The start of this month brought an end to the last of my paternity leave, so it was time to head back to work full time again. Back in July I still had a couple of weeks left to use, so had organised to do 3 day weeks with a few Thursday and Fridays off for the past few months which was really nice. That meant I was still able to continue to take Ellen swimming on Thursday mornings and have a couple of extra days at home with both Ian and Ellen.

The first weekend of the month we headed up to Nunhead Cemetery on the Saturday morning, followed by Ruskin Park fete in the afternoon and then Burger Bear at The Old Nun's Head pub for dinner. On the Sunday we headed into Kings to drop a thank-you hamper to the staff and for Una's Covid vaccination. That afternoon we were just at home followed by a steak braai in the evening.

On Friday the 10th, I had booked the day off work, so around mid morning, we all headed into Spitalfields to go see Van Gogh Exhibition: The Immersive Experience which was super cool and interesting to see. After the expo, we headed to Poppie's Fish and Chips for something to eat, then to Spitalfields market for a drink at The Grocer pub before heading home. On the Saturday, myself and Ellen popped down to Blackbird Bakery for brunch and then in the afternoon, all four of us walked over to Brimmington Park for a picnic followed by a drink at Peckham Cellars and then the rest of the afternoon in the garden at home. On the Sunday, we visited Chris and Doville at their place, along with Oli and Stacey and the kids for a morning of catch up and coffee, which was good to see them. We decided on Five Guys on the way home and then had the afternoon at home in the garden.

The following week I had taken the Friday off again, so we all made our way into town to go and see the infamous Marble Arch Mound, which I didn't think was all that bad, considering the bad press it had gotten. After our visit there, we grabbed lunch at Burger and Lobster, then a snack at Attendant Coffee Shop, followed by a drink at the Lamb and Flag pub, before heading home. On the Sunday we walked up to Telegraph Hill Park to meet up with Kin-Kay, Joanna and Ava at the cafe there. That afternoon we had Haig come to visit, and the intention was to braai, but the rain really decided to chuck it down and was just way too wet, so decided on Dishoom delivery instead, which went down well!

On the Wednesday that week, we headed down to Brighton to go and view a house we'd seen. So after dropping Ellen at nursery, we made our way down to Southwick (west of Brighton) to check it out and really loved it and decided to put in an offer then and there and see what would come of it. On the way back home we landed up getting a puncture in the car, so managed to organise for the Lees to pick her up and we fetched her from their place. Then on the Thursday we got a call from the estate agent to say the vendors had accepted our offer which was amazing!! Didn't expect to hear back so quickly, so super happy! So then on the following Saturday we decided to head back down to Southwick for a second viewing of the house, as well as a walk to the town centre, down to the beach and then lunch at Carats Cafe Bar on the beach before heading home.

The Sunday and rest of the month was fairly quiet at home and in the garden in the afternoons.