Day 29 of 30 Day Photo Challenge.

I pre-ordered this book the moment it was announced at some point last year and was surprised to find it being promoted across the socials with no sign of it appearing in my library. Turns out the pre-order never came to fruition, so I had to cancel and buy the book in the store. Very odd. Anyway, that takes nothing away from the book, which is a great history, balancing facts and personal anecdotes and looking at all aspects of life within the RAF’s premier aerobatics team.

Day 28 of 30 Day Photo Challenge.

Day 27 of 30 Day Photo Challenge.

I know I’m super late to the party here, but do people know how brilliant GoodNotes is? I’d tried it before, a long time ago, but it didn’t really register. This time, it came back to me as I was looking into bullet journals and other note-taking. There’s a whole eco-system out there of people designing and selling pdfs and downloads of organisational pages - recipe trackers, to do list pages, cleaning lists, habit trackers, pantry inventories, they’re all out there.

Day 26 of 30 Day Photo Challenge.

Music from the Thompson Twins popped up on an episode of Physical we watched this week, and that immediately led to the discussion that there are more than two people in the band and none of them are related, so the name makes no sense. That led to me listening to the album and I didn’t know what to expect, but I really quite liked it. It put me very much in mind of Duran Duran, that sort of 80s vibe but with just enough experimentation to keep it interesting. A good album!

Ah lovely Carrie doing what she does best. I skipped the last album because it had more of a religious focus but this is back to the traditional country - drinking, bad guys and girls, and of course, lots of falling in love. I felt like there wasn’t quite so much storytelling in this album but I did enjoy the variety of styles. There was a bit of Johnny Cash railway rhythms, excellent Jason Aldean style drinking songs, and Dolly Parton vibes occasionally too. Loved it.

I wasn’t aware of this book before I picked it up and if I’m honest, I don’t remember why I bought it? The only answer is that it was because the audiobook version I opted for was read by Kate Winslet, who is, of course, wonderful. It’s well read and an interesting enoguh story but it’s one of those that is just ultimately depressing. This is mostly unkind people being mean to each other and living a miserable life… so not really what I’m in the mood for at the moment! But well read by KW!

The third series of Apple TV+’s comedy series Trying starts next month and I am so excited for it. I watched the show as it aired, and loved it, and then recently rewatched it again to prepare for the new arrival. And now, if you want me to be really honest, I’m watching it again to pull out the best quotes from the show because it’s just that good. On paper, it probably shouldn’t appeal to me: a couple desperately want to have a child and are going through the rigorous adoption process to achieve their goal.

Day 25 of 30 Day Photo Challenge.

The excitement and hype for this six-part Star Wars story featuring everyone’s favourite Jedi (except Yoda, and baby Yoda, and maybe Ahsoka too), was incredible. I was right there. I wanted to know what Obi-Wan had been up to in the time between the prequels and the original movies, and the trailers only served to make it an unmissable event. And I loved it! Hooray, they didn’t ruin anything! But also, I’m not totally sure they added anything either.

Day 24 of 30 Day Photo Challenge.

Day 23 of 30 Day Photo Challenge.

Day 22 of 30 Day Photo Challenge.

Day 21 of 30 Day Photo Challenge.

Day 20 of 30 Day Photo Challenge.

Day 19 of 30 Day Photo Challenge.

I always forget how much I enjoy The Script and this album was stacked with songs I’d forgotten about. Initially perusing the tracklist had only For The First Time and If You Ever Come Back jump out at me, and yes, they are probably the standout songs on the album. But the rest of it is brilliant too, fantastic pop to bop along to. I still over-analyse the lyrics to If You Ever Come Back - keeping the kettle constantly on like that just seems impractical but never mind. Love it.

I was really looking forward to this from George Ezra, having put the previous album firmly into my top ten of all time list. This does live up to the hype although I have to admit it won’t be touching the top ten like its predecessor. But it has that joyous, summer, festival vibe that we’ve come to associate with GE, and there’s a lot to enjoy. It does have an occasional melancholic vibe - a sort of lonely longing - but there are also high spots to counteract the low. A great album.