When the sun is setting, between dusk and darkness, there is a moment when the light turns blue. And the world stops for a heartbeat.
Fire is hypnotising.
A long time ago, I had a friend visiting from Hong Kong. She could not tear herself away from our fireplace. Living on the 32nd floor, she had never seen a real flame bigger than a candle flame.
One of the first (and best) things we did when we moved in to the house was to replace the fireplaces iron door with a bigger glass one.
All the wonder, without the smoke.
Stuart, Alanna and Kiara took me out for dinner to celebrate my birthday.
Over the years, Stuart and I have perfected the art of maximising the number of dishes you can taste in a restaurant. We never order the same dish, and often go half-and-half on starters, sometimes even on mains.
The girls complicate the maths, as they are just as keen to taste everything. With you have half a starter to start with, sharing it with two other people tends to leave you with very little.
When the dish is very small – or exceptionally good – we claim it is super spicy. But even that doesn’t always work anymore.
Autumn rain feels very different from summer rain. And there is nothing more autumn-ish than a day-long cold drizzle.
Today was not it.
From an almost clear sky, the heavens opened for 10 minutes. The temperature dropped by 10 degrees. And so autumn arrived in full.
I met a friend for dinner tonight. We didn’t stay late – and therefore it took me by surprise how early it gets dark. Again.
Winter is coming.
A good night out is a good night out.
Not much more needs to be said.
A city is always better with some element of water, be it the sea, a lake or a river. There are some cities that are nice despite not having any. But not many.
Considering I don’t want a boat, and very rarely even swim in the sea, I really can’t tell you why I find it so important.
It just is.
I went to my first proper music festival in years – and it was pouring down for most of the day.
But once you get soaked, you do not really get wetter.
The gigs were fantastic, it stayed warm and the company – most importantly my sister, brother-in-law and parents – never let the rain get in the way of a good time.
Great day!
I did feel a little sorry for some of the bands on stage two, which was not exactly waterproof. Unbelievably, most of the equipment kept functioning even through the worst downpour.
The more firmly you intend to leave early on Friday, the more likely it is you end up putting out some random fire at work.
Even when we arrive at the summer cottage too late for the girls’ bedtime, driving out on Friday is always my preference. The weekend feels longer, when you wake up at the summer cottage on Saturday.
Being able to sleep in while the grandparents entertain the kids is just an added bonus.
