Autumn is here again, which means I'm starting on my a new seasonal to-do list, but first here's how I got on with my summer list:

Visit three different beaches in Suffolk - Felixstowe, Aldeburgh, Southwold

Southwold was visited on my birthday with Mother, we sat in a tearoom overlooking a little lake and enjoyed mint tea. After a wander on the beach and down the pier, we had a meander through the town, and then enjoyed a lunch of fish 'n' chips. We did the whole thing in reverse before heading home. Most enjoyable.


I visited Felixstowe seafront after the start of the new school term, it was a warm hazy day and blissfully quiet on the beach. I timed my visit to coincide with lunchtime and sat eating my chips with my legs dangling over the seawall. It didn't take long for the gulls to start gathering.


I was fine just sat there until a lady walked by and said "they're after your food, make sure they don't attack you love".  I wondered if they'd really attack, and with that thought bouncing around my head, I suddenly felt extremely outnumbered. I decided it was time to move on. My chips tasted just as good walking along the beach, and I was delightfully gull free.


Try three new ice cream flavours

This was written without knowing that my GP was going to suggest I went dairy free for a while. I did sneak the teeniest, tiniest taste of my friends delicious honeycomb ice cream at Jimmy's Festival but that doesn't count.

I found a dairy free vanilla ice cream in Tesco, so at least I could indulge. It's pretty good stuff, I can't tell the difference but I am limited to vanilla until I seek out an alternative.


Have a picnic

I ate outside on many occasions which I'm counting as picnics, but there was no traditional blanket on the grass and wicker basket.


Visit a maize maze

The Southwold maize maze opened on July 16th I had every intention of going but plans just didn't come together. Maybe next year?



Take a trip to Snape Maltings and Marlsford Mill

Marlsford Mill was ticked off the list on the way back from Southwold, but I didn't make it as far as Snape Maltings.

Marlsford Mill is an old mill, on the A12, stacked to the rafters with vintage, re purposed, and refurbished furniture and curios, from different sellers. My friends have a space there and I'd been meaning to visit for a while. I was lucky enough to come out with my purse intact, but it's definitely worth a visit if you like a poke around for second hand furniture and house bits.



Forage for and make elderflower cordial / gin (failing that, elderberry gin)

I missed the elderflowers, and left it too late to pick many elderberries. But I only made a small batch of elderberry gin, so I promised myself I'd also make a large batch of blackberry gin. Whilst searching for elderberries I did spend a few very pleasing hours wandering about the hedgerows, scoping out some sloe bushes and rosehips for future foraging.


Go to an outdoor movie

This was a bit of a cheat due to the fact that I already had tickets when I put it on the list. Then a few days before the event I was contacted to say it'd been cancelled due to poor early ticket sales. The wet weather we'd had had put people off booking.

I was gutted, they were showing The Lost Boys which is one of my all time favourite films (firstly because I had a teenage crush on Corey Haim, which turned into a bit of a thing for Jason Patric as I got older, and he kept getting better with age). But it was also going to be the last date night for Andy and I before harvest began, so I wasn't best pleased.

Not to be put off, I looked to see what other films Pop Up Pictures were showing over the summer. Top Gun stood out, and I roped in my best friend for company. But, when it came to it neither of us wanted to go, it didn't start until 9pm and, both feeling a bit old fartish, we decided to stay at home, opting to get together for lunch and a movie during the week instead.


Pick strawberries / raspberries and eat sun warmed berries whilst still in the field

I took Mother to Alder Carr Farm for lunch and whilst there we filled punnets with juicy, sweet strawberries. Sadly, we couldn't eat any straight from the plant as workers were nearby, busy filling punnets to sell in store. Tasting a few cheeky strawberries is long held tradition in our family! 

Decorate until my arms fall off

Arms are still attached, but I have made some good progress on the DIY front. Mostly because I'm currently taking a week off work to plough through my to-decorate list. I became so annoyed with myself for making such little progress over the summer that I made the time and forced myself to do it. I'm now feeling pretty smug to have the glossed the paintwork in the entrance, stained three new doors, and painted our front door a pleasing shade of green. I'm hoping to paint the kitchen before Monday rolls around.



Read 5 books - preferably sitting in my hammock in the sunshine.

I finished A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness, which was generally read in bed when it was still light outside. When I was a kid I used to hate going to bed when it was still light, it just didn't feel like bedtime (especially when you could hear other children still playing outside), but now I really like it.

Next up I read Morality for Beautiful Girls by Alexander McCall Smith, followed by The Time Keeper by Mitch Albom.

Then, The Raw Shark Texts by Steven Hall, which jumped the queue when I saw a rave review on Instagram, and was read largely in my hammock, in the sunshine for a few hours every afternoon.

A Year of Living Danishly by Helen Russell had me questioning the way we do things in this country, the way we view things as a nation, as individuals. Very interesting reading.

Harry Potter and The Cursed Child was read one Saturday morning, in bed, whilst a cup of tea went cold. I know some people hated the book, or had issues with it, but I allowed myself to be swept away into the world of Hogwarts and enjoyed every last second of it.

Storm by Virginia Bergin, is the follow up to Rain, both of which I enjoyed - easy to read, entertaining and they both made me tear up on occasion.

Then I was back to Alexander McCall Smith with The Kalahari Typing School for Men. I like these easy reads, but on a few occasions I was pleased to find a plot turn out differently to how I expected - most refreshing.

And finally, The Girl of Ink and Stars (also good). Summer turned out to be very bookish, with me finishing nine books. More than I've read in ages.

I'm starting my quest to read every book currently on my bookshelf before my next birthday, with An Artist of The Floating World by Kazuo Ishiguro.

What did you get up to this summer?