Notes from July 2020

Some bits and bobs I have enjoyed this month. I feel like July has been a bit up and down - I love love love summer usually but obviously this month has been unlike any other summer. I started the month feeling really fed up with working from home and felt a bit like I was just existing and not enjoying life. That sounds quite dramatic, but I think THESE TIMES make any emotions feel a bit times ten.

Regardless, I tried my best to think of one of my favourite quotes, which is 'Never lose sight of the fact that just being is fun', and I reminded myself that a lot of people are much worse off than me, so I still did fun things, and felt a lot better towards the end of the month.

This jammy pepper pasta salad

Essay about this dinner incoming.


I saw this on Michelle's blog and it spoke to me. I had most of the ingredients in the fridge (I love it when that happens) and so I made it and it was so delicious, especially for a summer's evening. The descriptions on Bon Appetit really get me; describing peppers as jammy *drooling emoji* . I made a few substitutions - I didn't have quite the required number of peppers so I kind of 'thirded' (unsure if that's a word) the whole recipe, and I didn't include the nuts or the onions because Rich isn't a fan of onions and I just didn't fancy the nuts. So after all, it was kind of only partly the recipe! It had the main essence though - the jammy peppers. They were the main event and they were glorious. Oh I also swapped parmesan for feta as we had some leftover that needed using. Subs and using your cooking initiative for the win!

This adorable Instagram account

I can't remember how I found this account but it is just adorbs. It's run by a girl called Kyla and the aesthetic is 'a brown girl in 1950s utopia' (her words, obviously) - she remakes 1950s magazine covers and creates dreamy vintage looks. It's just so cute!

The library is BACK BABY

I missed the library so much! Whilst one still can't go and browse (sob), Bristol Central Library have created a system where you email them with the type of books that you enjoy and they will make a curated selection for you, which you go and collect in person. How lovely is that? A free selection of curated books. I will never stop appreciating that the library is 100% free. The books that were selected for me were Started Early, Took My Dog by Kate Atkinson, The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck, Enduring Love by Ian McEwan, The Reluctant Fundamentalist by Mohsin Hamid and And The Mountains Echoed by Khaled Hosseini. All books that I have never read before but look right up my street. I am very impressed.

My cat has started going outside

My fluff is all grown up! We bought her a collar and a tag with our details on and let her roam free in the garden (and beyond). She has already lost the collar (thanks then) and had an altercation with a neighbourhood cat, but apart from that she has loved her little outside life. 

Adam Buxton with Joe Cornish

I love Adam Buxton's podcast at the best of times, but this one was a particular highlight, firstly because any time Adam and Joe are together it is comedy gold/ pure entertainment. Secondly because Adam was talking very candidly and emotionally about his mum who recently died and it was very, very sweet.

Cute picnic

One of my July goals, which I post on my monthly bullet journal Instagrams, was to have a cute picnic in the wild. We went to The Bath Soft Cheese Shop, which is a dairy farm, shop and cafe not too far from us. I purchased some cheese (extra mature of course) and then we took our other food and many items (Rich was so pleased that I packed glassware to achieve my aesthetic goals) and went in search of a cute field to sit in. The first spot we found was shortly disrupted by a farmer letting in a huge herd of cows, which seemed fine to begin with but shortly became very unnerving so we trondled on further and found an even better spot with BUNNIES hopping about. It was the best.

Sex Education

I am aware I am very late to the bandwagon but I love this programme! I'm only on episode 6 of season 1 and it makes me cry and I don't even know why half the time, it's funny but it also gets you right in the feels. I STAN ERIC. The aesthetic is also super pleasing on the eyes and I want to live in Otis's house a lot.

Links I liked reading

Midsummer celebrations sound lovely
The Babysitter's Club movie discussed by the people who were in it
This article about Normal People is an interesting take on the TV show
Man Repeller did a deep dive into feelings about libraries and it made me feel warm inside
Cats are the best. Even Vogue knows.
The hygiene theatre of deep cleaning everything is arguably pointless