First of September

Sharon - we have a phone charger that plugs into the cigarette lighter but it doesn't work very well. I'm loving the pics you are posting on your blog, by the way. 

Bless - that is far too hot! I mean, that is crazy hot! I know when we had the big heat wave that we were warned that there may be blackouts due to our infrastructure just not being up to the weather. I didn't realise that would affect you as well. Please stay safe. I suspect winter blackouts here will be a shortage of power in the country.

Today I thought I would try being a grown up. I'm in my fifties, so it had to happen at some point. I went for a walk in Batley Park where I managed a few doggie cuddles. I'm nervous about dogs, but a complete sucker. And so many of them recognise someone who would cuddle them until their arm fell off so I usually manage a little fuss. I could see the evidence of early autumn in this horse chestnut tree. It looked like the end of October!

I could also see the damage lack of rain had caused in other plants. 

This laurel was looking very limp.

And the blackberries were very small. Mind you, I grew up picking blackberries where they were cultivars that had run wild, so I expect juicy berries. These were very small and skinny looking.

I failed being a grown up in Aldi, as I bought some yarn. I had successfully walked past it so many times, but I couldn't today, so I got a couple of balls of cream cotton dk, which feels perfect for some dishcloths. I think I had decided that the sparkly cloths were perhaps better for general cleaning, on account of where the glitter may end up!

I stocked up on plenty of food for bear. He likes things like salads. I don't grow my own, and any attempt to try and make them has ended in huge amounts of wastage, so I pick up bags of salads as and when. Bear has been working hard today on revision and getting ready for school. His timetable for next year has come out and he explained it to me. I have less idea now than I had when he started. 

I spent some time setting out my version of a bullet version, and starting to pull ideas together to keep me motivated. I've marked all of bear's holidays on the calendar, and I know that actually looking at a date will really help. I'll start adding things like birthdays etc later. It's not that I forget them. It's just that they give a sense of 'how long until...' 

Writing stuff - I've signed up to October Frights Blog Hop again this year, which means posting spooky stuff on my blog between 10th and 15th October. I've had a few ideas about that, and there are all sorts of other stuff going on, and I'll share what's happening as I find out. I've got a lot of writing ideas frothing around, but I really need to get the sequel to King's Silver finished before I do anything else. It's like a locked door between me and anything else. Also, sorry to keep linking, but it's sort of compulsory for authors.

Hugs and good health to all.