the quirky brunette: Sunday Summary | Mellow like Merlot, short like a shot

Dear FOQ

This is a properly short SS this week, I'm afraid, but surely the nature of a Summary is shortness anyway so I refuse to apologise for potential tautology there.

(And if it feels like I'm rushing this one out, it's probably because I am.)

It's been a mellow sort of a week.

Monumental, but without the 'mental'.

This week, I have mostly been ...

Reading

After The Secret History left me cold I switched to Lucky Us and I feel more 'literarily' enriched for it. Perhaps Lucky Us isn't five-gazillion pages long, but the characters already feel more real -- flawed, yes, but not unlikeable. Iris, the budding starlet, flits from love affair to love affair, bringing her intelligent if unremarkable half-sister Eva along for the ride.

Watching

Betcha can't guess ...

Things have taken a rather radical turn since, er, last week's binge-watch sessions.

Yang is clawing her way back to credibility though being snubbed by new cardiothoracic surgeon Hahn at every opportunity; Meredith's even more drippy half-sister Lexie is towing after wet George O'Malley like a puppy (albeit one with a striking resemblance to My So-Called Life-era Claire Danes -- don't you think?):

And I think Torres may be my new favourite now Addison has settled in LA and is now vapid and pointless.

Settling

... into my new job/new life combo.

I won't say too much except, it's all good.

All very good. Lovely people, fabulous books.

And who can fail to enjoy the huge difference between this sort of journey home:

{Then ...}

... and this one?!

{...and now. Standard view on the 1749 ...}

{ALL OF THEM. I can take ALL THE SEATS!
And so can my rucksack! Ha!}

Anyway. I'm enjoying it. Muchly.

Celebrating

... Mothering Sunday and Pa QB's Birthday in one stealthy lunch out today at our favourite local-to-me establishment, The Home Cottage. In attendance: Ma and Pa QB (of course), plus Sis QB and her manfriend.

Ma and I had half a cow each and hot-diggity-darn it was good:

I chased mine up with an equally hot-diggity-darn-good amaretto crème brûlée with salted caramel ice cream. I tell thee, this was what my taste buds were made for:

And just to prove I wasn't actually sitting there alone, merrily toasting my good fortune in family, here are some other people to whom I am related:

{Sis QB with a tiny little wine there | and a random hand}

{and ... this elegant bloke. Who is part deer.}

Big love to these lunatics. (I promise Ma was there, she was just in hiding.)

Singing

... for the last time for a very long time with my uhmazing choir buddies. We performed an hour's worth of songs on Saturday at our Sing into Spring event, from Copacabana to Life on Mars, with a few little chunks of James Bay, Cilla Black, The Four Tops and The Osmonds thrown in for good measure.

Oh and our a cappella number went down very well. #nailedit

... I'm afraid I'm lacking in visual stimuli for this section of the blog, so I will just say to my Voicerox Lovelies, I am proud of us all, and I will miss you all very much. I won't do a full name check of my Lovelies as I'm bound to miss someone out -- by complete error and not because I'm omitting you on purpose or anything, to be clear.

But I hope you all know who you are and if you don't, please ask the person nearest you to justify your existence.

And for Charlie and Jos, this: