I usually love September: chilly mornings; sun-warmed afternoons; golden evening light; the leaves just beginning to change colour whilst plenty of green still remains. The skies are always spectacular at sunrise and sunset. And yet this year something has felt… ‘off’. I can’t quite explain what it is. I’ve gone through the motions of noticing all the little things I love, but the feeling hasn’t quite reached my heart in the way it normally does. I’ve not felt compelled to capture them and as a result I haven’t picked up my camera at all this month, with the exception of the girls’ first day back at school.
It typically takes a couple of weeks for us to find our rhythm with the post-summer return to school (plus the inevitable sports clubs/competitions and homework that accompanies it) and the same has been true this year. All three girls have settled in well, which I’m immensely grateful and proud of them for. Beyond that, it’s very much been a ‘head down and get on with work’ kind of month and we really haven’t done very much together as a whole family.
I know it’s just the current season of life that we’re in, and that things will shift and change as time passes, but I’ve felt it quite difficult to be in the midst of it. As always, this monthly Little Loves post reminds me to remember and reflect on the good parts.
Here are all the things I’ve been loving lately throughout September…
READ
A Conjuring Of Light: by V E Schwab. This is the final installment in the trilogy I’ve been reading and it took me the whole month to get through it – it’s really quite a chunky book! Despite taking so long to read it, it was exciting from the very first page and didn’t stop until right at the end, it was full-on action and adventure all the way through. I read it in snatches whenever I could – the chapters are relatively short so it was easy enough to dip in and out of and pick up where I left off.
I thoroughly enjoyed it – it was magical enough to be an escape from everyday life whilst still having relatable characters and relationships. I’ve got some more of V.E. Schwab’s books lined up in my ever-growing ‘to be read’ pile, so it’s going to be interesting to see if they differ much from this trilogy in the way that this series has differed from ‘The Invisible Life Of Addie LaRue’ (which I read back in June and loved).
‘A Conjuring Of Light’ by V.E. Schwab
WATCHED
House of Dragons: We’ve been enjoying watching this series, a sort of prequel to Game Of Thrones. It’s set some 150-200 years before the main TV show and it follows the story of House Targaryen. It’s pretty action-packed, although I’m not quite connecting with the characters in the way I did with Game of Thrones – not yet anyway. We’ll stick with it and see what happens as I’m definitely invested in seeing it through to the end. I do think that Matt Smith and Rhys Ifans are absolutely brilliant in it.
The Masked Dancer: In complete contrast, we’ve also been watching The Masked Dancer. I absolutely love this show (and The Masked Singer too). It’s fun and light-hearted and an excellent distraction from the awful state of the world right now. We’re a couple of weeks behind at the moment so avoiding spoilers has been a bit tricky.
The Queen’s funeral: I was very sad to learn of the death of The Queen. I’ve always quite admired her stoic and dignified nature, and how human she seemed to be behind the scenes. For any family to lose a parent/grandparent is devastating – I can’t even begin to imagine what it must feel like to have to grieve in the public eye. The Queen has been a figurehead for my whole life, as she had for so many people – we’ve never seen a different monarch at all in our lifetime, let alone a King, so it has felt like a really momentous, world-changing occasion. I watched parts of the funeral – the processions and part of the service itself, and encouraged the girls to watch it with me as it’s such an historic event. I found all the pageantry, ceremonies and rituals quite fascinating.
HEARD
New favourite song: One of the things I love about Instagram is that I get to discover the work of all kinds of artists on there – photographers, poets, musicians and more. This song – ‘We’re All Going Home’ by The Wanderer – is one such example. Someone I follow (I can’t remember who) used this song in one of their Instagram stories and I fell in love with it – the lyrics, how it sounds and how it makes me feel.
When I looked them up and found this video it made me smile because I move my hands in exactly the same way as the singer does when I’m listening to a song I love – it’s like I can feel the music better when I do it.
Other songs: Other new-to-me songs I’ve fallen in love with this month include ‘Leopold Street’ by The Paper Kites, ‘You Saved My Soul’ by Mighty Oaks, ‘Come Talk To Me’ by Bon Iver and ‘Who Am I?’ by Jack Cullen.
MADE
Ella’s dream come true: On my way home from Chicago, I met someone on the aeroplane who helped make one of Ella’s dreams come true. It’s quite a long story, so let’s just say that it’s not what you know, it’s who you know; that having a random conversation could lead to all sorts of exciting possibilities; that you must say “yes!”, emphatically and without hesitation, when an opportunity comes your way; and that the kindness of strangers (who then become friends) really is something a little bit magical that will have a far-reaching ripple effect long into the future.
In short, Ella and I headed up to Manchester (on a school night!) to see Dermot Kennedy perform an intimate, live, acoustic gig at The Deaf institute, which might just be the coolest venue I’ve ever been to a gig at. The person I met on the plane is a key part of Dermot’s crew, so he got us on the guest list and really looked after us. We were allowed to bypass the queue so that we were first inside and at the end of the gig Ella got given a personalised, signed set list and the actual guitar pick Dermot used during the gig! She didn’t stop grinning for the whole night. The support act – Jack Cullen – was fab and Dermot played all our favourite songs. It really was a night that we’ll never, ever forget. I’m just so grateful to the people involved who made it happen.
Dermot Kennedy performing an intimate, acoustic set at The Deaf Institute in Manchester
WORE
School Uniform: September means going back to school after the summer holidays and therefore the inevitable and obligatory ‘first day of school’ photo of the girls in their school uniform. It felt extra poignant this year as it’s the last year Ella will ever have to wear it!
She’s moved up into Year 11, sits her GCSE’s in the Spring and this time next year will be heading into either Sixth Form or college where she’ll get to wear her own clothes. I still can’t quite wrap my head around how quickly the time is going – I swear she only started in Reception a couple of years ago…
L-r: Ella (Y11), Lola (Y8) and Mimi (Y10). Stop growing up so fast!
AND FINALLY…
Phlock Live: Two trips to Manchester in the space of a week! This time it was to attend Phlock Live, a one-day UK photography conference. I’ve been part of the Phlock community on Instagram and Facebook for several years now and had been looking forward to this event for ages, especially as it had been originally scheduled for the weekend after the pandemic hit and the very first lockdown was initiated back in 2020, resulting in it being put on hold.
We’d all waited a very long time (two whole years!) to be able to come together and meet each other in person and it was everything I hoped it would be. The speakers were fantastic – Karah Mew from The Glass Narrator in particular blew me away with her talk (I honestly haven’t stopped thinking about it since) and making new connections was a definite highlight. Interestingly, I didn’t even take my lens cap off of my camera – I was so absorbed in the day that I didn’t take a single photo!
Chapter nine of 2022 is now closed and we’re somehow three-quarters of the way through the year. The C-word (*whispers* – Christmas) may have already been mentioned at some point. I probably say this every month but I really can’t believe how quickly the time is going at the moment. We have a couple of fun things going on in October, plus of course the half term break to plan for so I’m looking forward to that and hoping to get out and about a bit more.
I hope that you found plenty of little things to love throughout September and that October is full of all good things.
Stay well x
