September 2026

Hello,

Welcome back, and hello if you are new here to my blog.

I’m enjoying thinking about and writing this style of a blog for you, and for me. It feels like an open journal reflection on the month. And with how this year is passing at F1 speed, it’s helping keep my feet on the ground and my heart connected to what has occurred.

You can also find me on Substack where I write more specifically about grief and where it is showing up for me in life.

On to September’s happenings

The month entered still being warm, more crisp and me getting sad as the nights get longer and the days shorter. The morning weekend walks now start with the headlamp on longer to light the way. There are some evenings when I enjoy the longer nights when I want to curl up on the sofa and watch some good TV or a movie…I enjoy it more with the darkness out the window and not needing to wait for gone 9pm, when I am timing out and moving to reading mode.

I got to go on a fun excursion with 2 amazing friends. I LOVE train’s, and have never taken a train ride in the US. They took me up to Woodstock NH for the New Hampshire Dinner Train, it was a wonderful afternoon/evening, and would highly recommend it.

Let me know what you think of the below, and if you have any recommendations that add delight to your day.

Take Care,

Claire

📚What I’ve been reading (both audiobooks and physical)...

Kathy Reichs - Fire and Bones - Kathy Reichs is known for her character Temperance “Tempe” Brennan, I know Tempe from the books, Way back, I had finished a Patricia Cornwell book and was looking for a new read, and I found Kathy’s first book Deja Dead when it first came out in hardback in 1997. Side note, you will generally find I wait for paperback’s as I prefer them for two reason’s, much more practical to carry around, and I tend to nod off reading, and being donked on the nose by a hardback is a rude way to be woken by ones self. I immediately loved her style of writing and the character of Tempe. Others will know Temperance Brennan as Bones from TV. It took me many years to watch “Bones” until I realized Bones in Washington DC has a different life story than Tempe in the book split between Montreal and Charlotte, North Carolina. Once I made the separation I could appreciate each for their own.

Terri Cole - Too Much - A Guide to Breaking The Cycle Of High-Functioning Codependancy - I have the joy of co-facilitating a book club in our David Kessler Grief Educator community, with an amazing friend. We class ourselves as more of a book study as we break books down into sections, or go chapter by chapter to have some amazing rich conversations. I am a fan of Terri Cole’s work on boundaries. She has continued that work in what naturally feels like the next progression of her work, and supporting people find clear communication approaches to express themselves and live their one wild precious life to the fullest.

🧑‍🍳In the baking tin this month…

Trader Joe’s has all their autumnal foods in, which includes their Pumpkin Brioche Twist loaf, the loaf is cut into doorstep thick slices, it’s delicious turned into bread and butter pudding with some marmalade and a good homemade custard.

I’ve been doing some decluttering and tidying up, which included my recipe binder, and I came across the first recipe I used for making muffins, and a favourite flavour of Orange and Apricot, the recipe only yields 6 as I now use jumbo muffin tins instead of the older style smaller ones…they are nice fresh out of the oven, or popped in the microwave for 10 seconds.

A friend had a birthday back in August and we met up in September, I was wondering what to make them, and then it felt natural to make King Arthur Baking - Classic Birthday Cake - https://www.kingarthurbaking.com/recipes/classic-birthday-cake-recipe I make it as a tray bake for ease of cutting and transporting. It’s an unusual style of recipe where I am used to creaming butter and sugar and so forth, to this recipe, being a warm milk and melted butter mixture. Well worth a go, it’s a fan favorite.

*when recipes are online I will share the links, when from a recipe book I’ll reference the source, occasionally I freehand as with the bread and butter pudding, or it’s an old article, where I have no source to share.

🎙️What’s been in my ears…

I’ve had a few longer drives this month, which has led to more podcasts and episodes. The usual’s have been in there, any of their episodes are good, with a full back catelogue available on all the major podcast apps:

Dish (Waitrose) - Angela Hartnett and Nick Grimshaw

Dig It - Jo Whiley and Zoe Ball

Simon Mayo’s Confessions 

The Curiosity Shop - Brene Brown and Adam Grant

The Rest is Entertainment - Marina Hyde & Richard Osman

And…

A Slight Change of Plans - Maya Shankar Episode Sept 24th Leaving the Life You Trained For - beautiful episode in conversation with violinist Vijay Gupta

We Rate The Dogs (Visual Podcast on YouTube), you might know them by their merch tag line “tell your dog i said hi” they have lovely long episodes where they are sat on the floor as the human guest will bring in their dog, or will bring a dog in available for adoption The Most Ridiculous Dog Breed

And…And…I am super excited to brag about the Amazing Lucy Sheridan and her new podcast. Lucy is my business coach and friend. She released this podcast at the end of September as a tribute to her dad, Kev, who passed away earlier this year. Bad, Mad & Northern is a historical true crime podcast

👓 What’s been on the telly…

I watch a fair bit of programming as I like to have something on in the background, this can vary from Podcast’s that I enjoy watching as opposed to listening to, to be sitting down for a focused watch. September brought a lot of focus watching opportunities with Neagley being released as a single drop. I’m really excited for Maria Sten, and the character of Neagley, as in the Lee Child books the character is not as prevalent, the audience spoke from the first season loving Neagley and Maria Sten’s portrayal of her, and Neagley and Reacher’s chemistry is such a cherry on the top. I made sure to watch all of Neagley before I went to Reacher…I am one of those fan’s that waits for the whole season of Reacher to drop before flying through it in as few a sittings as possible.

Ted Lasso, I thought I had waited till it all dropped and then bumped into episode 6 and needed to wait for the rest, it’s such a gem of a show and so many phrases to live by, and spotting all the easter egg’s could be a full time job…more to come next month when I finish it up.

Sugar was finally back for season 2, Colin Farrell suits the role down to the ground, there is a great plot twist towards the end of season 1, so much so if you do not watch in order you’ll be a bit confused. The Corvette convertible is a delightful character, as is of course his dog.

AND…best for last, Great British Bake Off (GBBO) is BACK!!!! The programme holds a special place in my heart, and the signature chocolate cake with raspberries on top in the opening credits gets baked regularly for special occasions, always with the one missing raspberry.

I’ll sign off now, take care!