Summary – July to September 2026

Published on by Mélodie

The quiet joy of a slow summer at home opened up the perfect opportunity to rediscover the beauty of the Lake District, celebrate with friends at lively garden parties, and dive into a stack of captivating books. From peaceful mornings walking along Ennerdale Water to experimental baking in the kitchen and tasting fragrant new Taiwanese teas, the past few months were filled with simple, comforting rhythms. This seasonal summary brings a fresh new layout to share the highlights, milestones, and memorable moments that shaped the gentle transition from the warmth of summer into the crisp, golden embrace of autumn.

Read – April to June 2026 summary.

View of Derwent water from Great bay
Derwent water end of August 2026

Out & About:

I hope everyone had a great summer. For this seasonal summary, I felt I needed a slightly different layout in order to keep the storytelling fresh and avoid the repetitive structure of previous posts. Let me know what you think.

Having taken the main holiday back in June, the summer months were spent enjoying the comforts of home. This opened up the perfect opportunity to soak in the beauty of the Lake District, attend celebrations with friends, and appreciate the rare sunny days in the garden.

July: Quiet Solitude and Lakeside Rambles

The month began with a quiet house, as Matt and Marcus spent two weeks in France visiting family. Thanks to remote work flexibility, Matt could work abroad while Marcus spent invaluable time bonding with his cousins and grandparents. They had an incredible trip, so much so that plans are already brewing for a three-week stay next year.

Meanwhile, Skye and I stayed behind, balancing work with a slower pace of life. Being entirely by myself for two weeks felt distinctly strange. The initial plan was to maximise this solo time with long walks, but a bout of bad weather and a stubborn eye infection derailed the first weekend.

Thankfully, the second weekend brought a welcome UK heatwave. Early on Saturday morning, I set out for a full loop around Ennerdale Water. It had been years since I last completed the entire circle, and rediscovering this lake in such beautiful weather was wonderful. With no rush to get back to an empty house, Skye and I also enjoyed a routine of double walks, strolling together both to and from work every morning and evening, a change of pace that Skye thoroughly enjoyed. The rest of July vanished in a blur of friends’ birthdays and lively garden parties.

Read – Walk around Ennerdale water

Ennerdale

August: Sun-Soaked Evenings and Two-Wheeled Milestones

August followed a familiar, gentle rhythm of celebrations and outdoor gatherings. The warm days were filled with refreshing swims in Crummock Water, beach swim at St Bees, and lazy hours playing in the garden. While the weeks were peaceful rather than packed with high adventure, they brought their own simple joys.

Plans for a bank holiday trip to Lincolnshire fell through when the host family had to cancel the house exchange. Pivoting quickly, we headed out for a long, scenic walk around Derwent Water instead. The true highlight of the month, however, was teaching Marcus how to ride his bicycle. We spent a fantastic day testing his new skills along the Threlkeld railway trail, capping off the milestone with a lovely family lunch at the Horse & Farrier.

Find all the information to eat at the Horse & Farrier pub in Threlkeld.

September: The Arrival of Autumn

September arrived in a flash, painting the landscape in rich autumnal hues. On one of the clearer Saturdays, we made our way to the summit of Binsey, another peak we hadn’t visited in ages. The views were spectacular, but the wind was so ferocious that we could only brave the summit for a mere thirty seconds before turning back down.

Almost without warning, summer had slipped away, leaving cooler temperatures and the crisp embrace of a new season in its wake.

Read – Walk to Binsey summit

Walking up Binsey summit

Cakes, Cuppas & Chapters:

The summer months also brought a welcome return to the kitchen for a bit of baking. The oven was kept busy with berry sponge cakes, lemon meringue pies, classic apple pies, and a variety of other treats. Because indulging in all of them at home would be a bit much, the majority of these bakes were brought into the office to share with colleagues. Unfortunately, capturing these creations on camera was largely forgotten, leaving a single photograph of the final bake, a carrot cake requested by one of my friend, as the sole evidence of the summer’s kitchen adventures. A mental note has been made to be much better at taking photos as the autumn baking begins.

Carrot cake with walnuts for my friend birthday

Alongside the baking, a decision was made to indulge a long-standing passion by enrolling in two monthly tea subscriptions. As a dedicated tea enthusiast who has enjoyed loose-leaf varieties for years, the usual go-to online shops have been Mei Leaf in London and PekoeTea in Edinburgh. Seeking a fresh experience, the choices fell on the dark tea box from Curious Tea and a specialised selection from DAElicious, which focuses entirely on Taiwanese teas. The September deliveries brought an exciting array of flavours to sample. The Curious Tea box featured a Deep Baked Red Jade GABA from March 2025 and a fresher Red Jade GABA from March 2026, both exceptional black teas hailing from Taiwan’s Nantou County. Meanwhile, the DAElicious selection offered a beautiful tour of Taiwanese terroirs, including high-altitude 1000-meter and 2000-meter Oolongs, a classic Oriental Beauty Oolong, and a unique, fragrant Pineapple Ruby Black Tea.

Rolled leaves of the deep baked red jade GABA

The quieter moments of the season were filled with a wonderful stack of books. To give a better idea of the wide range of stories explored, here is the full summer reading list alongside a brief synopsis for each:

  • Bonds of Hercules by Jasmine Mas (EN,FR): The addictive second instalment of the Villains of Lore romantasy series. Alexis, the female incarnation of the Greek hero Hercules, finds herself bound in a dark, forced marriage to the Underworld’s powerful heirs. Reeling from divine betrayals and trapped in a world of cut-throat gladiator games, she enlists in the Assembly of Death to exact vengeance and unleash her true powers.
  • Alchemised by SenLin Yu (FR, EN): A dark, dystopian fantasy exploring the grim aftermath of a brutal civil war. Helena Marino, a former alchemist and healer for the Resistance, awakens as an amnesiac prisoner of a corrupt ruling class of necromancers. While her captors try to determine if she is truly insignificant, Helena must unravel her own shattered mind to recover a lost memory that holds the key to the Resistance’s final gamble.
  • Le Gardien du phare by Catherine Hermary-Vieille (FR): Set in 1897, this atmospheric French novel follows three vastly different women, Mathilde, Camille, and Anne, who find themselves washed ashore on a wild, isolated island shrouded in fog. Dominated by a grey stone lighthouse whose keeper never shows himself, the women are forced into close quarters, slowly stripping away the heavy, painful secrets of their pasts to survive.
  • A Guardian and a Thief by Megha Majumdar (EN): Set over the course of a single week in a near-future Kolkata ravaged by climate change and famine, this propulsive novel follows two desperate families. When a mother’s purse containing her family’s long-awaited immigration visas is stolen right before their flight to America, it sparks a frantic hunt for the thief, a young man named Boomba, who committed the crime out of a fierce, desperate love to feed his own starving family.
  • Start with Why by Simon Sinek (EN, Titre FR: Commencer par Pourquoi ): A highly influential business and leadership book that explores how the world’s most successful figures and organizations think, act, and communicate. The core premise asserts that true inspiration and long-term success come from clearly defining why you do what you do, rather than simply focusing on what you sell or how you operate.
  • Soif by Amelie Nothomb (FR, EN title: Thirst): A deeply philosophical and intimate French novel that reimagines the final hours of Jesus Christ. Written from his first-person perspective as he awaits his crucifixion, the narrative reflects on the intense beauty and suffering of human incarnation, focusing heavily on physical sensations, specifically the transcendent, profound nature of human thirst and love.
  • Roar by Varsha Bajaj (EN): A touching contemporary middle-grade novel centered around a young boy named Rohan and cousin Meera who visit their grandparents living in a wildlife sanctuary in India. When the local tiger population comes under threat from poachers and environmental degradation, Rohan, Meera and their friends must find their voices, overcome their fears, and figure out a way to protect the majestic animals before it is too late.

Reflecting on the collection, three clear favourites stood out from the rest. Bonds of Hercules was an absolute joy, completely delivering on the high expectations set by the first book in the series. Alchemised, despite its considerable length, proved to be an incredibly immersive and well-crafted dark fantasy. The absolute highlight of the summer, however, was A Guardian and a Thief. It was such a deep, profoundly moving story that I struggled to stop crying.

Published & Followed:

Blogging always presents a bit of a challenge during the summer months. With the warmer weather and the constant urge to be out exploring, maintaining a regular writing routine falls by the wayside. Despite the slower pace, progress has been made on sharing the logs from the June holiday to Lanzarote, a travel series that will continue to roll out into the autumn. Because the summer was mostly filled with revisiting familiar, well-loved paths rather than charting new territory, new walking guides have been quiet, with the scenic exception of the full loop around Derwent Water. Additionally, a dedicated post went live detailing our experience of using TrustedHousesitters to find a reliable sitter for Skye while the family was away.

The summer also provided some welcome quiet moments to catch up on reading and discover excellent content from the wider blogging community. Here is a short selection of stand-out posts from fellow bloggers that stood out over the season:

Field of round cactus
Lanzarote jardin de cactus

Final Thoughts:

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How was your summer months? Any plans for autumn?

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