Summer 2025 Favourites
Watching
The Residence
I really enjoyed this closed door murder mystery! The vibes were very Knives Out/ Agatha Christie with a quirky, birdwatching protagonist, great sets and cinematography and many unexpected twists and turns. I was really hoping this series would get another season, but this single season is still worth watching and does resolve its mystery.
Recipes For Love & Murder
I love a British streaming service! I love the international flavour, the new scenery, way of speaking, and glimpses of cultures that are different than my own. But I also watching shows in English. This one fits the bill. A cozy murder mysteries series set in South Africa where a recipe creator at a local newspaper with the help of some friends ends up solving a murder. PG-13, not too gruesome, with the mystery spanning the full season.
Reading
Antique Hunter’s Guide To Murder & Sequel by CL Miller
I really enjoyed this cozy mystery series and am looking forward to reading the third book if/when it’s released. The mysteries were creatively crafted around antiques and it was interesting to learn tidbits about antiques while reading the character’s attempts to solve the crime.
The Retired Teacher Mysteries Series by JM Hall
This series follows three retired school teachers, and hits all the cozy mystery notes. I love that the mysteries are all applicable to the age range and career of the three main characters. My only potential criticism is that with three main characters, their families, coworkers, and suspects, sometimes it’s difficult to keep track of who is who, and who knows who, and who is related to who. But overall I really enjoyed this series and plan to read any more books as they are released.
Sweater Weather RomCom Series
This series is a set of clean romcoms all set in an autumn themed town called Harvest Hollow. Each book was written by a different author with each story interacting with the same town (locations, events, etc) and the book characters having cameo appearances in the others.
The first book I read was Can’t Help Falling by Courtney Walsh, which I stayed up until 2am to finish because I was enjoying it so much. 🙈
I then proceeded to read each book in the series as it became available at my local library with most of the books finding themselves in my favourites. Easy As Pie by Julie Christianson became another 6 star rating for me.
The only book in the series I didn’t really enjoy was A Not So Fictional Fall by Savannah Scott.
Listening
The Pride & Prejudice 2005 Vinyl
As part of the 20th anniversary, the Pride & Prejudice score was released as a vinyl record for the first time. I was so excited that I pre-ordered it the first day I could! It finally arrived near the end of August and has been a staple that I listen to ever since. I’ve always loved the score, and being instrumental and mostly melodic and sweeping it makes a beautiful background soundtrack in the evening while the golden hour light paints my apartment in warm hues and dancing shadows.
Photo Journal: Cottage 2025
On the first day, my sister Hannah and I took the canoe out for a ride. I was getting in first, with Hannah holding the boat against the dock. “Are you good?” Hannah asked while simultaneously letting go. Apparently I was not good because I immediately tipped out of the boat into the murky shallow water 😂 . Then, while out across the lake it started absolutely pouring rain, and Hannah and I had to paddle back, barely able to see from the rain in our eyes and glasses - laughing the whole way.
Finally we got back and asked our dad to take a photo for the memories . . . He did not have his glasses on, so this is the photo he took, which just so happened to be while we were still talking, and missed a second later when we smiled 😂
Took up puzzling, and completed two puzzles in the time we were there. The first one was 500 pieces and fairly easy. The second was 1,000, and being a bunch of individual cats with white space and descriptors and names around them, was actually quite challenging to complete.
I thought this would more be something the adults enjoyed, as Kemper is still a bit too young for large jigsaw puzzles, but she would ask to “play with your puzzle” and sit and look at the pieces with us. “This is fun,” she would say. 🥹😅
Kemper and Hannah spent a bit of time colouring. Kemper is getting really good at colouring inside the lines.
Photo Journal: Cottage, 2024
For the past several summers I have spent a week at the cottage with my mom and dad, and my sister Hannah. This summer my sister, Allysin, and niece, Kemper, also joined us, and my niece Acacia was able to come for a couple days as well.
I really enjoyed unplugging. We all consciously left our phones put away and spent our days hanging out together, canoeing, reading, and our evenings playing cards, and listening to my uncle (our cottage neighbour) share stories from his childhood
In the above photo my nieces are playing Mastermind - a pattern game. It’s pretty simple with one player setting up a pattern, and the other player trying to guess it before they run out of turns. I actually really rather enjoy playing this game, and in the photo you can seeKemper using the box lid to cover her face so she isn’t “peeking”. 🥹
Allysin challenged Acacia to a portrait challenge. Both of them set out to paint a portrait of the other 😂
I drew the outline of a car on the outside of an empty box.
Acacia went “stick fishing” using a long stick we found to pull out much smaller ones.
Butterfly Conservatory ✨
Last weekend I went to the butterfly conservatory with my sister, and two nieces. Recently I’ve been using my Nikon D850 with a 35mm lens, even when I’m out and about. Something about the combo gives these photographs a really classic, retro feel that I am absolutely in love with.
