HIYA DEAR READER!!!!

It is SO GOOD to be back with you!

It’s been just a little over a month since I was with you last. My last post was when I was feeling incredibly overwhelmed working what felt like every waking HOUR of my life for the entire month. It was chaos.

Then I ended the month-long workathon with a trip to Dallas, USA, which was honestly an entire experience in itself. There is actually SO much to say on the topic of Dallas (good and bad), that it warrants a completely separate post. A lot of people have been asking me what it was like, and thankfully, my past self started writing a post whilst in the hotel bar one night sipping on one of the best margaritas I’ve had in my LIFE whilst waiting for my colleagues to fly in from Canada and Tennessee, so I may just write a standalone post on the topic of Dallas. There is THAT much to say on it.

Anyway, I got back from Dallas on the Monday, and on the Tuesday I came down with a horrible cold/aches that hadn’t fully cleared by the time we travelled to Brussels on the Friday. So I felt pretty under the weather arriving in Brussels, when I was smacked in the face (or stomach) with the worst IBS attack I’ve had since 2017 (which coincidentally – or not so coincidentally because I’m guessing it’s some of the food not agreeing with me – was also on the back of a trip to the USA!) My stomach started twinging on the Saturday with the familiar sensations and I was begging my body to just see me through the Fred Again gig – the WHOLE reason we were in Brussels in the first place!!! Miraculously, it DID (and the gig was INCREDIBLE), even though I was in the venue sweating like you don’t know what (this happens during an IBS flare up) the cramping and nausea managed to hold off until about 20 minutes after getting back to our hotel after the gig, at which point I was bedbound until the Monday morning when I had to get up because it was time to come home. Safe to say it was pretty lousy and most definitely NOT the fantastic trip I’d been excited about, but we move on.

Fortunately for us, we also had a trip to our beloved Spain planned for a while that was taking place a little over a week after arriving home (I told you September was a ridiculous month!!!), and whilst I was panicking I was going to still be ill/ be ill again because it took so long for my stomach flare up to go down, I can say that I made it and it was absolutely wonderful to finally rest and have a week off work. We had the most beautiful time as always, it was so good to be back and conversing in Spanish and eating/drinking delish food and wine, so all was well in the world again. A trip to Spain always soothes my soul.

Anyway, with all this travel and back and forth, I’ve been doing a fair amount of reading/watching/listening, but without a doubt the best for you this week is what I’ve been listening to. Here’s what I have for you…

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Reading

All the Lonely People by Mike Gayle

Knowing that I was going to be spending a lot of time on flights in September, I put a post out for book recommendations and downloaded them all to my kindle. I didn’t get through as many as I’d hoped, but I did recently finish this one after my beautiful friend recommended it as a wholesome read.

And wholesome it was!

It was the story of Hubert, a Jamaican man who moved to the UK in his 20s in the 50s, and faced a barrage of racist abuse and discrimination whilst trying to make a life for himself. The book was about his life and beautifully described the tribulations of an interracial marriage in that era, but the main focus was on his life now and how it was about to take a turn when his daughter was due to fly over for a visit from Australia.

It wasn’t the best book I’ve ever read and it felt slow to get through at times, and I would have liked more detail on some of the characters and situations in general, but it was a great book that highlighted issues like racism, interracial relationships, and loneliness, whilst sharing the power of community, friendship, love and other topics. It was a really lovely book at times, and it moved me in parts.

You can learn more about it here.

Watching

The Crowded Room

This was honestly, one of the best things I’ve seen in ages!!!! Our friend left his Apple TV logged in when he visited recently, and I was excited to find something I’ve not seen or heard of before. The downside is it’s only available on Apple TV (does anyone even have this? I have no idea how it works) but I would recommend paying for a month of Apple TV just to watch this show.

It’s about a guy who is arrested for a shooting, and is the story of the determining if he’s guilty or not guilty. It’s a psychological thriller and honestly, I just loved it SO so much. It’s also got the lovely Amanda Seyfried as one of the main characters alongside Spiderman Tom Holland, who was weirdly attractive to me for the first time ever in this show. It was SO SO good I devoured it in the space of a week between Brussels and Spain. My sister came to visit and I made her bingewatch the first six episodes (there are 10 in total) so I could watch the rest whilst she was with me before I left again, and she was hooked too.

GO AND PAY FOR IT AND DO WHATEVER YOU HAVE TO DO TO WATCH IT.

It was THAT good. (James tuned out about 2/3 episodes in because, as usual, he guessed the plot) but both me and my sister thought it was brilliant!

Listening

SO, as I mentioned previously, I LOVE country music. I say love – I’m not versed in it, I don’t have much exposure to it really, so when I was in Dallas and Fort Worth, it felt like the most incredible treat. I basically Shazammed every single song I heard whilst walking around Cowboyville Fort Worth, and sitting inside the world’s biggest HonkyTonk (which was AN INCREDIBLE experience!!!!!!) and have had them on repeat since I got back, so I’m sharing them with you my lovely reader this week.

What feels even more amazing is they refer to things that I’ve seen or experienced firsthand (the Texas heat (which was a fucking INFERNO)/ honky tonks/ cowboys/cold iced teas/ rodeos etc. etc.) I feel like I was fortunate enough to have a glimpse into the world that country music originated and it was just wonderful to experience. ENJOY!!!

Amarillo by Morning – George Strait

All My Rowdy Friends Have Settled Down – Hank Williams, Jr.

Like I Love Country Music – Kane Brown

I Don’t Want This Night To End – Luke Bryan

Good Lord Lorrie – Turnpike Troubadours

Over Drinkin’ Under Thinkin’ – Drake Milligan

Before You Go…

This was a long one, but what can I say, I’m just so excited to be back with you dear reader!!!!

I’ll be posting a bit more over the coming days about other topics that I write about as well as my Dallas post, so keep an eye out for those if you only usually tune in for the Coffee Corner posts. You won’t be disappointed (well actually, one of them is about my returning skin cancer so you might be, LOL!) but hang around for more content soon!

Have a great rest of your week!