Happy Birthday Lee

Cherry, almond and coconut cake, rum and coca-cola and SIX BOOKS: The Conspirators lead us to the Precipice overlooking the Lake of Darkness which receives some Enlightenment from Gabriel’s Moon but ends in Death at the Sign of the Rook. Thank you A1. Sadly the family cannot join us because Gez is hors de covid. More cake for us.
Meanwhile A1 is rereading Holly by Stephen King and A2 is rereading Fatherland by Robert Harris, an alternative history set in 1960s Nazi Berlin which, like so many novels set in that place and polity, features a feisty American girl reporter.

Dish of the Day: G&T Cheesecake

Last week we were musing on the existence of gin and tonic cheesecake and the next day there was a recipe in the newspaper. So here it is. It was not bad and nor were the excellent pork chops in cider with garden beans and broccoli that began the meal (with cheese omelettes for the veggies). We did the 30-question summer quiz and scored an average of 10.75/15 and then scored 9 on this week’s quiz. Average still under 10 — just.
A1 is reading Banquet of Beggars* by Chris Lloyd, the latest of his Paris Occupation crime novels. Really well written, with an absorbing plot based on the black market scams under the Nazi rule. And the detective protagonist is so well-drawn you imagine him upbraiding the author — in his usual sarcastic manner — for piling so many troubles on him.
A2 is reading Fourteen Days* by 36 different writers; a Decameron for the time of covid.
August was the third coolest, second driest and fifth cloudiest on our records.

Dessert du Jour: Strawberry Cheesecake

A delicious and extremely filling pudding which we enjoyed with both our morning coffee and our evening meal of macaroni cheese, cheesy biscuits and salad, accompanied by delicious Swedish gin (tak Lena) We had two quizzes to catch up on and scored 8 on one and 9 on the other, dragging our average back below 10.
A1 is reading The Hanging Wood by Martin Edwards, an unlikely and confusingly overpopulated crime novel. A2 is reading House of Silence* by Patricia Marques; a disappointingly dull story about a telepathic Portuguese detective.

Abstract Expressionist Sunset

Hello clouds, ever-present telephone wires, lamp-posts and chimney pots. And hello clear sky coming in from the west. [later: stayed clear all night and we were treated to a scattering of shooting stars]
A1 is reading Paris Requiem* by Chris Lloyd. A2 is reading If on a winter’s night a traveler by Italo Calvino; ten stories in search of an ending.

Critter of the Day: Zebra Spider

Meet Salticus scenicus, a tiny but beautiful stripy spider with eyes like headlamps and pedipalps like feather dusters.
A1 is reading Deeds of Autumn* by Anders de la Motte. A2 is rereading The Misper by Kate London.
Last night A2 went out and watched a couple of Perseids streaking across the starry sky. Tonight it’s raining.

C for Cinnabar Caterpillar

A2 was cutting down the poisonous ragweed today when she noticed it was hosting these jolly little fellows in their stripy pyjamas, so it stays until they have eaten it all.
A1 is reading Past Lying by Val McDermid. A2 is reading The Young Accomplice* by Benjamin Wood; a brother and sister fresh out of borstal are apprenticed to a pair of idealistic architect/farmers but cannot shake off the bloke who got them into trouble in the first place.

Pineapple Upside-down Cake

This cake suffered a bit from the cook forgetting the eggs and the accompanying mushroom stroggers was started far too early and came out somewhat overcooked. Luckily they were both edible. We had 2 quizzes to catch up on and scored 8.5 on one and 9 on the other. Oh dear.
A1 is reading The Unwanted Dead* by Chris Lloyd, French noir (appropriately), set in the immediate aftermath of the Nazis entering Paris in 1940. CL has an astonishing new take on the detective protagonist: he has inner demons, a failed marriage, drink and drug problems and an estranged child. How do they come up with these ideas? (OK, I’m being a bit unfair here — it’s actually rather good, well-written and involving, even though our hero does get battered a lot. Certainly worth seeking out the next two books.)
A2 is reading Resolution* by Irvine Welsh. The ex-detective protagonist has a serious drink problem , shedloads of inner demons and wreaks apocalyptic vengance on three men who assaulted him in childhood even though in the course of his revenge he gets stabbed, thrown from a height and buried in quick-setting concrete.

Critter of the Day: Pararge aegeria

A Speckled Wood sitting on a cement bag next to a hosepipe. We have 3 cement bags piled on the patio, all set solid and too heavy to move.
July was our third coldest, fourth wettest and fourth cloudiest since our records began.
A1 is rereading The Misper by Kate London. A2 is reading Past Lying by Val McDermid. Detectives in covid lockdown attempt to solve a cold case with the help of an unfinished posthumous crime novel.

Critter of the Day: Leiobunum rotundum

A2 was preparing to redecorate our insect hotel when this handsome two-tone harvestperson swung itself out on its lovely long legs. Sorry to disturb you, honoured guest of our humble establishment.
A1 is rereading Post Mortem and A2 is rereading The Tower, both by Kate London and both the same book under different titles which A2 bought by mistake and not for the first time (or even for the first time this week). Complaints about annoying neighbours can have catastrophic ramifications.

Hovering

A hoverfly approaches a radish flower.
A1 is reading The Cracked Mirror by Chris Brookmyre, a tricksy crime/SF hybrid. CB has problems dealing with SF themes (cf his Places in the Darkness), and here he’s attempting a Dickian reality-bending story. It’s entertaining enough, and full marks for effort, but it’s overcomplicated and doesn’t really follow through enough on its — admittedly interesting — premise (spoilers here!).
A2 is reading The Last Word* by Elly Griffiths.

Monopoly Money

City centre publicity for a school holidays event.
We had chicken bacon and broccoli (with our garden broccoli which has all ripened at once) for our family dinner, with Manchester pudding for afters and scored a sad 8 on the GSQ.
A1 is reading The Missing Family by Tim Weaver. A2 is reading The Cracked Mirror by Chris Brookmyre, which disappeared up its own arse.

Hot Nights and Days

Today was the warmest day this year so far: 29.5 °C and last night the fires of hell burned in Harehills and luckily Brave Dave was there to document it.
Just heatA burned-out double-decker bus
Firefighters attacking the embers
And a scene that could be lifted from Grand Theft Auto
Thanks for the photos Dave
A1 is reading The Last Word* by Elly Griffiths, a jolly tale of a murderous book club. A2 is rereading Tik-Tok, no not that TikTok, the 1983 novel by John Sladek about a shameless criminal robot, errr…

Best Friends?

It rained a lot last night, but the damned pigeons have been sitting in the rain gauge again and blocked it with their crap.
A1 is rereading Ghostwritten by the splendid David Mitchell, a welcome change after the recent run of humdrum books. Rereading DM is always worthwhile, with shared characters and previously undetected links between novels becoming apparent.
A2 is reading Manhattan Beach by Jennifer Egan which is also humdrum.