BookTrail Boarding Pass: Watching You Destination/location:  Edinburgh      Author/guide: Helen Fields   Departure Time: 2025

What a week. Ordinarily, in most previous years, I'd have been waxing lyrical about Harrogate and Theakston's Crime Fiction Festival but not this year. For the second year on the bounce I have been otherwise engaged. Both years have involved travel and water, although the mode of transport this year was decidedly larger ... Mandie and I pootled down to Southampton last weekend to hop onto Iona for a week long tour around the Norwegian Fjords. A slightly different itinerary to last year, but no less enjoyable, and I got to celebrate by birthday on board so there was that.

BookTrail Boarding Pass: Watching You Destination/location:  Edinburgh      Author/guide: Helen Fields   Departure Time: 2025

And just like that, August is no more. Christmas chocolates are in the stores (did I blink and miss Halloween?), and I can no longer avoid doing a thing I don’t really want to do. On the plus side, Christmas chocolates are in the stores (I love Puds) and last week’s Bank Holiday was, against all the odds, hot and sunny so I went to the zoo.

I don't know what happened to this past week. I think only being in work for three days has completely thrown me for a loop as they were busy days which made the week feel even shorter. I celebrated a significant event at the start of the week, did my grocery shop Tuesday - very confusing - and then ... well, now here we are back at Monday and I'm not sure I like it.

Well, that's it then. March officially ends today, the clocks have jumped forward an hour, spring has (allegedly) sprung, and Q2 starts tomorrow. Who'd a thunk it, right? This year is passing all too quickly, but that is no bad thing. I was on training all of last week, staying down in Weymouth. It's a long old drive from where I live, but it was nice being back by the coast.