Last Days of Rome

The call came, the five months of funemployment is coming to a close. By early September I'll be getting stuck into a new job so now I'm treating the next month like the last days of Rome. I did some writing, I watched a Japanese movie from the 50's and while Rebecca was out tonight I played not one, but two short narrative games from start to finish. Gotta maximize the remaining days I have and finish everything I wanted to during this gap on my resume. Maybe I need to make a bucket list of sorts...

Bye Bye Balloons

Scrounged some more blackberries on my return trip to collect my newly sharpened knife. I was so ready to give it a test run on a tomato or cucumber but we had to pack down and leave our Air B&B as soon as I got back. 

We brunched in an overly twee little breakfast parlour, the kind of place that had three cuckoo clocks, none of them kept the right time. Still, the food set us up for a revisit to a walk round Symonds Yat Rock to enjoy the viewpoints. Then it was time to return to Bristol. Just in time to march up the the park to watch the final bout of hot air balloons going over... But they cancelled it. We rolled up our picnic blanket with a heavy heart and returned home to contemplate the week ahead.

Blackberries on the Vine

Visited a familiar English Heritage site, Goodrich Castle to show Rebecca's parents the ruin that's in pretty good condition. We bought some mead in the gift shop (something to enjoy when the Summer finally breaks), then we ventured into Ross-On-Wye for a nose about.

In the early evening I headed out on a solo jaunt. A chap who offers a knife sharpening service lives a half hour walk away from our Air B&B so I made the uphill trek. Because I was running a little early for our appointment I took my time on the walk and foraged a mountain of blackberries. Every bush I found I basically had to eat one from. I'm reading a book all about malnourished and shipwrecked people so being able to scrounge for my own sustenance felt amazing. Just hope my fingers weren't stained too purple as I handed my knife to the fella.

August City Break

Did some pottering around and some slow motion packing for our weekend away. I have no idea why we always end up in the Monmouth area for a city break, but this time Rebecca's parents wanted to experience the piece and quiet that only the Wye Valley can offer. It always takes a few minutes to adjust to the idea that your local post office is also your butchers, bakery and grocery shop. The only pub in town (that isn't a scary looking social club) usually has a food menu but because they don't have a chef at the moment we had to go to the chippy (which is still a win). It really is peaceful out here though, no doubt we'll sleep soundlessly.

With a Paddle

My Summer of 2026 can be mostly associated with boats. Boat parties, holidays and hangouts. Now the season is beginning to draw to an end and all good things must pass. I joined my friend who owns a small riverboat for one last cruise to stash it back in the marina til next year. Just the two of us (and a Bluetooth speaker) on a tepid August day. We did a pair of locks then cruised into the pack marina. The water was full of algae and other nasties, which is what we think clogged up our engine and killed it. Just meters away from our mooring point we found ourselves up shit creek, thankfully we had a paddle... One very small paddle that is. Somehow I managed to row the vessel back towards the docks (my friend was low key freaking out, but I was determined to make it work). So despite it being a fun Summer send off to begin with, it turned into one of those bleak endings that will probably cost my buddy a bunch of money to fix. 

I had a great time though. 

Bookshelves Complete

The final push to complete the bookshelves. All I needed to do was to screw everything down into place and lock it all in. The literal second Rebecca finished work she came downstairs and started making piles of all her books - assigning post-its to label each stack. I was playing games online with some chaps tonight so I didn't get to see her wave her magic wand, I only saw the 'Ta-Dah' photo she sent up and it looks wonderful. There's room for everything, plus space for a handful of small photo frames and knick-knacks. It really completes the room and makes for a great talking point for guest. 

It was only 18 months late in the build... But I reckon it was worth the wait. 

Desirably Uneventful

I let Rebecca sleep in for a couple of hours while I pottered around, she needed the rest so we could make it back home to Bristol in one piece. Time back was desirably uneventful, we played games, read books and ordered take out (we deserved it). Rebecca had a theatre show to catch in the evening, leaving me at home to play a horror game that eventually got under my skin. It didn't help that the cat kept chirping during some especially creepy moments so I couldn't tell what was real anymore. One to resume tomorrow when the sun is up and the lights are on.