landed, but they didn’t actually cause the splash.
Admin1 is reading Cosmonaut Keep by Ken MacLeod. Admin2 is rereading Dark Fire by CJ Sansom.
Sky Lines
Sunset tonight.
We had salmon/leek pasta and a choice of cake/fruit salad/ice cream for our family dinner and scored 11 on the GSQ despite Dave being away and many of our answers being wild guesses.
Admin1 is reading The Wild Coast by Lin Anderson. Admin2 is rereading Dissolution by CJ Sansom.
In the Monet
The twins are gone now but here are some waterlilies from Harlow Park.
Admin1 is rereading The Cassini Division by Ken MacLeod. Admin2 is reading The Manual of Detection by Jedediah Berry, which was set in dreamland and consequently is already forgotten.
Harlow Twins!
The twins are gracing us with their presence and today we went to the famous Harlow Carr Gardens where we saw loads of plants and later we went to the spoons where we ate some more plants and drank some plant-based drinks.
Critter of the Day: Pyrausta aurata
The minuscule Mint Moth. It also likes a good thyme. Look at its lovely long antennae and beautiful blue eyes.
We had chicken, Yorkshire puddings and garden beans for our family meal with blackberry and apple crumble for afters and scored 10 (with generous marking) on the GSQ.
Admin1 is rereading The Stone Canal by Ken MacLeod. Admin2 is reading Winter in Madrid by CJ Sansom.
Fish and Chips
The tomatoes, broccoli and peas are all from our garden.
Admin1 is rereading The Star Fraction by Ken MacLeod. Admin2 is reading Anatomy of a Killer by Romy Hausmann.
Me and My Shadow
Araeneus diadmatus in its web on the wheelie bin.
Admin1 is reading 1989 by Val MacDermid. Admin2 is reading The Bullet that Missed by Richard Osman.
Circumzenithal Arc
Not a very impressive one, but the first we’ve seen in ages!
In other news, our weather station is now integrated with Wunderground, with live updates. Sample below (click on the image to open in a new tab):
We had stroggers and homegrown apple and blackberry pie for our family dinner and scored 10.5 on the GSQ.
Admin2 was reading 1989 by Val McDermid but abandoned it because it was boring and is now rereading Golden Hill by Francis Spufford.