Mid-Month Check In... The plague with the really bad timing!

 Hello folks!

Happy Sunday! The sun is shining, the UK is freaking out over a red weather warning for heat and I'm writing this from my perfectly cool front room thanks to my husband having the foresight to buy a portable air con unit back in May!

Temperatures of 38-40c (100-104f) are predicted over Monday and Tuesday and whilst we've hit 38c before 40c would be an abnormal new "highest temp"... Climate change in action! 

The simple fact is many parts of the world hit these temperatures but they're used to it and their infrastructure is built for it. In the UK, our infrastructure is designed to cope with cold and wet. Our houses don't have air-con. Businesses often don't have air con. Some cars often don't have air-con!

It's some serious shit... 

However, my husband and I have air con in our cars, our office buildings have air-con and, as mentioned above, he decided we needed an air-con unit for the house earlier in the year after suffering through one too many too hot summers so we're ok... As long as the power grid doesn't melt! 😆

In other news, my husband has covid! He was ill for about 3 days before actually testing positive which is concerning as I'm currently testing negative but have developed a sore throat, cough etc... What're the bets I test positive in a few days?! 😔

All things considered, we've not done badly to have avoided it up until now but of all the weeks!

Our son finishes primary school this week! His leaver's ceremony and party are on Thursday! We don't want to miss the leaver's ceremony (but will obviously if testing positive) and we certainly don't want him to catch covid and miss the celebrations not to mention his last few days with his classmates!

His class are splitting off to 4 different high schools and only two others from his class are going to the little dude's high school. It would be such a shame for him... He's currently hiding in his bedroom with the door closed and the window open limiting contact with us, lol. He's decided he's living in there and only coming out when he needs the bathroom... Food to be dropped at his door.

 (I don't blame him! He's being smart.) 

Before covid hit, we saw the little dude perform in his school play - A Midsummer's Night's Dream - and he was brilliant! I couldn't believe it! For some context, this is the kid who'd scowl with his hands over his ears in every nativity play or harvest festival... Often accompanied by rocking. But here we are, 4 years and a pandemic later, and he was up there prancing about in full character giving it everything he had. It was unbelievable. 

All the kids were so good... Seriously, not a wooden performance amongst them! Not a missed line or cue. They really were fantastic and entertaining... The only downside was some of the singing solos! But I give them props for even standing up there and singing full stop so... They all deserve all the praise!

Work has been busy, the garden is providing all the veggies for cooking with... I'm stuck with an overabundance of courgettes/zucchinis again! 

I'm falling behind on my One Million Steps for Diabetes challenge (that myself and the little dude have teamed up for) because I've been exhausted from work and then feeling ill this week so I need to get my butt in gear to make up those steps...

I think that sums up the past couple of weeks!

I've read two books over the past two weeks and both of them I read this week... Go figure!

Both very different but both really enjoyable!

Wolf in The Night by N.J. Walter

Meet Me In The Margins by Melissa Ferguson

Last weekend, we went to the cinema to see Thor: Love and Thunder and we enjoyed it. 

I wasn't expecting the freaking ending... But still. It worked. The post-credits sequence made me feel a bit better about it. Definitely intrigued as to where this phase of the MCU is heading!

At home, the professor and I have been continuing with The Boys (so freaking weird) and the professors also been watching some new Star Trek thing on Paramount Plus as well as Halo... I really don't like Star Trek so I just get exposed by sitting in the same room whilst doing something else but Halo is catching my attention... I keep stopping what I'm doing and turning around to watch it.

And we're almost done with Superstore. *sob*

💭

Tell me, how have things been going for you this past couple of weeks?

Linking this to The Sunday Post hosted by Kimberly @ Caffeinated Reviewer

Book Covers That Feel Like Summer

This week on Top Ten Tuesday, we're talking about book covers that feel like summer!

Based on my selection, it seems colours heavily influence whether a cover gives me summer vibes...

Bright colours (especially blues) alongside sunshine, sea and sand seem to tick the boxes as far as my brain is concerned!

All books listed below are books I own but haven't read. 

If you had to recommend one I read this summer, which would you suggest?

(Except Line In The Sand as that's an arc that I'll be reading anyway.)

Malibu Rising by Taylor Jenkins Reid

The Wishing Tree Beside The Shore by Jaimie Admans

Tequila Tequila by Emma Hart

Ella's Ice Cream Summer by Sue Watson

Maybe Someday by Colleen Hoover

Line In The Sand by Teri Wilson

Sweet Little Thing by Abbi Glines

Bad At Love by Karina Halle
The Unhoneymooners by Christina Lauren
How To Save A Life by P. Dangelico

OMG! Where did June go?!

Apparently, it's been a month since I last posted. That's a great start to getting back into blogging isn't it?

I don't know why I haven't posted anything... I guess I've just been busy? Or something. 

Honestly, it doesn't feel like it's been a month. June has just went wheeeeeee and I'm sitting shocked that I'm writing this on the first of July!

Anyway... June was a fairly good month. 

My mental health was appalling throughout May and I was worried I wouldn't be able to pull myself out of the spiral but with some changes at work and half term break spent in Scotland with my family, it improved throughout June.

Work throughout June was calmer than it has been in a long time. Back in April, I switched to a new area of my company and took on a brand new project. I needed the change desperately but because of staffing issues I had to continue to manage my old project as well as take on my new project and I essentially, temporarily, doubled my workload. 

It wasn't the smartest move but it was the deal that had to be struck to get me out of my previous area and into my new one and I don't regret it for a second. Unfortunately, this double workload, double the pressure situation was what caused May's decline in my wellbeing. However, I spoke to my new line manager and she took immediate action and pulled me off my old project completely, effective immediately. My previous line manager (who had agreed to let me go with the temporary double duty) understood completely as she didn't want me to decline again either. So, that was that. I had some handover days throughout June but I was no longer responsible for the day-to-day and it was exactly what I needed to happen. 

Thank God for supportive line managers and awesome employers!

I mentioned above being in Scotland with my family...

Technically this also covers the end of May but I count it as June in my head. 

Anyway, I was in Scotland attending RARE Edinburgh - my first ever book signing/conference!

It was a lot of fun. I won't write too much about it as I plan on writing a little summary post soon but I definitely want to attend London 23 and more events like this! The buzz was fantastic and it was a book lover - and romance readers - heaven!

After RARE, my husband and son joined me at my mum's and we caught up with a load of my family members as well as enjoying a few days out and about to The Edinburgh Dungeon and the RRS Discovery in Dundee.

We came home during the Queen's Jubilee Weekend and I made the official Jubilee pudding - a Lemon Swiss Roll and Amaretti Trifle.

I'm not going to lie... I have no idea how this bloody thing won the contest! Okay, I might be completely the wrong judge as I generally hate trifle but this... Was worse than a normal trifle.

I hated the combination of flavours but the husband - who generally loves trifle - really enjoyed it so... To each their own?

What else has been going on...?

The kid has been feverishly rehearsing for his school play - A Midsummers Night's Dream - and we'll finally get to see the end result in a couple of weeks!

As well as play rehearsals, June was dominated his school residential trip where they got to dragon boat, abseil, land surf, raft build and a whole host of other stuff I cannot remember!

I cannot believe he finishes primary forever in just a few weeks!

When did my baby become a pre-teen?! 😱 

All us mums from his year group have been planning a leaver's party for the kids after their leaver's service in July and I have a feeling we'll all be a little emotional!

We've been working our way through Superstore on Netflix and have finally reached S6. 

I'm loving the show and the weird mix of characters.

The Obi-Wan show on Disney+ is another we've started watching (we're a bit behind) and I'm liking it... I love Ewan McGregor so I shouldn't be surprised really.

The husband and I have also started watching The Boys on Prime and omg... I have no idea what I was expecting with that show but what I got certainly wasn't it! It is twisted, surprising, shocking, funny and gross. I think I like it but I'm not actually sure, lol.

We went to the cinema and watched Dr Strange: Multiverse of Madness and we also saw Top Gun: Maverick and I loved them both!

I thought Top Gun: Maverick was better than the original and that's not easy to achieve!

I also went to the theatre to see Bat Out of Hell: The Musical last night and it was... Interesting!

The music, vocal performances, and staging were magnificent but the story was nonsense. Complete and utter nonsense. But oh well. Fun was had just the same!

The rendition and staging of Bat Out of Hell (the song) just before the half-time interval is burned onto my brain with its sheer awesomeness. Definitely a show-defining moment.

I've actually done some reading this month! Amazing... My reading is still super slow and I can go weeks without reading at all but June has been pretty steady!

I listened to two audiobooks (Persuasion by Jane Austin and The Mistletoe Motive by Chloe Leise), I read two books (Full Moon Rising and Kissing Sin by Keri Arthur), and I read the novelisation of Under the Oak Tree (part One) by Suji Kim.

I also read the first season of the Under The Oak Tree comic (which marries up to part one of the novelisations) and enjoyed the artwork but preferred the story in novel form.

Web Comics are something I'm becoming an ever bigger fan of. They suit my lack of attention span/focus these days... Another one I've been reading throughout June was Midnight Poppy Land. OMG, I love it. 

The Guild Codex book series is also being turned into a webcomic and I've been enjoying seeing those stories that I love - all the little moments - being brought to life in beautiful artwork.

I've been away from the bookish community for a while so in an attempt to get back into the swing of things I'm joining the Summer COYER hosted by Michelle and Berls at Because Reading.

I'm keeping things simple and not adding a reading list or setting a goal... I'm just going to go with the flow and see if I can clear some books off the shelves and actually start sharing what I think of them again! I'll keep track of progress on my COYER tweet thread

I want to share this post written by Krysta at Pages Unbound as I couldn't agree more with what she said! It's time to stop telling people they aren't real readers.

And that's it from me for now!

What did you get up to in June?

Linking this to The Sunday Post hosted by Kimberly @ Caffeinated Reviewer and the Monthly Wrap Up hosted by Feed Your Fiction Addiction and It Starts At Midnight.