It’s an quiet evening. The sun is slowly sinking behind the hill out back and the vibrant purple of the lavender is a buzzed with bees as the golden rays of sunlight are casting a glow over them. It’s the end of July, and the heatwave is still going strong as I sit here on the back deck with a cold glass of hibiscus tea enjoying the smell of lavender wafting and the gentle breeze of the evening air.
July has been a month! And the dog days of summer has officially arrived with August knocking on the door. This month has been a whirlwind of travel, heat, and fishing. I started this month fishing, and I ended this month fishing.
Fishing: Fourth July weekend I spent fishing up in Monroe at the same lake as June. This time only reeled in two fish in the four hours there. Then at the end of the month up on the Skyhomish River catching nothing after hoards of people from Seattle decedent on the river to cool off from the heatwave. It is the middle of summer and the fish are not interested in biting any worms dangling by. Maybe end of August will be better.
Travel: I may have not gone far as in outside the state of Washington this month, yet it felt like I did. I traveled east of the mountains one weekend to attend a bridal shower in the Tri-Cities area. I did stay the night at a friend’s place over there since it is a long drive to be going four hours one way just to turn around for another four hours. I arrived in the area right as the heatwave was getting started.
I left the next morning right as the late 80 degrees started inching up towards the 100s. I did stop for a bit of rest to cool off at a local fruit and produce wholesale market before tackling the mountain pass. I ended up loading my cooler with assortment of fresh fruit and veggies to take home at better price then at home.
Bridesmaid Update: The final countdown to my friend’s wedding started this past month. It is only now six more weeks until it is show time, and another two weeks until I have my final fitting of my bridesmaid dress. I cannot believe it, she is going to be married soon!
Garden Update: Since the heatwave happened the tomatoes have been going full speed ahead. Already the vines are full of the fruit. The lavender has been blooming as I noted in the beginning of this post. I have already cut back some of it, and now it’s growing it’s second round of flowers! All the other things planted in the garden have been popping up, and already have been using the herbs, green onions and a few leeks already. I cannot wait until later in August when the harvesting begins!
Watched List:
Skinwalker Ranch – Netflix
Downton Abbey: New Era – Peacock
Grantchester Season 7 – Masterpiece PBS
Persuasion – Netflix
Regarding Netflix’s Persuasion, I maybe late to the party on this, but it must be said. The new Persuasion is not as terrible as some people have said in reviews. Truth is, neither is Bridgerton, nor a lot of costume dramas of late. Historical accuracy has gone out the window with most of these dramas, and keeping with the source material has been a challenge with how society perceives the world now. This may be why I have been a huge fan of Masterpiece on PBS over the years because most of the series, shows and mysteries stay close to the historical time period, the original source material and respect the author’s work. Netflix’s Persuasion is not the best adaption of Jane Austen’s original novel, yet it does brings the author’s work into the mainstream for those who normally don’t read or watch this type of genre. I will be honest, I had to watch it twice before I could draw a conclusion in how I felt, and it does fall flat in some scenes where humor was not there. The breaking of the “fourth wall” was jarring a few times, especially when it used modern speech not fitting for the time period the movie was set in. I will give it a 3/5 stars.
Books Read:
Because of Miss Bridgerton: A Bridgerton Prequel – Julia Quinn
A Fiancees Guide to First Wives and Murder – Dianna Freeman
The Maidens – Alex Michaelides
The Maidens: I normally don’t do a book review, but WOW! I could not put this novel down from the sheer thrill of it. I never saw it coming, the ending of this novel, and at moments had horror at what I read. It is gritty, dark, and disturbing. Dark academia mixed with psychological thriller. I would give this 4.8/5 stars on a book review.
In Case You Missed It On The Blog:
The Bridesmaid Dairies| The Bachlorette Weekend
The Bridesmaid Dairies| The Bridal Shower
This past month has been about ice cold Starbucks Refresher tea drinks. Ever since I learned how to make them at home, that is what I do. During the heatwave I believed I drank roughly three pitchers of the passion fruit lemonade I made from the drink mix at the store. I maybe need to stop in August….who knows….will see.
August is here and time to get those last summer things done before autumn (and as my friend said the other day, the school year begins). Until September rolls around, I’m going to dive into August!
A Biotechie's Life 